#noelle made him a christmas sweater

[akanemnon]

"Wow doc, you really are the 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 of the party."

[fruitcoops]

Bam-Boo!

Day 10: tattoo artist/ flower shop owner because...what the hell else would Mr Walker dream of, other than his hot goth-jock girlfriend? Never passing up that opportunity. Characters belong to @lumosinlove and header/ fest credit goes to @noots-fic-fests!

Day Nine movie: Jaws (1975)

“Stunning.”

A slitted brow rose. Thomas wanted to melt into the concrete like a sad, sad ice cream cone on a hot beach.

Your sign. Your art. Your face. “Plant?” he offered, holding the terracotta pot up between them.

The woman’s suspicion faded into surprise. She looked between them at the vibrant leaves (Thomas had made sure it was his best, and the same color as her eyes, not that she needed to know that) and smiled.

She smiled.

Smiled.

“Mint,” she said, and then there were dimples. “How did you know?”

Thomas swallowed. “Shot in the dark. Your window was empty.”

“Ouais. Still moving in.”

French. Oh, god. “It’s a hard one to kill.”

“I know.” Her fingernails were short and painted a glossy jet black, like thin pieces of obsidian. She took one leaf gently between her thumb and forefinger, then looked up at him with blinding curiosity. “My mother has it in her garden back home.”

“Where’s home?” Thomas asked before he could choke it back into a friendly hum.

But she answered anyway. “Québec. A lake town outside Montréal.”

“Sounds beautiful.”

“Stunning,” she agreed, grinning. Thomas was grateful for his nigh-invisible blush, because his face was in absolute flames.

“I meant—I meant the store,” he managed lamely.

The woman gave him a look. “Did you?”

Yes. Maybe. “Mostly.”

“Quel dommage.”

“Damage?” Thomas frowned at the storefront behind her. “Is it the plumbing? Mine is always acting up because of the irrigation systems. They’re old buildings, sometimes those things crap out—sorry, fail.”

She was still looking at him, expectant and amused. Thomas’ mouth was chalk-dry.

“I could take a look for you,” he offered. “Just…to make sure it’s working.”

Her gaze pierced his soul the same as a thin silver hoop pierced her upper ear. A wisp of her hair flitted in front of it on the next gust. Thomas flexed his hand at his side and forced himself to remain motionless. “Noelle,” she finally said.

His heart stuttered. “Christmas?”

“My name,” she corrected. Her face sparkled. “My name is Noelle, and I would very much appreciate it if you came in to take a look sometime.”

“Oh.” Very much appreciate it. Her name was Christmas, and she very much appreciated him. “Well. I would be happy to.”

Her clunky black boots squeaked at a slight rock forward and back. “Okay.”

“Okay,” he echoed.

“Thank you for the mint.”

“You’re welcome.” She was playing with the leaves again, her hand so close he could see each silver ring and had to quickly look away. A fleur-de-lis had been inked in black behind her silver hoop. Who had done it for her? A coworker at the parlor? A friend? Did she do her own tattoos?

Noelle had to tilt her chin up to meet his eyes despite the boots. “I use it in my tea.”

“You have tea?”

“Mhm. Every night.”

“That sounds nice.” He was going to faint. On the ground.

“It is.” Her sweater looked warm, but she still shivered at the next bit of wind that rustled the crunchy leaves down the sidewalk. They’d make it inside by nightfall. Probably.

Thomas might just stay here, now that he thought about it, frozen between his cheerful You Grow, Girl! welcome mat and her own bat-themed one.

“It’s better when it’s fresh,” Noelle continued with half a shrug. “So. Merci beaucoup.”

“We have a lot of extra, if this one doesn’t work out.”

She made a little humming sound, life-green eyes darting over his face and hands and apron and why had he not left his apron inside? “I think it will,” she said decisively.

“Don’t jinx the poor guy,” Thomas tried to joke, giving the mint a light shake. “That’s bad luck he doesn’t need.”

Noelle kept on smiling, like she had no idea what it did to him. “I’ll come by tomorrow for flowers. For the shop.”

For you, Thomas decided right then and there. They’ll all be for you. “Let me know what you like, and I’ll have it ready.”

“I’m sure I’ll find something.” That Mona Lisa smile. She took the pot between callused palms, holding it gently near the rim and under the base. A bit of graphite and ink stained the heels of her hands. He had missed it before. Her eyelashes looked impossibly thick when she glanced up at him. “Any care instructions?”

“Um.” Nothing. Blankness. What was mint, again? “Light and water, mostly. There’s a packet of plant food in the top to start him out while he adjusts.”

Noelle brought the plant up to cover one half of her face. “Feed me,” she joked in a low growl, wiggling the leaves at him. He laughed; the weight across his shoulders grew light. Noelle’s grin widened, all white teeth and a light rose flush to her cheeks.

“I’ll be in at eight tomorrow,” Thomas said before he could chicken out.

Noelle gave a crisp nod. “À demain…?”

“Thomas.” He sounded hoarse even to his own ears. “Thomas Walker.”

She cradled the pot in one hand and waved with the other, stepping back toward the rich black lace and neon purple adorning from her front windows. “See you tomorrow, Thomas Walker.”

Thomas stayed on the sidewalk after all, sneakers refusing to budge. The bell above her door jingled as it shut behind her. “Bye, Christmas,” he whispered to nobody at all.

[dcviated]

@remunporium sent: " Raguna! Merry Christmas. " Ta~da! Sirin presents a present box! Of course she chose the kitty wrapping. " I got you something.. a little different this time? It was kinda expensive.. " She isn't going to mention how she had a little bit of financial assistance with it, thanks to a person with a wallet too deep for his own good.. Opening the present box reveals.... a Lego set! Oh.. scratch that, several Lego sets, all of which are themed around gardens and floral shops. There's about five different sets in total, all of which have been packed neatly together. " I was thinking maybe we could make them together, if you wanted? Or, maybe you could build them with Noelle. Either way.. I didn't want to get the cheap ones because they weren't as pretty as these.. But I hope you like it! "

There's a lot to appreciate and to take notice of. The ceremony of the presentation and effort into it begged time to be taken. People don't usually talk about how much a gift cost them, do they? And coming from the girl who already struggled with budgets well- maybe it should be expected. At the very least it meant to the young man that she was starting to care more about it.

Rather than stealing... she's come a long way. That in itself is a silent gift she doesn't realize she's giving to the unsuspecting 'guardian' figure. (Define it in role however you will)

Even beyond the layer of appreciation, there's some teasing to be done too, isn't there? Raguna knows that Sirin is waiting eagerly for her gift to be opened and for the contents to be revealed, but instead of tearing into it he'd do what he usually does.

A pocket knife is pulled from his pants, and a flick exposes the single blade. Careful navigation of each and every fold to sever the tape. A double back here. Fold over there. Sirin put effort into wrapping this, so the same should be done in unwrapping. Didn't he see this wrapping paper before? It wasn't something you'd find in a bin on the end of an aisle either. It's nice.

"Kitties." An amused mutter under his breath as he glides a finger through the last crease. Legos are revealed!

It's not what he expected! But, maybe he should have with how the box had jingled and rattled as he took it into his lap. A thorough shake would have settled it, but he's not so bold or performative as to wave the box around, lest it be something fragile and he breaks it. Been there before.

"Oh! You got... wow! Lego sets? You didn't need to spend this much on me! I've seen how much some of this stuff can cost..." Some reasoning and offers follow from the girl; outs and ins and possibilities that are more than likely similarly painted excuses, but Raguna recognizes the intention beneath all the chaff. The smile isn't something he'll be wrapping up, and she can see every inch of it before an arm finds its way around Sirin's shoulders and she's pulled in for a warm hug (maybe a bit itchy, he's still wearing the ugly sweater a coworker made for him last week)

"You can be honest about it, Sirin. You want to build these with me, don't you? Well good. Because I think that'd be a great way for us to spend some time together. Thank you for these. But. Hm..." The smile continues once the hug relaxes, though he keeps her close.

"Do we build the delivery truck or the garden shop first?"

[the-black-bulls]

So i was watching a random christmas movie, and this headcanon came to my mind out of nowhere and now i can’t stop thinking about it.

Yami in each christmas, without failure, get the black bulls a single small present for each person. And now that Nacht came back, Yami drags Nacht to the stores to buy the gifts with him.

I just what to hear what u think about this headcanon. Bc i love the way you portray the black bulls.

this is wholesome! headcanon accepted and approved! 😛

I'd add some of my thoughts:

yami doesn't know how to pick a proper present to save his life; think of things like asta with a shirt double his size it could fit him and liebe together, henry with a hairbrush that is clearly made for dogs, or luck with crayons he used to paint everyone's faces like a feisty jigglypuff.

most of the time he just buys the gifts from cheap, two dollar, stores, but there are a couple of years where he gets creative and in mood of chrismats, so he personally makes or crafts the gifts; think of charmy with a wooden box she can either use to gather fruits or a seat while someone carries her, nero with a comfy & warm birdhouse, or gordon with a straw hat to protect him from the sunlight.

nacht only agreed to tag along so he can buy a "1# best son" cup for asta with matched "1# best mom" for himself, he still gets a few fancy presents for the rest of the squad because he's inherited a shit ton of money that he never used before, and now the bulls will always get two presents every chrismats, one is the cheapest shit ever while the other is the fanciest shit ever.

mind you nacht also doesn't know how to pick a proper present to save his life; think of grey with a pair of expensive shoes that aren't even her size, vanessa with a perfume that makes her sneeze like a madwoman, or gauche and zora with two matched ugly chrismats sweaters that may or may not be given to them on purpose.

he still has some good gifts though; think of magna with brand new sunglasses, noelle with stuffed anti-birds, or finral with paid vacation tickets for him and his fiancée.

that covered all of the bulls, right? I hope I didn't forget anyone.

thank you for sharing this lovely headcanon! ^^

[awanderingdeal]

In which Sirius takes back Halloween

My fic for the fabulous fic -o-ween! This is not even remotely scary and is basically a big fluff ball. I hope you enjoy your Halloween as much as Sirius and co!

A big shout out to @ais-for-alex for being my beta for this fic. I did make a couple of changes as I was re-reading this morning (who can resist) so any mistakes are most likely my fault.😂

And finally, a massive thank you to @lumosinlove for lending us these wonderful characters to play with. They really have been a massive part of my lockdown sanity.

Rating: G

CW: Food mentions

“Do you think I should sell this house?” Sirius mused, tapping his long fingers against the rim of his mug.

Remus looked up slowly from his tablet, from which he’d been reading the daily news. “Why would you want to do that?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s just so big, you know,” Sirius shrugged, taking a second to formulate his thoughts into a coherent reply. “I kind of just brought it as an act of rebellion when I got my first pay check. We’re never really here and even when we are, we use what, maybe five of the rooms.” He leaned back in his chair, pushing his hair back off his face. “It just feels so soulless,” he finished, glancing at Remus to gauge his reaction. His boyfriend was as impossible to read as ever, not giving an ounce away until he opened his mouth to speak.

“So, give it soul then.” Remus said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Like you said we’re never here. But we could be. We can make memories here if you want to,” he smiled gently at the thought. “Maybe, we could start with me officially moving my stuff in here?” he added, biting into a doughnut casually. If Sirius didn’t know Remus better he would have thought that the monumentality of the question had bypassed him.

Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus's waist pulling him close, smiling into his curls at the memory. It had taken place two years ago now and of course, Remus had been right. Sirius couldn’t imagine living anywhere else now. A crunching sound interrupted his thoughts. He shook his head, but didn’t comment on his boyfriend’s breakfast, a leftover toffee apple, knowing from previous experiences that it would only encourage him to make worse choices.

The conversation in his memory had been the reason that he’d first thrown his annual Halloween bonanza, a tradition (if something that had only been done twice could be called a tradition) that was quickly becoming infamous. It was a family affair with all the team bringing their loved ones to enjoy what was quite frankly, an outrageous display of wealth. Each year, Remus and he turned their back garden into a fete with, pumpkin carving, a hay maze, apple bobbing, spooky cupcake decorating and face painting to name but a few things. No expense was spared. But it wasn’t about the money really.

A soft kiss to his jawline pulled him out of his thoughts again. Remus sighed contentedly and leaned into his chest, body warmth radiating between them. Sirius glanced down at the shorter man, giving him a reassuring smile. Remus could always tell when he was in his own head.

“Just thinking about last night,” Sirius hummed, his eyes flickering to the giant corkboard on the wall. It was currently monopolized by the polaroids that had been taken the previous evening. The collection showcased exactly what the party was all about.

It was the photo of Logan, his teeth clenched around an apple, sticky liquid dripping down his chin and eyes glimmering with competition. Next to it, the photo of Katie Dumais hugging a huge, black stuffed dog, almost the same size as her.

“Logan won me a new stuffie!” she had beamed as the photo was taken. Logan, much to Katie’s distain, ruffled her hair and told her, “N’importe quoi pour vous.” Anything for you.

It was the image of a frantic James declaring, “I have lost my child!” Olli and Timmy laughing in the background because they could see a tiny Harry dressed as a pumpkin toddling around behind his father.

It was the one of Talker, for once sitting still, albeit in a chair designed for small children, his eyes closed but his mouth moving. Across from him, Noelle’s expression was fondly exasperated as she tried to finish painting his face. Another photo evidenced that she had been successful; there were two matching skeletons (Thomas and little Xavi) with faces warped by laughter.

It was the collection of photos towards the top of the corkboard. Reg and Leo. Reg and Celeste. Reg and Jules. And his personal favourite, Reg and Remus.

“I love this one,” Sirius said aloud, his fingers reaching out to brush the picture he was referring to. Even now it still baffled him to see his brother interacting with his boyfriend so casually. At this point the two men had their own relationship outside of Sirius, founded on nerdy things that he failed to understand. His heart swelled as he took in the image of the two most important people in his life.

“It’s a great photo,” Remus agreed. He and Regulus had their heads close together, hands waving as they enthusiastically discussed something. Remus had a smug expression on his face, Reg looked disgruntled. The photo captured their personalities fantastically. “I think this is my favourite,” Remus added, pointing out a different polaroid.

This one was taken inside. An entanglement of blankets and sleeping children. Smitty’s youngest, Noah, had started it. He’d crashed around 9pm after an almighty sugar rush, and his father had laid him down in the quiet of the lounge to sleep. Katya Ivanov and Katie Dumais followed soon after. Harry had put up a valiant effort not to join them. In fact, there was a photo a little to the left of Sirius rocking his godson who was fighting his drooping eyelids. Never the less, he ended up in the pile too.

