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helliontherapscallion · 4 years ago

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(Y/n) and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week: Thursday (Part 2)

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday (Part 1) Friday Saturday Sunday

Spotify Playlist (collaborative)

Warnings: panic attacks, swearing, puking, concussions, mentions of injuries/bullying, homophobia

Word count: 5,138

After school, you were sitting on the couch as you furiously typed on your keyboard at an extremely fast pace. You were on a roll with these essays, they were probably going to be finished by the time you had to go back to the school to get on the bus with the team. You figured that you could even finish Annie’s essay and get started on Sammy’s US history presentation on the sociopolitical climate of the United States in the mid twentieth century to today. However, instead of covering a variety of topics like the rubric requested you to do, you were only going to talk about the significant events that happened to the LGBT+ community starting with Stonewall and going to Obergefell v. Hodges. You were also going to go in depth about how even if there are more opportunities available and more laws set in place to protect for LGBT+ people in the present then there were in past, members of the LGBT+ community still suffer heavy discrimination in the workplace and in the public. With receipts of course, the assignment required a minimum of three pictures per slide, and the group chat was a perfect source.

After that was done, you would email Sammy’s teacher (you had her last year for US history and you knew that she had a son in the grade below you currently transitioning from female to male) that you were the one that did her project and send screenshots of Sammy calling you slurs. Luckily for you, you had receipts of her being transphobic in the past that you could also send. Everything was effortlessly falling into place for you today.

As you were typing, the front door swung open and two overly excited fifth graders ran into the house and up the stairs. A tired Schlatt followed them. “I will never know how the hell Phil keeps up with them.”

“I dunno, maybe because he’s already raised three kids before.”

You watched as your uncle jumped and whipped his head over towards you, his hand clutching his chest. He lightly glared at you, “christ kid don’t do that, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

You smirked at him before turning back to your laptop to continue typing the essay. You were almost done with the conclusion paragraph on Annie’s essay and you wanted to get to Sammy’s presentation as fast as possible. As you were typing, you felt a warm air fan across your neck and your uncle’s voice right next to your ear, “whatcha typin?”

You lept off the couch and almost fell into the coffee table before steadying yourself and deadpanning at Schlatt. “I was typing an essay before you interrupted me.”

He snorted, “it looked like you were on a roll, just thought I’d see what my beloved niece was writing. Can I read it?”

Your eyes lit up as an excited grin split your cheeks, “yeah, but lemme catch you up real quick. Adrian, Sammy, and Annie got mad at me a few days ago and wanted me to do some homework for them as a sort of payment. But after they pulled that little stunt in the lunchroom yesterday, they decided to be little bitches to me and call me slurs. So naturally, I decided to change the essay prompt into an in depth analysis about discrimination LGBT people face from their peers on the daily. My english teacher’s really against homophobia and the project’s worth twenty five percent of our overall grade, so it’s perfect.”

While you were rambling on and on about your detailed plot for revenge, Schlatt couldn’t help but be proud of the person you’d become. A major part of him was impressed that you came up with a detailed plan so quickly, that meant that his cunning nature was rubbing off on you and that made him ecstatic. Sure you mentioning not being straight was new to him, but he was prepared to accept you for whatever you identified as. He didn’t care how people identified, he just cared if they were good people. And his niece was one of the best kids he knew. He’d let your slip up slide for now until you felt comfortable enough to properly come out to him.

“That an amazing plan, fuckin brilliant. Though, you could do more.”

That piqued your interest, “I’m listening.”

“Do you have any blackmail?”

Your eyes glinted with sudden understanding, “why yes I do, uncle dearest. I just so happen to have thousands of texts from them talking shit about each other and basically the entire school. And them being incredibly racist. They would be destroyed if that came out.”

“Two things. One, never call me that again. Two, perfect. Keep it as leverage if they try to do something. You don’t pull out all the good cards in the first round, you wait for the right moment to strike so you can win. You need to constantly defend yourself against other players and anticipate their every move. If you leak everything right now, you won’t have anything to use against them if they have something up their sleeve you didn’t know about. Patience is key in things like this.”

You absorbed every single word that came out of his mouth like it was the holy gospel. Although he was your uncle and you loved him with all your heart, but he was a sly bastard when he wanted to be. He knew his way around fighting and manipulating people just right, so you were incredibly happy that you were on his good side and he absolutely adored you. Though questionable and morally gray, he was giving you advice because he cared about you and you’d be an idiot to not heed his advice.

“That’s genius, Uncle Schlatt. What would I do without you?”

“You’d get along just fine without me, you would’ve gotten there eventually. You’re smart. I’m just givin you a little push in the right direction.”

“I honestly would’ve never thought about waiting, I was so dead set on getting revenge that I would’ve just leaked everything all at once. I want them to feel how I felt when they were around me. I-” you paused. Would this make you the same as them? You’d be screwing up all their grades, Adrian’s job, and Sammy’s athletic career. You came to the chilling realization that you’d be the same as them. You’d be as manipulative as they were. “...Uncle Schlatt, would that make me the same as them?”

“Fuck no! You’re always gonna be better than them no matter what. When they’re at their best, you’re always gonna be a whole lot better than them. They deserve what’s happening to them, it sounds like they put you through so much shit the past few years. I actually think you could do a whole lot worse to them if you’re willing to put more work in, but it’s your plan and if you think that what you’re doing is too much,” he darkly chuckled, “you wouldn’t like my idea.”

“You’re right, they deserve everything I have planned for them. God, I don’t know what I was thinking, ‘would that make me the same as them,’” you mocked what you said earlier, “what a load of shit. Anyways, thanks Uncle Schlatt. I’m gonna get back to writing this. They’re due tomorrow and I wanna finish as much as I can before I have to go.”

“Alright, whaddya want for dinner? Phil’s gonna be like thirty minutes late from work so I’m cookin tonight.”

Oh no. No, no, no, no. That man can barley cook boxed mac n cheese, let alone anything else. He’d burn down the house if you left him alone in the kitchen with the stove. “On second thought, why don’t I help you with dinner? We can make some chicken alfredo.”

“Awe, you’d rather hang out with me than finish your homework? Ya really do love me. C’mon let’s start.”

The process of making dinner was… interesting. Multiple times, Schlatt almost spilled boiling water on himself and he even managed to burn the pasta while it was in the water. How he even managed to do that you’d never find out, you had your back turned cutting up vegetables and herbs at the time. That was when you subtly started to take over in the kitchen, giving him smaller tasks while you handled everything else. You felt bad for Tubbo, his father can’t cook for shit.

By time you finished, about an hour passed and Philza had come home and changed out of his work clothes. The two adults sat at the table discussing something that you didn’t pay attention to while your brothers and cousin were in the living room waiting for you to finish dinner. Finally, you set the table and it was time to eat.

Because you couldn’t have many fatty foods before any matches or practices, you had made a separate plate for yourself that only had plain pasta, chicken, and broccoli. You were surprised with how well it turned out, you were following an iffy recipe you found on the first link Google brought up.

After dinner, you went upstairs to put your uniform on and pack a little bag full of things you might need: a small blanket, some snacks, a water bottle, and a portable charger. Oh, and fuzzy socks and a pair of crocs. You could never go wrong with fuzzy socks and crocs. Feeling a vibration in your pocket, you pulled out your phone.

Hales : )

(Y/n), I’m omw to your house

Gonna give you a ride to the school

(Y/n)

Hales you don’t have to give me a ride, I can drive

Hales : )

Don’t care

Omw, be there in like 7 mins

You swiped out of yours and her conversation and opened up the family group chat

(Y/n)

I don’t need a ride to the school, Haley’s giving me one

She’s gonna give me a ride home too

Dadza

Alright, thank her for me

Tell her I said good luck too!

Uncle Schlatty Patty

Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do

Dadza

(Y/n), do everything he wouldn’t do

Uncle Schlatty Patty

Fuck you I’m a good influence

Dadza

You’re really not

Wilby

^^^^

Technology Sword

Uncle Schlatty Patty

Fuck all of you

You heard Haley’s car pull into the driveway and dashed out of your room with your bag. Just as you put your hand on the doorknob, a hand stopped you.

“Coat.”

You grumbled as you reached past Philza to grab your coat. After you slipped it on, you were pulled into a hug. “You’re gonna do great out there. I know you’re gonna win this, we’ll be watching in the stands.”

“Damn right she’s gonna do good, she’s my niece after all.”

Schlatt pulled you away from your father’s hug and tried to ruffle your hair before you swatted away his hand, “don’t. You have no idea how long it took me to get a perfect ponytail. I have an ungodly amount of hairspray and bobby pins in my hair right now.”

“Fine. You’re gonna kick their asses tonight.”

Tommy and Tubbo pushed past Schlatt and both tackled you into a hug making you stumble slightly back.

“Kick their asses good (y/n)!” Tommy cheered, making you crack up before one stern glance from Philza completely stopped you. “Tommy, don’t say that. (Y/n), not funny.”

“Alright, Haley’s waiting for me. I gotta go, love you guys!” As you turned to walk through the door, you could hear your family following you and shouting “good luck”. You felt heat creep up on your cheeks as Haley rolled down her window and wove at your family with the biggest grin on her face.

“Thank you! We’re gonna take home the gold for sure!”

You hopped in her car as she rolled up the window and chuckled. “I love your family, they’re always so full of energy. It’s refreshing to see compared to how boring my family is.”

You glanced at your entire family gathered on the front porch. Tommy and Tubbo were practically vibrating with excitement, Wilbur and Techno calmly smiled and wove at you, Philza was grinning widely at you as you saw his mouth forming words that you couldn’t hear or read, and Schlatt was grinning cheekily at you. You raised your hand to wave at them as they vanished from view when Haley pulled out of your driveway. You smiled softly, “I love em too.”

The car ride was relatively quick with the same soft indie pop music floating from the speakers and an easy going conversation with Haley about the match tonight. You both thought that you could beat the other team if everyone focused 100% and played exactly like you guys did in practices. If everyone did that, you would be unstoppable.

Luckily for you and Haley, you were the first ones in line to board the bus so you two got the back seat with Zara and Jazzy sitting across from you guys. The hour long bus ride passed quickly and lively with you four passing around your phone and playing some mad libs, you were sure that by the end of the last game you four were laughing and crying. Sometime in the middle of the trip, you noticed that Haley would start to lean on your shoulder and continuously glance at you as she laughed. You desperately wanted to believe that it was because she liked you, but she was straight and she was your best friend. She was probably trying to make sure you were having a good time.

When the team had gotten to the opposing school and left the locker room to stretch in the gym, you could hear your family start to scream your and Haley’s names from the front row next to you, Tommy and Tubbo being the loudest amongst them with Philza trying to get them to quiet down so you could focus. You felt your cheeks heat up as you smiled at them and Haley wove enthusiastically back at them. Zara was laughing at you two. Stretching went by in a flash and before you knew it, you were on the court facing the opposing team.

The first match was won by the opposing team by five points. The second match stretched on and on until it was won by your team narrowly by two points. The team was going to have to shape up in the third match if you guys wanted a chance at winning, the opposing team was good. Before the third match started, Coach Williams called for a time out so you guys could talk about strategy. Before Haley could go back onto the court, you pulled her aside.

“Hales, we need to do what we practiced. The other team won’t be expecting it at all, I’ve been setting you up this entire game. They’re never going to expect you setting me up for a spike.”

“When are we going to do it though? We need a better plan.”

“I’m sure the opportunity will come and both of us will recognize it. We just can’t do it too early in the game though, that’ll ruin their surprise.”

“(Y/n), I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“When do I not Hales? We gotta get gold this year.”

The third round went by with both teams constantly swapping places until you both were tied fifteen to fifteen. You saw the ball flying towards Haley, giving her the perfect opportunity to set you up for a spike. “HALEY NOW!”

You watched as her face hardened in determination as she pretended like she was going to spike it by jumping high in the air and stretching her arms back, making the opposing front row players all gather in front of her. Much to their surprise, she launched it towards you as you leaped up and went for the kill. The stinging of the ball hit by your wrist and the smack sound the ball made when it slammed onto the open gym floor was something you’d never forget as the crowd around you went wild over the unexpected play. You could hear the high pitched screaming of Tommy and Tubbo over everybody else. Glancing at them over your shoulder, you saw them jumping up and down on the gym floor and looking at you with awe filled eyes and gaping mouths. The rest of your family looked at you with similar expressions, their cheers echoing in your mind. Winking at them, you turned back to your team and went straight to Haley. Clapping a hand on her shoulder, you pulled her into a quick hug, yelling over the raving of the crowd. “HALEY WE NAILED THAT!”

“HOLY SHIT I DID NOT THINK THAT WAS ACTUALLY GONNA WORK!”

“You have such little faith in your setter! You wound me Hales.”

“Well, I would have more faith in you if you weren’t chaotic on the court, sweetheart.”

You felt yourself surge in happiness at the nickname, but you couldn’t afford to focus too much on it. Your team only needed one more point to win best in the state and go to nationals. It would be the first time in your team’s history if you reached national level, and you’d be damned if you were the one to screw it up for them.

The last rotation went on for a while, each team fighting tooth and nail for the state championship title with clashing determination. You tried your best to block every hit and try to set Haley up for a spike, and you were successful for the most part, only missing a few blocks. You saw the setter adjacent to you set the spiker up for a spike and jumped up in time to try to block it, your arms stretched upwards and your palms out. Only, the ball didn’t hit your hands. It collided painfully with your nose, ricocheted off your face with a thwack and sailed over to the other side of the court. Your head whipped back as your body followed suit and flew backwards onto the floor. Without giving you any time to react, your head bounced back and cracked against the polished hardwood floor of the gym. Everything went black.

“...(y……”

“..(y/n)......”

“(Y/n).”

You faintly heard someone calling someone’s name over the continuous ringing noise. Was it your name? It felt right, so it had to be your name. You peeled your eyes open to see a blurry figure hovering over you. It was swirled with tans, browns, and backs. After a while of the figure repeating your name, it slowly became more recognizable, albeit appearing twice in your vision. It took you a while to figure out who this was before your muddled brain recognized Haley.

“Hales! There’s two o’ya. Twice as beautiful babe…” You slurred out as you attempted to smile at her.

“Oh thank god, PLEASE WE NEED A DOCTOR SHE HIT HER HEAD!” Her usually angelic voice gritted against your brain like sandpaper making you cringe as pain exploded in your head.

“God babe you’re so loud, why’s so bright? I-wha's goin on?” You blearily tried to move your head to look around only to be stopped by a pair of large hands on each side of your head gently holding it in place. You moved your laggy eyes around to look at the figure. He was a blonde man with blue eyes and a hint of stubble on his chin. His eyebrows were knitted together and he looked… he looked… your brain worked to figure out why he looked how he looked. Who was he?

“Please don’t move hun.” His muffled voice was baritone. You squinted at him trying to figure out who this man was.

“Who th f-fuck… why?”

“I’m your dad hun. Do-do you not recognize me?” You made a noise in the back of your throat as your stuffy brain finally put a name to the face.

“Dad- wha’s goin on? I’on feel so good…”

“Shh, I know, I know. Just stop moving and talking. Everything’s fine. I’m here. You’re okay.”

“Mmk… Dad, where are we? I’ont know- you’re so quiet.”

“Stop moving so much. You’re on the floor in a gym. You just won your team the state championship. Now stop talking please.”

Huh. So that’s why everybody seemed to appear from above you. You strained your eyes to look around you, but you could only see your dad’s face hovering above you. “Shit I- who’s aroun’ me? Where’s Hales?”

“I’m right here sweetheart. I got the doctor, Mr. Minecraft.”

Your dad’s face moved away from your vision so fast that it made your head spin and your stomach twist. Another face appeared above you that you once again didn’t recognize.

“I’m Doctor Martin, can you tell me your first and last name?”

“Uh, (y/n) Minecraft?”

“Good, what month are we in right now?”

“Nov-November?”

“Close, it’s late October. Can you tell me who this,” he pointed to your dad, “is?”

“S’my dad Phillip.”

“That’s your dad Philza.”

The questioning stopped as he suddenly shined a blinding light into your sensitive eyes. You hissed as you tried to move your head away from the offending light only to be held in place by your dad’s hands. Your head spun as you moved too quickly and a wave of nausea hit you, making you groan and move your arm to cover your eyes. Your hand was stopped by something warm and soft wrapping around it and holding it tightly. Everything was so overwhelmingly and painfully bright and loud. You wanted to make it stop.

“Mr. Minecraft, your daughter appears to have a concussion. I don’t have the tools on hand to determine the severity of it, but it’s worrying that her pupils are asymmetrical, she’s delirious, and has slight memory loss. I understand you live about an hour away from here, and it’s alright for you to take her to a hospital closer to your house. Make sure you keep her alert.”

Your delirious mind only registered about half of what came out of the doctor’s mouth. You mumbled gibberish as you once again opened your eyes to look around. You were only briefly able to crane your neck to the left. Several figures large and small were standing behind your dad. Your family, your mind supplemented. Slowly, your mind was starting to recognize your surroundings even if there was currently double of everything and everything was blurry.

“I’m going to help you stand up. Do ya think you can do that?”

“Yeah Dad.” You lifted your upper body off from the ground with a gentle hand on your back helping you sit up. Fighting the wave of nausea that slapped you in the face, you reached up to rub at your eyes. A hand once again stopped you. You peeked your eyelids open and lightly glared at whomever stopped you. “Hales you’re lucky you’re so cute I woulda slapped you. I like holdin but you’re bein annoying. Stop.” You attempted to make your voice sound firm, but the words that came out of your mouth were slightly slurred.

She was silent as she helped her dad haul you to your feet. Once on your feet, you saw the room spin and felt yourself start to sway slightly. An arm wrapped itself around your shoulders and pulled you close to them so that your weight was supported. They were a little taller than you were making it easy to lean on them.

“...Can you walk?” A deep, monotone voice rumbled the chest of the person you were leaning against.

“Mhm. ‘M not weak.” Though your limbs felt like they were made of molasses, you placed one foot in front of the other slowly. The person moved alongside you, “you’re doing so good, keep going.” That sparked familiarity in you as you stopped in your tracks and tried to look up at the person you were leaning against making the person tighten their arm around your shoulders when you almost fell over.

“Tech?”

“Yeah, it’s Technoblade. Just focus on walking. You’re almost out of the gym.”

When you realized that you were out of the gym, you sighed in relief. It was so much quieter and darker. Though it was still relatively bright, it was better than the gym.

“S’better.”

“When we get her to the car we can give her some sunglasses or something if it’s still too bright for her.”

“Wilbs-”

“Focus on walking.”

You huffed in irritation, “don’ tell me what to do bitch.”

You felt Techno’s body jolt slightly as he chuckled, making your head throb at the sudden movement. “Just walk.”

When you walked outside, you shivered as you felt the cool air nip at your exposed skin. Right, you were in your volleyball uniform. “I’ll go pull the car around, you guys stay with her.”

You saw a tall brunet start to walk away from you. Uncle Splat? Uncle Schmat? Whatever his name was, you were sure he was your uncle. You tried to snuggle closer to Techno, craving warmth but never being satisfied. Where was your uncle?

After a while, you saw a car moving towards you and blinding light pointed right at you making you cringe away and groan. Techno started to slowly walk towards the car. “C’mon (y/n), you’re almost there. When you’re in the car you can relax.”

“Tommy, Tubbo, and Techno, you’re in the back row. Schlatt can drive and Wil, you’re taking the passenger seat. I’ll stay with her in the middle row so she can have some room to lay down.” Tommy and Tubbo were with you? Why weren’t they talking, they usually were very vocal.

“Tom, Tubbs didja like the game?”

They didn’t say anything as they climbed into the car. Did they not hear you?

“They’re just… tired (y/n).” Your dad’s voice reassured you as he took Techno’s place holding you up.

“I wanna nap. ‘M so tired.”

“You can’t sleep yet. We gotta get you to a doctor first.”

“Mm. Makes sense.”

“Let’s get you in the car hun.”

As he helped you climb into the car, you felt an overwhelming wave of nausea wash over you making you lose your balance and almost faceplant into the cloth seats. You felt yourself being gently, yet urgently taken out of the car and led to grass as you felt your esophagus shorten. Something burning made its way up your throat and spewed into the grass. You felt someone rubbing your back as you puked up your dinner.

When you were done, you reached up with a shaking hand to wipe your mouth. “You feelin better? Think you can get back into the car or do you need to sit down for a bit?”

“Car.”

After some difficulty, you were successfully in the middle row of the car laying down with your head on Philza’s lap. Soon enough, your shoes were taken off and a blanket was draped over you.

“(Y/n), what do you remember?”

You scrunched up your face as you squinted at Philza’s face. “I remember playing volleyball with Hales. She’s so pretty, she’s straight though. I remember the other team hitting the ball, me jumping, then nothin. Wha’ happened?”

You watched as Philza winced, “well, you got everything right so far. You got hit in the face with the ball so you fell and hit your head on the floor. You were passed out for a minute before you woke up. It was a pretty nasty fall, we’re going to the hospital now. How’re ya feelin?”

“Head hurts, ‘m seein two of everything, an I can’t think.”

“Do you know what a concussion is?” You nodded in his lap slightly, “you probably have one.”

After a while of talking, you were slowly starting to come to your senses and your speech was clearing up, but your head was still too stuffy to think about what you were saying before you said it. You didn’t have a filter.

“Do you wanna tell us about your week so far? Do you remember most of it?”

“Mhm, it was shit. On Monday I had a panic attack and Adrian, Sammy, and Annie were being bitches to me all day. They fucked up my back. On Tuesday, they got mad at me for ditching them and they had me do their homework, had another panic attack, and Haley told me that someone took pictures of our boobs ‘n stuff and they were gonna leak it to the school if Haley didn’t stop hanging out with me. Haley and I almost kissed, but she’s straight. Pulled an all nighter and Wednesday I accidentally came out to Tech and Wil and had another panic attack. Annie, Adrian, and Sammy took more pictures of me through my window, Annie outed me to the entire school and slapped me. Another panic attack, skipped the last two classes and felt like shit the entire practice. Today Adrian and Sammy told me to kill myself and I had another panic attack. ’S about it.”

As you were going through your week, the hand that was previously gently stroking your hair had frozen as the car was enveloped in a tense silence. Luckily, Tommy and Tubbo were passed out in the back seat so they didn’t hear how bad your week was. Everyone awake knew that you had a few bad days this week, but they didn’t know the full extent of it. You watched as Philza’s expression had turned downright murderous, but you didn’t really care. You were busy talking about your week.

For the rest of the car ride, Philza asked you simple questions like what your favorite color was, your favorite animal, basically your favorite everything. Eventually, the car pulled into the hospital parking lot and Philza helped you get out of the car. “Schlatt, can you take the boys home so they can get some rest? I’ll stay with her.”

“Yeah, I’m on it. Don’t cause too much trouble (y/n), we all know you can raise hell.” He watched you for a reaction, but when you didn’t react, he coughed. “Well, I’ll see ya later kid. Good luck.”

The car drove off leaving you and Philza at the front of the emergency room building. “It’s gonna be a long night (y/n).”

“I gotta finish Annie’s essay and Sammy’s presentation though.”

“No you don’t, I’ll email your teachers.”

You two checked in with the front desk before moving to sit on the uncomfortable chairs. It was going to be a long night. You were so tired.

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jeonjeonggukenergy · 5 years ago

Text

Anti-Hero

summary ~ in search of wine at a party that’s so not your scene, you run into jungkook, the weeb from your film class, and become determined to learn just how much he lives up to his big reputation.

pairing ~ jungkook x reader

genre ~ fluff, smut - college!au

wordcount ~ 8.5k

warnings ~ 18+ only! smut, explicit discussion of kinks/sexual preferences (yay healthy communication), dom/sub undertones during both discussion and sex (dom Jungkook, sub reader), mentions of daddy kink and degradation but both are a no, marking, biting, hair pulling, spanking, they both have a srs pain kink lmao, brief oral (f receiving), penetrative sex, creampie

a/n ~ SO excited to finally have this chapter out for yall! it’s a huge one and i’ve been working on it for quite a while, this includes the first full smut scene for this fic and i would love to know how yall like it or any other feedback. i really enjoyed writing the character development in this chapter too! they’re so cute and whipped for each other already hhhhhh. thank you so much for loving this story so far, i’m really looking forward to writing the rest. hope you enjoy! ❣️

previous: chapter 1 | chapter 2 ~ next: chapter 4 (coming soon!)

~ read on ao3 ~

CHAPTER 3 ~ particular, perfect

You concluded your walk home by ditching your shoes at the door, swinging your bag off your shoulders to the floor, and plopping down onto the couch immediately. Pulling all three nearby blankets over yourself, you realized you still weren't quite comfortable. You looked around for a second, puzzled, until an absentminded clutch of your boobs reminded you why. Triumphantly, you reached into a sleeve to untangle your bra and chucked it across the room with a deep stretch of relief. Okay, time to overthink again.

Jungkook? What the fuck?

Wait. A bag of chips on the kitchen counter caught your eye before you could descend any further into panic. The perfect emotional crutch. You clutched it to your chest like a safeguard against your own internal monologue, anxiously shoving handful after handful into your mouth. After about thirty minutes spent motionless on the couch with one hand shoved in the chip bag and the other distractedly scrolling through Twitter, your eyes suddenly widened and your hand froze, dropping your next bite of chips back into the bag. Fuck. You had just eaten nearly an entire family-size bag of chips before what could end up being your first fuck in over a year. Well, maybe this was part of why you hadn't gotten fucked in over a year. No, don't go there. You shoved down your own insecurity, knowing you'd just been too busy for a relationship and honestly, probably still were. But that wasn't going to stop you today.

You shook the chip dust off of your hands and got up to head to the shower, turning up your trashiest throwback playlist of getting-ready bops and resolving to at least shave your legs. Going in with no expectations was probably the best strategy here, but it never hurt to be prepared.

Having cleaned his apartment in record time, Jungkook was now at the gym. After triple-checking that his roommate Jin would be in rehearsal until 10pm at the earliest, he quickly scanned all the common spaces and his bedroom and realized he didn't actually have that much work to do besides politely closing the door to Jin's still-decent-but-somewhat-messier room. To be honest, Jungkook had mainly bought himself the time after class so he could shave just in case. But then he figured if he had to shower, he might as well hit the gym first. So here he was, burning off an unprecedented amount of nervous energy. Settling comfortably into the leg curl machine, he turned his music up and started on a low weight to put in reps until his thighs burned and his head felt pleasantly empty.

After completing his normal leg day rotation and dutifully stretching, Jungkook prepared to head home. He walked out of the gym feeling more energized and centered, barely even flinching when he switched his AirPods off to say bye to the nice girl at the front desk and the action accidentally blasted "Whistle" by Flo Rida from his phone speaker for the whole lobby to hear. As he walked back into his apartment, the kitchen clock let him know it was only 4:30. He had plenty of time. Jungkook hopped straight into the shower, shampooing his hair, shaving everywhere he normally did, and savoring several extra moments to relax his muscles under the hot stream of water. Finally, he toweled off to wrap up in the black t-shirt and cozy matching sweatpants he'd carefully stacked on the counter. Offhandedly singing to himself in the steamy mirror, he checked the time on his phone, deciding he might as well go ahead and text you before he got nervous again and did something stupid. Like chickening out completely.

hey its jk! im ready when u are :) my apt is 344 glencoe rd #1521 (yes its on the 15th floor sry D: )

His charming old-school smileys lit up your phone while you still had a leg perched on the bathtub's edge.

"Fuck!" you reacted. The hiss resounded, thanks to the too-good acoustics of your cramped bathroom. Your razor clattering to the floor, you paused your max-volume 2000s music to check the message, and then the time. Only 5! That wasn't dinnertime yet. Plugging his address into Google Maps, though, you realized it was a 15- to 20-minute drive from yours on the opposite end of campus. Even if you got ready at light-speed, you would get there closer to 5:30. Which was a bit more reasonable. He was being reasonable! You should be ready by now!

You leaned over to pick up your razor and cursed again as the water stream grazed the blouse you'd left on out of laziness. You'd showered this morning, so there was no need to repeat that with your shave, but now you'd have to change outfits completely. Feeling like an idiot, naked from the waist down but now all the way wet, you peeled the shirt over your head slowly to preserve your good hair day and glanced down at the dilemma you'd been facing. The patch of hair between your legs stared back at you like the final boss of stupid societal beauty standards. You'd only shaved down there once, as an anniversary present for your first boyfriend the summer before college, and it had been a fun, smooth novelty for about two hours and then itchy, red, gross-looking, and miserable for about three weeks. Also, it had kind of made you feel like a little girl, which creeped you out when you thought about why guys would prefer it. You'd been debating whether to try it again for the past fifteen minutes, because if there was ever a right time, this was probably it. But now you didn't have time, if you were going to be respectful and not keep Jungkook waiting. Well, this was the real you. He could take it or leave it.

Slathering a quick coat of lotion over your freshly shaved legs, you prepared to get dressed in a soft pastel sweatshirt and a flattering pair of workout shorts. Wait, should you wear lingerie? Was that too try-hard? You didn't really even need to wear underwear with these lined shorts, which could be a cool-girl move, you supposed. You settled on a cute white sports bra to go with the shorts, not wanting to deal with a real bra and hoping it still appealed to Jungkook's casual, athletic style. You checked yourself in the mirror briefly before grabbing your bag, confirming you looked chill enough but still felt like your best color-coordinated self. Heading out, you shoved a tin of chrysanthemum green tea in your water bottle pocket. Why not?

