#oh and also: we are going to start a new tag for this little countdown

[pardonmydelays]

IN THE HEIGHTS countdown: 23 DAYS!

song for today:

i am usnavi and you prob'ly never heard my name reports of my fame are greatly exaggerated exacerbated by the fact that my syntax is highly complicated 'cause i immigrated from the single greatest little place in the caribbean dominican republic, i love it! jesus, i'm jealous of it, and beyond that ever since my folks passed on, i haven't gone back goddamn, i gotta get on that!

[cherimoyatea]

𝑪𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖… – A sequel to Tipsy

Pairing: Rafayel x You Synopsis: Sequel to Rafayel's Tender Moments, Tipsy. You miss him like crazy and send him a song that reminds you of him while being away for two months. Tags: Fluff, Romance, Long-Distance Relationship, Music related theme, Confessing. A little teasing from Rafayel’s end (no smut or anything). Oh, and I made a little reference to his 5 Stars Card Floral Promise if you notice. Word Count: 2677K Side Notes: So, I had this little fic in my head after listening to Can't Stop Loving You by Artemas shortly after Tipsy was released, and decided to write it down eventually. I recommend listening to the song to enhance the experience, but it's okay if you don't. Or maybe you enjoy the song and don’t like the story; that’s also fine. 🩷 Also: While I’m not new to writing, I don’t consider myself as professional as other writers. I appreciate constructive criticism as much as kind words, if you have any! 💕 Okay, here we go~

It's been six weeks since Rafayel saw you off at the airport and you boarded the plane that took you away from him. Six weeks since you saw his cheeky grin or his endearing pout in person. Six weeks since you sank into his arms or breathed in his familiar scent. And only two weeks left until your time at the training camp is finally over.

Yes, you were allowed to use your phone on weekends, and you counted down the days until Friday would finally turn into Saturday again so you could spend hours talking to him. But it wasn't the same, was it? It only made you miss him more...

You sigh deeply as you lie in the bed of your shared room. It's late, past midnight and it started raining a couple of hours ago. Your roommate, another Hunter, is fast asleep while you toss and turn in your sheets, unable to find sleep. Though you were used to being apart sometimes due to your irregular missions and Rafayel's busy schedule, this was the first time you hadn't seen each other for almost two months. It was harder than you had expected, and you only survived the intense training and nerve-wracking tasks during the week because you knew you'd be able to communicate with him soon. Lost in thought, you subconsciously grip the necklace around your neck, feeling the weight of the locket he gifted you on your last evening before your trip. Recalling how sad and lonely he looked, almost pleading for you not to forget him, makes your heart ache even more.

Rafayel did his best to support you from afar, by holding back his desire for you to return to him and showering you with encouraging words instead. His lingering gaze would always betray him whenever he looked at you through the phone, playfully responding in his usual cheeky way as you talked about the tough training, strict rules, and how sore your body felt. He looked at you with a sense of loneliness that tore at your heart in ways you never thought was possible. While his lips curled into a bright smile, pretending he was busy with his artwork, he was probably running a countdown on his phone, counting down the days, hours, minutes, and even seconds until you were back.

Only the constant ticking of the clock on your wall reminds you of how much time has passed since you lay down and started listening to the faint droplets tapping on your windows. You still have a few hours left until Monday morning, so you grab your wireless headphones from the nightstand and connect them to your phone. Opening the music app, you hope it will help distract you from your aching...

🎶 And the sirens sang out the sweetest lullaby It's the best I've slept in a hundred thousand nights I couldn't help myself I was hoping you would love me one more time... 🎶

...but as the soft strokes of the piano resound in your ears, you feel your heart sink further, unable to stop your thoughts from drifting to the purple-haired man you love. Every line of the song you're hearing reminds you of him and how much you long for him. Was he still awake? Maybe you weren't the only one who couldn't sleep. Without a second thought, you tap the share button on your screen and send the song to your beloved.

🎶 I'm perfectly sane, I'm fine Do you think I've lost my mind? You shouldn't be surprised Swear that I just really miss you I'd go to hell just to kiss you And I've got a couple of issues... 🎶

Your eyes grow heavier as you look at the picture of Rafayel on your nightstand, with your phone being the only source of light in your otherwise pitch-black room. It's one of the pictures you brought with you–the ones that Rafayel accidentally found and teased you about the day before you left for the training camp. You would usually hide them inside the drawer of your nightstand after your roommate caught a glimpse and almost spat out her tongue in surprise. But tonight, you decided to leave his framed picture out to find little comfort in those sunset eyes.

"Wait! Your boyfriend is Rafayel?! The renowned artist, Rafayel?? No way!!"

You chuckle quietly as you remember your roommate's wide eyes and open mouth when you asked her to keep it confidential, nodding at you excitedly. While you feel proud to be his girlfriend, causing a fuss at your training camp is the last thing you want.

''...only two weeks left... hold on, MC.''

Another sigh escapes your lips in an attempt to embolden yourself. You grab Rafayel's photo from your nightstand and give the framed version of your beloved a gentle kiss before pressing it against your chest, feeling your heart flutter at the mere thought of reuniting with him in just a few weeks. Soon, your heavy eyelids eventually close, and you drift off with the frame pressed against you, succumbing to a short, yet deep sleep.

Another week passes while your daily routine in the camp is dominated by lectures, training sessions, and intensive sports units. Like every Monday morning, you and the other hunters have to hand over your phones to your supervisors to avoid distractions and stay focused on the tasks ahead. So when you finally get your phone back on this Saturday noon, you can't wait to talk to your beloved and see his beautiful smile again.

After taking a shower, you are dressed neat as a pin, prepared for a long video chat as you tap on his name in your contact list, your heart beating in anticipation.

No answer.

''Huh?'' You frown and take a quick look at your watch. It's exactly 2 p.m., the time you both agreed on for your chatting dates. He usually picks up after the first ring and greets you with his cheerful smile, but this time is different.

You try again, but the line seems busy, and after a while, your call goes directly to his Voicemail, only adding to your confusion. The rest of the day is clouded with restless thoughts while you try to call him over and over. Your mood switches from worry to frustration, then back to sadness and irritation as you consider all the possible reasons why he stood you up.

The other hunters left hours ago to spend their free day in the town center while you declined the offer to join them and stayed back to talk to your boyfriend. But now, you bury your sulking face in your pillow and feel like crying as your phone remains silent. His phone was dead–no messages, no emails, nothing.

Hours have passed, and you're still lying on your stomach with your phone next to your pillow. As you hear your roommate enter the room after her trip to the city center, you reluctantly turn onto your back, forcing a smile to hide the disappointment you feel.

''You missed something! There was a little fair today with all kinds of snacks and street food!''

You listen patiently as your roommate excitedly describes the food stalls she and the other hunters visited, but in reality, you just want to sulk in peace.

''Oh! You wouldn't believe it! I saw someone today who resembled your boyfriend!''

You perk up your ears and look at your roommate with a surprised expression, lifting your upper body onto your elbows slightly. Rafayel? She must be mistaken.

''You're seeing ghosts; there's no way he could be here.'' You say, shaking your head with a slightly irritated smile as you shift your gaze back to the ceiling with a deep sigh. He probably just fell asleep after pulling another all-nighter and forgot to charge his phone.

''Yeah, I guess so. Because when I approached him and asked for an autograph, he drew an ugly pot on the back of my hand instead!'' Your roommate pouts as she lifts her hand, showing you the drawing. ''I mean, if he really were your artist boyfriend, he could've done better than a hideous doodle, right?''

''A pot?'' Your eyes widen as you recognize the drawing on your roommate’s hand. You jump up from your bed and grab her wrist, taking in the fine strokes you know so well. The resemblance is uncanny…

''This… this is not a pot! It's a fish head!''

You grab her shoulders, shaking your roommate desperately as your cheeks flush. Could it be? Was he really here? ''Where did you meet him? Around what time? Please, I need to know!''

After a brief description from your puzzled roommate, you storm out, rushing through the hallway of the dorm. Your heart races as you leave the camp, desperately trying to find your beloved. It's already getting dark outside and you wrap your long cardigan tighter around your body. Although the days are summery and warm, the evening chill sets in, signaling the change of the seasons. You just pass through the huge gates of the camp when you suddenly feel someone grab your shoulder from behind. You flinch at the unexpected approach and turn around to stare into a pair of familiar pink-blue eyes–the ones you've been longing to see.

''Gotcha!'' Rafayel grins at you, his bright smile wide as he takes in your surprised expression. He is holding a huge bouquet of your favourite flowers with the wrapping paper slightly crinkled.

''Rafayel!? It’s you! It’s really you!'' Your heart skips a beat as you look at him, your eyes wide, hoping they aren't just playing tricks on you. After all the yearning, he's really standing in front of you, his lilac bangs swaying gently in the evening breeze as the last rays of light quietly disappear behind the horizon. ''What… what are you doing here? Why are you here?''

''Why am I here? For you, dummy!'' He pokes your cheek, still amused by your baffled expression, trying to play it cool while his own heart bursts with joy at seeing you again. He hands you the bouquet with an apologetic smile as he notices the crinkled wrapping paper. You feel his sweaty palms brush against yours and can't help but wonder if he's a bit nervous. As if reading your thoughts, he clears his throat and quickly pulls his hands away.

''I heard the song you texted me last Sunday, and while I couldn’t ask you directly, I spent the whole week analyzing the lyrics.... and then eventually came here to ask you personally.''

You feel flustered as you recall sending him the song, not expecting it would lead to such a big gesture. Quickly, you change the subject. ''What about the fish head you drew on my colleague's hand? What was that for? You stood me up on our date earlier, and your phone was off! You could have at least texted me!''

Rafayel's bright smile fades into a sheepish grin as he rubs the back of his neck, lowering his head slightly. ''Yeah, my bad. I was thinking about a surprise visit, but everything went wrong. I spent the whole day arguing with your authorities and making calls, but they're super strict and don't allow anyone inside their camp. So, I had to find a way to make you come to me instead... without ruining the surprise, you know?''

He rubs his chin thoughtfully, eyes drifting to the side as he recalls the day's events. ''Then my phone died, and I overheard a group talking about the tough training while I was in town, buying a power bank. I was about to approach them when a girl tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I was your boyfriend. That's when I knew she must be the roommate you mentioned. But I didn't want to draw attention, so I doodled the same pot ehm-I mean fish head that you once drew on my hand. I knew you'd recognize it and come out to look for me!''

As you listen to him, your eyes widen in disbelief. All this trouble–just because of a song you sent in a moment of emotion?

''Okay, but Raf... you could have simply asked me on the phone why I sent you the song. It's actually pretty straightforward. The lyrics are about missing someone, and...''

Your words get caught in your throat, heat rising in your cheeks. Shifting your gaze away, you nervously fiddle with your sleeve, trying to come up with something that would feel less embarrassing to confess.

''…and? And what, cutie?'' Rafayel raises an eyebrow, a teasing glint in his eyes, his smile softening. It's clear you're struggling to finish your sentence with your cheeks turning pink as you avoid his gaze.

''Let me help you. After analysing the lyrics and playing the song on a loop for hours, I concluded that someone must be madly in love to send a song like this during the early morning hours. After all, that’s what the title says… 'Can't Stop Loving You', isn't it?''

He leans in and gives you a soft peck on your warm cheek, catching you completely off guard. ''Now that we've solved this mystery, there’s something else I need to know…''

Your heart nearly skips a beat as you look up at him, still flustered, lips slightly parted. He's so close, that you can feel his breath on your flushed face, stirring something deep inside you. You gulp and nod, waiting patiently for the words to form on his pretty lips.

Rafayel's lips are inches away from yours, and his beautiful eyes darken as he whispers, making your knees go weak. ''Tell me… do you really memorise every freckle on my back?''

Another lyric reference. Great.

With an amused chuckle, he suddenly pulls away and winks at you, a smug grin on his face. You groan and roll your eyes, trying to hit his chest playfully, only for him to catch your wrist midair.

''You! Stop teasing me!!'' You pout, feeling a little disappointed that he fooled you and ruined the romantic atmosphere. But you can't help but chuckle along with him. He always knew how to brighten your mood and keep you on your toes, and you adore that carefree side of him. But as the hand holding your wrist loosens it's grip, your smile falters when you notice the watch on your wrist–it's almost 9 p.m. You need to be back before 10 p.m. to avoid getting into trouble for breaking camp rules.

''You didn't need to fly all the way to me, Rafayel... I'm so happy to see you, but… I need to go back in a while. You troubled yourself for nothing…'' You lower your gaze, a sad smile on your lips as you feel his slender fingers grip your chin, gently lifting your head to meet his gaze.

''What else am I supposed to do when I want to see you? It's not like I can cast your name like a spell and have you magically appear before me, huh?'' he says, as his expression softens. Rafayel locks eyes with you, cupping your cheeks in his freezing hands. While you can feel his thumbs caressing your skin, you almost tear up from the rush of love swelling in your heart as you realise how long he must have been waiting for you outside for his hands to be this cold.

He leans in, resting his forehead gently against yours, whispering softly as his hands find yours, holding them firmly. ''I heard you calling out for me and I followed... simple as that. And I would do it again, even if it means seeing you for only a moment…''

Your grip on the bouquet tightens as you look up at him, emotions flooding over you. A warm smile spreads across your lips as you finally find your voice again, your words faintly whispered.

''We still have one hour left... let's go somewhere warm, shall we?''

Thank you for reading!

Cheri 🍒

[captain-gillian]

fic pride friday

Rules: Post your favorite line or passage from as many of your published works as you’d like. Let yourself feel proud of your creations! Tag as many people as you post snippets, so your fellow fic friends can be proud, too.

thank you for the tag @lemonlyman-dotcom i'm using this to try and be kinder to myself in how i think about my own writing

strays (5 + 1 of TK attempting to bring home a 'pet' from a call, Nancy POV)

“Carlos has been talking about maybe getting a cat…” TK muses. Here we go again , Nancy thinks.  There’s no mistaking the look on her partner’s face; she’s seen it more times than she can count—he wants to take this wild animal home. She knows his heart is in the right place, but the sooner Carlos relents and lets him get a cat—or a fish, or a hamster even, any kind of pet—the better as far as she’s concerned because talking him out of bringing home new ‘pets’ every week gets exhausting. “Dude, stop, don’t even say it.”  “You can’t possibly know what I was going to say.” “I know you, TK. You were going to suggest that murder mittens over there might be a good cat for you and Carlos to adopt, but the answer is no.” “Murder mittens? Look at him, Nancy—he’s just a little baby.” TK says, gazing longingly across the room at the tiger cub. “TK, I can’t believe we even need to have this conversation. You can’t raise a tiger in a downtown apartment. Tigers aren’t pets, or did you forget why we ended up here in the first place?" “Oh, but look at him. He’s only a baby. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.” “This week, he’s a baby, sure. But do you know what babies do, TK? They grow up, and then you will be the one calling 911 because your 200-pound murder kitty went for the jugular, and when that happens, I’m not coming to save your ass, dude.”

nothing a kiss better can't fix (soft tarlos)

“Seriously, it’s nothing, TK,” Carlos says as he leans against the back of the 126 ambulance with his worried fiancé methodically checking him over.  “It’s not nothing, Carlos. You’re bleeding .” TK tells him, trying to gently guide him towards the stretcher. “Now, will you please sit down and let me treat you?” “I’m okay, TK. Breathe,” Carlos says, taking his fiancé’s hand. “This is nothing a kiss better can’t fix.”  “Is a kiss better for a certain flu-riddled fiancé of yours, perhaps exactly how you ended up in this situation, dude?” Nancy asks with a raised eyebrow and a laugh. “First of all, I’m not ‘flu riddled’,” TK tells her, putting dramatic air quotes around his words. “And second, how do you know about that?”  “When are you going to just admit I know everything,” Nancy tells him with a grin before adding. “Also, you’re both, like, hella predictable.”

sugar, butter, flour (5 + 1 TK and Gwyn baking)

His father and Carlos have always assured him that Jonah will know her through him, but as they stand in the kitchen, he wonders how he can ever live up to the task. TK is uncomfortably aware of the ache of grief in his chest alongside a sharp streak of guilt. Guilt that he got 28 years of her love but spent so many of them pushing it away, too deep in the spiral of addiction to accept it. Those were years Jonah will never get, and TK wasted them.

and again (nancymarjan)

And then before she can dwell on it any further, the countdown hits midnight, the fireworks start in the distance, and Marjan kisses her. It’s like nothing she’s ever felt before, and while Nancy has never been a believer in destiny or soulmates, right now, at this moment, it’s undeniable that Marjan is her soulmate. 

when everythings made to be broken (introspective carlos/a 4x01 coda)

He takes a deep breath and silently tells himself, “You can do this,” and suddenly, he’s nineteen again and doing whatever he can to be a good son and live up to expectations. He’s standing at the altar trying to convince himself he can do this, that somehow he’ll be able to love her like he’s supposed to—like God wants him to—because his parents need him to, his family needs him to. He’s silently praying that, in time, he’ll be able to love like she deserves. She’s his best friend, and he can learn to love her like this, surely—he owes her that. But it doesn’t work out—despite his best efforts, he can’t love her the way she deserves, so he moves out, and she starts dating again, and he’s ready to drown in his shame. And then she disappears, and as the months drag on without a single credible lead, he goes through all the stages. 

no pressure tagging

@fallout-mars @paperstorm @literateowl

@reyesstrand @welcometololaland

[besthimbomachine]

my love when it counted. 08

summary: After New Year Dash, Kenny goes to the NJPW staff party, the same one Mercedes was taking you to as her guest. The night starts of well enough only for his fears and anxieties to come crashing back into him when he spots Will Ospreay flirting with you. Though, not all things are as they seem and the night still had more in store for him. pairing: kenny omega x reader word count: 8441 warning: surprisingly very little angst in this one, just some from a distance, now we got the heavy drinking tag again tho so, last one was exactly 8440 words this one is 8441 words, couldn't do that if I planned it. anyways, we got a long but chill chapter today, just a little angst but nothing compared to the drama of last chapter. Also, Mercedes and Okada getting soeaking cameos. And Ospreay once again getting a non speaking cameo, just in time for the announcement of Ospreay vs Omega for Forbidden Door. I'm scared of that match, not gonna lie. but yeah, here you have it, next one will finally have smut again, we are on the countdown to the end now only 2 or 3 more chapters

08.

“You know,” Mercedes’ voice filled the space in the backseat of the cab you were sharing, its soft smoothness tainted by a hint of malice, “I didn’t think you and Kenny were friends.”

“What? I told you he apologized,” you paused, looking at her with your brows furrowed in confusion. “Like, properly this time. I even told you we came together on the plane.”

“Yeah, but when you said friends, I thought more like colleagues. Like your friends’ friend that you spend time with every now and again. Not friends in like going to take care of him after a match,” she looked at you with questioning eyes, teasing tone coming through her words.

“Come on,” you sighed, rolling your eyes as you relaxed against the car seat, “you really hung up on that?”

“Oh, don’t you start,” Mercedes snickered, from the corner of your eyes you could see her shaking her head at you. “What? Like a month ago you hated the guy. Now he added you to the backstage list, you were worrying about his injuries. You almost missed the main event match ‘cause you were helping him.”

You sighed, leaning on the armrest on the door as you looked back to her. She had pestered you about this the day before, both when you went out for lunch, and at night when you went together to New Years Dash. You had somehow managed to weasel your way out of the conversation those times, giving half answers or just finding ways to distract her somehow. However, she clearly wasn’t going to drop it so fast, sooner or later you wouldn’t be able to run.

“Listen, Kenny wasn’t all bad before, it’s just, over time, the bad overwhelmed the good. But now he isn’t that. He really seems better. Besides, yeah, I’m worried. He seemed so apprehensive about returning from his injuries back on the plane. And I know how that feels all too well, you saw how bad it was for me,” you paused, watching her expression drop at the mention of your past injury. You looked away from her for a second before looking back, voice quiet as you spoke again. “The old version of him wouldn’t have been that honest.”

There was a long second of silence between you before she spoke again. You weren’t trying to bring the mood down, but you had to find something to satisfy her curiosity and not prolong the conversation at the same time. You wouldn’t lie to her, and it was true that you had really been giving a chance to this friendship with Kenny. He seemed to have changed enough to have earned that chance. From what you had seen, you were liking this new version of him. But you’d never get caught using those exact words in front of her. She’d never drop it.

Though, you knew exactly what she truly wanted to hear from you. She wanted you to admit your physical attraction to Kenny. You were almost sure she could smell it on your skin, like some sort of predator. But she wasn’t wrong, now without the burning hatred clouding your view you couldn’t deny how Kenny had managed to get more handsome over time. But if she caught you saying this, the conversation would never end. And you had no time to deal with that right now, especially since you were on your way to a party Kenny himself would be at.

“Yeah,” she breathed out, pulling you away from your thoughts, your eyes leaving the window to meet hers, “that does sound kinda different from the ‘uncaring self obsessed egotistical asshole’ you described before,” Mercedes chuckled at the end of her words, sound muffled as she pushed her mouth in a thin line, eyebrows raised as she looked at you.

“Believe me, I know,” you say in between your own small laughs, raising your eyebrows back at her and shrugging. “So, maybe I can be friends with this version of him.”

“Or,” she began, dragging on the word, and you already knew what was coming after,  “maybe you can be more. I know you,” she punctuated her words by shaking your shoulder, and you refused to look in her direction, opting instead to check the notifications on your phone. “I know your type in men is dumb and blonde. And Kenny can dye that hair all he wants, but we know the truth.”

You laugh at her words, shaking your head as you look through the messages. When you look back, she has one eyebrow raised, staring at you as if defying you to say anything. You wish you could, you really did, but she was right about that. Instead, you opt to just stare her down for a second before responding.

“I was going to argue with you, but I just got a text from Adam Page so,” you trail off your words, raising your hands as you drop your head to the side. “Guilty as charged.”

You both laugh openly together, Mercedes falling to the side, head on your shoulder as she slapped your arm with one hand. It takes a few seconds for you two to recover, breaths short and stomachs hurting as your laughter dies down. She shakes her head and looks in your direction, one hand smoothing her hair as she finally recovers enough to speak.

“You really know how to keep it on brand,” you both laugh again, pausing for a moment as you nod in agreement, you couldn’t deny she was right. “Talking about dumb blondes, what you thought of seeing Okada again?”

“Oh man,” you smile, chest trembling with silent laughter as you lick your lips, “a bottle blond with one brain cell, you know I don’t differentiate between natural blondes and fake ones.”

You both laugh again, voices mixing together. Despite her stubborn pestering, you enjoyed being with Mercedes. You barely had the chance to see each other since you started working at AEW, and you really missed her presence. Talking through messages and over the phone just wasn’t the same thing. In a way, you were glad she had made you come to Wrestle Kingdom, despite how you had sworn to never return to Japan after you left. In the end, things had managed to work themselves out, and the experience ended up being a good one.

It didn’t take much longer for you two to reach your destination, the car dropping you in front of a large bar. The party you were going to was a NJPW staff event, and Mercedes was taking you with her as her guest. Though, she didn’t lose the chance to pester you about how Kenny probably already had your name in the list as his plus one. From the outside, the bar didn’t look all that interesting, but when you stepped in, you were welcomed by a cozy and beautiful space. There were already many people inside, the noise of their voices mingling in the background of the music. Warm lights illuminated the place to complete the atmosphere.

Once you and Mercedes were inside the bar, you two started mingling around. No matter how much you wanted to just beeline to the bar and get your first drink in already, you knew you had to go through this step. Between everyone who wanted to congratulate Mercedes on the arrival and all the old coworkers you hadn’t seen in years wanting to talk to you, this was an inescapable thing. So you just powered through, smiling and trying your best to come off as friendly. It was just when you were closer to your destination that you spotted Kenny. Or more accurately, Mercedes spotted him.

Kenny had been looking to the side, not noticing either of you, until he heard Mercedes calling his name. He turned in your direction with a large smile, blue eyes bright and clear as he called your names back. Even in the low light of the bar, you could still see the dark bruise around his right eye. Though, it did nothing to throw off his look, if anything it added a strange charm to it. One that worked pretty well with the way his loose curls framed his stubbled face and his dark button up hugged his torso and arms. 

He greeted you two with soft compliments and that warm smile, first hugging Mercedes who was closer to his side before moving towards you. There was a moment of hesitation, and you could see the doubt in his ocean eyes as Kenny stood in front of you, arms open but step faltering. In a way you found it endearing, that even though you openly said you wanted to be friends, he was still afraid of stepping into your space too much - despite having carried your drunken ass at the Christmas party.

In a split second decision, you moved forward, making the choice for him. You wrap your arms around his broad shoulders, letting his warmth engulf you as you felt his thick arms coming around your back. The smell of his perfume drowned your senses, for the short moment the embrace lasted all you could feel was the scent of moss and rain, with once again that touch of leather. It was something earthy and woody that felt surprisingly welcoming. It still felt weird for you to think that about a month back you were weary just to be around him, and now here you were, hugging him and feeling strangely safe in his presence.

The moment was short lived, though, and pretty soon his warm embrace was gone. For a little while, the three of you made small talk, chatting about the previous matches and how Mercedes was feeling about coming to New Japan. You talked about seeing old friends, making new ones, and going to Tokyo Dome again after so long. Soon, however, she excused herself, saying she was going to get your drinks, and asking you to find a table before leaving you alone with Kenny. It seemed genuine enough, but in the back of your mind you had the sinking feeling that it wasn’t.

“So, how you holding up after yesterday’s match?” You asked him, trying to fill the space, so you wouldn’t think about whatever machinations your friend may or may not have in mind.

“Eh, good enough, I’ve been worse,” he answers with a smile and a shrug. “Told you I wasn’t rusty enough to let some sidekicks do me in.”

“Kenny,” you almost sneer, shaking your head at his insistence on this drama. “I told you I never thought that,” the words escape your lips in a sigh, and he laughs, the sound somehow bringing a smile to your lips. “And is that still hurting?” You ask, pointing in the direction of his bruised eye.

When you bring up that question, Kenny feels a certain self consciousness rising through his mind. He was hoping the ugly bruise would have gotten lighter by now, but despite not being black anymore, it was still a dark purplish-blue that bothered him. Giving you a sheepish smile, he touched his fingers lightly to the edges of the bruise, still feeling a light sting at the contact. If given a choice, he’d rather you were seeing him in better shape, but it wasn’t really his choice.

“Not really, I mean, it only hurts if I touch it. Though, I know it’s still looking pretty damn ugly,” Kenny says with a shrug, trying to pretend the bruise wasn’t a constant reminder of how he felt like his body was now taking longer and longer to heal.

“Nah,” you roll your eyes and wave him off, “I just wanted to check if it was healing ok. And if it’s any consolation to you, I think you are rocking that black eye pretty well.”

The words roll out of your tongue with an easy smile, it’s beautiful and warm, and it has Kenny frozen for a moment there. He wasn’t expecting the open compliment, but you state it so confidently that he has no option but to believe your words. If only you knew the way they warmed his chest, chasing his fears like dawn chases darkness. It takes half a second for him to remember how to breathe, but when he does, his smile grows larger and brighter. 

“Oh, thanks,” he almost stutters, chuckling to try and hide his surprise. “I’ll take that victory, because I can’t tell you how many times I accidentally touched it. Sleeping has been hard.”

“Shit, hope it’s back to normal soon,” you comment, your smile faltering for a moment before it returns to your face. “Anyway, gotta go find a table before someone gets angry at me. See ya around.”

“See you,” he replied as you started to turn around, eyes taking in your beauty before you disappeared in the midst of the people. His mind losing itself in the memory of your warmth as his gaze followed your form, only returning to reality when a familiar voice came from behind him.

“Are you two so close now that I heard her giving compliments to you now?” Okada asked with a teasing tone as Kenny turned around to face him. 

Shit, he could only imagine how long he had been staring - and how long Okada had been standing there. It was just his damn luck, really. The man had been teasing Kenny about you since the day before Wrestle Kingdom. The day Okada saw you back in Japan for the first time, and the one he learned you were in his backstage list. Kenny hadn’t really known peace since then, with Okada teasing him both after Wrestle Kingdom and during New Years Dash. He had forgotten how surprisingly good the guy could be at reading people, and he was spot on in his readings of Kenny.

“Come on, it’s not that big a thing,” Kenny rolled his eyes, laughing at the end of his words to try and throw off his friend’s comment.

“She was complimenting your fucking black eye,” Okada said under his breath, laughing as he elbowed Kenny in the arm for emphasis. “I don’t know,” he let himself trail off, raising his eyebrows and shrugging.

