#new purchase… and it’s another blush lol I have a problem

[lilidawnonthemoon]

[missmeinyourbones]

IF YOU SQUINT, THE LINING IS SILVER 

a/n: wc 2.5k, based on a prompt from a list i can’t find but if i do i will link it! something along the lines of “fighting a stranger for the last bottle of wine at the grocery store” LOL

Sometimes, a bottle of wine is all it takes to solve your problems–or at least dull them enough to make them tolerable.

The past few days have been horrendous, a true burden to the roulette that is the game of life. Your washing machine breaking, a so-called friend gossiping about your love life (or lack thereof), a parking ticket charged to your vehicle demanding a ridiculous amount of money to the town, all leading up to the real kicker of the week–getting laid off from your lousy (but decently-paying) office job at the end of your Friday workday. 

After the longest week of your life, followed by the worst shift in all of recorded history, all you want to do is drown your sorrows in a bottle of red. 

Or white, or pink. Truthfully, you’re in no position to be picky. After all, beggars can’t be choosers.

That’s how you ended up here, sluggishly ghosting between the aisles of your local grocery market like a zombie with one thing on the brain.

The store is tiny, cozy. A simple family owned mom-and-pop with little selection, but often supplies noble finds at reasonable prices. Their alcohol selection is normally on the sparser side, but after what appears to be a rather successful week in liquor sales, it borders on barren as your heart sinks with disappointment. 

Suddenly, you see it. A glimmer of hope while approaching the seemingly empty shelves. 

A lone glass bottle twinkles in the reflection of the fluorescent lights from above, tucked away in the corner of the wooden ledge as if waiting for you to pluck it from where it sits and give it a new home in the warmth of your gut. 

It plays out like a movie’s climax; you can see the bottle, feel the glass smooth in your palm, practically taste the sweet syrup as you inch closer and closer and closer and–

“Woah–!”

A large hand collides with yours, clumsy and clanky as you both simultaneously reach for the lonely bottle on the shelf. Your fingers brush for mere seconds before you instinctually flinch away from the foreign intrusion of touch.

A stranger stands to the right of you, seemingly sharing your brilliant idea of snagging the market’s last bottle of sparking white wine.  

“Oh! I’m so sorry,” you begin to apologize, turning to the culprit who stands in the way of you and potentially the only positive thing to come you’re way this week.

The man’s tone is light and airy as he grabs the bottle, reading it’s label with a laugh, “Don’t be. Great minds must think alike, huh?”

You lift your chin to get a good look at him, and he’s surely a sight to see. He’s tall, almost alarmingly so as he towers over where you crawl between the stacked bags of chips and cookies lining the walls. A pair of dark sunglasses sits perched on the bridge of his nose, and you ignore the criticizing voice in the back of your mind that labels it a douchey move to be wearing them inside. 

Give him the benefit of doubt, you try to remind yourself. You don’t know this man.

Your slight optimism goes right out the window when he continues to hold the bottle as if he’s already purchased the item as his own, swaying it with his arm from side to side like the half-gallon jug weighs nothing in his hold. 

The awkward silence festers between the two of you as if you're blushing students waiting for the other's first move, dancing around one another’s footsteps in a crowded school hallway. 

You’re the first to clear the air, awkwardly gesturing to the light Moscato he clutches, “Are—are you—?” 

You don’t have to finish your question for him to read between the lines.

Still, he has the audacity to look surprised when you point to where he holds he bottle. He raises his eyebrows, almost as if silently challenging you to clarify your intent. 

“Am I what?” he lightly encourages. 

“I mean…” your patience wears thin as your attention returns to the wine with a humorless laugh, “we both grabbed it at the same time.” 

The store is practically empty, other than a handful of employees and your silent showdown happening towards the building’s back corner. From your peripheral, you see a woman in uniform mopping tiles along the floor. Her presence reminds you that it is almost 8 PM, she’s probably preparing for closing any minute now.  

The (handsome) stranger before you continues to stand his ground. “Yeah,” he agrees with ease before stating the obvious, “but you let go first.”

You click your tongue in disbelief at his gall. Whoever this man is, he’s picked the wrong person to argue with, right now. 

No longer anxious and now decently irritated, your tone comes out harsh and sarcastic. It hits him, cold. 

“That tends to be the gut reaction when you accidentally brush hands with a stranger.”

The store echoes with a silence that should be lethal, the only noises being the dull humming of the freezers from the backroom and the squeaking of a dry mop against the floor. 

“Really?” the man faux wonders with mockery. “Weird, my reaction is to grab on even tighter.” 

As if rubbing salt in the wound, he shakes the bottle around as evidence and you visibly cringe at the roughness of the motion. After the week you’ve had, you should be the one holding that bottle, treating its contents with the utmost care and respect. 

You wordlessly size him up for a moment before weighing your options:

You could cause a scene, get an employee involved and feign a victim as you childishly point fingers to the man in front of you. 

You could be the bigger person, head held high as you turn around and leave with your tail between your legs. 

You could rip the bottle from his grip–but he could be stronger than you. He’s a stranger, potentially a psycho who could genuinely hurt you over something as silly as a grocery store argument. 

Not loving your odds, you conclude with agitation, “So, you’re not gonna let me have it.”

Though technically a question, your tone leaves little room for him to debate.

The stranger's head slightly tilts to the side, making him instantly appear with an innocence ten years younger. “I never said that,” he shakes his head. 

His tone is borderline cocky, teasing almost, as he practically waves the bottle in front of your face. He’s tempting you, eager to see how far you're willing to go for this cheap bottle of wine–for what reason, you’re not too sure. But after the week you’ve had, something in you doesn't want to give up just yet. 

“Look,” your fingers squeeze the bridge of your nose before lowering your voice to an urgent whisper, “I really need that wine.”

He snorts, “What are you, an alcoholic?”

You rub the tension brewing in your sinuses, “I might become one after this conversation.”

The man sighs in faux disappointment before tsking your way. “In that case,” he swirls the bottle once more, “I probably shouldn’t be enabling you.”

“Well, why do you need it so badly?” you borderline snap out of frustration. 

His face lights up in the slightest, sunglasses falling slightly to reveal the glimmer of excitement swimming in the blues of his eyes. He presses his tongue flat against his bitten cheek, a lazy attempt to hide his clear enthusiasm at your little outburst.

With a smirk, he simply shrugs. “Had a bad day,” he reasons with no real conviction. 

Your head falls back in despair as your eyes stare directly into the harsh lighting hanging from the ceiling of the building. With any luck, it’ll render you blind and remove you from finishing this conversation. 

With a pathetic grumble, you whimper beneath a sigh, “I’m willing to bet mine was worse.”

Handsome Stranger fails to fight off another grin. “Convince me,” he breathes. 

“I’m sorry?”

“Convince me to let you have this bottle of wine,” he enunciates the words, dragging them out slowly as if his pronunciation was what beckoned you to ask him to repeat the foolish request. 

Too far into the argument to care, you swallow your pride in a struggling gulp. You’ve already come this far for the lousy bottle, what’s a little bit of begging? Hell, within the time you’ve spent arguing with this guy, you could’ve driven to an actual liquor store across town and purchased an authentic wine for twice the price. You decide that you’re leaving this store with that bottle, or you’ve failed in every meaning of the word. 

Finding his eyes, you bare your teeth in a growl, “I got fired today.”

“Ooof,” his lips contort to a pout as he winces with a phony sympathy. When your expression doesn’t budge in the slightest, he readjusts himself in surprise, “Wait, actually?”

“Yes,” you grit through clenched teeth.

He tugs on his lower lip, and you hate that it’s almost distracting you from your anger. “Was it deserved?” he beckons. 

You wince once more, “If it was, would I be putting up this much of a fight for a cheap bottle of wine?”

Now, it’s Handsome Stranger who’s sizing you up with a skeptical glare. “Touché,” he nods and your heart beams, but it’s short-lived as he quickly elaborates, “but I’m not fully convinced just yet.”

Your voice squeaks out in an exhausted plea, “What more do you want from me?” 

Almost condescendingly, the man leans down to be level with your height. He raises his eyebrows and squeezes in a saccharinely sweet voice, “A smile wouldn’t hurt.”

As if that’s all it took to pluck your last straw, his simple request ignites something rotten inside of you.

“Fine,” you scowl, readjusting your bag and turning your back to the asshole before calling out a bitter, “enjoy your nine-dollar wine.”

Clunky footsteps hurry behind you and the man slowly jogs around in front of you, preventing you from leaving the aisle with a pathetic frown curving on his lips.

“Hey, hey,” his solid stance ushers you to a halt before he waves a white flag, “you win.”

You eye him up and down, unimpressed with the riddle at hand. “What’s the catch?”  

“Lemme buy it for you,” he uses his free hand to scratch his neck, “seeing how I’m guessing you won’t be getting a paycheck this week.”

“Oh, that’s low.”

“Too soon, huh?”

His defeated tone has you chuckling beneath your breath. Though still weary of the offer before you, the hostility slowly flees from the situation at hand. Seeing your lingering hesitancy, he gestures back to the bottle in his palm. 

“Really though, I mean it. Consider it a thank you for dealing with my antics.” 

If that's the case, then he owes you more than a bottle of wine, the voice in your head snarls. Eyes still suspicious, you slowly nod your head, “Sure.”

The man’s grin grows from ear to ear as he nods his head at your acceptance. “Great!” he bounces a bit too enthusiastically, “I’ll let you finish shopping, meet me at the storefront in five?”

You nod once more before turning around to leave the aisle. The two of you take a combined five steps before you’re met with realization. With a sudden urgency, you whip your head back in his direction. 

“Wait,” you call to him from the opposite end of the aisle. He’s quick to turn around, smile still adorning his face and now paired with (what looks like) a blush. You narrow your eyes at him, “How do I know you’re not just gonna buy the wine and run?”

His nose scrunches as his hand jerks over his heart. “You wound me,” he whimpers with a smirk.

He jogs back over to you, not thinking twice as he hands you his luxury car keys, “I’ll need those before I leave.”

The metal is cold in your palm, the rings jingle together as he plops them down into your hand. Leaving with nothing but a charming wink, he disappears around the corner of the aisle and towards the front of the store. 

A bit overwhelmed, you mindlessly pick up a few things before making your way to checkout. The cashier shoots you a polite smile before ringing up your items: a new sponge for your kitchen sink, a cherry-flavored energy drink, a green patterned lighter, a pack of peppermint gum. 

You're not sure what you expect when walking through the automatic doors and out into the parking lot, but you're met with surprise when the man stands whistling against the side of the building’s brick, with a bag hanging loosely in between his fingers. 

He trots his way over to where you stand in front of the market’s display window. Coming beneath the warmth of the streetlights, the expression on his face is tender and hospitable–he wears a delicate grin that tickles the depths of your stomach.

“Here is your liquid gold, m’lady,” he presents the paper bag to you with a smug sense of pride, “all nine dollars worth of it.”

You accept the bag from his hand with a soft smile. Though clearly tired and worrisome, he thinks the flash of appreciation looks good on you. The stranger nervously shifts his weight where he stands on the sidewalk cement.

“I hope it does the job,” he adds on, and though the situation is silly, his tone carries a sincerity foreign to you. 

“Thanks,” you exhale in relief, before pulling his leg as he begins to walk away. “I hope next time you fight a stranger over the last bottle of wine in the grocery store, you actually get to leave with it.”

He laughs through a giddy smile, one that oozes a contagiously boyish charm, before turning around with a bounce. 

“If that’s the case,” he allows his eyes to drop to where his shoe kicks a rock across the cement, “then I hope the next stranger is you again.”

You crack open the sealed brown paper bag, half intrigued and half actually checking to see if the handsomely irritating man kept up his end of the deal. You sigh in relief–the wine sits happily in the paper where it belongs. However, there are more items scattered throughout the lining of the bag.

You almost call out to him, to flag him down and let him know he forgot his own purchases in the midst of your bickering. However, the contents of the bag make your mouth run dry. A thin bouquet of sunset colored tulips rustles against the cool glass of the bottle. There's a chocolate bar from the checkout sidelines with a receipt covering its brand name. You grab the paper, smoothing it out with your thumb in hopes of reading the cost of the purchase. Instead, your eyes instantly fall to the messy handwriting at the bottom of the receipt. 

“For making my day that a little bit better - Satoru” 

The note is scribbled in the whites of the margins, along with a shaky smiley face and an honest phone number. 

The stranger is nowhere to be found when you finally take in your surroundings. Though your eyes are still dripping with exhaustion, the name Satoru sits on your tongue like a silver lining to the end of your week.

[aerynwrites]

Dude I’m a sucker for ‘Having to patch up the person I’ve been pining after for months because he got himself hurt. with all the tender caresses and soft words, and butterlflies from having to touch them. All the shivers and gasps from feeling someone taking care of him for the first time in so long. Just awkwardly seeing so much of someone’s body that you haven’t seen before that you just love so much. And then eventually he can’t take it and just grabs your hand and 1

(CONT.) 2-just looks at you and you don’t know what to say, you’re both just thinking “please tell me you feel this too.” And I’m just a sucker for happy endings for Din or any other Pedro character honestly

*****

Pairing: The Mandalorian/Din Djarin x Reader

Author’s Note: I haven’t written anything soft in a while...so I hope I’m not too rusty lol. Sorry this took so long, and thank you for being patient with me!

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: injury, medical procedures (kinda lol), fluff.

////

You had been traveling with the Mandalorian and the child for several months at this point, and while you both had come away with some cuts and bruises, nothing too severe had happened to either of you. until now that is.

You had been tracking down a bounty, no different than your usual day to day activities, when this trip had gone awry very quickly. You had tracked the bounty to an abandoned town, completely confident that you had cornered the man in one of the crumbling structures when an unfamiliar thunk was followed quickly by a very familiar beeping of a grenade. On instinct, Din had shielded you from the brunt of the blast, but that landed you in your current situation – dragging a shrapnel impaled Mandalorian up the ramp of the Razor Crest.

You slam your hand against the button to close the ramp behind you and Din unceremoniously stumbles to his cot and sits down, back resting against the wall as gloved hands fumble at the clasps of his armor as he tries to pry the metal away from him. Your heart races as you dig around for the medkit, eyes glancing from the cabinet in front of you back to Din. You had been harboring feelings for the beskar clad warrior since a few weeks into your partnership, but you were convinced he didn’t feel the same.How could he? He was devoted to the way, his creed, and the people that saved his life…there was no room left for you in his heart. At least that’s what you told yourself as you tried to still your erratic breathing and approached the injured man. He had managed to get his chest plate and pauldrons off and even removed his gloves and was now making a sad attempt to remove his shirt, grunting in pain as he tried to do so. You immediately saw the problem, the sizeable piece of shrapnel in his side was keeping him from removing the shirt, but Din – in his less than aware state – was not catching on.

“Din stop,” you commanded, quickly walking over to the bed, kneeling on the thin mattress by his side, opening up the medkit, “you’re going to make it worse, just let me help,” your voice was soft as you looked up at him, eyes gazing into the blackness of his visor.

His breaths are strained and erratic, but he slowly nods his head, letting his hands fall by his sides. You give him a small smile before pulling a small injector from the bag next to you, pressing it to his upper arm before hitting the button to administer the pain medication.

“nothing too strong,” you say, “But this would not be pleasant without it.”

Din knew what it was, but you found it somewhat calming to talk to yourself in situations that made you anxious. And as you take the bandage scissors from the kit and begin slowly cutting the fabric of his shirt away from him, your anxiety skyrockets. once you have it cut in half, you slowly move to peel it away from the metal. Your fingers graze his side slightly and you hear Din’s breath hitch.

“I’m sorry-“ you apologize, “I’ll try to be more careful,” you promise, thinking your touch had caused him pain.

But Din wasn’t about to tell you that the pain meds had kicked in full force, and he barely felt a thing. He wasn’t about to tell you that the reason for his intake of breath was from the shock of your cool fingertips against his heated skin – skin that had been untouched for so long. He was so caught up in is own feelings that he didn’t even notice the flush of your skin or the way your eyes refused to meet his.