You whizzed over to Jungkook's apartment, yelling along to "Sex With Me" by Rihanna from your throwback playlist to hype you up in the car. When you knocked on his door after a nerve-wrackingly long elevator ride, Jungkook welcomed you with a "C'mon in!" amidst a mouthful of shrimp chips.

"It's not really dinnertime yet," (yeah, no kidding, you thought) "I went ahead and worked out but it's still kind of early, so I figured we could just have a snack and do the homework first."

"Sounds good," you affirmed. "I'm not really that hungry," (read: there's no way I can eat chips AGAIN right now, I'm going to bloat so badly) "but I brought tea so I can go ahead and make that if you want some too!"

"Oh cool, thanks!" Jungkook accepted. "Are you sure you're not hungry though?"

You almost gave into his sweet pout, but managed to convince him, and soon you both sat at the table with laptops open and twin cups of tea. You had a blast working together for the first time, acting out your "conversation" for the discussion board and pretending to respond spontaneously to each other's points like you hadn't already excitedly rambled back and forth through them in real life. You hit "send" five minutes apart, your idea to not seem too suspicious, and kept raving over Rear Window in between. As the sun lowered outside his living room window, you moved on to making the ramen.

After three offers to help Jungkook, all of which he denied, you simply made another steep of the tea, leaving a mug on the counter for him. Standing at the bar counter sipping yours, you enjoyed all the tiny, cute noises he made while chopping green onions and sprinkling extra garlic in the seasoning, like an anime character who came with his own sound effects. You could tell he made these recipe additions every time, because bulk quantities of the same simple ingredients lined the counters of his cozy kitchen. When he beat two eggs and dropped them into the pot, though, he couldn't seem to find a lid, and eventually settled on trapping the steam with a plate. You both waited on the egg for a silent moment, your foot bouncing under the bar while Jungkook restlessly acquired a slight wiggle. As he took a sip of his tea, a strand of hair fell over his eyes, and he yeeted it out of his face. Your inner language nerd cringed, but there really was no more apt word to describe the action.

You offhandedly said you liked his hair long, and he replied with a smile, "Maybe I'll have to keep it then."

"Do you like it too?" you wondered.

"Honestly no, it's kind of inconvenient."

"Oh, then why would you keep it?" you immediately asked back.

"Well..." he dragged out. "You like it? Maybe I should keep it if it looks better this way."

Your eyes crinkled appreciatively at his thoughtfulness, but then you backtracked. "Wait, no, it's okay! If you don't like it, don't feel like you have to keep it just because of something I said. You can do whatever you want."

"Hm, yeah." A demure smile tugged up the corner of his mouth as he lifted the plate from the ramen pot.

You watched him drag a chopstick through the floating, now-cooked egg to tear it into ribbons, then divide the noodles between two generously-sized bowls. He carefully wiped down the drips of broth from each bowl before sprinkling in his fresh toppings, then walked with you to the table.

Serving you with a pleased smile and a slight nod, he announced, "Dinner!"

"Wow," you mused playfully. "So gourmet."

"I'm really particular about my ramen," he admitted. "I have it down to a perfect routine at this point."

You took your first slurp of his particular, perfect ramen. "Well, it's really good. I'm impressed. And thanks for making me dinner, you didn't have to do all that."

"Oh, come on, it's instant ramen," he laughed. "Nothing special. And you brought the tea, so thanks. And thanks for coming over. And doing the homework with me. And...yeah." Rambling again. Why did he seem so...nervous? You were nervous. He couldn't be nervous. What reason did he have to be? But the twitch of his mouth under his wide eyes, his slightly reddened ears, his hand skittering over his neck—fuck—to ruffle his hair...every action turned another page of his open book. It felt infuriatingly unfair that genetics had assigned someone so sweet and shy and unsure of himself to that fucking body.

While you both ate and talked, you kept catching glimpses of any small flashes of skin you could find, as his long sleeves fell to expose his forearms and the wide neckline of his boxy black shirt gaped around his collarbones. What was wrong with you? Even if this did eventually turn into a dick appointment, the boy still had literally all of his clothes on. You tried to refocus on finishing your noodles, while your brain screamed at itself in shame that you could get this turned on by the sight of someone covered from neck to ankle.

Jungkook ate surprisingly slowly, probably because he kept pausing to excitedly explain his favorite things about the Cowboy Bebop episode you were about to watch together. You smiled into your tea through every out-of-context fun fact and "wait, sorry, that might have been a spoiler!"

Finally, he reached the bottom of his bowl and insisted on both taking your dishes to the sink and leaving them for him to clean later. "You sure you want to start on episode 2? Not 1?"

"Yeah, I remember well enough and your summary helped a lot too!"

"Okay, if you're positive!" he double-checked, grabbing the remote.

Gingerly lowering yourselves to the couch in sync, you avoided looking at each other as you both tried to calculate a comfortable distance between you. His hand looked ready to either hold yours or lower to your thigh, but he retracted at the last second, smoothing it over his own leg anxiously and still clearly itching to make a move. You shuffled closer to him until your thighs barely touched, and he shifted to slink an arm around you, letting your head rest on his well-muscled shoulder. After pressing “play”, he began wiggling slightly again, subconsciously grooving to the old-newspaper-style intro. Spike Spiegel appeared on the screen, his broad shoulders squared into a slouch as he listlessly watched TV. Jungkook kicked one leg over another and stretched his arms out symmetrically to echo the pose. Raising an eyebrow, he waited until you acknowledged him with a faux grimace and a hand to your ear, imitating the old man in a lab who’d just called up Spike for a new mission. You both burst into laughter and settled back into your former arrangement, Jungkook holding you imperceptibly tighter. Though you tried to stay staring straight ahead, wanting to genuinely appreciate the anime, you kept catching his doe eyes in the corner of your sight as you both giggled and gasped your way through the episode.

After avoiding eye contact too many times, you finally tilted your head for a cute sideways view of his face. He leaned toward you too, shyly closing the gap to touch his warm lips to your nose, then lower. You responded immediately, rolling your body with his so your chests met as he pulled you up into a full, deeper kiss. The longer you explored each other's mouths, the more Jungkook punctuated your movements with whimpers. He seemed hesitant to let his hands roam away from your face and neck, but his high, breathy moans made it clear that he was just as into this as you. Your hands had naturally found his taut waist, and at some point you started to bring them back up to his face too—but as your short nails grazed his chest, a particularly sensual, voice-cracking moan interrupted you. You drew back in slight surprise, blinking your eyes open to scan from his face to his body.

He followed your gaze, both slowly settling on the massive tent in his pants. You froze. Your breath grew heavier, confronted with evidence of his physical attraction to you, if nothing else. After regaining his composure, he laid a useless hand over his lap in a delicate attempt to distract you and brought his other hand up to tap your face lightly.

"Is this okay?"

His eyes glittered with equal parts hunger and concern.

"Yes!" you nodded, too quickly, too eagerly. "Yes, this is totally okay. Sorry if I'm being weird, I just...it's been a while." You cringed internally at your own words, but couldn't seem to avoid putting your foot further in your mouth. "I haven't really, like, hooked up like this before—like, I've had sex, but never really outside of a relationship. But don't worry, I get this is more your thing, and I'm totally down if you are. I just don't really know what I'm doing, and you clearly do."

Jungkook blinked at your admission, then his face twisted into something curious, inscrutable. Would he decide you weren't worth the potential for drama? His lips flattened out to a tight line, then pursed to speak, and you looked down at your lap, hoping he wasn't as embarrassed of you as you now were of yourself.

"Well, I've never had sex sober."

Your eyes flashed back up to his. A complex half-smirk offset the furrow in his brow as he exhaled in nervous relief. "So, I don't actually know what I'm doing here either."

You tried to delay your response as you processed the implications. "You mean..." You tilted your head for better eye contact, hoping to convey empathy but not pity while you silently contemplated how to proceed. "Never?"

"Yeah, I've always shown up to parties and the hookups just...happened. Nothing I didn't want, nothing bad like that, but always spontaneous. So I guess we're kind of meeting in the middle, because I've never really had to plan ahead for a situation like this and, uh, figure out what I want. Beyond, yknow, wanting to get laid in the moment, of course." Jungkook laughed off the end of his explanation, but the smile never quite hit his eyes.

"Well, okay, let's pause right there." You sighed. Something in his words didn't sit right with you. "What do you want? I want you to be sure about this, of course, but more than that, even—what do you like?"

"I..." he chuckled, sheepish, shaking his hair over his face again. "What, you want me to just tell you? Like, what I'm into?"

"Yeah," you shrugged, trying to project more confidence than you felt in hopes of encouraging him to keep opening up. "I want you to be able to communicate, I want you to be comfortable. And I want to know what you like, so I can make it as good for you as possible."

With your hands still laid flat on his chest, you felt his heart rate jump a tiny bit, and took the liberty of digging your nails in just slightly deeper. His breath caught him, and then he caught himself. "I don't know, I just want what you want."

Jungkook struggled to appear nonchalant as you rolled your eyes with an "Oh, come on," challenging his avoidance. Every instinct was telling him yes. He could hear his mind screaming at him to be intentional for once and let you take him, if not farther, then deeper than ever before. But he still hesitated, because being intentional in this case required him to be real. He had always been a fairly private person, but something about you made him feel so comfortable so fast that it counterintuitively made him more nervous. Of course Jungkook knew you weren't all innocent at this point, but the risk remained that you wouldn't really be down for everything he secretly wanted to explore. Even worse, though he didn't truly think you would, you could easily turn around and spin anything he revealed into yet another graphic rumor. Especially since you had no skin in the game yourself. He glanced down at your fingers, tensed into his chest, and narrowed his eyes.

"Why don't you tell me what you like first? And then I can tell you where we overlap," he grinned competitively. Your eyes widened as he tossed the challenge back your way. Not backing down, you flattened your hands and steeled yourself to settle the stakes.

"Fine—but only if you promise not to just go along with whatever I say. I'll let you know anything that's a hard no for me, but otherwise I want to hear at least one thing that's not on my list. I really do want what you want, that's how I am too, okay? So..." you paused to slide your fingertips over his collar and drag it down with a light scratch, now directly on his skin. You smiled with your eyes, enjoying the way he naturally responded with a hitch of his breath again. "Surely you can think of something specific."

He nodded quickly, before he could convince himself to back out. "Yeah. Promise."

"Okay," you confirmed, slightly nervous but determined to go through with this, for Jungkook's sake if anything. Seeing his body come alive with each new twist of the situation was building your curiosity, not to mention turning you on beyond belief. You could barely stand the warmth of his skin under your hands, so you drew them back to fold in your lap as you began. "So. Uh. To start. I've never really laid it all out like this either. I really like neck kisses? Like, a lot." Equally unused to this kind of directness, you wrung your hands together nervously, but sucked up the boldness to keep elaborating. "That's definitely, like, a big thing that turns me on...and then getting marked up and everything is really hot to me too. Like you can honestly go really rough with me on that, bite me even. I don't know if this is weird but even though it's annoying to cover up, I love taking off the makeup at the end of the day and seeing all the bruises on myself. Knowing I was walking around all day with that as my little secret." You swallowed shyly before continuing, but Jungkook interrupted the brief silence immediately with a hushed "Fuck."

You turned to face him fully and he didn't even move to meet your stare, eyeing the space above your sweatshirt's wide neckline like he was ready to devour you. Emboldened, your smile grew.

"So...yeah. I like being bitten, marked up. Mostly, uh," you rubbed a slightly trembling hand over your shoulder, "I'm just really into pain in general. Obviously not the bad 'I'm too dry and you're jackhammering me' kind of pain, or like, anal. Anal is a hard no. But things like biting, or hair pulling, or overstimulation. Or, like—I don't really know how to explain this, but...getting held too hard? That deep pain like when you get a massage when you're sore and it hurts but it's good, yknow?"

Jungkook looked like he was about to vibrate out of his skin, breathing shallow and rapid. His eyes flicked up to meet yours, just in time for you to whisper in conclusion:

"I love that feeling."

You suddenly looked away, reticent. A thick silence swelled between you, until he composed himself enough to punctuate it. "Okay. Yeah. Pain. So like, BDSM?"

"I mean, kind of? Sure? I don't have much experience with that and I don't really need the whole power dynamic aspect; I just like the, uh, physical pain. I wouldn't be opposed to trying further, but one thing I do know is I really don't like being degraded. And I'm not into the whole daddy kink thing either. I'm just not gonna call you that, sorry," you laughed, and fortunately he giggled too. "But I know that's not, like, necessary to the rest of BDSM, and the part about giving up control is still...interesting, for sure."

"Wait," Jungkook cocked his head, making a mental note of your last sentence before he went back to the previous one. "What do you mean, being degraded?"

You half-chuckled, half-cringed, never having needed to explain something like this, especially to a guy you hopefully were about to fuck. Cheers to better communication, you supposed.

"You know, how some people when they do dirty talk are like 'yeah, you little slut, you're such a whore.' I don't like being called any of that. Like it's fine that other people like it, there's nothing wrong with that, it's just really uncomfortable for me."

His brows knit together as you explained, and he shook his head so fast it almost looked cartoonish, like a little kid refusing vegetables. "Yeah, no. Don't worry, not really my thing either."

You sighed in relief. "That's nice. I feel like it's, like, weirdly common with guys. Maybe just the kind of thing people learn from porn."

"But you still like it rough, huh? Did you learn that...from porn?" he half-joked, trying to overcome both his shyness and his gritted-teeth arousal.

"No, I don’t like porn. Most of it’s really unethical. I learned from experience," you sassed back. "I don't have a whole lot, but enough to know what I like."

"Well. Hm." He worked his tongue over his teeth, poking one cheek out over his tensed jaw. You couldn't get enough of watching him grow fascinated by your every revelation, and you were preparing to keep pressing further when he beat you to it, posing a question. "Is there anything you haven't tried before, but really want to?"

Your face heated up instantly, tasting your own medicine. You looked back to your hands, breaking his intense eye contact to give yourself the courage to be even more uncomfortably honest. "I...I...um." Your first attempt at disclosing your fantasy came out as a squeak. Swallowing, you set your shoulders and tried again, selfishly reminding yourself Jungkook seemed so eager to please that this was 99% likely to get you exactly what you wanted. "I've always been, uh, really into the idea of, um, getting spanked. I've been, uh, too nervous to ever bring it up, before now obviously, but it's definitely one of the biggest kinks I've always wanted to try. Maybe being tied up too, I think I'd like it if I tried but I haven't thought about that as much. But, yeah...spanking, definitely."

"Fuuuuuuuuck."

A lengthened version of Jungkook's earlier under-breath exclamation made you peer up at him. Your thighs already pressed together from the tension of admitting something totally new, you found yourself needing even more friction just from the sight of Jungkook with his head thrown back on the couch, a veiny hand threaded in his hair to pull the long waves back from his forehead. The full reveal of his sharp eyebrows brought a whole new level of intensity to Jungkook's already beautifully carved features. He glanced over at you, then squeezed his eyes shut with a terse exhale. You couldn't place why, but you felt a deep attraction to the way he expertly restrained himself from acting on the lust written over his face—not under your control, but his own.

"Oh, fuck. What the fuck. How the fuck would you fucking know," he swore more in a single burst than he cumulatively had ever in your presence.

"What?" you toyed, heart rate still high but relaxed enough to enjoy agitating him. "Something ring a bell?"

Jungkook shuddered out a long breath, hand ruffling his hair as his other forearm still tried desperately to subdue his boner.

"Everything," he hissed, more willing to elaborate now that you had done the same, and especially now that he could tell you really did enjoy him being more assertive. "Shit. I...I want...I know you said not to just say this but I really do want everything you want. I can't wait to mark you up. I can't wait to hold you down and bruise your neck. I want it all, I want to make you hurt so good. And then—" Breathless. He looked almost embarrassed. "Then you had to go and somehow guess basically my biggest fucking kink, I can't fucking believe you." Both hands had come up to seize his long locks as he held himself back physically, while finally letting his guard down mentally to declare everything he intended to do to you. Letting out a short laugh, he finally met your eyes. "I wanna spank your ass bright red. Fuck. This is crazy. You're perfect."

Your core throbbed at every bold word. Leaning in close to him, you let your lips approach Jungkook's beautifully sculpted jawline as he panted, his chin tossed up to fully expose his neck. You stopped just short of his skin, in awe of how much you'd been able to work him up and still so tempted to take it to the next level. "Fuck," you echoed. "This is so hot," you murmured almost to yourself. Your eyes closing along with his, you dealt the final blow. "I love that we have so much in common. But come on, you promised. One thing that's not on my list."

Jungkook whined. You could tell he needed to touch you so badly, and no one was stopping him but himself. He had no way of knowing that if he cut the whole discussion and just took you, you wouldn't even try to resist at this point. Staring at his trembling mouth from below, you quickly averted your eyes when he opened his, pretending you hadn't been looking. He inhaled a short hiss, and then spoke.

"Okay..." He paused after just the first word, blowing air through the tiny "o" of his mouth as his eyes bugged slightly from nervousness. He couldn't resist a challenge, though, and his urge to please you overwhelmed his reluctance to peel back one more layer. "So, the pain thing. I think we, uh, feel the same about me giving and you receiving. But...I'm really into it for myself too. I don't know if you'd be comfortable with it, I know you maybe want me to be more dominant and I think I like that more too in general, but you can be as rough with me as you want back. I'd love that." Eyes still open but fluttering, Jungkook's tone grew breathier, heady as he confessed. You almost giggled at how bashfully he worded his desire to dominate you, to rough each other up, but the contrast was so hot you couldn't help sucking your bottom lip between your teeth, eager for him to continue. His voice lowered. "I love being scratched, marked, bitten...hit me, push me back, any kind of pain or any way you can hurt me, I want it." He shivered, but his voice firmed up even further. "I want it so bad."

You fought to stay motionless beside him, unable to even process how much more his honesty had turned you on. You felt helpless in your desire for him, your craving to give him everything he wanted and more. He noticed your charged stillness and shifted toward you, removing a hand from his hair to finally reach for your face. Threading his fingers through your hair instinctively like he had with his own, he tilted your head back to access your neck. Jungkook finally felt confident enough to tease you back as he skimmed his lips over your pulse point, tugging your skin between his teeth for a gentle first taste and grinning when you moaned. Seeing someone so satisfied, for reasons better than just his body or their pride, brought the most incredible rush of blood to his head. And his other head.

"And I get why you want it too," he finished with a whisper in your ear. "So trust me when I say I really, really want to give it to you."

In an instant, your hands yanked his hair down to bring his face up to yours, mouths crashing together. Feverish, restless, you kissed him, hastily attempting to straddle his thick thighs before he threw his body over yours and pinned you to the back of the couch. His hands wandered, intrepid, from your waist to a quick squeeze of your breasts before he spiraled you into his strong arms. Pressing your chest flush with his as your mouths meshed, he ground his hips into you shamelessly, enjoying the way you struggled beneath him to align your core with his rock-hard dick.

"Your room?" You rushed out the words.

Jungkook laughed a little, his tone half whine and half dare. "So we're done talking?"

"Come on," you pleaded back. He finally relented, pulling you up with him and dragging you across the living room and through his door, lips not leaving yours for a second. You backed him into the bed with your arms against his strong chest, and once he was sitting perched on the edge, you laid yourself horizontally over his thighs.

"What are you doing?" he murmured, curling a hand over the dip of your waist to hold you gently.

You angled your head back to make unsteady eye contact with him, flipping your shorts down boldly. His free hand automatically reached to slowly conform to the shape of your ass, so eager to touch you but tentative as he grazed your curves.

"Giving you exactly what you want."

"Fuck. Really? You're sure about this?" Jungkook held careful eye contact as you brought your arms back up, crossing your wrists over your head delicately. You nodded slightly and did your best to meet his gaze with confident invitation, convincing him how much you trusted and wanted him.

He smoothed his warm hand over your ass one more time, then brought it up and watched your thighs tighten at the loss of his touch. Breathing in, still a little shakily, he brought his hand down on your right cheek with a loud but mild smack. A grunt of satisfaction involuntarily left him when he saw your face flinch down into the sheets, subduing a small noise of surprise. He returned his hand to caress the light redness he'd left, checking in with you again. "Is this okay? Let me know if I should stop."

You replied with your face still tucked between your arms, muffled by the bed. "More than okay. Please don't stop."

He spanked you again, moving to your left cheek. This time you felt his dick twitch under you and couldn't help grinding down on him a little bit. "Is that as hard as you can go?" you taunted in low tones, brave enough to egg him on but not quite enough to meet his eyes again.

Jungkook's thighs and core tensed under you, and he squeezed his fingertips tighter, digging into the skin of your ass. "Not at all," he said simply.

Deep breath. A few seconds passed, and his hand came down, harshly. You cried out in shock, the timing unexpected and the sting far sharper, and he gave your other cheek a fourth hard smack before you could even process the third one. "Harder?" he tested. "Tell me."

Another spank. "Mmmf."

"You like this, huh?"

"Yes, I told you," you whimpered back, half-teasing even though you were in no position to do so. Immediately, he cut you off with a stinging hit across both cheeks, and you moaned.

"You really do," he breathed lowly. "Fuck yeah. Take it then."

He spanked you again, and again, then paused, tugging down your shorts all the way to your ankles to expose the crease right above your thighs. Rubbing your already sore bottom, Jungkook cupped the underside of its curve in his big, firm hand. Already anticipating your whine, he drew back his touch and hummed in harmony with you. He continued landing satisfyingly hard smacks, alternating to cover your ass evenly. His dick strained through his pants more and more each time you trembled under his touch. Never hitting you hard enough to do serious damage, he still clearly enjoyed his thorough reddening of your ass, and occasionally took a moment just to caress your skin as it warmed from the spanking. The pain lit your senses up from head to toe. Face burning with deep arousal, you mentally thanked yourself for going out of your comfort zone and unprecedentedly admitting your kinks before even venturing into your first time together. Amidst the thrilling sting of his hand meeting your soft curves, Jungkook eventually noticed your thighs clenching together, craving friction but not really wanting relief from the pleasurable burn.

"You're wet," he marveled, sliding two warm fingers up and down your slit.

"Mhm," you mumbled back as you tilted your hips into his hand. He gave you a light slap right on the folds between your legs, eliciting another soft moan.

"So good for me," Jungkook said softly, pulling you up into his lap by your waist. "You look so pretty like this. I wanna see all of you." He tugged your sweatshirt over your head, followed by your sports bra, thankful that it stretched over your head easily. Suddenly grinning, he wound up and shot it across the room like a rubber band, and you smacked his arm, giggling.

"What was that? You cheeseball," you teased, and he blinked, chuckling lightly back. It occurred to him that he'd never laughed, or made someone laugh, during sex before.

"It was so stretchy! Don't make fun of me," he blushed.

"You're so cute," you said, fingers sliding under his t-shirt hem.

"Cute?" His eyebrows rose in mock disbelief, and he reached around to land another hit to your still-red asscheek.

"Hot," you amended. Raising his shirt and finally getting a full glimpse of his enviable abs, you groaned. "You're extremely hot, and also really cute, and it's kind of ridiculous and I don't really know how to handle all of it at once."

His face scrunching up into a smile at the praise, he fell back onto the bed with his arms behind his head. "You are too, you know. Really cute, of course. But really hot too." As you discarded his shirt and moved on to easing his sweatpants down his hips, you held in a gasp as his erection sprung up from the waistband. He was big, thick, and painfully hard, his tip glistening warm with precum and a lone vein running prominently up his smooth shaft. Although you wouldn't be corroborating them, you had to admit to yourself that all the rumors were true. You instinctively curled a hand around it, barely covering half his length, and he winced at your slightest touch. Pulling off with a single slow stroke, you slid his sweatpants and briefs all the way to the floor and then stood, looking up from his legs to his blown-out eyes to take in the glorious sight of his fully naked body.

"You shave," you said, surprised by the clean skin under his arms and between his legs.

"Yeah," he demurred, self-conscious for some reason. He lowered his arms to fold them over his torso, somehow defining his biceps even more. "I'm on the dance team, and it's nice to feel all smooth for practice and stuff. I don't know, I just like it."

"Oh, that's cool! No worries, I like it too. And you don't mind that..." You looked down at yourself, still just standing naked in front of him. "...I don't? Like, down there at least."

"No, you do you!" he said quickly. With a shy smile, he admitted, "I actually kind of like it on you. I do this for me, anyway, not for anyone else," he playfully noted. Slowly, he was sitting up to take hold of your waist and lower you down to the bed with him. Pausing to kiss the sweet spot under your jaw, he continued. "So don't feel like you have to do anything, or not do anything, either."

Jungkook couldn't quite explain the nature of how his attraction to you had developed. Seeing how open and honest you were with him made it easy for him to be honest with you too, and just to feel comfortable being himself. He admired the way he could still tell you sometimes got nervous like him, but it didn’t stop you from getting real or going bolder. Unable to fully express it in words, he just hoped to ensure you felt as comfortable and respected around him as he did around you. He already knew that he wanted this to be more than just a one-time thing, and while he still hesitated to assume that you felt the same, he intended to leave no doubt by the end of the night.

You moaned as he nipped at the skin of your neck. It was so easy to get swept back up in Jungkook. You could barely handle the friction of his dick rutting against your wet folds from below, craving him inside you. "Ughhh. Wait, one more thing. I'm on the pill, are you clean?"

"Yes," he gasped, barely removing his mouth from your jaw. "Are you?"

"Yeah, so we don't need a condom. If that's cool with you!"

"Yeah! But, you're ready?" He seemed surprised.

"Aren't you?" you whined, beyond holding back. He felt so unbearably hard that his coherence and willpower kind of surprised you too. "Please, I want you so bad."

To your surprise, he lowered his head to the crest of your legs, dotting wet kisses down your torso. Keeping his big brown eyes on you, he teased your entrance with a finger and echoed your immediate groan at the welcome stretch.

"You really are ready," he remarked, awed at the ease with which your wetness sucked the digit in. Frankly, you were in awe as well. It had taken your ex-boyfriend months to figure out how to get you this worked up. Jungkook either had even more experience than you'd heard from the grapevine, or he was a natural. Or maybe you were just really, ridiculously, primally attracted to him. He went on to curve his finger in you and lick a messy swipe up your folds, sucking hard once he reached your sensitive clit. You cried out at the delicious burst of stimulation and he rose up to catch your lips with his.

"I had to do that, just once," he grinned breathlessly. "But—"

"Let me suck you off," you interjected, unbelievably fucking turned on and dying to please him.

"No," he gasped with far more fervency than you'd think anyone could refuse a blowjob. "Please, I was about to say—" he choked out a high-pitched moan as you ran a single finger up his shaft in anticipation, sinking the nails of your other hand into his thigh. "—I think I'm gonna explode if I don't get inside you right this second."

So he did have a breaking point. "Fuck," you muttered, bringing your legs around his to tuck your heels under his tight ass as he lined up. He eased his tip in, keeping heavy eyes on you the whole time, and you could feel the hot, thick tension in his thighs as he struggled to hold himself back from just thrusting into your heat. Slowly, he drew closer into you until he bottomed out with a low moan. You whined at the perfect slight pain of the stretch, and Jungkook squeezed his eyes shut, gripping you by your waist. Watching the veins in his forearms stand out as he drove almost all the way out and back into you, you rocked your hips carefully against his with each smooth stroke, getting used to his fullness. When his balls met your ass again, he shuddered a bit and opened his eyes into yours.

You answered his question before he could even ask it. "Jungkook—you feel so good. You can go faster, it's okay."

A smile hit his eyes before his mouth, and he kissed you once, pressing his chest to yours and intertwining your tongues eagerly. You bit his bottom lip as he slowly drew away, tugging it between your teeth to pull a sweet little whimper from his throat. Grinning, he leaned back in to touch his forehead to yours and simultaneously slid a subtle hand under your ass to curve your hips up with his. The slight leftover sensitivity of your skin amplified his light touch, and Jungkook seemed to realize this, curling his fingers to tease you with the tips of his nails. Instinctively, you ducked to bite his neck, not even registering your move to pass the pain back to him until he choked out a beautifully half-restrained moan and snapped his hips into yours. Gasping, you encouraged him to lose himself in you, dragging your lips up to latch around his earlobe. He hissed and thrust into you sharply again, meeting the time of your movements as you swirled your tongue between each of his hoop earrings. Soon he was pounding you rhythmically, finally letting you feel the full force of his strength but keeping remarkable control over both his body and yours. Both of you had gone silent except for your heavy breaths, lost in the moment, but the flexed shivers of his thighs and twitches of his fingers in your hair told you all you needed to know. Suddenly yanking your strands to pull you back from the additional bruise you'd sucked beneath his ear, he earned a new set of scratches on his back as your hands dragged down the muscular expanse in reply. Jungkook switched places with you to draw dark clouds from your skin, a storm brewing under your jaw. Your face fell into pure bliss, eyes shut and immersed in the barrage of sensation from his hands, mouth, and big dick filling you. Already feeling the familiar tension that preceded an orgasm building through your whole body, you chased him closer to his climax too, grinding back roughly into every thrust and raking your hands over every part of his firm body you could reach.

You had really been fooling yourself when you thought you could try something casual for once. You wanted more of Jungkook, all of Jungkook, nothing but Jungkook ever again. Knowing he'd never even gone back to the same hookup twice sank slight anxiety into your stomach, a kind of future nostalgia for this moment you already feared losing. You knew you weren't anything special compared to the catalogue of gorgeous girls he'd had his turn with, but a deviant voice whispered from the back of your mind that you could be, because it was clear none had bothered to learn him like this. You'd still try your desperate best not to want too much from him, but you resolved to do whatever you could to make him crave more.