“Don’t start, it’s not like that,” Kenny snickered, feeling Okada’s eyes burning holes into him.

“Really, Kenny? Aren’t you even a little bit still into her?” Okada almost muttered his question, leaning closer to Kenny, he felt like he was being trapped, the smile on his friend’s face seeming almost menacing. “‘Cause I remember how wrecked that break up left you,” Okada finished before leaning away again. In return, Kenny only laughed, shaking his head and hoping he didn’t sound as anxious as he felt.  

“You are seeing things, man,” Kenny replied with a stifled laugh, lying through his teeth as he looked straight into Okada’s eyes, hoping that he wouldn’t see past the lie.

“Oh, come on, it would be very understandable. She has been looking pretty good recently,” Okada said with a laugh, shrugging as he watched Kenny’s brows furrowing. “And you really liked her back then, I know that,” he added, smiling in a way that seemed strangely malicious.

It wasn’t surprising, but it sure was worrying that Okada could see right through him. Sure, no matter what, Kenny wouldn’t just up and say the man was right. But just knowing at least one person could read him like this had a shiver running up his spine. Looking away from Okada Kenny rolled his eyes again, grunting as he tried to pull himself together and hold his ground.

“Yeah, I did, and I fucked up, and now I’m glad she accepted my apology,” Kenny paused, trying not to sound too exasperated as he talked. “I’m just happy she even considered letting me still be her friend, ok. There is nothing more,” Kenny finished his sentence with a shake of his head, lie almost getting stuck in his throat. His words were met with silence for a long moment, Okada’s judging eyes feeling like they were staring into Kenny’s soul.

“Sure, sure, just messing with you,” Okada responded in a playful tone, smile seeming more genuine now as he gave Kenny a pat on the shoulder. “You are getting a bit red, though.” 

Okada laughed as Kenny just stared back at him for a moment before laughing himself too, shaking his head as he muttered a fuck you to his friend. After this, though, the man dropped the matter entirely, and Kenny couldn’t be more glad. Hopefully, now, he could go back to burying these feelings and pretending they were there for the rest of the night. God only knew he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the party otherwise. In the end, Okada and Kenny still talked for a while, staying in the same place for a bit before going their separate ways once more.

The party had been going for a while when Kenny found himself alone again. He had been moving through different groups, talking to multiple people - and sometimes finding you and Mercedes again along the way. But the person who had been around him most of the time, somewhat surprisingly, had been Okada. But now he’d lost the guy somewhere along the way, so Kenny just decided to go get himself something to drink. It was good to be back in Japan, to see people he hadn't seen in a while, but he still needed to take a bit of a break from socializing so much.

Kenny had been hoping for a peaceful moment to recharge from the constant movement of the party, but luck wasn’t on his side. On the way to the bar, he had noticed Mercedes alone with another group of people, and he couldn’t help but wonder where you were - you two had been together the whole night. It didn’t take long for him to get his answer, just as he leaned back in the bar counter, a glass soda bottle in hand, he spotted you. But you weren’t alone.

There was almost a sense of déjà vu, like the Christmas party was repeating itself to him. Though, this time, the fire that burned within his mind also felt like it was burning him. Like it was a poisonous gas, corroding his own nerves as the flames raged in his head. In a spot further away from the bar, Kenny saw you, back turned to him as you laughed along the man who stood in front of you. That man being Will Ospreay.

You were close enough so that Kenny could faintly hear the echo of Ospreay’s booming laughter, but too far to hear yours, or anything else. From his sport at the bar, Kenny couldn’t really see your face, you had your back almost completely turned to him. All he could see was the way your body moved as you talked and laughed. On the other hand, he could see Ospreay clearly, see the way his body leaned in towards you and how his eyes were fixed on your form. 

If Kenny thought seeing Adam flirting with you was bad, this was far worse. He could taste his rage like bile on his tongue again, burning as it rose through his throat. The sight of Ospreay’s cocky smile and the way he touched your shoulder, leaning in closer to you, had Kenny almost snarling. He could feel his muscles twitching, fingers wrapping tight around the glass bottle, veins popping on his hands and arms. There was jealousy and rage running through his blood, but the worst part was the silent sting of sorrow piercing through his heart. An icy needle refusing to melt despite the blazing flames.

All the thoughts Kenny had been suppressing were rising rapidly to the surface again. All the doubts and anxieties he felt after his Wrestle Kingdom match coming back to the forefront of his mind. He’d tried to bury them, but there was some cruel force out there that refused to let him have peace. Always bringing him back to that dark place where there was nothing but his fears. Nothing but the constant ticking of the clock taunting him about the things he had lost, and the ones he would still lose.

From far away, Kenny watched you laugh again at something Ospreay said, pain rising through his chest. Looking at the slight sway of your hands, he could tell you were probably drunk, and it had him worried. Though, he could also see that you were probably not drunk enough to warrant so much worry. He knew he was just trying to find a way to rationalize his jealousy, to justify the burning rage spreading through his mind. And he knew he shouldn’t feed into that. 

Kenny knew had no reason to be jealous, that he had to keep himself in control. The last thing he wanted to do was endanger the connection he had finally managed to build with you. He shouldn’t be behaving like this, he shouldn’t let his mind fall back into old habits he knew were far from good. Least he goes back to the person he was before - and god only knew he really didn’t want that. So he got up, tearing his eyes away from the scene, leaving to try and keep himself busy enough, so his eyes wouldn’t find you anymore.

When you finally managed to break away from Ospreay’s relentless flirting, you made a beeline straight to the bar. Leaving when the guy headed to the bathroom maybe wasn’t the most elegant thing you could have done, but you were way beyond that now. You felt like a wild animal, willing to gnaw at your own leg to get out of a trap. Looking at your phone, you saw that you had probably only spent about an hour with him, but it sure felt like a goddamn eternity. Now you could only hope the insistent bastard wouldn’t come after you.

The minute you got your order, you almost downed half of the drink, the heavy alcohol burning down your throat and clouding your mind even more. Sure, you were already drunk, but there was something almost sobering about having to listen to a man with an ego bigger than his head talking for so long. Besides, if the bastard came after you now, you’d probably be drunk enough to just be straight up cruel to him. Maybe then he’d let you be. Desperate times truly do call for desperate actions.

Shaking your head, you got up from your seat, feeling the so familiar effects of alcohol on your coordination. That really was the first thing to go whenever you got drunk. Ironic, seeing as your whole life was spent relying on exactly that, so you wouldn’t die when jumping off the top rope. When you found your footing you started moving, better not to stay in one place right now. Looking around the party, you tried to spot Mercedes, but she had somehow managed to go missing. Fucking perfect timing she had. 

You walked around still, drink in hand, as you threaded through the people with about as much grace as you could muster. It wasn’t much, but by this point most of the people around were too drunk to care. You made your way to the opposite corner of the long bar counter, and still no sight of Mercedes. Just as you were about to go look for her in the back tables, someone brushed their shoulder into you, making you stumble to the side. Your free hand looked for something to hold onto as your hazy mind prepared for a fall that never came. Instead, you felt a strong hand hold onto your side, its warm touch keeping you in place. For a second, you almost panicked, before you heard a familiar voice.

“Easy there,” Kenny’s smooth tone rang soft into your ear, feeling so close behind you that it had your heart leaping in surprise, body frozen for a moment as you heard your name spilling from his lips.

You feel his large palm move from your side to the middle of your back, its warmth spreading through the fabric of your clothes and onto your skin. You instinctively latch onto his arm, stabilizing yourself as your hand wraps around his thick bicep. Kenny finally comes up from behind you, broad frame appearing by your side through the corner of your vision. When you turn your head to the side, the first thing that greets you are those beautiful ocean eyes, their soft blue brighter than every light around. Maybe it’s the alcohol, but for a second you almost feel you could get lost in them, lost in the warm smile he gives you and the way his whole face lights up with it.

“Hope we aren’t having a Christmas party situation again?” Kenny asks with a laugh, but you can feel the legitimate concern in his voice, see the way it reflects in his gaze.

“No,” you respond softly, shaking your head as you try to gather your thoughts and escape the pull of his eyes. “No, no, I’m definitely not as bad as that day, trust me,” this time you speak in a stronger voice, despite the still present slurring of the words, chuckling as your fingers squeeze his strong bicep.

“You sure?” He asks again.

“I am,” you reassure him, looking into his soft eyes, smile tugging at your lips.

Thankfully, he seems to accept your answer, nodding in agreement  with you. Slowly, you two begin walking again, your arm never leaving Kenny’s bicep as he uses the hand on your back to gently guide you forward. You don’t really know where you are going, but anywhere far from Ospreay was good enough for you. And having Kenny close by was sure to keep that bastard away from you. Now that you weren’t caught in the spell of those blue eyes, you manage to look him over, noticing the large plate with meat skewers he had in his other hand. 

“Are those kushiyaki?” You ask, already knowing the answer.

Kenny laughs as he slows you two down, you can feel the vibrations reverberating from his body into yours. You look around, seeing that he was taking you to a corner booth with a sofa and a table, it’s just distant enough that the music doesn’t sound so loud to your ears anymore. When he comes to a stop, Kenny gestures for you to sit on the sofa with the hand holding the plate, soft eyes locking with yours again.

“I was gonna share these with Okada, but I guess he lost his chance now,” he says, voice warm and welcoming as you feel the rumble of his words spreading through his body.

You hesitate for a second before letting go of Kenny’s arm and following his instructions, sitting down on the soft couch and placing your drink on the table. He follows suit, placing the plate besides your glass before finding a spot besides you. His warmth fills the small corner you were sitting at, his perfume infusing the air as he took his place by your side. For a second, you feel lost in his presence, the smell of him clouding your mind. Or maybe it’s the alcohol, seeing as you could still clearly feel your lightheadedness. Though, Mercedes’ words slipped back into your mind, echoing through your head, before a rumble from your stomach cleans your thoughts.  

“I’m sure Okada can take care of himself,” you snicker, leaning forward to pick up one of the skewers from the plate and biting almost half of the thing off.

Kenny’s laughter sounds from behind you, the shaking of his torso traveling through the small couch. You didn’t even need to look, you could tell he was laughing at just how hungry you seemed. You could remember him laughing like that whenever you’d go grab food after one of your matches. He always found amusement in how voracious an eater you could be and if he hadn’t been treating you so well, you could almost get angry at him. But you’d give him a pass, he’d been nice enough so far to earn it.

“God, you really are hungry,” Kenny laughs out before finally eating a piece of his own skewer, watching as you went to your second one.

“Oh, I’m very hungry,” you shoot back in between bites, pausing only long enough to glance at him.

“Have you gotten anything to eat?” Kenny asks, worry laced in his voice as he leans forward himself, so his gaze can be level with yours.

You turn to the side, suddenly feeling self aware as you are met with the ocean of his eyes, brows furrowed as he studies your face. To your alcohol addled mind, his appearance by your side is almost sudden, as if he hadn’t been on the same couch as you the whole time. But damn, now he seems so close, voice cutting through the buzzing in your head and reaching somewhere deep inside. Shit, you can almost hear Mercedes’ again, bringing your mind back to just how attractive you found his lips and the sound of his voice. Blinking a couple of times, you look back to the plate, laying your empty skewer by the side before picking up a new one.

“Very little, to be honest,” you begin with a shrug, pausing to take a bite of your food as he does the same. “I mean, I was planning on getting something to eat when I was intercepted,” you groan, rolling your eyes and looking back at Kenny. “Honestly, Ospreay is either too annoyingly dense or too much of a stubborn asshole,” you finish your words with a deep sigh, shaking your head before going back to your food.

There is a pause in the air as Kenny takes in what you said. When he first saw Ospreay hitting on you, you seemed fine with it, laughing along with his jokes and what not. It had felt like a jab to his already shaken ego, and for the good of himself - and the newfound peace between you - he just chose to walk away. He found something else to do instead of feeding into his jealousy and insecurities. But the story you were telling now was a different one, and he couldn’t help his curiosity.

“You mean you weren’t,” Kenny paused for a beat, trying to find a way to phrase his question that wouldn’t sound like he was prying too much, “giving him your time willingly?”

“What? No,” you immediately scoffed in between bites, shaking your head as you finished your food before speaking again. “In the beginning I thought his flirting was kinda funny, but it got annoying real fast,” you say with an almost silent chuckle, words slurring together as you speak, when your eyes finally meet his own, he can see irritation written all over them. “I was just being polite, ya know. I wish he could have taken a hint earlier.”

“Really?” Kenny can’t help the question that leaves his lips, and for a second he is glad that you are still clearly drunk, you probably wouldn’t be able to think too much of his clear interest in the topic.

“Yep,” you snicker and nod your head to him, giving out a strange dry laugh as you look away for a moment before letting your gazes meet again. “Besides, I’m pretty sure he was hitting on me to try and get to you. Might have thought I’d be easy since I’m drunk,” you mutter the words in his direction, leaning closer to him, eyebrows raised in mock disbelief. 

“Wait, what?” he almost stutters out the question, feeling tension burst in every muscle on his face, breath leaving his lungs in a heavy pause. If you were right about this, Kenny had good reason to start worrying about how transparent he is. “I mean, that makes no sense, it’s not like we are still together or anything,” the words rush from his mouth as Kenny tries to quickly recover from his breathless pause, hoping the dim light of the bar and your alcohol haze kept any redness in his face imperceptible.

If getting to Kenny through you had been the Ospreay’s plan, then he was pretty damn successful. Or he had been up until now, his plans foiled by your sheer drunken honesty. It was almost funny how you seemed even surprised that Kenny could have thought you’d even give Ospreay the time of the day. Almost as if the idea was impossible - almost as if his fears only really existed in his mind

Still, Kenny could only hope Ospreay had taken a shot in the dark with that idea - and if he was, damn asshole was right on the money. But what worried him was the chance that this wasn’t just a lucky shot. That Kenny hadn’t been quite as good at hiding how he felt as he thought he was. And that maybe you’d catch up to him sooner or later, and he’d be left without even your presence around.

“Yeah,” you respond plainly, your calm voice breaking Kenny away from the whirlwind of his thoughts, “but I’m still your ex, a lotta people would think it should still make you angry that he is trying. Kinda like, encroaching on old property,” you look at him with soft eyes shining in the dim bar, words coming out slow and slurred in a way that Kenny even finds cute.

He hadn’t thought of it like that, and it’s actually kind of a relief, despite being a stupid line of thought. But you were probably right - and Kenny was clinging almost desperately to that belief, even though he sort of felt like shit for that. If this was Ospreay’s idea, then he was treating you as little more than a tool, a disrespectful ploy that quickly saw the previous burn of Kenny’s jealousy being replaced by that of anger.

“That sounds ridiculous. And a fucking childish move,” he spat out, trying not to let his emotions show through his voice.

“Tell me about it,” you scoffed, chuckling as you slapped his shoulder playfully. “Tho, he was shit outta luck. I may be drunk enough to not really remember much tomorrow. But I’d need to be a lot drunker to fall for the bullshit of a guy that looks like he still needs his momma to tuck him in at night,” you slur out the words with a small laugh that sounds warm and real, body leaning to his side as your face scrunches in a way that has Kenny smiling from ear to ear.

“Good to see you can still take care of yourself,” he laughs along with you, the soft sound of your chuckles mixing with his low laughter. It sounded right to his ears, an easy symphony of spontaneous joy that made his heart flutter.

“Hey,” you drag on the word, slurring heavily as you try your best to give him a menacing look, though Kenny just laughs more. “What do you think I am?”

“Come on,” he pleads, stifling his laughter as you almost pout in his direction. “I’m just looking out for your drunk ass,” Kenny says as softly as he can, chuckling when you scoff at his words.

“Thank you for the worry, but I’m not that bad. I’m not even drunk enough to dismiss that annoying accent of his,” you groan out, rolling your eyes at the mention of Ospreay’s very British accent.

“What, mate, you mean you don’t like his accent, bruv?” Kenny says in his best imitation of Ospreay. 

“Stop, that’s torture,” you almost cry out, closing your eyes as you rub your temples, Kenny laughing as you take a deep breath, your gorgeous eyes finding him again. “He is really lucky I was just drunk enough to be patient, otherwise I’d have said something so terrible to him, he’d be crying right now.”

Kenny laughs, throwing his head back at just how irritated you seemed to be. Yeah, he couldn’t blame you, Ospreay was already insufferable, and his accent didn’t help it. Knowing you now, it was really surprising that you hadn’t just snapped on him. And Kenny couldn’t deny that he’d pay to see you tear that annoying prick down. When he recomposes himself, coming back to face you again, he already finds your powerful eyes on him, a smile on your face. God, you were just too beautiful.

“Not gonna lie, seeing you snap at him would probably be pretty funny,” he admits, shrugging as he watches you chuckle at his words.

“He’d deserve it too,” you snicker, shaking your head with a grunt. “He was acting like he was such a big guy. Bet he was sure he’d manage to piss you off and get some at the same time,” your voice comes out tainted with disgust, the sneer in it clear despite the slurring of your words.

“Guy had no idea how close to danger he was. If he knew you, he would have known he was biting off way more than he could chew,” Kenny adds with a laugh.

“Man, I really thought that after you mashed his face against that table he’d learned some humility, but he still talks like he is big shit. Despite, you know, eating the Tokyo Dome floor not even three days back,” you sneer again, rolling your eyes.

“I don’t think he is smart enough to learn humility quite so fast,” he responds, watching as you pick up your glass from the table and drinks, eyes following a droplet of your drink that spills past your bottom lip.

“Then he is annoying, self centered and stupid,” you say, slamming the almost empty glass on the table, making Kenny shudder as he realizes he was staring. You turn back to him before speaking again, voice low as you lean closer in. “If this is New Japan’s replacement for you, they really are doing bad.”

For a moment he feels lost in your proximity, eyes still drawn towards your mouth like a moth to a flame. It was like time had slowed, his heart beating loudly in his chests as a fire burnt within him. Breathing hard, Kenny recenters himself with a long exhale, his gaze finding your warm half lidded eyes.

“I’m not so sure,” he says with a short laugh. “That match was harder than I thought it would be, I’m still feeling it. I mean, can’t say he isn’t a good wrestler.”

“You still won, you are a better wrestler,” you respond with intensity, pointing a finger towards him, almost jabbing his chest with it. “Hell, you were a better wrestler when you were his age. At least you are smart, no use being strong and stupid,” you lift your glass again as you speak, taking a moment to finish what was left of your drink. “And you look better too.”

“Man,” Kenny laughs, eyes darting out staring into nothing as he speaks, “I barely even remember what I looked like when I was that age. Ten years feel so fucking distant.”

“I was talking about now, but that too I guess,” you add with a shrug, voice low and warm as Kenny looks back at you.

Despite the casual way with which you say the words, Kenny can’t stop his heart from leaping at the compliment. He chastises himself for reacting so intensely to something so stupid, you seemed so nonchalant that he was pretty sure you didn’t even think about what you said. Hell, you were too drunk to be thinking that much into what you say, so it was stupid for him to do that himself. Still, his heart did not care. Shaking his head, he tries to recompose himself, an anxious laugh leaving his mouth.

“Now, I don’t know if a lot of people would agree with you on that,” Kenny runs a hand through his hair, awkwardly laughing as he shrugs. “I mean, he isn’t even thirty, and I’m pushing forty. I’m already getting old.” 

The minute Kenny finishes the word, he feels your hand pushing his head to the side, fingers digging into his cheek and the side of his face. It wasn’t a slap, most definitely not, you just turned his head to the side with your hand, but it still took him by surprise. When he looks to the side, Kenny can see your judgmental scowl from the corner of his eye. Gently, you pull your hand away, the gesture almost feeling like a caress to his stubbled skin. Kenny turns back to face you just as you lean in closer to him. He can smell your perfume, scent taking a hold of his mind, his eyes lost in the depths of yours.

“Don’t you start, I told you I’m gonna start feeling old myself,” you shake your head as you speak, fitting him with the most menacing gaze your hazy mind could muster.

“You aren’t,” Kenny starts with a soft laugh before you cut him off again.

“Then you aren’t old either. And even if you are a decade older than him, you still won, shame on him for that. He still can’t fill your shoes, he isn’t strong or intelligent enough for that,” you shoot back, words slurring as you speak progressively faster. When you stop for a moment, you take a deep breath, brows furrowed together as your eyes stare into Kenny’s wide ones. “And if you try to debate me on that, I’m gonna stab you with a skewer.”

There is a pause for a moment, you two staring at each other in silence, before Kenny starts laughing. The intensity in your voice somehow chasing his anxieties back into the darker corners of his mind. His heart almost feels lighter, like he was finally breathing freely. He raises his hands to the sides of his head, chuckling as the scowl cleared from your face.

“Okay, okay, you are right, you are correct. I won’t say I’m old anymore, I promise, please don’t stab me,” Kenny can’t help but laugh again as you huff, almost pouting in his direction before mouthing a silent okay. “And thank you.”

“Just telling the truth,” you reply, smile gracing your face again, and it has Kenny’s heart melting. “Besides, you weren’t the one who had to stoop so low as to try and hit on your rival’s ex to get to him. I think he is too dumb to realize that being seen kissing me would only make him look more like a bad copy of you,” you finish with a shrug, laughing softly, the sound feeling so close that it’s almost the only thing he can hear, despite the packed bar.

“Yeah, he was shooting himself in the foot with that one,” Kenny nods in agreement, giving a small laugh as silence falls between you for a beat. “Though, he could still just be doing it for you. I mean, I don’t think anyone can say you aren’t beautiful,” he almost mutters this last part, laughing again to try and hide how he felt, gaze falling away from your powerful eyes, although he can still feel them roaming over his skin.

“Nah, I could tell he was up to something,” you say in a soft voice, lazily shaking your head and laughing along with him. “But believe me, you are great. Way better than Ospreay,” your voice lowers, but remains just as soft and warm as he slowly turns back to look at you again, and, god, you feel almost closer now. “I wouldn’t really mind kissing you.”

You say the words just as his eyes find yours again, trapping him in the undertow of your darkened gaze. The line is an almost whisper, but as all sound seems to vanish around him, it feels clear as day, your voice smooth and inviting - flirtatious, even. The words wash over his body, gripping at his throat, and for a moment, Kenny forgets how to breathe, air being cut from his lungs. There is tension running thick through his blood, making his heart beat erratically, despite your warm smile never faltering. A silence hangs between the two of you, it seems so long to him, even though he knows it’s just a moment.

He tries to convince himself that he shouldn’t think too hard about it. You are drunk, you probably wouldn’t even remember this, you said it yourself. It was the alcohol speaking, clouding your mind and making you do things you wouldn’t while sober. He should disregard this whole thing as a drunken mistake. Still, Kenny’s heart wages a war against his reason. Begging his mind to reconsider, trying to plant a seed of doubt, to nourish a hope he knew he shouldn’t let take root. He begins to laugh, yeah, he’d better ignore this.

“That isn’t happening, you are very drunk,” Kenny says softly, closing his eyes and shaking his head as he laughs openly now, hellbent on forgetting this whole situation.

“Would you kiss me if I wasn’t?” Your question cuts through him, making Kenny open his eyes, finding your gaze burning into him. His heart is raging inside his chest now, and it’s like he can hear his own heavy breathing, every fiber of his body feeling like it’s on fire. But before he can answer, you two hear a loud voice coming from behind him.

“There you are,” Mercedes' tone rings loud, reaching over the music and making you both almost jolt as you turn towards her. “I was looking for you everywhere,” she whined, plopping down on the couch beside you.

“What? You were the one that went missing,” you shot back, furrowing your brows as she pulled you in for a hug.

“Doesn’t matter, the girls are going for a karaoke, come on, we gotta leave,” she spoke in a haste, some of the words slurring together as she released you from her arms just to grab your hand. “You don’t mind if I steal her away from you, do you, Kenny?”

Mercedes was drunk, for sure, but Kenny almost felt some sort of malice coming from those last words. She had turned to him fully now, smiling from ear to ear in a way that made him feel trapped - just like Okada. You had your eyes turned to him too, and he felt like a deer in headlights, trying his best not to show how his heart was racing right now. He was frozen for a split second before finally managing to react, laughing awkwardly at the taunting look in Mercedes eyes.

“Me? Hey, that’s with her,” Kenny replied with a chuckle, gesturing towards you.

“Merce-” you began, turning your face to her before she cut you off.

“Come on, you are coming, babe,” she whined again, pouting as she looked into your eyes before turning to him. “Oh, you wanna come, Kenny?”

“Thanks, but no, I’m good here. Probably gonna call it a night soon, I’ve had enough partying,” Kenny responded with a shake of his head and a wave of his hand. To be honest, he’d had more than enough partying.

“Alright then. Bye, Kenny,” Mercedes exclaimed as she got up, pulling you up along with her and moving you both towards the door.

“Well, see you, Kenny,” you said as she started dragging you, shooting him a playful smile that had Kenny’s heart shaking again.

“Take care out there,” he added, worry tainting his voice. No matter what had just happened, seeing you both drunk heading out like that still had him a bit on the edge. Despite knowing that you’d be with a group and that you could take care of yourselves.

“Don’t worry, I’ll personally take care of her,” Mercedes said over her shoulder with a laugh that, once again, felt weirdly malicious.

When Kenny got back to the hotel room from the party, he was exhausted. He’d stayed a bit longer, but the night had truly felt way too long. Your words still echoed in his mind, fueling the raging storm of his heart. You were drunk - he repeated to himself, trying to reason his way out of his messy feelings. He would be better forgetting that whole thing, cause come morning, you wouldn’t remember it as well. Still, his heart yearned.

After a long cold shower, Kenny finally managed to put his feelings in check. Or at least enough so that he could be reasonable again. Sitting on the hotel bed, he checked the hour on his phone, it was already past midnight, a part of him wondered where you were. Beyond everything that had happened, he still worried about you, worried about your safety. With a sigh, he pulled your messages on his phone, wanting to check in on you. For a minute he argued with himself over whether he should send that text, waging a war on his mind before his worries about you won.

Once more sleep avoided Kenny, his mind running a mile a minute leaving him awake for a while before exhaustion started to settle in. He had been watching whatever of interesting he could find on the hotel TV for over an hour by now, trying to silence his anxieties and the constant screaming of his heart. He was almost drifting off to sleep when he heard his phone vibrating on the bedside table. Pulling it up, a part of him hoped to see an answer from you, but instead, it was a message from an unknown number. When he checked the picture, he saw it was Mercedes.

When Kenny went back to look at the message, he noticed that it had an attached picture. He hit the button to download it and went on to read the text itself. ‘She wanted to tell you she was fine, but her phone ran out of battery and now she just dozed off in my room. Honestly Kenny, you act so sweet around her, it's fucking adorable ;)’ As he finally looked at the picture he saw you, wearing an oversized shirt, head buried in one of the pillows on Mercedes’ bed. Despite the teasing tone that Kenny could feel coming even from her message, he couldn’t help but feel the photo warming his anxious heart. Fuck, he really had fallen hard already.

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[bqstqnbruin]

Always be my plus one - part 2

Ok I know that I should use a different gif for each part but I'm not going to. But here's part 2! It's longer than the first part so have fun.

People to thank who are amazing and I owe my whole life to even though I'm probably forgetting someone because I'm the worst: @zinka8 (I CAN FINALLY TAG YOU) @hockeywocs @calgarycanuck @chara-hugs @justjosty anyone who sent in an anon and again I'm forgetting someone so if you helped me with this and I forgot, yell at me.

But here we go! This is about 9k words, and, fun fact, this is also my 5,000th post on this blog, so that's exciting!

Hope you like it!

Read part 1 here!

Series masterlist --------------------------------

New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day

New Year’s Eve is the last day of the Georgian calendar year, marked with celebrations that last well into the next day. Huge parties take place around the world, one of the most notable being the ball dropping in Times Square in New York City, marking the new year for the eastern coast of the United States, televised with Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve hosted by Ryan Seacrest. This special each year includes a packed Times Square, performances, interviews, and general excitement to put whatever happened in the past year behind them. Likewise, in Canada, the CBC has hosted a similar countdown special since 2017, including live music and coverage of festivities in each of the provinces and timezones the country spans.

New Year’s Day is the first day of the Georgian calendar year, again marked with celebrations. In the United States, various parades take place, including the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, or the Mummers Parade in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In addition, various sporting events take place as well, including the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, the Outback Bowl in Tampa Bay, Florida, the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California, and the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, all post-season college football games, and the National Hockey League's outdoor game, the Winter Classic, typical showcasing a major regional rivalry. The day typically includes people already failing at keeping up with their New Year’s resolutions, whatever it was they promised to do every day of the year (such as working out, flossing, getting more sleep) already not going well.

