#paperuniverse fanfic

[paperuniverse]

Like to pretend that Planes, Trains, and Automobiles started the only one bed trope.

[paperuniverse]

Feel free to send me platonic pairs as well!

Send me a title and a pairing and I will give you the summary of a fic I will never write.

[fireandiceland]

tagged by @unhetalia here and @helianskies on my other blog

rules: answer and tag nine people you want to get to know better and/or catch up with

favourite colour: pink 💕

last song: Dünnes Eis by Baummann Bergman Pokinsson (got the worst ear worm of that guitar thing at the beginning)

currently reading: trying to catch up on some huskerdust fanfic that was recommended to me as well as a fruk fic and the Greg Jenner book on my nightstand

currently watching: Letterkenny, rewatching Sherlock, and a tiny bit of Hubert&Staller

currently craving: some nice lemonade or homemade ice tea

coffee or tea: coffee only if it’s that iced one they sell in tetra packs, otherwise tea in every kind and form

hobby to try: sewing and prop/armour making with foam! Gotta improve my cosplay game at some point I guess.

current AU: not gonna tell 🤭

tagging: @kalashnikovlobotomy @khloxxy @the-heaminator @maryeve-the-bitch @paperuniverse & whoever else wants to I’m not gonna tag 9 people actually

[hondakiku]

End of the Year Review

I was tagged by a lot of people @froggi-mushroom @emma-likes-to-write @breitzbachbea @paperuniverse

1) What fandoms did you create for?

Hetalia and Arcane.

2) How many works did you make this year? Fics (posted on ao3 or tumblr or wherever), edits, gifsets, moodboards, playlists, fanart, vids, meta?

Countless. I spent the better part of last year making videos and edits. Any writing I did wasn't published.

3) What are you most proud of?

My improvement in my editing skills. I've only been editing for a year and the difference from when I started is amazing.

4) What inspired you this year?

Music has always been and always will be my #1 inspiration.

5) What’s a piece you didn’t expect to make? Why?

Anything in regards to Arcane, because I got into it so suddenly.

6) What are you excited to work on next year?

In 2022, I'd like to write a fanfic that I feel confident enough to publish.

[paperuniverse]

A new fic I was super excited for to see it updated was deleted, I’m never opening my heart open to fic again /jk

[someone-you-do-not-know]

@obliviouspoptart and @paperuniverse and anyone else who's interested in the lore of Spamano fanfiction, or rather, the lore of Bottoms Up! by Sunny Day in February. As you can see, it's an 80 chapter/almost 500k word fanfic that, at least statistically, is the most liked Spamano fanfic. It was published back in 2010 to 2012, and it's about... *Drumroll, please.*

Romano topping Spain.

Your first question should be: "How can anyone spend almost 500K words on that????"

And honestly, good question. The author was so convinced that Romano was too much of a soft uwu uke that he needed that many words before he could manage the job. Which is honestly... Kinda pathetic. There's a lot of other things that are explored too, but throughout the whole story, that continues to be the main plot. It has a sequel that is somehow even longer and is a kid fic. Now, the reason why doritosvargas describes it as "the most infamous" and why I'm filled with spite about it's popularity, is because... It's just not very good.

It's pretty bad.

You might think I'm being harsh, "it's just a fanfic, I'm sure the author has a reason for it being this long," or "it can't be that bad," you might think, but trust me, I'm not exaggerating.

I already mentioned what it's about, but not only is it a weak plot, it's also poorly written, borderline homophobic, riddled with slurs (75 in total, my partner counted) and ellipses, and a lot of other bad things. The homophobia and slurs can be chalked up to the time it was written in, but it's still not exactly a good look.

It's written from a 1st person POV, which is apparently a deal breaker to a lot of people, and the characters were lacking to say the least. Romano wasn't just a guy with a mean streak, he was downright an ableist, shitty boyfriend, and Spain was too dumbed down. A lot of the other characters were also turned into some of their worst traits, such as Hungary being reduced to a fujoshi, and Prussia only being a guy saying awesome 24/7. There's some good moments in between (mostly the Spain POV chapters), but there's a lot of badness all over. It's not My Immortal levels of bad, because there's not quite as many misspellings, but it is 50 Shades of Grey levels bad, and it has "straight homophobic fujoshi writing about gay characters" written all over it.