You tried to ignore the fact that this was the most you had seen of the man you have a crush on since you had joined him. You shook the thoughts from your head, trying to focus on the task at hand instead of the butterflies in your stomach. You had successfully pulled the cloth away from the metal in his sided and let out a small breath of relief when you noticed that it wasn’t too deep. It should be an easy and quick fix – just some bacta spray and bandages. You mutter a small apology as you grab the metal and quickly pull it from his side, completely unprepared for the large hand that flew to grasp your hip in reaction.

Okay, Din thought, maybe the pain meds hadn’t kicked in all the way.

Because as soon as you pulled the object from his side a sharp pain shot up his torso and he instinctively grasped for purchase, a hiss falling from his lips. However, he was unprepared for the warmth against his fingers as his hand fell against your hip, fingers resting against the exposed skin as your shirt had ridden up slightly. He felt you tense slightly and was about to move away when he heard you sigh slightly at the touch before resuming your work. Din did not move his hand.

Your breathing was shaky, and it felt like your skin was on fire where Din’s hand rested, fingers absentmindedly rubbing circles on the exposed area. You quickly sprayed a liberal amount of bacta pray to the wound and reached for the bandages next, applying a layer of gauze before wrapping the thin bandages around his torso. You slowly moved your hands, wrapping the bandages from his side, around his back, then back around to his front, your fingers brushing over his stomach slightly, causing a shiver to run through him and his breath to hitch once more. The small reaction brought a blush to your face, and your heart fluttered in your chest. You tried to convince yourself you were imagining things as you finished up – Din didn’t like you, and you weren’t having the effect on him you thought you were. But as you tied the bandage in place and moved to pull away, Din’s free hand – the one not still resting on your hip – shot out and grasped your small hand in his much larger one.

He said nothing for a moment, his breath coming out in short pants as he seemed to contemplate you for a long while before finally speaking, “Please,” he begins, voice barely a whisper, “Please tell me you feel this too?” he begs.

Your heart leaps into your throat and all you can manage is a small nod as your voice comes out in a mumble, “I’ve felt it for a while now Din,” you admit softly, eyes refusing to meet his.

He lets out a small sigh before tugging you by your hip gently until he has you straddling his lap. You feel your face get even redder if that was possible, and you look everywhere but him. he grips your hip slightly, fingers digging into the exposed flesh as he speaks up, “Close your eyes.”

You look at him questioningly and open your mouth to ask why, but he stops you, “Please…trust me?” it comes out as a question rather than a command and you find your eyes falling shut immediately.

His hand leaves its place on your hip and you sigh a little at the loss of contact and furrow your brows as you hear a small hiss followed by the sound of metal on metal. You want to open your eyes, but before you can even think about the action, one of Din’s arms is wrapping around your waist while the other cradles your cheek and you feel a pair of warm lips on yours. Initially, you are shocked at the contact, the realization that Din has taken his helmet off the only thing you can think of for a moment. That is until his arm tightening around your waist pulling you closer to him snaps you from your thoughts and you finally reciprocate his actions. Both of you are alight with so many new sensations. Your skin feels like its on fire as you are finally rewarded with the fact that Din has feelings for you too. And Din – well, his senses are on overload. He can barely comprehend what is happening as one of your hands cups his jaw, fingers running over his cheek lightly, while the other hand tangles in his hair.

He can’t remember the last time he felt this alive, felt this loved by another person.

When he finally pulls away, both of you completely out of breath, he finds himself yearning for more. As he gazes at you, eyes still held firmly shut but mouth pulled into a large grin, he realizes he never wants to let you go.

“Stay with me?” he asks breathlessly, gently maneuvering you both, so you are now laying on your sides, facing one another on the small bed.

You give him a warm smile, fingers tracing over his face lightly trying to commit it to memory as you reply, “Always.”

///

Permanent Taglist: @lord-wolfgen @petalduck  @sebastianstanslefteyebrow @stillreadingfantasy @pedrosdoll @simonsbluee  @justlovetoreadfics @discogrrl @maryan028 @asaucecoveredsomething @hiscyarika @theforceofdisney @hail-doodles @murdermewithbooks

Pedro Tag: @fleurdemiel145 @lustriix  @yeah-boiiiiiiiiiii @longitud-de-onda @jellyfishpoptart @ah-callie  @mutantsandproud @pascalisthepunkest @24kgolden @kaelyn-lobrutto24

Mando tag: @trny25 @igotmadskills @dizzydazed  @jeepangel @ja9erz @mandalorian-theway

[mcwriting]

call me, beep me

In which I wrote a Kim Possible AU :)

Ship: Tom Holland x Reader

Word Count: 3865 

Warnings: literally none lol it’s all fun and fluff

#

“Toooom!” you exclaimed in a loud cry. He had clumsily knocked over part of your science fair project, a diorama of the solar system. His misstep caused Pluto to pop off the wire and dented Neptune a little.

“Oh my gosh, y/n, I’m so sorry, let me get that-” he started to reach down and grab the littlest planet at the same time as you, causing both of your heads to bump together.

You each jumped back again, exclaiming “ow!” and rubbing your temples simultaneously.

Things had been off between you and your childhood best friend lately. 

You’d been attached at the hip since preschool, and though you had your ups and downs, had always stayed friends. You were partners in (fighting) crime, but now it was like you were out of sync and couldn’t figure out why. 

“It’s okay, Tom. Seriously. I can fix it myself. You need to work on your project anyways, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. If it makes you feel any better, most people don’t even consider Pluto a planet anymore, so I kinda did you a favor.”

“You take that back! Pluto is so a planet!”

As you both laughed it off, a familiar four-toned beep came from your pocket.

“What’s the sitch, Jacob?” you asked into the phone, where your friend could be seen sitting at his computer.

“Hey, y/n. I was checking out Dr. Gyllenhaal’s purchase history lately, and well... tell me if this sounds fishy: 200 pounds of cherry flavored jello mix. That might not sound too bad except that he’s at the villain convention and just snatched the last 30 liters of mind-control juice. The first person you look at after ingesting some can control what you do unless you can reverse it. Oh, and he invited you and everyone else in town to a cookout at the park tomorrow.”

“Well, definitely doesn’t sound like any regular cookout. I’ll check things out. Give me location on the convention and we’ll head over,” you responded, annoyed that you needed to take a pause on your project that was due the next morning.

“I’m gonna ask him why he chose cherry. I mean, really. All the flavors in the world and you pick cherry!?” Tom said incredulously. You rolled your eyes in amusement and grabbed his arm.

“Come on, jello boy. Let’s go.”

#

The year’s convention was the place to be.

The villain counsel had gotten together and gotten a spot at the biggest venue in Rio, and everyone had been able to share conquests and victories along the beach.

Which is where Dr. Gyllenhaal was happily sipping on his frozen drink in the sun as his henchwoman, Daisy, lounged nearby.

“So you really think jello is the way to go, huh? Not a mixer at the club? It’d be a lot more fun that way,” she trailed.

“Y/n y/l/n and that... that... buffoon of hers are in high school. They cannot go to clubs. But jello! I mean who doesn’t love jello!?”

“Well... me for one. And cherry, really? Cherry? Couldn’t have at least gone for strawberry?”

“Cherry is the best flavor and you know it! Now let me enjoy my drink in peace before we head back to the lair.”

“Better sip quickly. I think that’s her and her little friend on the parasail that just disconnected from the boat,” Daisy said nonchalantly, sunglasses pulled down to see you gliding towards the beach.

“WHAT!?”

He threw the drink aside and sat up quickly.

You and your parachute were floating down gracefully as Tom was struggling. His naked mole rat, Tessa, was desperately trying to detangle him but to no avail, so he decided to bail, dropping into the ocean with a large splash. 

You couldn’t help but shake your head as you detached and landed on the beach, doing a somersault to break your fall. 

“Miss y/l/n, nice of you to arrive,” Dr. Gyllenhaal sneered as you stood. You were about to answer when Tom was clumsily thrown onto the sand by the crashing tide. 

“And you brought your little boyfriend, too.”

You looked down in surprise at Tom, who gave you the same deer-in-the-headlights look.

“We’re not- I mean he isn’t-”

“Y/n and I would never- What are you-” 

You both stammered. 

“Oh how cute. They’re blushing.” Daisy teased. “Now, time to kick your butt.”

With that you ensued in typical hand-to-hand combat along the beach, using your tumbling skills to narrowly avoid Daisy’s glowing fists along with other beach obstacles. 

“Where’s the juice!? I know you have it!” you exclaimed between handsprings.

“Isn’t that a funny question. You know I have some right here but-” Gyllenhaal pulled out a flask with the liquid to gloat, but tripped, the lid popping off and liquid beginning to splash out. “Oops!”

It was heading towards both you and Tom, so you turned to say, “Don’t let it get in your mouth!”

Some splashed onto yours and Tom’s faces. He cringed and ran towards the ocean.

“Tom what are you-” you couldn’t finish the thought, because as you were watching, a drop fell from your lips onto your tongue.

Suddenly, you felt inclined to do whatever Tom said. He was washing his face off with the salt water when you turned back around to look at your nemesis.

"Ooh let’s see if this works. Okay y/n. Tell me I’m pretty,” Gyllenhaal said, looking at you expectantly. You furrowed your brows. 

“Hmm. Maybe it needs to be an action. Y/n, go get me another piña colada.”

“What do you think I am, your slave?” you retorted sarcastically. His jaw dropped. 

“But I- I bought so much... WHY ISN’T IT WORKING?” he cried out.

Tom appeared next to you again.

“Hey y/n could you tell me if my hair’s messed up?”

You looked at him and without a thought answered.

“Oh yeah it’s parted weird. Lemme fix that.” You reached out and flopped a strand over. 

Dr. Gyllenhaal had a startling revelation.

“Oh no. Oh my gosh. YOU.YOU BUMBLING IDIOT. You’re the one who has the power to control y/n now? Oh dear. Daisy, we need to go at once!”

With that they sped off on a scooter, getting away once again. 

“What was he talking about? Oh hey, my shoe’s untied. Could you get that?” he asked. Usually it was a joke between you that you’d never tie his shoes, but immediately you were knelt down double knotting his laces.

You stood up, confused at what had overcome you, but quickly realization washed over your face.

“You...” you whispered. “I drank the juice, and now you get to control me until we can figure out a remedy...”

“What? No way, y/n. That’s crazy talk. If I had the power to control you, I’d tell you to eat an avocado and you’d actually do it.”

Ugh. Avocados.

One of your least favorite foods. They disgusted you, but without second thought you ran to find one, ravenously peeling off the skin with your bare hands and eating the soft fruit inside.

Tom looked at you in shock and horror.

“OH MY GOSH I”M CONTROLLING YOUR MIND!” he exclaimed, hands thrown upward onto his head. He started pacing and muttering to himself nervously.

You quickly finished the avocado, tossing the skin and pit aside. You wiped your mouth and immediately you were disgusted with yourself, the taste still lingering in your mouth.

“Ugh. That’s what I was trying to tell you!”

“Well call Jacob and figure out how to undo it!”

Immediately you pulled out your phone and rang him up, explaining the situation.

“... and it would really be nice if Tom could get me some water,” you muttered after telling Jacob what had happened.

“Why don’t you get it yourself?” Tom asked, prompting you to run to the nearest snack shack and grab yourself a water. You drank it in annoyance as Tom looked at you sheepishly.

“Well... here’s the problem... so far there’s no known antidote, y/n. Sorry. I’ll see if I can figure it out though,” Jacob explained. You groaned.

“Yeah, okay. Keep me in the loop. And while I’ve got you, could you send us a ride home?” 

“Sure thing, y/n. I’ll be in touch,” Jacob added, screen going black as he ended the call.

“Welp, y/n. This is going to be fun, right?” Tom asked enthusiastically.

“Sure. Fun.”

#

You were quickly putting together Tom’s baking soda volcano as he lounged nearby on your bed. He’d used his new power to get you to finish his project for him.

“As soon as we figure out the cure, I’m so gonna pummel you,” you said as you painted red drips around the rim and sides.

“Maybe it’s best that we don’t find that cure...” Tom started, until you shot him a glare. “Kidding! Kidding. Seriously though, y/n, I’ll repay you for doing this. It’s just, we all know you’re the smart one in this pairing.”

You perked up and looked at him funny as you continued to work.

“Pairing?”

“Well, yeah sure. I mean I couldn’t say couple, and well... I couldn’t think of a better word. Friendship doesn’t sound right either.”

You turned around, cheeks warm.

“What do you mean by that?” you asked quietly.

“We’re more than just friends, y/n. Everyone knows that. We’ve been at each other’s sides for forever. I just feel like only calling us friends doesn’t really encapsulate our relationship.”

“Oh... yeah. I see,” you said, a couple nervous chuckles leaving your breath as you moved on from painting lava to gluing fake trees around the volcano.

“What do you see it as, y/n?”

You felt the urgency to answer truthfully but wasn’t really sure how to. Like you’d said before, it was complicated.

“Well I... I don’t know. You’re my best friend, Tom. I’m not really sure what else to say.”

Tom looked down at Tessa, who was asleep in his hand. 

“Oh. Yeah. Yeah, of course. I mean, that’s probably how anyone else would describe it...” he trailed. You felt yourself deflate in the same way Tom did, but you’d been honest.

You kind of had to be, after all. 

After a few minutes of rare silence between you two, Tom spoke up again.

“Hey y/n? You don’t have to keep working on that. It looks incredible as it is and I owe you a million for it.” You stopped what you were doing and leaned away from the project. 

“You know, I think I’m gonna head home. Tessa’s pretty much konked out and I’m pretty exhausted, too. It’s probably best that you finish up your work and hit the hay after I leave.”

You knew his statement wasn’t supposed to be a command, but now you’d be doing just that as soon as he was out the door.

He got up to leave, stuffing the sleepy mole rat into his pocket where she often hid and you stood from your place on the floor. 

“I’ll get all this stuff in the morning when I come to pick you up, okay?” Tom said. You nodded, a slight, lopsided grin on your lips.

You both stood awkwardly for a second before you leaned in, giving him a hug like you often did when parting ways. His arms engulfed you.

“Good night, y/n.”

“Night, Tom.”

With that you parted and he was out the door. As soon as you heard the front door shut, you were back to fixing your solar system.

#

As you got ready in the morning, thoughts about the prior night came bubbling up.

You hadn’t really had much thought about it before, because you’d been “ordered” to do your school project and go to bed, not leaving much time for reflection.

Are we just best friends? Are we not? I mean we aren’t a couple but we’ve got more going on than the average best friend, right? Am I just saying this because we fight crime unlike everyone else? Do I like-

You were snapped out of your thoughts when your  younger twin brothers called up, signaling that Tom was at the door. A few moments later he appeared at your bedroom.

“Mornin’ y/n,” he said, chipper as ever. It seemed that he was going to put the previous night’s events behind him. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah, just a second. I forgot to take your project to my car before you got here.”

“Oh I can get mine,” Tom offered, stuffing a tri-fold under his arm and picking up the volcano with his hands.

“You- you’re not gonna make me do it?” you asked.

“What? Nah. I’m actively trying to not mind control you today. I feel bad about doing it.” 

“It’s going to happen eventually, you know. But come on. I don’t want to be late to the science fair.”

#

Yours and Tom’s displays were next to each other in the gym and for the most part, everything was going well. 

He’d slipped up a couple of times in the mind control department, but they were simple questions, so no one really picked up on it.

As you were preparing for the fair to start, you rolled your eyes as your co-caption on the cheer squad (and high school enemy) Zendaya walked up.

“Oh my gosh, y/n. What’s this? A solar system? That’s it?”

“I mean my dad’s a rocket scientist. And did you forget the fact that I’ve been to space? Maybe if you read my poster you’d understand that my project is about more than just some floating space balls.”

“Ugh. Whatever. Mine’s gonna win either way,” she bragged, earning another eye roll.

“Yeah we’ll see about that,” you grumbled. 

She flicked her hair and turned on her heel, headed back to her area. You huffed at her annoying arrogance.

“Don’t worry about it, y/n. You’ve got this,” Tom encouraged. Suddenly all tension left you.

Maybe this mind control stuff isn’t always bad. At least not when you’ve got the best kind of cheerleader by your side.

You looked at Tom with a soft smile. He was paying attention to Tessa, so he couldn’t see the way you were studying him. 

Over the years, you’d seen more of Tom than practically anyone else had, but yet you still found yourself trying to memorize every little mark and freckle on his face. You analyzed each curl of his hair. The way his lashes fluttered when he blinked.

