#plus my mom always has a bunch to be done since everyone knows to buy her puzzles lol but that has also gotten out of hand

[autumnrory]

woooo my niece took 5 of my 13 lego sets, one of which was one of the three larger ones, so that's one huge box out of the way and i'm just glad she wanted them because like they ARE twenty years old and they look fine ofc but sometimes kids aren't gonna want stuff that isn't new and shiny ya know, but she did seem to want everything which would've been fine with me but i knew there was no way they would take all that with them, and at least i still have stuff of my own to sell, plus should get at least a cut of my brother's stuff for doing the inventory and putting together that stuff that wasn't already done

[rrazor]

what is your skincare routine 🥺 plus imagine doing face masks with ur hq boy 😩😩 pleeaaaaaaseeee manifest

my routine is just a bunch of serums + moisturizer topped off with an obsession with cosrx :^) 

here’s some of my personal h/c’s about their routine and how u fit in 💖

kuroo overexfoliated when he was 16 and that’s when he decided to get into skincare 🤡 but you’re really the one who ties it all together and finishes it 😤 has a bunch of blackheads and is hesitant about using acids but trusts you when you rec a bha (salicylic) and to his surprise it works!! you teach other about ingredients and formulations (more teaching on your end since he’s such an overachiever and is in a million different things) but his skin really goes 🌺🌺 when he’s got a routine down.

another amazing boyfriend to do self-care days with because he needs them so much 😭💞 spends the whole day by your side at home doing whatever whenever and holding your hand the whole way through 💖 does the spoon in the fridge technique to depuff his eyes after a late night and always sends u morning selfies with them on his face all “Good morning my Fated One 🥄👄🥄” 💀💀💀

bokuto already has a skincare routine kudos of his sisters when you start dating and only gets back into doing it regularly when he learns you like doing it too 💕 he wants to spend more time with you as if he isn’t already glued to your hip 😭🤚💗💗

but he slaps his face really hard like really hard 😵 you have to teach him to gently dab and work the product into the skin but he sits like a good boy on the edge of the tub and closes his eyes for you 💛💛 keeps his hands on your hips too ☺️ gets acne here and there and sticks on the pimple patches you give him while telling you “y'know, babe, since you gave these to me, it’s like ur kissing me all night long!!! 🥺🥰😚💕” kiss him now pls

akaashi looks like he has his life together but his skincare routine is 😬 uses bar soap and the same anti-aging face lotion as his mom but his skin is 🌹🌸🌺✨he’s skeptical when he tries out new products but he comes around pretty quickly when he notices how less fatigued he looks 💀

he loves doing masks with you and likes to do one in the morning and one at night because you’ve got him hooked now 😤 he’s so dewy oh my god man is literally gleaming like a diamond 💎✨what have u done….. i bet he has a gua sha and rolls your face for you too 🥺 he’s so gentle omg stop…. looks at u with the softest look in his eyes when you giggle at how funny the sheet masks make the two of you look 💞❤️💕💓💝

oikawa while it’s universally thought in fanon that oikawa is a skincare junkie, i’d say that he’s more so really picky and meticulous. he has specific steps he follows to the t and knows how and when to bring in a new product for any seasonal weather and other changes in his skin. he’s not necessarily going to try your products unless he’s convinced they’ll work for him (everyone’s different after all), but he’s definitely open to you trying his and sharing what you both know 😤💗💗

easily one of the best boyfriends to have self care days with: nails, hair, face, online shopping, you name it, he’ll do it with you 🥰💄💅 i think he hates hyaluronic acid and avoids it like the plague lmfao one of his favourite ways to pass the evenings is the two of you together gossiping with your masks on and eating snacks 🌹🥰🥰🌹

iwaizumi lmfao this mf’er is sooo handsome 🥵 so i say oily skin that’s prone to breakouts 😇 yeah i think iwa struggles with acne and his scars, but he gets lucky that he grows out it by third/fourth year university 😘 uses a basic cleanser marketed towards acne 🤢🤢 and some moisturizer🧴he doesn’t trust oikawa with skincare recommendations because one of the product he gave him had glycolic acid in it and iwa’s skin said 👹

he’s reluctant but lets you help him with his skin and it makes a notable improvement throughout your relationship 👍✨gets heart palpitations when you grab his face and kiss him all over 💘💘 and genuinely thinks you’re one of the best thing to have happened to him when you coo “so handsome hajime 💕” yeah i just think he’s a sucker for you saying his first name lmao

matsukawa he has pretty decent skin, maybe a bit oily and will get spots here and there but overall puberty said nah this one’s cool 😎👍 so he comes in with very basic knowledge about skincare. though bless his heart, he tries out a bunch of stuff with you and is always open to doing masks and trying out new products with you 🥺💖

his skin is pretty resilient so watch him go 😨🤭 when you breakout and he doesn’t jgjebnfkwzl he kisses ur acne scars and spots tho so dw he madly in love ok? 😘🥰❤️ once he starts seeing the changes, he keeps up with the routine you made together for him but he likes to beg for you to do it for him “aw, c’mon babe don’t u want your hands all over this? 😩🤚💕💓💦” i hate him

hanamaki he has a mini routine and knows the general steps from his older sister and because i firmly believe he has dry, sensitive skin. he avoids fragrances, alcohols and all the sulphates and parabens but weirdly his skin is okay with silicones. anyways, he’s the one that introduces you to these amazing korean face masks and now you’re both hooked, spending weekends and days off at his house walking around with ur masks on all 💓👽👽💓

a little bit harder to work with in terms of exploration with your products but he finds his cheeks pinking 💖 and heart beating a little harder 🥰 when you go out of your way to find products that fit his criteria and gets rlly sappy when you start using them too 😭💓💕 he buys the bigger bottles for himself and small bottles for u because he’s whipped (and funny) that way 😐💖

kita looks like he and his grandma would some diy face masks together 🥰❤️ he’s got a basic cleanser and moisturizer but doesn’t do much else. spends a lot of time learning about the products and right steps so he can be a useful partner when you go shopping together 🥺💘💞

he comes to love oils, especially squalane and rosehip seed oil. also becomes a vitamin c junkie 😤 he’s a stickler for patch-testing and comes to really enjoy the whole skincare process in the morning and evenings as his own me time. really appreciates and thanks you for sharing this part of your daily life with him 🥺💘💞💞💖 invites you over to do masks with his grandma 😘

atsumu yeah he gets his beautiful skin from his mom and literally everything else because his mom is 🌸✨in both personality and looks. exfoliates three to four times a week and still looks amazing so you really have to wonder what his skin is doing and what yours isn’t 😔