“One day, we will have one of our own to add to that pile,” Remus smiled, giving Sirius a squeeze.

“One day,” Sirius agreed, wiping a thumb across Remus's lips to remove a trace of toffee. "We better go and wake those two up. Marcie will be here soon – she won’t want to clean around them,” Sirius declared, his head inclining towards the lounge. Remus chuckled in response, spinning in Sirius’s arms and taking his hand to lead him to the other room. Sirius allowed himself to be led, picking up the camera from the counter as he passed.

The camera flashed and pushed out a photo with a click. Sirius grinned, shaking the small square whilst it developed. Slowly it revealed two men curled into one another, the taller of the them had his arms wrapped around the smaller. They looked peaceful. Remus tried to wake them up gently, but apparently the small shake to Kuny’s shoulder was enough to startle the pair. A string of Russian – almost certainly profanities – left Kuny’s mouth as he pulled himself away from Nado. Sirius noted the blush that spread over Kuny’s cheeks as he realised how entwined they had been. 

“Right boys. I hate to kick you out but my housekeeper will be here soon and she does not need to be subjected to your hungover asses,” Sirius said, although he didn’t sound regretful at all.

Nado grumbled, showing Sirius his middle finger and sweeping his hair back of his face. “Come on Koon, I’ll drop you home.”

Leaving Remus to deal with their two unexpected guests, Sirius wandered back into his kitchen to pin the photo he had just taken with the rest. There wasn’t a lot of room left, but he managed to squeeze it between a photo of Natalie and Kasey holding their carved pumpkins, and a particularly sweet one of the cubs. Finn’s lips were pressed against Leo’s nose, red from the cold. Logan cocooned between them, resting his head on Finn’s chest. Sirius couldn’t help but smile as he realized that none of them were wearing the same sweaters they had arrived in, seemingly having swapped them over the course of the evening.

Remus came back soon enough, shaking his head and huffing out a laugh. Sirius didn't want to know. “They'll be gone soon. We should pick up. Marcie isn't paid enough to deal with…this" Remus said, gesturing towards the chaos of the kitchen. Sirius looked around, a grimace forming on his face before he nodded his agreement. The floor was littered with costume parts, either lost or removed as games were played and alcohol was drunk – devil horns here and iron man’s mask there. There was a stain on the rug where a bowl of perfectly spiced pumpkin soup had been spilt. Toilet paper had managed to make its way into the craziest of places, casualties of the mummy competition. Popcorn crunched under his feet – the impromptu viewing of ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ had happened two rooms over - how popcorn had ended up in the kitchen, Sirius did not know.

Despite it all, Sirius would do it all again tomorrow. Growing up, Halloween had been characterized by loneliness and jealousy. His overly religious parents had declared the holiday heinous and banned even mentions of the event. In the supermarket, they snatched offered candy out of his hand and Sirius had listened on wistfully as the other children spoke about their hauls. The memories made him a little sad, but it was okay now, Sirius had reclaimed it  – Halloween was his again.

[hollanderfangirl]

Nothing lasts forever |Harry Holland|

A/N: K, I wrote this for you. @in-a-lot-of-fandoms-tbh congratulations on 1k!!! I wrote this through a writer's block so yeah not my best work

Warnings: angst, mentions of divorce, Harry being a dick

Word count: 3k

They say love conquers all. But it’s not that simple, is it? You meet, you fall in love, you think that love is enough and when things start to go downhill, you realise that it isn’t, after all. It’s the effort, time, circumstances, along with hundreds of other things. You make promises of being together forever but nothing lasts forever. Nothing. And when the promises break? You get your heart broken. But a heart that’s broken is a heart that’s been loved. How can something so perfect, something that brought you so much happiness, something you thought would be yours forever, go so wrong?

When you and Harry got married, everyone knew you were one of those couples who make you believe in ‘together forever’. You had met when you were teenagers and neither of you thought the relationship would last even six months. But there you were, seven years later, having the most extravagant wedding, vowing to never leave each other’s side and to support one another through it all.

The first two years of marriage was a honeymoon period, you both were having the best time of your lives, going on dates often, cooking together, falling asleep next to each other, you wondered how you even got so lucky. You joined him on most of his trips, you both travelled across the beautiful cities of Europe and America together and nothing else really mattered. You loved him more than anything in the world, and he loved you, what else did you need?

When your work was piling up, you knew that you had to go back, although neither of you wanted to leave each other. He was away from you more often, working on sets and filming his own movies, but you were quite used to it to say the least. Spending away nights of frustrations all alone, with no one there for you. But you didn’t complain, you could never do that. You could never stand in the way of Harry and his career.

Two years later, on Christmas Day, you held your daughter in your arms, a healthy and beautiful baby. You and Harry had never been more happy and overwhelmed.

“So what should we name her?” he asked you while gently rocking her to sleep.

“Noelle,” you smiled. “She really decided to make Christmas even more special”

Over the years, you were so proud of your little family, you would often look at Noelle and Harry, playing or reading together and the ‘father-daughter bonding time’ as Harry liked to call it. She was more fond of Harry than you, and that was why it was even harder for her than it was for you. You regretted it so many times, you didn’t want to give it all up, to give him up. But it was becoming so difficult, taking care of a small child all on your own, along with Harry acting like a child himself. It was far too much responsibility than you could handle. You loved him, you really did, but love is never enough.

Now you were cooking in the kitchen with Noelle sitting on the counter, reciting her lessons from school.

“But mommy! We have holidays coming up now!”

“Yes and you will have all the time to play and enjoy, ok?”

“And there’s something else too,” she giggled.

“Oh is it?” you pretend to think.

“Yes! It’s my birthday”

“That’s right, you’ll spend your birthday with grandma and grandpa and your uncles”

“Will daddy be there?”

“Hopefully yeah,” you sigh.

“Will you be there?”

“Of course, sweetie. Mommy would never miss your birthday party,” you pinch her cheeks.

“Why don’t you and daddy ever want to meet?” she speaks up after a minute.

“Baby… daddy and I…” you honestly didn’t know how to phrase it. “We just kind of don’t… talk anymore, you know?”

“Like Tina and me?”

“Yes, exactly like you and Tina”

“But you told me that I should not be angry at her and we should become friends again”

“That is for you, the thing between me and daddy is much more complicated”

“What does complicated mean?”

You chuckle, the questions never end.

You step out of the car into the bitter cold December wind in front of the Holland household. It had been a while since it had snowed this heavy, and you were worried if you would be able to drive in this weather.

“Here you go,” you say as you hand over Noelle to Sam.

“Gosh it’s so cold today, what are you even going to do?” he asks you.

“Go back to the office I don't really have anywhere to be”

“You're gonna work through Christmas? Take some time off, why don’t you stay with us?”

“Sam no-”

“Come on, y/n. How long will you keep avoiding him this way?”

“I- ”

“And what about Noelle’s birthday?”

“I’ll come and visit for a few hours on 25th”

“Y/n, this will always be your home too, with or without Harry. We would love to have you over for Christmas”

“Mommy please, I’m feeling cold out here,” Noelle says reaching out her tiny hands out to you from Sam’s arms.

“Okay fine,” you laugh.

As you get inside the house, Noelle jumps off from Sam and starts running into the house.

“Daddy!”

“Oh my little princess I’ve missed you!” you see Harry run from the living room, picking up Noelle and kissing her forehead. “How have you been? Have you been good? Otherwise who’s gonna get all the gifts?” he pretended to say in a childlike voice.

Your heart warmed up at the sight, your lips curling into a smile. It had been so long since you had seen the two of them reunited like this. Everytime you went to drop Noelle off at Harry’s house, you just waved from the car, not even caring about what happened afterwards.

He seemed a little surprised to see you there and you weren’t sure if it was a good surprise or not.

“Y/n… hi”

“Hey Harry”

“You um changed your hair”

“And you’re wearing the same old sweater”

“No this is a new sweater it’s uh-” he says trying not to continue with an awkward silence. “It’s the old sweater,” he shrugs, making you smile

"Y/n! What a surprise," Nikki calls you from the living room. "It's so nice to have you here over Christmas, everyone misses you so much"

You walk over to meet everyone as Noelle calls Sam to the side.

"Hmm what's up?" he asks the little girl.

"I know how mum and daddy can talk"

He lets out a laugh. "What? And why's that?"

"Mommy said that she and daddy don't talk anymore and that's the only problem. We just have to find a way for them to talk and become friends again"

"What's your plan, genius?"

And then she told him.

After dinner that night, you were sitting on the front porch with Sam. He was your friend, someone who you could always turn to. All of Harry's family was like that. When you both got divorced, you thought you would lose contact with the Hollands, you didn't want to lose them too because they were just like your own family but the bond didn't change, Sam helped you get through it, just like he helped Harry and he was the one who had tried to resolve things between you both.

"I still don't understand. You both were doing just fine, better than fine. All of you were so happy, what even happened?"

"Sam… Harry and I haven't even talked about what went wrong between us. Everytime we tried to talk, something came in between"

"Then talk now, you have plenty of time"

"How does it even matter now?"

"It does. I've seen how miserable you two are, you don't even want to see each other. I know you both still have something"

"We have Noelle," you say as a matter of factly.

"You know what I mean. You both love each other"

"See that's the thing with love. Love doesn't help me take care of a four year old all on my own, Sam. She misses him so much. She just keeps asking me when she'll get to see her father. He never made time for us"

"I know he's been a kind of a jerk"

You raise an eyebrow at him.

"Okay a big jerk, but he cares about you and Noelle. I'm not asking you to get back together but at least talk and resolve whatever beef you both have"

"We can't"

"Why?"

"It's just… I don't even know"

There was a long silence. If it was summer, you would have been hearing the crickets chirping but at this hour of a cold winter night, all you could hear was the faint distant noise of the faraway traffic.

"How about this, you both go out tomorrow, just for an hour or two, hang out, talk, just say whatever you had been holding in all this time"

"You're setting us up on a date?"

"Not a date. You both just need to talk, right? So you just need some alone time"

"Has Harry agreed to this?"

"He definitely would"

"No, it'll be too much. And what about Noelle?"

"What about her? We're all here to take care of her. You just go and talk this over"

You lay awake at night thinking about the happy times you had with Harry. How did things go so so wrong?

Two years earlier

"Harry, the opening ceremony is on Friday, it's huge for the company!"

"Yes I know, love. I really wish I could make it"

"What… do you mean?"

"I'll be leaving for Atlanta two days from now"

"But it's important to me and everyone will be asking for you"

"I'm so sorry, baby but I have to go"

"You've done a great job, y/n. Where's Harry? I'd love to meet him," your manager asks you at the after party of the opening ceremony.

"He couldn't make it tonight. He really wanted to be here"

"Where's your husband, miss y/l/n? This is such a big day for you!" another one of your colleagues asked you later that night.

"He's really disappointed he couldn't be here but duty calls," you tried to hide your loneliness and sadness through a smile.

"Y/n! I haven't seen Harry tonight…"

"How's the movie coming up?" you were talking to Harry at 2 in the morning, time zones were driving the both of you crazy.

"It's going great! The location is amazing, I think we could shoot the whole film here. I just wish you were here I miss you so much"

"I miss you too, just come back home," listening to his voice seemed to make you even lonelier.

"I will," you hear music playing in the background and the noise of people cheering and talking.

"What's happening there?"

"Ah they're throwing a party in my honour, it's been such a success-" you heard a woman laugh right beside him.

"So are you having a good time?"

"Yes I am I just-"

"Then you should go back to it. Bye"

"But y/n-"

You were still working when he came back from the airport and you immediately rushed home after you were free.

When you saw him, you felt as though you were seeing a stranger. He looked different and he felt different and he looked tired than ever. Nevertheless you jumped on him and hugged him tight, making sure he was real.

"Oh god I've missed you, more than you could ever know," he stroked your hair and kissed your forehead.

"Really? Then show me how much you've missed me," you say as you lead him into your shared bedroom.

"I'm so sorry I missed your opening, darling I really wanted to be there"

"It's alright, we have another celebration next month, you can meet everyone there"

"Oh I can't make it to that either, I have to get away again after three weeks"

"But you just came back! And Noelle is just two years old, how do you expect me to take care of her and go to work?"

"There's nothing I can do, y/n. The contracts have already been signed. This is my big break, it's important to me"

"And our marriage is not? Your daughter is not?"

"You both are the most important to me," he put his calloused hands on your cheeks. "But you knew this was what our life would be when you married me"

"Everything has changed since then, Harry. We have a child now and we're so happy here. Why do you have to go away halfway across the world for months"

"Nothing has changed. I still love you the same and our careers are still as important to us as before"

"You could have at least talked to me about this"

"Yes I'm sorry. Everything will be alright once I return, I just have to go now"

Harry couldn't focus on work that day. He just kept replaying the conversation he had with you before leaving.

'I can't lose her. I really can't," he thought. 'Oh my god I love her, I love her so much. We have to find a way to make this work'

And ten thousand miles away from him, you sat all alone on the bed, thinking, 'this will not work, we're so happy, why does he want to give all of this up?'

"We're not teenagers anymore, y/n. Now I want something and you want something else, our worlds are different"

"So we just let it go?"

"I'm not saying that we have to let anything go, but it's my career, y/n. For the first time in my life, things have finally started to move and I don't want to lose anything"

"Harry… I have always supported your career. I have always supported your dreams. But you can have everything you want right here with me and Noelle. You don't have to leave"

"You're not even trying to understand"

"I'm understanding everything. I can't do this anymore, I'm not another one of your fans, Harry. I can't just keep on chasing you like this"

"Ice skating? Really?" you say as you see the long sheet of ice that lay on the ground in front of you, there were only a few people as it was a cold day. Everyone was probably snuggled up in bed with some warm coffee rather than going out on a date with their ex husband.

"We can go somewhere else if you want, there's a restaurant-"

"No this is fine. After all Noelle chose it"

He helps you put on your skates and you both hold each other, trying not to lose balance until you reach the ice rink.

"Ah that's it," he lets go of your arm but still holds your hand in his.

"Wait what did you mean Noelle chose it?"

"You don't know your daughter, Mr Holland. She's grown up to be quite the matchmaker," you laugh.