You snapped out of it when he looked back up at you.

“You okay, y/n?” he asked.

“What? Oh, yeah. Just got distracted for a second. That’s all.”

Before he could press you further, your phone beeped. 

“Hey Jacob. Any updates?” 

“Well... I have an update, but it’s not necessarily the best news. There aren’t any known antidotes for the juice yet. I even emailed the seller under a fake name and he couldn’t give me a good answer. I got my hands on a little and will send some to the lab. Hang tight. Oh, and good luck with your project.”

You said some parting words and hung up.

“Well great. We’re no closer to solving this and we have to figure out a way to get everyone in town to not eat the stupid jello unless we can find a cure. This is shaping up to be just the best.”

“Hey. It’s okay. Just focus on presenting your project for now and beating Zendaya, okay? You can definitely do that.”

And once again, you felt yourself succumb to his words as the judging began.

#

“See. I told you you could do it,” Tom said excitedly as you carried a large trophy home.

“I had a feeling I would anyways, but I was kind of under order to win, so there was no way I’d take anything less than first.”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s my girl,” Tom said offhandedly, taking a second to realize the implications of what he may have said. “And- and by my girl I don’t mean my girl I mean you’re just my best... um.. you know...”

“Tom. It’s okay. I get it. We don’t need to start this again right now. Now we need to focus on stopping Gyllenhaal and finding a cure. Plus, I need to change into a cute outfit for the cookout.”

# 

Hours of brainstorming and you were still no closer to finding a solution, but most of town was now gathered at the park feasting on hot dogs, hamburgers, and all the chips and potato salad they could handle. 

The jello had yet to make an appearance on tables, and there was no sign of Dr. Gyllenhaal or Daisy as you and Tom approached the families chowing down and having fun. 

You couldn’t, however, ignore the large curtained stage on one side of the park.

After hanging out with Tom and some other friends, the curtain suddenly opened, revealing your nemesis on the stage, microphone in hand.

“Good evening, friends. I’m your friendly neighborhood Dr. Gyllenhaal, and tonight I’m going to be your musical entertainment. But first! We want everyone to feast on the finest dessert, so jello for everyone!” he exclaimed.

You stomach dropped.

“Tom we gotta act fast. You help stop people from eating the jello and I’m going to try to get him off stage.”

As you split up, you got another beep on your phone.

“Hurry, Jacob. I don’t have much time.” 

“Okay, okay. I think I just solved your problem. You remember that movie Ella Enchanted?”

“Uh, yeah. I don’t see the correlation.”

“Well remember when at the end, the only way Ella breaks her curse is by talking to herself in the mirror..?”

“Oh my gosh you’re a genius. If the first person you look at is yourself, then you’re still in control! Anyway you can hook us up with some mirrors?”

“Already on it. But first, you need to test it on yourself just to make sure. I think Gyllenhaal has some extra juice hidden behind the stage if you can get your hands on it.”

“On my way. Thanks, Jake. You’re a lifesaver.”

You sprinted towards the stage, now in a different pursuit than before. You darted around the side, looking around to see if there were any bottles you could grab a quick swig from.

“Oh no you don’t,” a voice called from behind you. Daisy.

“Look, I just want some of the juice for myself alright? Nothing else.”

Yet.

“Oh we’ve got a good girl gone bad, huh? I don’t buy that sister.”

She lunged at you and once again you were in typical combat, flipping around and swinging off stage rigs, trying to get to the lone bottle of juice that was resting in the bed of a truck.

After a couple minutes, you were able to outsmart Daisy and grab the bottle. You pulled a compact from your pocket and looked straight into the mirror.

“This better work,” you muttered, tossing back some of the liquid and looking into the eyes of your reflection.

You didn’t feel any different, so you swung up onto the stage and knocked Gyllenhaal over, searching the crowd for Tom as you tried to trap the mad scientist.

“Tom! Tom tell me to do something!” you cried out upon seeing him. He was furiously rushing between tables trying to prevent people from eating the jello.

“What? Like what? I don’t want to ruin the mission!”

“Just say whatever! Hurry!”

“Okay fine! Eat another avocado!”

Dr. Gyllenhaal looked up at you expectantly, but you had no desire to find the green fruit, not even a twinge. Instead, you continued what you were doing before.

Dr. Gyllenhaal, on the other hand, paled. 

“Oh dear,” he whispered nervously, realizing you had found a solution to the problem he had created.

“Daisy get the helicopter! Hurry!” he cried out, slipping from your grip and running away like he always did. 

You let him go to focus on helping anyone who had eaten the jello, those of which Tom was trying to round up so you could help them.

After getting everyone cured, Jacob had called the lab he was working with to get the jello and dispose of it properly, allowing them to run more tests, too, now that they knew the cure.

You stood aside, arms crossed in satisfaction, as Tom approached.

“So you’re you again? Nothing I say can affect you?”

“Well I wouldn’t put it that way, but I’m definitely not eating any avocados or tying your shoelaces in the near future.”

He gave a chuckle and you started slowly walking home from the park.

“Hey, um, now that you’re cured and everything, I’m really sorry about last night. I accidentally put you in a weird position and I get it if you’re mad at me. I’m okay just calling us friends and ending it there if that’s what you want,” Tom said. 

You thought for a few moments about his proposal.

“You know, I was technically being honest last night, but my answer has changed since then.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well... These past couple of weeks, things have felt really...”

“Weird? Off?” he interjected.

“Exactly! We’ve been so out of sync and I couldn’t figure out why! But after last night I realized that it’s because we aren’t simply friends. And I don’t know where you stand on this, but... I think I have feelings for you? And if you want to stay just friends I understand, but I just hate when we aren’t honest with each other.”

“Wait. You do?”

“Yeah. I really do.”

You braced yourself for him to shoot you down and put you back in the friend zone, but his reply surprised you.

“I guess now is the perfect time to tell you that I’ve had feelings for you for... well... ever.”

Now it was your turn to be shocked.

“You have!?”

“Well, yeah. Of course. You’re strong, smart, and beautiful. You kick butt like nobody’s business and above all, put up with me every day. You’re like the most incredible person ever. How could I not be into you?”

You felt yourself blushing as you approached your front porch.

“You’re amazing, Tom. You know that?” he jokingly waved you off, but then you were standing quietly.

“Sooo... monthly movie marathon tomorrow at my place? I’ll provide the snackage,” Tom offered, reminding you of your scheduled hangout. You looked down at the ground with a smile, then back up again, nodding.

Usually this was the part where you’d say goodnight and maybe hug, but this time you took it a step further.

You reached up and kissed him on the lips. It was only for a second, but both of you were stunned upon pulling back.

“I know I usually tell you not to bring anything to movie day, but could you please bring some more of those with you?” Tom joked once he snapped out of it.

“Oh my gosh,” you replied in amusement, giving him a light shove. “Goodnight, Tom.”

“Night, y/n.”

And with that, the man you realized you’d loved for years turned around and made his leave.

#

A/N: yooooo I actually really loved this. I really tried to fit the KP vibes but sorry if anything felt off. There’s just not much as iconic as the og Kim and Ron, ya know?

Anyways thanks for reading and as always please feel free to send an ask or message anytime!

Send a message or ask if you’d like to be added to my permanent or series taglists so I can verify you’ve been added!

Tag list: @readheadwriter, @jackiehollanderr, @one-big-fangirl, @agentnataliahofferson, @spider-babe,  

[komatsunana]

My Yuri/wlw Manga Rec List

Heeeey I’m bored so I’m making a Yuri manga/webtoon/etc recommendation post of some of my faves that are underappreciated or deserve more love. Obviously this isn’t a comprehensive of all great Yuri series out there, just some that I enjoy & think are worth reading... And have (obviously) either read or are caught up on.

All of these are available to read as online scans, but I’ll indicate if you can legally purchase it in English as well.   I’ll also indicate if they are on-going as of April 2019.

There’s a lack of yuri series that aren’t set in a high school but I’m going start with all of those first, just to get them out of the way, but this list will mostly be dedicated to college and older aged characters.

Additionally, my recommendation of these series is not my personal endorsement of everything about the series. Don’t expect any of these stories to be perfect by any standards, much less Western standards.  Additionally, I try to give warnings for some series with dark themes: that is not me giving the series a condemnation.  Just a heads up for common triggers, that I caught and remembered to warn for.

A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow (Nettaigyo wa Yuki ni Kogareru) by Makoto Hagino

Summary:

Konatsu Amano is a high school girl who has just moved to a seaside town in Ehime Prefecture after her father is transferred overseas for his job. Lonely and unsure of her new surroundings, Konatsu finds herself gravitating towards Koyuki Honami, an older girl at her school who is popular but is seen as out of reach by her peers who view her as too perfect. Koyuki is also the sole member of the Aquarium Club, which in turn makes her feel cut off from others. In an attempt to help ease Koyuki's and her own feelings of loneliness, Konatsu befriends Koyuki and the two gradually grow closer together.

Why I think you should read it:  This is SUCH a sweet but impactful series.  At a surface level read, it’s a beautiful and enjoyable series that I’m interested in seeing where these girls’ relationship goes, but a deeper look at the series really shows the amount of thought that went into the characters and their surroundings.  Honestly [this] YT video by Zeria is why I finally started this series and covers why this is such a good worthwhile series much better than I can so I recommend watching it, if not jumping straight to reading!

Status: On-going, first English volume will be released in late 2019!!

Their Story (Tamen de Gushi) by Tan Jiu

Summary:

Tamen De Gushi manga is a slice of life manga that revolves around two high-school protagonists, Sun Jing and Qiu Tang, and how they meet and fall in love and start dating.

Why I think you should read it:  If you’ve been on tumblr long enough and follow enough queer fandom blogs you’ve probably heard of this series.  Everything you’ve seen about it is true: it’s sweet, cute, funny, and fluffy.  It also covers topics like victim blaming without derailing from something you’re reading to distract you from reality.

Status:  This one is a webtoon and currently on-going.

Pietà by Haruno Nanae

Summary:

A story about two classmates, Sahoko and Rio. Rio is depressed and self-harms due to lack of loving relationships with her "family" -- which consists of her negligent father, selfish stepmother, and stepbrother; and Sahoko quickly becomes her only comfort in life. Sahoko on her part has a frigid relationship with her otherwise loving parents, and lives with her aunt.

Why I think you should read it:  Prior to meeting, these girls dealt with mental illness and that’s what bonds them very quickly as they come to rely on each other.  I debated whether or not this series should be with the school-girl series or the adult ones, I decided to keep it with the school-girls because... they’re high school girls! Even though the girls’ school is really only ever the place they first meet, it’s the fact they are high school girls that colors their perspectives for the best and worst.  

But the reason I think it is worth reason it is that it portrays depression, self-harm, and suicide the way you think about it as a depressed high schooler but it is narratively treated with the seriousness it deserves, and to be responded to with love and compassion.  While we’ve got Rio’s parents who don’t take her mental illness seriously and compassionately enough (or at all), but there other adults who do from the very beginning.  It’s 1 volume long and despite all the trigger warnings I am about to give for the series: I promise a happy ending. 

*Warings* Self-harm, suicide attempt, forced institutionalization, parental abuse, gaslighting

Status:  Completed, not officially in English but completed online scans are available.

Kase-san by  Hiromi Takashima

Summary:

Yui Yamada, a girl who enjoys tending to her school's greenery, falls in love with the athletic Tomoka Kase. The two eventually begin dating, and the story follows the pair as they face various challenges in their relationship

Why I think you should read it:  Another one I see on tumblr a lot and, again, it’s everything you’ve been promised: cute, fun, and a natural progressing romance.  What I think is worthwhile about the series is that it’s continued into their college years, but that hasn’t automatically made them adults. They continue to deal with the same insecurities they did in high school, but even still they’ve been maturing since the start of the series and they continue to do so. 

This series is unlikely to ever delve into darker or political themes, but we need series like this - where problems don’t linger but are resolved relatively quickly without losing the character’s defining traits and flaws.

Status:  Ongoing and available to buy in English.  Also has an OVA.

Ano Musume ni Kiss to Shirayuri o (Kiss and White Lily for my Dearest Girl) by Canno

Summary:    

In middle school, Ayaka Shiramine was the perfect student: hard-working, with excellent grades and a great personality to match. As Ayaka enters high school she expects to still be on top, but one thing she didn't account for is her new classmate, the lazy yet genuine genius Yurine Kurosawa.

Why I think you should read it:  A rivals-to-lovers story, for all my rivals-to-lovers lovers out there! <3 While Shiramine and Kurosawa are definitely the protagonists of the story, roughly only 40% of the time are chapters focus on them and their relationship, as the series spends a lot of time on their many, many side characters and relationships... which are all wlw too.  Lots of different relationships explored in the side characters, including a triad that forms together wonderfully.  

A part of the series that particularly tickled me was that male characters are barely ever mentioned, if ever.  It’s entirely possible that that men do not exist in this world.

*Warning*  One romance between a student and her aunt (though the aunt is only 4 years older).  The two chapters depicting their relationship are skipable and even then it’s vague enough that you can interpret it as a family relationship imo.

Status:  Completed and available officially in English.

Bloom Into You (Yagate Kimi Ni Naru) by Nakatani Nio

Summary:

Yuu has always loved shoujo manga and awaits the day she gets a love confession that sends her heart aflutter with bubbles and blushes, and yet when a junior high classmate confesses his feelings to her...she feels nothing. Disappointed and confused, Yuu enters high school still unsure how to respond. That's when Yuu sees the beautiful student council president Nanami turn down a suitor with such maturity that she's inspired to ask her for help. But then the next person to confess to Yuu is Nanami herself.

Why I think you should read it:  What, did you really think it wouldn’t make my list (lol)?  Of course everyone should give this series a try!  I’ve been following this series for a while so I’m glad to see it blow up in popularity recently because of the anime because it really deserves it.  This series is very far from your typical straight-forward cute high school yuri romance, it’s an awkward fumbling as the girls have their first relationship and all that comes with that - including learning consent and boundaries -  in a very unusual set-up (that I’ll let you read to discover).  

Additionally, an adult relationship between two women is also portrayed, proving the usual “lesbianism is transient” is many school-girl manga wrong, but the adults tend to mentor Nanami’s also gay friend more than Yuu and Nanami (who could frankly use some adult guidance, since they can’t seek out their parents). 

Yuu reads as very aro-spec too, if that resonates with you, and I (personally) don’t think that anything in her relationship with Nanami negates those feelings.

Status:  Currently ongoing and available in English.  Anime which covers the first half of the series.

Nameless Asterism (Nanashi no Asterism) by  Kobayashi Kina

Summary:

Tsukasa, Nadeshiko, and Mikage have been inseparable since they began junior high, but Tsukasa has a secret she's been keeping from her best friends—she actually has a big crush on Nadeshiko. Not wanting to risk their friendship, she planned to keep it a secret forever, but when Tsukasa learns that Nadeshiko has a crush on Mikage, her desire to support her friends now conflicts with her own feelings. First love blossoms in unexpected ways for these three young women and their circle of friends.

Why I think you should read it:  This one is actually a junior high school one, but I’ll stick it here regardless.  But it’s a fun series, and for a love-triangle story it’s not over-wrought at all.  More than a series about love, it’s about the concept of romantic relationships at the characters’ age as well as friendship. One of the character’s in particular thinks her feelings are transient, but it’s also rather clear that they are not and she’s just scared after a bad past experience. Despite being in a love triangle that not all of them are completely aware they are in, it’s also very clear they want to keep being friends and fear losing their friendship more than anything else.

It ends prematurely so some things are left unresolved but still a fun read and I still give it a huge rec.  YMMV on the handling of one cross dressing character, especially as he takes over the story for a bit, but it’s far from the worst handling but. ya know.  Heads up, he exists.

Status:  Completed, not officially in English but completed online scans are available.

Aaaaaand that’s about it with the light-hearted (mostly) school romances.

On to college-age and working adult yuri series which don’t get nearly enough love!

It’d be great if you didn’t exist by Carbonara

Summary:

Why did she meet her ideal girl in the worst situation?

After catching her boyfriend with another woman, Han Guk-hwa promptly breaks up with him and expects to never see him again. What she didn't expect was to keep thinking about the woman who was with her ex and develop a begrudging crush on her.