when he finds the products that work™️ for him (kudos to you), he genuinely cannot stop admiring the shine of his skin after someone points it out he’s all 👁👃👁✨ and calls you up “babe ‘m beautiful did’ja know look at me look” 😐 likes to do skincare routines together but rushes through his so that he can do other stuff with you 😭💗💖💕 hates it when you push him away and don’t let him kiss you while your products are settling 🥺☹️💔

osamu my guy here is also blessed with naturally occurring bacteria that gives him beautiful skin like life rlly isn’t fair 😟😟 he doesn’t know much but lets you do whatever and loves loves loves it when you put all the products on him 🥺❤️ sits down between your legs all 💗🐶💗 prefers mud masks over sheet ones and likes to smear yours on for u 🥰

he comes to love skincare, not as much as you but enjoys how his face feels after he’s all moisturized and such. though he never remembers sunscreen so please carry some with you 😭 he buys you snacks and sneaks kisses while u wait for your products to settle on ur face 💖💖 uses a jade roller in the mornings as he checks his phone because it feels nice 👍✨✨

suna sensitive skin but relatively normal in terms of oiliness. ik he steals his younger sister’s products if they’re close in age 💀 he has very little idea how to get started so when he jumps in and tries one of yours he breaks out really bad and curses you lmfaoooo 👿👿👹🤡

ok but once he gets a decent routine in, he does his best to keep up with it and it helps!! his skin feels less tight and more supple so he might love you a little more for that 🙄🤚💖 he prefers sheet masks and lets you clip his curtain bangs to the side✨ also looks like the kinda guy who likes to sit on the balcony/patio with his mask on and soak up the sun in the mornings after you both have your sunscreen on 🌼🌼

ushijima his skin is dehydrated but he doesn’t know it, has accepted the oiliness of his skin as a symptom of his athletics 😔 he’s got a bunch of expensive luxury products given to him by his mom and she’s told him to use them but he doesn’t know what the right order is so he puts on an occlusive first before anything else 😭😭😭

genuinely appreciates you so much when you take the time to teach him about everything and even asks if you could give him some notes so that he can refer to them when you’re not by his side 🥺💗💕💖 joins you in your product endeavours and gives you succinct but helpful feedback on what he likes and doesn’t like 😤 likes to hold you while u do masks together 🌼 and rests his head on urs 😭🌸💕

tendou uses whatever he’s got at home and what his mom gets him 🤷‍♀️ spots here and there but otherwise pretty clear skin. he’s open to trying anything and everything with you because he’s just really happy to spend time with you 🥰💞💞

sits really close to you and let’s you have free reign of his face when you sleep over at his place!! he giggles a lot because it tickles but never asks you to stop 🥺💜 thanks you for helping him and making him look so pretty 🌷✨looks like he’d be allergic to propolis/honey-based ingredients...

semi handsome man…. another one that looks dehydrated to me but he’s trying just please help him 😭🤚 he’s too nervous to go skincare shopping on his own because of the sheer amount of selection available 😢 tags along with you like a little puppy when you go with him 🐶💘

i feel like he has closed comedones 🤔 he tries out your retinol and keeps up with it when you told him some people got rid of theirs using it and…… it worked 😳🌟✨ thinks you’re a skincare goddess now lmfao 😤👊 when girls in university ask him about his skin, he just calls you and puts you on speaker because “my baby worked rlly hard so she should get all the credit” 😭💖💖

sakusa i think rosacea but also wealthy parents who had access to numerous dermatologists who nipped it in the bud as soon as they saw it 🤑 anyways he’s got near perfect skin lol goes through periods of dryness and keeps a strict regimen of products 👌🌟 swears by aloe vera and keeps some with him at all times 💗

though i do think you gently push him to introduce serums and essences into his routine (which is basic, but covers all his bases). you let him experiment and he finds one from cosrx that he considers a holy grail 😳 he likes doing ur skincare routine for you and you sit on the toilet seat and grin up at him 🥰 he blushes but doesn’t look away and might or might not admit he loves to be in such close contact with you 💘💘

hoshiumi kinda brutal with the way he goes about it; it looks like he’s beating the product in 💀👊👊 uses bar soap on both his face and body and wonders why his skin is dry and tight after showers “what? doesn’t that mean you didn’t clean all the gross oil off?” 😶😐😑 u gotta start from scratch with this guy 🤐

he pays attention to you but also doesn’t and finds it a bit of a hassle to go through five different products so he settles for a really basic routine 🥱 has one really fancy bottle of serum he takes with him to games and such and goes “my girlfriend gave it to me what don’t you have something like this 🤔” before putting it on if anyone asks 💀🤚💗 a full on chad 💪

hirugami he definitely has a skincare routine…. handsome 🤤 though i think he dislikes the feeling of sheet masks on his face; they feel too goopy and he doesn’t like how slimey they are. he prefers just using a short list of serums to keep his skin healthy and plump 💖✨likes hypoallergenic and fragrance-free products 👌

had acne back in middle school and a bit in first year. feel like he goes through a flare up in third year 😇🙃 anyways he likes standing next to u in the washroom doing ur routines side by side 🥰 wears those fluffy animal ear headbands with you and puts on your lip balm for you 💓💓 his dog came up and licked u across the face one time 😭 he almost choked with how hard he was laughing at u 😔 but he helped u redo it 😭💝

[butwhyduh]

Since you wrote Christmas with tha Bois are you planning on writing a New Years Eve fics too 🎇🎉?

*insert surprised pikachu meme*

now I am (!!!)

They are all required to go to a Wayne gala that Bruce has thrown since before he took Dick in as a ward. It’s important. So of course, I wanna show what kind of suits they would wear too. (Indulge me lmao) [none of these images are sensitive. Tumblr is an idiot]

Tim

Okay I get that you wouldn’t think high strung proper Tim Drake Wayne , Mr CEO, would were a pretty casual suit. But he wears a suit everyday and by golly, he isn’t wearing a tie for New Years freakin Eve. It’s something different and he can relax. And he’s so tired of black. Plus the blue brings brings out the color in his eyes.

—————

He adjusted the collar of his suit. He always wore a nice suit to work. But this was for a gala. The tie just wouldn’t lay flat. You walked up behind him and pulled the offensive fabric off and tossed it on the bed. He moved to protest but you started unbuttoning his collar.

“Okay,” he said with a slow smirk. “But it’ll have to be quick.”

“I’m just fixing your shirt,” you said rolling your eyes. “I’m not messing my makeup up before a gala. That looks nicer. I never see you relaxed,” you said leaving your hands on his chest longer than necessary.

“I relax sometimes. I’m relaxing tonight. With you,” he said turning to give you a quick kiss. You smiled and he took a look at your outfit. “I’ll have to keep my eye peeled though. You’re going to attract a lot of attention in that.”

“Too bad I’m already dating a man they couldn’t possibly compete with. Come on, lover boy,” you said and he took your hand before going downstairs.