"You remember how we used to come here?" you smile at the memories, you and Harry used to go ice skating almost every week in winters. Although neither of you were the best at it, you loved the times you spent falling and laughing and later on having hot chocolate in each other's arms.

"Yeah," he tries to hold your other hand as well. "You remember the Christmas Noelle was born? I miss taking her out ice skating"

"Of course I remember," you sigh. "Eighteen hours of labor, and I was alone. You couldn't even make it in time for the birth of your own daughter"

"She was supposed to be born in January, how could I have known she would come in so early?"

"Well you always have the excuses ready, don't you?"

"It's not an excuse, it's more of an explanation. The flights were all booked, I mean it was Christmas! And I did reach the hospital in time"

"You reached the hospital when she was all cleaned up and in my arms"

He stays silent for a few moments and then speaks, with a gentler tone. "Y/n I'm sorry, I really am"

"You always said that, yet you never did anything to understand what went wrong"

"I was just so caught up in my life, I mean… there was so much work. I know I didn't spend much time with you both and-"

"It wasn't even about spending time, Harry. The thing is, you were never there for us. When I needed you the most, you weren't there. Even your brother understood that I needed someone but you didn't. You're just so-" you choked on the words.

"I know, and all I can say is that I've messed up, big time. I know you can't forgive me"

"Oh I've forgiven you a long time ago, Harry"

His hair was all messed up from the wind, going wild in all directions like a crown on his head. His nose and cheeks were turning red from the cold and all you wanted in that moment, was just kiss him. You wanted to feel his cold lips on yours until they turned warm. You wanted to hold his hair in your fingers, you wanted to touch him, you wanted to feel him. You wanted everything you once had. You wanted him back.

"I remember everything about you, you know?" he spoke up. "How can I ever forget? I remember how much you loved reading and how you hated it when I left my clothes on the floor. And how you keep your socks on during sex"

"You just had to bring that up" you roll your eyes and laugh.

"The thing is, I love you. I always have, even now when we're.... over, I still love you. I never got over you"

"Harry-"

"Y/n, what we had, it was something else. You're… the only woman I've actually ever loved in my life"

"And you're the only one who I've loved in my life. But we can't go back now"

"Why? Why can't we give it another chance? Give us another chance?"

"It didn't work the first time, why do you think it'll work now?"

"I don't. But I'm miserable without you and we're different now. I've lost you once and I'll never make you feel like I'm busy for you, ever again"

"Are you sure? I'm tired, Harry. I'm so tired, I really cannot go through this if everything goes wrong again"

"It won't. I promise you, let's give us another chance, please?"

You looked into his eyes and you knew the answer.

*･ﾟﾟ･*:｡:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　

🌻

Taglist

@mischiefmanaged011 @notsosmexy @drie-the-derp @justanothermarvelmaniac @amorhollands @thisetaernallove @calltothewild @fancyxparker @peterspideysstuff @musicalkeys @theliterarymess @hollands-weasley @tommysparker @god-knows-what-am-i-doing @parkerpeter24 @more-like-reyna @hollandbroz-n-haz @aqiise @sarcasticallywitty15 @spiderrrling @theonly1outof-a-billion

[one-leaf-grimoire]

Holiday Event

Day 6 // Julius Novachrono

I was going to make this x reader but it didn’t feel right... so I just made it x Lisa bc fuck you it’s her hot girl winter ok. Enjoy, this one’s a bit longer than the others!

It was the night of Christmas day, and a Clover Kingdom tradition had just begun: the Magic Knight’s Christmas party. Only the Captains and other high-ranking members were invited, but each of them was allowed to bring along any of their squad that they wanted. These conditions always resulted in… interesting events.

“Rockin' around the Christmas tree At the Christmas party hop Mistletoe hung where you can see-”

“GET OFF THE STAGE!” Solid hollered at his sister, who was taking her turn at Caroling. Nebra faltered for a moment, but Solid’s heckling was put to a swift end as two people flanked him.

“Solid! That is your sister, and she is doing a fine job!” Nozel scolded, looking a bit ridiculous in his silver and white Christmas sweater. “I will not allow you to disgrace our family.”

“And also-” The other person at his side was none other than Lisa, a royal advisor who was tasked with keeping order at the party. “I don’t want any fistfights like last year, aha-”

“That was entirely Fuegoleon’s fault, but go off-” Nozel grumbled. Lisa gave him a long look before letting out a sigh. It wasn’t worth it to keep bothering him, so it was about time she made a strategic exit and continued watching the rest of the party. She and Marx were the primary defenders here, and Julius, the one who was responsible for this party in the first place, was absolutely nowhere to be found. 

“Noelle, come on! I saw some candy over here!”

“AAA, wait up, Asta!”

Lisa paused as the two shorter kids ran through the crowd, nearly knocking her over as they brushed past on either side. However, her eyes widened when she spotted what they were holding in their hands. “WHOA! HOLD IT!” She whipped around and grabbed their shoulders, halting their escape. “Noelle, Asta… what’s that in your cups?”

“Oh! Miss Lisa!” Asta grinned as he turned around, holding up his styrofoam cup. “It’s hot cocoa! They were serving it in this big pot-”

Uh oh. “Um, I can’t let you drink that-” Lisa quickly grabbed both of the cups from their hands. “If you want something to drink, go find Marx and he’ll make you something, okay? Do not drink anything from the pots or punch bowls, you hear?!”

“What?! Why?” Noelle tries to protest, but Lisa was already pushing them away back into the crowd.

“Because I said so.” Lisa watched as they disappeared before letting out a groan. That was close… everything here is spiked! I’m pretty sure the cocoa has peppermint schnapps in it. Feeling overwhelmed, she raised the cup to her lips and took a long sip. Yep, I was right! God damn it, we told Yami to not bring any kids! But of course he did… She could imagine his excuse now when she asked him why he broke the rules. “I dunno? Because it would be funny?”

But before Lisa could head off and find Yami, someone pulled at the arm of her red sweater. “Lisa, there’s a problem.”

A familiar blonde woman stood there, looking distressed. “Oh! Charlotte, what’s wrong?”

“There was mistletoe hanging up over there,” Charlotte explained, looking a bit paranoid as she whispered. “And- well, I don’t care about mistletoe or anything, but I expect someone else would- but anyway, it’s gone.”

Despite this new development, Lisa couldn’t help but smirk at Charlotte. “Oh, I get it. You were hoping for a big smooch from Yam-”

“STOP! SHUT-” Charlotte screeched, slapping her hand over her mouth as she blushed as read as Lisa’s ugly Christmas sweater. “Just- find the mistletoe, okay!?”

“Okay, Okay!” Lisa giggled and swiftly retreated, heading over to the archway where they put the mistletoe. Julius always thought he was so funny putting it up, hoping to incite some drama at his party. But now, it was missing, nowhere to be found on the ground around the archway. Did someone steal it? Or maybe it was never there in the first place…

And where is Julius?! Lisa thought to herself, starting to feel lonely. He left me to deal with all this by myself-

As if her thoughts could be heard out loud, a heavy arm suddenly wrapped itself around her shoulder. “There you are! I’ve been looking for you~”

Lisa quickly looked up to see none other than the Wizard King himself, grinning down at her with that usual crafty look on his face. “Julius! I’m the one who’s been looking for you! Where have you been?”

Julius let out a jovial laugh before gesturing down at his outfit. “Putting the finishing touches on my sweater! I think I’m going to win the ugly sweater contest.”

Indeed, Lisa had to agree; the sweater was hideous. It was patched with white fur trim, knots of red and green yarn only vaguely resembling holly splattered all over the front. And in the middle of his chest was a crudely-fashioned Clover, which twinkled with some sort of magical light. “Well, the contest will have to wait… you have no idea what I’ve had to deal with.” She shook her head, exhausted. “The Silvas are at each other’s throats, there are children trying to drink from our spiked beverages, and now the mistletoe is missing!”

Julius cocked a brow as she rattled off the problems, his smirk only growing wider. “Oh yikes… well, I can help you with that last problem, at least…”

“OH?” Lisa’s face brightened at the news. “How? Did you see where it…”

Her voice trailed off at the sight of his smile, and understanding dawned on her. Slowly, Lisa looked up to see the mistletoe above her own head, held in the hands of none other than the mistletoe-thief himself: Julius.

“Uh oh… well-” Lisa’s gaze lowered to see that Julius was already leaning down to her, his other hand coming up to cup her cheek. “We can’t go against tradition, can we?”

And Lisa didn’t try to. She just smiled, closed her eyes, and kissed the man with the ugliest sweater in this whole crazy party.

[theatrelove3000]

Nightmares

I don’t know how many people are actually going to read this, but if you are, Hi! I am a writer that doesn’t post my work publicly. I recently talked to another writer, @thelokiimaginechronicles who was kind enough to take time out of her day to read some of my work and encourage me to post it. I have decided to do so. This is my first time posting my Loki/OC anywhere so I hope whoever is reading it likes it!

This is an established relationship so there isn’t a slow burn or anything like that.

Summary: Noelle has a nightmare and her lover, Loki comforts her. (I got the idea of this fic from a video on youtube of Tom Hiddleston reading poetry. This is the link to that video if you’re interested. Video of Tom reading

Nightmares

3rd Person:

It is dark. Very dark. Noelle’s eyes begin to adjust to the darkness, enough to make out shapes in the gloom. Something moves out of the corner of her eye and she automatically moves to grab the dagger at her hip only to realize that it’s gone. She tries not to panic as she scans the area surrounding her.

“Hello?” She calls into the nothingness, “Hello?”

From the distance, a figure moves forth, coming towards her.

“Who’s there? Where am I?”

She receives no response but the being is getting closer.

Her eyes move about her surroundings. Where is her dagger?

She had only been looking down for a moment when she looked back up to see the advancing figure standing right in front of her. She couldn’t make out a face, for the being was shrouded in a dark cloak that covered it from head to foot. She didn’t know that she was screaming until she bolted upright in bed.

Noelle POV:

“Shit,” I whisper to myself. I pull my knees up to my chest and count my breaths, trying to pull myself back together.

“Goddamn it.” I throw the silky purple sheets of my bed back and pull on a thin cardigan to protect me from the cool night air. Before I know what I’m doing, I am walking through the castle in my nightgown and sweater, barefoot. I don’t really think about where I am going until I get there.

I open the door to the library and go right to Loki’s desk. I knew he was there, he usually is, and sure enough, he turns in his chair, sensing my arrival. He is bent over his desk, reading some large volume he must have pulled off the bookshelves hours ago, as he is halfway through it.

He looks over his shoulder at me with a smirk teasing his lips. I must have looked freaked out because his slight smile turned to a confused look then a frown as he stood and met me halfway to him.

The sight of him made me start picking up my pace until I was running straight into his waiting arms.

“Hush, Noelle, hush. What is the matter? Are you alright?” I didn’t realize I was crying until he pulled away to hold my face, running his thumbs along my cheeks, catching the falling tears.

I just nod then, realizing that I’m clearly not, shake my head and bury my face in his chest. He nods and wraps his arms tightly, almost protectively, around me again.

He picks me up gently and I instinctively wrap my arms around his neck hiding my face in his shoulder. He walks us both over to the sofa in the middle of the Royal Library and sits down, keeping me on his lap.

We hold onto each other tightly as he let’s me cry on his shoulder, stroking my hair and whispering reassurances to me. “It will be alright, love. I’m right here. You are alright.”

I start babbling nonsense about when I remembered from the dream. Dark cloaks and my missing dagger. How dark it was. He sits there patiently, telling me I am safe and he won’t let anything happen to me.

I don’t know how long we sat like this. All I know is I am exhausted. Loki seems to know this and moves me off his lap, laying me down across the sofa with my head in his lap.

“Do you wish to tell me about it?” He asked gently, playing with my hair. I shake my head. I do not want to relive that nightmare.

He nods and continues to play with my hair. He hums quietly, soothing me even more.

“I found a book I think you will enjoy. I can read to you if you would like,” his velvet voice drawls quietly to me. I nod and start to sit up, expecting him to stand up to retrieve the book but he puts a hand on my shoulder, keeping me in my place. I cock an eyebrow at him and he waves his hands theatrically, making the book appear out of thin air.

“Showoff.” I mutter and he chuckles, opening the book, beginning to read quietly.

“The time will come

when, with elation

you will greet yourself arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror

and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored

for another, who knows you by heart.”

He pauses for a moment, looking to see if I was awake before continuing,

“Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,

peel your own image from the mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life.”

He finishes the poem and flips a few pages, searching for another one he likes. I watch him. His beautiful face is shaded by candlelight. His cheekbones high and sharp, jawline that could cut someone. Piercing emerald green eyes that melt my soul. He was too beautiful for any Midgardian to see completely. I was lucky enough to be half Asgardian and am able to enjoy his beauty completely.

He finds the next poem and begins again,

“Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove.

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wand'ring bark,

Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.

Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle’s compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me prov’d,

I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.”

By the end, I am reciting it with him without even looking at the words. He looks down at me again with a smile and a questioning eyebrow.

“I recognize it. It’s my favorite Sonnet by William Shakespeare. He wrote hundreds of them.” I explain how my father had given me a book of sonnets for Christmas when I was 10, just before he returned to Asgard.

“Interesting,” he says softly,“This is a book of Midgardian poetry so it does not surprise that you know the author. I suppose I wasn’t expecting you to know the Sonnet.”

I smile lightly, feeling more tired listening to him speak, hearing the pages of the book being turned, the heat from the fire a few feet away. I know I won’t last much longer.

Loki POV:

She was falling asleep. I resolve to read her a few more to sooth her. She was very panicked when she got here, but she seems to have calmed down.

I flip through the book again, glancing down at her every now and then to see if she is still awake. She is, just staring into the fire.

Finding another poem that I find entertaining I begin to read aloud,

“may i feel said he

(i’ll squeal said she

just once said he)

it’s fun said she

(may i touch said he

how much said she

a lot said he)

why not said she

(let’s go said he

not too far said she

what’s too far said he

where you are said she)

may i stay said he

which way said she

like this said he

if you kiss said she

may i move said he

is it love said she)

if you’re willing said he

(but you’re killing said she

but it’s life said he

but your wife said she

now said he)

ow said she

(tiptop said he

don’t stop said she

oh no said he)

go slow said she

(cccome?said he

ummm said she)

you’re divine!said he

(you are Mine said she)” I look down again as I finish the piece and see she is still gazing into the fire, though her cheeks have flushed a bit from the words of the poem. That is the result I had hoped for from reading it.