Jang Mi, the crush in question, also didn't expect to see such a beautiful girl approach her and finds herself thinking that she could do so much better than the scumbag Guk-hwa was dating.

Why I think you should read it:   There’s.... a lot of reasons I could give you about why this series is worth reading.  It’s a wonderful balance between funny and a soft, tender romance between two women, even while dealing occasionally with darker themes and topics.  The characters are both well fleshed out with flaws and a rationality to their actions.  More than that: for every bad experience they had in the past which gives them insecurities about themselves and others, they are rewarded for trusting each other with a happy, loving relationship.  Inter-relationship problems (like insecurity) are resolved with communication, while their separate personal problems they share mutual support. 

BUT ALSO, I mean... it’s pretty much like that text from last night that goes:  “ I just found out two girls I dated met each other, bonded over how much they hate me, started dating and are gonna get married soon.”  And I just.... really enjoy and appreciate it. Because it’s like: that’s it that’s the series.

*Warnings* Stalking, abuse, bullying

Status:  Another webcomic, completed at 80 chapters all available online in English

Cheerful Amnesia by  Tamamushi Oku

Summary:

Arisa wakes up in the hospital, with no memory of the last three years. When Mari, a girl who's just Arisa's type, arrives at the hospital and informs her that not only are they living together, but they're actually in a relationship, Arisa is over the moon.

Why I think you should read it:  MC has amnesia, but as the title suggests, it’s light-hearted series.  Afterall, MC wakes up to discover she has a beautiful girlfriend!  What couldn’t be better in life?  Well, there are... like sex with your girlfriend.  Wait no, that’s way too good for Arisa to handle (lol). And it just gets better for Arisa as the story plays out.

Usually the amnesic lover trope is played for the drama, but here it is only played for laughs.  A little eye-roll-y regarding some aspects and maybe even down right stupid but still cute and a fun romp if you need mindless fun. It’s a 4-koma so it’s not particularly deep, but a fun exploration of the story’s premise.  Let’s be honest: all the jokes about sex probably won’t make you laugh and probably won’t even titillate you, but you’re not here for laughs you’re here for something cute and see an adult relationship between two women get to be fun, silly, and mindless.

Status:  On-going and not officially in English but completed online scans are available.

Ultramarine (Gunjou) by  Nakamura Ching

Summary:

Out of desperation, a woman asks an old high school acquaintance to kill her abusive husband for her. The acquaintance, having long been in love with this woman, does it, and now they are on the run from the law.

Why I think you should read it:  I’m going to be honest.  This isn’t a series for everyone or even a series that most would like and that’s ok. The summary just covers the first few pages - everything devolves from there as they avoid the police and the stakes get higher - or rather, revealed to us as the readers.  Definitely not a series for a fun, quick read and I don’t rec it if you want an ideologically pure series - but the series mostly acknowledges the fucked up nature of everything going on.  If you’re interested in story where the main characters aren’t clear-cut “good” and “bad” and you don’t mind not rooting for the main characters’ romance, give it a try.  Because this is not a series about two women learning to be good to each other.

It’s a heart-wrenching read for those that read it and explores themes that aren’t often explored without being edgy for the sake of being edgy.  I think if you can stand to read this series in one sitting, you’ll be absolutely gutted and be thinking of this story for a while.  It’s a powerful read, awful in a very necessary way.

*Warnings* for rape, abuse, dub-con (between the main characters), lots of talk of suicide, infant death, death of a wlw (not main romance).

Status:  Completed, not officially in English but completed online scans are.

Lonely Wolf, Lonely Sheep by Fuka Mizutani

Summary:

Two women with the same name happens to meet each other when they're at the same hospital for the same injury. They want to become closer, but both must overcome their insecurities and self-loathing first.

Why I rec it:  Ehehe.  If you follow me, then you probably know I’m half-way to being a NANA blog.... Well this has the basic premise of NANA, with two girls with the same name (in this case first AND last) meeting under similar circumstances.  It’s a short & sweet series, but not without a lump of angst mixed in, because despite their meet-cute they’ve still got a shared loneliness and fear of rejection to contend with.  Despite that: it’s not drowning in angst and unnecessary, drawn-out melodrama.

Status:  Completed, not officially in English but completed online scans are.

Fluttering Feelings by Ssamba

Summary:

The comic follows the life of two Business University students, the average slightly immature Kim No-Rae and the beautifully captivating Baek Seol-A but equally immature, as well as their friends and family.

Why I think you should read it:  This series is a beautiful exploration of two women slowly falling in love - or rather, slowly realizing and accepting that they are in love with each other.  A lot of will they, won’t they story get stale very quickly but here the characters are so expertly explored that you understand why they aren’t kissing right now this second and it just makes you hope that one day they will and be happier.

Additionally, just because they aren’t dating doesn’t mean that they friendship doesn’t continually progress and flourish as they continue to get closer and more emotionally intimate with each other.  As their friendship gets closer, they struggle more and more to define their feelings for each other.  

Unfortunately Ssamba passed away last year, before completing the series.  So the series will likely remain forever unfinished but I think this series is so great that it’s a worthwhile read even unfinished.  I think Fluttering Feelings maybe even is a series that especially proves that unfinished series are worth reading, because for me: the ending to a story is one of the most important parts... but not for this series.  This series is all about the journey and the journey until where it left off was worth it.

Status:  Unfinished Webcomic, available online in English

Ohana Holuholu by  Shino Torin

Summary:

Maya, who works as a translator, lives with her bisexual former girlfriend, Michiru, and Michiru's son, Yuuta. Residing in the same apartment building is an actor called Nico, who drops by for a visit almost everyday, and knows about Michiru's past. Somewhat like family, and somewhat not, their lives interweave full of warm days.

Why I think you should read it:  This one is about family, at it’s core.  A found family, in particular.  I think for many like me, that’s enough of a recommendation (lol).  The rekindling of Maya and Michiru’s relationship is an important part to the story, but just as important is the fact that they have formed a family even before then.  Michiru isn’t always the best friend, roommate, lover, or even person and she definitely isn’t the best mother, but watching over her growth through the series to take responsibility for herself and for her family is incredibly rewarding.

Status:  Complete, still in the process of being translated online into English.

Collectors by Nishi Uko

Summary:

Two women in a relationship disagree about the other’s spending habits.

Why I think you should read it:   Most of this list is comprised of series that are about before the relationship begins, but Collectors is here for everyone who desires a pre-established relationship!  It’s very sweet and very obvious how much the two women love each other.  

This is the bickering couple done right - with love, especially after the initial few chapters, and it’s honestly just a form of flirting as the characters just as often find common-ground on their spending habits.  

It’s primarily 4-koma style, so not much happens story-wise but it’s well worth it just for to see their day-to-day interactions, how much they enjoy spending time with each other, and their friend’s commentary about their relationship. Also, if you’re a collector or hobbiest that compulsively buys things related to your interests... be prepared to be called out!

Status:  I thiiiiink it’s on-going - definitely the English online translations haven’t caught up as far as I can find.

The Robot Next Door (Tonari no Robot) by Nishi Uko

Summary:

In an ordinary neighborhood, a team of engineers are developing a robot they call Praha, who looks like an ordinary human high school girl. Chika, a 4-year-old girl who lives next door, meets her neighbor and learns her secret. The two girls become friends and high school classmates, and Chika teaches Hiro—as she calls Praha—about human emotions, including love.

Why I think you should read it:   Another story by Nishi Uko!!! There is a severe lack of sci-fi Yuri works!!  It’s a short and sweet feels trip as it explores the premise - a robot and human girl having feelings for each other.  While the bulk of the series takes place while both characters are in high school, I’m sticking it here with the “adult” series because it’s not about youth so much as it is about the premise.

Anyway: one of the interesting things about the series is how Praha expresses her love for Chika, which is obviously different than how humans feel ”love” because she’s a robot.  Meanwhile, Chika pines for Praha in her youth but insists that Praha’s feelings aren’t love.  She thinks their feelings for each other are “different,” which is both true and untrue.  As it is thought, robot/human love stories are often bittersweet because the premise predicates that the human will age while the robot will not.  Honestly, the ending is not bitter in the least, but it’s something that looms over you as you, the human reader, know as inevitable future.

Status:  Completed, not officially in English but completed online scans are.

Poor Poor Lips by Gotou Hayako

Summary:

Okashi Nako is a young woman living in poverty. When she applies to work at a Gem store, she learns that store owner, Otsuka Ren, is a lesbian. Ren promises that Nako's not her type, but she may be lying.... Nako takes the job and so begins a comedic tale of rich and poor, sickness and health, for better and for worse!

Why I think you should read it:  It’s a boss/employee romance but tastefully done imo - it’s been a while since I read it but I remember it fondly. It’s primarily set-up as a comedic series (another 4-koma!) but by the end the ladies *are* explicitly in a relationship, after some “will they/won’t they.”

Status:  Completed, not officially in English but completed online scans are.

Octave by Akiyama Haru

Summary:

This story revolves around 18-year-old Miyashita Yukino and her life as a former idol. As a child, Yukino had always been fascinated with TV. And before she knew it, she wanted to be one of those idols behind the screen. At 15, she entered the entertainment industry and debuted as a member of the four-person group "She'sN." However the group wasn't very successful and they broke up shortly afterwards. Returning home in disgrace, Yukino was welcomed with people's curious looks and hurtful words. Wanting to find herself, regain her pride, and perhaps experience love, Yukino decides to move back to Tokyo. There she meets a certain woman, former composer Iwai Setsuko. Together they embark on a very interesting and mysterious relationship.

Why I think you should read it:  Don’t be fooled by the simple, minimalist art... The characters are complex and each of them realistically flawed.  The series explores themes unfulfilled dreams and miscommunication and most of all: maturing into a decent person.  A lot of people are turned off of this series because the choices Yukino sometimes makes are, but it’s worth seeing her journey imo.

The series also deals with coming out not being an entirely positive experience and... it’s gutting but real and in the end says more about other people than Yukino.

Status:  Completed, not officially in English but completed online scans are.

And that’s it for now!! Let me know if you read any of these, whether or not on my recommendation or not!  Depending on if people liked this I might do another one, because I discovered a whole bunch of series while researching plus cut some from the list last minute that I still think deserve a rec!!

[yodawgiherd]

First kiss

Rating : T

>>>Read on AO3<<<

Mikasa's side of the story.

“I mean, it doesn’t concern me. Like, at all so…”, inspecting her black-painted nails, Mikasa shrugged, “I don’t’ really see that as a problem.”

The creaking of the bed behind her suggested that Sasha turned or twisted there, shifting her position. After that, the tell-tale sound of her taking a long drag from the joint followed, with the smoky exhale in tow.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t give a shit about guys, I’m not looking for a boyfriend or anything.”, honestly, just the thought of it made Mikasa a bit sick, “Fuck that shit.”

“You do sound rather hostile towards that idea. Bad experience?”

More like no experience at all, but that was totally beside the point.

“The indirect ones.”

Sasha tried answering that, but inhaled some smoke and began coughing, only managing to motion for Mikasa to elaborate.

“Isn’t it obvious? What is a relationship anyway, all it gives you is someone to take stupid selfies with and slam the dog filter right on top.”, pitching her voice an octave higher in order to rightly imitate the type of girls she despised, Mikasa took it straight from the top, “Me and my muffin on our way to ‘bucks to get our caffeine fix. Aren’t we just the cutest? Lol.”

Her friend's coughing fit was replaced with a giggling one, but with a considerable effort, Sasha did reply this time.

“Aw, but you would be so popular with the guys! You are exactly the goth gf everyone is looking for.”

“Really? Isn’t she supposed to have like,”, Mikasa gestured towards her modest chest, “big tits?”

“Eh, those are secondary.”, Sasha waved her hand dismissively., “You got the goth part down, that’s the most important one.”

“Since when are you an expert on people’s tastes?”

“Well unlike you, I have actually been in a few relationships. Which automatically puts me over you in this department.”

That was a sound argument, so Mikasa settled with sticking her tongue out in response, getting another chuckle from her best friend.

“For real though,”, Sasha pressed on, rolling on her stomach in a weirdly seal-like move, “Relationship is more than just Starbucks trips, and shopping together, it’s also…”

“And making out in school, which makes the decent people there want to throw up.”, the goth chimed in.

“Right, that too. But as I was saying…”

“And having all those obnoxiously loud phone calls, calling each other honey, or babe, or kitten…”, pet names, those were really the worst. There was no way, not even the tiniest possibility that Mikasa would let anyone ever call her a kitten. The person who would try that would very quickly find that one of his bones just got magically broken.

“Yo Miks, are you going to let me finish or are you planning on keeping your “I hate couples and here’s why” charade going?”

Feeling like that her point has been made, Mikasa put an imaginary lock on her lips, pocketing the key.

“Finally. Now, back to my original point. A partner is great for other things than the annoying stuff you named, they are here when you need someone to talk to or lean on, they support you and…”

“Don’t I have you for that?”

“Well, yes, but there are some things that you’d probably share with a boyfriend that you won’t share with me.”

Mikasa shrugged.

“Like what?”

“You know, Intimate stuff, pillow talk…?”

“I tell you about everything Sash, you’re my best friend.”

The brown-haired girl sighed, taking another pull from the joint.

“Fine. What about physical stuff then? Don’t you want those?”

Even with the overall lack of reaction from her, Sasha didn’t miss the way Mikasa blushed, just a tiny bit. It was painfully obvious on her pale skin.

“Like kissing?”

“Yea. Kissing and … other things.”

If Mikasa was a bit embarrassed before, she was literally turning into a tomato right now, judging from the color on her face, and seemed really interested in picking at the carpet underneath her.

“Sasha, can I ask you something?”

The blunt kept getting short and shorter, much to the disappointment of the one smoking it, and if things kept going at the tempo they were progressing right now, Sasha would soon be burning her own fingers. Distracted by wondering how that feels, she didn’t respond to Mikasa’s question right away, only remembering herself when the other girl poked her to get her attention back.

“What? Oh, right. Shoot.”

“Is… you know… the thing better than when you do it yourself?”

Partially stoned at this point, Sasha didn’t understand the question until Mikasa sighed and mimicked the movement of putting her hand between her legs.

“Ah I get it!”, she snapped her fingers victoriously, “You want to know if sex is better than just fingering yourself!”

Honestly, if someone ever needed proof that weed can negatively impact lives, just point them to Sasha. Not only did she get like three times dumber, but her sense of decency also completely flew out of the window.

“Yes,”, Mikasa was basically speaking to the carpet right now, because facing Sasha’s full-on grin was not something that she was capable of right now. “That was exactly what I meant.”

“Well, it really depends on the guy you are with.”, after a bit of thought, Sasha leaned forward, giggling, and poked Mikasa’s shoulder, “Or girl.”

She just groaned.

“I’m serious though, guys at this age are mostly the kind that gets their fun and looks to make a quick exit. Nut and go. Shoot and scoot. Ejaculate and evacuate. Hit it then..”

“Okay! I get it!”

Out of things that Mikasa needed to hear right now, Sasha’s witty combinations were quite low at the list.

“I’m just saying, sex can be pretty disappointing if you don’t do it right. Like most of the things I did was usually worse or on-par with me taking care of myself.”

“Your experience? Damn Sasha, how many guys did you bang?”

It wouldn’t be fair to say that her friend was slutty, but Sasha did like having a social life. Then again, anyone compared to Mikasa had a social life, so her opinion might be a bit warped.

“Six? I think….”, once again retreating to her seal movements, Sasha rolled again, this time on her back, watching the ceiling, “Actually no, five, the last one fell asleep, so I left him there.”

“And how many of them were good?”

“One.”

That gave Mikasa a pause.

“One? Out of five?”

“I told you, guys usually suck at it. Two were terrible, two were decent and then the last one… Hmm.. the last one…”, lost both in her memories and the pattern on the ceiling, which looked so interesting with a little bit of cannabis in you, Sasha trailed off.

To her credit, Mikasa waited for about a minute before realizing what happened and poked her friend back to reality. Again.

“What was I saying? Oh right, the last one. It was an older guy, like mid-twenties, but he was really funny, and good looking too, so I decided to give it a shot.”, a large grin spread on her face, “And it was amazing, he really knew what he was doing.”

“Are you still seeing him?”

“Nah, it was a one-night thing, but I knew that going in, so I wasn’t disappointed. Got some great memories out of it.”