It was always stressful to first go to a gala. Tim was moderately famous as Bruce Wayne’s heir, heir to the Drake family fortune, and the acting CEO of Wayne Enterprise. Luckily this was very boring to most young people and his pictures were in a small section of the business page of the papers rather than like Dick Grayson being splashed all over the lifestyle section like a celebrity. But cameras flashing as you walked down stairs in heels was terrifying. Tim was the only one to notice as you gripped his arm like a vice each time.

You could usually smile and drink champagne as Tim talked shop with the old men he worked with or young men who were trying to climb the business ladder. Tim’s fingers made idle circles in your hand or on your back as he talked. He was also taking glances at you in you outfit all evening.

Only when he was desperate for a break would he ask you to dance. Tim was a good dancer. He had been taught at an early age. But he was not a natural and he didn’t want you bothered with more photos. You insisted after a full hour of talking about some sort of quarterly investment opportunity that he take you to the dance floor.

“Dance with me, Timmy,” you asked quietly in a lull in the conversation. It was almost midnight anyways. He smiled at you before looking back at the men.

“Excuse us,” Tim said before letting you lead him to the floor. He gently held your waist and you wrapped your arms around his neck. The song was fairly slow so you barely danced more than a sway. That was fine. You were more interested in staring in to his ocean eyes than cutting a rug.

“Sorry if it’s been incredibly boring,” Tim said. “You’d probably rather be doing anything else.”

“Dancing is nice. Seeing you more than 5 minutes is nice,” you said.

“Speaking of 5 minutes, it’s 5 minutes until midnight.”

“No more work talk tonight. Just be with me,” you pleaded softly. Tim frowned for a second before pulling you closer.

“I can do that. All yours tonight. I’ll just punch anyone who tries to talk business to me,” he said.

“Good enthusiasm. Terrible plan. Sweet though,” you said kissing his cheek. He smiled.

“Or we could just leave right after New Years,” Tim said with a wiggle of his brows. You giggled.

“Better plan.”

Bruce had gotten on the stage and the music stopped. You didn’t let Tim go. As they counted down to midnight, you and Tim gazed at each other.

3-2-1

🎆🎇

You leaned your face up and kissed him. Tim held your waist tighter and your wrapped your fingers up in his soft black hair. After just a few seconds you pulled back and smiled at him.

“Happy New Years, sunshine,” he said.

“Happy New Years, Duckie.”

“Let’s get out of here before they see us leave,” he suggested. The rest of the night was spent in his room and you were so glad for the loud fireworks to cover any noise you might have made.

Dick

Dick has been to 714 galas. He’s an expert. He’s expected to play the handsome charming eldest son. Wearing a beautiful suit is half the battle. Not to mention, he kinda likes showing off a little. It’s New Years. And the blue and grey bring out the color in his eyes so well.

———————————

Dick barely got in the door before flopping on the bed with his detective uniform still on. You sat on the edge of your bed, already in hair, dress, and makeup, and reached over to rub his shoulders. He groaned softly.

Barely off of work and already having to change into a suit for a family event. Dick needed a day off. Badly. He had the next 3 days off of work and he just had to deal with this night. No, he needed to be positive. You hadn’t done anything and he didn’t want to ruin New Years Eve.

You pushed your palm into a knot on his shoulder. He all but moaned. “Thank you, baby,” he said. “It’s these stupid cases. They have been driving me- baby,” Dick said turning to look and taking you in. “You look good.”

You smiled and giggled. “You think?”

“Always, but this? Wowza,” he said laughing. “Im going be showing off the prettiest girl at the ball,” Dick said sing song. You rolled your eyes with a grin. His compliments were usually over the top.

“Yeah, yeah. Not likely. You need to get dressed or I’m going to be very fancy for no reason,” you said and he hopped up. Dick was overworked but he always was. In record time he was dressed.

“Do you want to drive,” he asked hopefully. A quick 30 minute nap would be awesome.

“I can’t drive the Porsche since it’s stick,” you admitted.

“Well in that case, I’m teaching you soon. But not tonight. You gotta learn how to drive my car,” Dick said and you resisted the urge to roll your eyes. You added that to the list of skills he thought completely necessary that hardly anyone could do anymore. Could you even buy a new standard transmission car?

“Sure, hun. Let’s get going before we’re late,” you said kissing his cheek. You straightened his pocket square and you were both out the door.

“-and then you push the clutch. Right here,” he pointed at the floorboard as he drove.

“Not tonight. We can do this some other time. And if we don’t get there, it’s fine,” you said evasively.

“Ever? It’s important to be able to drive any kind of car and if it’s just you and the Porsche,” Dick said with a frown. You could see a contingency plan forming in his head.

“I very much doubt there will be a situation where I have to drive your car,” you said with a shrug.

“I’d rather plan for it,” Dick said and you dropped it. It was like a security blanket for him to plan for anything.

Walking into a gala was exciting and nerve racking. Dick was extremely popular back in Gotham and it was honestly weird as he was normal back in Bludhaven. Dick was the perfect gentleman and made sure you felt comfortable and safe when the cameras flashed. You smiled and ignored whatever anyone said about you. It could be mean with jealousy. You were with him for his money, you were just arm candy, and you weren’t that pretty. The first time had hurt pretty badly. Now you had a new ring on your hand and you felt almost as nervous as your first gala. One through the door to the ballroom, you relaxed.

“Are you okay? You looked really nervous,” Dick said and you grimaced. That sounds like nice pictures.

“Just a little,” you said subconsciously playing with your ring. Dick, of course, noticed right away.

“What’s wrong? Do you not want the ring? Or the engagement,” he asked quietly and it broke your heart that he was even worried about it. His big blue eyes were wide with worry.

“Not at all,” you said grabbing his shoulder. “I just don’t like how they talk. I’m very happy. And I love the ring. It’s beautiful.”

Dick’s frown turned to a pleased smile. “Good. Because that was my mom’s ring.”

“Dick! You gave me a family heirloom without mentioning it? That makes it twice as special,” you said shocked. “Thats so sweet of you.”

You leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “I love it. But if you give me something that important again without telling me, I’ll beat you,” you whispered in his ear and he laughed.

“Let’s dance,” Dick said. He pulled you to the dance floor. He was the best dancer out of all of the Wayne children and possibly better than Bruce. He had been dancing since he could walk. His parents were performers and taught him many dance styles. Bruce also insisted that all the children knowing all the common dances they would need to know at a gala.

Keeping up with Dick was the biggest issues with dancing. He could dance quick dances for hours and you had to remind him that not everyone spent hours a day training and fighting. At the moment you had insisted on stopping to get a drink. You practically pounded a water bottle while he sipped on some punch.

“Kinda floral. Not bad. Little sweet,” he said.

“It’s not alcoholic, is it?”