I begin looking through the book again, looking for one more. One more and she will be asleep, I tell myself. It is not that I do not like reading out loud, especially to Noelle, I love it, in fact; I am just tired as well and wish to go to bed myself.

“She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express,

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!” I glance down at the beautiful woman in my lap and see she is asleep. I grin a bit at the sight. She looks so peaceful and happy when she sleeps.

It is only then that I think my decision through: allowing her to fall asleep on a sofa in the library, knowing that I either have to carry her to her room or teleport which would be incredibly dangerous. Letting her sleep here in the library is not an option either; what if someone comes in to find her alone here or has another nightmare? No. We cannot have that.

I decide that I could take her to my room, have her sleep there with me where I can be close if she needs me.

I let her sleep for a bit longer to ensure that she is truly asleep before slipping my arm around her back, the other under her knees. I gently move her until she is sitting in my lap the way she was before I began to read to her.

From there I stand up, realizing how tired I was as well. I could feel the weight of the day in my shoulders and legs and resolve to walk to my room rather than teleport. I do not want to injure myself, let alone Noelle.

I begin walking through the empty halls of the castle, Noelle fast asleep in my arms, her own wrapped around my neck instinctively.

My chambers are not far from the library so it was not a long walk. I unlock and open the door with a flicker of my fingers and light some candles with another movement. Magic is very helpful at times like this. I kick the door shut with my heel and make my way over to my large canopy bed. I lay my love down and begin to undress myself, leaving my pants on because I am a gentleman who does not take advantage of women in moments of weakness.

I crawl into bed after her and cover us both with the deep green sheets. I try not to disturb her but when she begins tossing and turning, I pull her to my chest. I roll so that I’m on my back with her tucked under my right arm, her head resting on the place my arm and shoulder connect to the rest of my body. She calms instantly and immediately, her hands move so one covers mine on her waist, almost like she is keeping my there, the other resting on my chest above my heartbeat.

I listen to her breathing, slow and steady and peaceful. It had been a long time since I slept in the same bed as another person and I would being lying if I said that I did not miss it. The soothing sound of her breathing that told me that she was alright, the heat radiating from our bodies warming the bed faster than one could do on their own.

I fall asleep soon after she does, the sound and feel of her comforting all the anxiety that usually keeps me up at night.

[cainfm]

『BILL SKARSGARD ❙ NONBINARY』 ⟿ looks like CAIN ROMANOV is here for THEIR SENIOR year as a LITERATURE student. THEY are 25 years old & known to be RIGHTEOUS, TRUE, EVASIVE & GUARDED. They’re living in MORIS, so if you’re there, watch out for them. ⬳ JAMES. 21. EST. SHE/THEY.

hdsjnf hello all ... it is james again ... here with another ... replacing noelle with cain bt it’s fine im fine. i’ve hit muse limit u wn’t hear frm me again ... so hit tht like button .. this isnt the best intro ive done bt mostly bc im just kinda like ... taking an old one n rewriting it as i go

TW CULTS, HEROIN USE / ADDICTION, DRUG ADDICTION / USE, ABUSE, PSYCHOLOGICAL / EMOTIONAL MANIPULATION, PTSD, ANXIETY, TRAUMA.

aesthetics.

dangling limbs from tree branches, yellowed book pages, opened bottles of vintage wine, oversized sweaters and deep under eyes, bleached denim, worn leather gloves, cat hair against black cloth, fields of wheat, broken windows, descending staircases, tight-lipped smiles during public appearances, golden skies, light spilling from windows, stumbling over one’s own words, wire-framed beds, linens, wool scarves, making the wrong decisions; running, from others and yourself.

basic info.

full name: cain alexei romanov

nickname(s): n/a

b.o.d. - feb 19th, pisces :) happy birthday!

label(s): the connard (previously), the escapist, the facade, the fallen, the lothario (previously), the pariah, the phoenix, the puppeteer (previously), the sybarite, etc.

height: 6′4″ ... bruv.

hometown: stratford, connecticut

sexuality: bisexual uwu?

pinterest

stats

inspired by: i feel like i did ... have an inspiration for him but i don’t ... remember ... so ur not getting this one ... i might edit this later if smth pops into my head but. alas.

biography.

born to connecticut senator vaughn romanov and well known philanthropist adelaide romanov, they were born into a life of privilege in a very prominent new england family. they’re the eldest of five in a very nuclear, picture perfect, preppy chic family.

was brought up to be a class a, outstanding, perfect citizen. golden child to the all american family (willfully ignoring the fact that his father came from russian immigrants). cain listened, obeyed, never strayed outside the lines.

it was always intended for cain to take on after their father, to follow in his footsteps and become a politician too. there were several expectations for them, including joining model un, debate, deca, splitting time between soccer, track, basketball, lacrosse, becoming class president, and all while maintaining a valedictorian - worthy gpa.

even volunteered on the weekends at homeless shelters and food banks, proving to everybody in their community just how much of a gem they were, darling, perfect member of society.

always eager as a child, eager for approval, eager to impress and wow and dazzle authorities and adults alike - cain never really had a problem with any of it? always attended church on sundays and sometimes even wednesdays. participated in family dinners and christmas photoshoots and new years eve parties, easter egg hunts and family reunions.

born and raised in stratford, super close to lovell to the point where it’d always been expected that the romanov children would simply just go to radcliffe, as did their parents. their home in stratford is a big, fancy, seven bedroom eight bath house with two fireplaces and an expansive dining room. no pool, but a sturdy treehouse made by scratch.

however. their model citizen persona was just that, a persona - a charade. in the community and to his family, cain was a hardworking citizen who upheld standards, a leader. to classmates and peers, from elementary to college - cain was the devil themself.

arrogant, harrowing, an outright bully who tore down others when they felt like it, often unprovoked. they were the senator’s son, and a rich one at that - rules never applying because they simply never existed for them, the upmost privilege because of who their family happened to be and their place in society. tattlers of their behavior faced far more consequence than cain ever did, or would.

the sort of person who’d genuinely look down at someone if they had less than them - a narcissistic dickhead who cared about two or three people, tops, outside of their family. was never physically violent, nor did they raise their voice, but that’s what made them all the worse. made them all the scarier. spewed classist bullshit with ease and was addicted to the power high it gave them.

their only redeeming quality was their protectiveness over their family - never the best person, but family is family, and they thought it ought’d to be protected.

went into political science and business to please their father, mainly, every step they made - every path cain went down, every choice from the electives they took in high school to the brand of shoes they wore, was to build them into the ideal presidential candidate.

probably joined a frat though cain never participated in parties too often, known for keeping their composure even when others resorted to violence, or got too drunk, or caused any public commotion, because they didn’t like to leave a bad image for the press. did their drugs in private but left nothing to the imagination, publicly.

but alas. during college, two very important series of events occurred.

seeking thrills, searching for fun in all the wrong places - cain became a middle-man between dealers and producers. never dealt it, and never produced it, but simply transported it between one another; the less everybody knew about each other the better. it was always a very hushed operation. one that they could’ve profited much off of, though money was never the motive for them.

and then he met earl and may meyers, fellow volunteers at a thanksgiving food drive; an older couple immediately drawn to cain, reasonable considering just who their father was, and cain to them. they can’t tell you what about the couple was so appealing - the air around them was something else entirely; some called it unhinged, others would call it comforting. but they were kind folks, down to earth - very religious, and very warmhearted. liked his name, a lot - like in the bible, they’d say, and laugh, and pat his arm. they would say, on occasion, that they reminded them of their late son.

it’d happened towards the end of their junior year, a few years after they’d gotten involved in the drug business - and the meyers were volunteering more and more, always at the same places as cain. the same times, too, as if they were learning his schedule. in retrospect - it was odd, but cain’d never suspected a thing. they kept talking, and it became a genuine friendship - a secured vote in the next election.

it only took a few months into this that they’d begun to talk about religion more. the sin of wealth, and god choosing only a select few when he cleanses the earth. only the worthiest souls. they’d eventually get into the rhythm of telling cain they were special - that they could see they’d be selected, see it in their aura, in their dreams, god sending them messages, etc. most would find it to be absolutely ... bonkers.

but it was oddly appealing to cain - like, maybe i am being constrained by capitalism. maybe i am disappointing god - aren’t i a devoted follower? it felt nearly ridiculous, but it seeped into their mind. psychological manipulation, lasting over months and cain unsuspecting. as if they could ever be the one manipulated. but the meyers could ask cain to jump, and they’d simply say - how high?

soon enough, earl and may told them that they were moving. that there’d been so many more like them and that it was time to join them, time to prepare - to get ready for the rapture. cain held off at first, finishing up their first term of their senior year and their life planned right before their eyes. everything they’d ever worked for. their loyal companions and close-knit family, their side-business that’d only gotten stronger - a long-term girlfriend and the engagement ring that burnt in their pocket, made their heart beat twice as fast at the very thought. still the same as before, cruel without a cause, but still surrounded by those who loved them - who could find something in them to love.

but a month into their senior year, cain had a sudden change of heart. they were ready, now, if not now then never later. all because of a third event. a surprise. a shock. a betrayal.

they had discovered that they were not their father’s child - not at all, not even by an inch. they were someone else’s, completely. their mother had broken down and cracked, after a particularly straining christmas party. the discussion was long, and the heartbreak only grew. the anger only grew. the hurt - it grew. more and more, with each pitiful sob their mother gave them. it was a mistake - a one night stand in a fit of petty anger in the very early stages of their marriage. and only cain knew - like they had to carry this weight, now, that they never asked to have.

it was the kind of information that broke a person. cain idolized their parents, done everything they’d ever asked - ever expected, and beyond, let them mold them like putty into whatever form they wanted. only to find out that in the end, it didn’t matter. it never mattered, if cain wasn’t the blood child of vaughn. if their mother - a woman who hadn’t a bad bone in her body, was nothing but a cheat and a liar.

cain unraveled.

they spent the first week getting into an altercation with near anybody who looked at them wrong. physical, usually - though arguments arose frequently as well. with no explanation, only thrown fists - often drunk, or high, or sober too - it never mattered. they spent a night in county jail, it’d gotten so bad. it seemed to have no end.

right until new years, just after midnight, when cain had disappeared without a word. it was treated like a missing persons case, though there was no evidence of foul play or kidnapping, and not much could be done about it.

BEGINNING OF CULT / DRUG / MOST OF THE TRIGGER WARNINGS

the only people who knew of cain’s whereabouts were the meyers - because they had left together. a last minute decision that, if they had only waited a simple minute longer, would’ve never happened. a mistake they desperately wished they could take back. a mistake that led to another event - maybe the most important one of them all.

they’d gone only hours away from stratford, and lovell, the border between new york and connecticut and not as far as cain had initially thought, but deep, deep into the woods. that was where the cult’d been. they wore white linens and cotton, but never mixed. technology banned, prayers and daily chores. it was natural, at first. for the first three months, that was.

it could’ve been grand. it was peaceful, and mind-clearing, and they treated cain as if their birth was a sign from the angels. cain come to undo his past. a potential leader. but the longer they stayed, the more apparent it became that they weren’t all that the cult had wanted, so desperately, to believe. once they began to slip up, once members became displeased - that’s when the punishments began to occur.

sometimes once a week, but sometimes - and, later, much more so, multiple. the memories are suppressed, for the most part - but there are some things they simply can’t - the hands, they can’t forget. pulling, and tugging, and gripping - begging, asking him to repent, please, repent. their head held underwater, counting seconds until their vision’d eventually darken and go out, only to be pulled out gasping and sobbing. these memories stay - these memories repeat themselves, like a record stuck on repeat, days blurring into one another.

when they tried to fight back - they were subdued. heroin was the first step. little by little, everyday - enough to leave them in a high they wouldn’t remember; enough to burn a hole in their memory. and with these dimming memories, cain’d begin to sneak paper and pencil into their living arrangement, their room, writing everyday. wrote as much as they could remember from home - about their family, their life before it all - the people they loved. they couldn’t remember what they’d written, some days.

and when those notes were found, bound by thread taken from their own clothing to form a shabby book - that’d been the final straw. dragged, kicking and screaming - mind-numbingly high, into place. the twisted reenactment, retelling of cain’s demise. how exactly he’d gotten his scar. it would’ve been near perfect, if they had only stayed still and let them brand the mark into his forehead. but instead - they settled, eventually, for the chest. then - the left cain to die in the middle of the woods. in the middle of nowhere. no trails or campsites to follow, nothing at all. nothing but trees. nothing but his notes and the clothes on their back. they hadn’t even known what day it was - almost forgotten the year, too.

cain should’ve died there, but cain got up. and they ran. and ran. and ran. until they hit something, eventually. a road. it’d been pure luck that they’d found a car near immediately afterwards, whose driver wasn’t doubling as a murderer, who took them to the hospital - and who gave cain that chance to live. they were found on new years, a full cycle - a full year in the cult that’d changed their life.

