#or should i say... step up to the BOWL amiright??!!

[cowboyhorsegirl]

all i could think about while i was out today was getting back home to my beautiful wife (leftover peanut butter chicken broccoli noodles) and our gorgeous children (2 episodes of supernatural as a treat before bed)

[lilxberry]

Lost Then Found - Bofur

Requested By: @prestongoodplayisbabey​

Could I have a Bofur x reader where the reader gets lost (she’s part of the company) and when Bofur and the rest find her she’s eating a bear she caught with her own hands? I loved ur fic for @iwazoomingouttahere 💕

It’s probably a little different to what you were expecting but who doesn’t love a surprise amiright?! Also, I’m really glad that you liked the other fic so much that you wanted to request something for yourself so I hope that you like it

Warnings: A lil bit sad, wouldn’t say angsty though. Fluff. Mentions of death (animal). Mentions of blood. Mentions Bofur without his hat lmao. I think that’s it, don’t quote me on that.

Words: 2,713

Pairings: Bofur x Reader (female reader)

_______________

It was definitely NOT your fault when you had become separated from the company. Everyone takes a wrong turn occasionally and loses the entire group they were travelling with. Right? It’s not like you heard a strange noise a bit away and went to investigate and when you returned, you found that they pressed on without you. If anything, it’s THEIR fault you were now separated from you. The big knuckleheads are completely oblivious sometimes. Anywho, that isn’t the point. It most certainly, definitely, absolutely WASN’T your fault.

Honestly, you actually had no clue in which direction they took off in but nevertheless, you followed your gut. They’re quite the noisy bunch so it shouldn’t be too hard to find them if you were on the right track. So, when you hear no rowdy group of 13 dwarves, a hobbit and a wizard, you deducted that you either went the wrong way of they finally learnt the meaning of the word silence.

_______________

You huffed as you sat down on the damp ground as you were surrounded by forestry. The towering trees and shrubbery provided great cover for when you slept alone at night. You brought your knapsack that contained your bedroll over to your side where you rested against the mossy tree. You wrestle your bedroll from its confinement within your sack and roll it out, ready for when you rest when it gets darker.

As you finish up sorting your sleeping arrangement, you turned and looked at the slight clearing which you’ve chosen to set up camp before groaning slightly and setting out ready to find whatever you could for kindling the fire you plan to build. You set out slightly away from where you’ve set up your bedroll and knapsack and begin searching the ground for anything that isn’t to damp and will burn.

All you can think about as you collect fuel for your campfire is of the company, more specifically, a certain dwarf who had captured your heart with his whittling, singing and goofy hat that never leaves his head. You sigh, wondering if he even cared that you had disappeared, if any of them cared really. You had been separated for almost a week, surely, they noticed at least.

You shake your head. ‘Of course, they care.’ You groaned as you realised you practically came to a standstill as your mind wandered instead of doing what you intended on doing so. You look at the singular stick within your hand and huff. “It’s gonna be a long night…”

_______________

Bofur’s mood had been off lately, everyone could tell, especially his brother and cousin. They all dearly missed Y/N and were concerned about where she is now and whether she is safe, but it’s Bofur who’s losing his mind over his missing One.

Bofur knew the moment he first laid on the girl that she was his One, he almost instantly confided in his brother and cousin about the subject. He even asked Balins’ ear off over what he should do. He loved how Y/N’s smile always happened to brighten up his day, or how her laugh could lure any man for it was easily mistakable for a sirens call.

He even loved how she was the only person to truly make him flush a deep red. She matched him perfectly when it came to humour, making him flush when a sarcastic, dirty joke passed her lips.

The dwarf sighed as he sat himself down on a log beside his cousin and the young princes’. The three all shared a concerned look towards each other then turned their gaze towards the love stricken, hat wearing whittler.

“Don’t worry Bofur, we’ll find her.” Fíli spoke, placing a comforting hand atop his companions’ shoulder, offering a sympathetic smile.

“Yeah. She’s probably right on our ass knowing her.” Kíli joked, attempting to lighten the mood. Bofur could only offer a solemn shrug and a smile that couldn’t meet his eyes. The brothers turned to Bifur, hoping he would know what to say.

Bifur shook his head and shrugged his shoulders ever so slightly before looking towards his cousin and offering him the most comforting of smiles he could muster up. “We will find her soon. I promise cousin. We will find your One.”

Bofurs’ smile a tad bit more genuine at his cousins’ words. He sat up that little bit straighter before standing and facing towards Bombur who stood near the campfire. “I’m gonna see if Bombur needs help lads, thanks.” And with that, he slugged his way over, looking down towards the ground and sighing out deeply.

“Where the bloody hell are ya, lass…”

_______________

You head away from your camp and towards the deeper parts of the woods, ready to hunt for your meal. Crouching low to the ground, you spot small tracks, a rabbit most likely. You slowly and quietly followed the small tracks, hoping to come across meat for your food.

A small crackle within the bushes before you forced you to snap your head up. You smiled victoriously as you raised your bow and arrow, steadying your breathing, bringing your elbow back past your ear, forcing you to stare down the length of the piercing wood with a steel pointed head. ‘Got you, ya bastard.’

Just before you released your arrow to send the arrow piercing through the air, the small rabbit emerged from behind the bush, standing on its hind legs, revealing itself as not a small rabbit like you intended to find but a large, burly bear covered in a dark, fur coat.

You fell backwards from your crouched position on to your behind, clamping a hand over your mouth, your breathing becoming increasingly heavier, almost hyperventilating. Your eyes were wide with fear as the bear raised its snout into the air and sniffs, almost as if it were searching for you. You slowly crawled away backwards, putting some distance between you and the beast.

Your efforts had practically been futile.

The bear whipped its head towards you in a flash, staring at you for moment, a moment where you could only hold your breath and pray to whatever God could hear you. The beast released a loud, ground shaking roar, a heavy growl underlining it before it burst out into a run towards you. You scrambled to stand quickly and take lengthy steps back as you drew your sword, unsheathing it from its position at your hip, your bow and arrow long forgotten on the dirt ground.

It lunges towards you and you let a piercing scream tear its way through your throat. You drove your sword up into the chest cavity of the beast as it fell down from the force of its attack, impaling the beast on to your weapon.

It bawled out and whimpered in pain as it laid dying atop of your smaller form. You struggled to worm yourself out from underneath the beast and laid yourself beside it, sprawled out like a starfish and chest heaving heavily as your tried to catch your breath. “I’m sorry…” you whispered to the bear, a tear escaping from the corner of your eye.

You rolled on to your side and slowly came to a stand. You retrieved your dagger from your belt and stepped closer to the corpse. Embedding the blade into the bear, you began to skin and salvage any possible meat from the beast, your body quickly being covered in the luke-warm crimson liquid.

“I’m so, so sorry…”

_______________

The company had sat around the fire, eating whatever Bombur had been able to form into an appetising broth when they heard the loud roar of a beast. They all momentarily paused, all either halting their chewing or stilling the movement of the spoon coming closer to their mouths.

Their eyes travelled along each other as they sat a few moments in silence, some slowly lowering their bowls down, cautious if any over the few decibels they were making would draw whatever it was to them. But once they heard the feminine scream moments after, they jumped up and raced towards whatever they hoped to find.

Everyone was hopeful that it was their missing lass, all the while they wished it weren’t. The scream could never be a good sign. Bofur was the first to spring to action and burst through the treelines to head deeper into the woodland. All he could think is that his One could be in danger and he isn’t with her to protect her.

The others followed suit, rushing towards whatever it was. They dodged and weaved through trees and climbed over and under branched and roots. They ran and ran until they came across the carcass of a bear, a large one at that. It was partially missing some fur along with most of the meat that once encased its bones.

They searched the area, high and low. As Kíli crouched low towards the ground, he noticed the strange disturbances the ground had gone through. He assumed it was that of someone shuffling backwards in a vulnerable state. He brought the scuffle evident in the dirt to Thorins’ and the companies attention.

They backtracked the marks in the dirt and found where they had started, near a bush. They continued to search but one discovery had sent everyone into a state of panic and fear. Your bow and a singular arrow.

“She must’ve been here. You cannot deny it is hers!”

Finding your own tracks that came from your boots hadn’t been difficult to do. So, with that, they hastily followed your footprints, double and triple checking they were on the right track. A million thoughts whirled through their heads. What had happened? Were you alright? Had you been injured?

Bofur felt an array of emotions as he tailed the company, perplexed about what he had hoped to find. He so desperately hoped it was you, but what if they found you in a condition they so desperately didn’t want to come across. What he didn’t want to come across. He would never forgive himself if you had been injured or worse, never forgiving himself for not being able to protect you. His woman, his One.

He prayed to Mahal all throughout their search for you and soon, he found his prayer answered. There you were, sat beside a small campfire atop a thick coat of black fur, turning large chunks of meat over the fire, roasting it for your meal, all the while you were still covered nearly head to toe in nearly crisp dry blood.

Bofur dropped his weapon to the floor and rushed over to you, causing you to jump near enough a foot off the ground. “Mahal, Y/N, I’ve been worried sick!” He enveloped you in a bone crushing hug, dis-concerned about the blood, your shocked face and the other members who watched on. He pulled back ever so slightly and cup your face in between his hands, staring at you intensely. “Where did you run off to?!”

You swallowed down the dry lump that had formed into your throat and looked into his eyes, the other members of the company momentarily forgotten. “I uh-I heard a noise, so I went to check it out and when I came back, you guys weren’t there…” you trailed off, tears forming in your (E/C) orbs, threatening to spill at a moments notice. “I…I thought you guys didn’t care…”

The dam had broken and you now openly sobbed, tears had begun to stream down your face like salty waterfalls. Bofur had reacted quickly, bringing you into yet another hug, seeming more desperate than the last. You clung on to him like a scared child would cling on to their mother as you wept and wept into his chest. The other members all watched with saddened eyes, their hearts breaking the slightest at the thought of you thinking they hadn’t cared that you had disappeared.

“We’re right here lass, I’m right here. It’s okay, I’ve got you.” Bofur whispered sweet, soothing words in your ear as he laid a gentle kiss upon your forehead. “I ain’t ever letting you out of my sight ever again, ya hear?” You sniffled and even released the faintest of giggles as you lifted your head up to look Bofur in the eye. He smiled down at you and you could do nothing but return it with a tiny one of your own. “Aye, there’s my lass and that beautiful smile. Not as beautiful as mine though.” He spoke to you with such love and care.

You had laughed once more, always thankful for Bofur and his attempt at making others smile. “I missed you.” You whispered, leaning your forehead against his own.