Not really knowing how to answer that, Mikasa just hummed, focusing back on the carpet. The threads were really complicated, now that she got a closer look.

“How about you?”, Sasha cut into her fun, “Any good memories?”

“Tsk, you know that I didn’t sleep with anyone.”

“I know that your v-card is still intact, but what about something else. Got anyone who’s a good kisser? Or gave you a hand?”, another giggle escaped the stoned girl, “If you know what I mean.”

“No, nothing like that. I mean.. I didn’t… I never.. Ugh.”

Sasha could really be obnoxious from time to time. And slow. But even in her current state, she managed to put one and one together, rolling on her front again and staring at her friend, down at the ground.

“Wait a minute, you never even kissed a guy? Seriously?”

“You know what Sash, I’m going to go and…”

“Wait nonono…”

As Mikasa tried standing up, in order to make a dramatic exit, Sasha all but lunged on her, pushing her back down with all her weight. If she really wanted to, the Asian could of course easily overpower her friend, but that was never really her intention in the first place, so with a groan, she surrendered, falling back down on the ground.

“Hey, you now I don’t mean it in a bad way, I’m just surprised that you never hooked anyone.”

“Why would you be surprised?”

“Well, you know, with all the guns at your disposal…”, Sasha gestured in the general direction of Mikasa’s body, indicating that the whole package was very much worth the purchase. “Just doesn’t make sense.”

What Sasha didn’t know was the fact that while Mikasa had multiple offers over the years, she turned them all down. Most of the time, a firm “No.” was more than enough, and on the few occasions when the interest persisted the unfortunate individuals were met with her famous ice glare and backed off soon after. Of course, there was also the one time when the guy tried touching her outright, after her refusal to go out with him, and she broke his hand in retaliation.

“Just doesn’t make sense…”, Sasha repeated, her gaze not moving from Mikasa’s face as a new idea seemed to sprout into life behind her eyes, which got somehow hungry. Honestly, the long look was starting to become a little uncomfortable.

“What?”

“Listen Miks…”, sliding down from the bed, Sasha sat down in front of her friend, “I have an offer for you.”

The intensity in her eyes took Mikasa by surprise if she was being honest, so she just nodded at Sasha, hoping that she will continue. So, her friend took a deep breath, licked her lips anxiously, and extended her hand, pushing a strand of midnight hair out of Mikasa’s pale face.

“Do you want to kiss me?”

All right, that was surprising.

“Kiss you? But aren’t we both like… straight?”

“So is spaghetti until it’s wet.”

“Ehm…”

“Hey, I’m not saying that you should hand your virginity over to me, but why don’t we do this, it’s just a kiss, right? Could be fun!”

“Why are you so eager to kiss me all of a sudden?”

“Because I never kissed a girl before, and you… well, never kissed anyone before. You can think of it as an exchange of firsts.”, Sasha’s eyes traveled up and down her body, returning back to Mikasa’s face, “Plus you are incredibly hot, not going to lie.”

And the more Mikasa looked at her, the dilated pupils, the slightly opened lips, the long brown hair hanging wildly around her face, the less crazy her plan sounded. This didn’t feel like all those offers she got before, it was different, better, and damn it all, but Mikasa found herself curious. So what that her first kiss would be with a girl, who cares? It was Sasha, her best friend, and the one person she trusted to keep this little thing a secret. With a feeling that resembled jumping off a cliff a little bit, she nodded, watching the grin spread on Sasha’s face.

“Let’s do this then.”

Getting a firmer hold on the goth’s head, Sasha leaned forward, slowly, most likely giving Mikasa the time to reconsider if she felt like it, but she was sure about this, despite the heart fluttering in her chest. Not sure if she should close her eyes or not, she let them open, watching as the last centimeters of distance ceased to exist between them, and suddenly, Sasha was kissing her. It was tender and soft, and nothing past a simple push of lips on lips, as her friend was aware of Mikasa’s lack of experience and felt no need of pushing her boundaries. And when she pulled back, Mikasa was herself surprised to acknowledge that the whole thing actually felt rather nice.  

“That’s it then?”, she asked, still feeling a bit high from the kiss.

“Well, no, not really, it’s usually much deeper than this. But I just wanted to give you the basic one, to see how you feel about it.”

Gathering her courage, Mikasa straightened her back, returning Sasha’s questioning gaze with her own, resolute one.

“Show me.”

This time, Mikasa did close her eyes and was soon greeted by the same feeling of warmth of Sasha’s lips against her own, pushing insistently. She moved her jaw a bit, trying to get Mikasa to follow her lead, but it wasn’t working.

“Relax your jaw Miks.”, Sasha whispered against her mouth, “I’m not fighting you, I’m kissing you, dummy. Follow my lead.”

Mikasa was half tempted to end the kiss just to say that if they fought, Sasha would go down in two seconds tops, but decided against it. Following her friend’s advice instead, she unclenched her muscles, letting Sasha pry her mouth open and angle her head the way she wanted, the kiss growing deeper like that, maybe even a little hungry, and definitely feeling better than just the chaste first one. After what felt like an hour, with Mikasa learning something new every second, Sasha pulled back with a satisfied smirk, wiping the traces of black lipstick the goth left behind on her face.

“So? How was that for a first one?”

“I..”, Mikasa licked her lips, the taste still lingering, “It was okay I guess. But definitely not something worth the trouble of getting a boyfriend. How about you?”

“It’s all right, but I still prefer a guy I think.”

“Mouth is the same on a man or woman, isn’t it?.”

Sasha just grinned, shaking her head.

“You’ll know what I’m talking about when you get one.”

Just the thought alone made Mikasa snort.

“Right, like that is ever going to happen.”

“Miks, you deserve a nice, very good-looking guy who’s going to treat you right, who you can get better at kissing with, because you kind of suck right now, and who’s going to help you discover all the sexy secrets of your amazing body, and then keep you up all night, giving you the most mind-blowing orgasms imaginable. And when, not if, when that happens, I hope that you will remember us having this conversation, and you will laugh at how close-minded you were.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence Sasha, but I doubt that it will ever happen.”

“You’ll see. Now, want to help me get through this second blunt or what?”

Having no idea where Sasha even got the second roll from, because it appeared as if by magic, Mikasa couldn’t help but smile as she helped her friend light it, taking a long pull herself after. If nothing, she’s not going to go to college as a kissless virgin. Just a virgin. Eh, better than nothing.

Eren was silent after she finished her part, just slowly taking the information in.

“Damn….”, he finally said, “Didn’t see that one coming.”

“Yup, you weren’t my first kiss, Sasha beat you to it.”

“I should have known that there’s something more between you two.”, he shook his head, grinning, “Homegirl has more tricks up her sleeve than I imagined.”

“I shared my story,”, Mikasa pointed out, “Now it’s time for yours.”

He nodded.

“That’s fair. My turn then.”

[sweetdeathwrites]

silent night

Summary: Holiday shopping is always stressful, but somehow, Gokudera managed to finish shopping even with the added responsibilities of his duties as right hand man to Tsuna and the organization of the annual Vongola-Varia holiday party. Still, Gokudera can't shake the feeling that he's missing something... and he hates not knowing.

[23 year old!Gokudera Hayato/Reader] Warnings: angst, doubt, self-hatred, guilt.... the full package baby! plus some sexual innuendo/referenced sexual situations

Word Count: 6,253

(reposted [crossposted? idk what that means...] from my Luna/AO3 account!)

(Original author’s note and details:

[a gift for dark_wing19 in the 2018 Holiday Fic Trade!! Happy Holidays and I hope you enjoy!] A/N: Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas if you celebrate that, and Happy New Year! This was so incredibly fun to write and I never really pegged myself as the type of person to enjoy writing holiday fic!! I mention a few times about the Vongola having a Holiday party instead of a Christmas party because I wanted to be respectful of all readers, but also because don’t you think the Vongola would do just that?? I can imagine the Vongola and Varia getting into arguments about how to celebrate everyone’s holidays without having multiple parties because, as we all know, parties that extend well into hundreds of people are no doubt expensive, but more importantly, the Vongola and Varia are very busy people! And all that plane fare for those groups going from one place to the other?? That would just break the bank! I like to imagine the top bosses (yes, I’m including Dino) gathering together and deciding that they will all have one big party together, and celebrate every holiday and religious day that occurs within the season! I think the bosses can be very reasonable when it comes to parties. This fic is for dark_wing19!! I’m really sorry about the wait, I had this almost done by Dec 24th and planned to post on Christmas but time got away from me and blah blah blah… It IS still technically within the deadline so I hope you didn’t wait too long! I tried to use all prompts, “In search of the perfect gift,” “All I want for Christmas is you,” “Sometimes the best gifts aren’t materialistic,” and “It’s the thought that counts!”. Hope you enjoy it! It got weirdly angsty for a hot sec so sorry about that lol I imagine Gokudera and the gang are older in here, but not quiet 10YL! Yet. Maybe they’re 23?)

–––––––––––––––––––––––––

It’s that time of the year again. Bells are ringing, children play in the freshly fallen snow, and the storefronts sparkle with unbeatable, slashed deals. It’s twilight, and Christmas trees and light decorations shine warmly in nearby parks, leaving the general feeling of contentedness twisting in the air. Couples walk down the street, arm in arm, blushing with a gentle passion as their little intimate bubbles of love remain unburst by the slow muddle of foot traffic. The one, teensy, ashen little smudge on the eve of the most magical time of the year is currently pushing against traffic, through lovebirds who squawk in protest and annoyance, and stepping in wide arcs much too harshly, crunching and slushing freshly fallen snow. Children complain and some throw feeble snowballs, but they all miss (did they want to deal with the consequences of if, by some terrible, unlikely miracle, they hit him?). Big, poisonous clouds of smoke curl out from his nostrils like some sort of fairy tale dragon, and lovers and young ones alike know to stay clear from him. This man is Gokudera Hayato.

Gokudera has his mind on other things, though. Right now, he’s thinking of his boss and friends– the people he’s been calling his family for years. He’s marking down everyone he’s gotten presents for and which gift wrap would suit them the best (because of course he’s going to color code them– how could he not?), all the while shouldering his way back to his shared apartment with you. Finally, his gift shopping was over! It was long and hard, with a famiglia as big as his, but the famous Smoking Bomber got through it all, even if he was cutting it a little close to the deadline! Confident in his memory, Gokudera checks his mental list (more than twice, in fact) to be sure everyone is accounted for. He is proud of himself for this, which isn’t something he can say about everything he does.

“Tsuna’s got a new watch, tie, and cologne set… Baseball idiot has a gift card to that stupid milk-based snack store and knife sharpening stones… Even Turf-Top has tickets to a boxing tournament… Lambo… that kid’s got candy… Who else…?” Gokudera murmurs to himself as he trods home, weary and eager to put down the multitude of bags that have been digging pale, red indents into his skin for the past few hours, cutting off circulation and making his already sour attitude almost unbearable. Gokudera hoists the paper straps higher up his forearms and regrips the about dozen in his hands with a new intensity: just a few more minutes and he would be home. Home with you– a hot chocolate in his hands, some soft holiday music playing in the background, and a blanket wrapped around him and the most lovely little minx he’s ever seen in his life: you! By now, the pile of presents under the Holiday tree (named so, by all of the Vongola to respect every member’s religion and beliefs!) must be taller than the tree itself!

Gokudera has hardly had a second to take for himself in the past few weeks, consumed by business and his duties as Tsuna’s right hand man, not to mention organizing the Vongola Holiday Hullabaloo (named by popular vote in order to be truly inclusive, and also, perhaps to be just the slightest bit silly. Gokudera can’t say it with a serious face. The Vongola family uses every possible chance to make him say it.) single handedly. Maybe the single handedly part was Gokudera’s own fault, as he stubbornly refused help from anyone… But besides that, and the gift buying, Gokudera sighs with the relief that comes from finally finishing all his tasks. Now that he has a second to himself, Gokudera can’t help but wonder what may lie under the Holiday tree for him… Maybe you got him some new jewelry, or perhaps a piece of technology from Giovanni that would allow him to modify his boxes with even more firepower! Or maybe a coupon for a couple’s massage excursion– no, a full on spa day together? With that thought, Gokudera takes a deep, slow breath.

Calm down, boy, he thinks to himself, Don’t get excited over what you don’t know.

In truth, Gokudera has been rather stressed lately. He misses the time he had, before this chaotic season, that he spent with you.

In his thoughts, everything seems perfect. Gokudera’s fantasizing about hurrying home and collapsing in your arms is a bit dramatic– what else can be expected of him?– but there’s something bothering him… Something at the back of his mind that just gnaws and gnaws until suddenly, but building ever so slowly, there are big holes of anxiety in his brain like swiss cheese. What the hell is missing?

“Shit,” Gokudera mumbles. He finally moves away from impeding pedestrian traffic and finds a small bench where he can rest his feet for a bit, but more importantly, riffle through his purchases. He feels like something’s missing. It’s a feeling he absolutely hates.

“Tsuna, Yamamoto, Ryohei, Lambo, Mukuro and Chrome, Hibari, Kyoko, Haru, Big Sis, some smaller stuff for the Varia… A box of chocolates for Tsuna’s Maman… Reborn…”

The more Gokudera digs through dozens of paper bags, the harder a feeling of emptiness sets in. His brow furrows as he counts every gift once more, grinding the butt of his nearly smoked out cigarette between his teeth.

What the hell is missing?

Feeling the frustration build, he pulls out his pack and lights another cigarette, rubbing out the used one on the bench. Gokudera fumbles around in his winter coat for a lighter he knows is in there and bites the fresh cigarette between his teeth. After coming up empty, he drops the rest of the bags the were weighing on his wrists to search his other pocket– he knows he has his lighter in there somewhere!

Gokudera’s fingers find it in the downy inner pocket of the overcoat, next to a small, but very important box that he’s kept in there for a few months, blunt nails bumping against smooth plastic that he’s so familiar with. The muscles around his mouth tug in what you, his darling beloved would call a slight smile; strangers that hurriedly pass him might call it different. The hunched man seated on a bench in the snow, surrounded by too many bags for a single man to carry, glaring pure heat indiscriminately at everything that moves would be more inclined to call that a grimace, or less politely, a full out snarl. However, the relief and joy Gokudera feels just grabbing the lighter make him feel like he’s walking on Cloud Nine.

He pulls it out, strikes the mechanism, and takes a long huff of that little stick of poison. The lighter is pink and covered with worn (or the term Gokudera prefers, “well loved”) stickers of kitties and hearts and cream puffs. You gave it to him on your one-year anniversary, before you realized how much of a problem his smoking habit was and how dangerous the consequences of smoking were. By your second shared anniversary, you totally denounced smoking and your previous gift, instead urging him to wean himself off and maybe start using nicotine patches, or get on prescriptions to help him off smoking.

Gokudera smiles at your concern, and with your help he’s been able to significantly reduce how much he smokes. But old habits die hard and he needs some instant relief right now. Taking another puff and feeling the nicotine swim in his lungs, filling him with a familiar sense of ease, he can’t help but feel little wiggling worm of guilt for smoking not just one, but two cigarettes in a single day. It’s been stressful, he tries to placate himself. Gokudera wonders how you’ll take the strong smell of ash on his mouth when you kiss him to welcome him home.

You kissing him is one of his favorite activities to do with you– among many others– and he wonders if you’ll abstain from that lovely affection again like you did when he last smoked this much in a day…

He doesn’t want to miss out on a single moment of your love.

Of a single moment of you.

Gokudera shakes off the build of ash that collects on the red tip of the cigarette. A little bead of recognition is rolling up into his brain, slowly, so very slowly… He takes another long puff and goes cross eyed watching that little scarlet circle rush towards the filter…

You.

“SHIT!” Gokudera vaults off the park bench, startling several passersbys and some mothers cover their children’s ears. Caring nothing for the delicate sensibilities of the general public, Gokudera scoops up all his purchases and runs back into the fray of holiday shopping in a panic.

A million gift ideas have come and gone through his head through the entire month of December, and for that whole month he’s pondered and entertained the idea of gifts, then rejected it with thoughts of “No, that’s too cheesy” or “Can’t get them that, that’s way overdone,” only to eventually forget that he failed to get you anything at all.

Gokudera feels overly warm in his winter coat– suddenly, he remembers you were the one to buy it for him and why was it that you seemed to buy him all his favorite things?– and all around him it seems shops are closing their doors and turning over their cursive “We’re Open!” signs.