END OF CULT / DRUG / MOST OF THE TRIGGER WARNINGS. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. STILL MENTIONS OF TRAUMA / MENTAL HEALTH / RECOVERY / ADDICTION BEYOND THIS POINT.

after being reunited with their family in the hospital - everything went by very fast. they couldn’t recognize their youngest sibling, but they also couldn’t remember why they’d left in the first place. couldn’t remember the name of their girlfriend, but the color of her hair and the way she smelled. they couldn’t give answers to their actions.

and after being put into therapy and recovery for their addiction - that’s when they find out that their father’s a presidential candidate, that they had been - that they used cain’s disappearance as a story for the press, one to garner votes. their return is national news, and their public opinion skyrockets. it’s supposed to be glorious, and a miracle, a blessing - but cain feels restrained. confined to the role they’d always been expected to play - expected to get up and continue with their life, as if nothing had happened. 

but nothing didn’t happen - everything happened, and cain’s different now, vastly so - no longer who they thought they were. they change their major to literature, abandon politics. they get some cats, start working at the library, and they put on some leather gloves - their method of staying away, of keeping a comfortable distance. they are different, now, and simply only wish to focus on their recovery.

personality.

they’re no longer who they once were. a year of trauma does things to a person - and with memory loss that weighs heavy on their mind, they are near completely different. they remember parts of their old personality, their old lifestyle - enough to know they want to be better. they’re convinced that it’s karma, what happened to them. for being who they were - acting the way they did. just ... a bunch of self-blame.

even with the massive ego, cain’s always been a quiet person. but now - now cain’s even quieter. kinder, if not a little sarcastic, like a relic from the past. they’re distant - but it’s one of fear, restrictive and tense - not one made out of their own comfort. 

smokes medical marijuana but rarely drinks ... as if that’d make a difference. in an effort to beat their heroin addiction, they’ve turned to prescriptions instead.

like i mentioned ... cain has four cats. it’s basically their entire personality. two of them were from before their disappearance, but two are new to their little (school-approved) family. there is: frank (big chungus when yelled. white and gray), brock (orange. fluffy. stoic. devours food), shoelace (black furred, missing an eye and half an ear), and crunchwrap supreme (crunch for short. calico with bent ears). yes, they have photos of their cats in their wallet.

cain’s memory is fucked - like, really fucked. they forget a lot of things. short term, long term. it’s a constant struggle. they managed to keep their notes from the cult, so those help - but not always. they forget dates and names and faces and events. sometimes they wake up and don’t know where they are. they don’t sleep often, anyways. with the trauma came night terrors, and in an attempt to avoid them they don’t ... sleep often. only a few hours a night if they can withstand it, because it’s frankly terrible.

they suffer from severe touch aversion. skin contact with anybody, of any sort, is enough to send cain into a full-blown panic attack. they were leather gloves more often than not in an attempt to combat this disadvantage, without hindering their dexterity too much. even with clothes, they’re not the biggest fan of physical contact. it won’t send him into a panic attack, but they visibly flinch away. they’re very clear from the get-go, if someone is too close to them, that they don’t like physical contact.

dealing with ptsd and attends therapy every week. their therapist recommended that they keep writing their notes, after reviewing them himself, so cain does. they keep an entire journal where they write, and sketch a little, because it helps them cope and de-stress. it means a lot to them, actually.

also dealing with ptsd and attends therapy every week - therapist recommended he kept writing after looking at his notes - so he does, keeps an entire journal where they write and like … sketch a little, because it helps them cope. means more to them than it would seem. but, unfortunately, part of their coping involves getting far too involved in their own mini-investigation of the cult they’d been part of. when the cult was tracked back to where cain’d been brought, they were already gone - and cain wants to know where. wants to know how to find them. wants justice, vengeance. wants nobody else to get hurt from them.

pretty blunt ... won’t go out of their way to announce that hey, they were part of a cult, and that’s why they’re gone and that’s why that’s the way they are now - but they also won’t lie about it, if the topic comes up in conversation. they don’t like delusions, don’t like secrets, nor do they like unnecessary attention.

being at radcliffe makes cain anxious because - well, they’re surrounded by people they’ve been doing wrong by for years now and they can’t even remember which ones. who, what, when, why - distant memories, if they’re even there at all. is constantly trying to figure out how to redeem themselves. they’d leave, if it hadn’t been their parents’ assistance that they stay there. so that someone always has an eye on them. 

but like ...they screwed over a lot of people when they left. from plugs / customers to their ex-girlfriend, who they are, undeniably, still in love with (you can’t forget that feeling) - to their friends. like. everybody, pretty much KBJNSDFKSNLD

is often pretty high ... i’d say it’s just the medical weed but. alas :/ take a guess :/

hates cars & swimming & crowds. hates feeling trapped and will avoid it whenever possible. doesn’t want to be seen as unsociable, but it’s difficult. 

they ... have a tendency to run away when they’re overwhelmed. likes to climb trees because they’re tall enough to. there’s a tree outside of their window that they climb out to frequently, even though it’s like a ~safety hazard~ or whatever. just really likes to hide out. 

used to be in perkins when they last attended radcliffe, but they gave their spot to someone else and that was like - 100% fine w/ cain tbh. lives alone in moris now.

feels the need to redeem themself ... to like, everybody. like, they want to avoid conflict and be a better person, but it’s hard, and they don’t necessarily like confrontation either - and not everybody believes that cain’s changed. it wouldn’t be surprising if people were suspicious of cain, for whatever reason, because they don’t ... really have the best track record anymore.

developed a stutter as one of the results from their trauma. their voice is damaged from screaming and they’re self-conscious about it, but they’re working on it because there’s more important things to worry about. in general, cain looks ... gaunt, too thin, and generally sickly.

repeating senior year ... fr obvious reasons ... and probably won’t graduate anytime soon because they’ve changed their major so late.

can still hold a conversation & they’re not really afraid of socialization. it just takes a toll on them. they’re pretty lowkey, as a person. soft, sorta. quiet but they won’t be an asshole (on purpose). they like people! just. very low energy.

so like ... tldr ... not an asshole anymore ... dealing with a lot of trauma ... trying to be a good person ... yes ...

wanted connections.

locals... people they’ve grown up with their entire life. people they’ve wronged, people who idolized him, envied him, despised him, etc. 

enemies... would love for a bunch of these just. a hoard of people who fucking hate cain. because it fits the bill. they could’ve bullied them, or wronged them, whatever. anything works. let’s make it happen.

exes... that they’ve dumped... old hookups, ex-friends, people they got into an argument with or fought before they disappeared last year...

ex girlfriend... that connection wld b rly neat!! i have it up as a wc rn but we can take that down ... will be holding intense american idol - esque auditions. remember that cain ws a fckn classist pig and probably only dated people who were also rich with influential families. (unless u present a very good case to me ... then maybe ... perhaps ...)

family friends... family rivals... people he knows mostly thru their family.

redeemable... people they’re trying to redeem themself to... trying to prove their worth, and that they’re a better person now, etc. etc.

old clients... :) angry clients. that they left in the dust.

perkins... people he knew from perkins ... old pals or maybe enemies idk he was pretty insufferable ... people he used to go to fancy parties with sometimes ...

angery... people so so so so fucking pissed at cain, for whatever reason.

reconciliation... reconnecting... used to be friends and we can be friends again :) and i will be better this time! i’m a slut for slowburns, especially slowburn friendships ... enemies to friends ... now THAT is sexy.

victims... of bullying ... :/ of their bullying specifically.

sof...t... wholesome content ... nothing but soft, understanding friendships ... or developing friendships ... make them feel welcomed again... forgive them...

an..g.st... friends to enemies. enemies to bigger enemies. miscommunication. betrayal. whatever u want.

no hookups!!! ... please only previous encounters. nothing in the present. because it just wldn’t make sense.

unless... eyes emoji. H DSJLFJKS just kidding! i’d accept MAYBE some kind of sexual tension but like ... the sort that hurts, because it just Cannot Happen (i will not let it happen). or maybe a fun, casual sexting thing but like. nothing physical. pleasthe.

fuck politics!... mayhaps, they hate mr. romanov and his politics or smth. he’s probably corrupt in some way, so! go at it!

aggression... i feel like a lot of the conversations between cain n other ppl start out rly ... angry bc theyre Mad. at them.

ok it’s bed time please plot with me. 

[trvelyans-archive]

22 or 33 for Danny and noelle please maam 😔💖

22. nap 

The last Christmas you actually celebrated, Julia dragged you - or perhaps you dragged Julia - to a homeless shelter downtown to work in the kitchens and hand out plates of food. You were there from noon to midnight, with only a few breaks every couple of hours, and, to your surprise, it had been delightfully uninterrupted by… everything. No media. No Rangers business. Not even Tia Elena called you after you left her house that morning with two thermoses filled to the brim with chilled eggnog.

Still, your feet were sore at the end of the day, and you fell asleep as soon as your head hit Julia’s pillow (she slept on the couch, and you felt bad, but she had offered and didn’t take no for an answer). Still, it was tiring.

Today isn’t nearly as tiring. You don’t think there’s anything tiring about lying around in bed all day. Not even for you. (And that’s saying something.)

A stupid Christmas movie plays on the TV across the room. Danny’s fixated on it, and genuinely seems to be enjoying himself while you fiddle with the sweater he gave you this morning, cutting two generous thumb holes in the cuffs. You like it that way - it saves you having to wear a pair of mittens when it’s cold out. A bowl of popcorn sits in your lap, and every once in a while he leans over for a handful while making it his purpose to drop a kiss to your cheek every time.

It’s dangerous to feel so comfortable, but Danny has the unfortunate gift of making you feel that way even when you shouldn’t.

The orange of your tattoos clash sharply with the bright blue of your borrowed sweatshirt, but he doesn’t even pay it any attention. He’s gotten scarily good at that. Occasionally, late at night, you’ll feel him tracing the tattoos on your thighs as he rests his head tiredly on your stomach, but besides that, he mostly ignores them altogether. No, he doesn’t ignore them. He knows they’re there and doesn’t pretend they’re not. He’s just accepted them as a part of you.

If only he could see you the way you see yourself in the mirror.

But you force those thoughts out of your mind. Danny made you promise to him this morning that you wouldn’t think or say anything bad about yourself today, and though the former is much harder than the ladder, you’re trying anyway. For his sake, at least.

That can be your Christmas gift to him. God knows it’s probably better than the shitty thrifted t-shirt that he was still somehow excited about this morning.

It’s hard not to feel safe at Danny’s apartment. His bed is so wide and warm, his security is very tight, and his muscles are just so unreasonably big that feeling unsafe with him in bed beside you isn’t an option. Of course, it helps that he’d crush anything - anything at all - if it was trying to hurt you. Even your own doubts. Your own fears. Your own guilt.

He should go into counselling once he retires. He’s better at it than Dr. Finch is, that’s for certain.

It takes a while for you to realize that you’re drifting off, slumping down against his pillows and burrowing yourself deeper underneath his comforter. Only when he grabs your shoulder and gently shakes it do you realize you have you open your eyes to peer at him.

“Hey,” he says with a bright smile that makes the corners of his eyes crinkle. “Tired?”

“You could say that,” you reply.

“Well… You’re allowed to go to sleep, of course, but maybe don’t do it while holding a pair of scissors?”

You look down at your lap and blink sleepily. Sure enough you still hold a pair of scissors open in your right hand, and you let out a self-conscious laugh.

“Good point,” you comment, handing them to him so he can put them on the bedside table beside him. “You’re sure you don’t mind?”

“Of course,” he says, brushing a kiss fondly against your forehead and then one between your eyebrows. “If you give me a few more minutes, I’ll join you. Movie’s almost over.”

“I bet I know how it’s going to end.”

“No spoilers!” he exclaims before you can say anything else, and you pick up a piece of popcorn and launch it at him. 

“Fine,” you say. “It’s not my fault you’re going to miss optimal spooning time.”

He grins crookedly at you. “How about you be big spoon for once so we can cuddle and I can finish my movie?”

“Fine,” you say, and you hate how easily you agree to his ideas. “Lie down, lover boy.”

You barely even have your arms wrapped around him by the time you start drifting off again. You can’t help it - the smell of his shampoo in his fluffy golden hair is like knockout gas to you now. After a few minutes, you hear him quietly cheer under his breath. “Hero always gets the girl,” he says, and you know he’s smiling.

“Yes, and this girl is very tired,” you mutter. He laughs and bends his head to kiss your hand, and you can just catch the beginning of him saying something sweet before you fall asleep.

—

microstory prompts

[fruitcoops]

OMG PART 2 TO THE SINGING TIK TOK PLEASE!!!! Whether it be The teams reaction to hearing his ✨angelic✨ voice or just another video of it, but please part 2!!

This is slightly different than what you asked for, but I’m not sorry. Please note that it’s the Mariah Carey version--this is very, very important and I highly suggest listening to it as you read (or after). Enjoy!

Sweater Weather credit goes to @lumosinlove!

“Next on the list, we have our Wisconsin boys!” James announced into the microphone around his laughter. The cubs bowed once more to the cheering crowd of tipsy hockey players that was squished into Dumo’s living room before curling up on the far couch. “I don’t know how they’re going to beat the masterpiece we just witnessed, but if anyone can do it, it’s them. Talkie and Loops, step on up!”

Dumo’s Christmas party was James’ favorite part of the year, specifically because of the talent show. There was nothing more satisfying than drinking spiked eggnog with your closest friends and then watching them make total fools of themselves for a $10 Sid’s gift card. The season of giving, indeed, he thought as he sat down next to Lily.

Talker and Remus took their places in front of the microphones—Remus made a point of pulling Logan’s microphone higher and a wave of laughter flooded the room. Talker nodded to Nado, who pressed ‘play’ on Dumo’s speaker and gave them a thumbs-up.

Familiar bells began and James couldn’t keep a smile off his face; if they pulled this off, not even the cubs’ Mean Girls routine could keep them from winning the gift card.

“I don’t want a lot for Christmas,” Remus sang, sparking a round of whoops from the crowd. “There is just one thing I need.”

“I don’t care about the presents, underneath the Christmas tree.” Someone wolf-whistled at Talker’s riff and he grinned.

“I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know.” Next to him, Sirius’ ears turned vivid red.

“Make my wish come true…all I want for Christmas, is you.” The music kicked up and Talker pointed straight to Noelle, who was laughing so hard she nearly fell off the couch. “I don’t want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need—”

“—and I—”

“Don’t care about the presents, underneath the Christmas tree. I don’t need to hang my stocking, there upon the fireplace. Santa Claus won’t make me happy with a toy on Christmas Day.” Talker took the microphone off the stand, beckoning to Noelle until she came over and he could twirl her in a quick circle. “I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know. Make my wish come true, all I want for Christmas is you! You, baby!”

“Let’s go Talkie!” James cheered. The next verse kicked in and Remus spun around to face Sirius with a troublemaker’s grin on his face.

“Oh, I won’t ask for much this Christmas, I won’t even wish for snow—”

“—and I—”

“I’m just gonna keep on waiting, underneath the mistletoe.” He winked and James reached over to close Sirius’ jaw, which had fallen open slightly. “I won’t make a list and send it, to the North Pole for Saint Nick. I won’t even stay awake to hear those magic reindeer click.”

“Get it, Loops!” Natalie shouted.

“Cause I just want you here tonight, holding on to me so tight.” Remus shimmied his shoulders and laughed as Sirius flushed. “What more can I do? Baby, all I want for Christmas is you! You, baby!”

“All the lights are shining, so brightly everywhere!” Talker sang, sliding perfectly into the key change.

“And the sound of children’s laughter fills the air!”

“Oh, and everyone is singing—”

“—oh, yeah, I hear those sleigh bells ringing!”

“Santa won’t you bring me the one I really need? Won't you please bring my baby to me?”