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

December 27, 2021

Lucy had insisted Anne go with her to the mall to go shopping when she found out that she was going to a New Year’s Eve party with Tyson’s teammates. Once her older sister found out that Anne’s ‘mystery man’ was a professional hockey player, she went practically bat shit trying to figure out more information about the two of them since Anne had yet to tell her anything.

If only she knew there was nothing to tell.

“Come on, what about this?” Lucy asks, holding up a dress. Anne wasn't sure that it would go past her butt, not to mention the open back and the plunging neckline. Lucy had to know that Anne would never, on any occasion, wear a dress like that. It would look good on Lucy, and Lucy would be comfortable in it, but not Anne.

“No,” Anne tells her, continuing to look through the rack for anything that had more fabric to it than what Lucy was offering her. There was nothing wrong with the dresses, really, and Lucy was normally pretty good about picking things out that Anne would actually like, but something about this being a dress for what sort of was, sort of wasn’t a date with a guy she spilled her coffee all over was making her more nervous than she needed to me.

“But it’s for your man. On New Year’s Eve. It doesn’t hurt to look a little sexy,” Lucy begs, making sure to add a little shoulder shimmy at the word ‘sexy’ for emphasis.

‘He’s not my man,’ Anne wanted to say. But she wasn’t about to spill that secret before Lucy even met him. It would be easier to just tell them they broke up by Valentine’s Day. “Tyson wouldn’t want me to wear anything that would make me uncomfortable,” she lets out instead.

Lucy sighs, pulling out dress after dress to show to Anne. “Ok, how about this: what color do you want to wear and how long do you want it to be?” Anne shrugs, not having thought about it in the slightest. “Well what’s Tyson wearing? Are you matching with him?”

“I don’t think so?”

“Annie!” Lucy practically screams the nickname her family decided they were going to call her, a few of the other store patrons turning to glare at Lucy’s outburst. “How do you not know what your boyfriend is wearing to a Colorado Avalanche New Year’s Eve party?”

'Not my boyfriend' she thought. “I don’t dress him. Do you know what Jason is going to wear for every party?”

Rolling her eyes, she holds up another dress that Anne turns down. “Well, since I’ve known my man since we were in diapers, I know his style, and therefore, know what he could potentially wear before I tell him what he’s going to wear.”

Anne lets out a sigh, wandering away from her sister while she continues to go through what seemed to be endless rows of dresses. Part of Anne wished she was like her sister: lucky enough to find a man that she would love forever when she was young, never having to worry about anything. The other part of Anne wished her family wasn’t so annoying about her finding a man, wishing that Sebby didn’t steal her phone and see Tyson’s name, and that their mom hadn’t come down and jumped to conclusions before she had a chance to defend herself.

“Hey,” Lucy comes up to Anne, “Why don’t we grab some food and then try a different store.” Anne nods, Lucy linking her arm in her sisters before taking her out of the store. “Have you met any of Tyson’s teammates before? I mean, you have to mean a lot to him if he’s bringing around the guys he spends the most time with.”

“He’s told me a little bit about all of them, but I haven’t met them yet.”

“You know this is big, then, right?” Lucy says, finding a line at the food court for them to order from.

Even if Lucy hadn’t picked a place that Anne wasn’t too fond of, her words made Anne lose her appetite. As far as she knew, Anne’s family thought they were dating, which they weren’t, while Tyson’s teammates thought they were friends, which they were. That’s what they had agreed to. They just needed to make it to New Year’s Day and then this would all be over.

Lucy keeps talking, rattling off information about Tyson’s teammates that Anne was sure she had found on their Wikipedia pages, Lucy’s ‘top of her class,’ ‘photographic memory’ coming out while Anne stayed silent.

“Look, Anne,” Lucy says once she gets the food she ordered for both of them, “if he likes you enough to bring you around his teammates, that’s a good thing. Think of it like Jason asking me to go to his soccer games when we were freshmen. He wants you to be at something important for him.”

“I’m not worried about that,” Anne shrugs, “I’m worried about bringing him into the belly of the beast the next afternoon.”

“Why, because you’ll be hungover and Ma and Dad haven’t seen you that way yet?” Lucy asks, smiling with her fork between her teeth.

Throwing her head back and groaning, Anne starts, “No. Ideally, we’ll still be drunk and calling you or Matthew to come to pick us up. Remember what Mom was like when I introduced you all to Andy?”

“Well, yeah, it was hate at first sight. And she was right to feel that way, obviously. If you think Tyson is the ‘one,’ then you’ll be fine.”

Anne chokes on the fries she was picking at when Lucy says that. “The ‘one’? Please. I wouldn’t know if he was the ‘one’ at this point. Right now, he’s my ‘plus one' at best.”

Lucy shrugs, a sly smile on her face as the two of them continue to eat in silence.

The two of them venture to another store, Anne not having high hopes in finding a dress, knowing that she was going to have to resort to wearing something old that probably wouldn’t be very ‘New Year’s Eve’ themed, or borrow something from Lucy, who, albeit having great style, definitely didn’t have anything that she would want to wear. Maybe she could call Stephanie or her cousin Lauren and see if they could pity her enough to let her borrow something.

Lucy went to the dress rack, Anne just wandered around the store. At this point, she didn’t even care if she found a dress; a long shirt would be just fine. She was nowhere near her sister or the dresses, but she saw something out of place, a skirt and sleeves peeking out in the middle of pant legs. She picked up the dress, solid black, which would probably fit her like a glove, off the shoulder. A black choker, which she had, and a nice pair of heels would make the dress perfect. And it was even on sale. Someone had probably put it there in order to hide it, but Anne didn’t know that for a fact, so could she really feel bad about wearing it?

She practically ran through the store to find her sister, grabbing her by the arm to the dressing room despite the stack of dresses on Lucy’s arm that were probably going to end up back on the rack or in Lucy’s own closet.

Anne looked at herself in the mirror, excited for the first time for Tyson to see her on New Year’s Eve wearing something like that. The two had been talking nonstop, but Anne had made it clear they were friends and that she wasn’t looking for anything. If something came along, she would know it, and honestly, she didn’t know it with Tyson.

But picturing him seeing her in the dress gave her a glimmer of hope that it was Tyson, even if he wasn’t the ‘one’ like Lucy had been badgering her about earlier.

“Hey, Annie, come on!” Lucy snaps Anne out of her fantasy, banging on the door to show her, “Jason texted me that he and the girls are going to be home in an hour with dinner so you can’t take all day.”

“You really think putting on this dress is going to take an hour?” Anne huffs, opening the door from the dressing room stall.

“Well, it depends on how many dresses you try,” Lucy starts, cutting herself off when she sees her sister in the dress. “Oh, Anne.”

“You like it?” she asks, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks. It was a simple dress, knit and insignificant. She had no idea why she was so excited about it.

“I do,” Lucy says, coming up behind Anne and resting her chin on her sister’s shoulder as the two of them admire Anne in the mirror. “And you know who else is going to love it? Tyson.”

Anne took in a deep breath, Lucy rubbing her back between her shoulders before she let her get changed back into her clothes. ‘Tyson was going to love it.’ Anne hoped so.

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

December 31, 2021

Tyson said he was going to be at Anne’s place at 9:15 to pick her up and drop off stuff at her place to stay over. Since they were going to be together all night, it was easier if Tyson stayed with Anne after the party before needing to drive to Anne’s uncle’s house the next afternoon.

But it was 9:30, and Anne was sitting on her couch, waiting for the boy who was supposed to fake being her boyfriend tomorrow to show up to take her to a party with a bunch of people who had no idea who she was or that this scenario was going to be happening the next day.

How did Anne end up like this? What if he didn’t show up? Why did she let her mom and siblings take over the conversation about her life and let them believe that Tyson was her boyfriend? And why did he agree to it?

Anne gets snapped out of her downward spiral of thoughts by her phone ringing, Tyson calling to hopefully tell her that he was waiting to be let in. “You said you were going to be here at 9:15,” she answers, not letting Tyson say anything.

“Well, traffic,” he explains, “It’s New Year’s Eve and I didn’t want to speed, either, and end up getting pulled over for that. Can you come let me in? It’s cold.”

Anne gets up from her couch, venturing downstairs in the slippers she was keeping on until the last minute. The heels Lucy had let her borrow weren’t uncomfortable, but she wasn’t about to wear them around her apartment building if she didn’t have to. She spots Tyson sitting on the couches in the lobby, going up to him. He was looking down at his phone, but seeing him made her heart race. He had on a white button-down with the top two buttons undone, a black jacket, and black pants on. She goes up to him, resting her hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

Tyson looks up, unable to find the words when he sees Anne. He stands up, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Anne sees this and lets out a small laugh. “Are you ok?” she asks, her nerves of seeing him dissipate while he acts like this.

“You’re,” he starts, letting out a breath as he looks her up and down. He shakes his head, a lazy smile on his face. “You’re beautiful.”

Anne laughs, grabbing his bag for him and leading him back upstairs to her apartment. “You’re not too bad yourself.”

“You know,” Tyson starts when the two of them get to her door, “pretending to be your boyfriend really isn’t going to be that difficult.”

“Yeah,” Anne scoffs, putting down Tyson’s bag with a thud by the couch, “and if you keep flirting with me like you mean it, then they’ll really believe you.” Anne’s back was turned to Tyson, so she didn’t see the look on his face, him biting his lip at her words that she thought he was just pretending. “You’re staying over for a night, what the hell could you have brought with you?” she asks him.

Tyson clears his throat, still not over Anne’s little dig about him pretending to flirt with her. He’s been flirting with her since they met, has she really not noticed? “Uh, you didn’t tell me how formal or casual this is at your uncle’s so I just packed a few options.”

“Huh, I never pegged you for a fashionista,” Anne teases, putting on her shoes and coat as Tyson orders the Uber to take them to the venue.

“Apparently you’re never going to peg me at all,” Tyson mumbles, not loud enough for Anne to hear.

“Sorry?”

“Uh, the Uber will be here in a few minutes so we should get downstairs,” he tries to save himself.

“But,” Anne says, locking her door and following Tyson back down to the lobby, “You can pretty much wear anything to Uncle Vince’s house as long as it isn’t a Juventus shirt.”

“Juventus?”

“That’s Napoli’s biggest rival. It would be like me wearing, I don’t know,” Anne says as they both get into the car that had pulled up, “a Red Wings or a Wild shirt to something for you guys.”

Tyson can’t help but smile, even though he knows it’s probably meaningless. Anne had made it clear that the two of them were just friends. But what if, “you like hockey?”

Anne shrugs, looking out the window as they drove into the city. “I don’t hate it, but I couldn’t tell you much about it. I’m more of a basketball girl, honestly.” Tyson scoffs, Anne turning to him. She had a smile on her face, trying to hide the slight insult she felt by the noise he made. “What?”

“Hockey is clearly better.”

“You’re just biased.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong,” he teases her, reaching over and nudging her arm. His hand lingers on her arm for a little bit, not really thinking about Anne’s noticeable settling into his touch. “Um,” he clears his throat, taking his arm back and praying that it was dark enough that Anne couldn’t see the red on his face, “What are your teams?”

“Men’s are the Nuggets, of course, women are the Seattle Storm, and college I go for UConn.”

“Did you go there?”

Anne shakes her head, Tyson admiring the way her hair framed her face, thankful that she was looking out the window instead of at him. “Nope, I went to CU Denver. My dad’s other brother, Johnny, went to UConn, and when I was born, that was around the start of the women’s dynasty that they have. When my dad was away on trips and mom was working, he and Aunt Lisa would watch the four of us and always have the UConn games on. I fell in love with Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Maya Moore, Stephanie Dolson. I grew up wanting to play basketball and be like them, so I played basketball.”

“Did you in college?”

“No,” Anne laughs, looking at the building they were pulling up to. “I played until high school, and was definitely not good enough to play in college. I still love it, though.”

Tyson smiles at her, getting out of the car and rushing to the other side to help her out, linking his arm in hers to escort her in. “I love that,” he whispers to her, walking in and thankful that he had Anne on his arm that night.

The guys weren’t necessarily on his case about finding someone the way it seemed like Anne’s parents were, but that didn’t stop the chirping about him never having a girlfriend for as long as he was on the team. They knew she was his friend, but, hey, it was better than nothing.

Anne had no idea where Tyson took her, not recognizing the building they had walked into, but she was speechless at the sight of the grand ballroom, the lighting just dim enough that she couldn’t help but feel at peace, the noise from Tyson’s teammates and their families taking that away and leaving her overwhelmed. Tyson had slipped away to hang up their coats and grab drinks, leaving Anne to fend for herself for the time being.

She knew they weren’t late by any means but based on the sobriety, or lack thereof, that everyone was displaying, an outsider would think that Tyson and Anne had shown up hours late, everyone seemingly on at least their third drink of the night, if not more. Anne worked her way to the side of the room, giving herself a good view of the bar where Tyson was, hoping that he could find her after he was done chatting with whoever it was that had his attention.

“You look almost too comfortable for someone just watching everyone on the side. Who are you here with?” someone interrupts her thoughts. She snaps her attention to the mystery man standing next to her, leaning against the wall and looking out at the crowd as they danced and sang, drank and had fun. He was the same height as Tyson, just about, probably not that much younger but the rosiness on his cheeks made him look years younger than both her and Tyson.

“I’m here with Tyson,” she tells him, waving to the guy who was supposed to be by her side that night.

“You’re the girl who spilled her coffee on him when we went to the hospital for the charity event,” Rosy Boy laughs.

Anne scoffs, “I wish that wasn’t my legacy, but here we are.”

The two of them stand and watch everyone, laughing as some of the kids pretend to chase around the adults, one of them catching someone by the leg as the man pretended to fall down. “That’s our captain, Gabe,” Rosy Boy tells her, “being chased by Naylah, Nazem’s daughter.”

“So, Gabe, Nazem, Tyson,” Anne says, pointing at the only three men of the Avalanche that she knew, “You?”

“Cale Makar.”

“Anne DeFormicola.”

Cale smiles at her, turning his body so he was facing her directly. “A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” Anne could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks, thankful that her hair was down to cover the red that she knew had appeared on her ears. “Uh, are you and Tyson together?” Cale asks, his voice shaking as he prayed he didn’t make the mistake of flirting with one of his teammate’s girls.

“No,” Anne tells him, “We’re just friends.”

Cale lets out a sigh of relief. “Good, I, uh,” he stammers, Anne’s confused look making him nervous despite the smile that was on her face, “I mean, good, good for me. You? Us? I don’t know what I’m saying.”

The two of them laugh together, Anne seeing Tyson out of the corner of her eye. He didn’t look particularly thrilled as he watched her and Cale talking, the distance between them shrinking as the conversation proceeded.

Before she knew it, Tyson was by her side, a glass of wine in hand for her that he practically thrust in her hand. “So, how’s Cale treating you?” Tyson asks, not hiding the discontent he felt seeing Anne and Cale so obviously flirting.

Anne watches Tyson down his drink, a little too fast for her liking, especially considering Cale was obviously uncomfortable by what his teammate was doing in that moment. “Very well, we were having a good conversation.” Anne sips her wine, Cale mumbling something and slipping away. “What was that about?”

“I want you to be careful?” Tyson says as if it were obvious, even though he was lying. He didn’t want to have to see Anne flirting with his teammate all night.

“Of who, Cale? Didn’t you tell me he was the human equivalent of a puppy?” Tyson rolls his eyes, looking over to the bar and already wishing he had more to drink before having this conversation. “What’s the worst he’s going to do? Bite my ankles? Bark when he wants to go play outside?”

“Ok, you’re being mean.”

“And you’re being ridiculous.” Anne studies his face, the way he bit his lip as he tried to find his words. “You remind me of Sebby.”

“Your little brother?” Tyson asks, not really wanting to be compared to him.

“He’s really protective of me. We’re all protective of each other, but he’s especially protective of me. You’re probably the same way with Kacey, right?”

Tyson swallows hard, nodding. “Yeah.” He wasn’t even just friend-zoned: he was sibling-zoned.

“You just don’t want me to get hurt,” Anne reasons, already finishing her wine. It’s not like it was that much in the glass. “I think if anyone was going to hurt me, it wouldn’t be Cale.”

The two of them stand there, watching Tyson’s teammates dancing as the music changed to something more upbeat. On the nearest table, Tyson put down his and Anne’s empty glasses, extending his hand out to Anne in a bid to lead her to the dance floor. Anne hesitates, not really too fond of dancing, but then Tyson smiled at her, raising his eyebrows, and for whatever reason, she felt like she had to go with him.

His hand found the small of her back, holding her close enough that they could still talk over the blaring from the music, his other hand in hers as he tried to get her to move to the rhythm of the song. It’s not that Anne was uncoordinated, but she just wasn’t that great with dancing. “I would have thought you were better at this,” Tyson teases her, looking down at their feet as Anne steps on for what he thought was the fourth time.

“I will gladly go back to my place against the wall and watch you make a fool out of yourself by yourself instead,” she jokes, rolling her eyes as Tyson spins her around.

He pulls her in closer than before, the music changing to a slower song. “I don’t think you want to do that,” Tyson tells her, his forehead pressed against hers. He could kiss her right now if she let him. This was technically their second date, if they considered the coffee place their first. And Tyson did. He didn’t know why he wanted this girl in front of him so badly so fast, but there was just something about her that he had to be with her.

Before Anne could say anything, she feels someone tapping on her shoulder. Pulling away from Tyson, she sees Cale standing there, his hands in his pockets, looking down at his feet. His entire face was red, clearly nervous, as he started, “Uh, sorry, but I was wondering if I could dance with Anne?”

Anne smiles at him, looking over at Tyson to signal that she wanted to. Cale was adorable, and something about him left Anne unable to say no to him. Tyson gives a sad smile, releasing Anne from his grasp. “I’m going to go get another drink,” he says, leaving his date and teammate alone to be closer than they were before. He couldn’t be with a girl that didn’t want to be with him, he thought, downing the drink he got probably too fast. At least tomorrow he could pretend that the two of them were together, pretending that he was hers and she was his.

But for now, he had to watch Anne smiling and staring at Cale, his teammate holding her so close that Tyson wanted nothing more than to be Cale.

Tyson had his back against the bar, watching Cale and Anne dance and have fun when JT came up to him. “Didn’t you bring a date?” JT was the only one Tyson had told about the fake dating plan between him and Anne.

“Yep.”

“She in the bathroom?”

“She’s dancing with Cale,” Tyson says, raising what he thinks was his third drink in their direction. He was praying that they couldn’t get any closer than they were now, but the way Anne was smiling, he knew that was what she wanted.

JT looks between Anne and Cale together and Tyson’s near angry expression as he took another sip of his drink. “Oh, I get it,” JT realizes, Tyson side-eyeing his friend. “You like her, and now you’re seeing her with Cale and you’re jealous.”

Tyson could feel himself start to panic. He did like her, but he wasn’t about to let everyone know that. “No,” he lies, JT scoffing at him. He hated that he knew him so well. “Maybe.”

“Well, then why aren’t you the one dancing with her?” JT asks, Tyson watching Anne throw her head back laughing, Cale burying his head in her shoulder, a smile just as big as hers on his face.

“She wanted to dance with him. What was I going to do, say ‘no?’

“Yes.”

“No,” he rebuts, signaling the bartender for yet another drink. “At least I can pretend to date her around her family,” he shrugs.

“Yeah, until she pretends to dump you because she’s really dating Cale.”

“Maybe in the new year you should try to be more helpful instead of whatever you are now,” Tyson snaps. “Sorry,” he mumbles into the fresh drink he was bringing to his lips, planning on downing it as fast as he got it. If he had to watch Anne dancing with Cale, he might as well be drunk so he can’t remember it in the morning.

“It’s almost midnight,” Cale whispers to Anne.

“Yeah,” she smirks, having a feeling she knew where this was going, especially judging by the way his grip tightened around her waist.

“Uh,” he clears his throat, getting nervous about what he wanted to ask her. “Who are you kissing at midnight?"

Anne can’t help but smile, his innocence endearing to her. Tyson and JT were still watching the two of them dance even though Anne and Cale were too focused on each other to notice. “I think it depends on your answer,” she flirts.

“I was kind of hoping it would be you,” he tells her.

Anne laughs, “Yeah, I got that,” she tells him, running her hand through his hair at the nape of his neck, sending a chill down his spine. “I was hoping it would be you, too,” she tells him, closing her eyes with their foreheads pressed against each other. She almost wished she had spilled her coffee on Cale instead of Tyson, not needing to pretend to date him tomorrow and instead just date Cale and date him for real. It might have been the alcohol or the night that was making her feel this way, but Cale was not a hard guy to like.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” Tyson mumbles, not wanting to see Anne and Cale anymore, setting his drink down and leaving the room before JT could protest.

Soon after, everyone began their countdown to midnight, chanting while Anne and Cale stayed silent.

Anne knew Cale wanted to kiss her before the countdown was over. He was hovering against her lips as soon as someone yelled ‘ten!’ She didn’t know what it was about him, but she was ready to kiss him, not waiting for everyone to get past ‘five’ before she connected with him for a second, already wanting more as soon as they started.

Cale pulled away fast, smiling, moving his hands from her waist to cup her face, kissing her as soon as everyone around them was screaming ‘Happy New Year!’ When they finally pulled away, Cale’s entire face was red, and Anne knew that there was some color on her cheeks, too. Kissing Cale was something else, but something was missing. She just couldn’t put her finger on it.

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

January 1, 2022

Anne and Cale danced a little longer, some of the guys and their families starting to leave.

“I think I have to go find Tyson,” Anne tells Cale, realizing she hadn’t seen the boy she came with for the better part of an hour.

“Uh, wait,” Cale says as Anne starts to pull away, Anne stopping as Cale smiles at her. He puts on her jaw, tilting her head up to kiss her again. “Can I see you again?”

Anne smiles, biting her lip. “I’d like that. But I really have to find Tyson.”

The two of them start walking around, trying to locate their lost boy. “Are you coming back with us?”

“Us?”

“Tys and I live in the same building,” Cale explains, part of him wanting to ask Anne to go home with him.

Before he can, Anne starts, “No, Tyson is staying at my place tonight. We have something tomorrow. Today,” she corrects herself.

“Oh, ok. Well, then, can I get your number?”

“When we find Tyson because he has the ticket for our coats and my phone is in my coat,” she explains, regretting giving everything to Tyson.

“Anne!” they hear someone yell, turning around to see Tyson stumbling over despite JT trying to help him up. Anne hadn’t told him not to get very drunk out of caution for having to deal with her family in a few hours, but now she was regretting forgetting.

“How much did he drink?” Anne panics, slinging Tyson's free arm around her shoulder.

“When I got to him he was already on four and I think he had at least three more while I was with him. I couldn’t tell you what he had on his own,” JT explains, the four of them getting their stuff and trying to get out while Tyson could barely walk.

Tyson mumbles something, trying to lean his head against Anne’s shoulder while they walked, despite the three-inch height difference that would have been bigger had Anne not been wearing heels. JT asks him to repeat it while he orders and Uber to get Tyson and Anne home. “Anne’s so pretty,” Tyson says, practically screaming it in Anne’s ear.

“Thank you, Tyson,” she says, trying to be as sweet as she could despite her anger she felt for him getting this drunk.

Tyson keeps babbling incoherently, none of them wanting to try to figure out what he was saying while they were waiting in their Ubers.

“Hey, Anne, hand me your phone,” JT asks, trying to reach out to her with his free hand while also making sure Tyson didn’t fall over or fall on Anne. She does as he asks, Cale standing there wondering why he didn’t just do that in the first place. “Text me when you two get back to your place and let me know how he is before you leave for your Uncle’s.”

“Yeah, of course,” Anne says, not even thinking about how he would have known where the two of you were going later.

Before Cale can ask for Anne’s phone, the Uber for her and Tyson pulls up. “Are you sure you’re good to get him back?” Cale asks her while JT gets Tyson in the car safely.

Anne nods, putting her hand on Cale’s bicep to reassure him. “Yeah, he should sober up enough to walk with just me during the drive back. Thank you, though,” she says, giving him a quick kiss before climbing into the car.

“I wish it was me,” Tyson slurs, his head on Anne’s shoulder as the Uber pulls away.

“What’s that, Tyson?” Anne asks.

“I wish it was me that was kissing you.”

Anne looks at him, his eyes closed as he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. “When?”

“At midnight. I wanted to kiss you at midnight. I just hope you didn’t kiss Cale. That would make me sad,” he says, letting out a yawn.

Before Anne could say anything to respond, Tyson was asleep, leaving her alone with her thoughts, and the Uber driver probably hoping they remembered this to tell their friends in the morning. Why would he have wanted to kiss her? They were just friends. They had both made it very clear that everything they were doing was just out of friendship because they both needed someone to be there for the other and just pretend they were something they were not.

This wasn’t going to be like one of those ‘fake dating’ tropes that Anne had read in books when she was a teenager or in rom coms. Those weren’t real life. That didn’t happen.

Anne gets Tyson up to her apartment, surprised that she was able to drag him out of the Uber and balance him long enough that he didn’t fall over and take her with him to the ground. She practically threw him onto her bed, getting him in position so no matter what happened he would be fine. He was asleep almost immediately, a soft snore coming from his lips.

Anne pulls out her phone to text JT that his teammate was asleep, getting herself ready to go sleep on the couch.

The next morning, Anne woke up to Tyson sitting at her kitchen table, already having helped himself to a cup of coffee. “You look like you’re feeling great,” Anne commented, Tyson clearly hungover from the night before.

“Why did I wake up in your bed and not your couch?” Tyson asked.

Anne shrugs, fixing herself a cup of coffee to join him. “You’re my guest and the couch isn’t the most comfortable thing to fall asleep on if you aren’t used to it.”

“You are?”

“I’ve fallen asleep plenty of times while I was reading on that couch,” Anne tells him, wishing she had something to offer him to eat. “Uh, when we get to my uncle’s house, there’s going to be a ton of food so if we didn’t eat now, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.”

Tyson nods, looking down at his coffee. He wished that he didn’t have to pretend to be Anne’s boyfriend. He already wanted to be more, but Cale was already closer to that in one night than Tyson was in how many weeks. “What do I need to know about your family before I meet them?”

Anne starts rambling about her family: her grandparents moved back to New York which was where they grew up so she hasn’t seen them in a while because they’re too old to make the trip out here and she hasn’t had time to make the trip to see them. They were going to her Uncle Vince’s house, her dad’s older brother. He has three kids, Michael, Emily, and Spencer, all of them dating someone. Then there’s Uncle Johnny, her dad’s younger brother, who has two kids, Lauren and Landon, and three grandkids from Lauren: Christopher, Lydia, and Henry.

Tyson didn’t even know if he was going to remember everything she was saying; from the food that Johnny brings just for Landon because of allergies, or the food that was designated as ‘the kid's food’ which was absolutely off-limits unless you were under the age of five years old. The Sam Adams’ beer is only meant for Aunt Lisa and Aunt Laura unless they offer it to you, but the wine is a free for all because it’s guaranteed that everyone of age brought their own bottle anyway, including Anne.

“Wait, but I don’t have a bottle,” Tyson asks, both of them getting up to get ready.

Anne smiles at him, going into one of her cabinets. “You want white or red?” she asks, holding up two bottles. “Because, as you know, I’m partial to red.”

Tyson laughs, taking the bottle of white wine from her, not even sure if he should be drinking anything given the night before. He was just lucky he somehow didn't feel worse despite how much he had. “I knew you were my kind of girl.”

They stand there for a second, neither of them sure how to react or what to do. “We should go get ready,” Anne says, bringing the bottles over to where she kept her keys so she wouldn’t forget them.

She retreats to her room, leaving Tyson to get ready out in the open of the rest of her apartment. That wasn’t a moment they just had in her kitchen, she tells herself. She puts on a pair of jeans, trying to find a shirt suitable enough for her mom to not nag her about, finally settling on a sweater that she was almost sure was Lucy’s that she stole a few months ago.

“Hey, Anne,” she hears Tyson calling her. “Someone’s calling you.”

An unknown number flashed on her screen in Tyson's hand, her forgetting she left the phone by the couch. Normally an unsaved contact was something that she wouldn’t answer, but the Calgary area code, for no reason whatsoever, told her that she had to answer it. “Hello?”

“Anne? It’s Cale. Sorry, I got your number from JT.”

Anne smiles, looking at Tyson who could hear his teammate's voice just loud enough that it made him upset. Tyson’s words from the night before rang through Anne’s mind as she finally answered him back, “Hey, no, it’s fine. What’s up?” Anne goes back into her room to finish getting ready, putting Cale on speaker as she does.