My personal experience with it happened back in 2014, when I was looking for more Spamano fanfiction to read. Almost all Spamano fanfic recommendations back then included Bottoms Up. It was the quintessential Spamano fanfic, the one everyone knew and had read, but somehow, everyone ignored that it's not good. It took me forever to read, not because of the length, because it was boring and badly written, and even teen me could see it. Some people sent flames in the reviews, but it's shockingly few compared to the overwhelming praise it and the author received. I don't want anyone to go send hate (I never want people to do that), especially not on a fanfic that's older than a decade, but I do wish it was not the top favourited fanfic of my OTP.

As for its infamy, I think that comes from a lot of us who recognised how bad it is, and either nope'd out immediately or suffered through it and remember the mental scars.

I hope you feel a little wiser with this knowledge, and know not to read Bottoms Up.

i don’t even think bottoms up is a favorited fic anymore but it is CERTAINLY the most infamous

Statistically, on ff.net, I'm afraid it still is the most favourited Spamano fanfic:

It's one of the facts of life that fill me with spite.

Arguably, there are some on AO3 with higher kudos than the favourites on Bottoms Up, but those aren't main Spamano. If you want to join me in the war against Bottoms Up, this is the AO3 fanfic with Spamano as a main ship that currently has the most kudos at 1472. Together, we can bring it above the favourites for Bottoms Up at 1624– 🫡

I'm mostly kidding, but it would be nice if Bottoms Up wasn't the no. 1 favourited/kudos'ed Spamano fanfic.

[paperuniverse]

The Jokers Tale for the Bingo

Fanfic Bingo

I love this fic sm, I originally wanted to have it as a series of multi-chapter fics with POVs from at least one person from each suit. I’ve already written stuff from Ludwig’s POV but want to finish this one first obviously. Maybe I’ll share it if anyone wants 👀

The Jokers Tale

[paperuniverse]

Your spaus a/b/o fic? When Roderich was in heat but Antonio stayed away, because he wanted to wait until Roderich gave him explicit consent to "help" him? Sorry I don't remember the title :( but it's cute and I read it like 3 times

Fanfic Bingo

That’s okay anon I know what you’re talking about! It’s titled Friction :)

I still really like this fic. First time writing omegaverse after invading my thoughts for years. I’m not sure if it counts as a gift cause it was for an event but what’re. Hopefully I can write more spaus and omegaverse in the future.

Friction

[paperuniverse]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love❤

Aw thank you anon! In no particular order:

The Joker’s Tale

Still being updated as of now, but I still really love the au I’ve made. Gilbert has a vision that someone is trying to cause an all out war by killing two royals, one being his brother. He does everything in his power to prevent this future from happening… but will he succeed?

With Only the Darkness to Comfort Me

An angsty one shot of North Italy’s fears and insecurity, but because he’s forbidden from seeing Germany and Japan post war, he can’t seek comfort.

Inspire Me Prompts- NA bros

Not a very eye catching title I know lol. Canada dies and when he comes back, it seems as though no other nation has cared or noticed. Except no, America is here to remind him he’s loved.

A Simple Mistakes

The first fic I wrote with the intention of posting. I read back on it and see mistakes now, but I still love it. Germany somehow has de-aged and is now a child with no memory of the current times. During a week of world meetings oh no! Prussia will fix things!

Blanket of Stars

Human spamano au. An adorable one shot of a drunk Antonio coming into Lovino’s room into the middle of the night for snuggles. I re-read it often.

~ Just a note! You have to be logged in to read my fics now what with all the bots/ai stealing fics off of AO3 :/

[koolkat9]

“What are you doing here?” Arthur asked, snapping Ludwig out of his daydream.

Let's see...A lot of my fanfic mutuals have already been tagged but I got 13 words.

@redds-art828 @sunnylolli @paperuniverse @maryeve-the-bitch @rosesandalfazemas @maplequeen94 @averyblair @kojiro-of-spades @mpregfrance @aster-riskite (no pressure, I know some of you haven't posted fics in awhile but I couldn't think of anyone else)

And that's all I'm doing because it was hard to get this list and I'm tired 😅

Last Line Tag

tagged by the lovely @thiamsxbitch 😘

RULES—share the last line you wrote for your WIP, and then tag as many people as there are words.