Rolling your hips in a smooth circle against him, you clenched around his dick and your hands tightened their fierce hold on his tiny waist. You felt his abs tense within your grasp as he tried not to stutter into you.

"Fuck. No." His voice cracked, but held an undertone of ferocity. "You come first." Jungkook rushed a hand to your clit, adding pressure in small, deft motions with a fingertip as he kept fucking you deep. You sank your teeth into his shoulder in response, drawing your hands up his back to clutch him closer to you, and Jungkook cried out. You left your mouth on his golden skin to stifle your moans as he sped up his fingers, and he tried to let you stay there but eventually couldn't help pulling you off him to see your face. Eyes narrowed and eyebrows turning up sharp at the ends, he watched you like a hawk to track the exact moment when he pushed you over the edge. Your face crumpled and you felt your whole body burn under his gaze as you came, squeezing around him in waves of pleasure while he fucked you through your high, unrelenting. Drinking up the bliss obvious on your features, Jungkook's eyes never left yours and his expression grew more and more fucked out. You marveled at how even as you lost control and energy to fuck him back, your body freezing in orgasm seemed to turn him on further. One last pulse of the tension leaving your core made his dick throb inside you, and you impulsively broke your eye contact to lean in and bite down slow but hard on his neck again. He gasped.

"You're amazing." Murmuring into his skin, you kissed the bite marks gently. Jungkook whimpered at the sweet contradiction and lurched into your hips even harder. You recovered to move with him, squeezing him deeper into you every time he bottomed out, and as his breathless moans escalated in pitch, his whole body shivered with each stroke. Pressing wet, heavy kisses all over his neck, you felt his jaw flutter while his lips hung open. His considerable strength spent, Jungkook shuddered one last hard thrust into you and finally let go, coating your walls from within. His hips lightly rocked against yours as he stayed deep inside you, still hard and savoring the euphoric release he'd held back for so long. You felt so incredibly warm and comfortable around his sensitive dick, relaxed but still holding him tight, and he couldn't help holding you up for a languid kiss before pulling out of you smoothly.

He briefly looked into your eyes, and you saw stars. The sun had continued to set outside, and it peeked between the blinds of his window to wrap you both in a warm, slivered glow. Staring down at his hands on your body, Jungkook took a deep breath and collapsed to your side, holding you close. You settled into him, cupping a hand over his head on your chest. With your fingers laced through his sweaty hair, you stroked his temple with your thumb, worrying for a second whether the gesture seemed too intimate but forgetting your fear when he snuggled up into your touch. You felt the need to say something, to figure out what the fuck was next after this, but stayed silent, not wanting to disturb the comforting weight of his frame. Heartbeat still racing, Jungkook stretched out to breathe a long sigh. As he sank back into you, you stretched under him too, letting his solid, warm body drape over you like a blanket. This couldn't be farther from what you'd expected with him, but you weren't about to make it stop. Surely, eventually, he would.

A minute passed. And then five. And then, before either of you could talk yourselves out of it, you were asleep, intertwined.

#jungkook x reader #jungkook smut #jungkook fluff #jungkook x reader smut #bts smut #bts fic #bts fanfic #college!jungkook #college au!jungkook #bts college au #jungkook #jeon jungkook #bts jungkook #my writing #fic: anti-hero #anti-hero #anti hero

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leiasfanaccount648 · 4 years ago

Text

It’s Hard to Expresso My Feelings For You

Shouto Todoroki x Fem!Reader

Summary: The coming of Winter also means the coming of holiday drinks to put people in the festive spirit. One shop hasn’t released them yet, but that won’t stop a certain employee from trying to make your day.

Warnings/Contains: Coffee Shop!AU, fluff, pining, cursing, Shouto being a clueless yet adorable idiot and Izuku teasing him about it.

Word Count:2788

A/N: I typically have everyone call each other by their first names, but in this I had Shouto and Izuku call each other by their last names cause it just sounded off if they didn’t lmao; also I know espresso is spelled wrong in the title, it’s on purpose haha.

Shouto sighed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as cleaned up the counter top as it was covered in grinded up coffee beans from the night before. He knew that Denki was the one of the people who closed last night and most likely was the one to leave the mess. Of course, it could have been Katsuki for all he knew. Whenever the blond closed, he liked to leave as quickly as possible and if he was in a bad mood, which was often, he could leave some of the minimal stuff left to the openers to take care of.

Shouto glanced at the clock on the wall to check the time, sighing as he realized that he had to unlock the doors to the shop; after all, they opened in 10 minutes. He walked away from behind the counter, keys in hand ready to unlock the door when he heard a voice from the back.

“Hey, Todoroki! Do you know where the eggnog is?”

Shouto unlocked the door quickly before walking to the counter again. He double checked the counter before going to the back where he heard Izuku calling for him. “What’s eggnog?” He stood in the doorway of the fridge as he watched his coworker and friend, who had convinced him to take the job he now has, rummage through the boxes that were shipped to the store last night.

Izuku chuckled to himself as he heard his friend. “It’s a cold drink that people like to have during the holidays.” He sighed, his smile turning into a frown as he finished looking through all the boxes; he stood up. “And it doesn’t look like we didn’t get any in last night’s shipment.”

“Were we supposed to?” Shouto followed his friend back to the front so that they could be ready for when some of their early bird customers came into the shop.

Izuku looked over everything on the counter, even though he knew that his friend had already prepared everything for the morning. He leaned against the countertop. “Well, since it’s officially December, I figured we would. Plus we might even get more business as a result.” He smiled as Shouto nodded, seeming to understand what he meant.

Just then the bell on the shop’s door jingled, signalling that someone had walked in. Izuku glanced at the girl, giving her a grin. “Hi! Welcome to the Academia Coffee House,” he glanced at Shouto. “You take the order and I’ll make it?”

“Yeah, sure.” Shouto nodded and walked over to the register. “What can I get for you today?”

The girl looked at Shouto after glancing at the menu, stepping towards the counter. “Um, do you by any chance have an eggnog drink that I can add a shot of espresso to?”

Shouto’s eyes widened slightly, surprised to hear about this eggnog drink twice already today. “No, we don’t. I’m sorry.”

The girl smiled, shaking her head. “Oh, it’s fine, don’t worry about it.” She adjusted the backpack that hung on her shoulder. “In that case,” she glanced at Shouto’s hair, smiling to herself. “Can I just get a medium peppermint mocha with an extra shot, please?”

“Sure.” Shouto clicked the drink on the register’s screen, adding the extra shot of espresso the girl asked for. “Can I get a name?”

“(Y/N).”

Shouto nodded, typing the name into the computer. “Alright, your total is $6.48.”

(Y/N) nodded, handing him a couple bills. After Shouto handed back her change, she placed it all into the tip jar. “Thank you, have a good day.”

“You, too.”

With that, she walked away, picking the table by the unlit fireplace in the corner. She sat down and opened her backpack, pulling out her laptop along with a notebook and pen. Shouto didn’t even realize that he was staring until Izuku nudged his arm.

“Todoroki, can you hand me the whipped cream?”

Shouto blinked out of whatever trance he was in and glanced at his friend before reaching into one of the fridges underneath the countertop. He grabbed the can of whipped cream and handed it to Izuku who happily took it from him.

“You okay there?” Izuku chuckled, grabbing one of the glass mugs and pouring the drink into it. “You appeared to be dozing off there.”

“What do you mean?” Shouto closed the fridge, facing Izuku.

“You were staring at that girl weren’t you?”

Shouto hesitated his answer before responding, making Izuku chuckle again as he put the whipped cream on top of the drink. “She tried ordering one of those eggnog drinks. I was just shocked by it. I didn’t think it was that popular.”

“Whatever you say, Todoroki.” Izuku smiled at his friend before placing the mug onto it’s matching saucer; he placed it on the pick up counter. “Peppermint mocha with an extra shot for (Y/N).”

Upon hearing her name, she glanced up at the counter and stood up as she saw her drink. She walked over, carefully picking it up. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Enjoy!” Izuku nodded, glancing over at Shouto, who was once again watching (Y/N) go back to her table.

“You know it’s not nice to stare, Todoroki.”

“I wasn’t staring.”

A couple days later, Todoroki had another morning shift. He wasn’t opening the shop thankfully, but he was still tired nonetheless; he yawned as he opened the door, quickly making his way behind the counter to clock in as he saw the line of people starting to grow at the register.

“Good morning, Shouto.” Ochako smiled as she saw her coworker, both out of relief that there was more help to make the orders that kept coming in and the fact that she hadn’t seen him in a couple weeks due to the way the shift schedule had been made recently due to the holidays coming up.

“Good morning.” It may have been 11 o’clock, but for some it felt as though it was the crack of dawn. “Where do you need me?”

“Uh,” Ochako glanced at the register, sighing in relief as Eijirou appeared to be taking the orders without a problem. “If you could help me make some of these drinks I’d greatly appreciate it.”

“Sure thing.” Shouto clocked into the system before grabbing an apron and putting it on. He walked over and picked up one of the order receipts, his eyes widened as he read the name at the top as well as the order.

Order # 44 - TO GO

Name: (Y/N)

Med. Pep. Mocha

ADD ESPRESSO SHOT

Shouto smiled to himself before getting started on the drink, glancing up every now and then to try and spot the girl he had seen just a couple days prior. Eventually he did see her, smiling to himself as he saw her on her phone, not necessarily paying attention to anything else. He didn’t even realize that he muttered the word ‘cute’ under his breath as he continued making her drink.

Soon enough, he grabbed a lid for the to go cup he was holding, putting it on; he walked over to the pick up counter, placing the drink down. “Peppermint mocha with an extra shot for (Y/N).”

As she heard her name, (Y/N) looked up from her phone and walked over to the counter. She grabbed her drink, meeting Shouto’s gaze. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome,” he smiled as well. “Have a good day.”

“You, too.” (Y/N) glanced down at the name tag on his shirt, smiling a little bit more before she turned around and left the shop.

Shouto took an extra second to watch her leave before walking back over to where the order receipts kept coming on the counter.

Later in the day, once it got less busy in the shop, Shouto walked over to the register. “Hey, Eijirou,” the red head turned around to face him. “Did anyone ask you about an eggnog drink?”

Eijirou thought back to earlier in the day, eventually nodding. “Yeah, there was. Why do you ask?”

Shouto shrugged, trying not to seem excited or anything but nonchalant. “Midoriya brought up how we may end up making those and someone asked about it the other day. I didn’t know if that was happening any time soon.”

Eijirou shrugged. “I don’t know either. Last I heard we’re not doing anything special for the holidays.”

Shouto nodded, leaning back on the counter with his arms crossed. He thought back to that (Y/N) girl who had come in twice now asking about the drink. He didn’t know why she was on his mind now, but he wasn’t particularly mad about it; just confused. He didn’t even know her besides her name and the drink she keeps wanting to order in their shop.

~ ~ ~

“You’re thinking about her again, aren’t you?”

“What? Who?”

“That (Y/N) girl who’s been coming in every now and then.”

Shouto held back a sigh from Izuku’s words, not wanting to admit to his friend that he was right about his assumptions. Instead of replying, he simply kept scrolling through his phone while leaning against the counter.

It had been almost 2 weeks since (Y/N) had first come into the store asking if the shop was selling an eggnog drink, and every time, since that drink wasn’t available, she would order a peppermint mocha with an extra shot of espresso. Shouto had even seen her and taken her order so much that the two even knew each other by name; however, Shouto, for some reason unknown to him, wanted to try and make her drink that she’d been asking for for nearly 2 weeks.

“I’ll take your silence as a yes then.” Izuku laughed, starting to make himself a drink. They were on the closing shift, so it wasn’t as busy, and it was just the two of them working since Mina called in saying that she was sick.

“I’m not thinking about (Y/N).”

Izuku glanced over Shouto’s shoulder as he reached to grab the half and half cream beside him; he held back a smirk. “Then why are you googling how to make eggnog from scratch?”

Shouto immediately closed his phone, shoving it in his pocket and crossing his arms while his cheeks tinted the slightest shade of pink. “I am not.” “Whatever you say, Todoroki.” He laughed softly, finishing making his drink for himself. He took a sip before speaking up again. “You should try getting her phone number. She appears to be into you as well.”

Shouto glanced to the side, his shoulders appearing to lose their tension. “You really think so?”

“Yeah. Why not go for it, you know?” Izuku took another sip of his drink before glancing over at the door as it opened. He smiled to himself. “Actually, why don’t you go ahead and try making the drink she wants?” He then placed his drink down on the countertop before walking over to the register where (Y/N) stood waiting patiently.

“Hi (Y/N)! How are you this evening?”

“Pretty good, thank you. How about you, Izuku?”

Shouto felt his stomach turn with nerves as he saw (Y/N). He glanced at the floor before pulling his phone back out from his pocket, unlocking it to see the eggnog recipe he had been looking at. He took a deep breath as he heard (Y/N) question of whether or not they had an eggnog holiday drink, only for Izuku to politely say no, despite there being a sparkle in his eyes that said otherwise.

Shouto took a deep breath before gathering the ingredients he needed in order to make the drink. He heard (Y/N) walk away from the counter, standing off to the side by the counter. He tried not to think about the fact that she was possible watching him make her drink.

After about 15 minutes, (Y/N) grew confused as to why her drink was taking so long considering the fact that no one else had come into the store and Shouto was the one making her drink. She was about to say something when she caught a whiff of a familiar scent, but not one she had smelled in the store before.

“Is that-”

“Eggnog? Yep.” Shouto spoke up as he heard her, glancing over and smiling at her as he began pouring said drink into a glass mug. “Do you still want the espresso in it?”

“Yes, please.”

Shouto’s smile grew as he heard the excitement in her voice. He then readied the shot of espresso. “Whipped cream and cinnamon?”

“Please.” (Y/N) nodded, touched at the fact that the man was taking the time to make her a drink from scratch. She watched as Shouto added the espresso shot before the whipped cream and cinnamon. “Thank you so much, Shouto.”

“Well, I figured you’ve been getting tired of the peppermint mocha.” Shouto set the mug atop the saucer, gently pushing it toward (Y/N) on the counter.

“Well it’s much appreciated.” (Y/N) laughed softly before picking up the mug carefully since it was still pretty hot. She took a sip, her eyes widening.

“Is it good?” Shouto felt his heart rate pick up as he hoped that she liked it; he let out the breath he was holding as he watched her nod with a bright smile on her face.

“It’s delicious! Did you guys finally get eggnog in stock?”

Shouto shook his head, looking off to the side while one hand held the back of his neck. “No, um, I actually made it from scratch,” he paused, not sure what else to say. “You kept asking us for it, and I figured I could try and make it for you.”

(Y/N) nodded, placing the mug back on the sauce before picking it up again. “Still, it means a lot. Thank you.” She smiled and walked over to her usual table by the fireplace, which was lit today.

In the last hour of his shift, Shouto couldn’t stop himself from smiling and glancing over at (Y/N). Eventually he and Izuku had to start closing up the shop. Shouto started turning off and cleaning the machines while Izuku began wiping down the tables. When she saw the green haired man, (Y/N) began putting away her laptop. “Thank you again for the eggnog espresso. It was delicious. You guys should add it to your menu if you can.”

“We just might.” Izuku glanced over at Shouto as he walked into the back room; he looked back over at (Y/N). “Todoroki typically doesn’t know how to tell people that he cares about them, you’re pretty special, you know that?”

(Y/N) glanced over at Shouto as he walked back to the front, smiling as he met her gaze. “Yeah. I could tell that he’s kinda shy in a way.” She finished putting away her things in her backpack before walking over to the counter. “Shouto?”

The two toned hair man looked up, wondering what she could possibly ask of him. “Yeah? What is it?”

“I know this may seem a bit forward, but would it be possible for me to get your number?”

Shouto stared at her for a second, glancing at Izuku who stood a couple feet behind her and nodding enthusiastically; he nodded as well. “Sure.”

Grabbing a piece of receipt paper and a pen, Shouto wrote down his number before handing it (Y/N). “I apologize for my handwriting.”

“It’s alright. I can read it just fine.” (Y/N) laughed softly, trying not to show her enthusiasm too much. “I’ll text you later tonight, okay?”

Shouto nodded, still surprised at the fact that (Y/N) also appeared to also take an interest in him. With that, (Y/N) said goodbye to him and Izuku before leaving the shop, the smile on her face making it evident that she was unbelievably happy.

Izuku walked over to his friend, clearly happy as well. “Todoroki, you’ve got a date!”

“A date?” Shouto eyed him, confused. After all, he never saw his parents go on dates, and whenever he heard about them from his friends, they always appeared to be them physically going out with someone. “But (Y/N) didn’t ask to take me out somewhere.”

Izuku laughed, shaking his head. “No, no, I mean that she wants to take you out with you as your date.” He paused, trying to study Shouto’s reaction. “She wants to get to know you better Todoroki.”

Shouto looked back at the shop’s windows, part of him hoping that (Y/N) would be there; he smiled to himself, nodding at Izuku’s statement. “I guess you’re right.”

tags: @briswriting

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machine-gun-casie · 5 years ago

Text

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

you’re hired to help with the menu at colson’s new cafe and the lines of employer and employee quickly blur.

wc: 6k (!!!)

“Sit up, man.” Slim knocked Colson upside the head. “Menu person’s coming.”

Colson groaned and lifted his head off of the one table in the unopened cafe. “Tell me again why we booked this meeting for eight in the fucking morning.”

“Because it’s professional.” Slim whispered as the creak of the door echoed in the empty area. “Now sit the fuck up.”

You walked over with your shoulders back and your head held high, looking as professional as possible. Colson’s eyes were comically wide as he watched you approach the table. Your confidence was coming off in waves and Colson couldn’t help but be attracted to it.

Slim stood up. “Hi, you must be y/n.” He smiled at you and reached out to shake your hand. You smiled back and Colson immediately forgot he was hungover.

“Yeah, I am. You’re the one who talked to me on the phone?”

“That was me. I’m the manager. You can call me Slim.” Slim pulled back his hand and patted Colson on the shoulder. “This is Kel-”

“I’m Colson.” Colson shot up and shoved his hand in your direction. ”I’m the owner.”

“Thank you guys for calling me in.” You smiled at him this time and Colson almost fell back into his chair.

“Thank you for coming. Let’s get started, shall we?” Slim said, sitting back down and both you and Colson followed. “We were hoping this could be a collaborative effort, because we want the menu to be unique to us and have some personal touches.” Colson looked at Slim with furrowed eyebrows, he’s never met this version of Slim before.

“Yes, of course. I’ve only got some basic items on my list, I wanted to sit down with you before we get into the trial phase. If there’s anything specific you wanted on the menu, or anything specific you don’t want, we can get that out of the way now.” You pulled out a tablet as you spoke, entering the password and opening your notes.

“There’s only a few items that we really want on the menu, but the rest is up to you.” Slim nodded as you took note of his words on your tablet. “What do you have so far?”

“I’ve got some basic avocado toast, bagels, and breakfast paninis.” You explained, showing them some pictures you had saved. “I’ve been to the surrounding cafes and seen the staples, but I wanted this place to have some unique staples of its own. So I added mini bacon tacos and almond poppy seed muffins.”

Colson’s eyes lit up. “Oh my god, I love almond poppy seed muffins! I was just going to tell you to add them to the menu.”

“No way, I love them too!” You beamed at him. “They’re so underrated. Everywhere I look for them, all I find is lemon poppy seed.”

Colson didn’t know how to respond, he just couldn’t believe he made you smile. Before the silence got awkward, Slim cleared his throat. “Bacon tacos? Are those tacos with bacon?”

“No, they’re bacon taco shells. Made them mini because full sized could get expensive in the long run.” You said, showing him a picture. “I’ve seen them online, but never in cafes and never here. Could definitely bring in some customers, everyone loves bacon.”

“Yeah, for sure. I don’t think I’ve seen those around here before. There’s also some things we need to have on the menu.” Slim said, looking over at Colson.

“Yeah, we need blueberry pancakes and cheese eggs.”

“And do you have any ideas for their names on the menu.” You asked, typing away.

“The pancakes are gonna be Casie’s Weekend Special, C-A-S-I-E. With whipped cream and berries on top.” You nodded and he continued. “And Champ’s Cheesy Eggs for the eggs. Oh, and we also got these special coffee beans coming in next month for a specific cold brew. I want it to be called Cold Brew but with the C-O-L in capital letters.”

“That’s just for it’s name on the menu, right? Because I don’t do coffee stuff.” You asked for clarification.

“Yeah, yeah for sure. I’m making that myself, no need to worry about it.” Colson said.

“Okay, good. Is that it?” You asked as you typed.

“We might add some more later, but you don’t need to worry about that right now.”

“Alright, I’ll start the trial phase this week. I’ll test out the recipes and all that. When I’ve polished everything off, we can do some taste testing.”

“How long do you think you’ll take to finish?” Slim asked.

“You should get a call in about a week or two.”

Slim smiled and nodded. “Perfect, we’re set to open in a few months.”

“I’ll have enough time to train the staff before then.”

“Great, it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine.” You pulled out two business cards and put them on the table, one in front of Slim and one in front of Colson. “This is my business card, in case you need to contact me.”

Colson could have sworn your gaze lingered on him for a second longer than it did on Slim.

This was not a business card he was going to throw away. No way.

The buzzing of your phone pulled you away from your laptop. You were up all night researching and hearing the notification finally pulled you out of the rabbit hole.

It took a while to find your phone in all the blankets on your bed. But when you finally did, the notification that was on your lock screen was not something you were expecting.

Colson requested to follow you on Instagram.

Woah. Unexpected.

You opened your phone and accepted his request and followed him back.

- verified?

C- what can i say im a rockstar

- hahaha

- seriously tho, why?

C- u really dont know?

- nope. enlighten me

C- im a rapper

- no way! i work for a rapper now?

C- i guess you do haha

So your night that started off with researching recipes quickly turned into a night researching Machine Gun Kelly.

Song after song and interview after interview, you wondered how you spent your life not knowing of Machine Gun Kelly’s extensive career. You couldn’t say that you had never heard the name before, but this was way more than you expected.

Your Instagram seemed to pick up on your search history, so your explore page was only memes about your boss from the moment you googled his name.

You weren’t sure you could look him in the face the next time you saw him, something about two nines on his waist.

(creds: @ticketstomydownfall)

- how come you never told me your full name?

C- sorry it just never came up, i never meant to keep it from you

C- i hope you understand

- it’ll take me a while, but im hurt you didn't tell me

And so it began, every time you took a break from menu research you would send memes back and forth. You would send Colson cooking memes he wouldn’t get and he would send you musician memes you wouldn’t get. A healthy balance, you joked.

But your favorites had to be the Machine Gun Kelly memes.

A new cafe opened a few streets down from Colson’s unopened one, so he decided to check out the competition. He stood in line and read the menu. He perked up when he saw the place had poppy seed muffins in their display. It kind of worried him because he wanted them to be his cafe’s thing, but he wouldn’t mind having one right now.

“Hi! What can I get you, sir?”

“Can I get a cold brew and one of those muffins please?” Colson pointed at the basket of muffins.

“The poppy seed?” Colson nodded and the barista reached over and picked one up.

“Are those almond or lemon?”

“These are almond poppy seed muffins, they’re here for a limited time only. Don’t think we’ll have them back anytime soon.”

The barista put the muffin in a paper bag and instructed Colson to wait by the pick up area. As he waited, he pulled out his phone and sent you a picture of the muffin.

C- new place got almond! poppy seed muffins

C- for a limited time only tho, we in the clear

Ever since you started texting, you had told him not to expect any fast responses. Your sleep schedule was all over the place because you ‘work best at night’ is what you told him. The menu was coming up fast and you told Colson to expect some taste testing soon.

So when he got a response from you within seconds, he was confused. He wasn’t complaining, that’s for sure. It just wasn’t like you.

- look in the corner

He looked up and saw you in the corner looking right at him with your phone in your hands. You laughed when you made eye contact and beckoned him over. He pointed towards the barista and you nodded.

As soon as his cold brew was in his hands, he dashed over to you.

“Well, well, well.” Colson smirked, sitting down across from you. “I see you fixed your sleep schedule.”

“Kinda. Just for today.” You smiled. He didn’t know if you always smiled or if you always smiled around him. Colson liked to think it was the latter. “You checkin’ out the competition?”

“Yeah, so are you. What do you think of the muffins?” Colson asked.

“Mine are better.” You shrugged.

“Gotta try ‘em first before I agree.”

“In time.”

It had been two weeks since you saw Colson at the cafe. You ended up staying there for a few hours, time seemed to fly by with him. You gushed about the flourishing menu to him and he smiled and nodded. You knew his appreciation towards the topic wasn’t at your level, but he encouraged you to keep going. ‘I like hearing you talk’ were his exact words.

You were a blushing mess by the end of the night. Some insinuations were made and you could definitely tell that he was as into you as you were into him. And you were willing to tease the possibility.

- im not considered an assistant, am i?

C- you could be if you wanted

- i think assisting with the cafe could be considered an assisting position

C- id be inclined to agree

Colson needed to get away. He needed out right the fuck now.

He couldn’t bear staring at his bedroom ceiling any longer. The demons in his head were louder than ever and he needed an escape.

Closing the door gently, he made sure not to make any loud noises so as to not wake anyone in the house. He got into his car and drove off. He had no clue where he was going, he just knew he was going.

He found himself parked in front of his cafe after a few minutes, not knowing how he got there or how he decided this was the place to escape to. He did have the keys on him. He could just head in, put together a couple of those tables that came in the other day and do something with his hands. Anything to get his mind to shut up for a little while.

The click of the keys turning in the lock sent a shiver up his spine. He made sure to lock the door behind him just in case. The thought of someone already being there never even crossed his mind.

Until he heard something from the back. The kitchen.

The kitchen was fully finished a week ago, decked with all kinds of high tech equipment. Worth a shit ton of money. Did Colson really just stumble into a robbery? Of his own fucking cafe?

He stomped over to the kitchen, fully prepared to beat someone up.

So when he saw you dancing around in a flour covered tank top and shorts with music blasting in your headphones, he had to take a step back.

You screeched when you saw him at the door. “Holy fuck!” Colson laughed as you bent over and put a hand to your chest, taking your headphones out. “My heart just fucking dropped into my ass!”

“I thought you were a robber. I was ready to throw hands.” Colson said nonchalantly as he strode over to you.

“I thought you were going to murder me! What are you doing here? I could have sworn I locked the door.”

“You did.” Colson nodded.

“Shit, right.” You chuckled. “Owner, sorry I forgot.” You pointed at him.

“What are you doing here?”

“I asked first.” You shot back at him.

“Right, right.” He nodded and looked down. “Needed to get away. Found myself here.”

He hated the way your eyes softened at his words, he didn’t need pity or help or someone to fucking ask him if he ‘wants to talk it out’. But you didn’t say any of those things, and he really should have known. You were different.

“I told you. I work best at night. Slim gave me the key last week so I can utilize this amazing kitchen.” You motioned to the high tech equipment around you. “Muffins are almost done, actually.”

“Poppy seed?”

“Mhm, about six minutes left. But I got some pancakes right here, if you wanna try some?” You asked, picking up a plate stacked high with blueberry pancakes.

Colson nodded and took the plate out of your hands. You handed him a fork and he cut himself a bite.

He brought it to his lips and paused, catching your hitched breath. “Don’t play with me! Just eat it!” You laughed, moving the fork into his mouth as he laughed at his stupid joke. His face was thoughtful as he chewed for a few moments. “Well?”

“It’s good.” He hummed. “Really good. But not better than Casie’s.”

“Doubt I can make it better than Casie’s when it’s her name on the menu.” You smiled. “She your girl?”

The question slipped out before you could catch it. It was swirling around in your jealous head every time you saw the name in your notes. You weren’t exactly flirting with Colson these past few weeks, but if he had a girlfriend you would feel kind of guilty because you definitely caught feelings.

Okay, you were definitely flirting. The whole assistant meme? For sure. And you were at least attracted to him. And with the way he has been looking at you, you knew he felt the same way.

“My daughter. It’s just me and her.” Colson smiled, knowing why you were asking and definitely not minding clearing that up for you. “She makes blueberry pancakes on the weekends for me. Best pancakes on the planet. Scratch that, in the fucking universe.”

“Aw shit, I can’t compete with that.” You chuckled. “Gotta try the best pancakes in the fucking universe some time.”

“For sure, I’ll bring her over when you finish up to try your stuff. Maybe you can take some pointers from her.”

“No offence to your daughter’s pancakes, but I think I’m good.” You chuckled. “This is my job and I’m damn good at it.”

“Alright, alright. No need to get feisty on me.” Colson laughed, putting his hands up in surrender. “My daughter’s pancakes will always be number one for me. You know how it is. She doesn’t know I’m putting her name on the menu, though.”

“Bet she’s gonna be so happy, I know I would be. I’ve always wanted my name on a menu.”

Colson nodded and looked down at the counter that you were leaning against. Your phone, which was placed on the same counter, lit up with a notification that revealed your lock screen.

The notification wasn’t what caught Colson’s attention, the music that was playing did. “Are you- are you playing my music?”

“What?” You asked, your hand quickly darting to cover your phone. Colson laughed and pulled your hand away.

“No no no, I saw that.” He chuckled, grabbing the phone. “Loco? Not what I expected you to like, to be honest.”