“I don’t think so. It’s just one glass,” Dick said. “I’ll be fine to drive later.”

“No. It’s just that Damian and his girlfriend have a cup each,” you said motioning over to them.

“It’s fine. They wouldn’t give them alcohol,” Dick said and you relaxed. Of course not. That would be crazy to give kids alcohol.

“Let’s sit down. My feet are getting a little tired,” you said with a wince. He nodded and you sat at a table by the dance floor. As if Dick had put out a sign, a bunch of people flocked over to talk to him.

Somehow a plate of small snacks ended up in front of you, probably Alfred. You ate a little while he played the philanthropist son of Bruce Wayne. It was actually really nice to be ignored.

Until it wasn’t.

An older Wayne investor brought a woman over as his ‘date.’ She instantly latched on to Dick and started flirting with him. Her hand kept touching his arms and shoulders. You were getting mad but this wasn’t a surprise. People acted like he was someone they could grope and touch without consequences.

Finally it was too much and you cleared your throat. She looked at you in disgust before going back to flirting with Dick.

“Can you give my fiancé some space,” you asked politely as you could. Her eyes raked over your body.

“He could do so much better than some poor trash like you in a second rate dress. Not even that ugly little ring could change that,” she said nastily. You gasped.

“Okay we’re leaving,” Dick said standing up. The woman had to back away from him. His jaw was clenched in controlled anger. He had a temper and this wasn’t the time to lose it.

You stood up and hissed as your shoes cut into your feet worse than when you had been wearing them all night. Great, you couldn’t even wear heels in front of her. She laughed. Dick simply picked you up bridal style and carried you out of the ballroom and upstairs to his old bedroom. He sat you on the bed gently.

You knew that she was just a vapid socialite but it did hurt. She had pretty accurately attacked your insecurities and you blinked to prevent yourself from crying.

“Baby,” Dick said bending to a crouch in front of you. “Don’t think anything about what she said. She’s just jealous. Not worth your time.”

“She’s not wrong though. I’m just a poor kid trying to fit in in Wayne freaking Manor,” you said wiping your face. Stupid tears.

“And I’m just a circus kid. Don’t forget that,” Dick said sitting beside you. He pulled you into a hug. “Not a single damn bit of that matters. It’s almost midnight in a minute. Do you want to go back downstairs?”

“Not a chance,” you said with a dry smile.

“I figure. We have a better view anyways,” he said opening the curtains. You could vaguely hear the noise downstairs.

3-2-1

🎆🎇

“Happy New Years, baby,” Dick said giving you a kiss. He wiped the tears from your cheek.

“Happy New Years. Sorry I’m all teary,” you said.

“Nope. Don’t be sorry. My new New Years resolution is to make you smile,” he said with a devious look. His fingers suddenly attacked your sides and pulled laughter from you. He pushed you to the bed in his attack.

“Dick! Okay! Quit!” You shrieked with laughter. He stopped his hands and leaned over you.

“Alright. I quit. But since we’re alone. Wanna ring in the New Years the right way,” he asked with a smirk. You grinned back.

“Got any ideas on how to do that?” You asked back.

“So many. Baby, so many,” before kissing you. Fireworks sounded in the background.

Damian

(Older 16 yr old) Damian is literally the son of Batman. He’s going to dress like it. Nice and formal and expensive. It was like a form of armor. Homeboy looks like a million bucks. His watch might be. And if a burgundy turtleneck A accents his well defined pecs, B shows the gold in his tan skin, and C the gorgeous green in his eyes, he ain’t complaining.

“Beloved,” Damian said pulling on his jacket. “Come out,” he said in a sing song voice that would have been completely foreign to hear to anyone else but you.

You flushed as you came out. His jaw dropped before he quickly straightened his face. He’d taken the risk of buying you a dress for the party. He’d seen Bruce do it for women all the time. It was practically his calling card. Even Dick had done it a few times. But this was a first for Damian.

“You look very nice. Beautiful,” he said quietly looking away at his cuff links. “Are you ready to go downstairs?”

“Just my shoes,” you said, trying to slip them on and almost falling over. Damian quickly grabbed your waist.

“I got you. I can put them on,” he said kneeling to the ground. He hadn’t meant anything besides efficiency with his offer. But as he slid your foot into a heel and strapped it across your ankle, it felt far more intimate. His hand held your calf a little longer than necessary before switching to the other foot. This side had a slit up to your thigh and he could see your bare leg up close. Damian gulped before attaching the shoe. He quickly stood up and cleared his throat.

“Are you ready now?”

You nodded. He offered his arm and you went downstairs. Cameras flashed for just a few minutes before Damian skillfully steered you away from them. His father would kill any pictures of you before they got to the papers but Damian knew how much you hated them.

“Dance with me?” You asked and he happily complied. He had been trained in several dance styles and was good at it. He also enjoyed the way you would smile when he would spin you. If it made his beloved happy, he was happy. It attracted a little attention. Bruce Wayne’s teenage son and his date could dance with skill. This too was only viewable in person.

“Let’s get a drink,” Damian said pulling you to the refreshments. You were out of breath but happy and followed him. There was suppose to be people handling the drinks but there were so many people. Damian pushed through and grabbed two drinks and handed one to you.

“Let’s find a table,” you said. As always, Damian pulled you along to a secluded corner close to the door to the garden. Cold air and little whiffs of cigarette smoke swirled around but at least you weren’t in the overheated body filled floor anymore.

You sat and drank at your punch. It was heavily sweetened and floral. It was refreshing and... warm. You waved at yourself.

“Is it hot in here to you?” You asked Damian.

“Want to go for a walk outside? It’s cooler out there,” he suggested. Damian took your arm again and you walked out the door into the garden. A stone path lined little beds of delicate plants. Topiaries lined the path. Small solar lights and the full moon lit the garden. There were a few people walking but not many.

Damian looked so handsome. Long dark lashes frames his bright green eyes. His skin almost glistened with silver light of the moon. He bent and plucked a flower from a bush. Damian tucked it behind you ear with a little smile.

“The prettiest rose in all the garden,” he said and you smiled shyly.

“I don’t think that’s actually a rose though,” you said and he laughed. A rare occurrence.

“It’s not. But I was talking about you. May I kiss you,” he said lightly touching the side of your neck with his hand. You nodded and he leaned down. You closed your eyes and his lips brushed against yours. You pressed a hand against his chest.

Damian’s hand slid to the back of your neck to hold you as he pressed harder against your mouth. His tongue slipped in your mouth and you made the softest whimpering sound. Damian’s eyes flew open and he almost froze. That was new and he could get used to the pretty sound.

You kissed like this for a little while. Damian’s hand slid down to hold your waist when he noticed you shivered. He pulled back.