He beamed towards you as the words passed your lips. “I missed you more, amrálíme.” He spoke not even a decibel louder than you before planting his lips firmly against your own. You froze, shocked by what was happening, but before you knew it, you melted into the kiss and matched his passion and love, raising your arms to wrap loosely around his neck.

The company all had smiles etched across their faces, some of them cheering and realising high pitched wolf whistles. You two broke the kiss as if remembering you were surrounded by others. You flushed a deep red whilst Bofur only seemed to beam towards you once more.

“I would like it if you would allow me to court ya and braid your hair, lass.” He spoke with such confidence that it almost made you neglect the pink tint his cheeks adorned. All you could do was nod and smile sheepishly as your blush intensified. He grinned from ear to ear and kissed you once more, one you happily returned.

Parting, he stood and extended his hand down towards you. You placed your smaller hand into his own before his encased yours and pulled you gently to stand beside him. As soon as you gained your balance, Bombur had rushed towards you and crushed you in his own embrace, him clearly missing you a lot just like his brother. You chuckled as you hugged him back, the company also finding Bomburs affection amusing. It even elicited a deep, throaty chuckle from the ever-brooding Thorin.

You all headed back towards the camp the company had set up, not without grabbing your belonging along with the meat and fur you obtained for the bear you had the misfortune of running into. Bofur had a protective arm around you the entire time, not even removing himself from your side once you had reached the camp.

Bombur and Bifur had taken it upon themselves to cook yet another meal for the company, seeing as you had salvaged much meat from the beast. You all sat and ate, they barraged you with questions about the week you had been separated from them. They even asked about the bear you had taken down and how you lugged so much its meat back towards your makeshift sleeping area.

As you talked and talked with the company on how you had no clue if you were even heading in the right direction towards them, Bofur stared at you lovingly, afraid that if he were to blink, you would become separated once again.

He thanked Mahal a million times over in his head, thankful that they had found you again, that he had found you again. He smiled, removing his hat which he then proceeded to place atop of yours. It fell past your eye, obstructing your vision, causing you to push it up whilst you giggled.

Bofur released a chuckled of his own as he brough you further into his side and rest his head on top of yours. “Amrálíme?”

You smiled as you hear his hushed use of the affectionate name. “Yes Bofur?”

“I love you.”

You turned and looked up at him through your eyelashes, that hat of his threatening to fall over your eyes once again and smiled. “I love you.” You snuggled further into his warm, loving embrace and you both sighed in happiness and contentment.

He’ll be damned if he ever got separated from his One ever again. And Mahal help whoever stands in his way.

_______________

.

.

.

.

.

First fic uploaded in 2021, lets gooooo!

It’s a little different to what the requester probably envisioned but the overall plot is still there so all I can hope is that they like it

BRO I HATED THAT I HAD TO WRITE ABOUT KILLING A BEAR, THAT SHIT SAD BRUH lmao

I hope you all enjoy

As always, constructive criticism and requests are welcomed and greatly appreciated :D

[ahsgotham]

Can I request some steve fluff when it’s robin’s older sister? #3 or #33 if you need a prompt!

prompt 33: “Do you want my coat? It’s really cold out here.”

reader is meant to be female

this is supposed to be set after summer and around fall or incredibly early winter (so no snow yet). steve and robin still work at the ice cream shop (yes, in fall) in this because we’re going to pretend everything that happened at starcourt mall didn’t happen for the sake of the sorry. 

also, while writing this, something cute popped into my head that’s kind of about robin, so i just had to throw it in there. hope you enjoy!

You pulled up to the Starcourt mall, pressing on the breaks and stopping in a parking spot.  You remove your put the car in park and remove your keys, opening the car door and stepping out.  You slammed it shut and headed to the entrance of the mall.

When you stepped in, it was surprisingly not crowded, considering it was the weekend.  You shrugged and navigated your way to “Scoops Ahoy”, the mall’s ice cream shop.  

When you got there, you saw someone leaning against the counter and facing the back.  You cleared your throat, trying to catch their attention.  When it didn’t, you rang the service bell.

The person stopped leaning on the counter and turned around.  Oh, you’d seen this guy around Starcourt before.  His name was Steve, you’d seen him hanging around with your sister, Robin, and some other kid before.  And you have to say, he is quite dreamy.

“Hey.  I’m not here for ice cream, I’m here for my sister.” You told him, and he nodded.

“Robin?” He questioned.

“Oh yeah, you’re Robin’s sister!  I’ve seen you around.  It’s (Y/N), right?” He asked again.

“Yup.” You replied.

“Robin!  Your sister’s here!” Steve shouted, tilting his head towards the back, causing his hair to bounce a little.  Robin stepped out, with a confused expression on her face.

“(Y/N), what are you doing here?! You’re like, 2 hours early to pick me up.” She laughed in confusion, and you quirked an eyebrow.

“What?  I’m early?” You said in disbelief.  

Robin nodded, and you glanced at the watch Steve was wearing, which read 7:02(pm), showing that you were, in fact, two hours early.

“Well, damn.  The clock in my room must be ahead.” You huffed, tapping your foot.  You contemplated whether you should leave and come back, or just stay.

“There’s no use in driving all the way back home and then back here again, I’d be wasting gas.” You stated.

“Might as well get some ice cream while I wait.” You said, pulling a stray $10 bill out of your back pocket.  You glanced at all the flavours of ice cream before choosing.

“I’ll take this one please.” You pointed at the kind you’d like, and Steve grabbed a scoop and a bowl thing.

“We don’t have any cones left, sorry.” He shrugged and scooped a generous amount of ice cream into the bowl.  He slid it across the counter to you.

“That’ll be five dollars.” Steve told you, and you handed him the ten dollar bill.  He placed it in the register and handed you a five dollar bill back.  You grabbed one of the plastic spoons and went to sit down at one of the tables.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come to the back?” Robin asked you, and you shook your head “no”, while scooping some ice cream into your mouth.  Then, a girl in a very vibrant pink crop top with long blonde hair walked up to the register.

“Hi.” The girl chirped, and you could practically see Robin’s heart skip a beat.  You smiled, and an idea popped into your head.  You waited til the girl was finished at the cash and Robin stepped into the back, before you acted on your idea.

“Hey, you!” You shouted, and the girl’s head turned to face you.

“Yeah, you!  Blonde Barbie, come over here!” You shouted again, and the girl cautiously made her way over to sit with you.

“What’s your name?” You asked her.

“Um... Lizzie.” She responded.

“Alright Lizzie, let me ask you a question.” You started, “That girl that was behind the hottie with the hair at the cash, do you think she’s cute?”

You questioned bluntly, and the girl looked shocked that you asked.

“...y-yeah, but why?” She responded quietly, and you smiled.

“You know, I think she likes you too.” You stated, and Lizzie’s face lit up.  You chuckled a little.

“Maybe you should wait til she’s working the cash and get some more ice cream... and maybe get something else.” You suggested, winking.  Lizzie cocked her head and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

“Her phone number, Lizzie!  Wake up!” You exclaimed, and the confusion from her face disappeared.

“Ohhhh!” She chirped, finally getting it.

“Y’know, I will.” She smiled.  Mission accomplished!  You nodded, and dismissed Lizzie as she headed to her own table.  Then, you sat back and began to enjoy your ice cream.

-

It was now 8:30, and Robin was working the cash (yes, she gave Lizzie her number!).  Steve was sitting in the back with his legs up on the table, thinking about, you guessed it, you.

You were legitimately one of the best looking people he had ever seen, which is saying a lot.  And you seemed cool, even though the two of you hadn’t talked very much.  But, that could change right now.

Steve opened the window to the back and popped his head out.

“Robin?” He called, causing Robin to jump.

“Jesus Steve, you scared me!” She shouted at him.

“Sorry.  Hey, do you know where your sister went?” He questioned, noticing that you weren’t at your table anymore.

“She said that she was going out to get some air.” Robin told him, and Steve nodded, quickly grabbing his jacket in the back and closing the window.

“Okay, I’ll be right back then.” Steve exited the back, still shrugging his coat on.

“You better not bump “uglies” with (Y/N), Steve!” She shouted after him.

“No promises!” He yelled back, already running for the exit of Starcourt.

When he got out there, you were leaning against the wall, crossing your arms and slightly shivering.  He made sure that his hair was just right, before walking over to you.

“Hey.” He spoke, and you turned your head to see him.

“Oh, hey Steve.” You greeted him, smiling weakly.  Damn, it was cold out here.

The two of you then feel awkwardly silent, just standing and looking out upon the almost empty, dark parking lot.  You continued shivering, and Steve noticed.

“Do you want my coat?  It’s really cold out here.” He asked you, and you turned your head to look at him.  You gushed, and gave him another smile.

“Sure.” You answered, and he peeled his jacket off, then offering to put it on you.  You extended your arms, and he pulled it on you, then zipping it up for you.  You blushed deep red, but since it was dark, it wasn’t that obvious.

“This is much better.  Thank you.” You sighed in happiness at the warmness of the coat.  Now Steve was the one shivering, but he didn’t really care.  Chivalry, amiright?

The two of you stood there, just chatting about random things, until Steve paused.  You didn’t even realize, but you had rested your head on his shoulder.

“O-oh, sorry!” You exclaimed.

“No, no, no, it’s fine!  It’s fine, really.” He reassured you, laughing while doing so.  You nodded awkwardly and put your head back.  His hand found it’s place on your shoulder, rubbing it up and down.

The two of you stayed like this for a few minutes, sometimes in silence, and sometimes someone would say something and the other would laugh, but then it was back to silence.

“...can I ask you a question, (Y/N)?” Steve spoke, and you took your head off his shoulder.

“Sure, what is it?” You responded.

“Can I... uh... can I kiss you?” He asked as he rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at the ground from embarrassment and the fear of being rejected.

You smiled, cupping his face and turning his head towards you.  He looked desperate, and you quickly connected your lips.  He turned to face you fully, practically melting into the kiss.

“Ew!” You heard your sister shout, and you smiled into the kiss.  

“You’re gonna get it, Harrington!” She said, maybe jokingly?  Maybe not?

“(Y/N)!  Get over here and drive me home!” Robin yelled, and you and Steve disconnected, unable to stop laughing.

You removed Steve’s coat and handed it to him, smiling.

“Well, I’ll see you around, Harrington.” You said goodbye to him, and he waved as you and Robin walked away.

[stardancerluv]

Reunion - part 28

Summary: Joe rescued a girl 14 yrs ago..what happens when they meet up again.