You shrugged and pushed yourself away from the counter. “It’s got a good beat to whisk to.” You moved away from him and towards the oven and slipped on some mitts.

“The muffins are done? I didn’t hear a timer.”

“It’s all up here, pretty boy.” You smirked at him, tapping your finger against your temple. “If I leave them in any longer they’ll burn.” You explained, dropping the piping hot muffin tray onto the counter.

Colson’s hand slowly reached over to the tray, but you slapped it away before he could touch one. “Ay, they need to cool down! Still didn’t even finish them, man.” You huffed as you took off the oven mitts. You looked at him and saw him staring at you. “What?”

He just smiled his little cute ass smile and shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Don’t ‘nothing’ me. What is it? Do I have something on my face?” Your hand came up to wipe at your cheeks.

Colson held your wrist and pulled it away from your face. “No, you don’t have anything on your face. You just…”

“Just what?” You don’t know when you started whispering, but it felt like you had to. The moment, so fragile and intimate, you didn’t want to scare it away.

“You look really fucking cute right now.” Colson breathed out, his eyes not once leaving yours.

“You don’t just say that to a girl, Colson.”

“Who said I was just saying it?”

The moment lost its preciousness when Colson put his hand on the hot muffin tin. “Ah fuck!” He brought his hand up to his chest, cradling it.

“You’re so stupid, you know that?” You chuckled as you led him to the sink. “Come here, let me run some cold water on it.”

“Fuck me, I just ruined the moment, didn’t I?” He asked as he let you tend to his hand.

“A little, but you didn’t completely lose me.” You mused, teasing him. “I gotta put the glaze on the muffins, then you can have one.”

“There’s glaze!” He asked excitedly. “I fucking love the ones with the glaze on top.”

“I know.” You hummed, taking the bowl with the sugary glaze and spreading a little on each muffin. After you finished all of them, you went back to the first one you covered and popped it out of the tin. You held it up and brought it to Colson’s mouth. “Try it.”

He bit into and moaned almost sinfully at the flavor. That fucker knew what he was doing.

“These are so fucking good.” Colson groaned.

“Damn right they are. You know how hard I worked on that recipe?” You exclaimed, proud the muffins came out as good as Colson made them seem to be.

“Really fuckin’ hard, I take it.” Colson replied. “Come here, you gotta taste it.”

Before you could take a bite out of the muffin, Colson put his finger under your chin and led your lips to his.

You pulled away a few seconds later, breaking the kiss. “You’re right, that tastes really fucking good.”

“You keep talking like that and I don’t think we’re gonna make it outta this place.” Colson smirked.

“The staff room’s got a couch.”

(Elvgren Brunette Pin-Up Girl “Let's Eat Out”)

C- you last night

- excuse me?

C- what?

C- ur the sexy muffin girl

- how dare you?

- i would never burn my muffins

C- dude

C- im tryna flirt with you here

- well try harder

Colson didn’t expect to walk into the cafe the next week with Slim and his daughter to see you wearing his shirt from that night. Casie was just excited to eat the food, so she didn’t notice.

But Slim noticed. Colson coming home without a shirt wasn’t crazy. But you wearing said missing shirt? Yeah, he saw this coming. He smirked at Colson who tried to brush it off but his blushing cheeks betrayed him. Holy fuck, you had him blushing. What the fuck was he going to do with you?

You told them to sit tight while you brought out the plates. When you disappeared into the back, Colson mumbled something about going and helping you out.

“Nice shirt.” He smirked.

“Thanks, I got it from this guy.” You teased.

“This guy?” Colson raised his eyebrows at you as he picked up two plates.

“Yeah, tall lanky blonde dude. I don’t know if you know him, but he’s a rapper.” You smiled, expertly carrying four plates in your arms. “He’s verified on Instagram.”

Casie and Slim both watched with amused smirks on their faces as you and Colson walked out of the kitchen giggling.

With you none the wiser, Colson mouthed ‘Shut up!’ at them. Slim snickered and Casie raised her hands up in surrender. You placed two small plates on each placemat, not aware of the conversation going on around you.

“First, we’ve got the mini bacon tacos.” You said, pointing at each plate. “The bacon shells are filled with a spinach and scrambled egg mixture with a few slices of fresh avocado.”

“Oh my god, dad! The tacos are made of bacon!” Casie exclaimed when she looked down at the plate.

“Stop drooling and eat your food before I do.” Slim mumbled through a mouthful of bacon taco.

“Ay!” Casie shot Slim a look and used her hand as a shield against her taco. “Don’t you touch my food.”

“Then eat it!”

“I will, get off my back!”

“Hey!” Colson shouted, getting their attention. “No fighting in front of our guest!”

Slim and Casie looked up at you and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.” They apologized in unison and you fought hard to not let out a snort.

“It’s alright.” You giggled. “Do you like the tacos?”

Casie stuffed half the taco into her mouth and nodded. “Iss real goo’.”

Colson chuckled and wiped some avocado off his daughter’s face. “I think that’s the equivalent of three michelin stars.”

As everyone cleaned off their plates of all eggs and bacon, you remembered something you wanted to mention.

“Now, next are the blueberry pancakes. But before you guys dig in, Casie, I need to ask you something.” Casie perked up at your words. “Your dad told me that your pancakes are the best in the universe. And because this is his cafe, I would like it if he liked my pancakes too. So if you have any advice for me, I’m all ears.”

Casie looked between you and the pancakes for a moment.

“I’m gonna guess that you don’t use the boxed stuff, right?” You nodded. “Alright, I’ve got one trick that I use. But you gotta promise not to tell anyone.”

You stuck out your pinky and nodded. “Pinky promise.”

“Pinky promise.” Casie looped her pinky with yours and smiled. “Y’all gotta shut your ears.” She said to Colson and Slim.

“But-”

“No buts!” She stopped Slim. “Shut your ears!” Casie watched her dad and uncle as they slowly covered their ears with their hands, confused and trying but failing to hold in their laughter.

“Alright, my trick is hazelnut milk. I use it instead of normal milk. Makes it kind of taste like Nutella, and Dad loves Nutella. And I add a teeny tiny bit of cardamom powder. The tiniest pinch. Made the recipe all by myself, so I better get credit.”

You smiled and made eye contact with her. “Trust me, you’re gonna get your credit.”

C- my jaw still hasn't recovered

- shouldn’t that be my line?

C- remind me to never show anyone our texts ever in life

- noted

C- are you free tomorrow?

- yeah why?

C- meet me at the cafe at noon

C- theres something i wanna show u and casie

You smiled when you saw Colson and Casie approaching the cafe. You had gone to the store so as to not arrive too early, but you still beat them by a few minutes.

“Hey.” Colson smiled. “You brought stuff?”

“Yeah, just a few secret ingredients.” You nodded, holding the canvas bag behind your back. “If I show you, I have to kill you.”

“Can I see?” Casie asked.

“Of course.” You scoffed and winked at her.

“Hey! How come she can see but I can’t?” Colson asked incredulously.

You shrugged and giggled. “Why are we here, Colson?” You asked, changing the subject.

“Something came in today.”

“The coffee beans?” You asked, hoping you’d get a taste of his COLd brew. Yes, you told him it was stupid. No, he wouldn’t budge.

“Nope, the chalkboard.” He waggled his eyebrows at you.

Your eyes lit up. “For the menu?”

“Yup.”

“Dad, can I help? Please, I wanna do the border.” Casie pleaded.

“Of course, special girl.” Colson nodded at her. “You gotta help bring it out, though.”

“Let’s get the chalkboard!” Casie jumped up and tried to open the door.

Colson told her to hold on, the door wasn’t unlocked. He pulled out his keys and turned the lock, opening the door wide enough for Casie to run inside.

“It’s in the back.” Colson called after her.

She ran past you both to the staff room.

“She’s cute.” You chuckled once she was out of earshot.

Colson walked into the cafe with you and closed the door behind him. “Yeah, she got it from me.”

Before you had time to reply, a resounding crash came from the back.

“Casie!” You both dashed to the back to see if she got hurt.

“I’m fine!” She said once you both walked into the room. Casie was fine, but the long cardboard box she was pulling was no longer upwards but flat on the floor. “I think I broke it, though.” She winced.

Colson sighed and dragged his hand down his face. “Case…“

You smiled at Casie to calm her down. “It’s alright, as long as you’re not hurt.” You approached her and pulled her into a side hug and observed the fallen box. “Let’s see the damage out in the front, come on.”

The box was pulled out by all of you to the front where you opened it and pulled out the chalkboard. The chalkboard that was once one piece was now distinctly two pieces.

Casie sighed dejectedly. “I broke it bad.”

“No, no. This is definitely not bad.” You reassured her and looked over at Colson to back you up.

“Yeah, princess. This is not bad.” He said, not really knowing why it was great but only playing along with you as to not make his baby girl feel bad. “Why is this not bad?”

You laughed and kneeled down to fully pull out the two broken pieces out of the box. “We can make it look intentional. See, the crack is going diagonally down the middle. You can do the border around each piece. It would look really cool.”

“That would actually look really dope.” Colson said as he finally understood what you were getting at. “None of the other places have anything like this.”

“See? Told you.” You nodded. “What would you do without me, huh?”

“I have no clue.” Colson mumbled as he knelt down to sit next to you. You weren’t sure if you were supposed to hear it, but you sure did. “Alright, y’all can do the border. Leave the rest to me.”

“You sure?” You asked, raising your eyebrows at Colson. “It’s gonna take you a while.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. You have everything written down somewhere?”

You nodded and pulled out your phone from your pocket. You opened up your notes app and handed it to him. “This is my latest draft for the final menu. Do with it what you wish.”

And so you got to work. Every time you tried to peek at what Colson was writing, he’d push you away and say it was a surprise. So you stuck to what he assigned you. The border took you and Casie no time, even after adding some doodles here and there and signing the bottom right corner.

“Dad?” Casie perked up.

“Yeah?” Colson asked, still focused on his penmanship.

“You good to finish it up?”

“Yeah, why?”

“y/n and I need to go to the kitchen.”

“You do?”

“We do?”

“Yes.” Casie nodded at you. “We do.”

“Oh!” You smiled, remembering the bag you had brought with you. “We do!”

“Mhm.” Casie smiled sweetly at her dad and hopped up and headed towards the kitchen. “Come on, y/n! No time to waste.”

You giggled at her antics and shrugged at Colson. “No time to waste, I guess.” You grabbed your bag full of ingredients and followed the little sassy child to the kitchen.

You placed the bag on the counter and smiled at her. “So, how many do you wanna make?”

“Not many.” She shrugged as she helped you take out the ingredients. “Just a few to try out the recipe.”

“Good idea.” You nodded. “I changed my original recipe a little bit, added your suggestions and a few more things. That cardamom powder is a great addition, by the way.”

“Thanks!” Casie beamed. “So you’re a chef, huh?”

“Not exactly.” You mused as you pulled out the bowls and measuring equipment. “If we had to get technical, I guess my job is a menu curator. I help people make menus for their cafes or restaurants.”

“But dad said you make really good food.” Casie pointed out as she measured some dry ingredients into a large bowl. “Did you learn it by yourself or did you go to school for it?”

“A little bit of both.” You paused to help her not spill the flour and continued. “I’ve been to a few culinary schools, but only the ones that you attend for a few months. But I’ve always loved cooking.”

“So this must be your dream job, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess it is. You wanna crack the eggs?” You asked and handed her the eggs when she nodded. “What’s your dream job?”

“I’m not really sure, I’m only eleven.” She shrugged and threw out the egg shells. “But I really like the music industry. So probably something in that. Maybe a producer or something. I’ve helped out Uncle Slim on some of my dad’s stuff and it was fun.”

“No way! That’s really cool. I know nothing about the music industry, if I’m being honest.” You confessed.

“Did you know about Dad’s music?” She asked. You paused for a moment, knowing this was coming. Casie wasn’t stupid, she knew something was going on between you and her dad. She wanted to make sure you were right for him. And she was definitely not going to beat around the bush to find out.

“Not when I first met him. But he followed me on Instagram and I asked why he was verified and he told me.” You said.

“Oh.” Casie said, pausing to think of what to say next. “Okay.”

You looked at her and furrowed your eyebrows. “Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.” She nodded as she poured out the hazelnut milk into a measuring cup. “I like you, y/n. And I know my dad likes you, too. If he didn’t think you were a good person, then I wouldn’t even be here.”

Pushing the bowl closer to her so the milk wouldn’t go on the counter, you stayed silent so she could continue. “And I know you were wearing his shirt the other day, which means my dad really likes you. But you gotta know that being with my dad comes with stuff not everyone likes. I know you like me, which is obvious because I’m amazing.”

“Yes, of course.” You nodded semi-seriously, giggling with her.

“But there’s also his music and the whole public thing, which gets weird sometimes.” Casie’s eyebrows rose as she spoke, indicating that she’s seen enough to know what she was talking about. “They say things and they lie and they might drag your name through the mud. But some people forget that the things they say only last for a news cycle.”

“You are wise beyond your years, Ms. Casie Baker.” You pointed at her. “I think meeting you has been the best part of working for your dad.”

A week later, Colson called you back to meet at the cafe. After making the pancakes with Casie, Colson refused to show you the menu. He insisted it still needed more work and that neither of you could see it until it was properly set up behind the front counter.

Both you and Casie moaned and groaned, telling him a little peak wouldn’t hurt. But he held his ground.

Walking up to the cafe, you saw that Colson and Casie beat you this time around. Colson was sitting down as Casie jumped around him, begging him to remove the white sheet hiding the chalkboard on the wall.

“Hey guys.” You said as you opened the door.

“y/n!” Casie called, running up to you. “Thank god you’re finally here! He made me wait this whole time.”

You looked up at Colson who was shaking his head. “We’ve been here for eight minutes.” He chuckled.

“That’s a whole four hundred and eighty seconds!”

“Ay, that was some nice quick math!” Colson cheered and held his hand up for a high five.

Casie slapped his hand and walked over to the menu. “Alright, she’s here. Can we please see the menu now?” She pleaded.

Colson sighed and nodded. He positioned you and Casie to stand in front of the board and placed your hands on your eyes.

“On three, open your eyes.” Colson instructed as he held onto the white fabric. “One, two…”

You and Casie waited for him to continue only to hear him snickering. “Dad!”

“Alright, alright.” You heard the fabric fall to the floor. “Three!”

You gasped when you finally laid eyes on the long awaited finished menu. Colson somehow made all you and Casie’s little doodles crisper and more vivid. The border around both the pieces had some additional patterns here and there, obviously courtesy of Colson. Your eyes scanned the names of the menu items quickly, most of them already known to you from your notes.

“Casie’s Weekend Special?” Casie asked after a moment of silence, looking up at her dad. “No way! Are those the pancakes?”

“Yeah, you like it?” Colson smiled.

She giggled and jumped up to hug Colson. “I love it!”

“I told you you’d get your credit.” You smirked at her.

She climbed off her dad and gasped. “You knew?”

You nodded and she attacked you with a hug too. You laughed as you almost toppled over from the sudden embrace.

You continued reading the menu when Casie climbed off of you. You chuckled at the ‘Bomb A$$ Bacon Tacos’ and at the ‘COLd Brew’. You smiled when you read ‘y/n’s ALMOND poppy seed muffins’.

Wait what.

“Colson…”

“You said you’ve always wanted your name on a menu. Besides, it’s your recipe.” Colson stumbled back as you attacked him in a hug this time.

You sighed against the skin of his neck and whispered a soft ‘thank you’. You pulled back and stood there for a bit, just looking at his piercing blue eyes. How can someone’s eyes be so blue?

“Oh my god! Just kiss her already!” Casie exclaimed.

“Woah! Where did that come from, little lady?” Colson turned to look at Casie without letting you go.

“You guys are making major goo goo eyes at each other. Just kiss! I’ll cover my eyes, don’t worry.” She said, placing her hand over her eyes.

“I mean, she’s kinda-”

You cut him off by placing your lips against his. Casie giggled as she peeked between her fingers. Colson furrowed his eyebrows and groaned his disapproval into the kiss, waving his free arm at his daughter.

You giggled against Colson’s lips and pulled his waving arm back. You pulled away and reached out one arm around Casie and dragged her into the embrace. “Your dad is a real romantic, Casie.”

“Thanks, I taught him well.”

“Yeah, you really did.”

#machine gun kelly #mgk #colson baker #machine gun kelly fanfic #machine gun kelly x reader #machine gun kelly fluff #machine gun kelly imagine #mgk fanfic #mgk fluff #mgk x reader #mgk imagine #colson baker fanfic #colson baker x reader #colson baker fluff #colson baker imagine #richard colson baker

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gottawriteanegoortwo · 4 years ago

Text

Darkstache - Seeing the Truth

A follow-on from the prompt where Wilford discovered Dark was colourblind. He’s determined to help Dark experience the beauty that is colour.

Word Count: 1,565

If there was one thing every single ego working in the studio could agree on, it was that Wilford was not the smartest of the bunch. He struggled with reading, had difficulties keeping track of time, had an unreliable memory on bad days, among other things. Which was why there was surprise when it was discovered Wiford was undertaking heavy research. Sitting at the desk in his dressing-room-studio, the reporter was immersed in work on his laptop. There was a notebook beside him where he attempted to write legible notes. Several drinking glasses had been conjured and emptied so he could work without the distraction of moving. Another notebook was open and drying on the radiator after some water spilled on it.

But if anyone walked in with the intention to see what he was doing, they were blocked by an invisible bubble. To Dark’s frustration, it included him.

“You know you can’t work on anything without telling me about it. As the company’s lawyer, I need to make sure what you’re doing keeps you out of legal trouble.” Dark folded his arms with an irritated expression. In response, Wilford pulled himself onto his feet, sauntered across the room, and slipped through the bubble barrier to take Dark’s hands in his own.

“Yeah, buuut Google told me that’s only if I’m workin’ on somethin’ fer th’ studio. This is a personal project that I want perfect before I tell anyone!” A seemingly simple answer had alarm bells ringing in Dark’s mind. Wilford always put his brainstorming on display for others. Why was he being so secretive? He tried to pull his hands away, but the reporter’s grip was too tight. “Ya gotta trust me, sugarplum. I’ve been workin’ hard like a little bee in here. Just gimme a little longer an’ I’ll show ya everythin’.”

“Will this be before or after you cause whatever trouble you’re planning?”

“Who said anythin’ ‘bout causin’ trouble?” Wilford was hurt by that, though he was quick to shake it off. “When it’s ready, yer th’ first person I wanna show. Promise.” He kissed Dark on the cheek and added, “Yer still free after work, right?”

When the other egos and regular staff had called it a day, Dark returned to Wilford’s empty office. To his surprise, the barrier bubble was gone, but the desk space had been cleared. There was no evidence he could see that might tell him what Wilford was up to. Wilford had actually remembered to shut down the laptop for once. This was certainly an unusual setting for the reporter who was terrible with technology. There had to be a clue somewhere that he wasn’t seeing!

“Babe!” Wilford’s voice made Dark jump. He spun around to notice Wilford had changed clothes to wear a faint blue (maybe) shirt, black trousers and white suspenders (he could tell those colours easily). “Thought I’d catch ya before ya left yer office. Ya ready ta go?” Dark nodded, crossing the room to take Wilford’s free hand.

“A basket?”

“Well, yeah! Can’t have ya gettin’ cold on me, eh? We got a great evenin’ planned an’ I want ya ta be cosy!”

The car pulled up at their normal viewing spot outside the city. Dark tried to weasel information out of Wilford, but the reporter was unusually tight-lipped. All he could learn was that the pair were sky-gazing. As much as Dark liked spending time with Wilford, he couldn’t help but feel Wilford forgot that Dark couldn’t enjoy seeing the day sky in the same way. Surely he wouldn’t need to ruin the night by having this conversation a second time, right? Stuck with indecision on what to do, Dark didn’t notice how Wilford sat on the picnic blanket and began pulling things out of the basket at first. A little vase of flowers, a notebook, some juggling balls, a small balloon, a black case…

“Wilford… What are you doing with all this stuff?” Before Dark could sit, Wilford quickly scrambled back onto his feet.

“No, no! Not yet. Tonight’s a special night. Gonna be one of th’ prettiest views an’ I don’t wantcha missin’ it ‘cause yer askin’ why I have so many things with me.” Wilford wagged a finger playfully at Dark. A graceful bend allowed him to scoop up the black case and hand it to Dark. “A present fer my beautiful shadow.” Dark accepted the case, clicked it open, and frowned.

“... Sunglasses. At 8pm?”

“Well, yeah! There’s gonna be some big bright flashy thing of some sort tonight. Bing was ravin’ ‘bout it. I’m surprised ya didn’t hear ‘bout it!” Wilford had whipped out a pair of sunglasses and rested them in his messy curls. “Go on! Try ‘em on. Betcha look real handsome with ‘em~”

Something wasn’t right, but Dark couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Wilford was acting peculiar, like he was trying to distract the entity from something. Google never mentioned anything about events taking place in the sky. With all the random objects scattered at his feet, it could be Wilford’s way to pull attention away from some crime he had committed while out. That’s why he changed clothes, it had to be! Even with those worries in his head, Wilford looked genuinely excited. Dark never wore sunglasses, but maybe he could humour Wilford and play along.

The glasses were put on.

The world exploded in a way he never could have predicted.

What was originally a murky mesh of blue, yellow, and grey had now become so much more. Everything was brighter, vivid, alive! He quickly lifted the glasses to see the world as he was used to, then dropped the glasses back down to see this new world. It was the glasses. The glasses were somehow letting him see colour in a way he never could have imagined and couldn’t possibly explain. The colours seemed to shift a little the longer he wore them, possibly as his eyes adjusted to it, allowing him to see so much more. A hand covered his mouth as emotions welled up inside him. Never did he think he would ever see something like this in his entire life.

“Ya doin’ okay?” Wilford’s hand gently squeezed his shoulder. Dark nodded.

“I… I’ve never seen colour like this before. It’s beautiful… I thought you brought me here because you forgot.”

“Nah. I wrote it down when ya told me. This is what I’ve been workin’ on all week that no one knew ‘bout. I wanted ta help ya see colour. These glasses were th’ best way ta do that. Bet it must be weird fer ya.”

“I never would have guessed how many types of green there are. It all looked the same, but the leaves on the trees and the grass all look so different…” He turned to face Wilford, only to trail off as he took in the sight of his boyfriend in full colour for the first time. He was wearing a purple shirt, not a blue one! Wilford could see the emotion in Dark’s eyes through the tinted lenses as the entity’s hand reached up to Wilford’s face. “... Is that pink? Your moustache… It’s brighter than I could have imagined.” Tears finally slipped underneath the glasses as he laughed. “It’s perfect for you. I can’t stop smiling as I look at it. Oh! I never even realised it was in your hair either! I thought your hair was all one shade!” Fingers looped strands of pink locks to examine them better. “I knew I was right to think of you when I tried to imagine what ‘pink’ looked like.”

“Ya can admire me an’ my pretty pink all ya like later…. But turn ‘round again. I think y’ll like what yer ‘bout ta see.” Wilford kissed Dark on the nose before encouraging the entity to spin back the way he was originally facing.

There, in all its majestic glory behind them, was a sunset. With the distraction of the glasses, enough time had passed for the sun to dip low enough below the horizon. Dark slipped an arm around Wilford’s waist and held on tightly as he took in every inch of the evening sky.

“I knew it was yellow, I knew it was blue, but all the colours in between… No wonder you were always so excited to look at sunsets. I could stare at this all night if I could. I’m seeing colours I never knew existed before. It’s perfect.”

“I thought y’d say that. I try ta keep a diary ta help me remember things so I thought, ‘why not do th’ same fer you’?” A spiral-bound notebook was passed to Dark, open on a page that had coloured squares labelled. “I made ya a little chart so y’d know what colours are what.” A simple gesture had the emotions bubbling over all over again as Dark hugged Wilford tight.

The pair would sit in silence and enjoy the full beauty of the sunset. Wrapped in a purple and white blanket, Dark was given all the time to process what he was seeing. Later, the pair would use the notebook to show Wilford what Dark could now see in the random assortment of items that dotted the blanket as they undertook a masterclass of colour.. But for the moment, seeing the beauty of a colourful world took priority.

---

Note: For those who might be curious, I highly recommend checking out EnChroma, who do indeed make glasses to help those who are colourblind. There are plenty of video reactions to people wearing them for the first time if ever you need to rediscover your appreciation of colour.

#darkstache #writersofmark #Darkiplier #Wilford Warfstache #fluff #(read-more is for tidiness! :D )#Cracked Mirror (Dark)#Rose Petals (Wilford)#(my Wilford will always try to do what he can if he can make his beloved smile. Trust me on this)#personal fave #dark is colourblind

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alexthepartyman · 4 years ago

Text

When I’m Saved (Part 3)

The chief of police puts the cruiser into park, high-pitched barks get closer to the car. “That’s the family dog. Oscar is just a puppy, he’s like five months old, I believe.” Dr Lewis looks out the window to see a gruff man with grey hair making his way towards the cruiser, the frame muffling his yelling. “Roll down the window,” he says.

“What?”

“That’s Nate.” She rolls down the window, and the man picks up a black puppy. “Nate. This is Dr Tara Lewis from the FBI-”

“FBI?” He asks.

“Hi, Nate. We’re doing everything we can to find Dmitri,” Dr Lewis explains calmly. “Cute puppy.”

“Rhys picked him out. Wanted a new animal after her cat died a few years back.” Dr Lewis turns to her escort. “Do you have to keep sending people to dig through my house? My damn daughter isn’t in my house.”

“DJ. You know anything about the state troopers that showed up?” Another man asks, approaching the car.

“What? That doesn’t make sense, that kid is not part of their investigation.”

“What investigation?”

“Not at liberty to tell you, Nate.” The officer sighs and exits the cruiser. Dr Lewis follows, climbing out and closing the door behind her. “Just tell me what they’ve done so far.”

“They’re requesting the notebooks and the computer. I told them that unless they could prove that Rhys is a part of their investigation, they couldn’t have it. They have seemed to jump to the conclusion that Rhys’s disappearance is connected to their investigation, but they won’t tell us how.”

“Jeremy, go brief your people on the situation and come back here. Do they know that FBI has jurisdiction now?”

“I’ve been out here with Nate, apparently Roger and Robert Kelly are on their way over. Have your people been briefed?”

“Not yet. I had been at the station a few minutes to greet Dr Lewis. FBI drove her over from Boise,” the chief answers. “Once you get back, I’ll go brief my people.” The two men nod at each other before one loads into the county cruiser and pulls away. “That was County Sheriff Jeremy Howard, my older brother. Nate, why don’t you go settle in your office? We’ll come to get you if we need you.” The chief suggests as the group heads up to the house. Once they enter the yellow house with red poles in front, the gruff man sets the puppy on the floor.

“Rhys’s bedroom is the first door on the right,” he roughly explains. “She lives in there. It’s a disaster.” The man sighs. “She can’t clean it up for anything. There’s probably a rat hiding in there somewhere. Be careful if you go in there, you might trip on something and break an ankle.” A state trooper exits the bedroom, lighting a patch of the brown hallway with a yellow-tinted light.

“I’m told there’s an issue?” He asks.

“Chief Howard, Peyton PD. I didn’t think this was a part of your investigation, Captain,” the man retorts.

“We just happened to hear about the kid...how do you pronounce the name? R-is?”

“Rees,” the gruff man cuts in.

“Like the candy? Oh, that’s cute, Nate.”

“Captain. This is Dr Lewis from the FBI, she is liaising on behalf of the rest of the FBI, who are in Los Angeles finding Rhys.”

“Mr La Byorteaux, if you will excuse us,” Dr Lewis addresses the scruffy man with grey hair, wearing a black USPS beanie. She leads the chief and the captain into the bedroom and closes the door behind her.

“Look, we were investigating on behalf of you guys.”

“Thank you, but we like to process the crime scenes and go through the evidence ourselves. First things first, the BAU is officially addressing Rhys as Dmitri. It would be in his best wishes to do so, and it would help us find him quicker if the public knew to look for Dmitri La Byorteaux, a boy, not Rhys La Byorteaux, a girl. Now, have you contaminated the scene?”

“Doctor, we would like to search through the kid’s computer and notebooks, it may give us insight into our investigation.”

“Let’s worry about finding Dmitri first, then we’ll deal with what he has to do with your investigation,” the doctor warns. “I want the notebooks and the computer first. Those may be instrumental in finding him alive. The first twenty-four hours of an abduction case are crucial, and we’re down to seventeen.”

“Abduction?”

“My team has come to the conclusion that Dmitri was abducted. We need to determine if he could have known his abductors by going through his social media. He talks with a lot of strangers over the internet on multiple platforms, and these conversations have probably lasted for years. Dmitri would have been more open on the internet than in real life, he’s probably shared more information with people online than he does trusted adults or friends. Now, you won’t be going through all of that, we have technical analysts working on that front. How many notebooks are there?”

“Over ten. Looks like they took a beating.” The trooper lightly tosses one to the doctor. “I can’t read them…” She gently opens the book, finding proverbial hills and valleys scrawled across the curling pages.

“His handwriting is interesting. I’d like to show this to my team. Do you know how to get into his computer?”

“There’s no password on it, so we were able to get into it.” Doctor Lewis steps over clothes on the floor and makes it to the bed, opening the laptop and firing it up. She whips out her phone and dials out.

“Hello, my sweet! How may I help you?”

“Did you just get the IP address I sent you?”