“Oh, I don’t want a lot for Christmas, this is all I’m asking for.” Everyone was clapping in time by then, and James’ abs hurt from laughing so much.

“I just wanna see my baby, standing right outside my door!”

“I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know.” Some of the teasing playfulness grew soft when Remus looked back at Sirius, who blew him a kiss. James leaned his head on Lily’s shoulder and felt her press a light smooch to the top of his head. “Make my wish come true, baby all I want for Christmas…”

“…is you!” The room lost their damn minds as Talker hit the high note, holding it until he was laughing too much to continue. He and Remus held hands and took a deep bow to the ear-splitting cheers of the team, even after the music faded out.

Noelle stood up from her seat once more and pulled Talker into a kiss, dipping him slightly as Remus put their microphones back and cocked an eyebrow at James. “Well, this is going to be a close competition,” James said, taking his place as the MC again. “Alright, alright, settle down. It’s time for the vote!”

“Is it really?” Finn asked, adjusting his Santa hat. “As incredible as we look in these skirts—and we do—I think Wisconsin takes the cake this year.”

“It’s a gift card, not a cake, but okay.” James shook his head fondly. “All in favor of Talker and Loops claiming their epic reward?”

The responding roar was deafening; they were all going to have sore throats and noise complaints in the morning. Talker took the gift card from Dumo with great ceremony, high-fiving Remus with such a resounding smack that everyone winced a little. The second Remus sat down, Sirius hauled him into his lap and began peppering his face with kisses. “No mistletoe, sorry,” he said before planting a proper one on him.

This was what Christmas was about, after all: going buckwild with joy for one beautiful night, surrounded by friends and family. This was James’ greatest gift.

[dcviated]

@remunporium sent: " Raguna! " Sirin's up before Raguna this time, which is a rarity considering how much she actually values sleep. Is Raguna still in his sleepwear? Doesn't matter! He's off work today and that gave Sirin the perfect excuse to get her presents ready. Behold! ... Two boxes. One bigger than the other, but both are still relatively flat and light.

" Merry Christmas! I wasn't... entirely sure what to get you, but, I got you something. " Sure, it wasn't a brand new kitchen device or anything cool like that, but Sirin was pretty sure he'd appreciate somehting less expensive and more practical anyways. What better gift than clothes in that case?

The larger box contains a thick, maroon-colored sweater that, when touched, reveals its thickness and its potential warmth. The second, smaller box contains a ballcap hat that reads 'Women want me, fish fear me.' Sirin looks especially proud of that one.

Raguna had plans for Christmas day. A perfect image in his mind ready to be crafted and brought to fruition so the holiday could be enjoyed and shared by himself and Sirin until he left later that day. After all, there were plans to spend the day and evening with Noelle and her family.

He'd start with getting a fire lit in the fireplace. Cheerful music would play from the small stereo in the living room. And from the kitchen the smell of hot spice and fresh bread. It would definitely be indulgent to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast, but Raguna was happy to share that with Sirin.

For better or worse, Sirin actually manages to beat him to the punch. Wait- was he dreaming before?!

"Sirin?" He snaps awake quickly, wiping sleep from his eyes as the girl makes her way into the room with wrapped gifts and a smile that made anything material pointless in the scheme of how it floated his chest. To think of the girl he had met on the streets before to who was living with him now was enough to give the young man doubts of what was real or not.

"Wait, weren't we going to open these in the living room? I had your-- no, okay okay! I'm up. Give me one second." In some ways though, Sirin hadn't changed at all. Strong in mind and purpose, just the purpose was different now. "Lets see..." Raguna does not in fact tear into the paper as Sirin might like. Instead fishing out a small knife from the side table and carefully going about undoing the tape and folds.

It's excruciatingly slow for a child.

"Ohh!" He holds up the sweater with a fond smile. Simply by gripping it in his hands and then letting it fall across his arms there was no doubt to the comfort it would provide. Snuggle material, but in a different way from the coat she had helped him pick out before. "I'll have to wear this when I go to Noelle's later today... thank you, Sirin. I love it. Nice color and everything. So soft... hm. And then what do we have in here."

Raguna opens the second box, equally careful, equally paced.

"Hahaha! Women want me. Fish fear me... huh... I dunno about that. But this is pretty funny. Where did you even buy something like this?" After a moment of collecting himself (difficult given how Sirin looked so proud, it made it all the sillier) he puts the cap on. "Well. Does it look alright?? I dunno about wearing this in public..."

[wordydelights]

Noelle comfortably sat on her twin sized bed with her legs crossed, her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, strands of loose curls outlining her round face. Inside, contrasting with the remarkably chilly summer evening, it was toasty and warm. Not in a sweltering heat on a sunny day kind of way, but more like that cozy, pleasant feeling you get sitting by a fire on a cold Christmas night. Even the crisp smell of pine flooded the air from small candles in the living room, adding to the holiday sensation. In her hands she clasped a cardboard box in the shape of a heart with one of Michelangelo's sleeping cherubs printed on top. Noelle always wondered why her father was so infatuated with these chubby infants with wings, but figured that perhaps she was just viewing these infamous creatures in the wrong perspective, missing the beauty that lay right beneath her nose. She sighed as she began to open the box, removing its cherub top, as if she were reliving the broken memories once again. Glued to the bottom of the lid was a collage of seven old photographs of infant Noelle, each carefully cut to leave no empty spaces. Only one of these photos featured Noelle and her father. She was sitting in a turquoise wagon, her innocent eyes wide, looking directly into the camera as her father gazed down upon her tiny body smiling, with his hands holding the wagon's sides. It was the look of a father who truly adores his little girl. A look that said she was his world and nothing else. But looks are such a deceiving matter. Carefully Noelle placed the lid face down onto her paisley comforter and reached further into the box's sentimental articles. Letters and cards, which had been reread over and over, every word, comma, period and even spelling errors, were memorized within the core of her being. She unfolded a note with yellow coffee stains on its edges. A silver chain attached to a charm depicting a horse in mid run, fell onto her lap as she spread out the tarnished paper. It read: Happy Birthday Noelle! I love you soooooo much sweet heart and hope today is filled with warm memories. I bought you this necklace from your Uncle Duane and Aunt Betty and thought you would like it since your mom said you like horses. I miss you sooooooo much and wish we could be together more than the last couple of years. Everyday I think about you and wonder what you are doing. Please remember that I am always thinking of you and truly wish I was with you on your birthdays and special occasions. I always start to smile when I think of you and I would be right next to you if I could. Even though we are apart you will always be in my heart and in my thoughts throughout the days to come. Today I found out that I can send you letters so I am going to keep writing you so you will truly know your daddy loves you with all of his heart. Happy birthday baby I miss you soooooooo much. Your forever loving daddy. He didn't send another letter for over a year. Noelle reminisced on the euphoric feeling of first reading those cursive words. It felt like her feet were dancing on soft clouds, as her hands swung her weightless body from star to star. It felt like she was the sun and every solar energy in the galaxy was revolving around her. Gravity no longer existed because she could have sworn she was floating. The letter had arrived a day after her ninth birthday, delightfully surprised that he hadn't forgotten once again as usual, she ripped open the envelopes contents filled with nothing but lies. And she had believed it. She had believed every scribbled word on that yellow stained sheet, allowing herself to sink further into her delusion. Creating false hope which would inevitably be crushed by truth disappointment. Noelle indulged further into the heart shaped box, coming across another photo of her and her dad, encased in a pink fuzzy frame. They were at a cousin's birthday party at some sort of arcade, but you couldn't tell since the background was dark and blurred. She was probably about three or four, wearing a magenta Barney the Dinosaur shirt, her bangs bluntly cut above the eyebrows and skin pale as the moon. Her eyes appearing red from the flash as she grinned from ear to ear. Her dad was sitting in a booth, his freshly shaven face gazing up in her direction, her head towering above as she stood on the polished seat. She looked happy. He looked happy. It was hard to swallow reality when reminiscing on these sentimental moments captured. But she knew that behind these deceptive photographs lied a much more twisted tale. A metallic clanking noise vibrated through the box as her fingertips grazed the surface of one of her father's old hanayama puzzles, a four piece set of oddly bent stainless steel rings coated in a gold tinge, that connected to one another. When properly solved each fit together to create a woven , geometric shape. Noelle was never able to unlock its mysterious secrets, unlike her father who had mastered its mind boggling labyrinth of perplexity. The trick was to know how to begin, which golden ring to start with and where to place it. When she was little she'd watch her daddy's hands in awe as he rapidly enter twined the rings to form a celtic symbol. The eternity knot. He made the seemingly impossible task appear simple. He'd then proceed to place the cast metal brain teaser in her tender hands, watch her aimlessly fidget with it's rings for about thirty seconds and ridicule her misfortune. She needed to prove to herself that she was capable. Even though he was far away he still controlled her, every waking moment in her thoughts, in her sleep, her actions, in her irrational untrusting nature, fear of people, of men. She wanted to break free and though it sounded silly she thought that maybe if she could just beat the stupid puzzle she'd in some way break free. She heard his laugh in the back of her head mocking her. She almost expected to feel his hands snatch the object from her grasp, look up and see him assemble the pieces to fit perfectly together with ease. Noelle's mother Janet slowly walked to the bedroom door, wearing a thick, grey knit cardigan, her feet bare and eyes puffy. "Hey sweetie," her mother said reassuringly as she watched her daughter struggle assembling the metal rings. "Whatcha doing?" Noelle didn't acknowledge her mother's presence, continuing to fumble with the puzzle, with a determined look in her eye. "Just trying to fix th-this damn thing." "I can see that," her mother chuckled. Noelle didn't respond. Her hands moved rapidly, eyes locked on the target. Janet gently sat on the edge of the twin sized bed, patting away the wrinkles in the comforter beside her thighs. She let out an uneasy smile as she watched her daughter aggressively fiddle with the rings, pulling them apart then pushing them together in a useless attempt to fit them together. "Noelle?" her mother spoke with a concerned tone. Noelle remained intensely focused, her eyebrows furrowed together. She moved her hands even more rapidly with hostility, as if she wanted to rip the rings apart, the metallic puzzle rattled, clinking together in a senseless rhythm. She heard an almost inaudible voice somewhere far away. "Noelle? Stop." But she didn't. She bit her bottom lip. She could almost taste the blood. Her eyes were now wet. Shame. A fire kindled in her chest. Her face. Red. Her arms began to shake. Rage. He won. He always does, always will. She began beating the rings onto her lap. Scraping her thighs. "Noelle!" Janet yelled, smacking the rings out of her daughters hands and onto the wooden floor. "I can fix it! Why don't you believe I can do it?! I'm not stupid!" Noelle screamed as she broke down crying, her words crumbling apart as quickly as they were being spoken. "Shhh, it's ok," Janet soothed, pulling her troubled daughter's head onto her chest. Teardrops dampened her knit cardigan sweater as the sky dimmed and the cool summer breeze seeped through the window's crevices.

A Great Big Without, The Way We See It

[justsoyoudonthaveto]

This one was talked about at a get-together I attended today, and it’s been sitting in the queue, so here we go. Starring Candace Cameron Bure and the guy who’s been in a few other movies, Luke McFarland, it’s A Shoe Addict’s Christmas!

Full disclosure, I used to be a shoe person, and now, because I have plantar fasciitis, I can only wear inserts, so I’m already annoyed at the concept of a movie about a girl who loves heels. We start with CCB getting ready for work, and she clearly wants to wear a gold cross necklace but puts it back for some reason that I hope will not be that she doesn’t want to offend anyone with God.

CCB plays Noelle, and she’s working in a department store. Her mom loved Christmas, and I’m guessing she’s dead, and she’s working for a grown up version of Ricky from Better Off Dead and a bitch-mom in a Chanel suit.

Noelle is the HR director, and she’s got a lot of things to do, including organizing a charity gala, and she is excited to buy a new pair of shoes for said gala. The charity gala is for a fire house, and Luke McFarland is Jake, a soon-to-be office guy over fireman, and he’s got a dead dad, and is unsure about his life choice.

  Apparently Noelle’s passion is photography, and her Sassy Friend Lorna got her the job at the department store, and we’re 4 minutes in, and Sassy Friend told her to get out there and be a photographer instead of an HR manager, and be filled with the spirit of Christmas. Wow, that’s a tall order, Sassy Friend. I’d like to point out that Noelle is wearing an all teal outfit with beige pumps. It’s not a look I would espouse.

Noelle also has an ex-boyfriend (from 3 years ago) and she just got an update that ex just got engaged.  She’s so bothered by it she goes to visit her dad on an odd-night, where she gets to daydream over a picture of her mom and her with red shoes by the Christmas Tree. We also find out that the cross necklace was her mom’s and she never wears it because it doesn’t go with her shoes. Whatever, Noelle. I know there is a deep-seeded reason that has nothing to do with shoes there.

She goes home, and we find out that Jake has moved into her building, and he’s got a ton of stuff in the hallway, where she trips over everything. Jake is a pun guy. WHY OH WHY DO WE HAVE PUNS IN THIS MOVIE??

She’s been tasked to find some random person from the old days in the department store because plot. So off she goes to the basement in her peplum dress and sensible manicure. And the fake snow is really coming down out there – she’s been down in that basement so long she didn’t realize that the store closed early. You would think that a) HR person would know this and b) she’d have a key. Her boss swears he’ll come to rescue her, or he’ll call the fire department to break the door down. So while she waits, there’s a montage of her trying on stuff from the store and playing with the very valuable cameras that no real department store sells anymore before heading to the furniture section with a tin of cookies. Doesn’t she have an office she can wait in???

Uh-oh, someone is making noise in the store. Enter Jean Smart! Her name is Charlie, and methinks she’s the one she was sent to the basement to find. Oh, man, she’s a Clarence figure isn’t she. Damnit. I didn’t know this movie was a redo of It’s a Wonderful Life. Damnit Damnit Damnit. Jean Smart/Charlie is here to point her in the right direction, but she’s a flaky one, and it’s annoying already. Charlie tells her to put on a new pair of weird-looking shoes, because when she was little she’d dream about her future in new shoes. They are so ugly. And ALL OF A SUDDEN she’s back 3 years ago in her apartment. So it’s A Christmas Carol too?