Joe x Reader, Joe x Y/N

He sat, more like slouched in his office numbing eating his green jelly beans. He was so glad to be home. This last rescue had been hard. These people were animals. He was glad he had taken care of them and rescued the boy and that little girl. Was relieved that the cops had already identified her and she would be home in time for Christmas.

His knee shook as he attempted to calm himself. Sometimes it was hard to shake the images from his head. He needed a break, this was his first Christmas as a father to be. Sitting up, he opened his laptop...

Girl identified. Home by Christmas.

I need a break. Two weeks, only reach out if emergency.

He waited and popped a few more jelly beans.

Great news. Understandable.

I have a present for the wife.

He rolled his eyes. They had not been social since the wedding. Before that, only when discussing jobs.

Come Christmas eve for dinner here at 6. We’d love to the two of you.

He pushed the bowl away.

See you in two days.

He closed his laptop. He stretched. Deep down, he knew you would love, love having him and his wife over. This would finally give the two of you a great excuse to make this all Christmasy, he had not really celebrated it since his mom died. Had no reason, but now...seeing that you and him were going to be a mom and dad, it would be great to start up.

****

With a smile on his lips, he went looking for you. He heard you talking and giggling in your office. You headed over. Since the door was open, he came in.

“Yes, sometimes I can’t believe any of this.” Be heard you say happily. Peering over your large seat, watched as you put a delicate hand over your stomach.

Stepping back, he scanned your desk for post-its. He loved how your lips turned into a wider smile as she saw you. Finding the post-its he scrawled, I took two weeks off.

He watched as surprise filled your face.

“Hey Ginger, I got to thinking.” You paused, as he came to lean against your desk. “With Christmas almost here and New Year’s I should take the next two weeks off.”

She smiled and rolled her eyes, Ginger was obviously surprised. “Yes, I’m sure. I already gave you my approval over what proofs to use for the New Year’s issue.”

You rocked, your head from side to side. He could tell you really wanted to the call to be over.

“And everything else is set to go!” You paused, nodding. “I trust you. Message me if you need me.”

You giggle. “You will be fine. Yeah..I am sure!”

“Ok, great...now hey you have an incredible Christmas and New Year’s!”

“Thank you, lady! Bye!”

You ended the call and put your phone down. Getting up, you leaned on your desk beside him, leaning towards him.

“So you really took two weeks off?”

“Yup. Hope you don’t get too bored of me.” He chuckled.

You immediately wrapped her arms around you. “I never could.” Happily, you wrapped your arms around you. The past for the moment was back in the shadows.

@kat-o-combs @joker-flecked-me @niniita-ah @bookwormmarvel @foaming @darknessisafriend @arcticmonkais @skaravile @sleepygal124 @opehlia-alexander @cheyennejonas22 @memory-mortis @syvellsworld @rasiel-hasu @alwaysinsanire @candyfaireysfanfictionfaves @lettuceisvalid @dadstiel-amiright

[moonprincess92]

Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are

the food travel au 

3 ½ month film schedule. 31 countries. 24 episodes.

2 people who might just fall in love along the way. 

(read on AO3) 

Chapter 1: London  Author: @moonprincess92nz 

It’s her first fucking day and she’s late.

“SHIT, SHIT, SHIT–” Jyn dodges through suitcases, around security guards and even leaps right over an empty bench at one point as she races throughout Heathrow Airport. She practically slams right through a holidaying family and nearly bowls into a couple of kids with giant backpacks on their backs, but nothing slows her down because if there is anything worse she can do than being goddamn late on her first day, she can’t think of it. Her rep is bad enough, she needs this job –

ARRIVALS, the sign blares. 

Her poor battered suitcase screeching to a halt next to her, Jyn stops to stare around at the hordes of people pouring out of the arrivals gate. The production crew is flying in mostly from USA, she thinks she is one of maybe three people who are from the UK. They told her to meet at the airport, and she checks the email on her phone for the billionth time before scanning the crowd once more.

Finally, she catches a familiar face.

He isn’t so much familiar because she knows him, but rather because she may or may not have binge-watched Cassian Andor videos on YouTube for about eight hours the previous night. Thing is, Jyn honestly wouldn’t call herself a foodie. She knows how to scramble eggs and burn chicken nuggets, but that is about the extent of her cooking skills. Half the time she doesn’t know how she even ended up getting this job, but there she was balls deep in some popular Mexican cooking show because apparently, his face wasn’t so bad to look at. It was only when her roommate barged unceremoniously into her room at four in the morning to ask, “Don’t you have to be at the airport by like, 7am?” when she figured that she might have a bit of a problem.

(“Shut up, Bodhi,” she threw back at him).

Operating on as little sleep as she is, seeing Cassian Andor in person kind of makes her ovaries feel like exploding.

SHIT.

Luckily, before she says something and makes herself look ridiculous, it appears that someone notices her. She hastily says her name, and she’s pulled into the sea of formal introductions by who is apparently their production manager, Mon Mothma. Jyn has never been good at this part. Sometimes, she thinks that she chose the wrong profession entirely – she should be working in a lab or office, somewhere with as little human interaction as possible – but rather unfortunately, she’s chosen a profession where it’s impossible to get by without kissing arse and playing nice with others.

She’s learned over the years how to put on a polite mingling face, but Jesus, it takes it out of her.

“Hi! I’m Luke, the social media manager!” a bright-eyed blonde says.

“Wedge Antilles,” their sound engineer introduces. “Looking forward to working with you!”

“… Kes Dameron. Sorry, I haven’t had coffee yet,” It turns out their head of security is about as sociable as she is this early in the morning.

Honestly, she’s doing fine until suddenly she’s face to face with Cassian Andor and that’s about when it strikes her what she’s really gone and gotten herself into. She’s standing in front of an honest-to-god celebrity, here. She’s never worked on something on this large a scale in her life! It doesn’t help that there’s really something about his jawline as well, but either way she is a professional, goddamn it. She holds out her hand and says,

“Jyn.”

Cassian quirks an eyebrow.

“Is that… your favourite drink, or…?” he asks in confusion.

“What? Oh, bugger,” Jyn curses as he tentatively shakes her hand. “I don’t mean gin, I mean – it’s my name, Jyn with a J – and a y – apparently my parents hated me as a child,” She tops it off with a slightly awkward laugh.

God, she is bad at this.  

“Oh. If it helps, I often get called Caspian whenever I go to Starbucks?” Cassian offers.

“Well, that was your first mistake going to Starbucks.”

“What’s wrong with Starbucks?”

“Talk about commercialisation!” Jyn points out. “Whatever happened to supporting your local businesses?”

Incredibly, he laughs. “I’m sorry, you’re the new camera operator, right?”

“Right, right – I was offered the job a little last minute.”

“Of course – Kay unfortunately got sick – that was the guy who was originally hired.”

“Ah, I see,” Jyn tries to lean casually on her suitcase. “I wasn’t given any details, just a contract and a place to meet – sucks to be him, amiright?”

Cassian frowns. “He’s my best friend.”

Jyn blinks. Of fucking course he was his best friend.

She just gestures vaguely behind her somewhere. “I’m gonna…” she says, weakly. He smiles politely back.

If it was at all appropriate for the setting she would be SCREAMING.

“… so all in all,” Jyn eventually says through Skype later that night. “within the first minute of us meeting, I convince him I’m an alcoholic, criticise him for going to bollocking Starbucks and also somehow manage to insult his best friend!”

Little Bodhi through the screen shakes his head. “Oh my god, Jyn…”

Oh my god, Jyn sounds about right. She snuggles down into the hotel bedsheets and is at least thankful that she’s on a production that can afford actual stars underneath their accommodation. The last time she had a job, she was put up in a student hostel, and she’s pretty sure she’s still washing fleas out of her hair to this day. Most of day one was dedicated to production meetings with only a few establishing shots being filmed that evening. After hours of listening to Mon Mothma drone on and on (3 ½ month film schedule, tight deadline, 31 countries, 24 episodes, etc., etc.) Jyn was thankfully able to clear her head down by the Thames. With only her and the essential crew, she was finally able to breathe as she captured her city by sunset.

She honestly doesn’t know what this job is really going to entail. The travelling she is relatively familiar with thanks to her job, but even then she technically hasn’t been out of the country since she was 16, and she mostly tries to forget her time with Saw anyway. She might not have had a family for a long time, but she’s at home here in London as much as she’s ever been. It’s the only place she’s ever felt truly safe, felt like she has ground beneath her feet and she’s a little (a lot) terrified to actually leave it.

But hell, bills need to be paid and a T.V. show needs to be filmed.

“What am I doing, Bodhi?” Jyn mutters underneath the blankets.

“I believe it’s called ‘flirting’,” Bodhi smirks back in their flat on the other side of the city. “and, if I might add, you’re not doing it very well.”

“Fuck you, mate.”

“Just calling it like it is.”

“Seriously,” Jyn stresses, then. “what am I doing here? I’m working on a travelling food show and I barely know how to cook!”

“You’re the camera operator, not the bloody caterer,” Bodhi says, exasperatedly. “I’m fairly certain you don’t need to know.”

“But–”

“Jyn, listen,” Bodhi cuts her off. “Lord knows I’d prefer to just wrap you up and bring you back home, but honey, you gotta stick with this, ok? No more flaking! You think you don’t fit in, fine – fake it until you do. Go get bloody lost in Germany or finally learn how to make pasta or something, I don’t care, just get out and do it, because we both know you’re not really living here.”

“I’m living!”

“You’re existing,” Bodhi sighed. “and I know your life has had its fucked up moments. I know. It sucks. But it’s time, Jyn.”

She snorts. “You know, when I called you it wasn’t for another therapy session. How much do I owe you this time?”

Her best friend rolls his eyes. “A lifetime of free pancakes.”

“You know I can’t make pancakes.”

“Lifetime supply of Jammy Dodgers, then.”

“That, I can do,” Jyn points at the screen.

Bodhi laughs, only it quickly turns into a violent yawn. “BLIMEY, I’m tired.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll take the hint,” Jyn smirks. “but, um, before you actually do go – on a scale of 1 to 10, exactly HOW bad was the flirting?”

“Minus 5,” Bodhi deadpans. “Don’t insult his friends next time.”

“Yeah,” Jyn grimaces. “I’ll do that.”

He grins. “Love you, Jyn.”