“Yeah, I did, it looks like it’s Dmitri’s computer...it seems that this computer has been used to pirate a lot of music, there are a few games installed, and I can tell you, he’s been to the park before. It appears he went when he was eleven with his grandparents.”

“Where did you get that?”

“In his picture gallery. There are more pictures from other trips he has taken, and facial recognition says they are people he knows through his mom’s work as a union official for the National Rural Letter Carrier’s Association. I’m getting into his email, which connects me to everything else of his. The password to his email is the typical spelling of his legal name, R-E-E-S-E, and the numbers nine-one-one. He has an obsession with that number...the email is listed as a recovery address for nine other email addresses. Why would he need that much secrecy?” Dr Lewis looks around the yellow-tinted room with pale blue walls peeking out from behind miles of posters.

“Garcia, what’s this Opera?”

“What? You’ve heard of Opera?”

“Opera is a web browser in Norway that runs on a Chromium engine, making it compatible with Google Chrome. It was first used in 1995, making it one of the oldest. It also provides a free VPN, and that’s probably why Dmitri uses it, since he already has Google Chrome, and it doesn’t seem like he spends money very often on the internet.”

“Is that Kevin?”

“Yeah, it is,” the man sighs.

“Why would a sixteen-year-old boy need a VPN?”

“I don’t know, but we can keep looking. I’m trying the Find My iPhone feature again from his dad’s account, with no luck on either his phone or his iPod. His iPad is pinging from the hotel in Los Angeles where the group was staying.”

“Has he logged onto social media yet?”

“Nope, no activity since Friday night. His internet friends are spreading all media coverage across social media. An internet friend picked up the news from San Francisco and posted it to Tumblr, and it’s slowly spreading amongst blogs he’s interacted with. The 5SOS fandom is one of the most active fandoms out there right now, and if one of the bigger blogs spreads it, then it could really spread like wildfire. The news has also reached Twitter, and it’s gaining traction. People are tagging members of the bands he listens to.”

“I’ll let JJ know, and I’ll-” Dr Lewis is cut off by high pitched parks through the walls and yelling.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP! GODDAMN IDIOT- WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?! WHY ARE THEY OUT HERE?!”

“It’s LUWC. State news,” the captain responds, peeking out of the window. “Who wants to go out there?”

#criminalminds #tara lewis #Luke Alvez #Matt Simmons #mateo cruz #emily prentiss #penelope garcia #spencer reid #Criminal Minds #Criminal Minds Fanfiction #DavidRossi

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hamitome--imagines · 5 years ago

Text

Temporary Engagement

Alexander Hamilton x Reader

Based on the tumblr post [x]

Modern

A/N: Well I’ve been sitting on this one for a while. I don’t actually have much to say except enjoy!

Word Count: 7,492

~~ Alexander: Can you marry me?

You stared at your phone in pure confusion. You and Alexander were good friends so you were sure that he had a good reason for asking this.

Alexander: I just learned that I can get any aid for my loans unless I have a kid, get married, or turn 24. So…I need to get married.

You thought to your loans that were piling up. If marriage meant that you could get aid, then it wasn’t all bad.

Y/N: Sure, I can marry you. I need all the aid I can get too.

Your phone rang as Alexander called you. “Seriously? Would you really do this? Cause I’m looking into it right now.”

“Yeah. Alexander my loans are insane and I don’t want to wait until I’m twenty-four to get aid.” You responded. “So I guess, let’s get married.”

“Ok, but we need to do this quick. My semester is gonna start soon.”

“Uh…” You started Googling. “We need to get a marriage license, which is about $30.”

“We can afford that.” Alexander reasoned.

“Then we need to apply for a marriage certificate.” You explained.

“How long do we need to stay married?” He asked. That was a good question. “And how do we get divorced? It’d be pretty suspicious if we did got divorced immediately after we got our aid. What if one of us committed adultery? I think that’s grounds for quicker divorce.”

“Uhm, well this form I found says ‘irretrievable breakdown’ of the marriage. I guess we could fake a fight, but I think we could also just say it’s not working out.”

“Ah shit.” Alexander grumbled.

“What?” You asked.

“It says divorce can cost anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000. Most of that is legal fees.”

“So fuck lawyers. We don’t need a lawyer. We don’t have kids or property to figure out. We would literally just be getting a divorce.”

“Oh. Yeah!” Alexander was happy and excited once more. “This…might actually work!”

—

“What about this?” You held up another dress for Hercules’s approval. It was a cotton dress that hung down to your knees. Otherwise, it was plain.

“It’s very casual and plain. I don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, because you won’t tell me, but I don’t think it’s that.” Was Hercules’s reply. You sighed, silently agreeing. “This would be quicker if you told me what you needed a dress for.”

“Look, it’s no big deal.” You waved off. You and Hercules kept looking.

“What about this? It’s a very nice dress.” Hercules asked. He held up a slim white ball gown made of silk.

“Oh no. Too nice. Absolutely not what I want.” Hercules sighed and hung it back up. After a bit longer, you found it. “This is it!” Another white dress. It was a high-low dress. The highest part started at your knees, the lowest part hung a bit higher than your ankles. The skirt was flared slightly, not hanging straight down. It had an illusion neckline, the rest was a fine silk. There was only one problem. It was a pastel orange silk belt. “Hmm. But I don’t like this belt.”

“That is an insanely easy fix.” Hercules commented. “I can whip up a belt for you. What color do you need?”

You stalled. Well, this is going to bring up questions. “Olive green would work best.”

Hercules didn’t miss it. “Like…like Alexander’s suit?”

“Exactly.” You responded and went to purchase the dress. A few days later, you were at Hercules’s tailor store. You tried the dress on and tied the green belt around it. You stepped out so Hercules could give his opinion. “Well?” You asked.

“It looks great.” Hercules said. “Maybe now you can tell me what’s going on. Cause you bought a pretty white dress with an olive green belt, and Alexander asked me to alter his olive green suit to fit him better.”

“Fine.” You grumbled. “Me and Alexander are…um…we’re getting married.”

“What?!”

“Look. it’s nothing formal. We’ll be married for a bit, get some aid for our loans, then we’ll say it’s not working and get divorced. Simple.”

“It sounds way too complicated honestly.” Hercules argued. “Why go to all this trouble just to get aid?”

“Because. Me and Alexander can play a happy couple for a while. We’ll become friends who live together. Nothing more. And then, when the divorce comes, we’ll live separately again.” Hercules’s opinion on the matter never changed. However, he insisted he be a groomsman along with John and Lafayette. So you asked the Schuyler sisters to be your bridesmaids.

You had a small service and your reception was just getting a nice meal for the wedding party. You and Alexander decided you would stay at Alexander’s house. You headed over there and Alexander unlocked the door. “Isn’t there some tradition about the husband carrying the wife over the threshold of the door?”

“I think so. Why?” In response, Alexander scooped you up bridal style. He carried you inside his house.

He looked at you and awkwardly shrugged. “Gotta stay true to tradition. After all, we are now a newly and happily wed man and wife.” He then set you down. “Well, what do married people do?” Alexander asked.

“Have sex, usually.” You answered. Alexander smirked. “Which we aren’t doing.” You said pointedly.

“Fair enough. But I only have one room here. So either one of us takes the couch or we share a bed.”

You took one look at the tiny, lumpy couch and decided neither of you needed to endure that. “I think we’re capable of sharing a bed and not making it weird or uncomfortable.” So you both changed out of your wedding clothes, you changed in the bathroom while Alexander changed in the bedroom. You both decided that pajamas were reasonable for the rest of the day. After all, you just got married. No one would be coming around to disturb you.

You warmed up a frozen pizza for dinner. You watched tv while Alexander worked. Honestly, nothing much had changed. You and Alexander had hung out like this many times before. You glanced at Alexander’s hands flying over his keyboard. He would pause momentarily, his fingers fiddling with the new ring on his hand. A simple, cheap gold band. You had one identical, albeit a bit of a slimmer band. It was just another part of your rouse honestly. Either one of you could take it off and the other wouldn’t be offended. But you decided for a while to keep up appearances.

After a few hours, you stretched your arms and yawned loudly. Alexander paused his typing and looked at you quizzically. “You tired?”

“I guess. It is getting late.” You said as you stood.

“Alright. Be there in a few.” He said. You walked over and slowly pushed the laptop closed. You weren’t a concerned wife, but a worried friend. You knew Alexander could overwork himself. At least now you were maybe able to control his work habits a little.

“Come on. No staying up super late tonight.” You lightly chided. Then you smirked slightly. “After all, it’s our wedding night.”

That got a small chuckle out of Alexander. He set his laptop aside and stood up to follow you to the bedroom. You stared at the bed. “I’m guessing I know which side you usually sleep on.” You commented. One side of the bed had the covers were unmade. The other half looked untouched. Alexander walked over and dropped onto the unmade side with a nod. You walked over and pulled back the covers on the other side of the bed. You burrowed under the covers. “Well goodnight, Alexander.” You said.

“G’night, Y/N.”

—

You woke up before Alexander. That gave you time to detangle yourself from his embrace. The two of you had ended up cuddling pretty closely during the night. So you moved out of his hold. You figured it was an unfortunate side-effect from sleeping in the same bed. You stood and gathered your things and went to the bathroom.

After a shower you got dressed. As you were straightening your shirt, the door opened. Alexander still looked half asleep. Until he noticed you. “Shit. Sorry.” He pulled the door closed quick. “I forgot you were here.” He said on the other side of the door. You opened the bathroom door back up.

“It’s fine. I was dressed anyway.” You told him. While Alexander showered, you made some coffee. You poured a cup for you and a cup for Alexander, made the way he liked. To-go cups to take to work. You couldn’t help but realize that was extremely…domestic. But hey, you were married now.

Alexander came out of the bathroom, dressed and ready for work. Though, he still looked a bit sluggish. So you walked over and handed him his coffee. “Oh. Thank you so much.” He said excitedly before taking a large gulp. Then he gave you a small smile. “You are the best of wives and the best of women.”

You rode to work together, considering you both worked for Washington just in different departments. Alexander worked directly with George Washington, but you didn’t. You didn’t mind. Alexander often claimed that George acted differently as a boss than how he usually was. And you could understand that. You went off to work and Alexander did the same.

—

Alexander finished the coffee you had made for him this morning. You, Y/N, his wife. The idea still seemed insane. But the ring on his finger confirmed it. A few months and it would just be a funny story they told. But currently, Alexander was married. He walked over to his desk and immediately got ready for the day, clearing his head of his current relationship status.

He lost track of time, as usual, but eventually Washington emerged from his office and walked over to Alexander’s desk. “Hamilton, can you re-write these proposals for me?” He asked, handing him a few papers.

“Of course, Sir.” Alexander reached out to take them, with his left hand. “I’ll get right on that.”

“Hang on a minute, son.” Alexander resisted the urge to correct his boss. “Is that a wedding ring?” Oh. Shit.

“Uh, yeah. You know, Y/N. She works in a different department, so I guess you might not know her.”

“Of course I know her. You two are married? I knew you were friends but I didn’t realize it was anything more serious.” Washington commented.

“Uh, neither did we, Sir.” Alexander laughed a little awkwardly. “It was kind of a whirlwind actually. Feelings were discovered and we decided to just get married.” Another awkward laughed forced its way out.

“Why are you two working today? Aren’t you going to go on a honeymoon?” Washington asked. And honesty, the thought never occurred to you or Alexander. Why go on a honeymoon if you didn’t actually consider this marriage a big deal?

“Uh, too expensive.” Alexander said. “We figured we’d save up for a while.”

“Well, let me just say, congratulations.” Washington said with a big smile while he patted Alexander on the back.

“What did Hamilton do to warrant a congratulations?” Jefferson asked, coming into the room. “Did he finally get his life together?”

Alexander merely rolled his eyes and went back to working. “He got married.” Washington answered. Alexander cringed, ready for Jefferson’s smart ass retort.

“Really?” He drawled in his accent that Alexander thought was dumb. “What girl willingly decided to spend her entire life with you?”

“First of all,” Alexander said, spinning to face Thomas. “Marriages don’t have to last your entire life anymore, Thomas. But you old, conservative southerners might not realize that. Secondly, Y/N L/N. Or perhaps I should Y/N Hamilton now.” Alexander would claim he only said with such satisfaction because he knew Thomas had a tiny crush on you, not at all because he definitely liked the way your first name sounded with his last.

“Y/N L/N?” Thomas asked incredulously.

“Hamilton.” Alexander corrected with a smirk.

“I knew she had poor taste in friends but I figured her taste in boyfriends would be better.”

“I think she has impeccable taste.” Alexander countered.

“Well that’s because garbage hardly ever realizes it’s worthless.” Thomas snarled.

“Gentlemen.” Washington finally interceded before punches were thrown. It had happened before. “While I’m sure we are all very happy for Alexander, we have work to do.” Alexander and Thomas glared at each other for a few more moments before returning to their work.

You were currently working as well. Sat at your desk, typing away. “So I see it is true.” A voice sounded from behind you. George Washington. Your boss. Here. Why?

“Uh, what’s true, Sir?” You asked. In response, he pointed to your left hand.

“Alexander said you got married, I hardly believed it.” He said with a smile. “Well, like I said to Alexander, congratulations.”

“Wait.” Another voice said. Aaron Burr. Great, cause you wanted to deal with this today. “You and Hamilton got married?” He asked. “When?”

“Uhm…” You laughed awkwardly. “Yesterday.” You answered with a small, awkward shrug. “It was quick but we preferred that over a huge production and months of planning.”

“Does that man ever wait before doing something?” Aaron asked.

“Look, we just decided we didn’t need the big, white wedding. We just wanted a few friends there. At the end of the day, all we wanted was to be married. The ceremony and party didn’t matter.” You said with a dreamy hint to your voice. Judging by the way one of co-workers whispered, “That’s so cute,” you figured you did pretty well.

“Well, Martha and I would be delighted if you came over for dinner. We’d like to celebrate your marriage.” George offered.

“Sounds great.” You said, while inside you were dreading this idea. You and Alexander playing the happy newlyweds all night seemed like a terrible plan.

“Great. Does Saturday at 6 work?” Washington asked. You nodded. George smiled before walking off. You breathed a small sigh of relief.

“He never slows down ya know.” Aaron commented. He was so quiet sometimes that you could forget he was there. “He never slows down and never stops. Why do you think you can get him to settle down with you? Why do you think this marriage will work?”

Now to you and Alexander, this marriage wasn’t anything important. But you felt very defensive at Aaron’s comment. “Because he loves me. And I love him. And that’s what’s important in making a marriage work.”

“My wife is a divorcée, Y/N. Her former husband thought they loved each other. But that wasn’t enough to keep them together.” Aaron reasoned.

“Well, it will be enough for me and Alexander.”

—

“Wait, we have to have dinner with Washington and his wife?” Alexander asked you over your dinner that night.

“What was I supposed to do? Tell Washington ‘no thanks?’”

“Yeah.” Alexander said like it was obvious.

“Then you call him and cancel.” You offered. “After all, you work more closely with him.”

Alexander paused and considered it. “Ya know, one night won’t be so bad.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Later that night, you gathered your pajamas. “I hate changing in the bathroom.” You grumbled.

“Then change in here.” Alexander said

“You want me to change in front of you?”

“Look, we’re playing the marriage game for a few months. Don’t make it longer by changing in the bathroom every night. That would suck. I just won’t look.” With that he turned his back. You quickly changed your clothes.

“Ok, I’m changed.”

“See? It’s fine. But now you have to leave or turn around so I can change too.” You got in bed and laid with your back to Alexander. You turned onto your back when you felt him lay down. “I hope sharing a bed with me last night wasn’t too bad.”

“No it was fine.” You smirked at him. “And the cuddling I woke up to wasn’t that bad either.”

Alexander face went red. “We were cuddling?”

“Relax, Alexander. It might end up happening since we share a bed. Besides, it doesn’t have to mean anything. We used to cuddle during movie nights all the time. Or I’d cuddle with John. Hell, I’ve seen Laf and Herc cuddling.”

“Ok, but half the time I wonder if anything is going on between those two. At this point I’m just afraid to ask.”

You chuckled. “Yeah we might end up cuddling, but let’s agree to not make a big deal out of it.”

“Sounds good to me.”

—

The cuddling actually became normal for the two of you. You wouldn’t quickly move out of the embrace anymore. You just accepted it. And Alexander was pretty nice to cuddle with. And the two of you spent a lazy Saturday in bed.

You woke up to Alexander spooning you, one arm draped over your waist. You just relaxed in his hold. You felt his grip tighten when you moved a little. You awkwardly glanced behind you. He was sound asleep. So you tried to remain still. But eventually you got bored and grabbed your phone to scroll through social media. At some point, Alexander yawned loudly from behind you. “G’morning.” He mumbled.

“Morning, sleepy head.” You commented. You realized he hadn’t let go of you yet.

“Whatcha looking at?” He asked, leaning closer and looking over your shoulder.

“Twitter.”

“Oh, ok.” He laid back down, and closed his eyes again.

“Hey, you wanna go get me some coffee?” You asked.

“Why can’t you get it?” He asked. His voice was slightly muffled against his pillow.

“Because you still have an arm across my waist.” You told him. It had the desired effect. He quickly moved his arm and scrambled from the bed.

“I’ll uh…I’ll be back in a minute.” And he went to go make coffee. He came back with two steaming mugs and sat in bed again. You sat up to get your coffee. “So, what are we doing today?”

“Well, we have to go to the Washingtons for dinner.”

“Ugh.” Alexander let his head thump back against the headboard. “Fine. What about before that?”

“Uh, nothing. At least I don’t think so.”

“Cool. Lazy day then.” He reasoned.

So the two of you watched some dumb tv shows and movies. Alexander did some work. Neither of you were in any rush to get out of bed. You reheated some Chinese take-out food from the fridge for lunch. You again were overwhelmed with how domestic it felt.

At 5:30, the two of you were getting ready to go to the Washington’s. “Should we bring like a bottle of wine or something?” You asked.

“Why?”

“Isn’t that what married people do? They bring wine with them when they’re invited to another couples’ house for dinner?” You reasoned.

“I guarantee that the Washingtons have nicer wine then we would ever be able to afford.” He countered. “Hell, Martha probably wouldn’t even accept it.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Still, you stopped and purchased a semi-nice wine on the way to dinner. When you reached the Washingtons, Martha accepted it kindly with a thanks and reassurance that you didn’t need to bring anything.

You and Alexander had dinner, which included an array of very awkward questions.

“So, who confessed first?”

“Uh, Alexander might have said something while he was a little drunk.” That earned you a surprised glance from Alexander.

“Who decided on the small ceremony?”

“We both just wanted to be married, but Y/N really pushed for it.”

“When you finally decide to go on a honeymoon, where do you want to go?”

“We haven’t really discussed that yet.”

Martha sipped her wine before asking, “Are you planning to have kids?”

Alexander practically ended up choking on the food in his mouth. Once he recovered he stared at Martha. “I don’t know yet.” He said. “That isn’t even on the radar yet.”

“Well, you must have some idea. After all, you don’t marry someone without being on the same page about the future, which usually means deciding whether or not you want children.” George spoke up. You and Alexander exchanged a look. Someone needed to make a stance.

“Well, I want kids.” Alexander said. “Just not right away.”

“Exactly.” You said. Honestly, you hadn’t thought much about becoming a parent. But somehow, you thought you and Alexander would do fairly good job of raising kids together. But you shoved that thought away. You and Alexander wouldn’t stay married long enough to have kids.

As dinner ended, Alexander slung an arm over the back of your chair. You reached out for Alexander’s other hand, and he obliged, holding your hand. You were surprised with how easily you played a married couple.

Eventually, you all stood from the table. You helped Martha clear the table and retreated into the living room to continue conversation. You sat next to Alexander and he, once more, slung an around your shoulders. You leaned against him in response. At some point, you grew tired and leaned your head on Alexander’s shoulder. He continued talking for a few minutes before glancing down at you. “Tired?” He asked. You only hummed in response. “Well, I think that’s out cue to head out.” Alexander told the Washingtons. He eased away from you and stood. “Come on.” He held a hand out and helped you stand. You stood and held onto Alexander’s arm while also leaning against him.

You bid the Washingtons goodnight and left. Alexander held the car door open for you. Then eased his suit jacket off and draped it over you. He drove home, keeping the radio volume low. You dozed off and on the whole way there. You vaguely noticed Alexander looking at his phone during a red light, you half expected a heated argument with Jefferson with the way he sighed. But he just locked his phone and dropped it in the cup holder. You finally got home and walked inside still wearing Alexander’s coat.

You very tiredly changed into your pajamas and climbed into bed. You immediately curled up against Alexander. “Are we making a conscious decision to cuddle now?” He asked teasingly.

“I’m half asleep, it barely counts as a conscious decision.”

Alexander’s frame shook with soft laughter. “Fair enough.”

“Hey Alexander?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re not so bad of a husband.”

“Well, you’re not so bad of a wife.”

—

A few weeks later, you and Alexander went out for drinks with the guys. They teased you mercilessly about being a married couple. However, you again realized how normal this was. You and Alexander were married, but drinks night was still the same. The only difference was that Lafayette now called you ‘mon amie.’ He called you ‘mon cheri’ early in the evening, like he usually did.

“Uh, Laf, that is my wife.” Alexander interjected sarcastically. “I think ‘my love’ is a bit too sweet.”

“Oh, my apologies, mon amie.” Lafayette said with an eye roll. From then on he called you ‘mon amie’ like the rest of your friends.

Eventually, you recognized the song that was being played. Some cute romance song with a catchy melody. You tapped the table in time with the melody. “I like this song.” You said, mostly to yourself.

“Would you care to dance, mon amie?” Lafayette asked you with a gesture to the dance floor.

“Wait.” Alexander spoke. “If you want to dance, I’d prefer the honor of dancing with you.” He smirked. “After all, I’m your husband.”

“Well, if I were to marry another friend, Lafayette would definitely be my next choice.” You quipped.

John and Hercules both shouted, “Hey.” Out of insult. Alexander shouted the same thing as a form of protest. You gave Alexander a playful smile, then stood up and held out a hand to him.

“Come on. Let’s go dance.” Alexander smiled in response and gripped your hand. You made your way to the dance floor. Before the two of you started dancing, you chuckled. Alexander gave you curious look. “This is uh…technically our first dance.”

Alexander smiled as well. “Well, this is one hell of a venue for a first dance.” He joked. You just shrugged, still smiling. “Well, let’s make it a good first dance.” As it was a sappy romance song, it was also a relatively slow song. Alexander put a hand on your waist and held your other hand. You weren’t expecting to do traditional slow dancing, but you placed your hand on Alexander’s shoulder and allowed him to lead you through a dance.

“Who taught you how to dance?” You asked.

Alexander chuckled. “Martha Washington. She said it might be a useful skill, but this is the first time I’ve ever used it.”

“Well, I’m thinking it’s very useful right now.” You said. “I’m glad you know how to dance, because otherwise we would’ve swaying on the dance floor for the rest of this song.”

“Any dancing with you is good enough.”Alexander said with a grin. Then he lifted his arm to lead you to spin under it before you stood in front of him and put your hand back on his shoulder. The two of you danced in peaceful silence until the song ended. You smiled at Alexander and gave him a hug.

“Thank you for dancing with me.” You said.

“Of course, just trying to be a good husband.” He teased with a nudge. “Want another drink?” He asked. You nodded. “Alright. Go ahead and sit, I’ll bring it to the table.” So the two of your had more drinks as the night progressed. Eventually, you all decided to call it a night. So you got a cab back home and stumbled through the door.

“Tonight was fun.” You mused as you collapsed in bed.

“Yeah, it was.” Alexander agreed from his half of the bed.

“Especially the dancing. That was really fun.”

“Well, I’m available to be your dance partner whenever you want.” He said with a smile.

“Thanks.” You said. You scooted closer and wrapped him in a hug.

“Of course.” He replied as he returned the hug. You pulled back but kept your arms around each other, it kept you close. You weren’t sure who leaned in, but the next thing you knew, you and Alexander were kissing. The first time since the wedding service. There was no one watching you and no reasonable explanation as to why you had kissed. But neither of you pulled away. And neither of you protested when the kissing escalated.

—

You woke up and realized you were cold. The next thing you realized was your very obvious lack of clothes. And the night came rushing back to you. “Shit.” Was all you could think to say.

“What?”Alexander sleepily asked. You pulled the covers up higher to preserve some modesty.

“We had sex last night, that’s what.” You snapped.

Alexander sat up instantly awake. “Oh shit. That’s right.”

“That was not part of the plan.” You grumbled.

“Well, so what? We’re married after all. Married people have sex. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Alexander, we aren’t married because we love each other. We were drunk, we weren’t supposed to sleep together.”

“So were we just supposed to remain celibate for this whole charade?”

“I don’t know! But I know we definitely weren’t supposed to sleep with each other.”

“And why not?”

“Because. That would essentially make us friends with benefits. And I much more prefer just being friends with you.”

Alexander was silent for a moment before nodding curtly. “Alright. Message received.” He scrambled from bed, and you quickly averted your gaze. He dressed quickly and left the house.

“Well, he didn’t have to completely leave.” You grumbled. He didn’t come back any time soon. You didn’t worry. He was your husband, sure. But not really. And Alexander could mostly take care of himself. You figured he was either at work or blowing off steam somewhere and would be back.

There was suddenly a knock at the door. John was standing there. “Oh hi.” You greeted with a smile. “Come in.”

“I’m still not used to the fact that you live here.” He commented. “I was mostly dropping by to return this.” He handed you Alexander’s jacket. “He left it at the bar. I grabbed it before leaving.”

“Oh thanks.”

“Where is Alexander?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know. We had a bit of a fight and he left.”

“Trouble in paradise?” John asked he sat down on the couch.

“You could say that.” You agreed while you sat down next to him.

He lightly nudged you. “What happened?” You gave John a glance. “Alright…you want to talk but you don’t want to tell me what happened.” He stared at you while he thought it over. Then he smirked. “You two totally slept together.” You buried your face in your hands. He laughed.

“And I told him it was an awful idea.”

“And Alexander didn’t take it well.” John said.

“He figured since he was married it was totally fine. I thought it was a horrible idea. Technically we’re married, but we weren’t supposed to have sex. That essentially makes us friends with benefits which is going to end up ruining out friendship. And I told Alexander that our friendship meant too much to me.”

John sighed and stood. He started pacing. “Alexander is such a dumbass. I told him this was a bad idea.”

“What was?”

“This whole fake marriage thing to you.”

“Technically it’s a real marriage.”

“In every aspect except the part where you actually love each other.” John stopped pacing to look at you. “Honestly, I tried to talk Alexander out of this whole thing. He’s had a crush on you for years and I told him this wasn’t going to go well for him.”

“Wait. So this whole thing was some dumb way for him to-”

“No. This was really, unbelievably, about loans and stuff. But I told him his feelings for you were going to get in the way. He said it was fine, that he managed to be your friend for this long. He could handle it.”

That past few weeks came into sharper focus. Alexander was such a good husband. All along you figured he was just good at pretending. But if Alexander cared for you the way John was hinting, he might have been a good husband for different reasons. “He was a really good husband.”

John gave you a soft smile at sat back down on the couch. “Probably because he likes you. He saw a chance to be affectionate towards you in little ways. And he took it.” He managed to do so without making you angry or uncomfortable. You knew that if you told him to stop doing something, he would’ve listened. Except sleeping together it would seem. “He probably figured he was making some progress or you were beginning to feel the same. Then you told him your friendship meant too much and he realized how you felt.”

“Well, now I don’t know how I feel. This is a lot to process.” You complained.

John gave you another small smile, more of a sympathetic smirk. “Yeah it probably is. But I suggest you think about it and definitely talk to Alexander when he gets home. It will probably be beneficial to both of you.”

But Alexander hadn’t returned by the time you went to bed. You stared at the empty side, growing more and more worried. You had called all of your friends and no one had seen him. You hoped one of them was lying. You hoped he was with one of them and requested they not tell you he was there. You fell into a restless sleep.

You woke up early the next morning when the front door was opened. You went to the living and found Alexander had returned. “Alexander!” You rushed over and hugged him quickly. You stepped back after a moment. “Where were you? I was really worried about you when you didn’t-” The words froze in your throat as you got a good look at him. It was hard to tell, but you knew Alexander too well at this point. “Clearly I didn’t need to worry. You just fine. More than fine actually.” You crossed your arms. “I’m just wondering, did the girl you slept with know you were married?”

“What do you care?” He snapped as he walked past you to make coffee.

“Because I’m still your wife.”

“And my friend too, right? Wife is more of technical title, it doesn’t really mean anything in this arrangement.”

“Yes, I’m your friend. And as a friend I was really worried about you.”

“Well, that’s not your job.”

“It’s a wife’s job.”

“Well, Y/N, your my wife in title only. This is all an elaborate ruse. You don’t have to worry about me or take care of me.”

“This was all your idea!”

“And a stupid idea it would seem.” He pushed past you. “I gotta get ready for work.” Before Alexander left for work, you stepped in front of his path. “What?”

“Look, if your done with this little charade, fine by me. I say we file for a divorce as soon as possible. But all I ask is that you don’t run around having affairs while we’re technically married. I don’t necessarily want to hear what people will say about either of us if they found out.” Alexander opened his mouth to interrupt but before he could you added, “I don’t want to deal with the humiliation of my husband growing tired of me in just a few weeks.” Alexander paused. He just pushed past you and left. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t argue either. And you didn’t know if that was a good sign or not. After all, he always had a lot to say. Why would he shut up when you most needed a response?