“Beloved, are you cold,” he asked, cursing himself. Of course, you were cold wearing a thin dress while he was in a full suit. He quickly pulled off his jacket and put it around your shoulders.

“Just a little. It’s fine,” you protested. He insisted on sliding your arms in the sleeves and button the jacket.

“Let’s go in. It’s close to midnight anyways,” Damian said giving you one last kiss.

3-2-1

🎇🎆

“Happy New Years beloved,” he said with a kiss. Damian had grabbed another two glasses of punch and you two touched them in cheers.

“No sir,” Alfred said sternly, taking the glasses from your hands. “No alcohol for either of you. There is juice on the other side of the table.”

You waited until Alfred walked away before laughing. “They should have labeled that better.”

“That explains why it felt overly warm in here earlier,” Damian said thoughtfully.

The music had changed to overly sappy and people were kissing and dancing far too close. They were feeling the effects of the alcohol they had been drinking all night. Damian looked at them in disgust.

“Want to go upstairs,” he asked. You quickly looked at him. “Not like that. We can watch a movie or something, anything away from this.”

“Sounds great,” you said and you both left.

Jason

I’m fairly certain I’ve seen him in a suit like this in the comics. I considered him saying FU to Bruce and showing up in boots and black leather jacket. But Jason knows he looks good in red. And he’d probably get a kick out of wearing one of his suits he wore as Red Hood to a fucking gala. Bruce would know.

—————————

“Princess, if you make me wait any longer I’ll kick down the door and physically carry you to the damn party,” Jason said with no malice in his voice. You opened the bathroom door.

“Not all of us look good without a little work,” you said playfully tapping his chest. You yanked his tie straight with a little more force than needed.

“I’d have to disagree, doll. I’d honestly prefer you in nothing,” he said with a smirk. You rolled your eyes.

“How does it look?” You said with a twirl.

“Like a million bucks. That ass. Let’s skip the party and-“

“No no no. Let’s get going. You can be handsy later,” you said grabbing your purse.

“Promise,” he asked as you both left. The roads weren’t too bad with ice and in fact, it was going to be a rare dry night in Gotham.

Jason didn’t do pictures. He hated them and so you both parked in the servant entrance and walked in a side door. It didn’t matter. The Manor was beautiful no matter how you looked at it. And being a poor kid from Gotham, you couldn’t believe you were actually at a party in Wayne freaking Manor.

“Don’t be nervous. It’s just a bunch of shitty rich people in pretty walls. They aren’t any better than us. Hell, worth half of you, sweetheart. Let’s get a drink,” he said pulling you to the drink table. It was pretty packed but he muscled through to the front. He got your preferred drink. “And a whiskey on the rocks.”

“Don’t get drunk,” you whispered to him. “I won’t sleep with you drunk.”

“With a finger of water,” Jason added to the bartender who nodded.

“Good save,” you said turning to look at the floor. You sipped your drink and people watched.

Dick and his date were dancing some quick steps in the middle of the floor. No surprise there. Tim was talking to boring business men and his poor date looked absolutely bored on her feet. Alfred was watching Damian and his date from the corner of his eyes whereas Damian seemed completely oblivious with his eyes on her all night. And Bruce was currently heavily flirting with a woman who literally meowed at him. You resisted the urge to gag and turned back to Jason.

“Wanna dance,” Jason asked casually watching the floor. But you knew he wanted to dance because he asked.

“Yeah,” you said grabbing his hand. He pulled to to the floor. Jason was also trained to dance as all the Wayne boys had been. But he was probably the worst dancer out of all of them. His parents had never taught him anything as nice as dancing and he’d only lived with Bruce for a few years before the whole Joker thing. But Jason was a natural athlete and his dancing was still pretty darn good.

The dance was a bit slower than the one Dick and his date had been dancing to earlier. Jason held one hand on your waist and the other stayed in your hand. His dancing was visibly polite and innocent. The words he whispered in your ear were far from.

“Is it hard being the hottest woman here? This dress on your ass is fucking delicious,” he whispered and you flushed at his words. “I can’t wait to fuck you in it later.”

He really enjoyed saying things that were completely naughty in public where you could do nothing about it. But you knew that if he kept it up, you’d be finding a spare room before New Years even came. And you didn’t want to miss the fireworks again this year.

As the song ended, and you thoroughly turned on and scandalized, you asked him to walk in the garden with you. Lover boy needed something to cool him down.

“Sure, Princess,” he said snagging 2 glasses of punch on the way out. You both walked between the flower beds and he told you stories of things that had happened there. “And that’s when Dick accidentally cut the top foot off of this bush. Alfred had him scrubbing floors for a month,” Jason said with a laugh. “It was so bad that there is still a rule of no swords in the garden. Damian hates it.”

“I bet he does. But he could probably destroy the entire garden with a pocket knife,” you said with a laugh. Jason suddenly pulled you to the side with a hush. He motioned over a ways.

“Speaking of the kid, look over there,” Jason whispered. You looked over to see Damian making out with a girl his age. It was so weird to see him being so sweet. “I didn’t know he felt human emotion, much less find someone his age to makeout with.”

“They could have said that about you a few years ago,” you said slyly.

“Yeah, point taken. Want the best view of the fireworks?” Jason said.

“Where?”

“Top of the roof.”

You blanched at the idea. “No thanks. I choose life.”

“It’s safe. There’s a ladder and everything,” Jason said hugging you from behind. “Best view in the house. And if not, dinners on me.”

“Jay, you get the check every time,” you reminded him. He chuckled.

“Maybe I’m just trying to get a pretty girl alone to give her a kiss,” Jason said pulling you to the roof. You flushed. “Unlike demon boy making out in the garden. I have class.”

“You’re a classy lady. Show me the way before I change my mind,” you said. He took you to a ladder over the library. You pulled off your heels and started climbing.

“Don’t worry I’ll catch you you if you fall Princess. I’m right behind you. Did I mention your ass in this dress? I kinda have the perfect view,” he said. You rolled your eyes before throwing your leg over the side of the roof. Jason quickly followed you.

“Here, wear my jacket,” Jason said throwing the red blazer over your shoulder.

“Oo my knife now,” you said feeling in his pocket and pulling out a sizable switchblade.

“I forgot to take it out of there. I wouldn’t touch it too much,” Jason said taking it out of your hands with a grimace. You gave him a look.

“That’s incredibly gross. Seriously. Do I even want to know?”

“Not really. Look at the stars. You can see them through the shitty Gotham sky,” Jason said sitting on a box. He pulled you into his lap and you were grateful as it was really quite cold. You could see some stars and you leaned your back against his chest and looked up at the heavens for a few minutes.

The music stopped downstairs. It must be almost midnight. You couldn’t understand but you heard Bruce talk over a mic. Then everyone started counting.