MK placed too much responsibility on himself already, how would he react if he knew his mentor, the great Monkey King, signed off for his immortality to end after MK’s passing?

hehe :3 would you believe if I told you that this wip was supposed to be fluffy?

tagging (with no added pressure dw <3): @sourdough-morbread @bellamyblakru @ghoultaffy @shana-rosee and anybody else bearing witness to this post and feels inclined to play!

[paperuniverse]

All the crayons of the rainbow!

Fanfic bingo

This was one of the first multi chapter fics I started writing (then did not finish ahhh). It was inspired by another fic from another fandom that I don’t remember the name of lol. I do eventually want to finish it but sadly the motivation evades me. I’m glad people seem to like it still though!

Also the funniest thing to me is I was worried about misrepresenting depression then got depression and I don’t see much wrong with how I wrote it lol.

All the Crayons of the Rainbow

[paperuniverse]

Hetalia Writers Monthly November 2020

For @hetalia-writers-monthly November abstract prompt 'contentment’. This was an older idea I had sitting in my phone’s notes for over a year and this inspired me to finish it.

Read it on AO3 too

Title: Moment of Tranquility

Word Count: 474

Relationships: Germany/ North Italy

Rating: Teen & Up

Warnings: Suggestive

Summary: Ludwig doesn’t take baths too often, but today Feliciano has managed to convince him to.

—- 

Germany sighed as he sat in the warm bath water, the heat feeling nice against his winter cold skin.

“You look so peaceful,” North Italy said.

“I rarely take baths. It’s... nice.” And it was nice. Germany only had baths if North Italy asked him to, otherwise he would take a brisk, cool shower. He didn’t see much point in taking a long hot shower when he had so much to do but indulging himself every once in awhile wasn’t a bad thing.

It was especially nice since they were just bathing. Last time they had taken a bath together things had gotten heated and Ludwig had ended up hitting his head on the back of the tub. Feliciano had found it quite amusing though.

“Especially with the bath salts I added,” Feliciano said, interrupting his thoughts. Ludwig cracked an eye open to look at him.

“They would be nicer if they hadn’t cost so much.”

Feliciano snorted, trying to cover a laugh. “They wouldn’t be as nice if they were cheap. Things are expensive for a reason, tesoro.”

“That’s an excuse. We both know the company could lower the cost and still manage to make a profit.”

Feliciano then lightly splashed Ludwig, making sure not to get any water out of the tub. “No more talk of money and costs! We’re supposed to be relaxing!”

Ludwig playfully splashed him back, earning an exaggerated gasp of shock.

“Don’t challenge me Luddy. You know I’ll win. I’m much more experienced in battle than you!” He splashed back, managing to splash Ludwig’s face as well this time.

Ludwig scoffed. “I think that’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told me.”

“Pfft! Have you forgotten how you’ve never beaten me at fencing?”

“How could I? You never let me forget,” Ludwig replied teasingly.

They continued to playfully splash at each other until Feliciano made a particularly big splash, getting some on the floor.

“Oh, sorry Luddy! I must have gotten carried away!”

“It’s fine, the bathmat should absorb most of it, and besides, you weren’t the only one doing it.”

North Italy didn’t seem convinced.

“I’m not angry, I just want to relax.” Germany smiled. “If that’s okay with you?” He asked, a bit hesitant.

North Italy smiled brightly and moved to the other side of the tub, cuddling up against Germany’s chest. When he was settled, Germany wrapped his arms around him in a hug. “Of course, I’m okay with that.”

Germany let himself fall back gently against the side of the tub, closing his eyes once again and choosing to focus on his and North Italy’s breathing.

He knew they would have to get out eventually and dry off, clean the floor and deal with frying out the mat, but for now he was content to just rest in the warm water with his significant other.

[paperuniverse]

Hetalia Writers Monthly December 2020

Here’s what I wrote for @hetalia-writers-monthly December’s abstract prompt ‘Friendship’. This is about how Gilbert met Antonio and Francis in my ask blog au @ask-gilbert-and-ludwig (although you don’t need to know anything about the au or follow my blog to understand what’s going on).

AO3 link

Title: Three Himbos Are Better Than None

Word Count: 946

Rating: Gen

Warnings: N/A

Summary: Gilbert’s first day wasn’t very amazing, but it was the day he met his two best friends.