—

Alexander was distracted as he walked into work. He had been distracted on the drive over as well. He hadn’t meant to humiliate you. That wasn’t his plan. Hell, he hadn’t meant to hurt you at all. He was just emotionally compromised and drunk. It was a bad combination. If had just gone home while he was in that state, maybe the two of you would’ve talked it out and smoothed things over. But instead he flirted with a girl named Maria and followed her home. John was right. This had turned out to be a horrible idea.

“Is everything alright, Hamilton?” Washington asked, pulling Alexander out of his thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Why do you ask?” Alexander said.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you touch your keyboard for fifteen minutes. And I know you, you would’ve found something to add or fix in that time.” Washington said.

“Yeah, like ten somethings.” Jefferson muttered from the other side of the room. Alexander really hated sharing an office space with that guy. And he really didn’t want to deal with him today.

“Look, Jefferson, for once would you please shut the hell up?” Alexander asked, his voice was a snarl the whole time.

Jefferson just smirked. “Have a fight with your loving wife this morning?”

“Is that’s what’s bothering you?” Washington asked. Alexander suppressed a groan. He didn’t want to have marriage counseling with his boss and worse enemy.

“Look, yes Y/N and I had a disagreement last night that is still ongoing. I’ll focus on work, Sir. It’s not that big of an issue.” Alexander finally said.

“Only if you’re sure.” Washington insisted.

“I am.”

“Ok. But, if I may. Martha and I have fought a lot in our years of marriage, but we always resolve it. We always make up. You’re gonna have some fights in your marriage. But I saw the way the two of you acted at dinner. You really care for one another. You’ll get through this.” Washington said resolutely. With that he went back to his office.

“I sure hope you’re right.” Alexander mumbled to himself.

—

You stayed at work later than usual that night. You stopped and ate somewhere on the way home, you even sent Alexander a text saying that you had gotten something to eat and he should have dinner without you. You and Alexander didn’t talk much. Anytime he would say something you would respond with as few words as possible. When it grew late, you grabbed a pillow and blanket and laid on the couch.

Alexander came out to the living room before going to bed and let our a defeated sounding sigh when he saw you. “You can still sleep in the bed ya know. If it’s that big of a deal I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“I’m fine.” You said and turned your back to him. He sighed once more, more dejected this time, and left the room. In truth, the couch was very uncomfortable. But you decided this was better than waking up and finding yourself cuddling with Alexander.

Things between you and Alexander remained rocky. The two of you would hardly speak anymore. However, neither of you made the necessary steps to file for divorce. You assumed Alexander was doing that, and Alexander feared you were.

John come to visit one day a few weeks after he learned what happened between you and Alexander. He knocked on the door when you were home. “Hey.” He greeted happily. “Is Alexander home?”

“Nope.”

“Where is he?”

“Dunno.” This wasn’t unusual either. You stopped wondering about Alexander’s whereabouts. Again, you figured he could take care of himself. You had even stopped asking him where he was going or where he had been.

“Are you guys still fighting? You never told me how things between you two went.” John sat on the couch before noticing the blankets and pillows on the other end of the couch. “Wait, who’s sleeping on the couch?”

“I am.” You answered. “Look, Alexander had never come home that night. He was off screwing some other woman.”

“He was?” John sounded really surprised.

“Yep. For someone who likes me, he has a weird way of showing it.” You snapped.

“Well, he was most likely drunk. And probably really hurt by your response to the situation.”

“Look, maybe if we were just dating that might work. Even still, that’s still considered cheating. And we’re more than dating, we’re married!”

“All a ruse, right?” John asked. “Why are you so upset about this if your marriage is nothing serious?”

“Because, that’s a betrayal. It’s an embarrassing situation. And I’m just hurt that he would do that to me.” You rattled off. John smiled knowingly. “Wait.” You realized what you had said.

“You like him. Maybe as much as he likes you.” John said.

“No. I…” But you thought about the man you married. “Fuck. I have a crush on Alexander.”

“Well, at least you married your crush. That’s more than most people can say.” He teased with a smile. You smiled a little at that.

“Sure. But that marriage isn’t doing too well right now.”

“Then you need to talk to Alexander. Neither of you are talking, and you really should. Maybe you could actually fix things.” John left a short time later. You paced the house, trying to mentally prepare yourself for your conversation with Alexander.

He walked into the house late that night. He had been working longer hours to avoid being at home. “Hey.” You greeted him carefully.

“Oh.” You rarely talked at home. So it was an unexpected surprise. “Hi.” He said. He sounded very cautious and wary.

“I uh…I wanted to talk to you.” You began.

“Oh, ok.” He responded. He knew how awful those words could be.

“You wanna sit down?” You asked.

“Sure.” Alexander eased himself down on the couch. You sat next to him. “Is this about…”

“Your affair? Partly.” You answered. “The other part is why it made me so mad.”

“You already told me why it made you mad.” Alexander said. “It was humiliating and embarrassing.”

“Well it was. But there’s more. I talked to John and he helped me realize something.” Alexander paused and looked at you questioningly. You felt your cheeks get warm with a pink blush. “Geez, this is embarrassing to actually admit.” You awkwardly wrung your hands together. “So…I might have a bit of a crush on you.” Alexander stared at you in deep confusion, he looked as though his brain short-circuited. “When we slept together I panicked. But then you went and slept with someone else. And it hurt, it hurt a lot.” Alexander was still quiet. “Say something?”

“You like me?” He asked.

You huffed out a laugh. Of course that was the thing he would narrow in on. “Yes, Alexander. I do.” You realized that was the second time you told Alexander ‘I do.’ “It took me a while to realize it. But I realized it thanks to all the sweet things you kept doing for me.”

“Until I cheated on you.” Alexander mumbled.

“Yeah. You did do that. And we’ll need to talk about that. But right now, I just want you to know that I really like you. Sure, marriage is way too extreme for a simple crush, but we are married. So, we try and undo that while we figure out exactly where we are? Basically, I don’t want to get a divorce yet.”

“Well…I wasn’t filing any divorce papers yet. Were you?” Alexander asked. “Honestly, I figured you filing papers. After I…after I fucked up.”

“I wasn’t. I figured you were after my outburst about being friends.”

“Wow. We suck at communication too.” Alexander said.

“Well, we have the rest of our marriage to work that out as well.”

Alexander smiled, it was the first time you had seen it in a while. “Hey, Y/N?” Alexander ventured. You gave him a question look, silently urging him to continue. “I get that you’re still working out your feelings and we’ll have to take some stuff slow. But is kissing alright?”

You smiled and leaned in and pressed your lips to his. You felt his lips quirk up in a smile against your lips before he reciprocated the kiss with enthusiasm.

—

Alexander walked into work with a spring in his step. He was grinning widely as well. “Well, someone is happy today.” Jefferson drawled.

“Yep.” Alexander confirmed, not letting his co-worker dampen is mood. “Me and Y/N aren’t fighting anymore. We worked it out.”

“She’s still putting up with you? Cause, I heard that you were off screwing some other girl a few weeks ago.”

Alexander spun around to face Jefferson. “I don’t know what you heard. You can say anything you want about me. But anything that could harm Y/N, you better keep to yourself.” He warned. “I made my mistakes, but Y/N doesn’t deserve to deal with more problems because of it.”

Jefferson stared at Alexander. “You know, I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I agree with you.”

“Good. Now, let’s get to work Jefferson.”

—

“Hey, Y/N?” You looked up from your work to see Aaron Burr.

“What?”

“Well, I heard you and Alexander were having some issues. I don’t really know what it was about, and don’t care much as that’s not my business. But how are you doing? And are you guys doing any better?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. And me and Alexander are getting along much better now. We resolved our issues.” You smiled widely.

Aaron studied you silently for a moment. “Ya know, maybe I was wrong about you and Alexander. Maybe your love for another might be enough.” You could almost laugh at Aaron’s statement. When you had said that to Aaron originally, you hadn’t even thought you liked Alexander like that. But yet, feelings of love had actually saved your marriage.

—

You and Alexander had driven to work separately. You weren’t surprised to get home before Alexander. You changed into comfier clothes and made a quick and easy supper. You were finishing setting the table when Alexander came up behind you and wrapped his arms around you waist. “Missed you.” Me murmured.

“We work at the same place.”

“But I can’t see you when we’re there.” You spun around and he immediately kissed you soundly. “I’m so glad we worked things out.” He said with a wide smile.

“Me too.” You told him before giving him another short kiss on the lips. “Now come on, I’ve got dinner ready.”

Before you could pull away, Alexander pulled you in for yet another quick kiss. “Truly the best of wives and best of women.”

#hamilton #hamilton imagine #alexander hamilton #alexander hamilton imagine #alexander x reader #alexander hamilton x reader

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racetrackhiggins · 5 years ago

Text

Hanukkah Binch

This is from the rp that me and @alkimara did a while back, I actually looked at the date, and this segment in particular is from like a year ago, I went back and formatted it from discord and made a couple spelling error edits I noticed but there’s probably more. They requested I post it after seeing a post about there not being a lot of Hanukkah celebration fics and stuff

Disclaimer: neither of us are Jewish, all the information I wrote in here was honestly taken from hours of googling, but I might have still gotten some stuff wrong, but I hope it’s at least okay :)

word count: 15433 ship: finch/buttons

Well, another year, another lonely Hanukkah. Finch had tried to remake his mom's challah, but it wasn't the same, and he'd let it sit too long in the oven. Might as well toss it. He wondered what his mom was doing... He wondered if she missed him as much as he sometimes missed her. But he couldn't go back, not with that monster of a stepdad living there. He'd probably end up dead if he ever stepped foot in there while having a boyfriend.

He spun the little dreidel on the coffee table idly, watching as it landed on gimel. Whole pot. Had he been playing with someone.

He sighed, looking at his phone again. Buttons' still hadn't responded to his text. He was probably having fun with his family, Finch couldn't blame him. Maybe he should just work on that animation, at least it would give him something to do…

Buttons saw Finch turned away, and was quiet, so so quiet... "Hey babe~," He giggled, wrapping his arms around Finch's waist. "How are you~?" He looked around, noticing immediately that Finch was alone here, and his heart broke slightly.

Finch nearly screamed, whipping around. "My god, you almost gave me a fucking heart attack!" He looked at Buttons with a disbelieving smile on his face. "What the fuck are you doing here, I thought you were with your family?"

"I heard you were here being alone and mopey," Buttons hummed, "Came to either give you company or invite you over. Or both." He looked over, "Can't play dreidel with a party of one. Well... You'd gotta teach me how to play.'

Finch was quiet for a moment. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't- fuck. He covered his face so Buttons wouldn't see him crying.

"Wh-? Hey... Babe?" Buttons gently curled Finch closer, nuzzling close. "I got you..."

"S-sorry, just..." he couldn't finish the sentence, worming himself around to hug Buttons' neck tightly, burying his face into the crook of it.

"I got ya... You wanna come over? Bring some stuff? You'd probably be teaching us a lot," He chuckled. He moved to rub Finch's back, "Literally I've been trying to get them to let you come over since the break... Finally got 'em."

Finch nodded softly. It had been a long time since he'd been in a... family environment, unless you counted this as a family. Which he kinda did. "I-I'd like that," he said quietly.

"Alrighty, pack your things, and uh... We'll try not to break anything," Buttons hummed. "I may or may not have family in the car downstairs."

Finch laughed in disbelief. "I can't believe you..." But he got up, starting to pack his things, just kinda emptying out his bookbag and stuffing some clothes, his laptop, and some chargers into it. When he came back out with it on his shoulder, he glanced over at the stupid little plastic menorah. He didn't even consider himself a practicing Jew anymore, but... the dumb little fake flames made him feel connected to his mom, in a way. He looked away, clearing his throat. "Guess I'm ready."

"Clearly, you're not," Buttons hummed, going to pick up the menorah. He also picked up the dreidel, though that was more in secret. He handed the menorah to Finch with a small smile, because supportive boyfriends are supportive. "Now, is that everything?"

Finch gave him a small smile as he held onto the menorah's base. "Yeah..." He pressed a kiss to Buttons' cheek.

Buttons smiled, kissing Finch's forehead in return as he brought the other downstairs and to the car.

"So, you're Benny's boyfriend~?" An older girl asked with a smirk, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, here we go," Buttons mumbled.

Finch grinned, glancing at Buttons. "Yep," he said a little shyly. "I'm Finch."

"Good to meet you, Fin- aAH!!"

A younger boy shot up from the passenger seat, "42 WALLABY WAY SYDNEY- Oh that was fast." He laughed as he got hit by the girl who was driving.

Buttons sighed, opening the rear door, "My older brother and sister, Ed and Jan. Ed has narcolepsy."

Finch snickered, "Hi, nice Finding Nemo reference." He kinda fiddled with one of the unlit bulbs on the menorah, not really sure what to say. As an only child, he'd had no idea what to do with siblings in general.

"Welllll hop in!" Jan laughed.

Ed beamed, "Why thank you."

Buttons stepped to the side, helping Finch into the car before climbing in himself, being careful with Finch's stuff and especially the menorah. Ed looked over at it, eyes wide in curiosity, but he didn't comment, instead deciding to vibrate in place.

Finch very subtly took Buttons' hand when he got in, partially out of nerves. "So, uh, how old are you guys?" he asked to the two up front.

"25," Jan answered, starting to drive.

"23," Ed said, blinking slowly, "Trying to get settled in my own place, but I'm not allowed to be alone, in case I fall and hurt myself."

"Versus I'm just working from home to help our parents pay for all of your colleges," Jan said again, glaring in the rear-view at Buttons, who shrugged. He gently intertwined his fingers with Finch's, trying to relax Finch by rubbing his thumb over his hand.

"Ah," Finch nodded. Um... "What about the others?" He knows Buttons had mentioned bits about them before but he couldn't for the life of him remember.

"Benny's 21, Amy's gonna graduate now at 18, Max is 17, and Junior is 12," Jan answered, squinting at the road. "Road work ahead," She muttered.

"I sure hope it does," Ed smirked.

"If I wasn't driving, I'd knock you into another coma," Jan growled.

"I can do that myself, thank you very much," Ed winked.

"At least he's cultured," Finch snickered, maybe not so subtly leaning against Buttons. Boy was like a damn cat sometimes.

Buttons moved an arm around Finch, switching the hand he was holding Finch's hand with. He hummed, shifting to be comfortable, even with their seat belts on.

"Cuddlebugs," Jan giggled. "But also- Ben? Mom was asking if you two wanted to share a room."

"Ohoho??" Ed wiggled his eyebrows, grinning.

"I mean, we already share a room, so even if we weren't dating I wouldn't have a problem with it," Finch pointed out. "Plus, I'd hate ta steal someone else's room."

"Ed, knock it off," Buttons groaned.

"I second that," Jan said, flicking Ed's forehead.

"I mean, he's got a point," Finch murmured with a grin to Buttons.

Buttons blushed a bit, murmuring back, "Yeah but they don't gotta know that."

Ed had a giant smirk on his face.

"Alright, boys~ we're home~!" Jan announced as she pulled up to the house. "Please leave your limbs inside the vehicle until we've come to a full and complete st- eDWARD!" Ed had opened the door and hopped out of the car, racing to the front door. Jan groaned as she put the car in park and turned it off, getting out, "I have the keys you idiot!!"

Buttons hummed, getting out of the car and helping Finch out with his stuff.

"I'm guessing it's always this chaotic?" Finch smiled, trying to pretend he wasn't nervous about meeting Finch's whole family. He'd already known that Buttons' family had inherited a nice house but like... this was

nice.

"Oh, it's worse inside," Buttons snickered. "Be careful with the twelve-year-old. We're trying to keep him from swearing," He hummed, moving to help the other inside.

At the door was an older woman, standing inside the house with a kind smile. She was hugging each of her children and kissing their cheeks, and Buttons looked a little nervous. "Hey, mom," He smiled, going to hug her. "This is my boyfriend-"

The woman turned to Finch, pulling him into a hug, "Hello! Welcome! What's your name??"

"Finch, nice ta meet you, ma'am," Finch said politely, a little surprised by the hug. Did he hug back??

A younger looking boy ran down the stairs. "OOOOO, BENNY'S BROUGHT HIS BOYFRIEND~!" he shouted for the whole house to hear.

"June,

," a mousy looking girl said, pushing his face as she passed him.

"Hey! Mom! Amy pushed me!" Junior shouted as if she weren't right there.

"Did not!" Amy argued.

Finch just kinda glanced at Buttons as if to ask if this was normal for siblings.

Buttons just sighed in distress. His mom soon released Finch from the hug, "Finch. Ah- it's okay, I suppose you can share your real name when the family isn't all about. I've heard about your little code names." She smiled at Buttons, who glared and slowly narrowed his eyes. "Right, Button~?" God damn it.

Buttons sighed, "I'll go set up my room. Where's Max?"

"Practicing, I think," His mom answered.

Buttons nodded, looking at Finch, "Well, c'mon. Let's get you settled."

Finch nodded, carrying his stuff and letting Buttons lead him.

Junior was

following them, curious about the new boy and the weird candle thing he was holding.

"Junior, whatcha doin'?" Buttons hummed casually, opening the door to his room. He moved to help Finch set his stuff down, going to flop on his giant bed, making it pretty clear that they'd be sharing. He looked over at his little brother, an eyebrow raised.

"What's that thing?" Junior asked, pointing at the menorah.

"It's a menorah, but like really shi- uh, not very well made. An actual one would have real candles," Finch explained, barely catching himself.

"What's it for?" Junior asked.

"It's, uh, well, it's a Jewish tradition to light them, one a night, to represent the eight nights oil stayed burning when it was only supposed to last two," Finch explained, a little happily.

"Oh, its that Hanukkah thing! I've heard about those, I've never seen a real one."

Finch snorted, "I'm not even sure this really counts, but it's all I could afford so..."

"I think it counts," Buttons said softly, putting an arm over Finch's shoulders.

"Looks like you made it all by yourself~. You're more talented than just drawing, y'know," Buttons smiled. He looked at Junior, "Finch makes animations and drawings! Don'tcha, Finch?"

"Yeah," Finch said sheepishly.

"Like Disney?!" Junior asked excitedly.

"Like... well, I guess, but I'm certainly not good enough to make a whole animated film, maybe a short at most," Finch shrugged, scratching the back of his neck.

"Woah..."

Buttons was beaming, "Yeah, I've got a pretty talented boyfriend, huh~?"

... And now there was a loud electric guitar coming from the next room. Buttons sighed. Max.

"No fair you have a cool boyfriend," Junior pouted, ignoring the guitar.

Finch flushed a little at that. What, no, he wasn't cool! He looked up at the guitar, looking at Buttons as he sighed.

Buttons smirked, "'Course I do~." He looked over at Finch, "That's Max. They're. Uh. I don't know the term. Rock band. Very... metal."

"Sounds like

cool," Finch chuckled softly as Junior ran off. "I am certainly not the cool boyfriend. I'm just some animating nerd who showed up with a dumb handmade menorah." He flopped next to the bags, sighing softly as he set the thing down. The lights flickered for a second, and he tensed up for a moment before they went to normal. "Probably won't even last much longer if I don't change out the wires. Why bother though?" he murmured under his breath.

Buttons pouted, going over and flopping on top of Finch. "Because it looks like it means a lot to you," He said softly. "I don't know why, but it does. If you need help, we can fix it," He murmured, kissing Finch lightly.

Finch looked up at Buttons softly. "You know why I stay at the dorm instead of going home every year?" he asked quietly, knowing full well he hadn't told anyone about his family situation, not even Buttons.

"No," Buttons said softly, moving off of the other and sitting next to him, carefully holding Finch's hand.

"Cause I ran away from home when I was sixteen," Finch said, letting out a small, humorless laugh. "My stepdad nearly killed me when he found out I was gay, my mom never knew how he treated me when she wasn't looking... So I left."

Button's eyes widened, and he moved closer to Finch, looking at the other with an expression that could only be described as holding a lot of emotions.

Finch had to look away from him, running a hand through his hair. "My dad died when I was thirteen, and Aaron came in and 'saved' my grieving mother not long after." He sighed, holding onto the menorah and looking at it. "Guess this is me just trying to feel like I did in the past. Obviously, it's not the same. Can't even actually light this stupid thing." He sounded a little bitter about it. "But I couldn't use real candles in this or I'd just burn something down."

Buttons was biting his lip, thinking. He gently looked over, taking the menorah and turning it off. He set it to the side, standing and tugging Finch out of the room, heading out to the garage with the other, still quiet and thinking. He let go of the other, grabbing a stool and climbing on it, reaching for a large blue bin. He grabbed it, carefully pulling it down and setting it on the ground with a grunt. After digging around for a few seconds, he pulled out a

bag of clay, putting it on the metal table. He looked at Finch, "Bake-able clay. Will not melt from a candle. Well- not if we put in the little metal cups at the bottom." He dug around, pulling out the metal cups that were usually seen in tiny candles. Except there was no wax or wick. "Jan used to play around with candles," Buttons hummed, setting the metal pieces on the table as well. He looked at Finch, heading around the box and going to take the other's hands again. "It might not be the same, you might not be able to get to the past, but... There's nothing wrong with remembering how happy you were."

Finch watched with confusion until Buttons started explaining. He bit his lip, and god damn it, he was starting to tear up again. "Hah, we could make real dreidels with that too," he said, trying to blink away the wetness to not much avail.

Buttons saw the tearing up, "Oh. I did it again." He chuckled, gently offering his arms for a hug, "Also,

make the dreidels. Or you'd have to teach me how to help."

"I can help," Ed said, peeking in. Buttons glanced away, and Ed continued,

"Please?" Buttons said softly.

"I didn't say no," Ed laughed, moving into the room.

"Sorry I'm coming in and Jewing everything up," Finch joked, wiping his eyes. "I really appreciate it, though..."

"Jesus was Jewish," Ed snorted softly, going to pat Finch's head before moving to pull the clay out of the bag. He blinked, going for his set of sculpting tools and setting them out before starting to play with different pieces of clay. "Plus we mostly celebrate Christmas for each other and presents," He chuckled.

"Very true. To be fair, most Jews believe that a guy named Jesus existed and was probably a cool dude... that's about the extent of it though," Finch grinned, feeling much better.

Buttons had moved to grab another piece of clay, playing around with it to warm it up.

"Lit," Ed said with a grin.

Finch grabbed a piece, kneading it. "I've only made a dreidel once before, wonder if I could do it again. I'm still convinced my dad had switched it out with a better one so I wouldn't feel bad when it didn't spin right," Finch said, smiling softly... damn, it had been a long time since he'd thought of that.

"What's so hard about making a spin?" Ed grinned, grabbing the entire thing of clay- which was as big as a laptop -and just dumping it out, starting to knead it like a large piece of dough. "Shit, this is hard," He mumbled.

"I mean, I was also like six at the time," Finch grinned. "And my dad was a sculptor for a living." He snickered at Ed, "I don't think we're making bread, that's a whole other tradition. I do remember he said it should be about the size of the hole of your fingers," he said, holding his pointer and thumb together in a circle.

"Yeah, but I'm tryin to smooth this out for the uh... the candle stick... What's it called?" Ed tilted his head, curious.

Buttons took a smaller piece of his big piece, holding it out, "Like this?"

"Menorah," Finch said, nodding in approval to Buttons. He was rolling the clay into a ball, starting to roll a point with his palm. For a moment, he could swear he felt his dad beside him, reminding him how to do it. There was a small smile on his face, perhaps bittersweet.

Buttons leaned over from his spot, watching, trying to follow as he did it.

"Right," Ed hummed, still rolling out the clay. And then he hummed again. "Well. Maybe you'll need to do this alone."

"Ed???" Buttons looked over.

Ed gave a thumbs up, moving over to the hammock in the room, and barely managing to get on it before collapsing, snoring lightly.

Buttons sighed.

Finch laughed softly. "I don't mind." He scooted closer to Buttons, letting him see exactly how he was doing it.

he heard in his head. Finch repeated it to Buttons, not realizing he'd copied his dad's Spanish accent, too focused on the actions of his fingers.

Buttons blushed a bit at the accent, but didn't dare break the spell that Finch was under, following along as best as he could.

"Could ya hand me the little... that thing with the string on it?" Finch asked in his normal accent, pointing in the direction of the tools.

"Yup," Buttons hummed, grabbing it and moving it over to Finch.

Finch took the string and used it to cut clean sides onto it, and suddenly it looked like a somewhat long dreidel. He set it on the ground, slicing it down to size before taking the extra and beginning to form it into a little rolled snaky piece for the top of the spinner to be cut out of.

"Ohh what the..." Buttons took the string piece, trying to copy what Finch had done. A little crooked, but it still looked like a dreidel. Mostly.

"Looks good!" Finch grinned proudly at him, kissing his cheek. He molded the snaky part to the top of his dreidel, smoothing it out so it looked nearly seamless, before pinching the extra off and molding it to be a neat top. "Do you have paint? It would be easier than trying to cut the symbols in."

Buttons was sticking his tongue out as he followed, "Yeah, more paint in the bin. There's also some teeeeeny tiny brushes." He was squinting, trying to focus, so happy that Finch said it looked good.

"Sweet, then this is done to bake," Finch smiled. He looked over at the menorah, thinking. If they were gonna make it candle-safe, then there would be no need for the wires.... He could just use the base and sculpt over it with clay, then- wait, no the plastic would probably melt in the oven. "I think we just start completely over," Finch murmured, setting the menorah down, using it as a visual example as he started rolling out a base from Ed's big ball.

"Alright," Buttons said after a moment, seeing no other way. "We can use the little metal bits as molds for where the candle will go?" He offered, using some wire to start planning out the structure. He ran into the house and back out again, having a roll of aluminum foil. He started rolling off large sheets, trying to build up the menorah’s main bulk.

Finch smiled, just looking at Buttons for a long moment as he worked. It was fitting, maybe. Finch had made his menorah years ago out of homesickness and sorrow, never quite content with it. Now Buttons was here, helping him build a new good memory to associate with Hanukkah. Not just the sad longing of the past.

Buttons caught the look, giggling softly. He moved over, gently kissing Finch, 'cause the other was just too damn cute. "Alright," He hummed, pushing the menorah forwards, "I did my very best~!"

"I love you so much," Finch said softly as he took the menorah base. He looked back up at Buttons with a small smile. "Thank you for doing this with me, and for not letting me be alone this year."

Buttons smiled softly, "'Course... I love you too, Finch. A lot. I'm glad you're here with me. Even if my family is uh... Crazy." He chuckled a bit, happy.

Finch laughed softly. "I certainly see why you seemed so used to the Newsies when we moved in." He had a long rope of clay at this point, and he put the end on the bottom of the base, starting to wind it around the foil, making sure there were no breaks in it.

"Yeah," Buttons giggled, watching the other.

Finch managed to get it halfway up before he needed to roll more. He quickly rolled it out, his tongue sticking out a little bit in focus as he did. He carefully molded it to the end of the previous one so you couldn't tell the end or start of either. He winded it up the rest of the way, nodding a little bit in satisfaction.

Buttons just watched, his elbows on the table. He was fascinated with how the other worked, and snorted softly, "Y'know I'm like. The only one in my family that doesn't have artistic talent? Ed can sculpt like a badass, Amy can paint, Max loves their guitar like it's their kid. Jan with watercolors is something extraterrestrial. We don't really know if Junior has anything, though." Buttons sunk, moving his face against the table, "Then there's me, who I guess can sew. And my artistic and talented as fuck boyfriend~."

"But you're cute as a button~" Finch teased, glancing up at him. "And at least you have a life skill," he said, nodding at him.

Buttons rolled his eyes, "My mom says that too much. Jack said my name in front of her and it was the death of me. I'm just a ghost." He giggled, and blinked. He gasped, offended, "Art is a life skill!! Look at this sculpting talent from a beautifully sculpted man! You could sell things online!!" He grinned at Finch, his voice loud and dramatic.

"Shh, you'll wake your brother up," Finch said, definitely not turning red at all.

Buttons giggled, "I could- and have -screamed into his ear. Doesn't do a thing."

Finch laughed softly, starting to wrap the clay in the same fashion around one of the prongs of the candleholders.

Buttons moved over, wrapping his arms around Finch's waist, nuzzling into his back, but not hindering the other from working. "I~ Love~ You~," Buttons hummed with a smile.

"I love you too~" Finch hummed, glancing at him for a moment, leaning his head against him.

Buttons moved to kiss the other happily.

"Gay."

Buttons sighed, pressing his head against Finch's shoulder, "Gotta love my family."

Jan giggled, "Mom wanted me to let you know Dinner will be ready in around an hour."

"Alright, thanks, Jan," Buttons said, still hiding his blush and cuddling with Finch.

"Sure, Jan," Finch said in an imitation of the meme with a small giggle as he worked. "Hopefully I'll at least be done with this part... yeah, no there's no way I will."

Jan rolled her eyes, heading off again.

Buttons sighed, looking up, "I can help. Maybe. Yes?" He looked hopeful.

"You can go ahead a roll out more? That way when I run out, I have more ready," Finch suggested.

"Alrighty~!" Buttons beamed, moving away to go roll out more clay happily.

Finch smiled as he kept working, planning ahead in his mind, realizing that he was very much modeling it after the one his mother had. The twists were more like his dad, though. By the end of the hour, he'd finished one side of the menorah.

At some point during the hour, Ed had bolted awake. And then slapped himself to keep himself awake. "Fuckin'..." He sighed, waving to the two as he moved out of the room.