“I just wanted to check on you. And Tyson, I mean, that you were ok with him last night.”

Anne laughs at his nerves, the same ones that came through when they were first talking last night that she was thankful had faded as time went on. “Yeah, we’re fine. We’re getting ready to head out, though.”

“Any idea what time you would be done? I was wondering if you wanted to grab dinner tonight?”

She could hear his voice shaking, wishing that she could say yes. “I can’t tonight, but maybe another time?”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” he says, both of them saying goodbye as Anne grabs what she needs to head out.

“You ready?” she asks Tyson. He looked good, a simple black button-down he had paired with jeans. Why did he have to look good? Tyson nods, grabbing the wine while Anne grabbed her keys.

The two of them drive in silence, her phone plugged into her car with Cale and JT’s contacts popping up on the screen on her center console as they were texting her. “I’m glad you got along with some of the guys last night,” Tyson tells her, finally breaking the silence between them.

“Yeah, me too. Especially since someone seemed to enjoy the bar more than anything else,” she teases.

“Hey, the bartender was attractive, and giving free drinks, what was I supposed to do?”

Anne laughs, knowing that wasn’t the real reason he was there the entire night. She didn’t know what that reason was, but it wasn’t because of the looks of the person giving Tyson drinks. “What do you remember from last night?”

Tyson hesitates, really not sure what to answer. “I remember the drinks and you were dancing with Cale at some point.”

“You remember none of the Uber drive back?”

He almost did. He knew he had fallen on Anne’s shoulder, but he didn’t remember getting into the car with her. He wasn’t even sure that Anne was the one that got him in the car. “Not really, no.”

“Ok,” Anne says, partially thankful for that. She wasn’t sure she would want to relive the part of the night, nor did she think Tyson would either.

She pulls up to her uncle’s house, already seeing Lucy’s car and her cousin Spencer's sitting in the driveway. “Ready to enter the belly of the beast?” she asks him, patting his thigh as a sign of encouragement.

Tyson looks out to the house, seeing someone standing in the doorway waiting for them to get out of the car. “We’ve gotta start acting like a couple, now, don’t we?” he says, leaning closer to her across the center console.

Anne rolls her eyes, knowing that he wanted a kiss or something, anything to show Aunt Laura that Tyson was actually her boyfriend. She does kiss him, sweet and slow. Tyson was sure if they weren’t being watched, he would have gone for more, but knowing he couldn’t was killing him. He had to make the most of the time he had with Anne’s family.

When Anne pulled away, she reached up to Tysons face, grazing her thumb along his beard as his hand connected with hers. She didn’t know why, but she kissed him again, their foreheads pressed together as they sat there in her car. It was different kissing him compared to Cale. A good different, and like last night, she couldn't put her finger on why. She almost forgot where they were, startled by Aunt Laura knocking on her window.

Anne’s face had to be bright red, embarrassed that her aunt saw whatever moment, real or fake or whatever that was, while sitting in the driveway of her house. She greets her aunt as she gets out of the car, handing her the two bottles of wine.

“You must be Tyson!” she says, more excited than Anne thought she would be. “Teresa’s told us so much about you, come in, come in,” she gestures. Anne was sure that she would have dragged him in by the collar of his shirt if she didn’t have the wine in her hands already.

Tyson looks at Anne, confused. “I have no idea what my mom could have said to her,” Anne says. Tyson shrugs, grabbing Anne’s hand as she leads him into the house.

Lucy comes running up as soon as Anne steps through the door, a baby that couldn’t be more than a year old in her arms. “Hey there, Hazel,” Anne coos, taking her goddaughter from her sister. Hazel reaches out, grabbing Anne’s hair as Anne winces at the slight pain from the baby’s pull. “This is Tyson.”

“Hi, pretty girl,” Tyson says, Hazel reaching out, squirming to get away from Anne and into Tyson’s arms. “Is it ok if I hold her?” he asks Lucy, waiting for her to nod before Anne passes her off to him.

Lucy pulls her sister aside, a silly grin on her face. “He’s perfect,” she gushes, “Look at him!” Tyson was bouncing Hazel up and down, Hazel shrieking with glee with him.

“He’s not perfect,” Anne says, “but he might be close.” The sisters laugh, Lucy hugging Anne from behind while they continue to watch Anne’s ‘boyfriend’ interact with Lucy’s youngest daughter. Anne wasn’t even sure if she was really pretending as the rest of her family came into her uncle’s house.

Teresa was practically attached to Tyson the entire time, as were Skylar and Harper once Tyson started playing with them. Literally, Tyson was walking around Uncle Vince’s house with Skylar and Harper clinging to each of his legs. Tyson was the center of attention, Anne wishing that it wasn’t because everyone was just finally excited that Anne found a man.

“What do you think of him?” Anne asks Sebby, the two of them watching Tyson and Matthew talking as if there was no one else was in the room. She had heard ‘touchdown’ and ‘linebacker’ come up in conversation, meaning Matthew was going on a rant about the Broncos, something that he did way too often.

Sebby looks him up and down, pursing his lips while he thought about it. “I’m not sure I trust him.”

“Oh, come on,” Anne whines.

“He’s an athlete. And a professional one, at that,” Sebby throws his hands up in defense. Growing up, Sebby was the only one who didn’t really like sports, feeling they were a waste of time when he could be doing something like reading or studying. Sports were only relevant when his siblings were involved, otherwise, he hated them.

“Give him a chance. Please?” Anne begs, not even sure if it were necessary. “He’s not Andy.”

Sebby narrows his eyes at his sister, jumping slightly as Tyson and Matthew start laughing. “Why didn’t you mention him before Christmas?”

“If you remember, I didn’t mention him at Christmas, you did,” Anne scolds him, trying to figure out what story to tell her brother. “And, it was still new. I didn’t want to say anything if it wasn’t going to be something.”

“Is it?”

“Maybe. I think so,” Anne lies. At least, she thought she was lying.

Tyson comes over to Anne while she was talking with Sebby about his upcoming semester, his last one before he graduated from college and hopefully entered law school. He wraps his arms around her, kissing her cheek before resting his chin on her shoulder. “You think I could steal her for a second?” he asks.

Sebby narrows his eyes, Tyson a little thrown off by her brother’s reaction. “Sure.”

Tyson brings Anne into another room, praying that no one would walk in on them. “We didn’t talk about anything we could say to your family about how we met,” he brings up.

“I was planning on deferring that to you since I normally can’t get a word in otherwise,” she admits, even though she hadn’t thought about it before.

“That’s not fair,” Tyson says, looking over Anne’s shoulder to see someone in her family looking at the two of them. “Your family is watching.”

Anne follows Tyson’s gaze, turning and waving at Landon and Lauren. She reaches up and puts her hand on Tyson’s cheek, Tyson taking it with his own and kissing the palm of her hand. “When you see how I get pushed aside at dinner, you’ll understand why it’s fair.”

The two of them continue talking about how they were going to go on with the rest of the day, Anne telling Tyson she was fine with everything he had done so far and really didn’t care if he kept doing it. Anne, not wanting to tell Tyson, liked what he was doing. It felt right for some reason. Was Tyson right that it should have been the two of them kissing at midnight and not her and Cale?

Tyson’s drunken confession from the night before was still ringing in her mind when everyone got called to sit down for dinner. Tyson was still, unsurprisingly, the center of attention. His hand was on Anne’s thigh for most of dinner, Lucy’s eyes never leaving as Anne rested her’s in his. The usual rounds of conversation started, asking Lucy about her medical practice, Jason about Andersen’s, his restaurant that bore his family’s name, Matthew and Steph about work at United, Sebby about how he was feeling going into this last semester of college.

Then the conversation was supposed to turn to Anne, normally swamped with questions about Anne’s lack of love life. Instead, of course, the conversation turned to Tyson.

“How did you two meet?” Teresa asks, giving a smug look to her daughter, “Anne hasn’t told us anything about you.”

Tyson hesitates, figuring Anne wouldn’t want her family knowing they met when she spilled her coffee on him. “I was out with some of my teammates after practice one day,” he starts, hoping that whatever was about to come out of his mouth was good enough. “We were at a coffee shop, and I saw Anne there grabbing something before her shift at the hospital. I saw her smile at the barista when she thanked him for taking her order and,” he looks at her, taking Anne and putting it on the table for her family to see. “Something about that smile of hers I just knew I had to talk to her. I needed her in my life and I’m happy she’s in it.”

He kisses the side of her head, whispering, “we have to remember that story now,” against her skin. When he pulls away, Anne smiles at him, signaling that she would. There was no way she could forget that honestly. Why was pretending to like him so easy?

The conversation stays on him for a little longer, Anne never being asked anything. Finally, Emily stands up with Jimmy, saying they had an announcement. “We’re engaged!” she squeals, holding up her left hand with the ring that she either just put on, or no one noticed as the family congratulated her. Jimmy had proposed at midnight, down on one knee right as whoever they were with said ‘Happy New Year!’

“Another wedding!” Teresa yells, Tony rolling his eyes next to her. He didn’t hate weddings, he hated his wife’s need to spend an extravagant amount of money on a new dress and presents for the couple every time. “And then maybe we’ll have one for Anne in the next year, too, oh Tony we’ll get to plan another wedding.”

“Mom!” Anne scolds, Tyson’s face getting bright red. “That ringing in your ears is not wedding bells.”

The rest of the dinner goes on fine, Anne and her siblings off in one of the rooms while their spouses and Tyson were nowhere to be found.

“I think Tyson’s scared of me,” Lucy says, examining her nails.

“He might just be intimidated by you, Signoria Perfezione,” Anne teases her with the nickname Lucy got when she was little, her need for order prevalent from a young age.

“Yeah, he said that Anne told him how smart you were and he didn’t want to feel stupid around you,” Matthew points out.

“Well, shouldn’t he be intimidated by Anne?” Sebby asks.

“I know you’re trying to compliment me, but your tone says otherwise,” Anne says. “Why don’t you like him?”

The three of them look at their youngest siblings. “There’s something off,” he starts, Anne feeling her heart start to race. “He’s like borderline pretending to be with you.”

“Come on, man, you’re paranoid,” Matthew scoffs, Lucy agreeing.

“I mean,” Sebby explains, “He looks at Anne like he wants to be with her, not like he actually is with her.”

“You’re just over analyzing. We’re together. Probably more together than you and Collins are,” Anne fires back, part of her hating that she was lying to her siblings, the other part of her wondering how much of it was a lie.

Sebby shrugs, “Well yeah, because we broke up.” Anne’s jaw drops, Matthew raises his eyebrows in shock, Lucy the only one to scream and actually make a verbal acknowledgment of what he just said. “Yeah, the other night. She finally blew up over the whole, ‘I don’t want to move to Boston or California,’ thing and said if I wasn’t willing to move to be with her then I wasn’t good enough for her.”

“Oh, I don’t like that,” Anne says.

"Why didn't you tell us," Lucy asks.

"I see how they act about Anne never being with someone," he says, Anne glaring at him. "I'll just find someone in law school and not say anything unless they ask. Plus, I don’t want to be that far away from you guys. Why would I stay with someone who wants me to do that?” he admits.

“Aw, you do like us!” Lucy teases him, her and Matthew tackling him in a hug while Sebby yells for them to get off, yelling louder when Anne joins in.

“Hey, um,” Tyson interrupts, “Sorry, you’re having a moment.”

“No, no, what’s up?” Anne breaks off, going over to him.

“Your aunt said dessert is out,” he tells them, or, rather, tells Anne with her siblings in earshot.

“See, you’re delusional,” Lucy tells Sebby as they walk past Anne and Tyson into the next room.

Tyson looks at her confused, waiting for an explanation. “I think Sebby’s catching on to us pretending,” she shrugs, really not that worried. She and Tyson could talk later about how long this would go on, and if anyone in the family were to find out that it was fake, Sebby would be the one to keep it quiet.

She goes into the next room, leaving Tyson there by himself. “Yeah, pretending,” he says to himself.

[lovenhlboys]

From a Distance (E.Pettersson X Reader)

Chapter 1

Masterlist

Tag list form

A/n: hello peoples!! I’m so excited to FINALLY post the first chapter of this fic!!! I’ve been working on it for a long time, and after a few unpleasant delays, it’s finally happening 😁. While this isn’t my first fic, this is my first NHL fic, and the first fic I’m posting on Tumblr, so I’m a little nervous. This first chapter is mostly the set up to the main story, this is reader’s side of things with a flashback story. Chapter two will be mostly from Elias’s point of view. The rest of the chapters will switch back and fourth between the two.

CREDIT: Finally, before we get started I have to shout out my proofreaders. Y’all put up with me and my insanity: @siriushxney @iateyourdonuts @petey-patty @hufflepuff-girlx @cherrylita @immmbabyyygraceee @💕💕And specifically @imagines-r-s ASH!!! Babes, you have been the best and most supportive friend I could’ve asked for during this. You boosted my confidence about this fic and I have no idea what I’d do without you 😁😁

Without further ado, let’s get started shall we!! (Sorry for the long A/N, it’ll only be for this first chapter)

Paring: Elias Pettersson X Fem!Reader

Warnings: lots of cursing, friends with benefits but like...just cuddling???, references to iCarly, mentions of One Tree Hill.

Genere: enemies-ish —>friends —> lovers

Legend: (i suggest having these ready before you read)

Y/C/N/N= your cute nick name, only Markstrom calls you it (you’ll see why) this can be either a pet name you like, or a nick name you already have.

Y/N/N= your nick name, Brock, Quinn, and a few others call you this, it’s more of a playful name. Again, this can be a nickname you already have (if you don’t have one I suggest something stupid (sounds like something Stech or Brock would come up with)

Y/N= this is your first name, only Elias calls you this unless it’s a serious situation, or you’re in trouble, or Brock is being an ass. (If it wasn’t clear before...your last name is Boeser)

Word Count: 2.2k

Summary: you have a hardcore crush on your brothers best friend, who also happens to barely speak to you...it’s a slight predicament.

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(This is set in the 2021 season, however, because of my denial, Marky and Stech are still in Vancouver and were never traded... also no Covid. however the season was still delayed just to make it easier to follow.)

Present (Feb. 2021)

You’ve always been best friends with your older brother, you never had any real issues when you were younger and you were inseparable. So much so in fact, that once you graduated early a little less than two years ago (June 2019), he asked you to move to Vancouver and live with him. He was always so protective of you and you appreciated everything he has done in your life. One of the best parts about Brock being your older brother was the people he introduced to you. You aren’t very social and god knows how much of a people person your brother is. Once you had moved in, Brock quickly introduced you to the team. And with your double major in Statistics: Data Sciences and Sports Management, you were able to secure a job with the team. Quickly, you found yourself with a second family, one with many members.

Quinn Hughes is your best friend. when you met him about a year and a half ago, you hit it off immediately. With both of you being the same age and not very social, there was an obvious connection there. When Brock and The boys  go out, it is you and Quinn who stay in and watch shows on the couch (your favorite being New Girl). Huggy Bear is so sweet and you tell him EVERYTHING, even things you’d never tell your brother. You are still thanking the draft lottery every day that the Canucks received the 7th overall pick that gave you your bestie.

Thatcher Demko AKA Dems AKA Thatch AKA baby goalie is the sweetest and most hilarious guy you know. He is always looking after you just like Brock, but he is also one of the most annoying guys you know. When you’d first met you had the biggest crush on him. You told Quinn as much and he gave you so much shit for it. That crush was short-lived though, once you found out how obnoxious he could be. You still love him, just as a friend. Though Quinn never forgets to remind you of the crush that once was.

Bo Horvat is like another big brother to you. Sure you have Brock, but he’s your best friend. Bo, however, is the person you go to when you needed advice. Holly is one of the only WAGs you’ve become close with. She and you consistently have wine and gossip nights, of which Quinn is sometimes in attendance. Plus, you and Quinn are an amazing babysitting team for Gunnar if you have anything to say about it. 

Troy Stecher is the annoying older brother you never had. He always makes fun of you, calls you names, and bullies you in the loving way brothers do. And he never hesitates to come to you if he ever needs girl advice, which seems to happen a lot.

JT was just like Bo, except he is waaay more protective of you, maybe even a bit more than brock. He doesn’t have a sister and when you met, he made it his job to never see you get hurt. Seriously, one day a guy was bugging you at the bar, and both Brock and Bo were struggling to hold him back when he saw him slap you on the ass as you walked away. 

Jacob Markstrom, AKA Marky, AKA Giraffe (pronounced like it is in one of your favorite vines), AKA your cuddle buddy for the past few seasons. Both being single, you felt lonely sometimes and Quinn wasn’t much of a hugger (despite what the nickname might have you believe). Thatcher had offered but Marky, though just as social, is much more laid back. It also helps that he is 6’6 putting him over a foot taller than you. So during movie nights, or late nights at the bar, he is the side you lean on. Of course, you made it abundantly clear to most of the boys and yourselves that you were just friends. As sweet as he was and as great of a boyfriend as he would’ve been, he wasn’t quite your type and your personalities clashed.

Then there was Elias Pettersson, the tall, skinny, Swedish guy you knew as Petey. The guy who looked at you often and barely spoke a word directed towards you. He was Brock's best friend and he came over all the time, you didn’t have an issue with him, and you couldn’t deny he was funny, and from what you’ve heard he is a very kind person. So naturally, he was exactly your type. You’ve had a massive crush on him for a while now, somehow despite the lack of conversation. And the few times he has talked to you, he’s seemed so perfect, but there are only a few times you can remember. 

Right now, as you're on your way to the Canuck’s break room your brother texted you to meet him in, you try to recall those few times, specifically the one where your crush on him truly developed.

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FLASHBACK (some time in January, 2020)

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You, Quinn, and Jacob were laying on the L-shaped couch in ‘The Boeser apartment’, you were cuddled under the blanket with Jacob, laying on the section perpendicular to the TV, your heads at the corner. Quinn was on the other side of the couch, his head right next to yours. it was about 7 o’clock and the episode of One Tree Hill you were watching had just ended and you three had not eaten dinner yet. As the countdown for the next episode started, your stomach growled and you got a look from Quinn and a giggle from Jacob. 

“You hungry Y/C/N/N?” Jacob asked.

You looked up at him and giggled, “maybe just a little bit.”

“Y/N/N, you know what sounds amazing?” Quinn asked, you could hear the smirk in his voice.

You turned to each other and you both smirked knowing you were thinking the same thing.

“Spaghetti tacos!!” You both said. 

Ever since you were about 10 and you watched iCarly on TV, you had always wanted to try them. It had become an inside joke between you and Quinn for quite some time as he had the same desire as you to see how good they actually were.

“We should totally try them tonight!!” Quinn was quite excited.

“I’m so confused right now,” Jacob chimed in.

“They’re from a show! They take spaghetti and put it in taco shells,” you explained.

“Ahh, hence the name.” he nodded.

“Exactly,” Quinn said.

You jumped up from the couch excitedly and ran straight to your kitchen.

“Ok, we have spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, ground beef, taco shells, aaaand..... by chance do either of you know how to make good meatballs?”

“You’re asking the Swedish guy if he knows how to make meatballs?” Jacob replied.

“Not Swedish meatballs, Italian, stupid Giraffe,” you retorted. 

“Gross,” he said with a disgusted look.

“Ooo my mom made the best Italian meatballs, let me call her to see if she can send me the recipe!” Quinn said with a big smile.

Quinn exited the kitchen and ran to your room to call his mom. 

“You know, I’ve never seen him so excited about anything,” Marky said with a laugh. 

“Quinn loves his food,” you replied.

“Are Brock and Thatch having dinner with us ?”

“I’ll ask.”

You started boiling the water for the pasta, and you cooked part of the ground beef for the meat sauce. Then you texted Brock:

Y/N/N: hey, you want me to make you dinner

Brock: Yeah, who all is there?

Y/N/N: the usual

Brock: Huggy and Marky?

Y/N/N: yep, so do you want some?

Brock: Yeah, and make enough for another person too

Y/N/N: ok

You figured it was Dems since that’s who he went to hang out with when he left 5 hours ago. 

You continued to cook when Quinn came in and grabbed a bunch of stuff from the pantry and cabinets. “Did your mom tell you how to make them?” you questioned your frantic best friend.

“Yes she did and she sent me the recipe too.”

“Coolio,” you reply.

------------------------

You were almost done cooking, the pasta was done, Quinn had put his meatballs in the oven and there were only 5 minutes left on the timer. And the sauce had about 2 minutes to simmer.

“Oh my gosh, I forgot what to do when they're almost done, she does this thing, I have to call her,” Quinn said with a panicked look on his face. He ran back to your room.

The front door to your apartment opened quickly, both boys laughing, “ahh, shit,  my brother’s calling me,” Brock said as he ran back to his room.

“Why does everyone feel the need to exit the room for phone calls?” you asked Jacob.

He shrugged with a giggle, “I don't know, maybe they don’t trust us,” he said in a sarcastically dramatic tone grasping his chest.

The door closed slowly and you glanced at the doorway where you thought you’d see the ever adorable goalie, Thatcher Demko, instead, you saw the adorable, slender, tall blonde you’d seen all the time, but never had a one on one interaction with... except the first time you met, when he told you that you looked pretty.

“Hi, Petey!” Jacob said as he slipped behind you to watch you mix the sauce, he stood over you looking at the sauce and put his hand on your waist.

“Hi,” he replied, his smile from before had faded.

“Looks so good Y/C/N/N,” Jacob said with a kiss on your cheek, a regular action. 

“Thanks, Giraffe, can you grab the taco shells?”

He grabbed them easily from the top shelf (tall ass bitch -_-), and moved behind you, placing his hands on your waist yet again, to move you to the side. “I've gotta run to the bathroom, but I’ll be right back”

“Ok, you have fun with that,” you said with a wink.

Suddenly, was only you and Elias in the room, and the silence was deafening.

“So what are we eating?” he said, pulling your attention to his bright blue eyes.

“Um, spaghetti tacos, they're from a tv sho-”

“Like from iCarly?” he interrupted.

“...Uh yeah? How'd you know?” you couldnt pull your attention away from his eyes, ‘they are just so beautiful,’ you thought somehow you hadnt noticed this within the on and a half years you’d known him.

“We also get Nickelodeon, you know,” he said while throwing you a smirk that made your stomach flip. 

“Oh, I didn't know that,” you replied, feeling just a little embarrassed. 

“iCarly was my favorite, actually.” 

“Yeah, it was mine too,” you said, smiling back, looking at the way he just lit up your kitchen with his presence.

You both stood there for a second just looking at the other, “So how long have-,” he started.

“OKAY,” Quinn unknowingly interrupted, “so she told me what to do, turns out I have to put sauce over them for the last 2 minutes, so Y/N/N can you just put a tablespoon of sauce on each ball then put them back in for two minutes?” 

“Yeah of course. Elias, you were saying?” you looked back at the Swede.

“Oh it's nothing,” he looked down at his shoes. 

“Ok, Y/N/N you need to call mom and tell her we’re fine and that she doesn't need to worry about us please, Paul says she’s stressing,” Brock said as he entered the room.

“When is she not stressing about us? I’ll call her after dinner, how's dad?”

“Doin’ good, nothing has changed or progressed or whatever since we were home last,” Brock moved and sat on the couch letting out a big sigh.

“That’s good,” you let out a sigh.

“Petey, come here, we’re watching Gossip Girl” Brock shouted at the Swede.

“Ooo what episode are you guys on?” you asked. Brock had mentioned how he was making him watch the show you two had watched about 5 times together. 

“Just after Chuck gets Dan kidnapped at Yale.” 

“Oh so you still hate Chuck?” you asked Elias.

“Ew, yeah...wait is that gonna change?” Petey said with a scoff.

“Uh....,” you stalled.

“Y/N shut up, don't spoil it,” Brock interrupted before you could make it worse.

“Ok well, dinner is ready so just start the show after and we can all watch it together.”

--------------------------

“Oh my god, these are actually amazing,” Quinn said with his mouth full.

“I know, I did not think this was gonna taste good,” Jacob added.

“Hey!” you said, offended.

“Y/C/N/N, you know I love your cooking, it was the idea of the meal that I doubted,” Jacob said leaning into your side and putting his arm around your shoulder.

“Mmmhmm, suuure,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“Hallå Marky, ni två är söta (hey Marky, you two are cute),” Petey said, confusing you, Quinn and Brock with the sudden change in language.

Jacob, being oblivious to what Petey was implying, just said, “tack broder (thanks, bro).”

Little did you know what was going on in Elias’s head.

--------------------------

PRESENT

--------------------------

Before that night, you never really thought of Elias in a romantic way. You'd been around him quite a lot, seeing as how, seemingly, is in your apartment more than his own. Sure, you knew he was cute and very sweet from what you'd seen, but up until that point, you'd never had a one-on-one interaction with him. That interaction, however small, was the beginning of an obsessive crush. Quinn was the first to point it out, you started listening closely any time he talked, attempting to converse with him, and thinking about him on a daily basis even when you didn't see him. And due to your stubbornness, no matter how unrequited your crush seemed, it never faltered. You had always thought he hated you, or maybe he just tolerated you because you were Brock’s sister, and you were always around. 

However, that couldn't be farther from the truth.

--------------------------

Tag list: @calgarycanuck @suffering-canucks-fan

[drkcnry67]

This...

Title: this...

Pairing: Jensen x reader

A.f.g.d: "love you? Don't make me laugh!"

A.f.g.f: free space (soulmates)

A.f.g.b: enemies to lovers

Spn fluff: enemies to lovers

Spn kink: hand cuffs

H&H: "it's time you got know how it feels to be betrayed"

Rating: 18+ just to be safe

Tags: possibly some sexual mentions, enemies to lovers, rival families, undercover meet ups, secret exchanges, soulmate countdown on your wrist... think that's all for now...

Summery: nope not telling

"on this the 14th of September 2012, a set of numbers appeared on my wrist, 95 days, 19hours, 17 minutes, 25seconds. today i guess i am gonna have to start preparing myself to meet my soulmate, the person im meant to be with for the rest of my life. i will do this the only way i can, by allowing myself to undertake as much responsibility as possible. today will be good, i promise. signed, YN."

that was your morning journal entry, what you wrote you couldnt believe it yourself. the numbers on your wrist, you needed to hide it for as long as possible.

Your line of work was dangerous, being a crime scene investigator certainly made your job interesting.

But a few months ago you found out that a family of vamps resided in your territory. You were walking home one evening and were jumped by one such vamp little did you know that you both would become romanticly involved.

Jensen: how would you like to be eaten?

You turned over and kneed him in the stomach sending him backward...

Yn: I wouldn't, you wouldn't find my blood very appealing...

You flashed him your eyes... he backed up immediately.

Jensen: your a wolf but how...

Yn: I was born into it... but you, are you apart of that vampire family in the outskirts of the city?

Jensen: yes, but I was wondering, a ell I mean I kinda noticed when I had your arms pinned but that countdown on your arm, it matches mine as well...

You put yours next to his and that was the start of your long nights of secrets...

Yn: well what do we do? I'm sure neither of our families will accept this...

Jensen: we will meet in secret every evening up on the cliff over looking this end of town... meet me there tomorrow night...

That was the start of the months now of sneaking around but now we go to your day job...

You arrived at the crime scene, you put on your gloves and began looking around the crime scene.

Jerry: find anything yet?

Yn: not so far... but I'm not leaving here till I do... please tell me he isn't...

Jerry: oh you mean the transfer from upstate, ya he's here... so get this he claims this was done by and i quote, "one of those super powered freaks." He is coming this way do you want me to stay?

Yn: no I got this, thanks Jerry.

Jerry walks away and your new rival shows up... you groan as your senses kick high and mighty as he speaks up from behind you...

Jay: yn, slacking off again?

Yn: Jay still trying to steal my job?

you were not sure if this guy was trying to mess with you Or if he was Just dumb...

Jay: you know what I was taught in the academy?

You continued to collect evidence, ignoring him... on the other hand your watch had been buzzing constantly for almost 15 minutes...

You knew there was trouble elsewhere in the city. You knew you had to transform but you couldn't... not in the middle of a case...

you collected and sorted all your samples, labeling it by the areas you found them in... you also took photos of the location spots and of the placement numbers. you bid adieu to your captain and you walked toward the furthest bus stop...

once you were away from the crime scene and out of eye shot of your fellow officers. you felt the power surge within you... you walked down the dark path, through the woods.

you threw your bag hard enough and far enough that it would or should land close to your ancestral home. where you then turned to the sky and howled...

letting your guardian know you were home... you were a werewolf... one of great power, one of nobility, the next in line for the throne of your ancestral home in Deshaan...

yn: ugh, time to do my work...