——

Today was Gilbert’s first day of school since he had moved, and honestly he was a bit nervous, but he could never let his dad find out.

“Are you ready for your first day?” His dad asked as they got out of the car.

Gilbert looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening. “Yeah Dad, I’m not four. I can handle the first day back!”

In an unusual display of affection, Aldrich ran his hand through Gilbert’s hair. “I know you can, but this is a different country. School is much different here.”

“I’m a quick learner. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay. Well, when you get home I’ll want to know all about your first day.”

“I’ll make sure to tell you how awesome it is!” Gilbert said as he waved goodbye and headed towards the school. He only looked back once before opening the front doors.

....

Gilbert sat at his desk trying to look calm and like he didn’t care as more kids filed into the room. Most ignored him in favour of talking to their friends whom they hadn’t seen since June, a few others gave him not so subtle looks of shock when they noticed his hair.

He looked at his hands on his desk. He wasn’t surprised that people were giving him weird looks, but it didn’t hurt any less. Hopefully, the kids at this school were too big of cowards to say anything to his face. He didn’t really want to get into a fight today.

He sat up as he heard someone giggling nearby, and turned to look at the back where a few kids were staring.

“Sorry I didn’t know there were assigned seats,” a boy with brown hair said as he picked up his bag.

“How could you not know? There’s a sheet up front,” the other boy said as he sat down in the chair that had previously been taken.

The brunet shrugged and walked towards the teacher's deak, despite the uncaring front he was trying to project, Gilbert could tell he was embarrassed.

The boy leaned over and looked at the page, looking confused and frustrated for a moment, before seemingly giving up and came to sit by Gilbert.

Gilbert watched out of the corner of his eye as the kid sat down next to him and pulled out a binder. Until he turned to look at him.

“Hi, I’m Antonio! You’re new right?”

Gilbert turned in his seat and smiled. “Yes, I am new here. My name is Gilbert.”

“Nice to meet you! Did you just transfer schools, or did you just move here?”

Gilbert assumed he was just being polite and didn’t really care where he was from. “My family and I just moved her from Germany two weeks ago.”

“That’s cool!" Antonio replied, big grin on his face, "I’m from Spain but I moved here a few years ago. Hopefully, I guessed right, and we get to sit together the whole year. You seem fun.”

“What do you mean guessed right?”

“Oh,” Antonio started to fidget with his fingers, “I just had trouble reading the teacher’s handwriting is all.”

Gilbert wasn’t sure if he misheard or Antonio was lying because the seating chart had been typed and printed out. Maybe he needed glasses and forgot them?

“So, have you explored the city yet? Or just been unpacking?” Antonio asked in an attempt to change the subject.

They continued to talk about Gilbert’s moving and Antonio gave him some advice as he had gone through the same thing as well, until the teacher arrived and class started.

Class was mostly uneventful, they started with an introduction game where Gilbert was forced to speak German like a dog preforming a trick, and were told some of the things they were expected to go over and learn this year. Gilbert jotted down a few notes, but it wasn’t really needed. It was mostly just to keep him occupied until the break.

Once the bell rang, Gilbert was a bit worried that Antonio would leave without saying anything, go and spend time with his real friends. Instead, Antonio grabbed his arm and asked him if he wanted to meet his friend Francis and hang out with them. He laughed and let himself be dragged out of the classroom.

Gilbert let Antonio drag him around the halls and out into the yard, where they veered off from the crowd of students towards a secluded area. As they got closer Gilbert noticed someone with blond shoulder length hair standing against the building, playing with the cuffs of their sleeves.

“Francis!” Antonio shouted as they got within earshot, walking a bit faster in excitement. “I made a new friend!”

Francis looked up, looking a little shocked by his hair, before covering it up with a smile. “Hello, Tonio’s new friend, do you perhaps have a name, or will we have to give you one?”

“Gilbert,” he offered. “You can still give me a nickname if you want though, so long as it is cool,” he added, grinning.

Francis laughed. “Maybe just Gil for now.”

He shrugged.

“So, tell me, is your hair dyed or natural?”

Gilbert ran his hand through his hair. He must have meant coloured. “It is real. So are my eyes.”

“Mm it’s very striking.”

“Um... thanks?”

Antonio leaned in and put his arm over Gilbert’s shoulder, whispering loudly for dramatics, “It’s supposed to be a compliment but he’s not always good with those.”