The backstory here is it’s the day after her ex broke up with her, and she is faced with the choice of doing something brave and scary, or something safe and sound, and she chooses safe and sound – i.e., job at the department store instead of getting a gallery show for her photography. And Jean Smart is pointing out that the point of her little exercise is to make Noelle see that brave and scary is the way to go. But it’s not like A Christmas Carol, because Noelle actually gets to see the impact her future by new decisions she’s making: she’s a successful photographer and she’s married but she doesn’t know to whom. And we’re back in the department store – and the fire department has been called to rescue her. AND THE ENTIRE SQUAD has to be there when the manager gave her the alarm code?

Jake is there to help her get over her encounter with Jean Smart. He’s still punning.

I’ve seen the building that they’re using as Noelle and Jake’s apartment building before. It’s quite interesting. Where is it? I couldn’t find a picture of it by Googling, so I’m sorry, this is a mystery that will remain until the end of time.

We also find out that Noelle has to work with Jake for the charity gala. Of course she does.

Uh-oh, Jean Smart is back in her ugly Christmas sweater in her apartment. I also feel like she’s wearing a wig. There’s only 2 1/2 weeks until Christmas and there’s a lot of work to do. Jean Smart is playing matchmaker – telling her to spend more time with Jake. Embrace the Christmas Spirit. Have Fun. Be Young. Have Faith. There’s where the God stuff comes in! And Noelle has an amazing apartment and I wonder how she affords it.

Jake and Noelle are at the hotel where the Gala will be held. Jake wants it to be fun and whimsical, and have it snow inside the ballroom. Noelle is like, yeah, no. And it’s snowing again, and Jean Smart has just pulled up in an open carriage for Jake and Noelle to ride around in. I don’t know what city they are supposed to be in. I know it’s Canada where they filmed it, because it’s always Canada.

Noelle and Jake swap Christmas plans and dead parent stories but Noelle is annoyed at Jean Smart so they end up walking back to their apartment building. Jake asks her out for dinner and she says no, and that makes Jean Smart very annoyed. But Noelle is happy because there’s a pair of boots on her doorstep and she immediately puts them on, and is immediately whammied back to another reality. She’s at the department store, Christmas Eve, 2 years ago. Apparently, she didn’t fight for something, and now she’s got to do it – and it has something to do with her dad.

It has to do with the fact that she really wants a better relationship with her dad, and he’s awkward about it because his wife is dead and of course, men can’t do anything when their better half is gone. Jean Smart tells her to try harder to connect with her dad, but she takes off the boots and says no.

Jake’s crew are like hey, what’s the deal with Nicole – you should totally ask her out. But he’s annoyed that she’s vetoed all his fun ideas for the gala, which include giant candy canes in a place where people wear gowns and tuxedos. They are in some kind of storeroom at the hotel picking decor, talking about living a little, and taking risks, and one of the risks includes a big red switch that Younger Son would LOVE to pull, and voila, it’s snowing inside. So they compromise on the snow machine and the lights, and Noelle thinks she should live a little more, so she goes home and puts on her whammy boots to reconnect with her dad.

They have a nice lunch where they talk and reminisce, and then we flash forward to the fact that her dad was at her photography studio. And then back with Jean Smart, who tells her that she keeps all her friends at an arm’s length, and that she hasn’t told anyone that she’s upset her ex got engaged. And the end result of this whammy is that she goes and has hot cocoa with her dad.

Next day, she and Jake are at a tasting for the event, and Jake fishes to see if Noelle has a boyfriend so transparently it’s laughable. Noelle is bringing her dad to the Gala. And Jean Smart shows up with a Julia Childs accent and instructs them to bake cookies. And here I would like to point out that all these movies that show cookie decorating are just Fibs on top of Falsehoods on top of BIG FAT LIES when they show how easy royal icing is to put on cookies. But we get her philosophy on shoes, and we get them playfully banter about shoes, and food fight with the icing.

Younger Son has just confirmed that he has, in fact, brushed his teeth. Right in my face.

The cookie thing has made such an impression on Jake that he asks her to come to his firehouse Christmas party, and she says yes and then the two of them decorate the station’s tree. Does every firehouse have a tree right in the middle of their house by the truck where it’s not the most practical?

Younger Son just pointed out that Noelle just said “But it’s Christmas” and has called for you all to drink.

Jake also discovers Noelle’s passion for photography, and finds her a camera for firehouse family photos around the tree.

Noelle and her Sassy Friend have a heart-to-heart about Jean Smart. Lorna believes this cockamamie story, and tells her to take control of her encounters with Jean Smart. I also want to take issue with the fact that this fake department store has not cleaned the front entrances from the fake snow. I feel that is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

The bitch lady who owns the department store wants to get Jake fired because she thinks Jake is tacky and Noelle says she’ll tell him the news that he shouldn’t help with the Gala and she should have just told bitch lady to shove that pole that’s already up her butt even higher. But this is a Hallmark movie, so we don’t have that type of language.

So at the firehouse, Noelle brings cookies to break the news. And Jake says thank you for taking some of his ideas into consideration because it’s giving him the confidence to go after his new job, and Noelle chickens out about telling him he’s fired. And so she goes to Jean Smart for some more answers.

Here are the answers: Everyone has a guardian angel / Santa’s elf to look out for them. But they usually work behind the scenes – they don’t come out unless you’re a very special case where you need a ton of help (George Bailey, etc). During this conversation, they are walking down a sidewalk decorated with the creepiest nutcracker cutouts ever.

All of this comes down to faith in God, and making the right choices for your life to work with the lives of people around you. And Jean Smart tells a story about signs and faith and God and gives her a new pair of hot pink suede shoes that will bring Noelle back to Christmas Eve, one year ago.

Lorna has given her a great lens for her camera and pushes her to enter this “Most Inspiring Photo” Contest. So take a leap, Noelle, on photography, and we flash forward to her fantasy future – where Noelle is getting hit on by her photography subject – and we flash forward again to her married life, and she’s married to that guy? And she’s rightly confused abut that, because why is Jean Smart so hot on Jake? Apparently the lessons are on taking chances, and finding your true love. And Noelle is seriously bummed it’s not Jake. But we have 30 minutes left, so chances are, we’ll find out it is Jake. Right?

And Jake is at her oversized apartment, and is in love with her photographs that are conveniently on her laptop. He thinks she’s really talented. His ruse to get into her apartment? He needed a cup of sugar. Because he cannot go to a store.

Oh No! Dad is going to miss the Gala because his sister broke her leg. Luckily Jake has just shown up but not so lucky because Bitch Woman told him he’d been fired and somehow his Sad Times are all Noelle’s fault, and Jean Smart is still telling her to go to the fire house party, and Noelle says this whole thing sucks, and Jean Smart tells her that you have to have faith and God will bring you the answer you need, not necessarily the one you want. But Noelle’s like “girl bye” and then we have Sad Times with Noelle by her tree and Jake on the rear of his fire truck.

SAD TIMES

SAD TIMES AGAIN

Sassy Friend is there to help her pick up the pieces, because that’s what Sassy Friends do.

For some reason, the son of bitchy woman is really nice, and lets her wear the $3K dress from the mannequin because he’s really nice underneath all that Ricky-ness.

The Gala is nice and tasteful. Jake was offered that new job, but he doesn’t want it, because he’d be behind a desk and away from the family of the firehouse. And Noelle shows up at the Gala in her dress and her mom’s cross necklace and even Dad shows up, and then bitch woman un-thaws enough to say they should have more fun with things. And then if this couldn’t get any more oh-my-goodness – Noelle resigns to start her own photography studio and bitch woman promptly hires her to do the whole store’s spring advertising campaign. Because that’s JUST how that happens.

I think Bitch Woman’s son has a crush on Noelle.

Jean Smart shows up with another box of shoes and she’s proud of Noelle for reaching her potential and show of hands that Jean Smart in some way embodies the spirit of Noelle’s mother. Just me? Oh well.

Noelle finds Jake at the party. He turned down the desk job and instead is in-line for the captaincy of his station next year. And they get to dance but before they can – her heel breaks! So she has to put on her new pair of black fishnet shoes. Flash forward and she is married to Jake! Guy who she was taking pictures of is Jake’s brother! Ta Da! That’s how it all works out.

Jean Smart is happy, they get to dance, and Noelle made it snow in the ballroom just for Jake and everyone is thrilled to get fake snow in their champagne. Kiss, and saucy exit from Jean Smart and we’re done.

This one is also based on a book – and apparently there are sequels. Sequels where the hero and heroine have already fallen in love are never as good – because what’s the drama? Does he really, really love me? Will she really, really be my date to the prom? All the tension is gone, right? I’m trying to think of any example where sequels are actually really good after they got together. Anyone? Anyone? Please advise.

I’m not a fan of CCB and her acting choices, but she’s not offensively bad to me, so this one was only mildly annoying. I read The Billionaire’s Christmas Cinderella this morning and that was MUCH more annoying and offensively bad to me, so we’re operating on a sliding scale. Anyway, I watched this one, just so you don’t have to.

  Department Stores. Fire Stations. Fake Blizzards. So.Many.Shoes. All this, AND Jean Smart. I watched A Shoe Addict's Christmas, just so you don't have to. This one was talked about at a get-together I attended today, and it's been sitting in the queue, so here we go.

[cathygeha]

A snowstorm. Her much older business partner. A snowstorm changes Laura Holiday and Russ Matheson's relationship forever. Contemporary Romance fans will love this sexy holiday romance from New York Times Bestselling Author Noelle Adams!

 Rafflecopter for

Stranded for Christmas Review and Excerpt Tour Giveaway:

 Noelle is offering one (1) lucky Grand Prize winner a paperback set of her Holiday Acres series containing Stranded on the Beach, Stranded in the Snow, Stranded in the Woods, and Stranded for Christmas! Two (2) Runner-ups will receive an eCopy of one book from Noelle’s backlist titles (winner’s choice). To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below:

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  About Stranded for Christmas:

 Title: Stranded for Christmas

Author: Noelle Adams

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: December 4, 2018

Publisher: Noelle Adams

Series: Holiday Acres #4

Format: Digital eBook

Digital ISBN: 9781386913887

 Stranded for Christmas (Holiday Acres #4)

 A snowstorm. Her much older business partner. One very hot night.

 Laura Holiday doesn’t believe in romance. Her life revolves around her work and her six-year-old son. The last thing she wants is a fling with her friend and business partner, Russ Matheson, who is emotionally unavailable and thirteen years older than her. But one night in a snowstorm changes their relationship forever.

 Add to your TBR list:  Goodreads

 Pre-order:  Amazon  |  Barnes and Noble  |  Kobo  |  iTunes

  Excerpt:

 “The snow is getting bad,” Russ said, turning back to look out the window.

“Is it?” Laura looked pretty and flustered and breathless. Her shoulder-length brown hair was slipping out of her ponytail, and she must have gotten hot because she’d taken off her sweater. She was wearing a fitted white shirt that gave him a clear view of her slim body, including the luscious curve of her breasts.

Russ dragged his eyes back up to her face, but that didn’t really help because she looked flushed and tousled, like she might have just gotten out of bed.

His bed.

He gulped, remembering how she’d looked that morning in her pajamas.

He really needed to stop thinking such things.

Laura would be mad as hell if she found out.

“Russ?”

He blinked, trying to refocus on their conversation. “What?”

“I asked if it was really bad out there.”

“Oh yeah. Take a look. It looks like the parking lot is mostly empty, so the customers have obviously cleared out. The roads must be pretty bad. You probably should have picked Tommy up early.”

“Shit.” Laura came over to stand beside him so she could look out the window too. “Well, I better go get him now before it gets any worse.”

“You want me to drive you?”

She turned her gaze up at him, her brown eyes big and deep. “I’m capable of driving in the snow, you know.”

“I know you are. It was just an offer.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll take the SUV.” She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Olivia and Penny have to go out in this too. And I’ve got to stop by Candy Cane Cottage to assess the damage to the bathroom.”

“Surely that can wait.”

“We’ve got someone else renting it this weekend. I need to assess it so Ed has time to fix it tomorrow morning.”

Russ shook his head. “That driveway to Candy Cane Cottage is steep. You’re never going to get up it in this snow. And if you get up, you won’t be able to get down.”

“I’ll be fine. I told you I’m taking the SUV.”

“You’re putting a lot of faith in the powers of an SUV.”

“Oh shut up.” Her words weren’t sharp. Her expression was almost fond. “I can’t believe this snow. Why couldn’t it wait a few more hours?”

“The weather isn’t prone to following your timeline.” His voice was dry because she was still standing very close. He could smell the fresh scent of her hair. He wanted to tangle his fingers in it. He wanted to trace the freckles on her face and neck with his tongue.

“I don’t know why it shouldn’t follow my timeline. My timeline is a good one.” Her voice lilted slightly, and she leaned against the wall as she gazed up at him.

Russ took a step closer to her so he could smell her again. “I’ll let the weather know it needs to improve its performance to fall in line with your schedule.”

She took a shaky little breath, and her eyes dropped, causing her thick lashes to spread out against her freckled skin in a way that enchanted him. He edged a little closer, bracing one hand on the wall beside her.

He had her trapped against the wall now, and he’d completely forgotten the track of their conversation. His breathing had quickened, and his body had tightened, and his mind was buzzing with attraction. Need.

Something a lot deeper.

She wasn’t pushing him away. She wasn’t trying to cut the tension. She looked breathless. Excited.

Like maybe she wanted him to kiss her.

He wanted to kiss her more than he’d ever wanted to kiss anyone in his forty-five years. He’d assumed that was something she’d never want, but maybe…

Maybe…

He leaned forward a little more. He could hear her quick intake of breath. Her eyes darted up to his face and then down again.

“Russ,” she said, raising a hand to put on his chest the way she had that morning in the kitchen.

“Yes?” His voice was way too husky, but there was nothing he could do about that. She was so close. Almost within reach at last.

Her fingers fisted in the fabric of his shirt. “Russ.”

“Yes.” This time it wasn’t a question. It was the pure articulation of his heart.

She licked her lips, and the small gesture made his groin harden. “Russ, please don’t.”

He’d been leaning forward even more, but at that he grew very still. “Don’t what?”

“You know what.” She took another breath—different this time—and looked up to meet his eyes again. “Please don’t.”

“Laura, I’m not going to do anything you don’t want, but I think maybe you do want—”

“I don’t—” She broke in, dropping her hand from his shirt. “Please don’t.”

Russ sighed and took a purposeful step back, feeling like he’d been hit by a truck.

Laura gave him another quick look and then grabbed her purse and started for the door.