He runs up to a glassware store with tea sets in the display window– you like tea cups and those cute little spoons, right?– just as a teenaged employee turns off the display lights. He meets eyes with the teen and there must be a wild desperation in his eyes because she reaches for the lock on the door to let him in, but a yell from behind the young worker causes her to jump and turn away from Gokudera.

His heart is pumping loud enough he can hear it in his ears and feel the pulse high in his throat as he silently begs that something just fell over in the store. No managers here, no siree.

To his greatest dismay, the girl turns back to him, with the deepest pity in her eyes, and her hand falls away from the lock. Green eyes are reflected back to Gokudera in the glass door and he sees just how pale and panicked he looks. Through that, the girl in the closed store frowns and shakes her head slowly– no, and I’m sorry.

Breath shakily falls out of Gokudera’s lungs and a hot burn touches his lip and he spits the cigarette he forgot he was smoking to the ground. With a groan, he touches his lip to find it tender, most likely slightly burnt. But he has no time for that. He stomps out the cigarette, in case it didn’t fizzle out in the snow, and turns heel to run around the shopping plaza against, in the desperate hope that some store, any store, is open for him to get you a gift that isn’t absolutely terrible.

He sees a lingerie store across the plaza with its lights still on. Should he… Does he dare?... No time to find out, Gokudera thinks, as he shuffles as fast as he can to the store, the bags around him making the loudest and most embarrassing sound he’s ever heard in his life.

It’s the sound of the dumbest boyfriend in the whole fucking world.

He’s fifty feet away when he considers what sort of boyfriend he is to buy you lingerie for a holiday. On one hand, it’s a sweet, sexy gift that you can wear whenever you want, and he knows you enjoy that. On the other, isn’t it selfish of him to buy you lingerie? After all, you’ll probably be wearing it for him, and in most cases, for hardly ten minutes at a time. Wouldn’t this be more of a gift for him?

He’s thirty five feet away when he considers that, hey, maybe if you don’t like it, he wouldn’t be the worst boyfriend in the world. You would have something as a gift and he could always get you an apology bouquet of roses (“Sorry, I Fucked Up” written in sad, loopy cursive) and a box of bourbon chocolates. Maybe a stuffed animal to boot. Maybe it’s a nice, sexy way of saying how much he loves you, and how much he loves you in the more… physical sense, too.

No, Hayato shakes his head, that’s so stupid.

He’s twenty feet away when he wonders if they have anything in his size. You get dressed up to impress him all the time– why shouldn’t he as well? When you wear anything with lace and silk he feels all hot under the collar… Why can’t he do the same for you? He’s not entirely sure how you would react to him in a lacy bralet and some thigh highs, but if past experience has told him anything, it is more than likely you would pounce on him before he could say anything witty as a hello.

Not even “Is that a gun or are you just happy to see me?” Gokudera thinks to himself in a delirious, out of body way. Nope. Not even that.

“Is it hot in here or is it just you?”

No go, buddy,

“Hello, gorgeous?”

Sure, why not say it with a rose between your teeth, too?

He’s ten feet away when he thinks that, yes, purchasing lingerie for himself would be a nice present for you– maybe he could get a nice red velvet number with a white fur trim to match yours. The emotional bonding of two people, simply lounging around and being in love in lingerie must be rather significant. That skin-to-skin contact, the intimate traces of silk, lace, latex, or even leather?.. That must truly send a shock up the spine, right? It does for him, when you sit on his lap in teasing, almost see-through netting, in that fiery red color of his flame. And with the both of you in lingerie, what sort of gaudy opulence is that!

He’s five feet away when, all on board with his plan, in his mind the most significant barrier to his plan is the size restrictions all stores have. He’s not sure if men’s lingerie even exists, but that’s no matter to him. Gokudera is fully worried on whether or not he can fit the women’s sizes that this store provides. The holiday season must have wiped most of the sophisticated styles from the racks. He can deal with looking a little racy, but will he be able to fit the sizes? Gokudera doesn’t think he has enough time to get his bra sized, or if they even have his band size in stock. If they don’t have any bras that fit him, he supposes he’ll have to settle for a teddy or some sort of sexy contraption that fits around his chest loosely. For the bottoms… Well, he’s seen the underwear you have for special occasions and what’s on display in this shop, and frankly? The goal of the underwear doesn’t seem to be to conceal, so Gokudera thinks he will be fine in whatever he chooses. And he knows you have some lovely garters and stockings he can fit; from previous experiences, both of some sexy, but also of some simply curious endeavors.

He knows he has some high heels that he can wear as well– these are from a mission he had to cooperate with the Varia– Lussuria, in particular– that ended in satisfaction but the details of the mission are things he would rather not remember or talk about. In the end, though, he learned that Lussuria is not as unbearable as he originally thought, that Lussuria might actually be a pretty good friend, and that Gokudera looks damn good as a woman.

Gokudera is standing right in front of the store, face almost pressed to the glass, when he realizes that it is closed and the lights are simply a festive, though confusing, decoration choice. Shit.

The walk back to that sad little park bench is slow and each step fills him with a pitting sense of dread that makes his feet feel they’re chained. Yellow light flickers above him and casts Gokudera’s shadow long and mourning, as the lamp post seems to feed off of his dilemma. Gokudera’s palms press into his too warm eyes and he is completely at a loss for what to do next.

A sudden buzz in his pants pocket scares him out of his misery before he realizes it’s a phone call. After he realizes it’s a phone call, he’s even more scared. He’s sliding the cell out of his pocket when a million thoughts rush through his mind. What if it’s you? Would he lie? No, sweetheart, I have everything under control, don’t worry about a thing. I’m just the absolute worst boyfriend in the world– nothing you didn’t already know. Love you, be home soon.

It’s Tsuna. Gokudera moans in relief and answers.

“Hey, Gokudera, how’s the Hullabaloo coming along?”

“BOSS!” Gokudera shouts into the receiver. A small noise of pain meets him from the other side.

“Y-Yeah?”

“I’m…” hesitation pulls at the right hand man’s voice, “in a bit of a situation.”

Tsuna finally gets the full story out of Gokudera nearly ten minutes later, with many pauses for apologizes and his best friend agonizing about how he forgot the love of his life’s present. Silence falls over the phone when Gokudera takes a deep breath after his explanation.

“Well,” Tsuna’s voice is light and tinny over the call, “you do actually have a present.”

“What?” Gokudera’s brow furrows and his fingers twitch in the craving for another cigarette.

His boss laughs, not condescending, but in a way that gives Gokudera the sense that he’s missing something. And that is a feeling that Gokudera hates very much. Gokudera pulls out the cigarette carton: damn the consequences, he’ll have as many as he wants tonight.

“Hayato,” Tsuna says, “you have a ring.”

At that, all the blood drains from Gokudera’s face leaving him as pale as the snow that surrounds him. Now he really needs a cigarette.

Gokudera swallows and clears his throat after a pause that was longer than it needed to be. “S-So?” he says, and shakily lights what’s clenched too tight between his teeth. It lights but Gokudera doesn’t seem to feel any warmth from it.

“So? So, Hayato, you’ve been sitting on this for months. No, it’s closer to a year now, isn’t it?”

“Well, I– it’s more complicated than that– y-you see–”

“Hayato, you’ve been giving me excuses for months.” A tired sigh comes over the receiver and a quiet moment passes where Gokudera’s eyes lift. Now all the stores are closed and empty. A light, thin snowfall hides footprints just barely and lights in apartment buildings start to disappear. It’s late. He hopes that you’re sleeping, but he hopes even more that you waited for him so he wouldn’t miss holding you close in bed on such a special evening.

“I think it’s time.” Tsuna isn’t pressuring. Tsuna is concerned.

Gokudera takes a big suck from the cigarette and watches the heat from his breath and the nicotine tinged smoke rise white against the dark, velvet lined sky. His voice comes out weak. “I’m not ready.”

“Are you? Are you really?”

Gokudera closes his eyes and buries his head in his hands, fingers pulling at his soft silver hair, the hair you love to run your hands through and wash and brush for him.

“I don’t think I can do it.”

Tsuna snorts, “Of course you can!”

“I’m afraid.”

At that, Tsuna quiets. No one speaks. The man he trusts so implicitly and so completely, the man he found most capable in the world, the man who was his first friend– how could he doubt himself so? How can Tsuna help his best friend when he can’t help himself?

But he can.

They aren’t fourteen anymore. They’re grown. Tsuna has matured into a fine mafia boss, fitting for the Vongola. Fitting for his family. Tsuna is a man now.

“Hayato,” he begins, “it’s okay to be afraid. This is a big commitment. You’ve been thinking about this for years, saving up to buy a ring. Turning it over in your hands at night, right? When you think they’re sleeping and you’re just torn apart by it?” Gokudera laughs softly in reply. His boss– his best friend knows him so well.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Tsuna continues, tone growing rough over the phone. “But don’t you ever fucking say that you’re not ready.”

Gokudera almost swallows his cigarette in shock, choking on the smoke. He can count the times Tsuna has said “fuck” on his fingers. Maybe he would have to use his toes too, but Tsuna hasn’t really sworn much since they were handed their high school diplomas and threw fringed caps in the air.

“Do you think you would have bought a ring if you weren’t ready? That you would have come to ask my blessing, which you’ve always had, if you weren’t ready? Hayato, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t see love in you. It’s in the way you talk, I can see it in the way you hold yourself. Your eyes, Hayato, I see that love there. It’s not just my intuition, it’s a fact. Don’t you ever doubt yourself about that.”

Gokudera, floored, immediately apologizes, assuming his position as right hand man and subordinate. “I-I’m so sorry, Boss, I didn’t mean–”

“For the love of god, Hayato, shut up!” Tsuna yells, “Don’t disrespect me like this! Don’t disrespect the family like this! Don’t you know how much we believe in you? In your future? How any of us would do anything to help you get a shot at happiness?

“So don’t you dare disrespect us like this. You’re ready, Hayato. Don’t you dare disrespect yourself like this, and don’t you fucking dare disrespect your partner like this.”

The line goes quiet except for Tsuna’s panting and Gokudera doesn’t know what to say.

He’s seen this love for family in Tsuna before, experienced it back in middle school when he almost blew himself to bits to win against the Varia, but it never fails to wipe him out with the depth and sincerity of Tsuna’s love. It’s a love that, to a stranger, could be easily mistaken for rage. But Gokudera is no stranger and he can’t stop the hot tears from spilling over his green eyes, palm pressed firm against his teeth so he Tsuna can’t hear him cry.

“T-Tsuna…” Gokudera manages to croak out, with not much else to say.

“Hayato,” his childhood best friend says in a much quieter voice, “Please stop holding yourself back. You deserve happiness. You’ve protected this family for so long, and we will always protect you… But you deserve to give yourself the chance to start your own family, grow your own happiness. It’s a risk, but please take that chance.”

Tsuna can hear Gokudera sniff on the other side of the line. He smiles.

“Yeah… O-Of course, Tsuna,” Gokudera swallows. “I think I’m ready.”

You’re worried. The clock reads well past midnight and Hayato isn’t home yet.

He left the house in the early afternoon, when the cool winter light hit him so softly and beautifully that you couldn’t help but kiss him goodbye so many times that he had to drag you on the couch and kiss you just as much in return. He promised to try to be home early so that you could bundle up together in front of the fire and plug in the tree lights, pull out hidden presents and put them under the tree. Hayato laughed and said that he wanted to watch holiday movies on the television with you, and yes, even the really awful ones because it was something he said he might actually enjoy if he experienced it with you. He laughs in this soft way around you, a laugh he doesn’t have with anyone else. It’s tender and he has this strange little smile that’s even softer when he looks at you. It could be love. It scared you at first, but you’re certain now, and it’s not so scary when it’s so gentle. You hope it’s love. You love him back.

You’re very worried.

For an hour or three, you passed out in front of the TV in the living room wearing his pajamas that are way too long for you. The spirit of the season made you sentimental, what can you say? But those few hours disoriented you and the sun had long since set. Through the glass windows above the kitchen sink, you can see the snow had started falling again. It had picked up.

Hot chocolate sits on the kitchen counter in lovely holiday mugs that you received as a present one year but the drink has been cool for the better part of an hour now. You don’t feel thirsty with the way things are now.

The small window pane in the front door shakes shrilly in its frame when the wind picks up and you jump. It’s even colder out now. You’re just barely tethering yourself from running headfirst into a panic attack but Hayato hasn’t picked up his phone calls and the last few went straight to voicemail. The house feels bigger without him, lonelier, but so much more claustrophobic as well. It’s the juxtaposition of the fearful, you know, but you can’t quiet those worries of him being stuck somewhere without help, freezing to death in the cold– you should have made him wear those gloves and wrapped that extra cashmere scarf around him as you kissed him goodbye for the second try. What if something bad happened to him? What if the worst happened to him?

You’re nearly burning a hole in the carpet with your pacing, and just as you’re about to call up Tsuna and wake him at an ungodly hour, technically the day of the Vongola Holiday Hullabaloo (you pushed very hard for that name), the front door rattles with the struggle of keys not turning the locks, you all but break down the door.

Gokudera, despite his quiet attempts to enter the house without waking you, curses and can’t seem to get his keys to cooperate and open the damn door. He’s freezing out here, he grumbles to no one in particular. He does say something rather nasty and biting about Jack Frost, though. Maybe the door is so hard to open because his hands are all but pieces of a cadaver with how frozen they are from the elements and refusing his damn gloves you tried to get him to wear earlier, and the combination of the heaviness and multitude of his many shopping bags.

Gokudera gets the shit scared out of him when the door knob flies out of his hand and he’s face to face with the love of his life, who is absolutely pissed the fuck off.

“Hayato!” You hiss, and drag him inside.

He’s startled by your abruptness but you’re wrapped in your favorite blanket from your shared bed and he notices, giddily, you’re wearing his pajamas and they’re just so big on you and you’re just so goddamned cute and–

“I swear! I almost called the cops, Hayato! But I couldn’t, because my man is the bane of their existence, so you know what I was doing? Just worrying my damn head off! If my hair turns gray and all falls out, I’m holding you personally accountable! What were you doing out so late? It’s freezing!” You rant and chastise and shake your head, but you help him put his bags down and take off his coat, putting it over the couch. You take his hands in yours and gasp.

“Jesus, Hayato!” You bring his hands to your mouth and blow hot air on them, rubbing and trying to warm them, “You feel like ice!”

“Tell me about it,” he groans, and leans his full body weight on to you, tipping the both of you over. Luckily, he made sure the couch would be there to catch you.

“Hayato, I’m serious! I was so worried!..” Your voice takes on a wounded edge as you trail away, burying your face into his chest, speckled with stubborn, melting snowflakes. The man above you looks down to see your hair wild from running your hands through it and that makes him uncomfortably guilty. Another feeling he hates, especially when it concerns you.

“Hey, I’m, uh,” he sits up and brings your face up to his. “I’m sorry.”

You don’t say anything but turn your face into his palm and sigh. He smells like ash.

“I lost track of time and Tsuna called me about–” he stops talking. When you look up at him he has a lost, helpless look on him. His hand on your face twitches against your cheek but it doesn’t leave. Hayato clears his throat.

“He, uh, called me about the party tomorrow. Then my phone died, sorry.”

“Hullabaloo,” you remind him, ghost of a smile creeping up your face.

He groans and the atmosphere is suddenly light, and the rest of the room returns in technicolor, high definition, 1080p. The crackle and lovely warm smell of the fireplace greets him and the television plays some god awful Hallmark movie softly. Gokudera finally feels the burn of the cold he’s been out in all night and he bunkers down further on the couch with his arms wrapped around you, pulling you half in his lap and you squeak a bit but don’t protest.

“Whatever,” he grumbles and buries his face in your neck. He missed you.

You squirm in his lap– his nose is cold!– and say, voice full of mischief, “It’s called a Hullabaloo,” and when greeted with another complaint from Gokudera you say more insistently, “What is it called, Hayato, love of my life?”

His hair tickles your neck as he shakes his head and says, in the resigned way only a man that’s hopelessly in love and fighting a losing battle can say–

“Ugh. Fine. It’s a damned Hullabaloo…”

He feels you roll over in his grasp so you straddle his hips and your face is looking up at him, gentle and kind.