Killian: and what about your lessons milady...

YN: ill do them when i feel like it, look my parents sent me here to Sunshinevil to lead a normal life. to have a chance at happiness... they sent you here to look after me even though im a grown ass woman.

killian just laughed as he threw your mail at you..

killian: someone sent you a letter with no return address again...

you threw him a dirty look as you ran your fingers over the letters spelling out your name on the envelope. you took all your mail and your bag heading into your room you shut and locked the door.

you opened that no return address envelope first. you could almost hear his voice as you read the letter.

Jensen: hey beautiful, im excited for our nightly jog... i hope that you are ready to once more escape into our own world, live the parts of our lives that should have been ours already... we have talked many times about this, are you still willing to run away with me like we have been talking about for months now? Meet me at the usual spot tonight all my love Jensen

You laid back on your bed and felt your heart beat blissfully in your chest. you now went to start your work but you now were being interuppted by many bright flashing lights outside and screaming yelling and familiar footsteps and voices..

you continued to do your work as your door was pulled off... you were not paying much attention till a loud booming voice spoke up from behind you...

Henry: YN my dearest daughter, i have some good news... your mother is back home finishing up all the details but she said i would be better suited to come here and tell you the news in person!

you didnt like the tone his voice jumped too... you were not sure where this was going so you put down the test tube you were holding and stepped away from the table...

now facing your father you felt your anger rising slowly as you waited for him to continue...

yn: tell me what...

henry: your going to marry the son of a rich family from Wrothgar... they want this alliance between our countries as much as your mom and i do...

you started to shift but mid shift you felt yourself stiffle a bit as your father reached out his arms around you stopping the shift entirely...

yn: why would you guys do that to me...

you scream the tears spilling quick from your eyes.

henry: because we are trying to secure the benefit of the kingdom! and for your future and the future of the bloodline.

Helen: now Henry be reasonable, she is a woman she can make her own decisions.

you could feel the shift beginning again, you couldnt help it... till your father snapped his fingers and used his alpha tone to force you to stop all together. the reverse shift was painful but it worked... you wrapped up in a sheet and dismissed your father to leave the room.

Your mother stayed with you to help console you about your father's actions and tone while you got ready to go out.

you put on the dress for your excursions that night and your shoes and redid your hair. Once all good you finished setting up your equipment to scan the evidence you collected at the crime scene.

You then grabbed your bag and headed out the door of your room. Your father and guardian both staring at your appearance and making judgmental faces.

Kilian: off to party again milady?

Yn: always... Kilian keep my father on his leash I don't want him here when I get back... my mother can stay but my father either can sleep in the shed or I guess with my mother but keep him in check.

Kilian: yes milady.

You leave out the front door, your dress changing into a jumpsuit... once a bit away from home you break into a run through the Forrest line.

Yn: hold on my love im coming.

Your voice carried on the wind, Jensen who was waiting at the top of the clif on the moonlit hill all the way out of town far away from your pack and his clan...

Oh ya by the way Jensen whose supposed to be your enemy, is also your vampire lover. Think Romeo and juliet except way way way worse.

Your father's would absolutely declare war if they found out. But you arrived and saw him sitting staring at the moon.

Jensen: you gonna just stand there or you gonna come out and sit with me.

Yn: I am coming im just trying stay under control...

Jensen: what's got you so flustered my love.

Yn: my father and mother showed up... out of the blue and unannounced, he used his alphas touch to stop me mid shift... to force me back to normal. My mother sat with me for a bit till I got up and came here...

Jensen: come here my love you won't hurt me I know you won't.

You took a few more deep breathes and let all the stress flow away as you cleared out of the tree line.

You stood for a few seconds in the moonlight... you walked over to sit on Jensens lap. As you both watched over the town...

Jensen: what did your father say or do to make you start to shift.

You felt the tears sting your eyes again.

Yn: he basically told me that I am all but engaged to this other wolf prince bastard thing and that it's necessary to continue the bloodlines yack yack yack...

You were shaking, but jensens arms were around you holding your hands with his own.

Jensen: I could kill him if you want...

Yn: I wish but he would sooner force me to rip you to shreds... I just wish he would leave me alone. I just wish he like my mother understood about my lack of interest to this arranged marriage custom.

Jensen: so you wish you could lets say marry me for example.

Yn: exactly. And I would marry you in a heart beat... perhaps one day that will be possible but if our families weren't sworn enemies, We would have already been married.

Meanwhile, as you and Jensen were snuggling on the hillside, neither of you were aware that someone or something was watching you.

Over the hills on the outskirts of 2 towns over, King John and Queen Mary were watching you and Jensen through the eyes of one of their spies.

Mary: who is that girl...

John analyzes the photo but then takes out his phone and take a close up shot of your signat ring.

John: guards, follow this girl in the shadows over the next few weeks... but be careful not to be seen. Just watch her and learn about this new love interest of our sons. For it would seem he has been lying to us this entire time.

Mary: whose ring is that John?

John: the family ring from Deshaan she's a werewolf.

Meanwhile, Henry your father was scolding Kilian as he escorted him to the nicest hotel close to the forest.

Henry: what is my daughter hiding?

Kilian: nothing my king she just isn't in the mood for anything from you.

Henry: well just tell me this do you know where she goes every time she walks out that door...

Kilian: no I don't, I'm not one to pry, I also learned very early not to get on her bad side.

Henry: she has a temper?

Kilian: yep but she does receive letters with only her name on the envelope. She receives one almost every single day.

Henry: see if she will tell you or if you can find out who it is... my daughter is getting mysterious mail and partying and sounds like she doesn't care about the throne. Follow her next time she goes out I want to know where she goes.

Kilian: I will try sir! Good night sir.

Henry is left in the nicest hotel suite that side of town. Puzzled as to what exactly his daughter does with her time.

Meanwhile, you and Jensen had started making out but a sound startles you both... this made you both get up and scan the tree line.

Yn: what do we do...

Jensen: jump? It can't hurt... and if we are found it will be much worse than a moonlight swim in the harbor.

Yn: ugh I guess its gonna be a new phone for both of us...

Jensen: there are worse fates... 3...

Yn: 2...

Jensen takes your hand as you both step to face the ledge.

Jensen: 1... jump...

You and jensen while holding eachothers hands take a running leap off the ledge. not turning back to see who or what may have been skulking towards you. (*more about this later*)

anyway you both made it to the beach, the sand sticking to your now very wet bodies. you looked around and felt a strange sense like you both were still being watched.

Jensen: well yn i think tonight has been eventful enough, but i dont want my princess to catch a cold. lets give it some time before we meet again. at least while your dad is in town...

Jensen kisses you again, before he gets pulled back and you get thrown to the ground.

Jensen: fredrick stop... thats enough....

fredrick: forgive me my prince i was simply doing my job in protecting you...

jensen: go my love, ill send word when i can...

you take off into a run breaking the speed barrier before you can hit the treeline. you slunk in through the front door. and you are met with the glare of Kilian

kilian: milady why are you all wet...

yn: i had to escape some vampires that followed me out from the club i was at tonight... so i made it to the beach i threw down some come and get me taunt knowing that those yawhoos wouldnt follow that close to sunrise, so i walked into the water, held my breathe and swam from one side of the island to the other, so i could get away.

kilian: shall i make you some hot chocolate or...

yn: no thanks i think im just gonna go take a nice hot bath and warm up, then finish my work and hit the hay...

kilian bows slightly handing you a fuzzy throw blanket and a large towel.

kilian: then ill lock up for the night milady... good night milady.

You go into your bedroom and shut the door, locking it and your window for the night. You stripped out of your wet garments and ran a nice hot bath... bringing your bath tray, and laptop into the bathroom with you.

Yn(to self): I wonder what today will bring. Ugh I hope Jay isn't gonna be there. That self spoiled pretentious pig...

You Crawled into the bath and out your laptop on the tray and checked your lab results. Finishing your report for work and your other duties as well. Then calling it a night.

Meanwhile Jensen walked through his front door and was instantly met with the disapproval of his parents.

John: JENSEN, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT KIND OF TROUBLE YOU ARE IN YOUNG MAN...

Jensen: shouldn't you be in bed father.

john: okay listen here you little ingraite... your mother and i have worked for years to train you and to set you up with a very very eligible marriage, so what i would like to know is who that snout faced twit was that you were with tonight?

jensen was now enraged his worst fears now realized... and thats when his father and mother noticed the countdown on his arm.

mary: john settle down... our son is merely checking out the world and experimenting... im sure he didnt know that she was a wolf... did you my son?

jensen knew he had to lie, he didnt like it but he had to do it.

Jensen: mother is right, i didnt know that she was a wolf. if i had i would have torn her to shreds.

john sighed slightly, Mary just glanced over her sons wet appearance and blew him a kiss.

Mary: Jensen my son, retire to your room for the night. you have work tomorrow. living normal is still on the table for you... as long as you never forget who you truly are.

jensen: then that i shall take my leave, mother father...

jensen walked very calmly to his room, his expression changing instantly upon locking the door. breathing in a sigh of relief, as his mind slipped out of real world and into his dreams where he would find you hopefully...

Both of you slept alone in mind and body that night, but one day maybe that would change... you woke up the next morning, got up dressed and packed for work, upon exiting your rooom you run into your dad in the kitchen sitting at the table like a normal person. Your mom was standing washing the counter.

yn: before any of you say anything, just know im late for work and i have nothing else to say to you father... on a different note, good morning mother!

Helen: good morning my sweet girl! I trust that after your bath you slept well!

Yn: of course, it was pleasant!

You grabbed a piece of toast, and started toward the door.

henry: well i was simply gonna say that whatever you are hiding from me, i have my way of learning the truth... most of them unpleasent...

yn: and exactly what are you implying...

you roared dropping your bag...

henry: kilian tells me you have been recieving secret love letters... i want to know who they are from, and when this little shenanigan started and i want to be there when you kill him and complete your link to the alpha's throne.

yn: i have mentioned this numerous times, ill do things in my own time and it is none of your god damn business who i choose to be with... so cancel this arrangement cause i will not keep to it, i will not go through with it, and i have no desire at this time to spend another moment in this cottage today. ill spend the night at the station, at least there i can count on civil conversation and no one lurking over my future plans. so good bye ill see you guys when i see you... on a more pleasant note bye mom I'll see you later!

you picked up your bag and walked out the door slamming it as you went. kilian and your dad didnt say much after that...

You arrived at the station still in a huff, you walked in and breathed in the smell of coffee and donuts...

Jerry: what's got you all in a huff this morning?

Yn: my father's in town, the jerk wad I told you about... the one who tried to sell me off to some rich pompous dick so he could keep his power.

Jerry: oh shit... I gather you will be pulling an all nighter here...

Yn: yep, would you like to have the briefing now or later and can we do it in the lab I need to work on whatever there is...

Jerry follows you to the lab, that's when a call comes through the wire...

Jerry: saddle up YN we got another weird one...

Yn: weird how?

Jerry looks around to make sure no one else is in ear shot...

Jerry: one of the bodies was torn to shreds almost as though like a wild dog or something larger tore through him like a sack of dirty laundry, while the other body, completely devoid of blood, puncture wounds to the neck, Jay stumbled upon them this morning... that's who called it in...

You were pretty sure you had steam coming out your ears, you were so mad you didn't want to loose out on this case to Jay...

Yn: what are we sitting around for? Let's go...

Jerry: look I know you can do an excellent job at this but you need to calm down before you can leave the office your eyes are red...

You pulled out your mirror and took a look for yourself...

Yn: first of all its blood orange, cross between red and gold and second your right I know your right...

Jerry watched as you brought out your claws and slashed your forearm, he watched you shriek as the pain caused you to shift back to normal...

Yn: damn can you hand me the gauze that I keep over on the desk... your the one whose gonna wrap this and then help me put my sweater back on so we can go...

Jerry carefully grabbed the gauze and the tape and put some antiseptic on your arm before he wrapped it...

Jerry: why would you harm yourself?

Yn: it was the only way to get myself under control quickly. I wish there had been an easier way but I'll be fine in a few days... werewolf healing takes longer when it's self inflicted.

Jerry: makes sense. Alright let's get you up and let's get to this crime scene. I've told the officers to not let the csi on scene till I get there with you so you can have an equal opportunity to collect your samples and do your thing.

You winced trying to use your arm to get off the table but you were not completely ready for that yet...

Yn: Jerry get me off this table we cannot give that weasel any satisfaction... not a word of my injury.

You felt jerry take your good arm and help you off the table. Jerry carried your bag and walked with you out the back entrance to the cruiser lot.

Jerry drove and allowed you to relax as you both arrived on scene. It was like foggy, and unusual unsettling feeling as you and Jerry got out of the car.

Yn: i don't like this...

Jerry: I'll follow your lead but we should have run into someone by now...

Yn: shit Jerry get back to the car now... go..

Jerry goes back wards watching your back as you go further into the fog and thats when you got jumped.

You threw the vamp off of you and you recognized him it was one of the ones from the night before.

Justin: oh goodie look what I found, the wolf bitch whose been seducing our prince perfect you are coming with me either consciously or not. My king and queen would like several words with you... and to use you to well teach their son a lesson.

Yn: in your dreams pal, im not going anywhere with you.

Justin: oh yes you are...

Justin lunged at you, his full weight now holding you in a choke hold. You Sunk your teeth into his arm and in return he knocked you out.

When the fog cleared the knocked out officers were on the ground but you were gone. Jerry went to help the officers off the ground but was sure you could handle yourself.

Meanwhile you began to stir waking up next too a growing patch of very very potent wolfsbane. You tried to move away from it but your body still felt funky from being knocked out.

Yn: ugh what happened to me...

Justin peaks into the cell which holds you and yells...

Justin: guards drag this bitch to the dinning hall, throw her down before the king and queen and the young prince. We don't want her to miss the show.

You were dragged out of the cell, cross the stone cold floor and down a set of stairs to a giant set of doors. The next words you hear are ones that shock you.

Guard: your majesties the entertainment has arrived.

John: nobles of the court a transgression shall be righted here tonight for just outside the door is a beast, one that howls by the light of a full moon, one who has seduced our son. Bring her in, leave the handcuffs on her, I don't want her to break free...

You were dragged into the room and thrown down on the ground the gasps across the room were as loud as the sound of your name falling from the lips of Jensen who was more shocked to see you in chains on the floor.

Jensen: father what is the meaning of this...

John: your punishment is to beat this girl and break the seduction she has put upon you my son.

Jensen: what the fuck? Have you lost your fucking marbles father? That is absurd she did nothing of the sort... it was my idea, I was baiting her to find out what she knows about the wolf royals...

You snarled at Jensen watching his expression turn sour and angry... you were pissed..

Yn: you traitor why would you play with my heart like that after I poured my heart out to you, after I gave you all of me, we were gonna run away together, i thought you loved me...

Jensen: love you, ha don't make me laugh? Get it through your head bitch it was all an act to gain your trust... now I'm gonna torture you and prove my worth to the court.

Jensen grabbed a bat that has been wrapped in wolfsbane... Jensen then proceeds to swing at you. Each hit making you scream in discomfort.

After 30 strikes your blood splattered across the floor, Jensen turns to the court as you struggle to get up...

Jensen: well now it's just getting fun, guards open the moon roof, lets watch this bitch break further as I strike her down.

Your struggle to get out of the way is useless as the roof is opened and your body starts reacting to the moonlight...

Yn: please Jensen let me go, please I won't survive the change if this continues...

Jensen: no, not this time little bitch...

You scream again indicatingthe change beginning, first your spine begins shifting breaking and cracking, your screams slowly turn to growls and roars.

Your voice comes out as a howl in the next moment as your bones continue to break.

Jensen: look at her, she is gonna be dead soon lets see if we can shake up the fun, boys the spears...

In seconds you are flanked and spears dipped in wolfsbane are pierced into your sides. Multiple times.

Jensen and the court just laugh, you stop mid shift. It's got you fuming but you manage to push through the pain, your claws scraped against the floor leaving marks...

You managed to get to one knee feeling the wolfsbane burning inside you but you fought the pain.

You heard the sound of the boots that Jensen wore approaching you as he lifted up the bat and was bringing it down on you you reached up and caught the bat pushing it away from you as you stood up fully.

John: impossible...

Yn: no not impossible especially when my family has just arrived.

John and the courts attention is drawn to the doorway which is now hosting your father and Killian standing there staring at the room.

Henry: John, I can't believe you... sending a boy to torture an innocent girl, my daughter of all things... have you forgotten the treaty...

John: I have not Henry... I was merely teaching a lesson... though it seems there was no need for my son could never ever have true feelings towards a beast..

Helen and Mary both exchange long glances not listening to anything other than the sounds of their own words.

Helen: it seems like our husband's are at it again.

Mary: it would seem so but our children seem to have quite the attraction to eachother as well...

Helen: im sure all will be revealed in a few short minutes

Mary and Helen realized that their children's marks showed the same time... while you were still being beaten...

You were trying to block out the stings of the wolfsbane, as then jensens voice came into your head loud and clear as a bell..

Jensen: lets show them what we have... let's show them our ways... plus the time on our arms is about to expire... we need to stall for 5 more minutes.

All you could do was smirk... as you run up behind your father and hold your claws at his throat...

Yn: listen and listen good all of you... we arranged this... for you see our bond is deeper than anything a mere treaty could do...

Jensen: my love for yn is greater than my love for my species... we have a way to become hybrids this way we don't have to be at war... and we can procreate. The bloodlines will continue just not by anyone you guys choose.

You lean in to whisper at your father's ear...

Yn: listen to what we have to say father do not use your temper to solve these issues... listen to us please. If you ever loved me at all you will listen.

You walk towards Jensen as the countdown expires and a binding chain wraps around you and Jensen.

The entire room is awestruck. They didn't know what kind of sorcery this was...

Henry: holy shit...

Killian: oh my God...

John: sorcery...

Mary: yay, I get a daughter...

Helen: yay, I get a son!

John and Henry were now fuming and pissed off... in seconds guards were surrounding you and Jensen...

Yn: Jensen let's show them what love really means...

Jensen: Do you have it?

You pull out 2 viles from your boob crevice... you hand 1 to jensen... both of you popping off the lids and downing them in seconds you both hold hands and feel the liquid coursing through your veins.

You both fall to the ground, minutes pass as John and Henry are now preparing to engage in combat. But fate had another idea.

For your body began to convulse and you sat straight shot up. Jensens body began to break every bone he began to shift... well it would be a partial shift it was still a shift.

You began to see things differently, you pulled down one of the nearby guards and fed from his neck draining him of blood.

You felt so much better. Jensen sat up and looked at his new form, then looked at you in your new form.

Jensen: my love, how do you feel?

Yn: how do I feel, I feel fantastic, how do you feel?

Jensen: fantastic. Shall we stop our fathers from fighting...

Yn: hmm I dunno I think they both need lessons on what the new order is to the food chain. Who the most dangerous predators actually are.

You and jensen take your father's by the throats and lift them in the air.

Yn: look we don't want to kill you, but how does it feel...

Jensen: to know that your children who you both claim to love so much are soulmates and now more powerful than even you.

John: you both have betrayed us...

At that point you both drop your father's on the ground to allow them to breathe and speak.

Henry and John exchange glances and neither you not Jensen have noticed for neither of you are paying attention.

Mary: John stand down!

Helen: Henry that's enough!

You and jensen turned your attentions to your mom's as they stand side by side facing you, your father's and the court.

Mary: our children are soulmates

Helen: they're bound together and as such now are our 2 houses. If you both continue to resist this

Mary: we will have no choice but to lock you both up for the rest of your days, or at least till the executioners get here...

Helen: or do we betray them like they are ready to betray us...

Yn: wait mother...

You look at Jensen who nods and you proceed to explain yourself.

Yn: mom, queen Mary if I may... we actually have a confession to make. We had done this months ago, but we were scared if you guys found out we would have been exiled or worse. So we hid the truth with cloaking serum.

Jensen: the vile we drank tonight de cloaked us and made us who we have become. We knew that if something good was gonna happen we were gonna end up together one way or another.

Mary and Helen looked at you guys and ordered the guards to bring your father's to kneel before the both of you...

Mary: John, Henry look at your children, tell me and Helen that you guys don't still see them as the strong minded and willed children you both helped to raise. Tell us that these 2 children standing before you are not those children and we will have you both exiled. If you guys say these are still your children we will let them decide your fates...

Helen: the choice is yours gentlemen, but we would hurry if we were you, are you guys ready with your choices?

John: this is an outrage! Mary, Jensen you both have betrayed me, us, our family, our clan! It is now only fit that I exile you both from this kingdom!

Mary: if that's how you feel John then fine! I have already made plans for a case such as this anyway...

Jensen: fine, you don't have to pretend any further that we are family cause we are now not family, we are far from it.

John struggled against the grip of the guards, as Henry now spoke as harsh and as vile as John did...

Henry: alright I have a few things to say, #1 Helen my love you have been by my side through everything but you have fallen behind in the times. You are blinded by our daughters misdeeds... by this insubordination that our child has committed, she betrayed the pack, the kingdom and our teachings. Which brings me to point #2 yn my child you are my only heir, you had chosen your own path when you left the kingdom to pursue a normal life. I'm not as vain as John is right now but I don't want to cause any more of a ruckus as it is now. I Henry renounce my crown to my daughter I name her queen and leader of the pack, she is an alpha in her own right, she was born an alpha and now wears the crown. Now I Henry also request to live in this new kingdom if you will allow this...

Your mother and you looked shocked as your eyes flashed to blood shot red and you let out an uncontrolled alphas roar. Once you got your voice back you spoke.

Yn: dearest father for renouncing your title and basically apologizing you can live in this new kingdom but under 1 condition... you never ever do something so foolish again.

Henry: of course my alpha. Helen my darling wife I apologize wholly for how stubborn and pig headed I became about yn's love life how vain I got, how angry I was a few moments ago and I promise you that for the rest of eternity I'll spend it making it up to you. If you'll have me.

You move to allow your mother to approach your father. You watch your mother and your father share a moment of passion.

But everything and everyone are interrupted by a loud roar from John.

John: this is ridiculous! You are all fools! Our children are abominations and you guys are all choosing to accept them!

Mary: John stand down or we will make you.

Mary, Helen and Henry now between you, Jensen and John!

John: Mary you would dare to stand against me... why Mary why would you side with those who dare to change the natural order.

Mary: cause I've seen the light I've seen what kind of man you truly are I know what kind of man you are... now I let my son speak cause you are no longer my husband no longer my king.

John's rage shon through, John now shifted full vampire.

John: Mary you defy me, you deny me, you reject me. Fine I don't need you I don't need any of you. In fact I'm gonna kill you, your son his half wit brat and her half wit parentals as well.

Yn: Jensen deal with him in such a way that justice will reign Supreme, actually guards put him on the rack!

The guards rolled in a rack usually used to torture prisoners, but in this case it would adhere to a different purpose.

Jensen: ah good thinking babe, attention everyone, what you are about to see is our new kind of justice, those that oppose us will be strapped to a rack and then made into a hybrid like us and forced to stay that way as they desicat in a cell from which they have no means of escape for all eternity.

John: why you insolent brats, I don't accept this, I'm the king, you cannot do this to me!

Jensen roars and steps to stand beside his father.

John: I don't know what changed in your being to think that anything like this would have been okay in the first place. But you stopped being my son a long time ago.

Jensen: I was never your son, I was just some bargaining chip to use whenever you wanted.

Jensen received the extra vile of change formula from you and became as content as rain when he saw the glint of fear in John's eyes.

The guards forced John's mouth to stay open as the viles contents were poured in.

Jensen: now it's time you know how it feels to be betrayed, father... as your body starts to accept the formula you will start to loose consciousness and then your bones will break and then you may or may not black out as well. Either way guards put him on a one way boat trip to the prison in the southern isles and make sure he is secure wouldn't want him escaping.

The guards do just that, and after a few moments of John leaving the room his screams of pain echo through the entire castle.

Jensen: yn, you are the love of my life, the fire in my soul and I wouldn't be who I am without you. I look forward to uniting our 2 kingdoms merging them so that we all may live in peace and harmony!

The crowd cheered, it was the dawn of a new Era in which werewolves and vampires would never again be at war with one another.

While you and Jensen lived happily ever after well for now at least.

~ that's all for now folks~

[votederpycausemufins]

I said I had another chapter ready. so It's time to post that.

tagging @helleborusangel because they like my writing and @hermitcraftheadcanons since they and their community made the au.

now... with that out of the way, let's recap evo... wait shoot i mean hermitcraft.

“Pixlriffs! Turn on the tv!” Came a voice that followed a door being slammed open.

Pixlriffs turned around in confusion to see Zloy having barged in, panting with his goggles askew. “Zloy? What’s going on?”

“Just turn on the recap channel! Hurry!”

Even more confused, Pixl slowly turned to his tv and turned it on, switching to the channel that showed their recap show. “I thought you didn’t like watching our own shows. It’s not even a regular recap, it’s just going to be a clip show from the livestream. Why are you so-” But he cut himself off. Showing on screen was a countdown to the season eight day one recap. “What? But it hasn’t started. We haven’t recorded anything.”

“I know! I was with a friend and they turned it on and said they didn’t think it had started yet. When I saw the countdown, I ran all the way over here.”

“Do you think they just had a scheduling mistake? We might need to call the broadcasters and have them fix things up.” Pixl suggested, and Zloy shrugged.

“Let’s just make sure that’s the case and see which episode they’re actually showing. For all we know they mixed things up and this is just the season seven, day one.”

“I hope that’s the case.”

The two recapers watched the timer go down. Elsewhere, people were also turned into the episode. Some were pleasantly surprised by the supposed new episode. Others were confused thinking the schedule was wrong. Those who knew the hermits were confused, not having heard the new season was starting yet.

Then finally, the timer reached zero, and a familiar jingle started. And then a voice that was definitely not Pixlriffs spoke the phrase “This week, on Hermitcraft.”

“Wait, what am I doing in the nether? I just joined the world.”

Zloy and Pixl looked at each other at something they had never heard Keralis say. This was a new episode, but one they hadn’t made.

“A new adventure starts in season eight, new places and mobs to explore and see. And also Grumbot and Jrumbot are Hermits now. Welcome to the Hermitcraft recap! The show where no one is where they should be. My name is Toon Noah.”

“I’m Mysterious Goofball, and our writer is Pin Valentine. Today, we’re looking at everyone’s first day on the new season of Hermitcraft.”

The first person, Noah, spoke up again. “In this season, the hermits managed to update all the way to the second half of the caves and cliffs update even though that isn’t possible.” He explained what was going on in this season. “Everyone is scattered across the map and even in other dimensions. Monsters are tough, regen is off, and using chat is out of the question, so surviving is going to be tough.”

“At the very least, they can still respawn, so certain people have chances to escape. Escape what that is? Well, let’s look at what the Hermits have been up to.” Goofball said, sounding so nonchalant about what they were about to talk about.

“Starting with Xisuma, who’s started out in the deep dark. The admin’s helmet has been disabled other than necessary functions. His visor also gives him a little bit of light, so he’s not completely blind. Plus the fact that sculks are bioluminescent. But the warden is too, which has been able to find him a number of times.”

“Also in the caves in Jevin,-” Goofball spoke up again. “-who’s found himself in some lush caves. He’s got glowberries for light and food and the axolotls are pretty friendly. Plus, with enough searching, he was able to find a bit of wood for simple tools.”

“Speaking of wood. Some of the hermits have found themselves in the jungle.” Noah quickly commented before some audio from one of the hermits played along with its clip.

“Helloooo? Anyone around? Impulse? Tango? Hey is that Grian? Nope, just a parrot. Ugh, and here I am without any seeds.”

Goofball spoke up again when the audio finished. “Both Zedaph and Tango are in the same jungle, but the size of the biome as well as the amount of foliage means they haven’t found each other yet. Tango at the very least has started mining, and Zedaph managed to find a jungle temple and has already started on using the redstone from there for a melon farm.”

“How do you even make a farm out of that?”

“It’s Zedaph, what do you expect?”

“Well, as for the last of team ZIT, Impulse had found himself in the middle of a sea temple.” Noah spoke, as the video showed Impulse dealing with being underwater in such a place. “Between drowning and guardians, he hasn’t gotten that far away from his spawn.”

“In other aquatic news-” Goofball said, another clip from the hermits playing.

“If I never see coral again, it’ll be too- wait, is that False? False!”

“-Stress and False are also nearby to each other, both spawning in coral reefs. False was the first to escape, needing to just swim out of her spawn.”