“Be careful,” Russ said as she left. “The roads are bad out there.”

“I’m always careful.”

 Copyright © 2018 Stranded for Christmas by Noelle Adams

  Other Books in the Holiday Acres series:

 Stranded on the Beach (Holiday Acres #1)

 A forced vacation on the beach. The man who broke her heart. A second chance at love.

 Rebecca Holiday’s sisters force her to take a two-week vacation on the beach for some much needed rest, but then she runs into the man who broke her heart, the only man she’s ever loved.

 When they decide to spend time together, it’s only supposed to be closure, but what they might discover is a second chance at love.

 Add to your TBR list:  Goodreads

 Available:  Amazon  |  Barnes and Noble  |  Kobo  |  iTunes

  Stranded in the Snow (Holiday Acres #2)

 An unexpected snowstorm. The man she hates the most. One very hot night.

 Olivia Holiday does not expect to spend the weekend stranded in a romantic cottage during a snowstorm with the one man she resents the most. Scott Matheson is a player and holds a grudge against her family, and she really shouldn’t find him so hot. They share a deep history as well as an attraction, and it all comes out as they’re trapped together for one hot night.

 Add to your TBR list:  Goodreads

 Available:  Amazon  |  Barnes and Noble |  Kobo  |  iTunes

   Stranded in the Woods (Holiday Acres #3)

 A surprise snowstorm. A grumpy recluse. One very hot night.

 When Penny Holiday gets stranded during a snowstorm, she has to seek refuge with Kent Matheson, a childhood friend who lives like a hermit and has never forgiven her family. Kent is everything she shouldn’t want, but feelings are awakened in his cabin in the woods that don’t disappear when the snow finally melts.

 Add to your TBR list:  Goodreads

 Available:  Amazon  |  Barnes and Noble  |  Kobo  |  iTunes

    About Noelle Adams:

 Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she reads any book she can get her hands on and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.

 She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances.

Website  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  BookBub

  http://www.barclaypublicity.com/

[justsoyoudonthaveto]

This one was talked about at a get-together I attended today, and it’s been sitting in the queue, so here we go. Starring Candace Cameron Bure and the guy who’s been in a few other movies, Luke McFarland, it’s A Shoe Addict’s Christmas!

Full disclosure, I used to be a shoe person, and now, because I have plantar fasciitis, I can only wear inserts, so I’m already annoyed at the concept of a movie about a girl who loves heels. We start with CCB getting ready for work, and she clearly wants to wear a gold cross necklace but puts it back for some reason that I hope will not be that she doesn’t want to offend anyone with God.

CCB plays Noelle, and she’s working in a department store. Her mom loved Christmas, and I’m guessing she’s dead, and she’s working for a grown up version of Ricky from Better Off Dead and a bitch-mom in a Chanel suit.

Noelle is the HR director, and she’s got a lot of things to do, including organizing a charity gala, and she is excited to buy a new pair of shoes for said gala. The charity gala is for a fire house, and Luke McFarland is Jake, a soon-to-be office guy over fireman, and he’s got a dead dad, and is unsure about his life choice.

  Apparently Noelle’s passion is photography, and her Sassy Friend Lorna got her the job at the department store, and we’re 4 minutes in, and Sassy Friend told her to get out there and be a photographer instead of an HR manager, and be filled with the spirit of Christmas. Wow, that’s a tall order, Sassy Friend. I’d like to point out that Noelle is wearing an all teal outfit with beige pumps. It’s not a look I would espouse.

Noelle also has an ex-boyfriend (from 3 years ago) and she just got an update that ex just got engaged.  She’s so bothered by it she goes to visit her dad on an odd-night, where she gets to daydream over a picture of her mom and her with red shoes by the Christmas Tree. We also find out that the cross necklace was her mom’s and she never wears it because it doesn’t go with her shoes. Whatever, Noelle. I know there is a deep-seeded reason that has nothing to do with shoes there.

She goes home, and we find out that Jake has moved into her building, and he’s got a ton of stuff in the hallway, where she trips over everything. Jake is a pun guy. WHY OH WHY DO WE HAVE PUNS IN THIS MOVIE??

She’s been tasked to find some random person from the old days in the department store because plot. So off she goes to the basement in her peplum dress and sensible manicure. And the fake snow is really coming down out there – she’s been down in that basement so long she didn’t realize that the store closed early. You would think that a) HR person would know this and b) she’d have a key. Her boss swears he’ll come to rescue her, or he’ll call the fire department to break the door down. So while she waits, there’s a montage of her trying on stuff from the store and playing with the very valuable cameras that no real department store sells anymore before heading to the furniture section with a tin of cookies. Doesn’t she have an office she can wait in???

Uh-oh, someone is making noise in the store. Enter Jean Smart! Her name is Charlie, and methinks she’s the one she was sent to the basement to find. Oh, man, she’s a Clarence figure isn’t she. Damnit. I didn’t know this movie was a redo of It’s a Wonderful Life. Damnit Damnit Damnit. Jean Smart/Charlie is here to point her in the right direction, but she’s a flaky one, and it’s annoying already. Charlie tells her to put on a new pair of weird-looking shoes, because when she was little she’d dream about her future in new shoes. They are so ugly. And ALL OF A SUDDEN she’s back 3 years ago in her apartment. So it’s A Christmas Carol too?

The backstory here is it’s the day after her ex broke up with her, and she is faced with the choice of doing something brave and scary, or something safe and sound, and she chooses safe and sound – i.e., job at the department store instead of getting a gallery show for her photography. And Jean Smart is pointing out that the point of her little exercise is to make Noelle see that brave and scary is the way to go. But it’s not like A Christmas Carol, because Noelle actually gets to see the impact her future by new decisions she’s making: she’s a successful photographer and she’s married but she doesn’t know to whom. And we’re back in the department store – and the fire department has been called to rescue her. AND THE ENTIRE SQUAD has to be there when the manager gave her the alarm code?

Jake is there to help her get over her encounter with Jean Smart. He’s still punning.

I’ve seen the building that they’re using as Noelle and Jake’s apartment building before. It’s quite interesting. Where is it? I couldn’t find a picture of it by Googling, so I’m sorry, this is a mystery that will remain until the end of time.

We also find out that Noelle has to work with Jake for the charity gala. Of course she does.

Uh-oh, Jean Smart is back in her ugly Christmas sweater in her apartment. I also feel like she’s wearing a wig. There’s only 2 1/2 weeks until Christmas and there’s a lot of work to do. Jean Smart is playing matchmaker – telling her to spend more time with Jake. Embrace the Christmas Spirit. Have Fun. Be Young. Have Faith. There’s where the God stuff comes in! And Noelle has an amazing apartment and I wonder how she affords it.

Jake and Noelle are at the hotel where the Gala will be held. Jake wants it to be fun and whimsical, and have it snow inside the ballroom. Noelle is like, yeah, no. And it’s snowing again, and Jean Smart has just pulled up in an open carriage for Jake and Noelle to ride around in. I don’t know what city they are supposed to be in. I know it’s Canada where they filmed it, because it’s always Canada.

Noelle and Jake swap Christmas plans and dead parent stories but Noelle is annoyed at Jean Smart so they end up walking back to their apartment building. Jake asks her out for dinner and she says no, and that makes Jean Smart very annoyed. But Noelle is happy because there’s a pair of boots on her doorstep and she immediately puts them on, and is immediately whammied back to another reality. She’s at the department store, Christmas Eve, 2 years ago. Apparently, she didn’t fight for something, and now she’s got to do it – and it has something to do with her dad.

It has to do with the fact that she really wants a better relationship with her dad, and he’s awkward about it because his wife is dead and of course, men can’t do anything when their better half is gone. Jean Smart tells her to try harder to connect with her dad, but she takes off the boots and says no.

Jake’s crew are like hey, what’s the deal with Nicole – you should totally ask her out. But he’s annoyed that she’s vetoed all his fun ideas for the gala, which include giant candy canes in a place where people wear gowns and tuxedos. They are in some kind of storeroom at the hotel picking decor, talking about living a little, and taking risks, and one of the risks includes a big red switch that Younger Son would LOVE to pull, and voila, it’s snowing inside. So they compromise on the snow machine and the lights, and Noelle thinks she should live a little more, so she goes home and puts on her whammy boots to reconnect with her dad.

They have a nice lunch where they talk and reminisce, and then we flash forward to the fact that her dad was at her photography studio. And then back with Jean Smart, who tells her that she keeps all her friends at an arm’s length, and that she hasn’t told anyone that she’s upset her ex got engaged. And the end result of this whammy is that she goes and has hot cocoa with her dad.

Next day, she and Jake are at a tasting for the event, and Jake fishes to see if Noelle has a boyfriend so transparently it’s laughable. Noelle is bringing her dad to the Gala. And Jean Smart shows up with a Julia Childs accent and instructs them to bake cookies. And here I would like to point out that all these movies that show cookie decorating are just Fibs on top of Falsehoods on top of BIG FAT LIES when they show how easy royal icing is to put on cookies. But we get her philosophy on shoes, and we get them playfully banter about shoes, and food fight with the icing.

Younger Son has just confirmed that he has, in fact, brushed his teeth. Right in my face.

The cookie thing has made such an impression on Jake that he asks her to come to his firehouse Christmas party, and she says yes and then the two of them decorate the station’s tree. Does every firehouse have a tree right in the middle of their house by the truck where it’s not the most practical?

Younger Son just pointed out that Noelle just said “But it’s Christmas” and has called for you all to drink.

Jake also discovers Noelle’s passion for photography, and finds her a camera for firehouse family photos around the tree.

Noelle and her Sassy Friend have a heart-to-heart about Jean Smart. Lorna believes this cockamamie story, and tells her to take control of her encounters with Jean Smart. I also want to take issue with the fact that this fake department store has not cleaned the front entrances from the fake snow. I feel that is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

The bitch lady who owns the department store wants to get Jake fired because she thinks Jake is tacky and Noelle says she’ll tell him the news that he shouldn’t help with the Gala and she should have just told bitch lady to shove that pole that’s already up her butt even higher. But this is a Hallmark movie, so we don’t have that type of language.

So at the firehouse, Noelle brings cookies to break the news. And Jake says thank you for taking some of his ideas into consideration because it’s giving him the confidence to go after his new job, and Noelle chickens out about telling him he’s fired. And so she goes to Jean Smart for some more answers.

Here are the answers: Everyone has a guardian angel / Santa’s elf to look out for them. But they usually work behind the scenes – they don’t come out unless you’re a very special case where you need a ton of help (George Bailey, etc). During this conversation, they are walking down a sidewalk decorated with the creepiest nutcracker cutouts ever.

All of this comes down to faith in God, and making the right choices for your life to work with the lives of people around you. And Jean Smart tells a story about signs and faith and God and gives her a new pair of hot pink suede shoes that will bring Noelle back to Christmas Eve, one year ago.

Lorna has given her a great lens for her camera and pushes her to enter this “Most Inspiring Photo” Contest. So take a leap, Noelle, on photography, and we flash forward to her fantasy future – where Noelle is getting hit on by her photography subject – and we flash forward again to her married life, and she’s married to that guy? And she’s rightly confused abut that, because why is Jean Smart so hot on Jake? Apparently the lessons are on taking chances, and finding your true love. And Noelle is seriously bummed it’s not Jake. But we have 30 minutes left, so chances are, we’ll find out it is Jake. Right?

And Jake is at her oversized apartment, and is in love with her photographs that are conveniently on her laptop. He thinks she’s really talented. His ruse to get into her apartment? He needed a cup of sugar. Because he cannot go to a store.

Oh No! Dad is going to miss the Gala because his sister broke her leg. Luckily Jake has just shown up but not so lucky because Bitch Woman told him he’d been fired and somehow his Sad Times are all Noelle’s fault, and Jean Smart is still telling her to go to the fire house party, and Noelle says this whole thing sucks, and Jean Smart tells her that you have to have faith and God will bring you the answer you need, not necessarily the one you want. But Noelle’s like “girl bye” and then we have Sad Times with Noelle by her tree and Jake on the rear of his fire truck.

SAD TIMES

SAD TIMES AGAIN

Sassy Friend is there to help her pick up the pieces, because that’s what Sassy Friends do.

For some reason, the son of bitchy woman is really nice, and lets her wear the $3K dress from the mannequin because he’s really nice underneath all that Ricky-ness.

The Gala is nice and tasteful. Jake was offered that new job, but he doesn’t want it, because he’d be behind a desk and away from the family of the firehouse. And Noelle shows up at the Gala in her dress and her mom’s cross necklace and even Dad shows up, and then bitch woman un-thaws enough to say they should have more fun with things. And then if this couldn’t get any more oh-my-goodness – Noelle resigns to start her own photography studio and bitch woman promptly hires her to do the whole store’s spring advertising campaign. Because that’s JUST how that happens.

I think Bitch Woman’s son has a crush on Noelle.

Jean Smart shows up with another box of shoes and she’s proud of Noelle for reaching her potential and show of hands that Jean Smart in some way embodies the spirit of Noelle’s mother. Just me? Oh well.

Noelle finds Jake at the party. He turned down the desk job and instead is in-line for the captaincy of his station next year. And they get to dance but before they can – her heel breaks! So she has to put on her new pair of black fishnet shoes. Flash forward and she is married to Jake! Guy who she was taking pictures of is Jake’s brother! Ta Da! That’s how it all works out.

Jean Smart is happy, they get to dance, and Noelle made it snow in the ballroom just for Jake and everyone is thrilled to get fake snow in their champagne. Kiss, and saucy exit from Jean Smart and we’re done.

This one is also based on a book – and apparently there are sequels. Sequels where the hero and heroine have already fallen in love are never as good – because what’s the drama? Does he really, really love me? Will she really, really be my date to the prom? All the tension is gone, right? I’m trying to think of any example where sequels are actually really good after they got together. Anyone? Anyone? Please advise.

I’m not a fan of CCB and her acting choices, but she’s not offensively bad to me, so this one was only mildly annoying. I read The Billionaire’s Christmas Cinderella this morning and that was MUCH more annoying and offensively bad to me, so we’re operating on a sliding scale. Anyway, I watched this one, just so you don’t have to.

  Department Stores. Fire Stations. Fake Blizzards. So.Many.Shoes. All this, AND Jean Smart. I watched A Shoe Addict's Christmas, just so you don't have to. This one was talked about at a get-together I attended today, and it's been sitting in the queue, so here we go.