“Thank you.”

“You’re not welcome.”

Within a commercial break, Hayato is settled in and donning a new set of sleepwear, snug and warm on the couch, and you have hot chocolate and sugar cookies in spades. He’s got an arm around you and you are all but tangled in him. You can hear his heartbeat in his chest, faster than normal, and it’s concerning but the debacle you were faced for the past few hours has exhausted you and the low, dancing lights from the Christmas tree lull you to a happy sleep. The both of you know you won’t be awake in a few moments.

“Hayato?”

“Yeah, babe?”

He feels your breath warm against his exposed collar and it’s almost as nerve wracking as it is a comfort. He’s all too aware of that little box in his coat, just behind the two of you to his right, slung over the couch. It’s the heaviest little box in the world, he’s sure.

“I was really worried. I thought something happened to you…”

“I know,” Hayato whispers and places a kiss on your temple, petting your hair. “And I’m so sorry. Really.”

“I know,” you reply back in a quiet voice.

You add on, as sleep has made you embarrassingly and so emotionally raw, “All I really want is you, Hayato… ”

The couple on the television kiss and orchestral Christmas music swells: the credits roll to the sound of a remixed, pop version of holiday classics. It’s really a pain to witness. Hayato can tell you’re trying your hardest not to drift away when you ask a question that freezes him up.

“Are you really okay?” you ask, pressing your ear to his chest, mumbling, “Your heart’s beating so fast…”

Gokudera coughs a little, then belatedly hopes that you can’t smell the ash on his breath. He knows you noticed he’s smoked, and smoked a lot, but you haven’t said anything about it. He’s grateful you’ve given him that small mercy.

“Yeah, just, uh,” he sighs, running his hands through your hair, “We can talk about it tomorrow.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Another Hallmark movie begins and the snow outside drifts to the ground, calm and steady. You’ll wake up to a beautiful, snowy Christmas morning, then go to the Vongola-Varia Holiday Hullabaloo (damn you for making him think it…), and be surrounded by friends and family. A truly memorable night indeed.

Your body leans heavily on Hayato and when he’s sure that he’s sure you’re asleep, he carefully reaches behind him, fumbles with his coat, and nearly drops the ring box on your head when he takes it out.

You’re damn right I’m not okay, I’m scared as fuck, he thinks, opening the box and running the flat of his thumb over the smooth parts of the silver ring. He didn’t want to get you anything too gaudy, but it’s still rather dramatic and pretty (just like me, he thinks in a detached humor). He knows you’ll like it. He hopes you’ll love it.

Pressing another kiss to your head, Gokudera takes a deep, steadying breath. Of course you’ll love it, he reminds himself– if Tsuna can see it, it has to be true. He knows, deep down, that you’ve been waiting for this for a long time. You’ve been ready for a long time. He’s finally ready, too. He thinks of a plan, as responsible as he is, but he knows it’ll all go to shit the moment he opens his mouth.

In the morning, you’ll wake up to soft winter light, and Hayato on one knee in front of you in pajamas; you’ll laugh at first, disoriented and sure you’re in a dream. Then he’ll make a little speech, fingers itching for a cigarette and instead occupying one hand on your thigh and one in his pocket, running over the edges of that little box over and over.

You’ll start to get teary, some stupid holiday movie that you love to hate will play in the background, and the lights from the tree will make Hayato look so beautiful, so devastatingly handsome with his heart bared wide open for you like that.

Eventually, you’ll shout yes, and Hayato will cry before you do, and he’s not afraid to admit it. Though Yamamoto will tease him about it, Ryohei will cry too and tell him he’s the most manly guy on the face of the earth. The whole Hullabaloo will be full of congratulations and love, friends and family– and presents.

And Lambo, that son of a bitch, will say, after all that fuss over the ring and marriage, “Wait, the ring is great, but where's the present you got them?"

And Gokudera will knock his lights out– or try his best to.

And you’ll forgive him and kiss him under the mistletoe to calm him down because really, all you want is him.

And the best present he ever could have gotten is you.

Gokudera takes another deep breath, and squeezes the box one more time in his hands before he hides it away safely in his pocket. He kisses your hair one more time before resting his chin on your crown and closing his eyes. Gokudera Hayato falls asleep with a slow burning determination to be the most loving and supportive husband he could possibly be for you. He smiles as he drifts away, dreaming of weddings and honeymoons.

[pebbeul]

To be honest, I hardly ever splurge on face palettes because you usually never get a 10/10 suitability for all the shades in the given palette. But fortunately, that was not the case with the Hourglass Ambient Unlocked Palette. This palette is rather “old news”, having come out in September 2018, but it still remains until now one of my favourites for travel, simply because it is such an easygoing, wearable palette.

The shades offered in this palette are a little more basic and suitable for everyday wear. They are especially suited to my skin tone: from the face powder, bronzer, blush, and right down to the highlighter. In fact, I can just use this palette on its own for a full face of makeup on the go. 

I don’t have much of an in-depth review about this palette, simply because it’s just a very normal colour palette for everyday use. The formula is smooth and pigmented (as expected of Hourglass), the shades are great for neutral makeup, and the overall palette is easy to store for travelling, with a pretty decent sized mirror too. Plus, the shades are also adaptable - you can use the blush/bronzer shades for eyeshadow to create a monochromatic look, which is slowly gaining popularity these days.

Shades wise, I would say that what wowed me the most was Soft Light - their face powder of all things. I love Hourglass face powders, don’t get me wrong. However, the one that I currently use (Dim Light) has a peachy-pink undertone that makes my face look a little redder than my actual skin tone, which is a little jarring. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Soft Light is actually a perfect match for my skin - you can hardly tell that the powder is there on my wrist - and it still retains that fantastic formula nicely set my makeup without caking it. I wish that Hourglass sold Soft Light on its own, but unfortunately they don’t, so I have to make do with ensuring that this lasts me for a long while. 

Another shade that I also particularly like is the Mood Flush blush. I might be a little partial because I love the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Mood Exposure (which is similar to this shade), but I just love the versatility of this color! It looks like a cool pink in the pan, but swatches on a lot warmer and it just gives this pretty mauve flush that I can’t seem to find in other blushes. Plus, you can do a little touch for a subtle look, and pack on the blush if you want it to be brighter. 

The shades that I didn’t particularly fancy are Nude Glow and the Champagne Strobe Light. I was disappointed by Nude Glow because I had such high hopes for it. It was my initial favourite shade out of the 6 when the palette first came out. I actually made the decision to buy this palette because of this shade alone (oops!). On my swatch it’s a wonderful shimmery peachy pink that is a perfect in-between of NARS’ Orgasm and MAC’s Springsheen, but disappointingly in real life its glitter particles are very big and it makes the shimmer look slightly artificial. However, I managed to salvage this problem by mixing this ultra-glittery blush with the matte Mood Flush blush to minimise the overall glitter particles. The end result is actually quite nice when you mix these two, so do give it a go if you have this palette on hand!

My problem with the too-big glitter particles is also present in the shade Champagne Strobe Light. I liked the shade of the highlighter but the glitter particles were really too big. I felt as though the formula was more glittery than shimmery, which takes away that illusion of a naturally radiant glow that I love. I find that I don’t particularly reach for this highlighter a lot - I prefer using Becca’s Champagne Pop (liquid/ poured highlighter) for a more subtle highlight.

Overall, I would say that this palette is my best friend when I travel, but I don’t find myself using it as often as I would like to when I’m doing my makeup at home. It could be because I get “bored” with my products and I love trying new things all the time. Or maybe because I hardly use palettes because they are a little more “restricting” in the kinds of looks you can create. Either way, although I find that this palette is really good and it’s 10/10 in terms of shade compatibility, ironically, its main downside is that it could be too basic in its curation of shades which does get boring after awhile (as do all neutral makeup looks, lol). Therefore, just a word of caution here to girls who like to experiment with makeup, or if you like your looks to be bright and poppy: this palette might not necessarily be worth it in the long run for you.

Nonetheless, I would still recommend purchasing this palette because the shades are really easy to wear on a lazy day. If you’re a fuss-free casual makeup kind of girl, you really want to consider buying this because it’s an all-in-one package. Not to mention, for the price point for 80 USD, getting 6 good quality shades that are universally flattering is a steal. 

[iwt-v]

There's a lot of cats in them there prompts so fuck it - prompt: they open a cat sanctuary. and take in stray cats (and probably don't give any away bc they get too attached but it's cool cos they like their cat children)

@marinarasarahThey find a stray cat and take it home. But then there are more and more cats showing up at their doorstep, they obviously got good rep in cat-town now ^_^

@warsawmouse  every day a black cat shows on their doorstep at breakfast, waits politely to be feed scraps and leaves (feature of my childhood). one time james catches a nasty cold, and the cat nominates itself for nursemaid. from then on they can consider themselves adopted.

So I tried to combine all three of these prompts into one crackish tale because I’m insane. I didn’t quite get everyone’s exact prompt (except for the ask anon lol) but I made all the cats queer so I hope that makes up for it xD.

—–

It started when James was late for work one morning. He’d spotted it hiding under the rhododendron bush, eyeing the biscuit James was trying to eat on his way out the door.

He’d broken off a piece and watched as its black formslinked out, ocher eyes full of pitiful hunger as it grabbed the biscuit.

Thomas had seen it too, in different areas around the houseand the neighborhood. They’d purchased dry cat food for it, setting out a bowlon the back patio.

“Look at the poor thing,” Thomas lamented as they watched itdevour the cat food.

“I’ve seen more around lately,” James commented.

And the food for Midnight (they called him, once James had finally seen the underworkings) also began toattract other strays.

James grumbled their new habit was costing too much but Thomassecretly smiled when James dutifully fed them and watched them.

Three cats turned into five, then six and seven. And thenthere was the incredible discovery James made one day.

He was sitting at the kitchen table and looking out thepatio door. Midnight was chasing after another tomcat, a calico. James assumedthere was a territorial dispute going on. But then they both tumbled in thegrass together and their fighting became much more like frolicking, eventender.

James blinked at what came next. He rose slowly from hischair, not believing his eyes. Was that…was Midnight…

“Thomas” he yelled. “Thomas, come here!”

Thomas appeared, a half-folded bath towel in his hands.

“Good Lord, what are you—”

“Look!”

James hooked him by the neck and pointed at the two cats.Midnight was quite clearly topping the other male cat. Thomas raised a finger.

“Isn’t that calico a male?”

“Yes!”

“And they are definitely—”

“Yes!”

Thomas yelped and even bounced a little, hugging James likean excited boy.

“We have gay cats!” he announced proudly.

*

In the following weeks as they came to recognize morefelines and their genders, even more discoveries awaited.

Midnight, it seemed, was actually bisexual. And two femalecats—named Thelma and Louise, respectively—were constant companions, snugglingtogether on the patio chairs.

Then there was a pretty soft gray cat with narrow eyes whom Thomasnamed George Takei and who had a singular affinity (often a horny affinity) foranother male James called Johnny B (short for John Borrowman, of course).

After a while there were so many queer cats in the neighborhoodthey realized it was becoming a problem.

“They’ll end up getting picked up by the pound,” said James.

Thomas was horrified.

“Most of them will be put to sleep,” he said. “We cannotallow that.”

Midnight, who sat between them on the couch, nuzzled Thomas’shand and let out a squeaky meow.

“I think he agrees,” said James.

“I think,” said Thomas slowly, “I have a proposal for this.”

*

Thomas owned a large plot of acreage on one of hisproperties so they decided to build it there. By the time they had managed tocatch and move all of the stray cats into the area James counted overtwenty-five felines of all colors and dispositions, but over half had one thingin common: They were queer kitties.

“This could very well be the largest collection of queercats anywhere in the world,” Thomas said as they stood looking out at theircat-dotted landscape. After a moment he realized James was staring at him. Heturned to look at him, blushing.

“It could be!” he insisted.

James was smiling softly at him, green eyes full ofadoration.

“I have the greatest husband ever,” he said.

Thomas beamed at that.

***

[ka-za-ri]

Feels Right (Gladio x Reader)

Rating: SFW Pairing: Gladio x Reader Genre: Tooth Rotting Fluff Wordcount: 1,514 Suggested Listening:  『希望、一縷。』-- m:a.ture

Notes: Usual tag to @hypaalicious​ bc I got nothing better to do than to satisfy my angry muse and pretend my arms aren’t on fire bc lol what is tendonitis x cts. Fluff bc I can’t write anything else and bc inspiration has been dying like whoa. May need to take a break for 10,000 years again before I bother writing anything quality again. 

Fireworks season meant feeling lonely compared to the couples who blissfully sat on hillsides and beach shores to watch the evening light displays. As much company Gladio provided, his job as the King's Shield kept him scarce most of the time.

Summer meant oppressive humidity and sudden thunderstorms. The heat meant you did everything you could to avoid all contact with people. Still, you had obligations that must be met, such as purchasing groceries and eating on a regular basis. Days when the heat seemed to somehow find a way to snake its way into your apartment even through all the air-conditioning made you wish you had your own personal Ignis to do your chores for you.

Though he'd probably just guilt me into doing them myself with how busy he already is with Noctis...

The summer heat wave didn't seem to get any more pleasant as the days dragged themselves one after another with no relief. You nearly threw something at the TV when the meteorologist announced that it would be even hotter for the rest of the week. Groaning you looked at the calendar on the wall and gasped when you realized what the date circled at the end of the week meant.

"Babe, come on, I know it's hot but let's go see the fireworks before they go away for good." He had suggested the date on a midday call between the two of you. Somehow, despite his busy schedule, he still found the time to check up on you after a training session.

"Gladio, they're going to be back next year. Can’t we just, do something that’s not going to be outside?"

"Yeah? So? That's next year. I wanna go this year. Come on, babe, we almost never get a chance to do anything together. Let's do something before the summer's over, just the two of us."

You couldn't handle him whenever he pleaded with you that way. You felt your resolve crumble right underneath you. As much as you loved air conditioning, your affections for Gladio were that much stronger.

"Fine, when are you next free."

You could imagine the little dance he did when you admitted defeat. "Next week. Saturday. I gotta go now, his royal pain in the ass needs me. But hey, we'll make a day of it. Promise?"

"Promise."

You were starting to have doubts about the date when you heard how hot it was going to be on that Saturday. However, you weren't one to go back on your promises. When the fated date came, you made a point to put on the fewest articles of clothing as you possibly could. Though you were one to usually want to look nice for a rare date, it was too damned hot for you to really care about appearances this time.

You had half a mind to call the whole thing off when you cracked open your curtains to quickly check the weather. You were boldly greeted with an obnoxiously bright sun whose rays could be felt through the closed window. This, is a bad idea. In fact, this is the worst idea we’ve had in a long time. I should just tell him we should make it a night in instead. However, the thought of Gladio whining the whole night at your apartment for bailing out of his romantic date idea kept you from breaking your promise.

The only thing that was more obnoxiously bright than the sun was the smile Gladio wore when you opened the door when he arrived. He took a good look at you with a wide, shit eating grin when he saw your tiny shorts and tank top. "And here I thought I liked showing off my assets." He whistled. "The way you look should be illegal."

You could feel a blush creep up on your cheeks at his comments. "Can it, it's hot. I'm going to get away with as little as possible to avoid dying." you grumbled. "I can't believe you convinced me to do this..."

He let out a loud, mirthful laugh at your grumpy nature. "Oh, come on grump stump, you get to spend time with me. Don’t look so gloomy. Want me to fight the sun for you?" He offered.

"If it means the evil heat orb in the sky will go away, then yes."