“Yeah. Love you, too.”

tellmewhatyoueatofficial check out that view! #tellmewhatyoueat #london #tower bridge #filming #cinematogropher #travel #sunsetwiththecrew #bts @jynserso

bodhitherook JYN BABE U MANAGED TO MAKE IT ONTO THE OFFICIAL INSTA ACCT  

bodhitherook also how the fuck are u not wearing a jacket

tellmewhatyoueatofficial @bodhitherook i confess we might have asked her to take her jacket off for the #aesthetic

bodhitherook WHO RUNS THIS ACCOUNT JYN BC CLEARLY THESE PEOPLE ARE TRYIN TO KILL U IT’S OCTOBER

jynserso pfffft sun was out, was a solid 15 degrees that’s basically sunbathing weather

jynserso but still calling you out @walkstheskies his name is Luke Skywalker go stalk him 

Jyn manages to corner Luke Skywalker in the hotel hallway.

“WHY ME,” she despairs. Her phone is open on the show’s official Instagram page, and it’s pretty clear what she’s talking about, although she quickly adds, “and before you say anything, I KNOW signing the contract means technically I consented to my image being used on multiple forms of social media, but still–”

Luke just shrugs happily.  

“I belong behind a camera, not in front of it,” she protests.

“Hey,” Luke counters. “you look beautiful in that shot! Also, I should be the one complaining, after you sicced your best friend on me.”

“Oh good, Bodhi did his job then,” Jyn says. She steps out of the way hastily as several of their fellow crew members run down the hall between rooms, someone cheering something about shots in the background.

“He’s sent me about a dozen messages insisting that I look after you and treat you right,” he laughs. “Nice guy!”

Jyn just smirks slightly before eyeing down the hallway once more. It’s been two days, and their insane shooting schedule is already starting to hit them all. Quite frankly, none of them have any business still being awake at this time, but it was a long day and apparently they are all still so hyped that trying to sleep with the racket they’re making would be fruitless anyway.

“We should get out!” someone calls enthusiastically from one of the open rooms, and Jyn turns to see their lighting director’s face beaming when she notices her. Shara Bey dashes over and clings hold of her shoulder. “Hey! Where should we go?”

“What’re you looking at me for?” Jyn asks in bewilderment.

“Well, you’re the local girl,” Shara points out.

Jyn stares at the over-tired, wired and enthusiastic faces all staring back at her. They’ve all spilled out of their rooms, nodding and asking and between this and the Instagram post, Jyn isn’t sure she’s been on the receiving end of this much attention in her life. There’s a reason she stays behind the camera! She glances at Luke, although the man just shrugs at her in response.

“I’ve never been to London! Where do we get good food around here?” he asks.

Shit.

“Uhhhh... I know a place that sells killer fish and chips?”

“It’s an adventure and it’s happening - c’mon, guys!” Shara leads the way. 

She ends up bringing them to The Cantina, of all places.

A fun fact to rattle off is that there are literally thousands of pubs throughout London, and somehow she always ends up here. Her and Bodhi almost haunt the place at this point. It’s objectively not the most popular in London nor even relatively famous, but in Jyn’s opinion it captures the very heart of British pub culture (you know, getting shit-faced and yelling about football). It’s kind of what the entire show they’re filming is supposed to be about, so… yeah, here they are. The place is always dark and a little shady, the music always slightly too loud and the lights slightly too piercing, but Jyn feels almost relaxed here.

“I moved back to London when I was 16,” she explains as they approach. Shara Bey has already filmed several snapchat videos of herself by this point and now seems to be flirting with the security guy. Most of their group is hanging onto her every word and she adds, “We’d come here on the weekends with our fake I.D.s and get hammered.”

“My kinda party,” Luke grins.

They all pile inside The Cantina, Jyn dutifully avoiding Cassian’s eyes. Honestly, she had no idea that he was even coming - did famous T.V. presenters even do that? - but someone called out to him just as they were walking out of the hotel doors to go catch a train and he dashed out to join them. After embarrassing herself so spectacularly, she figures the only way to handle tonight is the true British way: ignore all emotions and pretend everything is fine.

She notices a gap at the bar and she manages to quickly order two shots as everyone piles into the pub. She thought she had avoided all scrutiny as her colleagues get caught up in which drinks to order, but apparently nothing gets past the social media manager. Luke gives her a look of bemusement from over his shoulder and Jyn bites at him,

“What?”

“Steady on,” he says.

“Shut up,” Jyn accuses.

“You know, if you want to talk to him all you have to do is open your mouth and start saying words,” Luke says, slyly.

Jyn glares. “What d’you know? You know nothing.”

“I know that look! Trust me, I get it. I’m a huge fan too.”

Jyn finally meets his knowing gaze.

“You also watch three seasons in eight hours?”

“Without subtitles!” Luke nods. “My Spanish got a LOT better.”

“Stalk on Instagram?”

“I’m a social media manager,” Luke scoffs. “Raise me something actually valuable.”

“Imagine marrying someday?”

Luke laughs. “Jyn, we all know that he’s out of both our leagues, but with you… ehhhhh, there’s potential.”

“I’m sorry, EHHHHH?”

“I also said potential!”

Jyn was going to offer one of the shots to Luke, but with that statement, she keeps them both for herself. It’s true, she’s been filming this man for the last two days and she still technically hasn’t had any kind of one-on-one conversation with him that isn’t to do with camera angles. Besides the disastrous first attempt, that is. She isn’t even sure what’s stopping her at this point. It’s not like she’s kidding herself that something is going to happen – they’re on a schedule, they’re going to be travelling in a tight knit group for months without space to get away, and who even looks at her like that anymore? – so it’s not even the fact that he’s hot that makes her like this.

She’s just never done anything on this kind of scale before. These people all have established careers, been featured on Ellen, have followers on Twitter… this is the first time Jyn’s worked on a project where the director isn’t some uni student filming a sex scene in their parent’s garage. Bloody hell, what could she even say to him?

“Ok, look,” Luke sighs next to her. “exactly how many shots is this going to take? Because I will literally buy them all if it will get your ass over there.”

“I don’t know,” she says honestly. “but at least one more.”

tellmewhatyoueatofficial rumour has it that somewhere round here you can get some killer #fishnchips! @theofficialcantina #tellmewhatyoueat #bts #london #camden town #camden market #london pub #the cantina #filming #cinematogropher #travel  

Her ass inevitably did not end up over there.

“Ok, we’re going for the casual ‘we’ve just stumbled upon this place’ feel,” Their director, Draven, is running backwards somewhere behind her, trying to keep up with the action as Cassian walks down the street. She’s aiming for the vision of him being in amongst the crowd, just one with London, which is kinda contradicted by the fact that they have blocked off one side of the entire stretch of street outside the restaurant they’re currently featuring and their security guy is letting through a controlled amount of people to walk through their shot. Still, she gets to watch Cassian stroll down the footpath with his hands in his pockets, contently gazing around the streets, so she’s probably got the good end of the deal, here. Voiceovers will be added in later, so literally all he has to do is walk and smile as Draven yells out direction.

“Ok! You reach Rebel Rebel,” he calls out. Cassian pretends that his eye is caught by the actually previously chosen restaurant, glancing up at it. She zooms in on his face.

Yes. Definitely has the best deal, here.

“CUT,” Draven yells. “Perfect, we’ll shoot it once more, then head on in.”

They take a break before moving into the restaurant to do more filming and she listens to Draven rave to their producer about how big they’re expecting their audience to be for this particular episode. She probably doesn’t try hard enough to hide her scoff, but she’s exhausted from being up until 2am that morning and still too pissed off at herself to care. Despite all of Luke’s encouragement, she still hadn’t managed to get herself over to the table where Cassian had been sitting. She had an opening and alcohol, and yet…

“Look, I’ve worked on this show before and I’m yelling you,” Luke nodded at Cassian last night. “He’s a good guy! He’s worth getting to know.”

She was sure he was. It was just getting to the point of knowing him that worried her. She glances bitterly up at Rebel Rebel. Honestly, of all fucking places in London, they just had to choose the most cliché.

“Why do you not like this place?”

She whirls around in a slight panic, heart practically leaping into her throat. Cassian’s watching her curiously, water bottle in hand and please Jyn, please remember what proper words are.

“Who – who says I don’t like it?”

“That expression on your face,” Cassian points out.

She’s almost impressed that he noticed. “Is filming going to be this forced the entire time?”

For a moment she isn’t sure if he’s going to give her a real or diplomatic answer. She supposes his job’s on the line, but just as that thought occurs he admits, “A lot of things are pre-shot filming this kind of show. It’s like reality T.V., we pretend it was all filmed on the spot when actually we planned the entire thing. But the food and the reactions, that’s going to be real. You can’t fake taste.”

“What if you don’t like something? Are we allowed to include that?”

“Usually depends on who I’m allowed to piss off,” he mentions.

“Well, I dunno who chose Rebel, Rebel, but this place sucks,” If he can figure it out from the look on her face, then there’s no point denying it. Jyn points out the restaurant that is technically one of London’s top places to eat. Recommended on Trip Advisor, stars and celebrities were known to dine there and even Jamie Oliver did a special there once, but as far as Jyn is concerned the entire place was overrated.

“How do you know that?”

“Like I couldn’t possibly know great food,” She winces a little at the tone. Blimey, she needs to work on not sounding so defensive.

“Show me,” Cassian suddenly challenges. “After filming today, take me to the good food.”

He can’t be serious. Surely he isn’t? They have a schedule, they have deadlines, they can’t just go bloody rogue! Yes, fine, she does have somewhere in mind. She might consider wine and a can of tinned soup a decent meal, but that doesn’t mean she can’t recognise great food when she sees it. The memories suddenly hit her, of meat sizzling, of swinging on vinyl chairs and knives clinking against plates. She remembers being allowed to stand on a stool behind the counter to take customer’s money and running through the kitchens trying not to get caught by the chefs. Whenever she hears classical music she’s taken back and they’re literally only around the corner, but…

It’s a stupid idea.

She shrugs. “I think Draven’s gonna burst a blood vessel if we don’t get back to it.” 

JUST TAKE HIM TO THE FUCKING RESTAURANT JYN DO IT DOOOOOO IIIIITTTTTTT

FKJDJFKJDFJKFJKDF KILL ME Also are u still harassing luke to be nice to me bc honestly bodhi

Im just lookin out for mah gurl Also turns out he’s kinda funny so But not the point, just take him Jyn seriously

But it’s such a personal place and we barely know each other

Don’t make it about you then. Just say u know a place that’s better, bring ur camera and film the magic. Oooooh, get baze to make his special, that shit is GOOD Plus this way you’ll get to know each other eeeyyyyy

I’m going to regret this

No u wont 

It eats at her, until eventually Bodhi manages to make her snap. Damn it, it will not leave her alone and apparently, her way of asking people out these days is just turning up at their hotel room door and demanding them to come with her, since the moment Cassian answers her slightly too hard knock on his door she blurts out,

“Get your coat on, we’re going somewhere.”