“On the other hand, Stress was completely encased in coral and had to slowly chip herself out of the colorful prison. But by the evening, Stress was able to get to the surface and join False and an island, chopping down trees. They even started a wheat farm. But here’s hoping they don’t have to deal with drowned.”

“While she isn’t a drowned,” Goofball continued from Noah’s comment. “Zombie Cleo started out in a village. Normally, that would be pretty good, but being a zombie…”

“Leave me alone! I’m not going ta kill any villagers! I’m a zombie but I’m not that kind of zombie!”

��She’s been having an issue with the resident iron golem. With a bit of luck, she managed to hole herself up in a house which the golem isn’t going to destroy, but the villagers aren’t the happiest about it.”

Then Noah took over speaking. “From villagers to illagers, Mumbo Jumbo found himself alone in a woodland mansion, making himself the furthest hermit in the overworld.”

“Come on. Almost. Almost!” The video showed Mumbo running before he was killed by a vindicator. “Oh come on!”

After that, Noah continued. “He’s tried and failed many times to try and get out of the mansion, but eventually just started breaking the walls for tools.”

“The illagers aren’t really happy about it, but not like he’ll be going far, so I don’t think he’ll easily lose those tools.”

“Well at least he’s got supplies.” The video transitioned to a mountain top with three figures standing at the peak. “Grian, as well as new hermits Grum and Jrum are currently stuck on the top of a mountain, surrounded by powder snow. It’s pretty lucky that the three of them stuck together.”

“I’m not so sure of that.” Goofball spoke up, sounding a bit frustrated or annoyed. “While Grian tried to fly down for supplies to little success, other than fall damage, he hasn’t managed to die, using some sort of magic.”

“But it looks like the fall damage came in handy for Doc, who’s further down the mountain. He’s having a bit of trouble surrounded by goats, plenty of them being the screaming variety.”

Goofball spoke again, no longer sounding as annoyed. “Yeah, but while hanging out with them, he heard a different kind of scream and did something pretty smart.”

“Wait, what was- is someone close by? It sounded like someone just- wait! The death messages!” He pulled out his communicator and read the messages. “Grian died to fall damage! Grian’s up there!”

“I guess he is the scientist of the group.” Noah spoke, the grin he had on his face audible in his voice. “It makes sense he would be the one to figure things out. But even then, he still can’t easily get down the mountain himself with all the goats messing him up. My guess is he’s really regretting being the goat father last season.”

“Doc isn’t the only one getting familiar with the new wildlife though. Hypno has found himself in a large flower forest that has plenty of mooblooms. He hasn’t been able to kill any of them yet, and there’s only flowers and no grass for him to get seeds from, so while the place seems like it should be easy to survive in, it’s really the opposite.”

“The best idea he’s had so far is following some bees to find their nest and hopefully a tree attached to it. If only he knew he was actually really close to spawn, being the closest to it.”

Goofball took control of the conversation again “Well, that’s not entirely true as three hermits managed to appear at spawn, those three being Joe Hills, VintageBeef, and Etho.” And the three hermits were shown in what looked much more normal than everything else that had been shown so far. “The three of them pretty quickly figured out something was wrong and started to make spawn a safe place, also gathering supplies so they can eventually find the other hermits.”

“Except Etho got a bit ahead of himself.” Noah cut in. “He had a bad run in with some mobs and ended up dying, finding out his respawn is a bit different than others. But at the very least, he managed to find Ren.”

“Ren spawned on a cliff of a ravine. There’s no water at the bottom, and all the blocks in reach are stone, so it’s not the easiest to escape from. Still, with little else to do, Ren started slowly chipping away at the stone to escape the ravine, only to fall when Etho surprised him by suddenly respawning there.”

“Okay, I got through two more pieces of stone. At this rate, I can probably get to dirt before the sun is setting so- Etho- ooooooh!”

“At the very least Ren is respawning just fine,” Noah explained “So the two of them were able to help Ren escape the ravine, so he’s the third person to escape his spawn area.”

“Well, that’s not entirely true.” Goofball started to correct. “Before Etho helped Ren and even before Stress escaped her coral prison, Cub actually escaped the mesa mineshaft he spawned in. It was a little tricky with the cave spiders spawning, but he lucked out with the loot of a chest and was able to get a crafting table and pickaxe out of it.” Cub had found some iron, torches, a few seeds, some bread, and then used the wood of the mineshaft to get him on his feet in terms of survival. “With a few respawns, he took out the spiders and their spawner. He’s able to move around freely, but not wanting to respawn again, his hearts are a bit low, so he’s staying near the mineshaft for shelter.”

“Then, sort of nearby the mesa of course, is the desert, where the last two overworld hermits are.” Noah said, and there was the slightest ruffle of papers, like he was checking a script. “Both XB and Iskall are stuck in the same large desert, trying to find some source of food, water and wood. So far, the best they’ve found are the sticks from dead bushes. Out of the two, XB is doing a bit better since he’s found a cave for some sort of shelter, but Iskall’s much worse off,the sand messing with his one eye.”

“Between the heat, the sand, and my eye, I can’t even tell what’s real anymore. That cactus could be a tree or a town or- nope! It’s actually a creeper!”

And then Noah continued with a transition. “Getting even hotter now, let’s look at the nether. There’s only two hermits there right now, with different struggles to deal with.”

“Keralis is the first and lucked out a bit, landing himself in a warped forest right near a basalt delta, meaning he’s got up to stone tools. Plus, since nether gold ore can be mined with wood tools or better, he’s also got some gold boots to help with any piglins.”

“On the other hand, Welsknight is in a much worse situation. He spawned in a crimson forest and is having plenty of trouble with the hoglins.” And that was emphasized by a clip of Wels being killed by one of the mobs. “He hasn’t gotten too much wood before dying, but at the very least, he secured his spawn just enough he has some room to breathe. And hey, if he makes it out of there, he’s got a fortress nearby. But now to end this off, let’s head to the end.”

“TinfoilChef, or TFC is on the main end island, spawning on an obsidian platform just a few blocks from the edge of the island.” Goofball spoke. “It’s close enough for him to jump, but he still takes fall damage and has to deal with the ender dragon after that.”

“Not to mention the endermen too, which Scar is also having trouble with. He’s stuck on a smallish end island out in the further reaches of the end. There’s an end city nearby, but he doesn’t really have the means to get there. At the very least he’s got food from the chorus plants, but that won’t help too terribly much.”

“And lastly, there’s BdoubleO, who we’ve- who’s been lucky to not die so far being in a special situation.” Though they hadn’t been saying much, both Pixlriffs and Zloy noticed the slight slip up Goofball gave. “He’s currently looping in the end void, teleporting up to the top when he finally gets too low. There’s nothing in sight for him to know that though, so he thinks he’s just falling deeper and deeper. But hopefully he’ll figure it out eventually.”

“Well, that’s everyone, so that pretty much does it for this episode of Ev- Hermitcraft Recap. I was Toon Noah-”

“And I was Mysterious Goofball and our writer was Pin Valentine. If you’d like to see original content made by us, you can find us if you already know where to look.”

“Don’t forget to give this show a good rating and tune in next week for the next episode of Hermitcraft Recap. Thank you all so much for watching and good-Bye~!”

Finally, the screen turned black, signalling the end of the episode. The whole time, Pixl and Zloy had just sat there in shock, watching the episode and not saying anything. The thought of their show being taken over by some new people was scary enough, but the situations the Hermits were now in was so much worse.

Zloy was the first to move, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He had felt it going off during the episode, but had been too stunned to do anything. Apparently, he had missed multiple calls and texts about what had happened with the episode, who had been put in charge, what was with the hermits, and more related to the whole situation.

“We need to see someone about this.” Pixlriffs said, in a similar situation with looking at his phone. “Make sure people know we have no connection to this and hopefully also see if the studio knows who recorded this. I would also like to say that this is all fake, but…”

“Yeah, that footage looked way too real. I think the Hermits are actually in a lot of trouble right now.”

“Then let’s do something about it.”

[weeb-writor]

Taking a “Bullet” for you

Hello! So today I have another Bakugou x reader but this time as requested(cause its a request ;p) the reader is male! Feel free to read it if you are any other gender tho! First time writing for a male reader so I hope its good! Also I don't know shit about paintball so I did a little research but most of its years of Laser tag knowledge from birthday parties at Zap Zone lmao. Hope you enjoy!

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

Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

Masc!Reader and Bakugou meet at a paintball event and fluffy moments take place

Words:1180

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You were so excited to attend the weekend long Paintball event. Not to brag but you were pretty damn good, always placing number 1. Of course, you did have a reputation of being unbeatable. This weekend would be no different although you did hope someone there was at least a challenge.

“L/N, dude! Nice to see you again!” One of the regulars greeted you. 

“I wasn't gonna miss this for anyone or anything!” You said with a grin.

“Did not doubt that at all, man. Lots of new faces this time around. I hope their good or we don't get matched up with them.” He said and you glanced around and there were new people, your eyes met fiery red ones. You smirked at the owner of the red eyes before your focus was back on the conversation you were having.

“Huh, who said I even wanted to be paired with you.” You gave him a shove but before he was able to get a remark the admins called for you guys to start getting your papers with your given team. It was pretty quick and soon you were gearing up, the red eyed guy next to you.

“L/n, I'm so glad I'm paired with you!” Madoka, who was another regular, said next to you.

“Glad to be with you, don't think I'm gonna carry all of you though.” You said with a chuckle, everyone around laughing too.

“Okay, so the best strategy is to pair up and go after them that way. If you're caught alone you're likely to be targeted by multiple people but do not! Absolutely do not group up, you'll create a bigger target. That being said you and you pair should be in range of each other but not too close. When picking a target try to find groups, trios, or solos that are preoccupied. Got it?” You said to the small group everyone nodded at you.

“And what makes you in charge?” The blonde says frowning at you.

“Nothing and I’m not in charge, just trying to win.” You smiled at him, he huffed but didn't say anything further.

“Okay then, let's pair up!” You said any almost everyone rushed to your side, you deadpanned before your eyes caught the blondes again.

“Sorry guys, I’m with… firecracker!” You waved them off with a smile.

“I don't need a damn partner! And my name is not firecracker dumbass.” He roared at you. You smirked at him.

“I'm sure you don't but I do plus I wanna see how we match up against each other! See who’s best y’know.” You said leaning against the near wall. His eyes glinted and you smiled at him.

“I’m L/n and happy to be your player two.” You said extending your hand. He glanced to his side but shook your hand.

“Yeah, heard that from your adoring fans… I’m Bakugou.” He said as the countdown began, you and everyone else readied themselves and soon you were off. Everything was pretty standard so far you had hit 12 people and Bakugou hit 10. He was a little too close to your score for your liking.

“You might wanna speed up princey, i'm coming for your score.” He said lowly to you, you let out a low chuckle at him as your eyes caught something behind you. You didn't have time to warn Bakugou before you tackled him to the ground. His eyes located the person behind the tree with ease and quickly put his arms around your body and angled the gun to shoot them, hitting them dead in their chest. They were quick to scatter.

“Nice shot.” You said getting up and offering him a hand. He took it with a grumble. Just like that the match was over, your team winning of course. The curious thing was you and Bakugou’s score. After taking into account all the people you shot, your style points, and other things. You ranked first by .5, not even a whole point. This had never happened before, it was sort of thrilling. Bakugou even though he was behind by .5 was elated and smug his friends hyping him up. You walked over to them with a smile.

“So i’ve gotta go but you plan on coming back tomorrow or any other weekend?” You said to him kind of hopefully.

“Like I’d come back to play at this shitty place again, I only came cause Kiri wanted me too!” He roared at you.

“Okay, see you tomorrow firecracker.” You winked at him which he blew up at. You weren't surprised to see him and his friends there the next day.

“Hello firecracker, nice to see you again.” You grinned at him.

“Don’t call me that and I am not here for you! I’m here to wipe the floor with you and steal your fans.” He said roughly to you.

“Oh so you want to do something with me?” You smiled at him

“That’s not what I said you shitty man!” He shouted and you erupted into laughter. You two were on the same team again and in the end Bakugou was behind you again this time by a smaller margin, .3 to be exact. 

“Catching up.” Bakugou grinned, waving at you as he walked out the door. This light teasing was had become routine every weekend, at some point his friends stopped coming and it was just the two of you. At the moment you two were both looking at your results, both smirking.

“Congrats on number 1, firecracker.” You said to him with a smirk.

“Yeah, congrats on number one too.” He said with a small smile not meeting your eyes. Yeah, you had both had tied after almost 2 months of him trailing behind by a hair.

“Here, got this for you.” He said shoving something into your hands. It was a fairly large box with a messy bow on the top. You opened it to reveal a Paintball gun in your favorite color with an explosion charm, the same one on Bakugou’s gun.

“Thank you!! It's so awesome!... you know I was thinking im a cool dude you're hot and sorta cool, we should go on a date.” You said to him with a toothy grin.

“Don't get it twisted! I’m not into a shitty guy like you, i'm just thanking you for...playing with me.” He trailed off angrily at the end.

“I don't know the way you took a “bullet” for him really says otherwise.” Madoka said with her airy giggle. She was referring to last match where Bakugou hugged you to shield you from the incoming balls, it was cute. He blushed and started to yell at her. You didn't say anything just laughed and started toward the exit.

“Where are you going!” Bakugou yelled to you, you paused and turned to him with a grin.

“To this great takeout place not far from here, they also have a small dine- in area, y’know for our date.” You said beginning to walk again.