"Alright, you've definitely spent too much time indoors. Let's go." He chuckled before taking you by the hand and leading you out.

~~~

The heat was oppressive, and within minutes you could feel your whole body covered with a thin sheet of sweat. You had barely made it out past your apartment complex and you already felt as if you needed three showers to feel like a normal human again. Gladio was quick to notice your discomfort and made a point to try and keep your path in some sort of shade.

As much as you detested the weather, you had to admit, walking through town and spending time with your boyfriend made your mood, somewhat lighter. Gladio had a habit of pointing out something about the city that you hadn't noticed before. Whether it was the fat cat that made its rounds to each of the cafes with outdoor seating for scraps or if the old lady who sold greens had bought a new blouse, you always learned something new about the city the two of you shared whenever you were with him. You loved how perceptive he was of his surroundings and always cherished the details he pointed out as if he had put them there himself. His light, cheerful attitude brought you relief from the heavy heat that had settled on the city.

You hadn't realized how distracted you had been, staring at souvenirs until you turned around and noticed that Gladio had disappeared without telling you. Knowing his nature, you figured he was hiding somewhere near to pop out and give you a start. However, the stand you were at didn't have the room to hide such a large man. Confused, you started to frantically look around to try and see where he had gone to.

You jumped slightly and nearly called bloody murder when you felt something land on your head and the sun suddenly became less bright. Looking up, you were once again met with a wide. wolfish grin as Gladio placed the large sunhat on your head.

"Your nose was getting a little red. Figured I needed to do something about that." He explained, also whipping out a pair of large aviator sunglasses from seemingly nowhere and placing them on your face.

You had a feeling from the way your face was heating up that your nose wasn't the only thing that was red at that point. "Thanks."

"No problem. Now, it looks like I'm dating a bombshell celebrity." He joked, wrapping his arm around your waist and leading you to the next place he had in mind.

~~~~

As the sun set and the time for the fireworks show got closer, you found yourself walking along the beach, flip flops in one hand while the other was occupied with holding Gladio's. With the sun dipping past the horizon, it painted the world in a fiery glow that matched the heat that you had experienced earlier that day. You couldn't help but smile slightly as you widely swung your arms back and forth all the while letting your feet relish in the feel of cooling sand that had just been touched by the sea.

Okay, maybe I can forgive the sun for today. I guess it could have been worse.

It had been a fun day, despite how grumpy you were at the beginning.

You followed Gladio to a quiet spot to settle and watch the sun set prior to the fireworks show. You laughed when you realized both of you didn't have the forsight to bring a blanket to sit on.

"Well, I guess I'll take one the team." Gladio commented, shedding his vest and laying it down on the ground. "Come on, take at seat, it's about to start."

Doing as you were told, you sat down and settled yourself down when he sat down next to you and wrapped an arm around you. You both let out a hiss when you felt a dull, burn spread across your arm from where he had touched you.

"Babe, did you put sunscreen on today?" He asked, looking down at you with a worried expression.

"I... I may have forgotten..." You admitted.

He let out a bark of a laugh that melted perfectly to the boom that the first firework that went off in the distance. His smile was illuminated for a brief moment before the bright light dissipated into the night. "Silly, girl. Come here and let daddy kiss the pain away." He teased, placing soft kisses all along your arms.

“Next time we go on a date, let’s stay in.”

“Hmmm. Sounds like a much better plan. Guess who has tomorrow off too.”

Perhaps, summer really wasn't that hot after all.

[thelustinlimbo]

Okayyy so this is my review of my favorite morphe brushes I just got and tried! Tbh I really wasn’t sure what to expect with morphe, I looked through countless reviews and videos, looked up pictures and negative rants. So I was kinda expecting the worst but hoping for the best? I picked out a bunch of brushes that were reviewed countless times through youtubers, and then some that just caught my eye and felt like I needed to try them out. I was super worried that the negative reviews were right and I just wasted a bunch of money on a bunch of garbage, I’m always skeptical with “YouTube” brands because of past bad experiences. So for a while I just put myself in the mindset of “if I don’t see and try it in a store or in person I don’t want to waste money on it”. I’ve kinda been bored with makeup and not into for the past year or so, like it became not fun for me and I just stopped buying and trying new products as much as I had before bc what was the point? I just restocked what I needed, mainly bought skin care, and sometimes tried new things but they didn’t excite me. I missed the joy makeup gave me before so I felt like I needed to “redo” my collection to hopefully fall back in love with my favorite hobby, the brushes I had were all old and idk I just felt like my makeup was blah bc of it, so I finally decided to give morphe a try since they have a huge selection of inexpensive raved about brushes!! I’m honestly SO surprised with the quality!!! I thought out of the almost 60 brushes that I purchased I would really like and use maybe 10 tops, I thought I would be disappointed in a bunch of them and just use the ones I really like, but oh my god!! I swear I haven’t been this excited about a purchase in soooo long! Every brush I bought had a purpose I can think of and use for, even the ones that I initially was like eh or what the hell can I use this for?? Ended up my favorites!! (Mainly eye and brow brushes which I will show in the review) the brushes are all super soft and just great quality over all, idk if they just improved over the years or people were just being negative but I don’t know why anyone would trash talk these inexpensive high quality brushes.. Anywayssss.. So here is a round up of my favorites so far!!

E43 - is just basically a smaller E3 but today I used it for my cleaning up my under eye setting powder and then I grabbed it again to apply my highlighter very soft, and just feels like a high end brush.

E3 - I used it for a slight contour, I don’t like harsh contours on cheeks but this picked up the product just enough and the shape of it reallyyyyy just added the right amount of product in the right places!

E4 - a simple blush brush, but it’s so soft and picked up a small amount of product and applied the blush flawlessly to my face so it got a rank in fave face brushes so far!

E8 - I looooove small chubby round brushes, they are perfect for creating an “airbrush effect” in larger pore areas, I don’t really have large pores but when I use brushes like this to blend out foundation and powder around my nose/cheek area it creates just a smooth flawless finish and I have been needing a replacement for a Sephora brush I had for years that started losing its density and amazingness. This is a great cheaper alternative that is just as good!!

E41 - I have never applied my bronzer to my face so perfectly and quickly as I did with this brush, it picked up just the right amount of bronzer without creating the orange face look, applied it without scratching my face or leaving behind a bunch of fall out like a sorta similar sigma brush I have does!! Looove it!!!

M439 - I feel like every youtuber/reviewer/Mua and their mother has this brush and raved about it so I had to pick it up and try it out for myself. It really does live up to its expectations!! It gives a super full coverage even with a medium/light coverage foundation, I don’t always like to have fullllll coverage but when I do this brush will do the job! It does kinda suck up a lot of product, but not as bad as some other similar brushes I have. It’s super soft and you will have a even full coverage on in like 10 seconds with this brush.

M528 - I think I applied my Laura mercier secret brightening powder with this one, I can’t remember what I did with this brush but I threw it into my love pile and it doesn’t have any colored product on it so I think I just applied the powder with it. It’s super soft and can my used as a highlighter, or setting brush! E - 18 if you have smaller almond shaped eyes like me YOU NEED THIS BRUSH and also the M501, and E36 but I’ll get into those in a bit, the E18 is absolutely perfect for applying a crease color into small spaces, it picks up as little or as much product as you need and is just a must have brush.

M250-0 - OHHHH myyyyy godddd!!! The eyeliner brush I have been searching for but never found, I always came close but it was either to thick, had stray little hairs, was too long, or too stiff, something was always slightly justttt off with other liner brushes. They were good, they did the job, but they didn’t make it as easy as this one did!!! I haven’t had this even winged liner in like two years I swear lmao. I always have one eye perfect and the other one is it’s less perfect twin, or they both just looked like shit and I eventually came to except the fact that a super amazing winged eyeliner was just not gonna be in my life, untillllll this beauty came in the mail today😭 it’s. Just. Perfect. I completed a winged simple cat eye that was as even as humanly possible for me in the shortest amount of time it ever took me to do it, idk if I was just running on adrenaline from finding a perfect liner brush or bc my eyeliner looked amaze on the one eye I did first lol.

M213 - You also need this in your life, trust me. If you are sloppy in your eye makeup technique or just want something to really tightly apply shadow to your lower lash line effortlessly, then you need this brush. Don’t even doubt it just buy it. Also for some reason it looks really big in the picture above but it’s a super tiny little smudger with soft bristles but it isn’t flimsy. Just try it, you will see.

M575 - when I first saw this brush I felt indifferent about it, it kinda looked too long to be a good blending brush, I usually liked “fluffier” blending brushes and this one looked to long and slender, but wow.. for my eye shape it was the perfect “precision” blender! You know how with fluffy blending brushes shadow tends to kinda go all over your eye? And if you have smaller eyes like me it starts looking sloppy really quick, but this really helped blend and diffuse color ONLY where I wanted it! Surprisingly amazing!

M501 - okay… This brush is the brush out of alllll the brushes I kinda took one look at and was like?? “What the hell am I going to use this for?? Maybe highlight?? Idk?” It’s really oddly shaped, tapered, slim, slender, weird… Looks like a useless little highlight brush if your really particular about where you want to place high light or if you’re gonna be doing an infants highlight lol. For some reason I grabbed this weird little brush and started using it as an eye blender and was SHOCKED it’s like this brush was made for my eyes, it diffused my crease color so perfectly, the tapered part went into my crease and just idk, it was magical. I blended carelessly throughout my eye and it just created the perfect eye look!! The problem I always have with blending my shadow is that I get a dark color too far into my inner eye, creating like a Natalie Portman from the swan lake ballerina movie effect if that makes sense, I hate the way that looks on me and this brush just effortlessly blended without dragging color into my inner eye corner. I feel like I have a difficult eye shape and I hate doing shadow bc of it. But not anymore 😍 M432 - this is a basic flat square brush, it's great for the waterline but I used it to shape up my brows and it did a great job! It's the perfect density and size to sculpt brows without adding a crazy amount of product to the area, it's a must have in a makeup collection especially if brows are your least favorite makeup application like mine, my brows annoy me and a good brow day for me is rare because I have a giant scar through one which always makes the shape of it different then the other one. But today I'm having an amazing brow day and it took me half the time it normally would to do my brows with my new brushes :D M224 - another staple!! I had a Mac one that I used for years but it was starting to look raggedy, I use these brushes on days I have a blemish I need to cover and apply a bit more product, to sometimes apply foundation to my face before going in with a beauty blender, to shape brows, to apply a concealer from a pot to my under eye. I use these types of brushes as like product picker uppers and packers, it's like a forgotten brush that is very useful but not as talked about by me because it's boring but very much needed in a makeup lovers collection! This one has synthetic bristles and is overall really well made, I was expecting this one to be a super cheapie garbage brush, but it's up to par with my Mac one when it was in its prime days lol. M160-1/16 - another brush I saw and was like this kinda looks terrible.. The bristles seemed to long and soft to use for brows, but I tried it today and it's wonderful for creating a softer brow look!!! Like wow, it picks up a little bit of product so if you're heavy handed with brows like me it's a MUSTTTTT it applied my favorite brow powder to my brows and I swear it made my powder work and look better then ever, I used it in the front part of my brows and it's just gonna be an everyday staple for brows. M413 - I feel like I judged all the brow brushes to harshly when I first opened my package, I thought these were gonna be the crappy brushes of my entire order which was fine with me because they were the cheapest so not too much lost I thought. This brushes bristles are FIRM like super firm.. And kinda long. Immediately I thought that it was gonna scratch my skin and pick up way too much product.. I tried it gently, and applied my powder to my scar and wow this brush is def a favorite, I just have to be light handed when applying! But it picked up product and applied it right where you put it, I then brushed and diffused the color with the spoolie. My brows look so refined but natural in combination with the M160-1/16 brush, I used the M413 towards the ends and middle. I think this brush is also great for people who like bolder brows bc of how easy it is to shape and apply product with it. Andddd lastly, for not at least! G20 - this brush is great for packing on shadow! It works great for my eye shape. I mean there's not much to really say about it other then it does its job! I also like the gunmetal color, I got a few brushes from gunmetal collection but haven't tried them out yet. The bristles are soft, the shape is perfect, the size is great. It can also be used as a concealer brush for blemishes. Overall I'm super happy with my order and I think it's money well spent!! Sorry about the longgg post but I tried to sum up my favorites so far as best as I can. I haven't washed these brushes yet so I don't know how they shed or how they are after washing but I'll keep all you updated!:)

[sdmn-edits]

ChrisMD Imagine: A Chilly Myth (Part #2)

Summary: Y/N and Chris have just made it to the fireworks and Y/N introduces him to the rest of her family. Y/N goes back inside to get some more food for the table. However, when she comes out of the house, her favourite song starts playing so she goes to the dance floor and starts dancing, little does she know she’s been recorded and Chris is right behind her...

Warnings: just pure cuteness.. I think that’s it?

Requested: Yep by a lovely anon:  “Hii ! (: i dont know if you r taking imagine request right now but if so i would like to ask for one (: Where reader and ChrisMD are together and they travel to canada for new year (bc reader lives there) and he is not ready for the cold bc he tought it was a myth.. (: ps: they’re both youtubers so you can make it like if it was a vlog or something ahaha thankssss (:”

Rating: anyone can read lol

A/N: Hey, yes I will be doing Ethan and Vik Imagines soon do not panic, I’m just struggling for ideas again. Y/B/N: Your Brother’s Name. Y/L/N: Your Last Name. Y/D/N: Your Dad’s Name. I’ve also had an idea for another Simon imagine.. Anyways I hope you enjoy <3

~Beth <3

———————————————————–

/-/-/ Y/N’s P.O.V /-/-/

“Come on! We’re gonna be late for the fireworks” you said as you pulled him with you to the car. You both walked hand in hand to your car.

/-/-/ Time Skip /-/-/

“Y/N!!!!” you mother squealed as you came out of your car.

“Hey Mom!! This is Chris, remember me telling you about him?!” You said, referring to Chris. “Oh my! You are certainly more handsome in person! Oh, dear? Why is he wearing shorts and a jersey in this weather? Didn’t she ever tell you darling? Canada’s never hot!” You mother cried. Chris looked down in embarrassment. “Mom! He’s my boyfriend! And yes he figured it out when we got off the plane! Now can we go inside before he freezes to death?!” you reply holding Chris’ hand. You both walked into the warm and cosy house and walked upstairs to now yours and Chris’ bedroom. As you got into the room: “You can borrow some of Y/B/N clothes, he won’t notice” you laugh as you go to his room.

/-/-/ Chris’ P.O.V /-/-/

When she left the room, you opened one of the suitcases (which you believed to have it in it). You opened the pocket where it was kept and saw the little velvet box you purchased last week. You opened to check if it was there, and sure enough it was, shiny as ever. You quickly closed it and put it back in the pocket when you heard her coming back.

“Hey try these” Y/N said as she handed you some joggers and a sweater. “I’m gonna go downstairs and help mom with the food, see you down there.” she said walking out of the room. You put the clothes on and put the box in your pocket and went downstairs. As you came to the bottom of the stairs, you were greeted by Y/N’s dad.

“Hey, it’s Chris, right?” He asked as he shook your hand. 

“Yes, sir.” You respond. He was just about to walk away when you said: “Uh Mr Y/L/N, can I ask you something?”. 

“Yes Chris?” He asked.

“But first I need you to video something for me” you said handing your phone to him.

“Okay, what is it that I’m recording?” he asked.

“Well, first of all sir, can I have your permission to marry Y/N, she’s the love of my life and--” you were cut of by “First off all call me Y/D/N and second of all if you love her, cherish her, be there for her, I have no problem with it, is that what you want me to record?” he said.

“Thank you so much, Y/D/N you won’t regret it and yes I would love you to video it!” you cried.

/-/-/ Y/N’s P.O.V /-/-/

You finished prepping everything and all of a sudden, your favourite song starts playing. “I’m gonna go dance” you shout to your mom. You walked out the door and started dancing whilst watching the fireworks. Could this night get any better? You thought. Just then the music goes quieter, a lot quieter. You turn around to see Chris, with his hands behind his back. “Chris, what’s going on?” you ask.

“Y/N, I loved you so much yesterday, I love you so much now and I want to love you even more in the future..” he said, as he revealed his hands which had a small velvet box in them, he got down on one knee and said: “Y/N Y/L/N will you marry me?” 

“Yes!!! I love you so much!!!” You jumped up and down as he carefully placed it on your finger. “Mom! Look!” you said turning around. You were shocked to see your dad filming it all on Chris’ phone. “Dad!” you blush. “Well at least we have something to show the kids now!” Chris laughed. 

/-/-/ Final Note From Me /-/-/

Hi, sorry this is cringe af lol. I’ll gladly make more of the other sidemen of the sidemen imagines. Another Simon Imagine may be coming soon, idk though, I still have to do Vik and Ethan. I also have another Chris request - which I shall do after I’ve done the Vik or Ethan imagine. It may take awhile though - I’m doing exams atm so beware everything might be slow... Anyways, thank you so much for all the feedback, it means a huge amount to me❤️️❤️️

~Beth <3