Cassian blinks slightly, but seems entirely non-phased as he ducks to the side to grab a jacket and follows her out the door. “Where are we going?”

“To the good food.”

It’s a bit far to walk and she’s still not used to the T.V. glamour of being able to take taxis everywhere, so she drags him out into the cool, drizzly evening and onto the tube. Taking the Piccadilly Line into Covent Garden, the night is fresh and just starting to buzz when they climb up into the street. She wasn’t going to get her camera out until they reached Lahmu, but the side street they cut down is strung up with multi-coloured lanterns and his face is honestly too good to not try and capture.

“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure if we’re even allowed to do this,” Jyn admits, as she points out the way. “Like, filming outside of scheduled shooting. Have I just violated my contract or something?”

“Depends if Draven likes what he sees,” Cassian answers her.

“I’ll delete it later, then,” Jyn says, walking sideways as she filmed and hoping that nothing got in her way lest she accidentally go flying. “No one has to know a thing. And if you talk, I’ll kill you.”

He laughs a little into the camera. “I’m starting to think I wouldn’t put it past you.”

“But anyway, welcome to Covent Garden again,” she makes a deal out of saying, ensuring that she can still see his face through her lens. He pauses under a lamp post and thankfully, no one seems to recognise them in the dark and without the addition of an entire film crew. To someone else, they could literally be any random YouTube vloggers or something. “Naturally, this damn show only brings you to the touristy side of London, but there are some admittedly great places to eat in this area. Not fucking Rebel, Rebel though, I mean shit that’s actually edible.”

“We might want to edit that last part out.”

“Yeah, post can handle that,” She would wave a hand if she had one to spare. “Tell me, superstar Cassian Andor, how are you enjoying London so far?”

He smiles a little against the backdrop of lit restaurants. “It’s cold.”

“Of course it’s cold, it’s fucking England.”

“But it’s exciting,” he adds. “There’s so much history here, buildings that have been around for hundreds of years… it’s great to see.”

“You’re supposed to say you love the food, stop going off script.”

“Sorry – I love the food.”

“Good,” she says. “because if you don’t love where we’re going, then I’ll buy the next round of drinks.”

“Where exactly ARE we going?”

She points across the street and she films him turning and seeing the lit up sign of Lahmu. Owned for the last fifteen years by Baze and Chirrut Malbus-Îmwe, it’s known for its wildly eccentric yet still somehow delicious menu. Jyn leads Cassian there, waving to the matire’d on their way in and asking if Baze is around.

“You’re a regular?” Cassian asks.

“Kind of,” Jyn hedges. “it’s weird to explain.”

She doesn’t rest until they find Baze in the kitchen, the co-owner and chef shaking Cassian’s hand vigorously like any person who was vaguely familiar with food would. Jyn keeps the camera rolling the entire time until finally, he tries Baze’s famous Secret Special and the unearthly sounds that come out of his mouth Jyn deems a little too inappropriate for their G-rated show.

“This is fucking amazing,” he practically moans.

“I’m glad,” Baze says warmly as Jyn hastily cuts the recording.

“And you seriously won’t tell me what kind of meat this is?”

“Of course not, that’s the secret part.”

“It’s not going to have me arrested, right?”

“No. Well… I don’t think so, at least.”

Cassian just shrugs. “Good enough for me.”

Carefully working on packing the camera away in the bag she has strung around her neck, Cassian continues to enthusiastically shovel whatever mystery meat it is into his mouth. Over by the kitchen bench, Baze leans in and squeezes her shoulder.

“So can I expect to actually get on T.V. here, or not?” he asks in undertone.

“Probably not,” she admits.

“Ah, well. It was a nice idea while it lasted,” Baze sighs, gruffly.

“You guys are still doing well, right?” Jyn asks, casually.

“Stop worrying. We’re fine,” Baze shoots her a look. “Exposure never hurts, however.”

“Just let Cassian tweet about this place,” Jyn points out. “You’ll have people coming in hordes.”

Cassian cuts in to scoff, “I’m not THAT popular.”

“When you have a follower count with 5 digits or more, you’re considered popular, mate.”

Cassian protests, but honestly they’re mostly silent after that as he apparently just savours the flavours Jyn knows have to be hitting his tongue. She realises at one point that she’s closed her eyes and she hastily snaps them open because Jesus, Jyn, get a grip, she can listen to the boiling soup and scraping of pots without looking weird about it. It’s only when Baze moves away to carry on directing his kitchen, however, when she finally says,

“Look. I think we got off on the wrong foot when we first met,” she says. “I swear I usually know how to talk to people normally. I’m a big fan?”

Thankfully, he laughs and she lets out a slow breath of relief. “I’m honoured.”

“No really,” Jyn points out. “I don’t even speak Spanish, and I watched all three seasons of your last show.”

“That’s dedication.”

“Sorry again.”

“Hey,” he shakes his head. “It’s fine – I’m a big fan of yours too.”

“Piss off,” Jyn says before she even stops to think whether that might offend him or not. “I film obscure niche documentaries and indie films that lose money rather than make money, there’s no way you like any of that shit.”

“No really, I looked you up when we knew you were coming,” Cassian points out. “Or, ok, Kay sort of insisted that we look you up, he was feeling a bit territorial. But we watched a little of that one documentary you did on the abandoned insane asylum?”

“Oh god,” Jyn shivers. “that place was creepy as all fuckin’ hell. I had nightmares for weeks.”

“But the camera work was beautiful! Wait, exactly how creepy?”

“I’m pretty sure that one of the film crew got possessed.”

“You’re not serious?”

And it’s weird, but he finishes his Secret Special and she tells the quite frankly terrifying story of when one of her crew members had gone a little nutty and claimed that they were having visions of dead people and it kind of… goes well. Her heart is still pounding, but they’re finally talking. It at least makes her feel a little more grounded, a little more like she actually fits into this project that until this point made her feel like she was just floundering under water. This isn’t another weird documentary about haunted buildings, this is something that will eventually air on prime time British television…  

“So how did you end up as a T.V. presenter, of all things?” Jyn asks once his plate is scraped clean.

“I started in regular journalism. Believe it or not, but I’m not the best cook.”

“Shut the hell up,” Jyn insists.

“No really,” Cassian says, earnestly. “I can appreciate good food, but I still cannot make anything like my mother can.”

“Well, I burn toast so together, we’ve got this show covered.”

“Thank God, I was starting to worry.”

She laughs. Fucking laughs. But he’s laughing too, so she hopes it’s ok and he asks her then, “How did you get into camera work?”

“The professional answer is that I have always appreciated the entire filmography of whoever happens to be employing me at the time,” Jyn says. “The real answer is that I was running out of time to pick an elective at uni and I chose this random media studies paper on a whim.”

“So we pretty much started in the same place.”

“I guess, yeah,” It’s hard to imagine herself having literally anything in common with the celebrity, but what the hell does she know in the end? They’re quiet for a moment, Cassian moving to wash his own plate and Jyn pretending that she isn’t watching. It’s only when he’s finished and everything is put away when he turns back to her and says, 

“So what’s the story?”

“Sorry?”

“The story,” he reiterates and Jyn’s chest thuds painfully. “about why this place. Don’t try and tell me there isn’t a story.”

It’s true, there is one. And she honestly wasn’t sure whether she was going to say it when she first brought him in here, but there’s something that makes her want to say it now. She takes a deep breath and answers,

“My father used to own it.” 

He nods, but doesn’t say anything else. He waits, clearly willing to let her talk when she’s ready, and she eventually sighs in exasperation. “Fine, my father owned it and it’s how he met my mother,” she adds on. “I practically grew up here, but they died and it got sold when I was eight and it’s never felt exactly the same since. I guess I still try sometimes, though.”

It’s a very glossed over version of the story, but it will do for now. He nods in understanding before gesturing to her camera once more. “Do you mind?”

She frowns. “What do you want to film?”

“I have an idea – just roll with it?”

She humours him, once again pulling out the camera. She’s at least thankful that the kitchen lights are kind of perfect for filming as she sets it on top of an upturned saucepot in lieu of a tripod. She prompts, “What are you thinking?” and Cassian looks up right at her through the lens.

Blimey.

“We’re going to be taking Europe by storm, right?” he says, and she almost thinks his words aren’t even intended for the camera. “The idea is that we experience multiple cultures and different kinds of foods, but I love that there’s one thing that seems to be universal. No matter where you are in the world, food has this ability to connect things. We associate food with the places we come from, certain celebrations, smell with memories, a restaurant with home…” Her heart is definitely somewhere up around her throat and he smiles at her. “and that’s pretty awesome.”

tellmewhatyoueatofficial rumour has it if you order the #SecretSpecial you’ll become a changed person! #tellmewhatyoueat #restaurant #food #filming #locations #london #covent garden #bts @lahmurestaurant

k-lara7 omg I love this place!!!!

yavemiel @ pingou7 we are so going here next time you come visit me

bodhitherook I had no idea they were filming here @jynserso??????

doptimous Definitely would recommend @lahmurestaurant. The owners are so nice, you’re never waiting long and it’s honestly a great experience every time we go. 

In the end, Draven loves their side project so much that it turns into his idea.

They were all supposed to be on a flight to Cardiff at this point, but the network has apparently let them delay by twelve hours to allow them to shoot additional footage and anything that gets her favourite restaurant exposure is fine with Jyn. But despite their filming obviously fake candid shots outside the restaurant, Draven’s admitted that there’s a lot of charm in the real candid-ness of what they filmed the previous night and hopefully, a lot of their original footage will end up being used in the final cuts.

“I’m going to miss London!” Luke says cheerfully as they wait at the airport. Definitely not a big enough production for a private jet, they get a few looks waiting amongst everyone else but luckily at 4am not many people care all that much about the moderately famous food show host and crew. Jyn is attempting to sleep in her cold, plastic chair but it’s kind of hard when Luke won’t stop chatting.

“Do you ever stop?” she asks.

“What do you mean?”

“Never mind,” she mutters. She gets up and leaves Luke to his cheerful trawling through Twitter and notices Cassian slumped down near the phone charging station. With his hoodie pulled over his eyes it’s difficult to tell if he’s awake or not, but he stirs when she sits down next to him.

“Naturally the network couldn’t wait for tomorrow and literally had to book us on the next flight to Cardiff,” she says. “Who the hell even flies to Cardiff at this time in the morning?”

“Right?” he smiles a little. Then, after pausing he adds, “Hey, um… I’m sorry if I stepped over a line or something before. When we were filming at Lahmu. I know you didn’t really intend on it being a part of the show and it got kinda personal so I just wanted to make sure you’re…”

“It’s ok,” Jyn says softly.