“Hey! I can be good with compliments!” Francis exclaimed.

As the two continued to bicker, Gilbert smiled. Maybe this year wouldn’t be so bad.

[paperuniverse]

45 WITH THE GERMAN BROS

German bros 45. “I’m sleeping.” “But, you’re talking.”

Prussia go the f*ck to sleep.

----

Germany was very grateful that the first day of meetings was done and over with, and now he could get a well-deserved night of sleep before he had to face the nightmare that would be tomorrow’s meeting.

“Are you done brushing your teeth yet?” He called to his brother who was still in the bathroom.

“Amoft!” Prussia called back.

He was going to assume that meant ‘almost’.

He grabbed his book that he had brought and picked up where he had left off, Prussia was for some reason taking longer to get ready for bed than usual and Germany didn’t want to sit in silence waiting.

“Done!” Prussia announced, fixing his pajama shirt as he made his way to his bed.

“What took you so long anyways? Or do I not want to know?”

“Spilt mouthwash all over the floor.”

Germany nodded as he entered the bathroom and closed the door, quickly brushing his teeth and changing into his pajamas as well. When he exited the bathroom, he saw Prussia already under his blankets with his earbuds in, playing on his phone.

Prussia looked up as he went to turn off the main lights, took his earbuds out and placed his phone next to him.

Germany sat on his bed, flicked off the lamp and curled up under the stiff hotel blankets. He wished he had gotten a nice comfortable room with North Italy and that he was currently sharing a bed with him, but North Italy needed to be in a room with his brother so they could discuss important points that they would need to bring up during the meeting. He also knew that all four of them sharing a room would be a disaster.

A giggle sounded from the other side of the room.

Germany sat up and turned the light back on, looking at Prussia imploringly. “Did you just giggle? Are you hiding under your blanket watching something?”

Prussia unburied his head from under the covers, hair messier than usual with a big smile on his face, and replied, “Yeah. It’s a vine compilation, the guy just-”

“Do you know what time it is? Have you forgotten we need to get up early to attend a meeting tomorrow?”

“Of course I do, have you forgotten that I always get up earlier then you, baby bro?” Gilbert replied, smirking as he said the nickname.

Ludwig huffed. “You might be able to survive off of two hours of sleep and multiple cups of coffee, but I can’t. So please, turn the video off and let me sleep.”

Gilbert complied, he turned his phone off and set it on the nightstand. “Good?” he asked.

Ludwig turned the lamp off and got comfortable a second time. “Yes.”

“Cool.”

He closed his eyes and tried to relax, as much as he could in a bed that wasn’t his own, and tried thinking about anything other than his dogs and Feliciano.

It was silent for a little while, he’d give Gilbert that, but only long enough for him to feel groggy. He hadn’t even managed to fully fall asleep before Gilbert spoke.

“Did you know crows can talk?”

Ludwig sighed.

“Yeah it’s true! They’re really smart birds besides that too, like did you know that they hold funerals? And it’s not just to mourn their death, they form a sort of investigation into how they died. If I die will you do that for me Lud? Investigate my death in case I was murdered? I’ve made a lot of enemies in my many years Lud, you gotta make sure if I’m killed you’ll avenge me.”

“Gilbert?”

“Yep.”

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

A second of silence.

“I’m sleeping.”

“But you’re talking.”

“No I’m not!” Ludwig then heard loud shuffling, which he guessed was Gilbert burring himself under the covers to look like he was asleep.

“Gil.”

Gilbert paused; Ludwig didn’t really call him by his nickname much anymore.

“I hate sleeping in hotels too, but we need to get some sleep.”

A sigh. “Alright, I’ll try.”

“Good.”

“But only for you, because I know these dumb things are important to you.”

“They aren’t dumb but thank you anyways.”

“Good night West.”

“Good night Gil.”

[paperuniverse]

8 for the brotp prompts uwu

German bros 8. Movie Night

I figured you meant them lol.

These two can never agree on what to watch.

----

“Okay so it’s my turn to choose the movie.”

“Oh joy.”

“Hey shush! I didn’t complain last time when you picked Marley and Me!”

“It’s a good movie!”

The two bothers were currently in the living room getting ready for their monthly movie night, Ludwig on the floor curled up in a blanket inside the blanket fort they had built, and Gilbert standing in front of the TV holding a small stack of DVDs.