3–2-1

🎇🎆

“Happy New Years, Jaybird,” you said turning your head and holding Jason’s jaw. You leaned your head up and gave him a kiss. He held you close and you made out until the sound of a firework had you jumping. You laughed before turning to look. The roof really did have the best view.

After a few minutes of watching the fireworks you heard some lewd noises. Jason looked over at a window near your spot.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” he said with a disgusted look. “That’s fucking Tim’s room and the sound of him getting laid is literally the last thing I want. What I do want is to take a bite out of that ass I’ve been looking at all night.”

[midnightwhispers12]

So, I have this idea in my head, and I’ll never write it out into a coherent fic, but the basic outline is:

The story starts with a montage of Stiles doing his caretaker-shtick - grocery shopping, cooking healthy meals, washing dishes, cleaning up the pack’s shared spaces, planning ahead for who needs to be where at what time, making sure everyone has everything they need, doing laundry, reminding the ‘wolves to schedule themselves off when they inevitably forget what day the full moon is again, etc, etc.

But.

The thing is? Stiles hates it. He HATES it. He started doing this stuff for his dad after his mom died and his dad disappeared into the office and a bottle of Jack, but it was always an obligation of the “if I’m more useful and less trouble, maybe he’ll want to spend time with me more often” variety. Their relationship eventually got better again (mostly), but if Stiles stopped doing the household chores, they just didn’t ever seem to get done. And eventually, they’d be out of food for the second week in a row, or he’d run out of clean clothes, or bathtub would be growing the mold that aggravated Scott’s asthma again, and Stiles would give in and just take care of it. And after enough times of trying to subtly shift some of the responsibility back onto his dad, and it failing every time, he just quit trying. It was less infuriating to do just do it himself.

When he moved in with Derek, some small, unspoken part of him was hoping that things would change. And, in Derek’s defense, it’s not like he just immediately refused to do anything around the apartment. But Stiles had a long habit at that point of just doing what needed done, and not waiting for someone else to do it. So he’d pick up groceries on his way home from work or class, and it wasn’t like he was going to intentionally not get the bananas for Derek’s nasty protein shakes while he was there anyway. He’d do his own laundry, and throw Derek’s laundry in too, because there’s no need to waste water on two half-full loads.

And slowly but surely, almost without even realizing it, he was back to being responsible for ALL the household chores. It only got worse once the pack filtered back in to living in Beacon Hills full time as they finished their degrees. A pack meeting needed to happen, so who was responsible for planning it? Stiles. Who was in charge of knowing when everyone was available? Stiles. Who had to clean up when the pack showed up uninvited and left their living room and kitchen in shambles? Stiles.

It’s not like he got to just stop taking care of his dad’s house either. He didn’t do as much anymore, but he and Derek had dinner at his dad’s at least every Sunday evening. They used to bring take-out over, but after the Sheriff gained 20lbs and got chewed out by his doctor for his cholesterol levels, Stiles went back to cooking for all of them every Sunday. Which turned into bringing groceries over for the meal he intended to make, because John didn’t have what he needed in the house. Which turned into bringing over a week’s worth of groceries, because the pantry and fridge were completely bare. Which turned into meal-prepping for the next week after dinner, while his dad and Derek watched whatever ESPN was showing, because seriously, eating fast food six days a week was just beyond unhealthy. And if he wanted space to cook, he had to do the week’s worth of dishes piled up in the sink. Plus, he always wound up cleaning whatever bathroom he used if he needed the toilet while they were visiting, because... gross. At least his dad seemed to be doing his own laundry now?

It doesn’t happen all at once, of course. Things build up over time, so slowly he doesn’t notice taking on one more task, and one more, and one more. No one likes doing chores, right? But someone’s got to do them. Someone has to plan ahead for the pack. If he sees that something needs done, it’s best to just go ahead and do it and get it over with, right?

Until one day, he’s just exhausted. It doesn’t make any sense, because he slept a full 7 hours last night, work is no more stressful than normal, there’s not a murderous monster of the week trying to kill everyone, nothing is wrong - everything’s actually been going surprisingly well for a while now. But Stiles is still completely and utterly wiped. Maybe he’s coming down with a bug or something? Since it’s Saturday, he decides to just take it easy and hopefully he’ll feel better tomorrow.

Derek comes over and scratches his scalp, taking a beyond obvious sniff of him (weirdo werewolves) when he sees there’s no breakfast happening, but just kisses his head and gets himself a bowl of cereal when he doesn’t smell anything amiss. The pack comes over and someone throws together sandwiches for lunch, and then they order takeout for supper. His dad shows up after his shift is over, and really, it’s a pretty typical Saturday, other than Stiles staying on the couch most of the day, instead of being up and moving around constantly. By midnight, he still doesn’t feel sick, which is good, and his mind and body both feel a little more rested. But he’s still somehow... existentially exhausted, maybe? Or something like that anyway, he doesn’t really know. It doesn’t make any sense!

But then he gets up to go to the bathroom and refill his water bottle. He looks around, and sees the clutter around the living room - the scattered pillows and blankets, magazines and books, cups and popcorn bowls, crumbs everywhere, water rings and greasy fingerprints on every flat surface. He walks into the kitchen and sees the sink completely full of dishes, the countertops piled with empty takeout boxes and trash. His foot actually sticks to the floor when he takes another step, where apparently someone spilled something and didn’t clean it up. The half-bath off the kitchen is occupied, so he shuffles toward the bedroom, and sees the laundry basket piled high; he usually does laundry on Saturday mornings, but he didn’t get to it this morning, and clearly Derek didn’t either. He finally makes it into the master bathroom, and sees Derek’s wet towels from this morning thrown on the floor.

As Stiles takes care of business on auto-pilot, he thinks about needing to go to his dad’s house tomorrow - planning what to make for the week, picking up groceries on the way there, cleaning the kitchen, cooking supper, cleaning up, making meals for the rest of the week to put in the fridge, cleaning up again, probably cleaning the bathroom.

He thinks about all the other things he’ll need to do tomorrow here at home - laundry he didn’t get done today, cleaning the living room and kitchen where it was left a mess, which means dishes, trash, sweeping, mopping, and picking up all the clutter, at least. Then MORE meal planning and grocery shopping because he didn’t get that done today either. The pack decided earlier that they wanted to go to the beach next weekend, so that’ll need planned - who’s driving, where they’re going, food and drinks to buy and pack, sunscreen, towels, after-sun gel (because werewolves always say they can’t burn, but then they do, and they WHINE, it’s so ridiculous), extra clothes because someone always forgets, talc powder and wet wipes to get all the sand off before they get back in the car, umbrellas, toys to make sandcastles (and enough shovels that the giant children won’t fight over them), a volleyball for the net... so many things. And if he doesn’t plan ahead for it all, and gather everything they need, then no one will, and it’ll be a miserable trip full of grouchy ‘wolves.