She isn’t sure what it is. It’s 4am in an airport, it’s one of those liminal spaces where time stops existing and only vacant expressions and stress endures. But she turns to glance over at him and he’s looking at her and shitballs, her stomach twists itself inside out.  She still doesn’t know what to expect from this entire project and she certainly doesn’t expect anything ever from him, but a part of her is really, really pissed off to know that they have to part ways at the end of all this.

But then again also, they have 30 more countries to go.

Finally, the announcer is declaring that their flight is beginning boarding. All around, tired people stand and yawn, stretching and picking up suitcases and rousing sleeping children. Cassian sighs before pushing back his hood and giving her a determined look.

“Let’s go to Wales,” he says.

“Let’s go to Wales,” Jyn agrees. 

---

[plumpwhump]

Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get out of part 3

This is it, the final part. And on Valentine’s Day, too. Perfect timing, amiright?

If you would like to read this on ao3, you can find it here

Part 1   Part 2

Keith stood outside of Lance’s pod, already having come out of his own hours ago. He touched the glass with the back of his hand, looking at the expressionless face of his fellow paladin on the other side.

He couldn’t wait for Lance to come out, but he also dreaded it.

After the red lion was retrieved, everything was a messy scramble. Keith bolted out of the lion with Lance heavy in his arms, running past the other concerned paladins and missing their panicked questions. He never stopped for anything or anyone and just kept sprinting down what felt like a never-ending hallway. His body had become numb and light, the only feeling he knew being the anxiety in his chest and the burning of his legs.

The only thing keeping him grounded was Lance’s faint breathing against his neck.

Coran was already waiting in the medbay, two pods activated and open for them. Lance was to be put in first and Keith was kicked out of the room temporarily as the older Altean zipped the blue paladin into a cryosuit.

When Keith was let back in a few minutes later, Lance was laying on a table convulsing in pain, more awake than he was than before. Keith immediately rushed over to try and calm the other down, but it didn’t work. No matter how he ran his fingers through his hair or squeezed his hand, Lance didn’t stop thrashing and panting.

Coran placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder to grab his attention. “The best thing we can do for him now is getting him into the pod. Quickly, now.”

Keith helped Coran hoist Lance into the pod, ignoring the aches of his own body. The glass materialized before the blue paladin could fall over, freezing him in place. He looked frail and tired, the deep gashes on his face contrasting against his skin.

It would be fine. Lance would be okay now. The pod will fix both of them and they can forget all about this, just like Lance wanted.

But Keith couldn’t stop the growing anxiety in his chest. He was still shaking from the adrenaline, trembling too hard to even hold the pouch of water Coran offered him. In the end, Shiro was called into the room to help calm him down.

Keith couldn’t help but compare it to how he helped calm Lance down, subconsciously taking notes.

It was like he couldn’t get the blue paladin off his mind.

“Keith,” Shiro said in a soft voice. “Can you talk to me?”

Keith shook his head no. No, he didn’t want to talk yet. He just wanted to be hugged by Shiro, letting himself finally relax in his brother’s arms. He wanted to be told everything would be alright because Lance was in the pod. Because Lance was safe. Because Lance would heal and he could forgive himself.

Once Coran deemed his heart rate “safe”, Keith put on his own suit and stepped into a pod, his eyes slipping shut only to open them after what felt like only seconds later. In reality, he had been in there for about an hour.

The rest of the team was in the room, already returned from their own respective missions and eager to find out what happened. The glass popped open, the freezing air hissing out of the sides as Keith sucked in a breath. Hunk was the one to catch him when he fell out, presumably there to watch over his best friend. As soon as Keith was fully awake, he was pestered with questions from the whole team.

“What happened out there?”

“Are you feeling better?”

“How did Lance get those cuts on his face?”

“Was the mission successful?”

Keith was overwhelmed. His body might have felt refreshed, but mentally, he was still exhausted. Every time he opened his mouth to answer, his words got caught in his throat, threatening to choke him. He ran out of the room before they could reach out and stop him.

He could feel the panic rearing its ugly head in his chest and struggled to remain calm. Not now, he tried telling it. The anxieties and doubts were relentless, firing off in his head one after the other.

God, this was all his fault. He did this to Lance. His teammate was still frozen behind a pod and he almost died.

No, Lance would be fine. He was in a pod and healing, it’s going to be alright. Lance is alive.

He ran faster until he could barely move his legs. The war in his mind was an endless loop of recycled arguments and fears.

In the end, Shiro found him holed up in his room hidden underneath the covers hours later. He entered the room soundlessly, standing in the doorway and looking at the lump of blankets that was Keith. Shiro sat on the end of the bed, the mattress dipping underneath his weight.

Keith was still for a moment before moving himself, poking his head out from beneath the blankets and resting it in Shiro’s lap. His eyes were red and puffy, but neither of them mentioned it. The room was quiet minus the humming of the castle. Like this, Keith could almost convince himself that he was okay.

“Lance is doing fine,” Shiro started, Keith wincing. Shiro always knew what was bothering him, no matter what it was.

“But what about…” Keith gestured to his face lamely, not wanting to say it aloud. He didn’t think he would be able to get it out of his mouth anyway.

He saw Shiro bite the inside of his cheek and his stomach plummeted. “Well, Coran had a few things to say about that.”

There was a weighted pause, nothing like the peaceful silence from before.

“The cuts got infected. You two were out there for almost a day, which was long enough for this space infection to get into Lance’s system. I forgot the exact word Coran used. It’s non-fatal, so don’t worry about that, he will be fine.”

Keith felt some of the tension in his body relax.

“But it damaged his skin, his face in particular. The muscle underneath was completely shredded and it was exposed for too long for the pods to fix it. So he’s going to have…”

“He’s going to have scars on his face, Keith.”

It felt like a bombshell just dropped on top of Keith, his head swimming. He felt sick as he sat up in a flurry, not wanting to believe this was happening. “But why can’t the pods fix it? Isn’t it just like any other wound?”

Shiro shook his head. “It’s too damaged for the pods to repair it, Keith. The only thing they can do is replace the damage with scar tissue, which can’t be taken away. Just like how the pods can’t remove my scars.”

Keith let his hands drop into his lap. His eyes stung again, already sore from crying earlier. Shiro wrapped his human arm around his shoulders, pulling him into a comforting one-armed embrace. Keith leaned into the warmth of his chest but refused to let any tears drop.

“It’s all my fault,” he croaked, pinching the inside of his palm. Shiro’s embrace grew tighter.

“Don’t say that. You did your best and it���s because of that he’s still here. You helped him, Keith. You saved his life.”

Keith felt his hands trembling and pinched harder. No, Shiro didn’t understand. It was Keith’s fault Lance was hurt in the first place. If he had just cared more, if he was paying more attention to his surroundings. It should have mattered more to him instead of acting indifferent.

But he kept his mouth shut, not ready to talk about it just yet. Instead, he hid his face and welcomed his brother’s comfort while he could get it.

~~~

It wasn’t until the next day when Keith went to go see Lance again.

He woke up in his bed bleary and disoriented, Shiro laying next to him snoring peacefully. Keith couldn’t help but smile, grateful that the other had gotten sleep last night. He got up and slipped into a fresh pair of clothes before walking down to the medbay, not bothering to take a shower or get something to eat.

The medbay was cold and empty. The cryopod in the center of the room still held Lance, the monitor displaying his vitals and heartbeat. Keith sat in front of the glass with his back pressed against it, leaning his head back and feeling the whir of machinery. His eyes slipped shut as he listened to the steady beeping of Lance’s heart, breathing in time with it.

Lance was fine, he tried to convince himself. He was going to be okay.

The rest of the team drifted in and out of the room throughout the day. Hunk came to check up on Lance, but then switched his focus to Keith. When the red paladin didn’t respond to his words and concerned questions, he left the room and came back later with a bowl of food and a blanket.

The food went untouched, but Keith appreciated the gesture anyway.

Pidge came in and didn’t do anything other than lean against Keith without a word, her computer in her lap as she typed away on the keyboard. Keith allowed her to work against him, knowing that even she needed comfort and reassurance from time to time, even if she had a hard time voicing that. Eventually, she packed up her things and left just as quietly as when she came in.

Allura tried pressing him. She pestered him with question after question even when she knew she wasn’t going to get answers. How did Lance get injured? What happened to your lion? How did all of this happen?

In the end, she gave up with a sigh, patting the top of his head lightly before exiting the room.

Coran came in periodically to check Lance’s vitals, saying nothing with his mouth, but a lot with his eyes. The sympathetic looks he kept throwing were grating on Keith’s nerves, but he kept his knees tucked in and his head resting on top of them.

He fell asleep like that, never making it back to his room.

Then, he was awoken in the middle of the night by a loud, familiar beep. Keith had just stood up when the glass opened, leaving Lance to fall out like a broken doll. He caught the blue paladin in his arms, his body limp and not fully awake.

He lowered Lance onto the ground, his throat growing tight when he caught sight of the blue paladin’s face. Even in the dim lighting, he could see the scars that ripped through his skin. Keith didn’t look for too long.

Lance groaned and opened his eyes slowly, looking around the room before his gaze locked with Keith’s. He felt the air being ripped out of his lungs when he looked into his teammate’s eyes, forgetting how breathtaking they could be. The scratches didn’t seem to have taken away Lance’s vision, thank the lord for small miracles.

Lance sat up from Keith’s arms and yawned, pressed a hand to his forehead. “What… Ugh, my head.”

Keith lowered him back down, his cheeks flushed red when he realized how intimate their position could be interpreted as. “We were picked up by the castle. What do you remember?” Was it worse than he thought? What if Lance got some sort of amnesia?

He could see the gears whirring in Lance’s head as everything came back to him, his expression darkening when it all clicked into place. “W-We finished the mission and I was… Hurt.” Such weighted words. “The cuts got infected and then... I think I passed out.”

Keith nodded his head, secretly relieved. Okay, no brain trauma. He bit the inside of his lip when his eyes got caught on the scars again. Lance didn’t seem to notice them yet and Keith didn’t know how he would react. His grip tightened.

“How are you feeling now?”

Lance wrinkled his nose. “Greasy. My skin probably broke out after not washing it.” He ran a hand through his own hair, groaning in disgust when it got caught in the clumps of dry blood still caked there. “Eugh, what the fuck!”

The blue paladin stood up quickly and out of Keith’s arms, practically running out of the room. “Lance, wait-”

“I’ll be right back, I’m going to take a shower. I can’t believe you guys didn’t wash this out of my hair before sticking me in the pod. That’s just plain old nasty!” the blue paladin shouted over his shoulder.

And before Keith could stop and warn him, or even just explain things a little further, Lance was already out of the room. He sat there in a daze before hopping onto his feet, chasing after the other.

He didn’t want Lance to be alone, not when he learned that… He stopped that train of thought, dreading when it would finally come. Or maybe it was him who didn’t want to be alone.