At the end of the hour, Buttons was beaming, "It looks great!" He looked excited, practically vibrating in place. "Alright, c'mon~," He giggled, gently moving the Menorah to the middle of the table where it would be safe. He smiled at Finch, leading the other to the kitchen happily.

Finch grinned back to him, following him.

Buttons' dad was in the kitchen, totally not flirting teasingly with his wife. "Hey, Ben, how goes it?" he grinned, pulling away from her to ruffle Buttons' hair. "You must be Finch," he said in a friendly manner, shaking Finch's hand. "You can just call me Peter."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Finch said a little sheepishly.

Buttons sighed, smiling a bit from his father's head-rub. "Hey, Dad," He chuckled, moving to help set the table. He smiled a but at Finch and his dad, confident that they'd get along okay.

Junior came bounding down the stairs, making web-slinging noises as he pretended to be swinging in like Spiderman. "I hear there is... dinner~" he said dramatically. He dropped it after a second, pouting, "Amy says she's not coming cause she has to write a paper."

Peter sighed, glancing at his wife. "You want me to get her or just bring her a plate?"

Finch sorta scooted a little closer to Buttons.

Buttons blinked, gently tugging Finch closer, "It's okay, no one's gonna eat you." He giggled a bit, kissing Finch's cheek.

Max came downstairs with a sigh. They appeared completely androgynous, black hair and black and pale makeup over their face. They definitely stood out from the crowd with the black metal t-shirt and spiked bracelets, but they just hummed as they moved to help set everything up, nodding their head casually at Finch.

"You sure?" Finch asked quietly at Max's appearance, and he'd certainly be lying if he said he wasn't a little intimidated by them.

"Well, I might, but not now," Buttons snickered quietly. "Also, don't worry about Max. They're doing their thing, and we love them anyway," Buttons giggled, a little louder.

Max gave a rock on symbol with their hand, smiling a bit.

Button's mother, Jess, sighed. "Go bring her down, she has the entire week and can take a 20 minute break for family." She pecked husband's lips, moving to bring things to the table.

Peter nodded, heading upstairs as Junior hung onto his mom's arm. "Gross, you gave Dad cooties~"

Finch laughed softly, "Fair enough." He waited for Buttons to tell him where to go/what to do.

Jess hummed, "He already had cooties long before you were born." And she looked at Jan, the eldest.

Ed hummed, moving to sit, and Buttons gently motioned for Finch to sit next to himself. Ed sat across from Finch, Max going to sit on the other side of Finch instead. Jan sat next to Ed, leaving the last spot for Amy, and the heads of the table for their parents.

"Ewww," Junior cried, running off to the table. He leaned close to Buttons, "Mom made a dirty joke," he said scandalously.

Finch snorted, covering his mouth to try to disguise his laugh as a cough.

Jess rolled her eyes, smiling a bit as she moved to sit. She sighed, waiting for Peter and Amy.

Amy came down and sat down, sighing a little bit. Peter came and sat at the other end of the table. "Looks great, hun," he said, looking at the spread.

Jess smiled at that, "Had to work my best magic for our guest."

The people at the table moved to hold hands, Max gently taking Finch's other to connect the circle. Hm. Black fingerless gloves. After quickly saying grace, Buttons, Jan, and Jess moved to serve the food. When that was done, they sat again, and started to eat.

Finch felt a sort of pang in his heart that he elected to ignore as he started to eat. "It's really good, ma'am," he said politely.

"Thank you," She hummed with a smile. "So, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?" Ah. The family interrogation. Buttons sighed, as if he was expecting this.

"Oh, um, well, I'm in my third year like Benny, and I'm going for an Animation major," Finch said.

"Oh, good luck," Jess said politely. "Sounds like a fun field, certainly a lot of work!"

"Takes me forever for one sketch," Jan said with a bit of a laugh.

"Yeah, it can take me weeks to do a ten minute short, " Finch grinned. "I had to simplify my style a little to make even that."

"Wow," Jan laughed.

"Big yikes," Ed nodded in agreement.

"Yeah... Ben's had to drag me away from my tablet at 3 am cause I was still working on a project," Finch chuckled, glancing at Buttons.

"At 3am you weren't even focusing," Buttons grinned.

Jan chuckled, "Deadlines suck."

Finch nodded in agreement.

"Could you draw Spiderman?" Junior asked, his eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, sure!" Finch said.

"I wanna be Spiderman, he's so cool, and he lives in New York, so I could be Spiderman," Junior said idly as he ate.

Hm. Alright. Finch could do that, probably by the end of the week.

Ed giggled, "Just gotta find a radioactive spider."

Jan flicked his arm.

Junior nodded, "Mhm."

"Don't go around trying to get bit by spiders," Peter warned, glancing at Ed.

Junior pouted a little, but simply kept eating.

"I'm done, can I go work on my paper now?" Amy asked.

"Sure, tell your little internet girlfriend we say hi," Peter teased.

Amy blushed a little bit, but didn't respond to that as she took her plate to the kitchen.

Ed shrugged.

"Good luck, Amy~!" Jan said cheerfully.

Max kept eating, remembering something. Ah, they'd just bring it up when they needed to.

Once everyone was done eating, Junior ran to go play video games until his mom told him to get off of it, and Peter carried plates to the sink to wash them.

Finch looked down at the table, murmuring a short and quick prayer, hoping no one noticed. He stood up. "Do we need to help..?" he asked Buttons.

Max had done the same without even asking, just staying by Finch. Seems someone was educated. Buttons was a bit confused but respectful, leaving his hands in his lap and waiting until Finch was done. "Nah, my dish day was yesterday," Buttons said with a smile, "We can probably just go up to the room."

Max got up, moving to the kitchen, because today was their dish day.

"Would it be okay if I went and tried to finish the menorah first?" Finch asked softly.

"Shit, almost forgot," Buttons huffed. "Yeah, let's go." He smiled at the other, moving back to the garage.

And then Jan grabbed him. He squeaked, Jan holding him a chokehold as she said kindly, "You go on ahead, I'd like to talk to Ben for a second."

"O-okay," Finch said. "Please don't break my boyfriend." He waved to Buttons as he went back to the garage and got back to work.

"I'll do my best," Jan beamed.

Ed moved back into the garage a few minutes later, getting some clay from the larger wad. He looked over at Finch's sculpture, "Looks nice." He started messing with the clay, working on his own thing.

Buttons squeaked.

"Why else would you bring him home?" Jan smirked.

"Because?? He was at college all alone???" He answered, face bright red. "Okay- I- Jan- I know I love him- but like- we

"Never too early or late to hop on the wedding train," Jan grinned.

"Says you! Where's your marriage?" Buttons glared.

Jan put a hand over her chest dramatically, "Across the seven seas in aromantic land, remember?" Buttons groaned, looking at her, and she giggled. "I just wanted to see what was up. Everyone seems to like him. Just putting a little~ thought~ into your head."

"Thanks," Finch said shyly, smiling softly at it. Maybe another hour at this pace and he could finish the wrappings. Then from there, the rest wouldn't be too hard.

Ed nodded. And then he felt something familiar. "Hm. I really hope I don't collapse," He muttered, pacing more to keep himself awake.

Finch looked up, setting the thing down. "Do-do I need to get anyone? Or catch you?"

"Uhhhh...." Ed shook his head, "No, lemme jus- siNKING SHIP-!!"

As soon as he'd started yelling it, Max was under him, catching him as he fell over. Max sighed, helping the other over to the hammock, "Got him..."

Jan appeared at the doorway, calm when she saw Max had their brother, and continuing to hold Buttons in a chokehold out of view. She moved away, casually continuing their conversation.

Max sighed, "You worked another late night." Ed huffed something, trying to keep awake, but nope- he passed out. Max looked over, "Sorry about that."

"Ah, it's fine," Finch said a bit slowly. "That happen often?"

"Yeah. He's got narcolepsy with cataplexy- it's better on days where he actually gets sleep," Max said, moving over. "That's pretty," They hummed, looking at the menorah.

"Oh, thanks. My last one isn't so much, so Bu-Ben was helping me make a new one," Finch said, gesturing to the flickering fake candles on the plastic one. "I'm gonna make a little Star of David piece to put on top for the shamash to sit on once I'm done with this part."

"Nice," Max hummed. They looked around, pulling out a ninth metal cup, "Probably gonna need that one." They rolled their shoulders, tilting their head, "Also be careful that it's strong enough that you can drop it from an inch off the table and it won't break- that's usually a tell if it'll crack in the oven."

"Yeah, I figured I'd roll the wire into two triangles, put the clay on, then put them together and make sure they are really secure," Finch said, motioning with his hands.

Max gave a thumbs up, looking over at Ed. They sighed, playing with one of their rings, looking worried for their brother. He moved back to the hammock, bringing up a chair, carefully watching the other. "What was he doing before he passed out?"

"He was starting to do something with the clay, but he'd just started, so I'm not sure what," Finch said as he started working again.

"Alright, gonna need that to trigger his memory again so he doesn't pass out again," Max sighed.

"How's that work?" Finch asked curiously.

"So, from what the doctors say," Max hummed, trying to think, "Basically the cataplexy means he gets paralyzed. The narcolepsy actually makes him pass out, which becomes a lot easier when his muscle tension is basically zero. It's also 'cause he doesn't release wake-up chemicals, as the Doc called them. So when he's slept like shit, you can imagine how much easier that is. Usually it doesn't last very long- but it's disorienting, so it takes a while for him to remember what he was doing. The faster he remembers, the faster he can wake up." Max smiled a bit, happy they'd remembered all of that, and looked up. "I may or may not be interested in the medical field," They admitted.

"Oh... Huh. That's pretty cool," Finch said. "The medical field interest, not the... yeah." Stop talking now.

Max laughed a little, "No, it is all cool. It's just kinda shitty, too."

Max pat Ed's forehead, and he shot up, blinking rapidly, "FUCK!"

Max chuckled, "What were you sculpting, bro?"

"A-a-auh...." He looked over, squinting at the clay, trying not to collapse again, "Uhm... Uh..."

"Easy, focus. Kinda looks like a flower?" Max said, glancing over.

"Oh. A rose. I was-" His face heated up, "-doING A THING FOR A FRIEND." He took a breath, because fuck he didn't want to pass out again.

Finch kinda watched as he worked, not wanting to disrupt or somehow make it worse.

Max gently pat Ed's head, "Let's bring it up to your room, yeah?"

Ed sighed, waving Max off. He got up, moving over to the table (only slightly woozy). He waved to Finch awkwardly, then moved with Max out of the room.

It was another half-hour before Buttons moved into the garage, "I'm freeeee~!"

Finch waved to them, going back to work. By the time Buttons came in, he was finishing the last one. "Jeez, she stole you for a while," he teased. "What were ya talkin' about?"

"Sibling stuff," Buttons murmured, blushing a little. "Wow, that looks nice~."

"As an only child, I have no idea what that means," Finch giggled, twirling the menorah in his hand. "Yeah, it's not bad, huh?" He beamed, setting it down carefully as he grabbed the wire again, cutting pieces out and forming them into the shape he wanted above the top to make sure the sizing was okay. Content, he took them back, forming them into two triangles before grabbing a piece of clay and rolling it.

Buttons watched with interest, recognizing the shape. "We could probably pop it in the oven and head up, Max doesn't know the definition of sleep. Ironically," He chuckled.

"Yeah, all I gotta do is make the Star and form it, and the cups, onto it and make sure they are all secure, make the bottom, unless you wanna do that. Just take a cup or a ball of some sort and form it around it, then cut it to be even," Finch said, focused as he stuck one of the wire pieces through it. "We could probably finish the whole thing within another hour, at most."

Buttons nodded, moving to help how Finch directed him.

Once they had put the final touches together and Finch had made sure everything was secure and wouldn't easily break off, he looked up at Buttons proudly. "I think it's done!" His eyes were shining in a way they usually didn't.

Buttons smiled happily at the shine, going, "Alright, let's put 'er in~!" Soon enough, they had the manorah in the oven, and Buttons was leading Finch upstairs again after Max swore to bring the item out of the oven when the timer went off.

Finch flopped onto the bed, sprawled across it, his eyes closed but a small smile on his face.

"Incoming," Buttons laughed, flopping next to Finch and nuzzling close. "Day 1. Status: Alive. Mostly."

"Day 1, didn't massively embarrass myself in front of your family. I hope," Finch giggled, wrapping around him like a koala.

"Nope," Buttons giggled, snuggling closer happily. "Are we showering or just sleeping?"

"I'm guessing we can't shower together without raising some eyebrows," Finch grinned, opening his eyes to look at him softly.

"I mean, we can, we just can't make noise," Buttons snorted softly. He curled into the bed and Finch more.

"Hm, tempting~" Finch grinned, not having much intention of leaving Buttons' arms at the moment. After a moment, he said quietly. "I want to make a quick animation for your brother, he seems to really like Spiderman, so I wanna do like... a shot of Spidey swinging into the frame and pulling off his mask and it's Junior. You think he'd like that?"

"I think he'd scream out of pure joy," Buttons chuckled.

He thought to himself, his ears going red again.

"Would you absolutely hate me if I started storyboarding it now?" Finch grinned. "I'll stay here and let you cuddle me if it helps~"

"As long as I get to cuddle you, I don't care," Buttons hummed happily.

Finch kissed him quickly before hopping down to grab his laptop and tablet, setting it up as he got back and settled against the pillows. He closed the latke recipe that was open when he opened his laptop; he'd considered trying to make them, but after the failed challah, decided not to. He woke up the tablet by wiggling the pen across it, opening Flash.

Buttons didn't notice (mostly cuz he didn't understand). "Hey, if you're interested in making any other stuff, we got plenty," Buttons giggled, cuddling up to Finch's back. He kept his arms around the other's waist, letting him work.

Finch shrugged, "I wouldn't want to make another mess. I tried to recreate my mom's challah- its a type a bread- and it turned out pretty horribly. I burned the hell outta it but somehow the inside was still raw. Guess I'm not a baker," he joked as he started sketching.

"Hmm~... If you want, we can try to make it tomorrow. We really don't celebrate a lot," Buttons admitted with a bit of a chuckled. "Our celebrating is chilling without school."

Finch was quiet for a moment, it seemed that maybe he didn't hear him? "I'd like that," he said after a moment, glancing at Buttons. "We could make latkes and doughnuts," he smiled softly. "And maybe retry the challah, possibly with some help."

"What's a latke?" Buttons asked curiously, nuzzling into Finch's neck and watching the other.

"Basically like a fried potato pancake," Finch explained. "Latkes and doughnuts are traditional, cause the whole oil thing, and you fry them in oil, ya know. They were my favorite part, but I haven't had them in years."

"Well... We got a frier..." Buttons looked extremely interested. "We can try it~!"

Finch butted his head lightly against Buttons'. He was so in love with this boy, and so so grateful for him and his family taking him in and letting him celebrate his own holiday.

Buttons laughed a little, placing kisses on Finch's cheek and neck happily. "I love you so much~," He hummed.

"I love

so much," Finch countered. "And... thanks. Seriously. I would be moping in my bed all alone right now had you not brought me in."

Buttons hummed again, "I couldn't let my boyfriend just be mopin'...." He smiled a little, "Plus, I get to cuddle you in my bed~." His voice dropped a little, "Get to be with you~ In my bed~." He was just teasing now, kissing Finch's neck again and letting the kiss linger.

"Oh, naughty naughty brat boy," Finch teased, trying to stay on focus with the sketching, as tempting as Buttons was.

"Hehe~," Buttons giggled, lightly nomming on Finch's neck. He settled down, though, wanting the other to focus, and hummed softly, just keeping close.

Finch rolled his eyes with a smile, leaning a little more against him. "By the time I finish the storyboarding, most of your family will probably be asleep," Finch said, just kinda throwing that out there.

"Not me~," Buttons smirked, "And my room is next to Ed's and Max's... Ed is a deep sleeper, and Max sleeps with music..." Just to say that. Y'know.

"Hm. Interesting." Finch said oh so casually, just sketching. No naughtiness happening here, so innocent~

Buttons hummed in response, teasingly nomming on Finch's neck again, and just resting there.

Finch laughed softly, resting his head against Buttons'. "Does your mama know you are trying to be naughty with your boyfriend under her roof~?" he teased.

"Considering I have five siblings, I don't think she can scold me," Buttons smirked.

"You know what... fair enough," Finch snickered. His hand moved fast, and the general motion of a figure swinging into the shot was clear.

Buttons got a little distracted, watching Finch draw quietly, just looking amazed. He relaxed against the other, almost hypnotized by Finch's movements.

By the time he was done, an hour and a half had passed. "How's that?" Finch asked, playing the simple animation back on a loop for him.

"Looks badass," Buttons hummed, eyes wide. "June's really gonna love it."

Finch grinned, saving it before closing his laptop and setting it on the ground beside him. He hummed, coming back up to kiss Buttons softly. "What now?" he asked teasingly.

Buttons felt a shiver move through him, glancing to make sure the laptop wasn't in the way. He shrugged, a bit mischievously, "I may or may not have supplies for some fun, if you're interested...~"

"Oh? What kind of fun?" Finch grinned teasingly.

Buttons hummed, curious, and he moved to kiss Finch gently, hugging the other a little closer, "Pretty sure you're aware of the kind of fun." He smirked a little, kissing the other again.

"I'm a good little Jewish boy, a man of God, I have no idea what you're talking about," Finch teased.

"Pfft," Buttons snickered, his voice dropping lower. "When we got together it's 'cause you were getting off on me in the shower~." He moved to kiss Finch's neck, lightly nipping on the skin.

"W-well, I'm also half Spanish, must be where my lack of shame comes from," he joked. Certainly untrue, told by the blush on his face.

Buttons snickered, "You wanna test that?" He shifted, nuzzling a little lower, scraping his teeth against what he knew was sensitive skin.

Finch made a small whine, leaning his head away a little to give him more room.

Buttons hummed, and... Gosh, he was in a playful mood. He blew a raspberry against the skin, giggling as he picked up Finch and turned, laying the other against the bed with quiet laughter.

"You dork," Finch giggled, holding onto Buttons' waist.

Buttons was beaming, snuggling closer, "Yep." He moved up to kiss Finch happily, "One happy dork that's happily in love." He moved his hands to either side of Finch's head, palms on the bed, "Also one happy dork that has his boyfriend pinned to a bed~."

"What's that make me, huh? Just a boyfriend pinned to a bed?" Finch winked, a grin on his face, looking just as taken with him.

"How about a cute, adorable, artistic and amazingly talented boyfriend that's pinned to a bed?" Buttons hummed.

"Unrealistic," Finch deadpanned, snorting softly.

"Very realistic," Buttons said with a smile, kissing Finch again. "I love you~."

"I love

," Finch grinned happily, kissing him back sweetly.

"I love

Buttons giggled, kissing his nose. "I love you so so so so much~," Buttons hummed, shifting a bit to straddle the other.

"Stop takin' the words outta my mouth," Finch teased, pulling Buttons down to kiss him again. "It's rude~"

"It's not rude, it's mind-reading," Buttons giggled, leaning into the kiss, feeling so happy, his heart so full of love he was gonna explode.

"Well, ain't it lucky I love you so much~" Finch could say it all night, and it still wouldn't seem like enough.

Buttons gently pressed himself down against the other, his kisses lowering again to Finch's neck, nipping and nuzzling close, "And I love you tons~."

"I could say it a million times and it wouldn't be enough times to tell you how much I love you," Finch said, holding onto him, nuzzling his face against his hair.

"I could scream it to the world but I wouldn't be happy until every star heard me say I love you~," Buttons giggled.

"That's gay, Benny," Finch teased.

"We're gay, Patty," Buttons teased back, moving up to kiss Finch's lips. "Like, real gay."

"Thank god," Finch sighed. "I don't know what I'd do if we were straight. Die, probably."

"Probably," Buttons giggled, nuzzling closer. He was really teetering on the edge of being horny and just flopping on the other in cuddles. So he did just lay on the other in cuddles. For now~!

Finch squeezed his arms around him, kissing his forehead. "God, imagine telling that scared little boy running away from home that this is where he'd end up..." he said softly. "Holding the cutest boy in the world, so happy and full of love~"

Buttons squeaked like a squeak toy, giggling as he nuzzled closer. "Sometimes the bravest people get the nicest things~," He praised.

Finch wondered how he'd react if he knew exactly what he'd been through, and was almost tempted to tell him. He didn't want to ruin the moment though, and decided against it. "Yeah... I guess I'm just a lucky guy," he murmured, leaning forward to kiss Buttons softly.

Buttons noticed the look. "Hey, you wanna hear a secret?" He said softly.

"Sure, what is it?" Finch asked curiously.

"I lived in Cali, for like, a really long time~," Buttons giggled, mimicking a Cali girl's accent. He shifted, going to normal, "A fire ate our house. It was just me and Ed and Jan. We were homeless for a bit, then we inherited this place... Still poor, but not homeless." He smiled softly, "I barely remember it, but my family calls it the Dark Ages of our history."

"Damn, must've been scary... At least I didn't have to worry 'bout anyone but myself," Finch said, implying that he too had been homeless.

Buttons hugged Finch closer, "I'm just... Trying to say I know some of it. I clearly don't know everything and you don't gotta tell me everything. I love you, okay?"

"Yeah..." Finch pressed his forehead softly to Buttons. He sighed softly, working his hand into Buttons' hair. "And it's not that I don't wanna tell you, I just... it's not the funnest story, ya know? Don't wanna bring the mood down."

"Up to you. I think the mood right now is cuddles and love," Buttons hummed, relaxed on top of the other. He relaxed with the pets, keeping close.

"I will one day, alright?" Finch promised, kissing him softly.

"Alright," Buttons hummed, leaning into the kiss. He nuzzled close, wanting to comfort the other.

Finch closed his eyes with a soft sigh, happy to just be here with him. "You're warm," he mumbled.

"You're cozy," Buttons murmured, relaxing. "Get to cuddle a cute pretty boy in my bed," He hummed happily, eyes closing.

"You're the cute pretty boy," Finch murmured, snuggling him closer.

"No you are," Buttons hummed, kissing Finch's cheek.

"You are, no take backs," Finch giggled softly. He was already starting to doze off.

"Okay, but you are too," Buttons said, his words barely above a whisper. "G'night, babe..."

"G'nigh," Finch mumbled back, falling asleep in the warm coziness of his boyfriend.

Buttons woke up around 9:30, trying to ignore the sun in his eyes. He shifted very slightly, resting in the crook of Finch's neck, relaxed.

"Mornin'," Finch mumbled, having been stirring from sleep for the last few minutes.

Buttons just hummed in response, slowly curling his arms around Finch more. He realized why he'd felt so sluggish for the past few mornings- Finch wasn't there. He cuddled more into the other, happy that he was with Finch now.

Finch pressed a soft, sleepy kiss to his forehead. He had an idea of a cute animation bit of this- ohhh he had ideas for a few cute animations and he'd put so many hearts people would choke on it.

Buttons smiled, blushing a little. He moved to kiss Finch's lips sleepily, imagining waking up like this every morning and just melting from that.

"What a lovely wake up call~" Finch teased, his voice a little rough from sleep, his hair sticking up in every direction messily.

Buttons hummed softly, "Mhm." He kissed Finch's cheek, moving off of/away from the other and sitting up, stretching and cracking his joints.

Finch tried to pat his bedhead down as he sat up, yawning. Uh oh, how'd he get here? He was now wrapped against Buttons' waist, his chin resting on his shoulder. Mmm, he didn't mind.

"Hum~?" Buttons moved an arm around Finch's shoulders, cuddling the other closer, "Why, hello." He gently kissed Finch's forehead, relaxed.

"Hi~" Finch smiled sleepily, blushing a little because he was just... very happy, very warm, very gay.

Buttons saw the blush, shifting to kiss Finch's lips happily. Very warm. Very gay. Much cuddle.

"Ugh, you're gonna kill me, I'm not emotionally ready for you to be kissing me so sweetly," Finch whined.

"Sh, let me revel in my morning breath not killing you," Buttons teased, going to kiss Finch again, tongue swiping against the other's lips.

"See, that's how much I love you, I don't even care that your breath stinks," Finch giggled.

Buttons laughed. "Well." He kissed Finch's nose, "Then let me go take care of that." He got up, getting a change of clothes, "Most of the rooms up here are bedrooms, first floor is anything you want it to be. Don't be afraid to come join me in the shower~." He winked, tiredly moving out of the room.

Finch sat there for about maybe half a second before getting his own change of clothes and followed him. I mean, what better way to wake up than a shower, and it would only be saving water!

Max was already downstairs, a bagel in the toaster. They looked over at Finch, rolling their eyes and shaking their head softly as they waited. Hm.

Hm. Finch just quietly leaned against the wall as he waited for Buttons, having a feeling Max knew what they'd been doing upstairs.

Yes. Max definitely knew. As they got their bagel, they looked at Finch with a raised eyebrow, "I'd appreciate it if you two left your orgasms away from where I shower." They snickered a bit, then paused- "Oh, the manorah. It's in the garage. Didn't crack at all, so it should be good for painting."

Finch flushed, giving him a small shamed salute, "Cool," he said in a small voice.

Max gave a thumbs up, taking a bite of the bagel- were those raisins? -and headed to the living room.

Buttons hummed as he came downstairs, blinking when Max stopped him. He nodded, blushing a little, then moved over to Finch. "Well, we weren't quiet," He mumbled, a little embarrassed.

"I know, I thought we'd done at least a fairly good job," Finch blushed, putting his face in Buttons' neck. "Hopefully he's the only one who heard."

Buttons chuckled, keeping close, "Hopefully." He hummed, looking over, "What do you wanna eat~?" He was thinking about the different things they had, humming.

"Whatcha got?" Finch mumbled into his neck.

Buttons shifted, an arm around Finch's waist while the other opened the fridge, "Egg, bread, bacon... more bread in the form of bagel." He chuckled a bit.

"Bacon... Egg.. cheese...

," Finch said slowly, rising from Buttons' chest dramatically slow.

Buttons snickered, kissing Finch's forehead again before going for the bagels, "Plain or cinnamon raisin?"

"Plain, please~" Finch said, leaning against the counter as he watched. It was cold... "Would you,

, have hot chocolate we can make?"

Buttons let out a

hum, taking out two bagels. He took a breath to continue the hum as he put them into the toaster, going back and taking out the jug of milk. He finally broke the hum, "You want the weird powder stuff or actual chocolate syrup?"

"Hmmmmmm, weird powder stuff

chocolate syrup," Finch grinned, rubbing his gay little hands together.

Buttons gasped dramatically, "Oh, that's

He moved to get two mugs, pouring the milk into both. "Marshmallows or nah?" He put the milk back, going for the syrup and a packet of powder.

"What kind of man do you take me for, Benjamin. Of course marshmallows," Finch said dramatically

"I take you for a man who likes marshmallows, Patrick," Buttons answered, eyebrows raised as he moved to pour the cold milk from both mugs into a bigger cup, and put that in the microwave.

"Good," Finch grinned, draping himself over Button's shoulders, maybe needing to stand a little bit on his toes to do so.

Buttons crouched a little, giggling.

Finch stayed on him totally not dozing off again until the microwave went off. "Benny, the microwave went off," he said as if it weren't obvious, not moving a muscle.

"You koala," Buttons hummed happily, going to take out the milk. He poured it back into the mugs, putting the respective chocolates in the mugs and stirring. He went for the mallows, humming, "Careful~ It's hot~." He relaxed, happy with Finch.

Finch hummed happily, basking in the warmth of the mug, taking a small sip. "Ow." He blew on it a little and took another sip. Still hot.

"I said careful," Buttons giggled, kissing Finch's head.

Buttons didn't notice how his mother was by the doorway, smiling softly and watching her son just being happy in love.

"But it's so good," Finch pouted, taking another sip and ignoring his burning taste buds, not noticing her either. He jumped a little bit as the toaster went off, but managed not to spill the hot chocolate. He pressed a kiss to Buttons' shoulder as he set the mug down to get them. Again, not caring about the hot.

"Babe!" Buttons squeaked, moving to grab Finch gently and pull him back. "Heat, love.

"Hungry, babe.

," Finch grinned. "Fire cannot kill a dragon~"

"You're a bird," Buttons snickered, carefully popping out the bagels onto a plate. "You want any butter or cream cheese?"

"Crem chez," Finch giggled, snuggling into his back. "And of course I'm a bird, thaz why dey calls me Finch~"

"I thouz dey callz ya Finch cuz you sing like a preddy birdie~," Buttons hummed, going to get the cream cheese and putting it carefully on the bagel. He perked up when his mom laughed softly, blushing. His mom hummed, going to make a mug of coffee.

Finch snorted at that, flushing a little when he realized she was there. "Good morning, ma'am," he said quietly, still a little shy around her.

The woman laughed a little, "Jess is fine, dear."

Buttons handed Finch the bagel, kissing his forehead anyway. She seemed to soften at that, happy that her son was happy.

Finch nodded softly, taking the bagel happily, taking a bite.

She hummed, "I'm going out today with your father. Don't burn the house down."

Jess moved to kiss Button's cheek, and he smiled a little, "Have fun."

"Thanks," She hummed, getting the cup and moving off.

Finch waved, leaning back against Buttons as he ate his bagel. "We gonna have a cook day?" he asked.

"Yup," Buttons beamed. He put some cream cheese on his bagel, taking a bite and sipping happily from his mug. Hot chocolate and bagels.

Finch finished one half of the bagel when he remembered. "Oh, yeah!" He ran out to the garage with no further explanation.