The more Stiles thinks about everything that needs done, the heavier the invisible weight on him feels, and he finds himself sitting on the edge of the bed, feeling more tired than he did when he woke up this morning. Derek walks into the bedroom, apparently to change out of his tight jeans and into sweatpants for the last movie of the night, but he throws his jeans down on the floor NEXT to the laundry basket, which is RIGHT THERE.....

And something snaps in Stiles. The proverbial straw has officially broken the camel’s back, and he’s just DONE. He can’t remember the last time anyone else did a chore, or cleaned up their own mess. He’s not entirely sure how everything got to this point, but he’s abruptly furious enough to make sure it doesn’t continue on this way.

Derek trails off from his last sentence, looking over at Stiles when he smells the boiling rage coming off of him, and follows after Stiles as Stiles stalks back out into the living room to glare at all the people gathered there, werewolf and human alike. One by one, the pack notices the steam coming out of Stiles’ ears, and fall silent in apprehension. Stiles is irritated and annoyed pretty frequently, but this level of anger is rare. What’s the deal?

The deal is - Stiles is on strike. They are a bunch of full grown adults, and as of right now, they’re going to have to pull on their big wolf undies and start acting like it. He is DONE acting like their parent, and he’s not going to do it anymore. If they want to eat, they’ll have to cook. If they want to eat nothing but fast food and die of a heart attack, that’s their choice to make. If they want to live in filth, so be it. If they have a miserable trip to the beach because no one planned ahead and packed the necessities, well, it sucks to be them. If they schedule themselves to work on the full moon, that’s their own problem, he’s not warning them or fixing it for them anymore. He’ll be getting a separate laundry basket for himself, and if Derek wants clean clothes, he can wash them himself.

They want to know what happened to family/pack taking care of each other? You know what, what DID happen to that? When’s the last time anyone attempted to take care of something for HIM? When’s the last time someone else saw something that needed done, and just did it? Or do they even SEE the things that need done anymore? No, because they’re too used to Stiles just taking care of it, and they don’t have to think about it. But this system has turned them all into spoiled, ungrateful brats, and he’s not enabling that anymore. He’s just not.

At first, the pack thinks Stiles is just being overly dramatic, Derek had warned them he wasn’t feeling well, after all. But over the next few weeks, they start to notice. Things just aren’t getting done. Who was responsible for this before? Oh yeah, Stiles. Why don’t they have want they need? Oh right, Stiles stopped packing for anyone but himself. It’s just little things here and there at first, but they add up quickly.

Meanwhile, Stiles has given himself permission to quit carrying the mental load for everyone, and he’s stopped trying to take care of every single little thing for a giant group of people, and he’s feeling so much more relaxed than even he expected. Yeah, it’s a little strange not cooking for Derek, but they had a long talk about it the day after Stiles exploded rage all over everyone, and Derek sees where he hasn’t held up his end. Stiles staunchly refused to do any household caretaking for the next month, and Derek agreed; they’re going to talk about it when the month is up, and decide then how they can fairly divide their responsibilities. No one else in the pack has even tried to talk to him about it, not even his dad. They did show up for Sunday dinner like usual, but when Stiles refused to cook or clean the kitchen so someone else could cook, they wound up just ordering from the local pizza place. Stiles felt a little guilty as he watched his dad eat greasy pizza, but he reminded himself over and over that his dad was a grown man who could make his own decisions.

It takes time for the pack to feel normal again, and Stiles sometimes feels a little guilty about that too, but Derek is on his side, so it’s bearable. Derek is the one that had to clean up the mess the pack left when they all stormed out the night Stiles went on strike, after all. Slowly though, one by one, the pack members come to Stiles and each one quietly apologizes for taking Stiles for granted, for not appreciating everything he did for them. Over time, they all begin to take up more responsibility for the pack, and as a result, they feel more invested in the pack too. They become less a group of people thrown together, and more a cohesive unit. Stiles does start contributing again, but he’s careful to only take on his share. And he has to take some deep breaths to not burst into tears the first time a pack member comes over with a haul of junk food for movie night, and they actually thought to bring him Reese’s cups and Twizzlers, his two favorites.

He thought life was good before, and it was. But this? This is better.

[hatsukeii]

Okay so regarding the thing I reblogged from @saturnmoon last Sunday >:)))))

I thought it’d fit better as a scenario instead of hcs, so apologies if this isn’t what you wanted exactly-

Thank you, daddy// Tsukishima x reader

Word count: 1700+

Warnings: None, tiny bit suggestive at the end, but I’m gonna let your imagination do the job.

Summary: Questionable names should stay in the bedroom.

Your face burns scarlet as you walk through the empty streets, white box in hand and a very, very flustered Tsukishima next to you.

“I’m sorry, okay? I was joking!”

No reply. All you get is a side glance behind his steel black glasses.

How did you get into this situation, you may ask?

Well.

It all started when Tsukishima decided to get the two of you matching headphones.

You see, Tsukishima’s pretty subtle when it comes to affection. He doesn’t want people viewing him as soft, or as Nishinoya says, a simp. He shows the absolute bare minimum amount of affection, pda never happens, and he doesn’t like to talk about his private life with classmates. Some may argue that he dates you out of boredom or pity, and doesn’t give a flying shit about how you feel about him. Others might not even know of your relationship. However, regardless of what everyone else says, the two of you care for each other deeply. You were like a bunch of helium balloons in his hand, flying as high as you can, seeking out opportunities, dreaming of possibilities, bringing up his spirits whenever he was down. In return, Tsukishima was the one holding you down, bringing you back to Earth whenever you were too carried away. Contrasting personalities mixed to form an amazing relationship. It was quite literally the definition of opposites attract. 

However, the two fo you are very different when it comes to your views on normal things couples do. You don’t like being cheesy. At all. Just the thought of someone making a grand confession, or asking you out in an extravagant and crazy way in front of people was enough to make you want to shove a finger down your throat and retch. On the other hand, although Tsukshima doesn’t show much affection towards you around his friends, he’s secretly a big fat romantic dork. The only reason why he didn’t confess to you in front of the entire school was probably because he wasn’t about to sacrifice his dignity and ruin his image. He’d always see couples in the hallways sporting matching accessories. Whether it be promise rings, or keychains, or even glasses, and secretly think it’s adorable. Knowing how you dislike cheesy and cliche moves however, he holds back and keeps those thoughts in his deepest fantasies, never to be seen by anyone else but himself.