“Anyways,” Gilbert said, “it’s my turn and I have a couple of ideas.” He pulled out the DVD on top of the pile and showed it to Ludwig.

Ludwig grabbed Blackie and silently scolded her for trying to steal a snack from the table. “We are not watching ‘The Devil Wears Prada’.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not Antonio or Francis.”

“Clearly,” Gilbert deadpanned. “Come on give it a chance!”

“No.”

“Ugh!” Gilbert tossed the DVD on to the table.

“What other movies are you holding?” Ludwig asked. Deciding on the movie always took much too long, and he was trying to speed up the process as much as he could.

“What about this? It’s a horror, it’s German, and it has nothing to do with fashion.”

“Fine.”

Prussia tossed the other remaining movies onto the table and put the horror movie into the DVD player. He grabbed the remote before diving into the fort and wrapping himself in his own blanket. Germany grumbled something about being more careful next time.

The title displayed on screen and the movie started, prompting Prussia to turn the volume up.

Germany petted Aster who was cuddled up closest against his right side, he wasn’t really a fan of horror movies like he used to be. He could still sit through them and be fine, but they didn’t have the same appeal that they did back then.

“Wanna make bets on who survives?” Prussia asked, quickly glancing at Germany with a smile before looking back at the screen, not wanting to miss anything.

“No thank you, I’m sure you’ve watched this before,” Germany said. He leaned over to grab a brownie he had baked earlier. Prussia had tried to lick the bowl clean behind his back.

“Actually, I wanted to wait to watch it with you,” Prussia replied.

Ludwig felt touched.

“Oh boo!” Gilbert suddenly exclaimed, throwing popcorn at the TV. “You don’t go by yourself! That’s how you die!”

“Gilbert, the dogs,” Ludwig protested, trying to prevent them from going to eat the food that was now on the floor.

“Sit,” Gilbert commanded, the dogs immediately obeyed. “See it’s fine. You try West,” he said, handing Ludwig a handful of popcorn.

“And this accomplishes what exactly?”

“It’s funny.”

“That’s not really a solid reason.”

Gilbert rolled his eyes. “Don’t be a stick in the mud, come on try it with me.”

Ludwig glared at Gilbert for a moment before sighing and giving in. “Okay, but you’re cleaning it up.”

“Okay Luddy.”

Gilbert threw another handful at the screen as the character onscreen continued onward, Ludwig following suit a moment after. “You don’t continue walking forwards when you see blood! Go back!”

Ludwig saw him looking expectantly at him. “Um… at this point you’re just asking to die?”

Gilbert chuckled, “Good one!”

“Thanks,” Ludwig replied smiling slightly.

After the movie was finished Gilbert kept his promise and cleaned up all the thrown food, and Ludwig had admitted that it had been fun.

[paperuniverse]

50 itapru? or pruita or whatever you call it-- sorry!

Pruita 50. “I think you’re beautiful.”

I’ve seen it be referred to as both but I think pruita’s more common so I just went with that. Also I haven’t written in awhile so hopefully this isn’t too rusty.

—— 

They had come to this field dozens of times before, and they would visit it a hundred times more. This little alone place that only they knew, where weeds were out of control, and they were away from all the city’s noisy streets.

North Italy was typically the one to suggest meeting here. Loving to run around and play games, or simply sit and pick flowers as he was now. He hadn’t said much before getting here, but that was fine. Prussia was happy to just watch him at work.

Time spent in this field was always treasured, and Prussia wanted to remember this moment forever. With North Italy, sun shining on his hair, and adorable smile on his face.

“I think you’re beautiful,” he whispered.

North Italy looked up from the little bouquet he was making, finally making eye contact with him.

Gilbert slowly moved his hand over to grab one of the wildflowers from Feliciano’s hand and place it behind his ear. He wished the stems were longer so he could make a crown. Regardless, Feliciano always looked cute with flowers in his hair.

Feliciano smile grew bigger as he pulled Gilbert down for a kiss on the cheek. “And I think you’re very handsome,” he whispered back.

“Handsome enough for a kiss on the lips?” he asked, ignoring his cheeks which had gotten warmer.

Instead of answering Feliciano gently grabbed Gilbert’s cheeks and pulled him closer. The kiss was soft and calm, like a warm embrace.

It was everything he needed.