He picked up the menorah carefully, happily checking over it.

"Hum?" Buttons just let the other run off, continuing to eat his breakfast. He shifted to see what ingredients they had, a bit worried they might not have everything.

Finch was quite happy with it, and the dreidels had turned out pretty good as well. He left them there, already thinking of the colors he'd paint them. "They turned out great!" he said happily as he came back into the kitchen.

Buttons smiled, "That's good! So then maybe while things are cooking we can paint? Is there any baking involved?" He looked over, eyebrow raised.

"Latkes will be quick to make, I think it's literally just prep and mix the ingredients and then fry them. Donuts are a little longer to make the dough, but cook quickly once thats done. Overall, prolly would only take... two hours roughly? Well, actually less if we're workin' together and doing them at the same time." Finch explained, pulling up recipes on his phone. "Then we'd be done, and we can paint," he smiled happily.

"Alright... Frier." He reached down, pulling out the long rectangular frier. He set it on the counter, taking the basket out, and making sure it was clean before pouring in the oil. He hummed, plugging it in and covering it up so it would be ready to use later. "Alright, explain away~."

Finch nodded, reading over the instructions of both. "Yeah, we have to leave the dough out to rise for an hour, so it would be best to do that first."In a small bowl, combine the yeast, 1 tablespoon flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and water. Mix well, cover, and allow to rest until the mixture becomes foamy," he read aloud. "In another large bowl, mix the remaining 3 cups of flour with the melted margarine, salt, remaining sugar, and the egg yolks."

Buttons was grabbing ingredients, putting them up, "Alright, uh... Do we need the same stuff for other things?"

"For the latkes, its shredded potatos, grated onion, eggs, flour, salt, and peanut oil," Finch read. "Oh, and jelly and powdered sugar for the donut filling and topping."

"Oh boy," Buttons laughed, looking around. "I'll do my best."

Finch grinned at him, "Do we need ta go to the store for anything?"

"Uhhhhh I don't

so...?" Buttons pulled out the potatoes and onions.

"Okay, cool," Finch beamed, rolling up his sleeves. He set the phone in between them on the counter, looking around. "Measuring cups..."

"Cabinet right of the oven," Buttons answered, bringing things over.

Finch went and grabbed the cups, getting a couple bowls down too. "Gotta melt the butter down," he said to Buttons. "A fourth of a cup." He started reading the directions again, following them as he measured out a small amount of flour and sugar, double checking this was right. Yeah, the rest went in the other bowl.

Buttons went to cut the butter, putting it in a bowl and popping it in the microwave in intervals, not wanting it to explodé.

Finch stuck his tongue out a little in focus, making sure it was all measured and mixed right before he covered it to rest a little while he measured out the mixture for the larger bowl.

Buttons moved to bring the butter, helping measure and mix where he could. He was enjoying helping, following with a hum.

Finch smiled at him. This was nice, and quite peaceful. The house itself was quiet, although he could hear some commotion that sounded like playing outside. He'd already managed to get flour on his shirt and a little on his face, but that was okay.

As they continued, Buttons noticed the flour on his love's face. He got a rag and licked it, and when Finch wasn't paying attention he moved to scrub the flour off before setting the rag down and continuing in what he was doing, humming softly.

"Gross, cooties," Finch teased jokingly, glancing at him as he whisked the mixture.

Buttons rolled his eyes, "Oh, yeah, 'course. You're infected now."

Finch giggled, huffing as he kept whisking. "You know, I just realized that this has to turn from a liquid to a solid."

"So how much mixing do we gotta go?" Buttons said with wide eyes.

Finch looked down at the bowl. "I realize now that usually a mixer would be used for this. Do you have one by any chance?"

"Uhhhhhhhhhh....." Buttons moved around, trying to find it, and he eventually did... Oh jeez. He started climbing the counter, standing on top as he got it, putting it on to the sink. He moved down carefully, but of course he slipped. He yelped, crashing to the floor, thankfully only falling on his side. "Ow..." He mumbled.

Finch yelped, quickly setting the bowl on the counter and kneeling beside him. "Are you okay??" he asked worriedly, carefully helping him sit up.

"Yeah, all good," He managed, laughing a little in disbelief. "Usually I don't fall over," He managed, rubbing his arm. "Oof..." He looked at Finch, "I'm good."

"Are you sure?" Finch asked, clearly disbelieving that he was really all okay.

"Yeah, yeah... Hold on." He gently nudged Finch away, stretching out his arm and rolling it around, then bending his joints, making sure his shoulder and elbow were okay. He nodded, "Yeah, all good, just sore." He chuckled, "Body fat really out here saving my bones." He gently moved closer to Finch again, "I'm good."

"Should I kiss it better?" Finch said a little cheekily after making sure he really was okay.

Buttons blinked. He held out his arm, "My bownes weally wurt, dey's needin' twu wuv's kiss."

Finch snorted, taking his wrist tenderly and pressing small kisses up his forearm before looking at him, still holding his wrist loosely. "Anywhere else?" he said with a cheeky grin that had his mother seen, would think he looked just like his father.

"How about here?" Buttons said softly, pointing at his lips.

"Oh, of course, it's dangerous to let those go unkissed~" Finch teased as he pulled Buttons forward a little while leaning in himself, kissing him tenderly.

Buttons hummed happily in the kiss, moving his arms around Finch's shoulders and pulling the other in for a bit of a longer kiss.

Finch hummed, leaning in a little more into him, deepening it a little.

Junior just wanted a snack. Just a snack, not a scar for life. He ran into the kitchen, not expecting, of course, to see his older brother making out on the floor with his boyfriend. "Eeeewww, gross!" he shouted, covering his eyes maybe peeking.

Amy snorted behind him, "Do I ever want to know how you two ended up there?"

Finch had pulled away from him, flushing a little as he stood up quickly and helped Buttons up, "He, uh, he fell, I was helping him up."

"I've never helped anyone up like that before," Amy chuckled, going to the fridge with raised eyebrows.

"Do you guys always kiss?" Junior asked, wrinkling his nose.

Buttons

blushing bright red and still leaning into Finch. He managed to stand with the other, letting go carefully, and glaring a bit at Amy. He looked back at Junior, "Yeah. People kiss people that they love." He was calming down, trying to ignore his burning blush.

"Someone at my school got in trouble cause he was kissing a girl," Junior said, taking the applesauce Amy handed to him.

You could almost see the struggle on Finch's face not to say "cause being straight is illegal" as a joke. Amy looked like she might be holding back a retort of her own.

"Well, that's not fair," Buttons answered, "Unless the guy or the girl were already with someone. Or they were supposed to be in class." He smiled a bit.

"He was playing a joke on her I think..." June looked confused for a second as he thought of something. "Wait, but I love Mom and Dad but I don't kiss them?"

"Well, you kiss their cheeks- but you save lip kisses for people you're thinking about marrying-" oh. "-I MEAN. AS IN. SPENDING YOUR LIFE WITH THEM- I MEAN... Yeah I'm not making this any better," He muttered, head down in defeat.

"Oooohhh, okay!" Junior seemed content with that. "I'm gonna play Sims now." He took his snack and walked out.

"Well, you two seem busy enough in here," Amy said, a knowing look on her face as she too walked out.

Finch looked back at Buttons with raised eyebrows. "What was that you were saying?" he teased, leaning into him. "What, you havin' some ideas in that brain a your's?"

Buttons nodded, huffing at Amy, and then turning bright red. "I been having ideas, Finch. Don't get too excited about them, they ain't for a long while," He huffed, gently nudging the other, seriously trying to calm down his blush. He whined, putting his face in his hands. Stupid Jan.

Finch giggled, nudging one of Buttons' hands away with his nose to kiss his cheek. Weirdly enough, he wasn't bothered by the idea. The idea of spending the rest of his life like this... it was tempting, really.

Buttons blinked, shifting to kiss Finch gently. "One day," He murmured.

"I wouldn't mind that," Finch murmured softly back, staying where he was for a moment before kissing his cheek once more before going back to start the mixer up.

Buttons' eyes lit up at that, and smiled a bit as Finch moved off. He was just standing there stunned, watching the other happily. "Have I told you how much I love you?" He hummed, head tilting to the side.

"I believe you might have mentioned it once or twice," Finch giggled, glancing back at him. "I might need help figuring out how to use this, by the way."

"Oh fuck-" Buttons laughed, going over to set it up.

Finch helped the best he could, and after a... couple minutes, it was running smoothly and mixing the batter. And soon it was turning into a dough. "Had I done that by hand, I would have been absolutely jacked by the end," he giggled.

"Yeah, you could be using your hand for something else," He smirked.

"Gross, gutter-brain," Finch snickered, pushing him lightly. When the mixture was looking doughy, he got the dough off the whisk and covered it with a towel, setting it to the side to prove. "Well, that's there for about two hours, so wanna make the latkes?"

"Sure~," Buttons hummed, going to set up the next stuff.

"Potatos, eggs, flour, salt, mix em together and thats it, ya just just fry em after that."

"Alright," Buttons said, starting to pour things in.

Finch leaned against him, helping where he could but maybe just kinda cuddling him.

Buttons enjoyed the cuddles, blinking as he uncovered the frier. He put things in the basket, moving it into the frier and covering it again. "How long do we wait?"

"Doesn't say... Prolly gotta watch 'em, just said turn 'em when they're golden brown," Finch said.

"Alright... I guess," Buttons murmured. He took the basket out and turned things over before putting it back.

Finch nuzzled into him. watching and directing him to the shaping of them, happy and warm.

Buttons followed, humming along. By the end, they had a nice plate of them. "What should I do with these?" He hummed.

"Let 'em cool, nom nom yam-aka," Finch giggled.

He rolled his eyes, setting them in the microwave. "Y'think the dough's done? How long did that take?"

"Like... 30 minutes. So we got a while longer," Finch murmured, still nuzzling him.

Buttons turned, wrapping his arms around Finch and nuzzling him closer, humming softly.

"Wanna paints the dreidels?" Finch suggested.

"Alrighty," He murmured, kissing Finch's forehead, moving with the other but still keeping an arm around his waist.

Finch led him along to the garage. He took the slightly wonky one, hiding it in his hand and pushing the other (slightly better) one to Buttons. "See, they turned out great!" (Not pointing out that he'd given Buttons the one that he'd made, of course.)

"Finch," Buttons said, deadpan, "I'm not dumb. The one I made had an indent right there."

Finch clicked his tongue, putting Buttons' back on the table. "Yours is still good too," he said with a smile.

Buttons looked at his, beaming, "Fuck, it came out better than I thought it would." He went to try to spin it, and it was a little sloppy, but it worked!!

Finch beamed, going to find the paints. He did after a few moments, bringing the bin over and setting it down on the table between them.

"Alright, you gotta teach me what to paint," Buttons giggled.

"I can shows ya, but I'm gonna paint mine first~" Finch grabbed the blue, getting one of the brushes and starting to paint one side of it. "Once it dries, we can paint the symbols and the top on."

"Alright." Buttons copied, painting his as well.

Once he'd painted the sides, he watched Buttons, blowing on it to dry faster.

Buttons waved his gently in the air to dry it off, humming softly. He then went and painted a stripe of blue on Finch's cheek.

Finch squinted, slowly leaned in, took Buttons face... and he kissed him sweetly. Then while he was distracted, did a quick two dots and a curve to paint a smiley face on his cheek.

Buttons blinked, and then melted into the kiss a bit. He giggled, looking over in a mirror at the smiley. "Y'know what, that's fair," He laughed.

Finch laughed softly, grabbing his chin to turn his head a little, painting a little heart on his other cheek.

Buttons hummed, letting Finch do as he pleased. He looked in the mirror again, gasping. "Oh no. My reputation!!"

"Oh, and what reputation is that, hah?" Finch asked, kissing his lips softly since his cheeks now had paint on them.

"Me being a big tough button," Buttons pouted.

"Aw, poor babe," Finch giggled. "Everyone already knows you're a big softie~" He poked his cheek where it wasn't painted.

Buttons puffed out his cheeks, then giggled and went to normal, kissing Finch, "Whoopsies~."

Finch giggled, then turned his head back to the dreidel in his hand. He tested it, and the paint was dried. So he set it down to pull up the symbols on his phone, figuring he would go ahead and explain the game while they was painting, but he grabbed the silver paint first.

Buttons listened to the explanation, following along and asking questions where he was confused. He looked excited to be playing the new game, almost buzzing in place.

"Ya got the coins, or sometimes, like my family did it, we'd use some sorta candy like M&Ms or somethin', and ya give everyone an equal amount, we usually agreed on seven each," Finch explained as he found smaller brushes for them, handing one to Buttons. "This one," he gestured to the symbol on the phone as he started carefully painting it on one of the sides, "Is Nun. Easy 'nough to remember, nun does nothin', if ya roll it, you just pass to the next player."

Buttons quickly realized they were going to have to expose Finch to the Candy Shelf. He tried to hide the slight panic as he focused.

"Gimmel," Finch explained, too focused to notice, "means ya 'get'. Land on this and you take the whole middle pot, and everyone else has ta put two coins in to make a new pot."

Buttons nodded again, humming.

"Hey is half, so ya take half the pot." Finch paused to finish the symbol before continuing. "And Shin is share, so you'd put two coins in the pot."

"Alright, that all makes sense," Buttons hummed, trying to think. "Are you allergic to anything?"

"Nope," Finch said as he finished painting the top of the dreidel silver before blowing it.

"Phew," Buttons murmured, following all the symbols as he painted them on. "I may or may not have a sacred thing to show you in the kitchen."

Finch looked up at that, "And what's that?"

"It may or may not include something to play this game with," Buttons said casually, blowing on his dreidel to dry it off.

Finch was intrigued. He touched the paint, dry. He spun it, and it twirled for a good moment before it landed. "Gimmel, I take the pot~"

"If you eat all the candy, I think my family will throw me out of the house," Buttons giggled, kissing Finch's nose before motioning for the other to follow him back to the kitchen. He'd completely forgotten about the paint on his face.

Finch snickered, following him. "That's alright, I already took my prize this mornin'," he teased.

Buttons gasped, looking offended, "But don't you want it every morning??"

"Every mornin' sounds nice~" Finch grinned.

Buttons smiled, moving to kiss Finch gently before going to the cabinet. With a dramatic, shakey hand, he opened it and pointed to the top shelf. ... That's a lot of candy. Who needs that many different types of M&Ms???

“Oh my god,” Finch snickered. “It’s a whole treasure trove! Ya got that marked on a map somewhere?”

"Come over for Easter," Buttons answered ominously.

"What's Easter?" Finch joked, putting an arm around him. "I bet it's insane with all a that chocolate."

"Oh gosh it's fun," Buttons giggled.

"I just know that when the egg bunnies come out, means chocolate's on sale soon," Finch snickered.

"No, it means you get to run around collecting eggs and get

chocolate," Buttons clarified.

"I'm a Jew, this holiday isn't for me, therefore I gotta pay ta get in on it," Finch said, nudging him with a grin.

"Sh, I'll sneak you in," Buttons giggled, "Like sneaking people in the movie theater for a free movie."

Finch giggled, leaning into him. "Are there like... rules?" Cause like legitimately other than the commercialized stuff he wasn't sure how it was celebrated.

"Nah, just don't steal the little kid’s candy," Buttons hummed.

"Huh. There's like.. no rituals or nothin'?" Finch asked a little confused. "Ya don't go ta church?"

"Finch, we're not 'go to church every Sunday' Christians, in case you hadn't noticed," Buttons smirked.

"Well yeah, but like most Jewish holidays you'd go ta temple at least once ta pray," Finch said.

Buttons shrugged a bit, "Well, we don't usually go."

"Huh... alright," Finch shrugged. He looked at the time, at the bowl. "We still got a while before that's done so... We could start paintin' the menorah," he suggested.

"Alrighty~," Buttons hummed, following Finch back to the garage.

Finch started working on painting, not realizing he'd started humming softly as he made sure to get in the indents of the swirls.

Buttons watched, cuddled into Finch's back, watching and listening in a soft amazement.

" His voice was soft and sweet, his lips barely moving, still looking unaware of what he was doing as his hands moved. "

Buttons was melting. Buttons was so in love

He snuggled closer, quietly listening, not wanting to break the spell.

" Finch had starting riffing Zendaya's lines, realizing what he was doing. He blinked, looking at Buttons shyly. "S-sorry," he said sheepishly, a bit of a blush on his face.

"Don't gotta apologize," Buttons murmured, "Like I said; your voice is beautiful." He was loving listening to the other, snuggled close.

Finch's blush only grew at that, and he was too shy to continue, squirming a little bit in a little bit of embarrassment as if this didn't happen all the time.

Buttons laughed softly, nuzzling into Finch's neck. "C'mon, little bird... You can keep singing~."

Finch squeaked at the nickname, totally red now. "Noooo, it's embarrassing...."

"No it's not~," Buttons cooed, kissing Finch's neck. "It's adorable is what it is, birdie~."

"Stooooopp," Finch whined, getting even more flustered.

"Ooooh," Buttons smirked, kissing again, "I don't wanna stop, little birdie~."

"Anyone who says you're innocent obviously has never been in my position," Finch muttered, trying to paint even with the rising heat.

Buttons snickered, "I'm just a guy who sews." He shifted to actually lick Finch's neck slightly before moving away teasingly, going over to another box on the shelf. He brought it out, setting it on the table, "Speaking of..." He opened it, starting to shuffle through the stuff, curious.

Finch shivered at that, squirming in his seat, glancing at him with a pout before he started painted again.

Buttons froze when he found something. He slowly pulled out a tiny dress, looking at it a bit fondly. "Hey, Finch... When we get our own place, can we get a dog? Maybe a cat, too..." He smiled softly. It was definitely a dog dress.

"I never had a dog before, you'd hafta help me figure out how ta take care of it. But I don't mind," Finch said, looking up.

Buttons looked excited for that, buzzing a bit. "Either we get a dog, or kids." He snickered a bit at that, eyebrow raised towards Finch.

"Why not both?" Finch grinned. "Prolly would hafta wait a while for that one though...." he said a little more seriously. "I wouldn't wanna fuck up a kid..." He looked away, going back to his painting.

"We wouldn't fuck up a kid," Buttons said seriously, pausing in his little search. He looked at Finch, slight concern in his eyes. "'Course we'd wait, there's some stuff I gotta do first." He hid a smirk as he looked down again, "Oh- found it." He pulled out a bracelet from when he dabbled in jewelry. It was a silver band that had beads that looked like they were made from string. He set it on the table, humming as he slid it over to Finch.

Finch glanced up at it, a smile playing at his lips, "What's this?"

"A bracelet," Buttons said matter-of-factly.

"Well, duh, but why're ya givin' it to me?" Finch asked curiously.

"'Cause I want you to wear it," Buttons said softly.

Finch rolled his eyes a little, but slid it onto his wrist. "Happy, you dork?"

"Extremely," Buttons whispered, looking at Finch with a new smile, then covered up the box again and setting it away. He moved over, wrapping his arms around Finch's waist and and cuddling into his back, looking like a Soft Button™.

Finch sighed softly, looking back at him as he leaned back into him. He pressed a soft kiss to his lips, content and happy.

Buttons leaned into the kiss with a soft smile, nuzzling close. He looked over to the Menorah, "It's beautiful."

"Yeah?" Finch asked, looking over at it. "I'll paint the bottom and the Star gold, think it'll go pretty good with the blue and silver. I mean, ya know, Hanukkah colors," he smiled.

"It'll be amazing." He gently kissed Finch's cheek, "I'm gonna go try to bring down the candy and not fall over." He walked back into the house, looking relaxed.

Jan walked in through the back door a few minutes later, "Oh, hey! Wow, that looks nice." She looked over, whistling. Her eyes went to the bracelet as she watched him paint, and breathed out a soft, "Oh wow... He gave you it..."

Finch looked up, following her gaze to the bracelet. "Yeah, he just slid it over, wouldn't tell me why."

Jan hummed at that, leaning over the table again, "When he was first getting into crafts, he made his own string wefts. He'd buy the little folded things, and wind them into a tight ball. He got the idea to make them into beads, even if it was a big waste of string. He was so proud of the bracelet 'cause it'd taken so long to make each bead." Her gaze fell, "He was in either elementary or middle school, on the edge there. He brought it to school, and someone stole it. Basically, that was his first fist fight. He was so ashamed when Mom came to get him out of detention, but he also realized that he needed to hide precious things. He started keeping a lot of secrets after that. We didn't realize he had a box of sewing things until he went to college." She added the last part with a chuckle, rubbing her legs together. "He hid it, and he swore that he'd never let it go and only let someone he truly loved even see it again. He of course showed us before he hid it away... I've seen him eye the box when he was in other relationships, but he never took the bracelet out for them."

Finch listened in interest, his mouth falling open a little at the last part. He blinked, looking down at the bracelet he wore, fiddling with the beads that baby Buttons had so painstakingly crafted.

Jan chuckled softly, watching. "Yeah... I never expected him to touch the thing, honestly... I thought he forgot about it." She chuckled softly, shifting and standing up again. "Anyways, I'll leave you to painting," She hummed softly, going inside.

Finch smiled softly, reaching his hand up and kissing the bracelet softly before he went back to painting. Within a few more minutes, he'd finished, setting it down and looking over it with a happy grin.

Buttons came back in, humming, the smiley face washed off but the heart still there. He moved over, gasping softly and putting an arm around Finch's waist. "When it dries, we'll light it. Where do you think we should put it?" He looked excited, kissing Finch's cheek before going to find some candles.

"Wherever your mom says is okay. Usually by a window, though," Finch beamed.

"Alright, I know just the spot then," Buttons giggled. He moved to put the metal cups into the slots, and then put the candles into those, not lighting them but letting them sit there. He moved to pick it up like it was glass, being extremely careful with it (and not touching the paint too much) as he brought it into the house. There was a nice high table next to a window with two shelves under it that had books, and there was a white tablecloth over it already. He carefully set it down, smiling a bit and showing Finch.

Finch smiled, his eyes soft as he looked at it. It was almost bittersweet to see something that reminded him so strongly of home. "We'll hafta light six of 'em now, then the seventh when it gets dark."

"Alright... Let's wait until the paint fully dries, I don't wanna mess it up." Buttons moved to Finch's side again, an arm around his love's waist as he kissed Finch's temple happily.

Finch turned, nuzzling into his neck. "I love you," he murmured.

"I love you, too," Buttons murmured just as softly, cuddling Finch close, happy with the other.

"Jan told me what this bracelet is, by the way," he said softly, kissing his neck just as lightly.

Buttons shifted, blushing a little, going, "Ah, well that takes away the mystery..." His voice was soft, and he shifted to nuzzle closer gently.

"Wish I had somethin' like that I could give you," Finch sighed, his grip squishing a little tighter on his boyfriend, his best friend, his lover. He wanted something he could give to him.

"You being here is more than enough, Patrick," Buttons said softly, shifting to look at the other, "You just letting me love you, loving me, that's more than I could ever ask for."

Finch couldn't bring himself to pretend he wasn't tearing up at that. He brought one of his hands to Buttons' cheek, holding him softly. "I used ta think I wouldn't find no one," he admitted softly. "That maybe I wasn't meant to have someone like that loving me... You sure proved me wrong."

Buttons smiled a little at that, moving to kiss Finch gently, "Glad I did." He kissed Finch again, holding the other closer, pressing their foreheads together lovingly.

Finch sat happily in his embrace, content to stay there like that forever.

"So, should we check on the dough, or just cuddle on the couch?" Buttons hummed, content in Finch's arms.

"Hmmmm, my heart says cuddle but my mind says check on the dough, otherwise we'll forget about it entirely," Finch murmured.

"Hmmmm what a dilemma," Buttons hummed, gently shifting to kiss Finch lightly. "Well, I feel like there'll be plenty of time for us to cuddle," He said softly, nuzzling against the other. He still couldn't bring himself to move, though.

"Mhm..." Finch hummed back, not moving a muscle and not really intending to.

"Oh jeez, we're gonna stay like this forever, huh?" Buttons mumbled tiredly, feeling warm and cozy even though they were standing. He took a few shuffled steps towards the couch, sitting and pulling Finch to sit on top of him, laying down and pulling Finch close.

"Oh no," Finch murmured, nuzzling into his neck happily.

"A tragedy," Buttons breathed softly, kissing Finch's forehead, "Stuck forever cuddling the love of my life."

"Mmm, doesn't sound too bad, when ya put it like that," Finch said softly, ignoring the way his heart skipped a beat when he called him the love of his life.

"No, it doesn't," Buttons murmured, nuzzling closer and his eyes closing.

Finch hummed happily, burrowing into the crook of love's neck and dozing off quickly.

Amy came downstairs a little bit later to see them curled up. She shook her head softly, chuckling to herself as she took pictures for blackmail (or really cause she knew her mom would think they were cute) went into the kitchen, finding the mess they'd left and a proved dough ready to bake. Jesus, they'd even left the fryer on. She went over, inspecting the scene, and when she found the latkes in the microwave, she figured pretty easily they'd been making donuts. She rolled up her sleeves, going to work, I mean, she wasn't doing anything else anyways.

Junior came in a little bit later, curious, and started helping, both being quiet as to not wake the sleeping two. When they were done, Amy covered the donuts in a cling film, presented nicely on a plate, before they cleaned up and went back to their rooms.

Buttons had woken up first, but was starting lovingly at Finch. He moved his hand to rub the other's back gently, just lost in thought about how much he loved the other. Having Finch come over had really slammed things into perspective, and he decided right there that he could genuinely spend the rest of his life with this man.

Finch hummed sorta how a cat does when you suddenly touch it while it's dozing, stirring at the movement. He sighed, cuddling deeper into him.

Buttons bit back a laugh, continuing to rub Finch's back softly. He was just laying there, soaking in the affection, loving having the other there with him.

"I wuv you~" Finch murmured happily into his neck, pressing a soft kiss there.

Buttons giggled softly, "I wuv you too~." He was just relaxed and happy, curling Finch a little closer. "I think we passed out," He said quietly, looking around tiredly.

"What time is it?" he asked. "Ah, the dough mighta been sittin' too long..."

"Y'wanna go check on it?" He hummed, gently nudging Finch to sit up.

Finch grumbled at the nudge, but got off of him. He went to the kitche- What. He blinked. Their mess was gone, and there was. The donuts??? All nicely arranged on a plate????? "Wh- did I go crazy or somethin', we didn't finish them, did we?" he said, bewildered and not considering there were other people in the house.

Buttons got up, going over. "The Fae must'a come," He breathed, "Or my siblings." He snickered a bit, going over, kind of wanting one, but looking at Finch.

"Well....." Finch scooted over to the plate, sneaking one of the donut balls and biting into it. He squeaked as jelly almost dropped down his chin.

Buttons tried very hard. He was really trying. But he moved forwards, licking up Finch's chin. "Oh, that's good," He hummed, going to get a donut ball for himself and popping it into his mouth.

Finch giggled. "I think we did good~ Well, us and whoever finished 'em."

Buttons nodded happily, still chewing since he had literally shoved the whole thing in his mouth.

Finch popped the rest of his in his mouth, humming. He opened the microwave, getting one of the latkes to taste test it too. He nodded in approval with a grin, offering to Buttons.

Buttons made an 'ooo' sound, taking one of the latkes and eating it. "Wow, that's good," He said, doing a happy wiggle.

"Hey, and I bet the paint's dry, so we can light some of the candles now to get ready for when it's night," Finch said, nudging him.

Buttons perked up at that, looking around and grabbing a lighter. He handed it to Finch, nudging the other back, "C'mon, then~!"

Finch was excited, he hadn't been able to actually light a menorah in years. "Light the top candle, that's what we use to light the others."

Buttons blinked, and walked over with the other. He looked at the top candle, lighting it for Finch, looking excited.

Finch took the candle, carefully lighting six of them. "Usually, we'd light them one a night, but it's the seventh night, so when it gets dark we'll light the next one," he explained as he did, setting the candle back on the top. He stepped back and looked at it. Oh. There was a look in his eyes for a moment, of a deep sadness and longing, before he blinked and looked back at Buttons. "Pretty, ain't it?"

Buttons had seen it, and he carefully moved an arm around Finch, "Yeah, it is."

"Well, what trouble are we getting up to now in the meantime, hah?" Finch asked, poking his side.

Buttons looked over at a clock, shrugging, "Looks like it's only 3..." He looked at Finch, poking the other back.

"Hmmmmmmm....." Finch nuzzled back into him. "Then we got a while. Whatchu wanna do~?"

"I dunno, what do you wanna do~?" Buttons hummed, nuzzling back as he curled Finch closer, kissing the other's forehead happily.

Finch hummed. "Cuddle while I work on the animation?"

"Upstairs we go~," Buttons giggled, taking Finch's hand and moving back up to his room. He waited for Finch to settle down with the laptop and drawing tablet before going to settle behind the other again, cuddling into his back happily while scrolling through his phone.

Finch pressed a soft kiss to his forehead before settling down and starting to draw the base sketches.

Buttons was relaxed, just cuddling the other and looking through tumblr. He did make a post- "cuddling bf while he draws. never been more gay in my life."

Finch hummed softly, not thinking about it as he focused on the anatomy of the drawings.

Buttons snorted softly, going to reblog it and adding:

Buttons smiled softly, kissing Finch's neck before going back to scrolling.

#Newsies #finch cortez #buttons davenport #finch newsies #buttons newsies #wow also looking back over it on my blog tumblr really just like murdered the formatting huh #oh well i dont really wanna look through all of it to fix it

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