~~~

Lance stepped into his own room with a sense of familiarity, glad to be back. No offense to Keith, but he needed some… Alone time. Just to get himself together before he faced the rest of the team. Nothing that a good shower couldn’t fix.

Peeling himself out of the cryosuit (eugh, it was taking off a second skin), he tied his fluffy blue robe around himself and stepping into the bathroom. He flicked the light switch on and froze when he spotted himself in the mirror.

All the air was ripped out of his lungs and suddenly, he felt detached from his own body. The temperature of the air in the room seemed to plummet. Who was that looking back at him? That couldn’t be him, could it? Lance slowly moved toward the mirror, an outstretched hand touching the glass gingerly.

Right over the long, angry scars over the reflection’s face.

They ripped straight down the side, jagged and fresh, but for the most part, healed. The pink lines ran through the eyebrow to the bottom of the chin, giving a jarring appearance. The person in the reflection looked weary, their eyes dark and tired as well as wide and distressed.

Lance’s fingers slipped off the glass as he touched his own face, watching as the person in the mirror did the same. He saw the tears welling in his eyes, but they did not drop.

Oh god. This was him.

Touching the scars didn’t hurt. They were long and thick, rising up from the rest of his face as he ran his fingers over his skin. He pressed down on it with his nail, hissing when it throbbed. He reached up to touch the beginning of the long scar, feeling where part of his eyebrow had been scratched off and would never grow back.

He didn’t… He didn’t look like Lance anymore.

There was a stranger looking at him in the mirror.

Lance didn’t know how long he stood there, frozen to the ground. His eyes were glued to the mirror, his fingers continually rubbing, poking, and prodding at his… New face. He only snapped out of it when he heard a knocking on the door. His hands came away from his skin and he realized that his nails were digging into the scars. He got distracted by the deep red crescent moons on his cheek.

The knocks were louder this time.

Lance exited the bathroom, switching off the lights and ripping his eyes away from the mirror as the door closed. With shaky hands, he tightened his robe and stopped just in front of the door, taking a deep breath before opening it. As expected, Keith was on the other side. He didn’t miss the way the red paladin glanced down at his barely-dressed body, his ears red. At this point, Lance was too tired to revel in it.

Keith was pinching his hands again, his eyes flickering to the fingernail marks on Lance’s face. “Are you…”

Lance sighed, about to run a hand over his face before he stopped himself. His hand dropped back to his side and he shrugged, avoiding Keith’s gaze.

“Can I come in?”

Lance stepped aside to let Keith in, his arms wrapped around himself. Normally, he would feel jittery about having his rival (read: mega crush) in his room, but he was too weary. Even though he just came out of the pod, he was so tired.

Keith sat on the edge of Lance’s bed and patted the empty side next to him. Lance didn’t even protest, walking over silently and sitting next to the red paladin. He sat straight up, not knowing if he could lean on the other or not.

“Do you think this is karma?” Lance said quietly. His body felt heavy. Maybe that was the guilt weighing down on him.

Keith was quiet, side-eyeing the blue paladin. “What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s just…” Lance sighed heavily, mentally cursing when his eyes stung. “This all happened because I-” He faltered, his throat tight and mouth dry. “Because I killed that k-kid.”

Lance jolted when Keith snatched up his hand in his, the grip so tight that his fingers ground against each other. Keith’s eyes were angry, but there was another emotion in there. The sincerity and understanding that swam in his gaze made Lance light-headed.

“Don’t you dare say that. You didn’t mean to do it and you tried to save him. It’s not your fault he didn’t want the help.”

Lance turned his head away, trying to hide the tears in his eyes. “I wanted to forget,” he whispered. “And I knew it was selfish, Keith. I was completely aware.” A stray tear slipped from his eye and he let it trail down his cheek.

A calloused hand touched the scarred side of Lance’s face affectionately, guiding his head back up to meet Keith’s eyes. They were so soft that he wanted to never look away. Keith wiped away the single tear with his thumb, careful not to press against the scarred skin. “I wanted to forget the feeling, too. It was, no, is a hard thing to live with. It never goes away, Lance. Not ever.”

Lance’s furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”

Keith’s grip on his hand tightened even more if that was possible. “I know what you’re going through, Lance. I’ve… I’ve seen it too. I’ve done it too.”

Lance’s eyes grew impossibly wide, his jaw dropping. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even consider that-”

Keith cut him off by pinching his lips together between his thumb and pointer. “Stop, it’s fine. I’ve had time to reflect on it and let me tell you something, Lance.”

“It’s okay if you want to try and forget, but it’s never going to happen, at least, not completely. You should instead keep the memories and learn from them. Learn from your mistakes, push forward. Try to save more lives, but remember the ones you took.”

Keith’s voice grew thick and Lance wasn’t surprised to see his eyes watering. Lance took one of his hands away and cradled Keith’s cheek. They both sat there on the bed for a long time, reflecting to themselves in their own heads while touching each other to keep themselves grounded. Their hands were clasped together in their laps and the others touching the other’s face. As time passed, they slowly gravitated towards each other until their foreheads touched, neither of them moving away. It was different than when they butted head during arguments. It was more… Intimate than usual.

“It’s hard,” Lance murmured.

“I know,” Keith whispered, looking deep into Lance’s eyes and absentmindedly admiring the color.

The silence returned before suddenly, Lance snickered uncontrollably. He struggled to get himself to stop before choking out, “Well, I sure won’t be able to forget. It’s written all over my face.”

It took a moment for Keith to get it, but when he did, he sputtered and broke away from the contact, laughing loudly. “Oh my god, that was awful. And here I thought-”

It was Lance’s turn to silence Keith. Without a word, he leaned in and pressed his lips to Keith’s, nothing more than a prolonged peck. Lance pulled away before Keith could do anything, only then registering what he just did.

It was like his face exploded with red, sputtering and waving around his hands erratically. “Oh, oh God. I’m sorry, I should have asked first or something. Um, I’m sorry-”

Keith leaned in and kissed him back, his whole face lit up like a Christmas light. Lance froze before melting into it, pressing back gently and enjoying the feel of the red paladin’s lips. They were more chapped than he thought they would be, but not unpleasantly. His hands found their way into Keith’s hair, pulling him closer as he closed the space between them. Lance lifted his leg over the other and straddled him, only pulling away when he eventually had to come back up for air.

Keith swore he saw stars. “Wow.”

Lance snickered, resting his head on Keith’s shoulder. “Sorry, I just… It felt right.”

Keith tentatively wrapped his arms around Lance’s middle, his back pressed up against the wall. “Why are you saying sorry? I… I liked it. A lot. I really liked it.”

Ugh, he was sputtering now. He could still feel the heat radiating off his face.

Lance chuckled on top of him before sighing. “Thank you, Keith.”

His embrace tightened. “Thank you, Lance.”

Keith fell asleep first, but Lance stayed awake to admire the other’s face up close. His finger traced over the faint freckles dotting the other’s cheeks, half tempted to find a marker and play connect-the-dots. Absentmindedly, he touched his own face, tracing the outlines of the scars forever marked there on his cheek.

It was true he would never forget what happened. The Galra boy was a part of him after that mission. But, the scars gave him something new.

Lance snuggled closer to Keith, letting his own eyes slip shut and breathing in the comforting scent of the red paladin.

Would he go back and change things? He didn’t know anymore.

[misssugarpinkshome]

I know this ship might be weird, but could you try some Grillby x Male Reader? Sorry, I know you have to take some creative liberty on this one, but he's so....HOT HAHAHHAHA but seriously I'd really appreciate if you can do it! :D

sansskele-ton: grillby x reader? :D

Two requests for this one! Man, you have NO idea how long this one took me. It also didn’t help that I’ve been so busy, and also that… >>

You had wandered into the warm diner too often for Grillby to not recognize you. Your face was familiar to him. As was the faded, torn up grey jacket and the small, lackadaisical smile on your face. You always wore both.

Many of the monsters still there this late greeted you as you made your way to the bar. They still looked at you curiously, and you let them. What you were doing here night after night was your business, not theirs. You waved back to them, staying impersonal but friendly, as always. You had always been called a walking paradox by your family.

You sat, turning to the familiar bartender as he made his way towards you behind the counter. You smiled and waved in greeting. “Heya, Grillbz. How you doin’?”

The embers around him seemed to spark, the lights flickering in his glasses as they did; you watched, making sure to try and keep calm (as always) even as you were mesmerized by the display. The fire elemental nodded your way, his version of a greeting, and you could swear the fire shifted just slightly as though he were smiling.

You ignored how your heart slowed as you watched him, as well as the thought that came unbidden to your mind that you could watch that flame forever.

He pointed, as always, to the chalkboard behind him, the menu you had never bothered to examine closely written in slightly curled handwriting. There was a questioning pop from the flames. You chuckled and shook your head. “Nope. Just whatever’s free.”

He huffed softly, smoke coming from the smallest sliver of a mouth that you could just barely make out. Normally, his face was just a shifting mass of flames with no discernible features. Those times when he sighed or spoke - few and far between on the latter - were the only times you could see his mouth open. Oddly enough, you found yourself… curious. Was it warm inside his body? Was he burning to the touch? Could YOU tou-

You looked away as he ducked down under the counter, trying to ignore a need to blush. You hoped it worked. You didn’t want Grillby to notice the crush you’d been fighting for so long…

Damn it. This had been happening since the day you first met him. You had to get those thoughts out of your head.

You weren’t going to go through heartbreak again so soon.

Shortly enough, a bowl of pretzels was on the bar, as well as a glass of bubbling soda. You raised your brows at the latter of the two, looking at Grillby seriously. “Grillbz.” He smirked at you, leaning against the bar and nodding. You sighed, knowing you couldn’t fight him. Besides - it wasn’t like you were about to deny a free drink. You sipped it, relishing the taste of magic drinks. Monsters definitely had culinary talents.

You munched on pretzels absently, watching Grillby intently, just enjoying the slight warmth that came off of him as he reached for one of the nearby rags to clean a glass. The rag was dry, of course, which made washing it mostly pointless. You couldn’t help but chuckle. “Don’t you have someone to help you clean those?”

Grillby glanced at you and the cup before shrugging. He looked back up, and you could see the way his mouth shifted as it opened. “Relaxing,” he said in a wavering, whispering voice, one that set a fire - heh - in your bones.