“Like hell were doing that for our first date! Really is there not a single ounce of romance in you, you really are a shitty man. I’ll plan our damn date then.” He said catching up to you, grumbling the whole time.

~~~~~~~~~

Masterlist

[mandoalorian]

Sugar and Spice [Maxwell Lord x Reader] - Chapter 1

Summary: When you are evicted from your apartment by your toxic ex boyfriend and have no place to go, who do you turn to? Alone in the city as the countdown to Christmas begins, you find yourself applying for a job as the assistant of the world’s biggest entrepreneur; Maxwell Lord. Little do you know, he has other intentions for you. No doubt about it, this Christmas will truly be like no other.

Word count: 4k

Warnings: Eventual smut, mentions of a previous verbally abusive relationship, typical 80s misogyny (but very little of it), mentions of food and drink, alcohol consumption. This is a sugardaddy x sugarbaby fic soooo... a daddy k!nk too oops.

But in this chapter - mentions of a verbally abusive relationship

Author’s note: Happy November 1st! Here is chapter one of December Magic. I am so so grateful for how many people have asked to be part of a taglist/enjoyed the prologue. It makes me so happy. If you want to be tagged in future parts please let me know! Enjoy x

MASTERLIST | SUBMIT REQUESTS

PREVIOUS - CHAPTER ONE - NEXT

Waking up on December 1st, you had no idea what was in store for you. You had no idea how the coming month would change your life forever.

It was that time of the year again. Your favourite time of year, and boy were you a sucker for tradition. Any excuse to light your cinnamon and pinecone scented candles and wear the cosiest wooliest sweaters you could find. The time of year where you would search around in storage for your favourite cashmere gloves, tartan scarf and faux fur hat. It was the time of year where you had to have your car defrosted every morning. The thought of your peppermint mocha warming your hands as you did your Christmas shopping was something to look forward to all year round.

The crisp cool air hung above your shoulders. Washington DC felt bigger than life when you were amongst the bustling December crowds, city life filled with people running around trying to get sorted in time for Christmas. The whole city was painted in thick layers of white snow and an abundance of glittering fairy lights. WHAM’s new Christmas song was a number one hit and the catchy melody filled up the department store on every main street corner. But this year was different to any other.

“You can’t pay, you can’t live here. You have three days to box up your stuff before you’re evicted.” Your landlord, Tristan, said sternly, his voice completely monotone and with no empathy whatsoever. You knew it was coming. You had determined that this was your karma.

“Please, it’s Christmas and I’ve just been laid off from my job. You know my family don’t live in the state and-”

“Not my problem,” Tristan snapped back, a small smirk playing on his lips. He had a habit of interrupting you, but doing so at this very moment irked you like no other time. “You’re a big girl. Figure it out.” And with that, he slammed his door in your face.

You stood there momentarily trying to process the confrontation that had just occurred between not only your landlord, but also ex-boyfriend, Tristan. You consider yourself lucky to have a place as nice as your apartment. It was located right in the centre of Washington DC, a two bedroom, one bathroom, with an outstanding view of the city. You always admired how it looked at night, with eccentric tall buildings lighting up the skyline. But now you were essentially made homeless, and you knew for a fact that Tristan was getting a rise out of making you suffer like this.

That’s exactly why you broke up with him. He liked to have power over you, and everyone else he met. He wanted to be the top man. He wanted to be feared; and by the rest of the people in the building? He was. But by you, not so much. His attempts to make you scared were foolish and you wouldn’t stand for it. You’d think for someone who made a living from robbing people of their hard earned money, they would be able to afford a better anniversary dinner than Pizza Hut— but no. The two of you sat in the restaurant and you were lazily dipping your nachos into the cheese sauce when he came out with something preposterous. 

“I’m thinking about upping rent,” Tristan informed you with his signature smile. “By forty percent.”

You almost choked on your food. “Forty percent?!” you gasped, covering your mouth as you coughed slightly. “You can’t do that!” You knew that you could get out of paying it because, girlfriend privilege. But you were also aware of the financial status of your neighbours. The family of five who could barely afford to put food on the table, and the teenage boy who had to drop out of school to work and make an earning so he could provide medication for his sick mother. They were already struggling and with a rent rise, you just knew they wouldn't be able to take it.

“And why not?” Tristan raised an eyebrow quizzically, taking a bite of the floppy slice of pizza. You scrunch your nose up as you watched him eat with his mouth open, bits of cheese falling out and onto the table.

“Because it’s not fair,” You told him. “It’s greedy. If you need extra cash you could always look for another job. Even if it’s just part time! I heard Black Gold Cooperative are hiring and you just know the pay will be good-”

Tristan slammed his fists on the table, making you jump at his sudden movement. A few heads turned to face you both and you felt your cheeks heat up in embarrassment. “Black Gold Cooperative?” He snarled. “And work for that self righteous asshole Maxwell Lord? I don’t think so, sweetie.”

You sighed at his audacity to call anyone else self righteous before giving the chance to check his own behaviour.

“It was just a suggestion.” You mumbled, avoiding eye contact with him.

“Right, because you don’t think being a landlord is a real job.” Tristan said nastily. His tone of voice sent a shiver down your spine. He was doing it again. He was speaking down to you because it was the only way he could exert power over you. “Says the girl who pours coffee all day and only works twenty hours a week and barely makes enough to avoid a goddamn bowl of pasta from Pizza Hut.” He pointed at your bowl of nachos that you had selected from the Starters menu.

You were getting really sick of his attitude. “It’s dishonest work.” You growled back at him. “You overcharge families and people who can barely get by just so they can have a roof over their head! Don’t you see how immoral that is?”

“Someone has to do it.” He shrugged cooly, taking a sip of his red wine.

“But you’re going about it the wrong way!”

“Right.” Tristan stood up and grabbed your arm. He pulled you out of your chair and dragged you outside of the restaurant. 

“Let go of me!” You cried out, yanking your arm out of his hard grip. You rubbed where his fingers had dug into your skin and had no doubt it would leave a bruise.

“Oh, I’m sorry, is the broke ass barista telling me how to do my job? You’re the one to talk. You’re nothing. And you’d be nothing without me. Look at yourself,” Tristan scoffed, and suddenly he was making you feel very self conscious. “You were foolish enough to think you could move to DC and make something of yourself. You have ambition but you don’t know how to use it. And the way you tried to embarrass me during our anniversary dinner…” He was doing what he always did. Villainsing you.

“I never want to see you again.” You spat, tears threatening to spill from your eyes. Your voice was shaky but you didn't want to break down in front of him. You didn't want to give him that satisfaction.

“That’ll be hard since we live in the same building,” he rolled his eyes and tried grabbing your hand again but you flinched away, fear prevailing in your eyes. “Oh come on baby.”

“Don’t call me that.” You said through gritted teeth. “I’m calling a cab. And don’t bother calling me. See you around Tristan.” 

And that was the last time you had seen Tristan, until today— talk about bad break-ups. 

You shuffled upstairs back to your apartment and slumped against the door trying to figure out how you were going to find a new place to live in three days. Maybe if you found a job you could persuade Tristan to let you stay a little longer. You knew that's what he wanted. Everything he had done, everything he said, was to scare you. But Tristan was attached and despite threatening to evict you, he didn't want to see you leave.

You wanted out. Your apartment was filled with bad memories and maybe this was your opportunity to start fresh. This could be your calling. But judging from your current situation and the time of year, you figured you’d be lucky just finding a roadside motel to spend Christmas day in— and you really didn't want that. You grabbed the phone book from under your coffee table and walked over to the dial up phone hung by the kitchen door. Locating one of the most popular property marketplaces in central DC, you dialled up and found your fingers twirling in the telephone wire.

“Hey,” you greeted.

“Hello!” an older sounding lady chirped on the other end of the line. “How can I be of service?”

“I um, I gotta find a place to live— and fast. I’m getting evicted and my budget, well, I don’t have a lot-” your eyes scanned the living room as you weighed up possible things you could sell for just a little more cash.

“Oh, I’m sorry dear. We’re shut for the holidays and there's no place in DC that will help you find a place before new year,” She said sadly and you couldn't believe your bad luck. No place at all? “It really is a shame that you're being evicted, but if you drop into our store after the new year, I’d love to help you find a place that is suitable for you and your budget!”

You were left rendered speechless. “I- I’m going to be homeless.” you said to yourself, the fact finally dawning on you. You knew that you wouldn't ever be truly homeless and that Tristan would be more than happy to let you stay with him during the holiday season but the thought of having to go back to him knocked you sick. You’d rather freeze on a street corner than feel his embrace once more. You wondered if you could travel back home to see your family. “Hey, are there any train trips or flights to Oregon?” you asked.

“Nope,” the lady popped her p and she sounded far too cheery for your liking. “Tickets have been sold out for months. I could get you a flight for January 12th?”

“No.” you mumbled. “My car broke down… but what are the chances I could get a cabbie to Oregon?”

“You want to get a cab to Oregon?” The woman on the other end laughed in disbelief, and you supposed that could be justified. “You can't be serious. Besides, Astoria bridge has been closed down due to last week's snow storm and I can't see it reopening until after the snow has cleared. Heaven knows when that will be.”

Tristan had really caught you in a loop. “So there is no way I can find a place to stay, nor travel to Oregon, at all, this month?”

“I’m sorry dear.”

“Okay, well thank you for your help.” You said wistfully, feeling dread forming in the pit of your stomach.

“Merry Christmas and have a hap-” You hung up on her.

You weren't ready to give up hope just yet. If there was one thing you always clung on to, it was faith. Your belief that everything happens for a reason and everything is sure to work out for the best in the end. You figured you could go job hunting and then tell Tristan you would be able to pay him double once you got your first paycheck. No, it wasn't ideal but what other choice did you have?

You grabbed your jacket and purse before leaving your apartment. Did you have a plan? No. You didn't even have your resumé with you.

You plodged your feet through the snow, your socks dampening even through your boots but finally made it to the bustling main street. You looked in the windows of all the different department stores and in desperate search for hiring signs, even going inside and inquiring with members of staff— but there were no positions available.

Just then, you found yourself outside of Black Gold Cooperative and you remembered that they were hiring. Granted, you didn't know what the position was, and figured you almost certainly didn't have the qualifications to work for such a prestigious business.

You looked up at the tall building, always feeling like an overwhelmed tiny insect when you stood next to it. It sparkled a sleek black and in a large, gold, cursive font BGC was displayed so high it looked over the whole city. It was certainly the tallest skyscraper you had ever seen with your own pair of eyes. In that moment, you almost backed down. But this wasn't a choice anymore and you had to shoot your shot. Just roll with it. You told yourself.

You were able to take a peek at the lobby in the double door entrance. Everything was marble with gold embellishments. If you hadn't known any better, you would've thought it was a palace. Trodding over the red carpet, you were stopped by a man’s arm, not allowing you to enter. “Name and business?" He asked, his voice rough. You looked up at him. Tall and broad, no hair and dressed in all black. A doorman that looked like a nightclub bodyguard. If you weren't intimidated you would've laughed.

“Sorry?” you asked, trying your best to sound as innocent and polite as could be.

“Name and business.” He repeated, his tone of voice the same. He didn't budge— still standing there with his arms folded against his chest. You weren't even sure if he was looking at you, with his black sunglasses hiding his face.

“Uhm,” you stood on your tip toes and took a glance at the clipboard which was pressed between his forearm and chest. Names that had been typewritten were printed on the page and most of them had been crossed out— bar one. You read out the name. “Barbara Minerva.” you said confidently. He looked at you for sure this time and pulled his glasses off, narrowing his eyes. He took the clipboard and checked for your fake name and sure enough, there it was.

“You’re Barbara Minerva?” he beckoned, raising an eyebrow.

“The one and only.” you lied with a charming smile. “And my business is…. actually I'm here for a job interview.”

“Oh!” the man grinned, like something had clicked in his mind. He scribbled out Barbara's name on your clipboard and ushered you inside. “Mr Lord’s office is on the top floor. Best of luck Ms Minerva.”

When you entered the lobby, warmth washed over your body and you couldn't help but smile. It was all lit up with yellow fairy lights and an enormous twelve foot Christmas tree in the centre. The tree was decorated with red and golden baubles. It was simply magnificent and looked like it was straight out of a catalogue.

You walked over to the elevator and pressed the button. No way would you be walking up 22 flights of stairs to the top floor. You really couldn't believe you were even granted access to the building, nevermind the fact you now had an interview with the self acclaimed and prestigious mutli-billionaire Maxwell Lord. A feeling of dread filled your stomach. What if he caught on? What if he figured out you weren't this Barbara woman? Could you go to jail? You tried your best to shrug the feeling off and remain confident. To be honest, you'd rather spend Christmas locked away in a cell than with Tristan. You promised yourself that this would be worth it.

The top floor was sleek, a long and wide corridor with an office at the very end. Marble statues were dotted around, and the walls were filled with oil paintings bordered with solid gold frames. At the front, not too far from where the elevator had dropped you off, was a help desk. Three women with sleek hair and matching pencil skirts scoped you out, almost glaring at you. You were sure you noticed one of them stifle a laugh. But you were too mesmerised by your surroundings to care. Everywhere you looked was just so magnificent.

"Can I help you?" one of the ladies snapped you out of your thoughts. Your head bolted in their direction.

"Oh!" you exclaimed, pulling off your faux fur hat and sliding the gloves off your fingers. You shoved them hap-hazardly in your coat pocket. "I'm Barbara Minerva," you introduced yourself with the politest smile you could muster. "I have an interview with Maxwell Lord?"

The three girls gawked at you in silence. It was like you had grown a third head. "You have an interview with Mr Lord?" one of the women raised her eyebrows. She flicked her blonde long ponytail and settled a hand on her hip.

You hesitated, considering her rude attitude for a moment. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."

The three girls started at you for just a beat too long before one of them, with the sleekest ebony hair you had ever seen, handed you a document. "You need to sign this NDA." she said simply, rolling a pen over to you.

Your eyes scanned the document which just so happened to be very vague. "Why the need for a non disclosure agreement?" you beckoned. "It's just a job interview."

The blonde girl snorted and the ebony haired girl slapped her arm. "Yeah, just a job interview." The blonde assistant rolled her eyes, a small smirk playing on her lips. "We don't make the rules, Mr Lord does. And we know better than to question him."

This was really odd. You wondered if it was really worth it but you had already come this far— you couldn't just walk out now. You sighed and signed your name over the NDA. The blonde girl let out a cackle.

"Is there a problem?" you questioned, stone faced and unamused.

Your heart was racing. These ladies were so pushy and you were certain that if it was going to go wrong at some point— it would be now.

"No, not at all," a girl with chestnut hair smiled. "That's just Stephanie being a bitch as per usual." The blonde girl, who you now could identify as Stephanie gasped.

"I am not a bitch!" Stephanie cried.

"You kinda are." The ebony haired girl shrugged her shoulders.

"Shut up Amanda!" Stephanie spat. Amanda rolled her eyes and blew a bubble of gum before analysing her nail beds.

"Brittany started it." Amanda accused and before you knew it, the three girls began to cat fight each other.

"I- I'm just going to take a seat over there." You said, trying to speak over the girls who were shouting at each other.

"Amanda you know Mr Lord hates it when you blow bubbles with your gum!" Stephanie accused, narrowing her eyes.

"She does it because he still won't let her blow him." Brittany cackled.

"That is not true." Amanda gasped again, shaking her head.

You felt yourself waver out of their little argument, truly taken by surprise at how unprofessional they were being. You expected higher standards from people who were employed by Maxwell Lord. You shuffled into the black leather sofa, trying to get cosy when the double doors to his office opened. You adjusted yourself, watching as a young looking girl walked out. She didn't make eye contact with anyone, her movements were almost robotic.

"How do you think she coped?" You heard Stephanie whisper.

"Look at her," Brittany replied. "She's a mess. I better go check on Mr Lord."

"No, I'll check on Mr Lord."

"NO, I'll check on Mr Lord."

Once again, you muffled out their argument and paid close attention to the girl. As she neared you, you saw her lipstick was smeared to one side and her cheeks were tear stained— black kohl eyeliner smudged just as much as her lipstick. Had she been crying? You felt your nerves increase and you picked up on the fact that she was walking with a limp. Noticing the three girls race to Maxwell's office, you took the chance to approach the young girl. You stood up and held your hand out.

"Hey, are you okay?" you asked her, taking a compact mirror out of your purse and handing it to her. She shook her head, rejecting your sentiment. "What- uhm, what's he like?" You asked her hesitantly.

"He's just the way you imagine him to be." She told you with a shaky exhale. You rolled your shoulders back as you contemplated her words. You hadn't really thought much of Maxwell Lord. Of course, everyone in the world knew who he was. For generations, the Lord family had shares in the oil drilling enterprise, but Maxwell Lord IV made a name for himself when he bought out 90% of the oil fields around the world; his father only owning a measly and yet still impressive 15% before him. The front page of Forbes magazine three years in a row— practically the face of 80s television with his cheesy infomercials being broadcast on every channel, every time of the day. Everyone knew his face, they knew his voice, they knew Maxwell Lord. Stories about him graced the tabloids, speculating who his latest lover was, whether or not there had been a new strain on his family and what his financial earnings looked like circa 1984. "He's just getting cleaned up now," the girl informed you with hazy eyes. "Maybe do yourself a favour and bring yourself tissue."

"That bad huh?" you bit your finger anxiously.

"No, he's amazing." the girl swooned. "I just hope I get a call back."

Okay, now you were really confused. "Well, good luck." You offered her a warm smile but she just bit her lip and continued limping to the elevator. A few moments later, the three girls who manned the main desk approached you. Stephanie took a step forward, offering you quite possibly the fakest smile you had ever seen.

"Mr Lord will see you know."

Taglists: [comment or drop me an ask if here if you would like to be added]

December Magic: @goth-topic (im so sorry it won’t let me tag you) @kiwi-the-first​ @100layersofdaddyissues​ @mrschiltoncat​ @honeymandos​ @thisisthe-way​

Permanent: @supernaturalgirl​ @phoenixhalliwell​ @ah-callie​ @luvzoria​

[ikingsley]

Ina x MC: You’re It

Ina x MC: You’re It

Summary: Ina and Luna celebrate their dating anniversary.

Warnings: Fluff! Sorta?

Tag: @samanthadalton @domakir @kulaykape @hellyeah90sbaby @dopeyouth @kwaj05 @thedaft1​ @swimmingshoebakerydreamer @kaitlynliaofanxx @barnibumblr

Author’s Notes: Another installment of Ina and Luna’s future series.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Inaaaaaa,” Luna whined.

“Yes?” Ina replied to Luna after quietly whispering into the taxi driver’s ear.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see. I promise you’ll like it.”

“So for our dating anniversary, you get to decide on the place without even consulting me? Talk about a power imbalance,” Luna said playfully.

This goddamn woman. Sometimes Ina thought Luna liked teasing her more than she loved her.

“Fine,” Ina huffed. “Do you want to know where we’re going?”

“No! I like the surprise.”

Maddening. Infuriating. Yet after everything, she was still wrapped around her finger.

“You’re something else, aren’t you Lu?”

“I pride myself in being ‘something else.’ You still love me.”

“That, I do.”

A semblance of silence took over the taxi, a first after a whole car ride of playful banter between the women. Instead, the busy outside cacophony took over...a truck horn here, a driver cursing out a pedestrian there...

“We’re here,” the taxi driver announced. 

Ina quickly thanked him and left a generous tip on the app. No one deliberately signed up for meddling in the business of a couple in love. Luna reached for the cab door, but was promptly stopped by Ina.

“Nuh-uh. Wait a second.”

Ina hopped out of the car and rushed to the other side of the cab to open Luna’s door. Despite being cursed at by drivers behind her as she held up traffic, she maintained her calm. There were bigger, more important things than a little traffic holdup, especially today.

“You know, you don’t need to be all formal and chivalrous and whatnot,” Luna said as she took Ina’s hand to get out of the car.

“Believe it or not, that was not my intention. I actually am here to cover your eyes before you see your destination.”

Ina felt Luna roll her eyes. 

“Always with the ulterior motives, huh?” Luna jested.

This time, it was Ina’s turn to play coy. “Maybe, but you love me regardless.”

“I do.”

The two walked a few hundred feet, Ina behind Luna to shield the world from her. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for that woman. Ina vowed to protect her at all costs, cherish her, appreciate her, love her endlessly...It’d only been a year since Ina finally had asked her officially to be with her, but somehow, Ina knew. Ina knew that this was the woman of her dreams, someone she would happily spend the rest of her life with. However, they hadn’t had the marriage conversation yet. Hell, they hadn’t even moved in together yet. She knew Luna wanted to get married, but that would be one day. Sometime in the distant future. Luna was considerably younger than Ina, and Ina accepted the fact that she may have to wait several years to pop the question. She’d figured that she’d wait decades to tie the knot if it had come to that. 

“Okay. We’re here,” Ina said, uncovering Luna’s eyes. 

“Ina, you did not.”

“I did.”

“I’ve been wanting to do laser tag forever!”

“Well, I had run out of excuses. I figured it was time for me to try it by now.”

Ina took Luna’s hand and led her into the laser tag arena. God, this was so childish, she thought.

“What exactly is that face?” Luna said slyly, smirking up at Ina.

“What? This gorgeous face you fell in love with?” Ina countered.

“It’s a ‘wow Luna, I can’t believe I’m doing this’ face.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say I would’ve come here on my own will.”

“Just keep an open mind. Maybe you’ll like it, who knows?”

“I will. I promise.”

Soon, the two were placed into a larger group. They decided to be on opposite teams just so one could have bragging rights. After a few minutes of Luna’s trash-talking, they were separated into their respective teams. Luna smirked over at Ina as the doors opened to the terrain. Game on.

~

The siren blared over the speakers system, indicating the start of the battle. Ina was situated near the back of the arena, her back crouched against the wall. She knew Luna - she would definitely come looking for her. Luna was too competitive for her own good and she’d be lured to find Ina quickly. 

Sure enough, two minutes into the round, Luna lurked near the back where Ina was hiding. She thought she was being discrete, silently searching for partner. Just as she reached the back wall, her vest lit up and an alarm went off.

Crap!

She slowly turned around, only to find Ina smirking at her.  

“Gotcha. See you later,” Ina winked at Luna as she slipped back into the darkness.

I’m gonna get her, Luna vowed.

The game progressed with both teams neck and neck in score. A minute flashed on the countdown. Ina then spotted Luna. Just as she was raising her laser gun, Luna put her finger on the trigger.

“Wait!”

And somehow, despite the room full of people, Luna and Ina felt like the only people in the world.

“Truce?” Luna called out.

“Truce.” The countdown slowly approached the thirty second mark and Luna made her way to Ina. She wrapped an arm around Luna, gently kissing her temple.

“Good game,” Ina began to whisper softly into her ear. “I totally got you at the beginning though.”

5...4...3...

Luna wrapped Ina in her arms placing a small kiss in her forehead.

2...1....

Suddenly, she pulled away. At once, Ina’s vest lit up. She looked around, expecting some stranger to have hit her, but was met by Luna’s gaze. 

“You...” she grumbled.

“And I totally got you at the end. Oh look who won!” Luna smirked and pointed at the scoreboard. Luna’s sly shot had boosted her own team 100 points higher than Ina’s.

Ina grumbled again in response. “I suppose, but I think it’s rather symbolic.”

And symbolic it was. They were situated in a room full of obstacles, yet somehow fate, destiny, the universe or some higher, inexplicable being had brought them together. It represented that they’d always find each other somehow, and in the end, it would always be them against the world.

Luna quietly reflected on Ina’s words, understanding how their relationship had come to fruition. They slipped out of the laser tag arena and Luna looped her slender arm around Ina’s.

“It’s my turn to give you your anniversary present,” Luna said.

She dragged Ina across New York City, walking past their favorite places...Times Square, the Natural History Museum, Central Park...Ina lingered at each site, remembering dates they had gone on. All of those small, but wonderful moments had led up to this.

“Okay so we’ve only talked about this a little bit but I think we’re ready for it,” Luna turned back to Ina as she walked backwards. She promptly stopped in front of a small building and held her hands out in presentation.

“Here we are!”

“Your apartment?”

“Yeah! Hold out your hands.”

Ina put her hands out as if she were accepting something when she saw Luna go frozen.

Physically Luna was frozen, but her thoughts moved a mile a minute. Yes, she loved Ina. Yes, she had been the one that took her back to her apartment. Yes, she’d stop at nothing until she was happy. But oh god. Commitment was staring her point blank in the face. Moving in together was a huge milestone.

Their relationship was good - the best Luna had ever been in. But her past relationships kept coming to mind. All the fights, all the deceptions, all the mistrust. Luna was unafraid of most things, but she did fear commitment.

“I-” she began.

Ina’s intuition kicked in and redirected her away from the entrance, leaning against the building.

“Hey. We don’t have to if you don’t want to. I’m ready for the next step in this relationship, but it’s our relationship and we need to both agree on its pace. I’m okay with waiting.”

“Thank you. It’s just all this stuff is new to me. I’ve never been in a relationship this serious and I’ve never gotten this far. I was just a hormonal kid in my past relationships - all I cared about was having fun,” she admitted. “And Ina...I’m scared. I trust and love you with all of my heart, but I’m still scared. I’m scared you’ll find a part of me you don’t like and you’ll want out. I’m scared you fell in love with someone who you think is me, but isn’t truly me.”

Luna looked up with tears in her eyes. These were the kind of conversations the two held curled up together in bed, admitting things they’d never even attempted to say aloud before. They built their relationship on love, but also on trust. They’d taken everything with caution. It was these intimate moments that carved their relationship into the one it was today.

“Do you understand what-”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Ina said as she wiped tears away from Luna’s eyes. “For a long time I only focused on my career. My love life always came second. I always wanted to be that youngster at a convention full of well-seasoned anthropologists. At least, that’s what I told myself. I blocked out the very possibility that the true reason I didn’t want a love life may be because of my parents. People who are supposed to love you unconditionally didn’t love Lilian and I like they should’ve. I was so afraid of yet another betrayal. But then I found you. And everything’s just clicked. I don’t have to pretend to be anyone I’m not with you. And I love you for many reasons, but that may be the most prominent.”

And after hearing a sweet and soft declaration of love from Luna, Ina met her girlfriend’s lips. It was then and there that Luna truly understood how much Ina cared for her. That Ina was different from the young, immature men and women from her past. That she’d finally found someone good. Someone who appreciated her. Someone who comforted her. Someone who protected her at all costs.

“I’m ready.”

“Are you sure? Seriously Luna, this is a big deal. I understand if you want to wait more.”

“I’m sure. For a while now, I’ve dreaded having to come back to my own apartment alone after spending the day at yours. I want this with you. I admit I’m a bit afraid, but that feeling is no where near the feeling that I want to live with you.”

Luna dropped a pair of keys in Ina’s hands as the two rode the elevator up to Luna’s apartment.

“I’m worried, Luna.”

“What’s on your mind?”

“You don’t expect me to live in this shack, right?”

“It is NOT a shack. It is my lovely one-bedroom apartment which is what I could afford in this ungodly costly city after my Belvoire graduation.” Luna giggled as she perched her chin on Ina’s shoulder. “No, silly. It was symbolic. We’re definitely moving into your place.”

“Good. Let’s start packing this place up.”

[anonniemousefics]

Sleepless

So, Carry On Countdown 2020 is happening on Tumblr right now, and I’m not participating, but the other day @milo-fanarts posted that absolutely heart-wrenching fanart of Snowbaz based on the “Sleepless” prompt of the day, and I was seized with the need to write a ficlet based on it. Here’s the art - go give them a follow. :) 

Fandom: Carry On/Wayward Son | Simon + Baz

Words: 1,567 

Rating: Teen and Up 

CW: Angst (and fluff! :) )

BAZ

Sleeping with Simon Snow is weird. I don’t mean sleeping with sleeping with – we’re not ready yet. (Or, let’s be honest, he’s not ready yet. If I came home one day and he was ready, I’d be naked before the front door even finished closing behind me.)(It’s fine – he doesn’t need to know.) I just mean this. Simon Snow taking up half my bed, warm and snuggly, with his tousled bronze curls all in his freckled, sleeping face. His giant red wings casting enormous black shadows in the moonlight.

My entire family doesn’t have enough fingers and toes among them to keep count how many times I used to lie awake at night at Watford, aching to be this close to him. How many nights I’d think if I could just have this, I’d never ask for anything else for the rest of my life.

Turns out, I don’t seem to do much sleeping now that I have it, either. Maybe it’s just because we don’t do it very often. The logistics of sharing a bed with your partial-dragon boyfriend are complicated at best, and Simon’s a bit of a violent sleeper these days. I’ve taken a wingtip to the eye more than once. (And once is already one too many times.)

It’s also a little distracting how handsy my brain wants me to be. (I just – Crowley, I am the greediest bastard. I want to run my hands up and down the curves of his shoulder muscles. I want to trace all the freckles around his lips. I want to watch him fall asleep while I run my fingers through his hair.) I don’t think Simon’s ready for all my handsiness, either.

So, I’m staring. I’m still fucking staring. Like it’s sixth year all over again, and I’m back to fantasizing that if I stare long enough, I’ll somehow incept his dreams and convince him to break up with Agatha and give making out with boys a try. (Huh. Maybe it worked after all?)

And that’s what I’m doing when he starts twitching in his sleep. (This isn’t new. Sometimes he talks, too.)(The last time we tried this, he full on tried to punch me in the face in his sleep.)(I was a little wary when he’d expressed an interest in staying tonight.) I start to preemptively roll away, in case he starts fluttering his wings, because I’d rather have him jab me in the back than the eye (again).

But that’s when he whimpers, a high, plaintive sound that threatens to break a few heartstrings. I look over my shoulder at him.

He’s still deep asleep, but his arms are crossed in front of his bare chest (lucky me, he sleeps shirtless) and his tawny brows are drawn together tight. I’m gutted by the way he huddles in on himself. I just want to hold him. I start to roll back to him, but stop short at the sound of his wings shuddering. (It brings to mind the method cowboys in old Westerns use to soothe wild horses – whoa, there. Easy, big fella. Like that would work.)

I’m ready to ignore them altogether, though, when Simon lets out something that sounds like a distant cry. It’s haunting. It’s horrible. It can’t go on.

“Simon,” I whisper into the dark. I try to reach out a hand to nudge him, to gently wake him out of it, and when I do, he draws in a shuddering breath. And starts to moan out something that sounds like Help.

“Hey, wake up.” I’m more insistent now – rising up on an elbow, giving his sleep-warmed shoulder a little shake. “Snow, wake up.”

He draws in a rasping gasp then, his eyes flaring open. His wings rustle and flap; I hold out a defensive hand.

“You were dreaming,” I tell him. He’s panting hard and shaking. “It was just a dream.”

He folds his wings in, then, spreading out onto his back with one hand pressed to his chest. It’s rising and falling fast with his shallow breaths – it sounds cacophonous in the dead of the night.

“You’re okay.” I keep reassuring him. I just want to hold him. Before I can move, he grabs my arm, like he’s steadying himself. His hand is clammy. “It was just a dream.”

“Fuck.” He scrubs a hand over his face, pressing the heel of his palm into one eye. And lets out a shaking breath.

“What happened?” I ask. I wonder if my clear voice is betraying how little sleeping I’ve actually been doing.

For a moment, I think that Simon isn’t going to answer. Or he’s going to say, “It’s fine” or “I don’t remember” when neither is true. He’s going to try to tack up another wall between us, because that is what we do lately. He’s just pinching the bridge of his nose, squishing his eyes shut tight, and I feel like I’m drifting further out to sea.

But, this time, he lets out a breath.

“I killed him,” he says, in a strained whisper. He means the Mage. In the moonlight, I catch a glimpse of the first tear that leaks from the corner of his eye.

I brush it away with the pad of my thumb.

“You saved us all, love,” I remind him, softly. “He was going to kill Agatha. And probably you and me and Penny, and who knows where he would have stopped.”

“He’d always been so good to me,” Simon whispers, like he hates to admit it. I would, too, if I were him.

It’s a complicated thing, this grief he carries (or mostly avoids). I don’t mourn the Mage – there’s no one else I know who does. But it’s something else entirely for Simon. The Mage had appeared in Simon’s life with hope and promises and a whole new life when Simon desperately needed one. And while he knows the Mage had gone on to deal in some extremely shady shit, that’s not something a person just easily puts aside in light of new information.

“You did the brave thing,” I remind him. “You did the right thing.”

There’s a steady stream of tears now. I wipe them with the backs of my fingers – they’re scalding hot, like he’s been boiling them in a dragon’s belly.

“I’m sorry,” he croaks. He’s still gripping my arm with one hand, the other hand pressed to his eye. I don’t know what good this is doing, and I just…

“Don’t be daft,” I say. “Will you just come here?”

And I open up one arm – an invitation. He can turn me down if he wants – I’ve survived worse. (I just want to hold him.)

And maybe it’s the magic of the moonlight or dream inception is truly a thing or Simon’s for once willing to let me in. It doesn’t matter. He rolls over into my arms, his lean body on top of mine, his head pressed to my chest.

This. This. This is all I’ve ever wanted. Just this.

(Tears aside, of course.)

I pull him tighter against me when I feel the heat of his tears begin to wet my shirt. (I don’t actually sleep shirtless – I’m too cold all the time.) I push my fingers into his curls, press my head to the top of his. He’s trying so hard to keep from openly weeping, but little good it’s doing him – I can feel how his muscles contract with each sob.

I hold him through it.

“I’m sorry,” he croaks again.

“Would you stop apologizing?” He’s so warm beneath my cold hands. “You’ve seen me cry, too.”

“Yeah, once,” Simon complains, petulantly. “And it was so beautiful, I made out with your snotty face.”

That makes me chuckle, and the fact that my laughter makes Simon’s head bob up and down on my chest makes him start to give a sniffling laugh.

“I’ll make out with your snotty face,” I offer, and he laughs again. (And I will. I have no shame.)

“That’s okay,” he says, and raises his head a moment. Looks down at the bloom of damp tears on my white t-shirt. “Sorry I got your shirt all wet.”

I just shrug.

“I like it – it’s Simon Snow art,” I tease, and double over my chin so I can inspect it. “Look – it looks like you’ve made a flower.”  

“Oh, yeah?” He rests his head back on it, snug beneath my neck. Crowley, this is perfection. “You like wearing flowers now?”

“Maybe I do. Don’t you judge me, Snow.”

His chuckle rumbles through him and through me, too. I run my fingertips up the valleys of his back muscles. Slowly. Gently. Easy now. And his body starts to relax against me. I’m warmer than I’ve ever been in the night.

“Is this okay?” he whispers to me. I’m relaxing, too, growing heavy in the mattress. Comfortable. Soothed.

“It’s perfect,” I tell him, and press a kiss to his hair. He wraps his arms around me. He’s not going anywhere.

“Sorry in advance for drooling on you in my sleep,” he says as I’m starting to doze.

“Mmm. Sexy.” I grunt.

Snow laughs, and so do I – and again when his head bobs up and down with my laugh.

It’s the last thing I remember before finally falling off to sleep.

----------------------------

Tagging: @loveyatopluto, @raging-bisexual-alert, @ireallyshouldsleeprn, @annejulianneh111, @whosanxiety, @raeisgaeandahalf, @bookish-mind, @juliazato

[chibi-tsukiko]

Countdown to TLBotW

Day 4: Magic 

---------------------------------------

A Magic Four Letter Word

Magnus wakes with a start. He waits for his eyes to adjust to the darkness before sitting up. He takes a few deep breaths to relax himself and moves the strands of hair sticking to his forehead out of his eyes.  He checks his phone, 1:04 am. New Message. He clicks it open.

Alexander 12:30 am: The next time Jace asks me to come with him on a scouting mission, you can answer him. Hopefully, the boys didn’t give you too much trouble with bedtime. 😕I’ll see you in a couple hours. ♥️

Magnus, huffs. Oh, our Bluebell certainly did, he thinks. He had to read Max ten bedtime stories and promise him chocolate chip pancakes in the morning just to get him to into bed. It took nearly four lullabies before Max had finally fallen asleep. Rafe had gone to bed without bargaining. I hope Max’s behavior doesn’t rub off on him, Magnus thinks. He puts his phone back on the nightstand and sighs. 

He gets up from the bed and grabs his silk robe he had laid across the chair in the corner. He snaps his fingers, summoning a cup of tea, and heads out towards the sitting area. He stops short in the hallway when he notices a large shadow on the couch.

“Rafael?”

Rafe peaks his head out from the blanket, the moonlight from the balcony doors catching the ends of his chestnut curls.

“What are you doing out here?” Magnus asks, kneeling down in front of Rafe, who fidgets with the blanket he’s cocooned in. Rafe’s curls cling to his forehead and around his ears, and there’s a ring of sweat around the collar of his shirt. Magnus places the back of his hand against Rafe’s forehead.

“Are you feeling sick?”, he asks.

Rafe shakes his head.

Magnus’ anxiety wains slightly. He pushes some wet strands away from Rafe’s face.

“Bad dream?,” he asks softly.

Rafe grips the blanket, pulling it tighter around his shoulders, “d-demonios”, he whispers, his voice shaking.

Magnus sees the tears swell up in Rafes’ eyes and his heart breaks. His own nightmare forgotten, he places his hand on Rafe’s knee giving a small squeeze, “Would you like to sleep with me tonight?”

Rafe looks up, eyes glistening in the moonlight. Slowly, he nods his head and Magnus smiles.

He stands and holds out his arms, “Come along then” he says.

Rafe immediately unwraps himself from his blanket cocoon and stands on the sofa so he can put his arms around Magnus’s neck. Magnus grabs the blanket with his free hand and carries Rafe back to the bedroom, glad for the company and the distraction.

Once in the bedroom Magnus deposits Rafe onto the bed, “Here we are. You can sleep on Daddy’s side,” Magnus winks and summons a small nightlight in the corner of the room, filling it with a rich orange hue.

He drapes his robe back over the chair, turns to get back in the bed, and stops. Rafe sits near the middle of the bed, his shoulders trembling as his hands fiddle with the blanket he had been wrapped in.

Magnus gets into bed, waiting for Rafe to crawl in closer to him as Max usually does, but Rafe doesn’t move.

Magnus frowns. Rafe has only been with them for a few weeks now, and though he’s adjusting well to everything, Magnus can still see the walls he’s built up.

“You’re just like me,”, he says quietly.

Rafe looks up at him in confusion.

Magnus smiles, “Whenever I have a bad dream, I usually go out to the couch too. I like to be as far away from the bad dream as possible.” Especially when Alec isn’t around to ease his mind.

Rafe stares.

“In fact,”, Magnus continues, covering Rafes’ legs with the blanket, “I had one tonight and headed that way when I saw you.”

Rafes’ eyes go wide, he turns his body towards Magnus, scooting closer, “el demonios?” He asks in a whisper.

Magnus hums, reaching out to tussle Rafes hair, “Yes, dreadful things aren’t they?”

Rafe nods.

“Why did you go out to the couch?” Magnus asks, curious, but also hoping the conversation will help Rafe feel more relaxed.

Rafe looks up at the window behind Magnus, “la luna” he says, pouting when he notices that he can’t see it.

“I see”, Magnus says. “I have an idea,” he sits back against the pillows and runs his hands together, muttering softly to himself. Slowly, a mist forms around his hands. Cloudy ribbons of blues and purples weave in between his fingers and cascade through the crevasses of his knuckles. As he pulls his hands apart the magic concentrates between his palms, creating a vortex of colors, all swirling together.

Rafe stares captivated his eyes twinkling, mouth agape.

“Ready?” Magnus asks.

Rafe nods vigorously.

Magnus tosses his hands up and the vortex explodes, stretching across the ceiling, turning the bland white roof into a galaxy.

Rafe gasps, staring up at the night sky Magnus created, awestruck.

“We’re just missing one thing,” Magnus says, he leans over and reaches behind Rafe’s ear, when he pulls back he holds a light in between his index finger and thumb, he flicks them up towards the ceiling and a moon appears among the stars.

Rafe beams, giggling as he grabs his ear and points up at the moon before looking back at Magnus.

Magnus grins, feeling his heart swell. There was a time in his life when he had feared his magic and the things it was capable of because of who he was.   There’s a part of him that’s still fearful, but in moments like these, where he can use his magic to heal and bring joy. He’s reminded that he is the one who  decides who he is.

Rafe continues to stare at the floating moon above them in awe. Magnus watches contently until out of the corner of his eye he sees the door to the bedroom creak open.

“Bapa?” Max calls, before pushing the door fully open. “Bapa?,” he calls out again, stepping into the room, rubbing his eye, his blue octopus stuffed animal dragging behind him.

“What is it, my little Bluehorn?”

“Daddy home?”

“No, not yet.”

It’s then that Max realizes Rafe is in the bed. He points at him, “sleepover?”

Magnus looks at Rafe, “Sort of”, he says looking back at Max, “Rafe had a bad dream,” Magnus barely finishes before Max springs into action.

He gasps, running forward, climbing up onto the bed. He crawls in between Magnus and Rafe and thrusts his toy into Rafe’s arms.

“Here Occi protect! Bapa put spell make scary dreams go way!”, he beams looking at Magnus.

Magus rubs the top of Max’s head, “That’s very kind of you, Bluebell.”

Max giggles, patting Rafe on the back. Rafe tucks the plushie into his lap and looks back up to the ceiling. Max follows his gaze, his mouth opening wide in amazement.

“WOOOOOW! PWETTY!,” he exclaims.

Rafe points up at the moon and to his ear, speaking rapidly in Spanish.

Max turns to Magnus, who chuckles.

“He’s saying how he had the moon hiding behind his ear,” Magnus translates.

Max turns to Rafe, bouncing up and down, “Oh! Magic! Rafey magic!!” Max claps throwing his arms around Rafe pulling him into a hug.

Rafe grabs onto Max to steady himself, “Rafe”, he corrects Max with a frown, but Magnus can see the sides of his mouth twitch.

Max giggles, grabbing one of Rafe’s hands, “More! More! More!”

Magnus shakes his head, “Not tonight, it’s late, and well past everyone’s bedtime.”

“Awww,” Max pouts, letting go of Rafe’s hand.

Rafe tenses again, pulling the octopus into his chest, “Me puedo quedar?”

Magnus blinks, “of course you can stay, I said so before”, he watches as Rafes shoulders relax.

“Bapa, I stay too? Protect Rafe?” Max asks.

Magnus smiles, and looks to Rafe, “What do you think?”

Rafe thinks for a moment, and reaches out, grabbing Max’s hand, giving it a small squeeze before nodding his head.

Max grins ear to ear, throwing his arms around Rafe again.

“Then it’s settled,” Magnus says, “let’s get you both tucked in and off to sleep. Before you know it Daddy will be home and—“

“PANCAKES!” Max interrupts, moving to lie beside Rafe.

“Yes, yes, and then all the chocolate chip pancakes you can eat my ravenous Blueberry,” Magnus chuckles, leaning over Rafe to tickle Max’s stomach.

He tucks both boys in, and lays back against the pillows, watching as the spell he cast starts to disappear.

Suddenly, he feels a hand on his arm; he looks down, Rafe reaches out tentatively before he pulls his hand back.

Magnus shifts slightly so he can put his arm around Rafe and pulls him in so that his head can rest on Magnus’ chest. Max notices the shift and moves to wrap his arms around Rafes middle and presses himself against Rafes back. They are small enough that Magnus’ arm can wrap around both of them comfortably.

“Night Night Rafey, Night Bapa,” Max yawns.

“Good night Blueberry,” Magnus says, rubbing Max’s shoulder with his hand.

“Rafe,” Rafael corrects again, and Magnus hears Max pat Rafes stomach in response.

Magnus chuckles quietly to himself, closing his eyes, ready for sleep to take him. He blinks himself awake when he feels Rafe grip his shirt and his body tense. Magnus moves his other hand and rubs it up and down Rafe’s shoulder.

“Shhhhh, it’s all right,” he whispers, “you’re safe.”

He lets his magic seep out of his fingers, something he’s done for Alec and Max before to help calm them down.

He feels Rafe relax his grip and snuggle in close.

“There you go,�� Magnus says continuing to rub up and down his shoulder, “it’s all right. Shhhhh”

Rafe moves his arm to hug Magnus’ waist, “Gracias... Papa,” he mumbles.

Magnus hand stutters from his ministrations, his magic sparking slightly in shock. He looks back up at the spell above him, the vortex nearly invisible, only the translucent moon remaining. He’s an all power warlock. He can summon demons, create galaxies in a bedroom, and has lived for centuries. Yet to Magnus, a simple four letter word, was more than all the magic in the world. He squeezes his eyes shut, willing the tears back in and presses a kiss to the top of Rafe’s head.

“Buenas noches, mi hijo.”

—————————————————

Tag List : @lbotw-countdown-event @tiberiussblackthrn @littleturtle95 @legendofconsullightwood @hate-me-on-your-own-behalf @foreverfallentoast @tobeornottobetequila @cruel-prince-james @zafirafoxx @an-awkward-nerds-world @magnuslightwood-bane @bookworm-jedi @magnus-the-maqnificent @banesbitch

[technobladetimestamps]

Nov 15 Stream Timestamps

Timestamps from Technoblade’s “THE EVE OF REVOLUTION (dream SMP)”

Link to my youtube comment with all of the timestamps x

Timestamps with hyperlinks below

01:46  tagging everyone in the channel member discord / level 231 03:43  agenda book / revolution tomorrow / slept through stream time / sleeps twice a day for 4 hours 05:21  “I did not write 100 pages. Or did I. Maybe I have a traitor manifesto on the other 99 pages” / no steering wheel / coronablade jokes are very funny / went to the doctor and figured out his cough / “Stomach acid is useful for at least one thing” 08:47  can’t believe no one told him these things about post 1.8 / splash potions, regen, thorns / thorns aren’t intuitive and no one told him / youtube ads 12:50  “At least I didn’t insult the Ethans, the Ethans are everywhere” 16:02  “I was gonna talk about something on the way but I forgot. And now it’s gone forever” / “They found your base” “Well I have livestreamed it” 17:04 wants to buy a gong to be the ultimate sellout timer / “I would get kicked out of my parents house so quickly, but for the day it takes them to do that I would get so many subscribers” 20:31  thorns stacking 25:21  “There’s actually some pretty affordable gongs out there” 27:32  vc with BBH and Tommy / confusing Tommy and Tubbo / “Don’t you hate it when people just consider streamers an extension of their famous friends Tommy” / “I’m just the child from Technoblade’s videos 29:08  “Let's be allies. Can I have your helmet and boots?” / saying he’s rude for hijacking the call but forgetting to leave call / double sellout 33:55  “Me and Techno the leaders of Pogtopia” / “That is a fair assumption” / “I can’t believe Badboyhalo hates his fans” 34:57  BBH offering Tommy a bow / “Tommy you are so broke” / “Average sized man” / no one believes Tommy is 6’3” / Techno is taller in game 36:34  just wearing a face mask / “I do not support any of the views being espoused by this particular individual” / Tommy trying to imply covid but BBH asks if he’s talking about bigfoot 37:39  Techno hunting down BBH / Midair stabbing / “I’M SO GOOD AT MINECRAFT” / Tommy desperately trying to be included 40:41  “Oh Badboy halo~” / “It just doesn’t work when your name is 4 syllables” / detective work to find BBH 42:52  “So you want Tommy to be successful?” / “I wouldn’t go that far. I want my enemies to be unsuccessful” 43:58  battle ender chest plan / “I’m going to deafen. I don’t know why I’m explaining to you my pvp tactics” 46:15  “I would be absolutely furious if Tommy stole my 4th fastest horse. Tommy and I go way back” / being excited to see Tommy / Tommy could have sworn at BBH as an attack 47:34  “I guess I could spare a little bit of iron” / “I think that was a sarcastic joke that I didn’t understand” / Techno picked youtube over girls many years ago / Subpoena pet war 50:37  recruiting Techno to fight Sapnap / place where Tommy ran over Dream 55:22  vc with Tommy and Sapnap 56:51  “Sapnap I hate men so much. If I see a man in the street I grab a knife and plunge it into his neck” / “Wow surprise attack” / thought it’d be a real fight 59:09  needs Sapnap to come geared / “audience retention” / “I saw Sapnap fighting Punz earlier and they had potions and full netherite an it was fun” Tommy tries to suggest Techno sit the fight out / “You asked for me to be here” / “Tommy I’m stabbing someone with armour and it might just be you” 1:00:29  arranging a fight with BBH / “Not now sellout timer I haven’t earned it” / 161k / “New phone who this” (to Tommy) / 2v1 with BBH and Antfrost 1:04:38  hasn’t done a lot of fully geared 1.16 fights / trying not to make fun of Antfrost’s fire prot helmet 1:06:30  Sapnap and Tommy have worked out their differences and don’t need Techno 1:07:34  “I love my fans, I forgot to plug my cha nnel and they’re all reminding me” / “Only 1v2” “I could only find 2 guys” 1:09:25  “I’m so unbelievably lost” / “I have to have seen a location to add it to my human gps” / Techno hates the ugly pranks that take forever to fix 1:11:28  server losing connection / guy who Techno told not to drop out is going back to school 1:13:20  “That’s the thing about senior yearbook quotes, its right at the end of the year...the amount of time to beat you up is shockingly low” 1:16:24  offering Tommy assistance / the Dream Team has logged on / “I have to be quiet...My parents are threatening to turn off the wifi” / “You’re getting owned in every world” / Techno taking his sweet time 1:19:11  “We want to kill Sapnap” “agreed” / “Dream alliance pog” / “unless he meant to add a comma” / vc with Dream and George / Techno talking over Tommy 1:21:28  “I feel like Thunder is a werewolf” / Tommy questioning Dream and George / “I have my swag and no one has that” “Well they’d have that if they killed you and picked up your swag” 1:32:22  “You guys all work for me” / everyone killing Tommy / “anti Sapnap expedition” / “ask George ask George” “ask Dream” 1:23:54  stream crashes / and also his whole pc / asking for viewers to come back from Tommy 1:26:39  joining vc / Dream recap / cutting back on calling Tommy lame 1:28:01  photoshoot / “So much clout in this one picture” / Sapnap begging Tommy to kill his pets / “What if [the pets] belong to some god tier pvper” / S-L-A-V 1:30:12  “L-A-M-E” / “Shoutout to the slavs” / giving the fox a grapple 1:31:20  Dream taking off his leggings / fox eating the gapple / “Dream you are a highly unusual individual” / back to 125k 1:34:05  “People can’t yelling me for not roleplaying when Dream is mooning us in the background” / “You can disrespect my family, you can disrespect my religion, but you can’t disrespect minecraft” / “I hate this man” “NO” 1:35:40  Tommy challenging Sapnap a fight / Tommy trying to make Techno kill pets for him / Karl thirsting for the animatic 1:39:34  “If you make it out alive, give this to Sapnap’s cat for me” “If I make it out alive all his pets actually die” / Techno shooting the start arrow / “I’ll do the countdown...because I am an impartial mediator” / “You know how between those fight they have those sexy girl?” (Dream takes off his armor) / very engaging fight 1:42:31 post fight / “My chat’s spa.mming lame. It’s not my fault chat, Tommy doesn’t know how to crit” / “You might as well be naked” “Please don’t say that Dream” 1:44:28  “I wouldn’t say you’re that far from S-Tier” / “What tier am I in Technoblade?” “Who are you?” / “That was not an insult, I don’t know people’s voices” / “This entire server is just people that have killed Tommyinnit” 1:45:40  SMP Earth / “What country did you have” “I owned the world” / “A single country? (Dream) / trying to thorns kill Thunder / “Maybe if you die again the armor will come back” 1:47:12  Techno letting Karl trap him / Quackity tempting fate / snitch Dream / framing George 1:49:44  Dream complaining about trident flight / Techno bailing bc of boredom 1:57:19  Awesamdude leaving a potato trail / vc with Quackity and Sam / lying for content / complaining about getting free stuff 1:59:58  still lying to Quackity / “Quackity my entire chat is spa.mming lame, you’re going to need to pick up the pace” / heading to the jungle base 2:02:18  saturation stew is useful / “especially for content” / “If Carl dies I’d be okay with that, but not Andrew” 2:03:49  “Is Carl the orphan you said you were going to adopt” “Let’s go with that” / “If Carl dies I stop donating 2:04:31  Awesamdude snitching on Quackity / “I would be furious if I came back and Carl wasn’t in the exact block I left him” / lots of threats    2:06:41  “I’m not an orphan” “Not yet” 2:11:03  “It’s not an experiment, I’m just putting my hypothesis through multiple controlled trials where I adjust variables and record the results” / “I care about about the armor much more than the horse” 2:13:01  “Are you betraying anyone?” “No. I would never betray my personal ideals” / “What if the people you’re fighting alongside have different ideals?” “We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it” 2:17:28  Quackity’s failed forgery in chat

[morningfears]

New Year

Rating: PG (I think there’s a few bad words? But that’s it)

Summary: Ashton gets some big news at a New Year’s Eve party that changes every new year from then on out.

Word Count: 2k

The spacious townhouse that belonged to a friend of a friend was packed with people. Acquaintances you hadn’t seen in months, some you hadn’t seen in years, mill about the open space and shout their greetings to be heard over the music as you navigated your way through the crowd. Ashton didn’t stray very far from you, one hand on your waist, as the two of you attempted to cross the room in search of the boys. 

You could feel Ashton dancing to the music that flooded the space, his shoulder bumping yours occasionally as he lost himself in the beat, and you had to bite your lip to keep from laughing every time he leaned in to share an apology. He hadn’t had anything to drink, he was just happy to be at home and have some time off, but it made you giggle every time you caught a glimpse of him in the floor to ceiling window.

Black, gold, and silver decorations adorned the space, as did balloons that read ‘2020’ and the atmosphere was festive and light as partygoers patiently waited for the stroke of midnight. Everyone was pleasantly tipsy, the food was good, and the music was exactly what you might expect from the amount of musicians scattered around the place. Altogether, it fueled your excitement for the year to come.

So many things changed in 2019, both for you and Ashton, that it was hard to keep track. Many of the things were good, a new job for you and a new album for Ashton, but some were harder than you ever imagined they’d be. The year took a lot out of you both and it was hard to believe that it was almost over. However, you were confident that the new year would be kind to you both.

You were confident that 2020 would be the best year yet and the small piece of plastic hidden in your nightstand was just one of the reasons why.

Ashton had never made it a secret that he wanted children and neither had you. The two of you had spoken about it at length, talked about the best time to start trying and how you planned to raise them, and you’d both let your baby fever consume you. Whenever you went shopping, you always managed to take a detour through the baby session, each of you cooing over small shoes and onesies. You had a few little items, things you couldn’t resist and decided you could always repurpose as gifts if children weren’t in the cards, tucked away in your closet. You even moved into a new, child-friendly home near the middle of the year in preparation for the future. With the album recording and endless touring, you had decided to delay trying and had been patiently waiting for the right time.

However, the right time seemed to have come far sooner than either of you imagined.

Ashton was gone more and more often for press and tours, working to promote the album and prepare for the next. He hadn’t fully returned until November, ready to settle in for the holidays and take advantage of the short break he was given until he had to get back out there for the new album, and you’d both made the most of his return. Your sex life was anything but boring before he spent so much time on the road or when you were able to join him, however, it became that much better when you only got to see one another for a very short period of time every once in a while. Following his return, you’d spent the better part of a weekend in bed, only leaving your room when absolutely necessary.

You weren’t sure when it happened. You thought you’d been careful the entire weekend, taking every precaution necessary, but somewhere during your time between the sheets, the baby you’d both wanted for so long became a reality. You didn’t notice at first, too busy with the holidays and getting settled into your new job to even notice that your period was late, but by the time December rolled around and the morning sickness hit you like a ton of bricks, you began to realize that something was amiss.

You brushed it off at first, attributing the nausea and general discomfort to a stomach bug passed on by a friend’s child. You were confined to your home anyway, finishing a massive amount of paperwork, so you did your best to ignore it. You sipped at tea and choked down some of the anti-nausea medication you kept in the medicine cabinet and soldiered on. It was only when the two of you went to visit Ashton’s family for Christmas that the realization hit you.

When a smell wafting through the house from the kitchen made you sick, it prompted a chorus of, “Oh my god, are you pregnant?” Both you and Ashton waved them off, each of you protesting that you couldn’t be, but as you brushed your teeth that night, you began to consider the possibility.

You weren’t able to get away without anyone noticing during the few days you spent with his family so it wasn’t until the day after Christmas, and your return to Los Angeles, that you were able to take a test. When the little pink plus sign popped up, you called your doctor to set up and appointment for confirmation and spent the morning sitting in a doctor’s waiting room while Ashton spent the day with the boys.

You’d wanted to tell Ashton immediately, the moment you found out, but you wanted to be sure before you shared the news with him. You wanted confirmation from a doctor and, when you got that, it killed you having to wait any longer. However, you’d wanted it to be something you shared privately first, just between the two of you - even if only for a moment as you knew he wouldn’t be able to wait to share the news. You wanted to tell him and him alone before he told the world.

So, instead of continuing your search for the boys, you tugged Ashton out onto the quiet balcony to await the countdown.

“You look so pretty tonight,” he complimented as he placed his glass on the table and wrapped his arms around your waist. “You’re… glowing,” he continued, his smile wide and sincere.

His cheeks were tinted pink from the heat in the house and you grinned as you cupped them and leaned in to press a chaste kiss to his lips. “You look really pretty tonight, too,” you returned as you brushed your thumbs across his cheekbones and smiled at him. “Are you ready for the new year?” you asked as you stepped a little closer to him and moved your arms to wrap them around his neck.

Ashton leaned into your touch as you carded your fingers through his curls. He hummed happily, content and warm in the moment, and breathed an affirmative. “It’s going to be a good year,” he claimed, his voice strong and sure. “Any year with you is a good year.”

“You know, Irwin, you never cease to amaze me with how cheesy you are,” you huffed playfully with an exaggerated roll of your eyes.

Ashton grinned, his teeth on full display as he began to saw you to music that only he could hear.  “You haven’t even seen cheesy yet,” hummed, his eyes bright and happy as he swayed you. “Just wait until we have kids. My dad jokes are going to be the only thing anyone who meets us will be able to talk about.”

“I mean, you’re already on the right path,” you teased with a slight shrug before you leaned into his embrace and allowed him to lead the dance. “Your dad jokes are already legendary.”

“But imagine when we actually have kids,” he laughed, a wistful smile on his face as he brushed his hands over the fabric of your dress, “cute little ones to embarrass with terrible jokes. I can’t wait.”

As you heard the countdown begin in the background, you decided that this was the perfect moment to deliver the news. “Who says you have to?” you asked, your voice quiet as you glanced at him from beneath your lashes.

Ashton laughed at this, his brain not quite putting two and two together at first, before his eyebrows scrunched and his mouth fell open. He blinked, not wanting to get ahead of himself, and took a moment before he asked, “Are you… are we going to have a baby?”

As the countdown drew closer to midnight, you nodded. “Yeah, Ash,” you laughed, a smile on your face as you shifted in his grasp and brought his hand to your stomach. “We’re going to have a baby.”

The moment the words left your lips, shouts of ‘Happy new year!’ echoed through the night air. However, neither you nor Ashton paid them any attention. He was stunned silent for a moment before he leaned in and captured your lips in a passionate kiss. One hand remained in place on your stomach, fingers splayed across the fabric of your dress, as the other gripped your hip and pulled you closer to him. You could feel every ounce of love pouring through the kiss, every bit of his excitement, and it only made your excitement grow as you pulled away from him.

His eyes glistened with unshed tears and the smile on his face was so wide that it had to hurt his cheeks but Ashton didn’t care. The only thing that mattered in that moment was that your family was officially beginning. The baby you’d both longed for, the one you’d spent so many nights talking about and planning for, was finally on its way and he was overjoyed.

“This year is going to be the best year ever,” Ashton breathed as he leaned in to press another kiss to your lips. “And every year after that will only get better.”

“I love you, Ash,” you sighed as you returned your fingers to his hair and smiled at the few tears you’d both managed to shed. “I can’t wait to have a family with you.”

“I love you, too,” he returned, his voice more sincere than you’d ever heard him, “both of you. More than anything.”

And though the year had only just begun, you were both certain that it was going to be the best year you’d ever had.

________________________________________________

Author’s Note: Honestly the fact that it’s March is absolutely insane. Also, everywhere in town is sold out of hand sanitizer. Also, also, I want to write more soft Ash because there’s no such thing as too much soft Ash.

Tag List (like this post or message me if you want to be added!): @toolazymyguy , @irwinkitten , @jamieebabiee , @glittersluke , @spicycal , @lusbaby , @everyscarisahealingplace, @brokenvirtualheartcollector , @if-it-rains-it-pours, @blisshemmings , @calumscalm , @lovemenowseemenever , @ijutreallylovezebras , @rhiannonmichelle , @p0laroidpictures​ , @tomscuddles , @loverofmineluke​ , @harrytreatspeoplewithkindnesss​ , @blueviiolence​ , @loveroflrh​ , @empathycth​ , @luckyduckydoo​ , @tobefalling​ , @bandsandbooksaremykink​ , @watch-how-she-burns , @megz1985​ , @wokeupinaustralia​ , @lucidlrh​ , @canterburyfiction​ , @cal-is-not-on-branding​ , @old-zeppelin-shirt​

[sanderssidesfanfiction]

If There’s a Place I Could Be - Chapter Fifty Three

If There’s a Place I Could Be Tag

July 27th, 2001 “This is homophobia, pure and simple,” Emile huffed, staring at the queue on the screen of who was allowed to go on a free computer.

Remy turned to Emile in confusion. “What?” he asked. “Waiting for a computer isn’t homophobic, it’s just a pain.”

“It’s a pain that I, a bisexual man, am having to endure, and as such I’m deeming it homophobia,” Emile said with conviction.

“So wait,” Remy said. “You’re saying that anything that’s a mild inconvenience to you is homophobic?”

“That’s the joke, Rem, yeah,” Emile said with a nod.

“Oh! Oh, that’s actually kinda funny,” Remy said, smiling as he finally realized it was a joke. “I thought you were serious there for a second.”

“Nah,” Emile said with a grin. “I’m just a goofball.”

“You’re my goofball,” Remy corrected.

  December 31st, 2001

Remy wasn’t crying. Nope, he wasn’t crying at all. There was no way he was shedding even a single tear as Emile had managed to rope his entire family into singing “Happy Birthday” to Remy while they waited for the New Year’s ball to drop. Especially considering the fact that Emile had given him a tight hug in front of everyone and no one protested. Nope, he was not crying at all.

...Okay, maybe he was crying a little. But who could blame him? Emile was the sweetest man alive, and his family was pretty cool, too.

When the whole family had finished singing, Remy wiped at the totally-not-there tears and gave everyone a smile. “Thanks, guys!” he exclaimed. “No one’s made that big of a deal out of my birthday in a hot minute!”

“Well, then I’ll make sure every year from this point forward we celebrate with my family,” Emile said. “Because we always make sure that birthdays are celebrated.”

“It’s not that it wasn’t celebrated,” Remy said. “It just...wasn’t made this big of a deal. We had cake on New Year’s Eve as we waited for midnight, and I got a few gifts, but that was it.”

“Oh! That reminds me!” Emile said, perking up and heading to where the Christmas tree was still set up in the corner. He grabbed a lone present beneath it and brought it back over to Remy. “I know that this might not be a huge help to you, but I figured it’s a springboard for when we get back home.”

“O...kay...?” Remy said. He tore the paper off and laughed when he saw what was inside. “Oh, nice! I haven’t had a good cookbook in a while! A lot of the spice ratios are off in them, in my experience, but I can figure those out on my own soon enough.”

Emile grinned. “I was hoping you’d like it!” he chirped. “I know that you often make your own recipes, but hopefully this gives you new ideas.”

“Oh yeah, for sure!” Remy said. “I can’t wait to experiment on you with my cooking!”

Emile laughed in good-natured way. “I’m sure you’ll create near perfect recipes outside of that book in no time.”

“I don’t know about perfect,” Remy said with a laugh. “But I can make some good ones, for sure.”

Emile grinned and the two of them sat back down in the chairs they had pushed next to each other to watch the ball drop. Remy idly flipped through the pages of his new cookbook, already planning out what new recipes he might be able to try. Emile’s hand brushed against Remy’s and Remy smiled. Maybe they couldn’t be openly affectionate around Emile’s grandfather, but no one was paying attention to them, so the little gestures didn’t matter that much. Remy sniffed a laugh as he flipped to the end. “There’s no dessert section.”

“Hm?” Emile asked.

“There’s no dessert section in the book,” Remy snickered. “Granted, it is a cookbook, so I wasn’t expecting many baking recipes, but there’s not even a single cookie recipe! This is homophobia in its purest form!”

Emile snickered before a confused voice made them both freeze. “What about that is homophobia?” Emile’s grandfather asked.

Remy looked between Emile and Emile’s grandfather with increasing panic. “Uh...it’s just...uh...”

“It’s a joke, Grandpa,” Emile said. “It’s a joke some of our friends at college would make.”

“What’s homophobia?” one of Emile’s cousins asked.

The one that Remy remembered was Bailey, said, “It’s when someone doesn’t like gay people.”

“But why would no cookies be homophobia?” the first cousin asked. “Cookies don’t have anything to do with gay people.”

A few people in Emile’s family were sending Remy looks, some of them rather dirty ones, while a few others were confused. But the scariest ones, were the ones from people who knew what Remy had meant. They knew that he was gay. And it wouldn’t take them long to figure out that Emile was dating Remy, and that’s why Remy came over.

“Emile, you know that being gay is a sin,” Emile’s grandfather said. “You can’t make those sorts of jokes.”

Remy flinched and Emile actually growled. “I disagree,” Emile said.

The whole room went silent. “...What?” Emile’s grandfather asked.

“I disagree,” Emile repeated. “I disagree that being gay is a sin. And I disagree that making those sorts of jokes are sinful. I don’t care if anyone who I hang out with is gay, straight, bi, whatever. It’s none of my business to ask them, and it’s unfair to say we couldn’t be friends just because of their orientation.”

Emile’s grandfather was actually glaring at Emile, and Emile just stared neutrally back. The hair on the back of Remy’s neck stood on end. “Let’s just forget about this,” Remy said. “I won’t say it again, cross my heart and hope to die.”

“Is he gay?” Emile’s grandfather asked, pointing at Remy.

“Grandpa! You can’t ask that!” Emile exclaimed. “Whether he is or not is nobody’s business but his, and it should be his choice as to whether or not he tells anyone whether he is or not!”

“Tell me,” Emile’s grandfather demanded.

“No!” Emile snapped.

Emile’s grandfather gave him a warning glare. “Emile—”

“—Do you want to know where he picked that joke up?!” Emile asked, standing up. “Do you want to know why I feel the way I do about gay people?!”

The whole room was silent, still, and Remy’s gaze briefly flicked over to Emile’s parents, who were watching this unfold with morbid fascination. One of Emile’s cousins, Remy thought it might have been Grace, asked the question. “...Why?”

“Because I. Am. Bisexual,” Emile ground out. “And no, before you ask, Remy and I do not do anything intimate like that behind closed doors. But even if we did, it would be none. Of. Your. Business! Remy is my roommate! He picked up a few of my jokes because that’s just what friends do!”

“Emile,” Remy said.

“No! I’m not done!” Emile exclaimed.

“Emile!” Remy said, with more force. “Stop throwing yourself under buses for my sake. You did that with my mother, I won’t let you do that here.”

The final countdown to the new year started on the TV, and Remy stood, leaving the cookbook on the chair he had just vacated. “Your grandson is bisexual, he wasn’t lying about that. And we are friends,” Remy said. The countdown was the only sound filling the room. Three...two...one...And as they rang in the New Year, Remy kissed Emile, before turning to Emile’s grandfather with a scowl. “But we’re also dating. And if you have a problem with that, fine, I’m leaving tomorrow morning and you’re free to not invite me back. I had my doubts about this whole thing anyway, just knowing that we’d have to hide this around you. Emile assured me that it wouldn’t get out, and maybe that went out the window, but Emile kept up his end of the agreement for me coming here: he kept his mouth shut. I outed myself. And yes, I love him! And yes, I’m not religious! And I know both of those things might be problems in your eyes! But I don’t care! I’m not letting Emile go down as the bad guy in your books without me being there with him! I’m willing to go to the end of the line with him, which is a lot more than most straight marriages have going for them. I love your grandson, and he loves me, and if you have a problem with that? Well, then that’s your problem! Because you can’t exactly stop us from loving each other!” He picked up his cookbook and swiped at the tears that were starting to fall. “Do you still want me in our guest room?” he asked Emile. “I’m kinda furious right now.”

“Rem, I don’t care. You have every right to feel that way,” Emile said, looking over at his grandfather with a scowl. “I'll be right up. I have to talk to Mom and Dad first.”

Remy nodded, and gave one last look to Emile’s relatives, specifically the ones that were giving him looks of disgust. “And no, everyone, there will not be any extracurricular activities going on in the room next to you! You will not have to hear us be gay!”

He turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, down the hall, up the stairs, and into the guest room he and Emile were sharing before. He flopped down on the bed they had shared to cuddle and stared at the sleeping bag on the floor that Emile had insisted on using last night. When Emile walked in ten minutes later, Remy said, “You’re not using the sleeping bag tonight.”

“What?” Emile asked.

“I want you to sleep with me,” Remy said.

Emile laughed incredulously. “You what?”

Remy rolled his eyes. “Get your mind out of the gutter. I want to share a bed with you. Not have sex.”

Emile blinked. “What brought this on?”

“I don’t want to be alone,” Remy said, reaching out for Emile. “Come on. We’re two grown men, but this is a full bed. It might be a tighter squeeze, but we’ll fit.”

“And it’s no worse than either of our beds back home,” Emile said, coming over and taking off his glasses, laying down next to Remy.

Remy shifted and put the cookbook next to Emile’s glasses on the nightstand. “I really wish that we didn’t have to always progress our relationship and let people know about it through conflict.”

Emile laughed. “Agreed,” he said softly. “But I like to think that at some point we’ll have it together enough and enough people will know that it won’t be an issue anymore.”

Remy sighed and Emile mirrored the action, somewhat shakily. “Your parents okay?” Remy asked.

“Yeah,” Emile said, but his voice was thick. “They...uh...they said they would support whatever decisions I made after tonight, and Dad said he’d try to talk to Grandpa. Mom offered to talk to her siblings who were giving you dirty looks. All my cousins understand we’re together, the most confusion I got from them was a couple of them asking why dating boys wouldn’t be okay as a boy, or why people thought that. Because I think the ones from my more open aunts and uncles will be teaching the ones who were raised by more conservative parents that it’s okay to be gay.” He made a choked sound. “But my grandfather refused to even look at me after you left. It was like all of a sudden I didn’t exist.”

Remy’s heart ached. “I know the feeling,” he said softly. “I got that almost every single time I ‘acted out’ in my parents’ or grandparents’ eyes.”

“I don’t like it,” Emile whimpered. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“No you didn’t, honey,” Remy said, pulling Emile close and hugging him fiercely as he cried. “You didn’t do anything that you weren’t supposed to. I’m the one who made the joke that caused this whole scene in the first place. Your grandfather is the one who’s acting like a bigot. All you did was try to defend me. Nowhere in this is anything your fault.”

Emile buried his head in the crook of Remy’s neck. “Then why am I the one in trouble?”

Remy sighed. “Because, just like with my parents, your grandfather is lashing out at what he doesn’t agree with, and doesn’t understand. It’s not even remotely okay, and he ought to be ashamed of himself. But you can get through this. You have your parents, and your friends, and me, and some of your extended family behind you. If I could make it through with only Toby, then I don’t doubt that you can make it through with the support you have.”

Emile shook his head, breathing out, “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know you didn’t,” Remy said, shushing him.

And with that, the two held each other close until they both fell asleep.