You ignored the feelings, looking down into the glass. “If you say so. I’d probably think it’s just frustrating.” Grillby shrugged again, still just rubbing at the inside of the glass. “Is water really that bad for your hands?”

He tilted his head this way and that. His fire seemed to crackle a bit more, almost like a disturbed campfire when a log falls. Your ears seemed to prickle slightly, the hair on the back of your neck standing up on end. God, that sound. It was absolutely incredible how a sound could impart so much. You grinned. “So it’s more like it just messes you up, huh?”

He seemed somewhat surprised that you understood him, but only a little. You’d spent plenty of time with him by now. It’d been a few weeks since your first day here, and you had dropped by every single day since that first time. Every day that you weren’t struggling for money or passed out under a bench somewhere, that is. You didn’t really keep good hours anymore.

Still. You visited often, always getting the same thing. “Whatever’s free.” You couldn’t afford anything else - you thrived on free things. You made your way through life with flattery and friendship, weedling your way into the lives of bartenders and homeowners and chefs at restaurants who took pity on you. You walked in like you owned the joint with whatever spare cash you could use to tip, and then you got to know the person at the bar. Soon enough, you were getting free drinks, easy.

You never stayed long, though. You were a wanderer - you kept moving. It was this weird compulsion you had. You had never been good at settling down, staying in one place. That’s probably why you and your ex hadn’t worked out. Other than the fact that he was a fuck that cheated on you, he had always planned on settling down, when you just wanted to… to go. You needed to be free to make your own choices and do your own thing.

And that’s why you had come to Grillby’s, all that time ago.

Monsters were new. Exciting. And taboo. Everyone hated monsters, it seemed, so of course you didn’t. There wasn’t a need to, and moreover, they were pretty cool. Cool magic, lots of money for people down on their luck (aka, you, when you were singing for money on the streets), and, surprisingly, a universal sense of humor. Their entire race seemed to thrive on puns and jokes.

So Grillby’s, a very monster oriented bar, run by a monster (or so you had heard) was an adventure for you. A chance to get wild, try something new, and see if that finally put out the spark for your crazy life that you had been fostering for years now. But when you walked in, you felt an entirely different spark.

Grillby was hot.

You had laughed at the pun when you first thought about it, but dear God, that man was sexy. Bartending outfit that clung close to his limbs, a warmth that radiated off of him, and the gorgeous sensation of fire, close enough to touch, close enough to feel, you desperately wanted-

A curious crackling pulled you from your thoughts. You shook your head, realizing that you had just been blankly staring at Grillby while thinking. You cleared your throat. “Sorry, zoned. Did you say anything?” The fire elemental seemed almost to smirk at the question. You chuckled, relieved that he didn’t seem to find anything from the short mental absence. “Yeah, yeah, I suppose not.”

You glanced around. Monsters were starting to trickle out of the room slowly. You struck up a conversation, however one-sided it seemed, with Grillby to pass the time. You asked him how business was, how his niece was doing - he seemed impressed that you remembered. Heh, you always remembered; remembering stuff about bartenders made them happy, and a happy bartender is way more likely to hand out free drinks.

Grillby actually asked a little bit about you this time, too. You didn’t say too much that would be weird - a homeless artist with barely enough money to scrape by didn’t sound as cool as an artist. You chatted about what you liked to paint, how you did mostly street art, and how much you loved it. You sorta got rambly when you got to talk about art. Grillby didn’t seem to mind - if anything, he seemed more enraptured by it than anyone else you’d talked to about it. His eyes (or at least, his glasses) never moved away from your face.

The last booth of monsters, two dogs that seemed too cuddly to be anything but married, were standing and getting ready to leave when you realized how much time had passed. You licked your lips. You would probably have to get gone here soon. You grabbed your drink, downing a good amount of it. You were usually dehydrated, so the soda was definitely welcome.

You glanced at your watch. Yeah, it was definitely around that time. You stood, stretching. “I should get outta your hair. It’s closing time.”

There was more popping, sounding a bit more aggressive - though that was the wrong word for it - as Grillby looked at you. He pointed to the drink and pretzels.

You shook your head with a smile. “Nah, it’s closing. I don’t wanna be a bother.” Grillby shook his head as well, setting his thoroughly washed glass on the counter. “Fine, fine, I’m not a bother - I’ll still get going. You’ve gotta lock up and all.”

You started walking to the door, but you heard a voice, much louder than it usually was: “Wait.”

You froze, looking behind you. Grillby was stepping out from behind the counter, rolling up his sleeves. Oh god. Muscles. Why did a fire have muscles, that just wasn’t fair in the slightest. “No need to shout for my sake,” you said, the words slipping out of your mouth.

To your surprise, Grillby’s face seemed to shift in color, the cheeks slowly changing to a deeper color - was that… magenta? Yeah, no doubt about it, his cheeks were purpling. It looked almost… almost like a blush? “Do you have somewhere to go?”

That was the most you had ever heard him say. His voice - dear lord, your heart was racing, you wished it would stop - was deep and popped more the more that he said. It was still like the barest whisper, just a little louder, as though he were whispering right in your ear. You suppressed a shiver. “I… Er. No. I don’t.” Usually, you wouldn’t have been so forthcoming with the fact that you were homeless, but Grillby didn’t deserve lies.

He seemed to be frowning. “Stay.”

‘W-What?”

He pointed above him and then towards the back door. “Second floor. Apartment. Stay.”

You blinked, trying to find words. Grillby was… telling you to stay. With him. In the apartment upstairs. “I… what?” His frown seemed to lessen at your confusion with a curious little pop, almost like laughter. Your brows furrowed. “Hey, don’t laugh, it’s a legit question!” That was the wrong thing to say, as he actually started to laugh. Oh god. Your heart was noooot slowing down anytime soon. You couldn’t resist a small smile. “You really want me to stay?”

“Yes.” He nodded.

You looked at him, just a bit confused. “Why?”

The blush quickly came back. Was that really a blush? How could you really know? He just walked past you and you can feel the heat from him as he passed. He went and locked the door, lowering the blinds to show the bar was closed. “It’s somewhere.”

You somehow got the feeling he wasn’t being entirely honest.

You followed him awkwardly as he led you through the back entrance and through the kitchen. It wasn’t very interesting there. He took you up a staircase beyond the kitchen, up to a new door, and through there as well into, well… his apartment.

Grillby had taken you home. Alone.

You really wished your heart would slow down.

You grinned, hoping it was convincing enough to distract from your blatant unease. “Nice place.”

Grillby didn’t seem to notice your embarrassment. He nodded to the living room with a warm smile. He was also still purplish in his cheeks. You licked your lips, trying to work out if you should call attention to it. You walked slowly to the living room, taking in the apartment. It was homey, though it definitely could use more personal effects.

As you looked at Grillby, you just couldn’t hold back the question anymore. “So, uh, what’s with the…” You pointed to your own cheeks for clarification.

He put his own hand to his cheek and, suddenly, there was more popping. The tips of his hair grew more yellow, and his cheeks flashed blue for just an instant. Your brows raised as the slightest knowledge of chemistry came flooding back.

Fire looks colder when it gets hotter.

Cheeks get hot when blushing.

“You’re totally blushing.” He covered his face. You couldn’t help but grin - that was adorable. “Grillbz, why’re you blushing?”

Grillby dropped one of his hands to his hip and the other to his cheek, fire crackling a bit more erratically now. He seemed to be thinking about something. Debating, almost.

Then, without a word, he nodded and moved towards you, pulling himself down by - oh. Oh he was on your lap, he was straddling you and - oh god - his mouth met yours. He kissed you.

He kissed you.

Holy shit. He was-

It was a very new feeling. Your brain short circuited. You could feel the fire around him warming your bare skin, his lips meeting yours and this overwhelming heat just bearing down on you, causing you to - strangely enough - shiver. You leaned into him more, grabbing at his shirt, desperate to have even more, even as one of his hands grabbed your arm. The feeling of the flame licking at your skin should have been pain, but it wasn’t. It was… intoxicating. Dangerous.

You were enjoying this. Holy fuck, you were enjoying this, you kept leaning into him, a hum building up in your throat as you just thrived in the sensation of him on top of you. It was like he took the air from your lungs, took everything out of you other than the feeling of him. He pulled away after a moment, and in reality, that eternity of feeling had just been a moment, his blush intensifying alongside yours as you panted.

… Holy.

Fuck.

… Grillby just kissed you.

You blinked, looking at him, panting. “W… Wha…”

He looked away, as though scandalized. He looked dreadfully embarrassed. Being this close, you could see the hint of his yellow, shimmering eyes behind his glasses, could see how expressive he was beneath all those layers. He opened his mouth, licking his lips (oh god, he had a tongue and you had ideas where that could be put to use). “B-Bad with words,” he stuttered out, flushed. “Like you a lot.”

You grinned out of bewilderment, still a bit breathless. “You… what? You just met me. You don’t even know me.”

“Nice. Kind. Talk to me. Sexy.” You burst out with a laugh, hearing the usually prim and proper bartender say something like that. He pouted slightly. “Like you.”

You took a deep breath, looking at him. Well… fuck. You couldn’t deny you had feelings for him. But were you even ready for something like that? You had just gotten over your ex, after all… Grillby didn’t know you. Not really. He knew the you that walked into the bar like you owned the joint.

You were a wanderer, you didn’t stay. You would fall apart. He wouldn’t want some homeless artist stealing his living space. He wouldn’t. Want. you.

But here you were, ready to kiss him again, ready to lose yourself in him. This was something new. Something exciting (especially judging from how tight your pants were getting with him on top of you like that). This was…

Something you wanted to try. Even if it was just for a little while.

“I’ve been crushing on you since I walked in that first night,” you stumbled with saying, hardly registering the words. Grillby looked ridiculously surprised. “You paid attention to me. You listened to my rambling, you - heh, fuck, if you think I’m sexy, you need more mirrors in this place.” His fire popped in surprise, causing you to laugh again. “And, well… God, I just want to kiss you again.”

He blushed more, his entire face purplish-blue, and God you could feel it. You wanted to feel more of it. You wanted the feeling of his fire on your bare skin, everywhere it could touch. You’d always been a bit more of a physical lover than anything else. Somehow, judging from how he kept squirming and how his hand still hadn’t left your arm, you were pretty sure Grillby was the same way.

He looked at you seriously. Without another word, he kissed you again, this time his tongue slipping into your all too willing mouth. You started to lean back more, letting him lie on top of you. His spare hand started to stray under your shirt and you could feel the steam from where his fire met your open mouth. You were panting again. Only one thought flashed across your mind before you were lost in the sensation of fire.

You hoped he liked it rough.