Anyways, back to your tricky situation. When I said he shows the absolute bare minimum amount of affection, that means that he only rarely holds your hand in places with people that know the two of you, almost never kisses you in public, and at last, but not least, rarely gives you gifts. He always thought his affection for you was enough, and it wasn’t like you’ve ever gotten him any presents either. He simply didn’t care about materialistic gifts. You don’t really mind that he doesn’t get you gifts either. As long as he treats you for food, you’re all good. Once in a while, you’d try to treat Tsukishima, but he would never let you pay for him. He would always reach the cashier first and pay for whatever he was getting. He didn’t want you to pay for his stuff, not when you didn’t want him to pay for yours either. That would be unfair. It was a weird relationship, to be frank. Not having mementos of your partner wasn’t a usual thing. 

It wasn’t until his headphones broke, did he finally succumb to the idea of matching with you. He’s been using his headphones for years without any problems. He wore them to school every day, used them while doing homework, and has slept with them on at some point. It was no surprise the speakers would eventually give out. When they broke, Tsukishima was beyond miserable. These were his headphones. His most prized possession. He treasured them so much, it was almost heartbreaking to have to replace them. Not even you understood how much they meant to him. You were beyond confused when he called you at night, crying. You thought he got hurt or something, when in reality, it was just his headphones breaking. If someone asked, you could still repeat the entire phone conversation word for word. You thought it was both hilarious and a bit heart wrenching, to say the least. You promised to bring him headphone shopping today, even insisting on paying for them, which he immediately refused to let you. Instead, once he got to the store, he basically zoomed to the headphone section, looking through it excitedly. When his eyes landed on a pair of black and white headphones, he swiftly grabbed two of them, shoving one of them into your hands.

What?

“Hm? You’re getting two? That’s really expensive, plus a pair will suffice for like another five years!”

“No, dumbass, this is for you, I’m just making you hold onto it while I grab my wallet.

You looked down at the box in your hands, then back up at your boyfriend, eyes wide in disbelief. He was getting you a gift? For the first time in the few months you’ve been dating for? And you haven’t given him anything at all? Ever? There was no way. You knew your boyfriend like the palm of your hand. He would never just buy you a gift, let alone such an expensive one. To say you were shocked would be an extreme understatement. His face was dusted a light shade of pink that was almost unnoticeable in the dark store, where the only light sources were the LED lights that were set to white.

“Kei, you’re for real right now? I don’t want you to waste your money for me-”

“I want to match with you. I love you and I don’t like that it seems like I don’t put in effort at all.”

Tsukishima was now a blushing, flustered mess. He wasn’t even able to look you in the eyes. His heart was racing, anticipating your reaction. Did you hate the idea? Were you freaked out? Grossed out, even? What if you hated the thought and decided to break it off with him? What if he just screwed up big time and embarrassed himself? What if-

“OH MY GOD! KEI SWEETIE THAT’S SO CUTE! THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’RE ACTUALLY INTO MATCHING!”

You went silent for a moment, before continuing.

“But... I feel bad. I’ve never gotten you anything, and here you are, gifting me a pair of expensive ass headphones.”

Tsukishima’s blush faded, a tiny smile gracing his face.

“The only thing you have to do is wear them with me. Promise me that.”

Sending him a cheeky smile, you linked your pinkie with his playfully.

“Promise.”

Pinkies still linked, the two of you headed towards the cashier, where a line of people were waiting to check out. You continued to show your gratitude towards your boyfriend, hugging his arm and cuddling it like a teddy bear. His heart melted at the sight of you being an absolute cutie. This is the most pda he’s received in public. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as he thought it was. He could try it out sometime. Poking your nose jokingly, he smiled, mocking you playfully.

“I’m getting you a pair of headphones shorty, can I get another thank you? It was cute when you said it just now.”

Smirking at his subtle joke regarding your height, you retorted, puckering up your lips.

“Thank you dadddddyy~”

The store went silent.

Tsukishima’s mouth hung wide open, his eyes frantically looking around as his face went bright red. Customers stopped what they were doing, some of them in the middle of paying for their products. From the corner of your eyes, you could see a child’s ears and eyes being covered by his mom, who was glaring daggers towards the two of you. A couple of old men sent judgemental looks your way, silently discussing how teenagers this day are corrupted and unreliable. The cashiers were clearly shocked, staring at the two of you, brows either furrowed, or raised. The store was so quiet you could probably hear a pin drop. You let go of Tsukishima’s arm instantly, letting your arms fall, the headphones still in hand. Recovering from the incident, customers continued to chatter amongst themselves,  cashiers continued to check items out, however you and Tsukishima stayed dead silent. The tension in the store could have been cut with a knife. Customers were avoiding your gazes, shuffling along towards the exit as soon as their products were in the bag.

“I definitely said that too loudly didn’t I.”

Tsukishima didn’t say a word, his face still crimson as he tightly shut his mouth, pursing his lips.

Approaching the cashier, he grabbed both boxes, not saying a word as he handed them to the cashier along with the money. Once that was done, he shoved one of the boxes into your arms, grabbing your vacant hand and dragging you out of the store, legs moving as quick as they could.

So now, you’re stuck in an awkward ass situation, with a flustered, silent Tsukishima. He hasn’t said a word since the two of you left the store, and that’s making you feel all sorts of ways.

His house is mere miles away. You can see the lights in the living room illuminating the area around it. Speeding up, you struggle to catch up with him, your shorter legs starting to sprint desperately.

Pulling you into the house, he slams the door behind him, locking it.

You don’t even have the chance to catch your breath, when a hand tickles your neck, before gripping on it tightly and pushing you harshly, your back forcefully hitting the wall behind you as the impact makes you hiss in pain. The headphones in your hand drop to the ground, toppling over. You open your eyes, only to be met with Tsukishima’s shit eating smirk.

“K-Kei?”

Forcing you into a harsh kiss, he assaults your lips, biting and sucking occasionally. You grasp at his hand, panting and gasping for air, but gave up as you came to the realisation that you enjoyed this. You enjoyed being choked by him.

The blond chuckled at your struggling figure, eyes going dark.

“If you really wanted to call me daddy, you could’ve told me long ago sweetheart.”

You were in for a long, long night, and honestly? You weren’t complaining.

Tags:

@izzyphantomgamer​ @sunshines-and-tatertots​ @just-another-bored-writer​ @burnt-tomato​ @tiger1719​ @macaronnv​ @random-fandomlover​ @poppirocks​ @kaylacinderella​ @for-ests​ @bokutokoutarou​ @ewfilthymundane​ @inlwlevi​ @thirstyvolleyballhoe​ @sakusasgarbage​ @agentvicinity​ @animebsposts​ @emsvegetables​ @talks-a-lot-of-stuff​ @tiredgr3mlin​ @itmekisuu​ @trashcanweeb​ @mariechan123​ @justachillgirl​

I hate myself lmao this is TERRIBLE HELP-

Okay imma sleep now gn kiddos

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales Reviews: How Santa Stole Christmas! or Scrooge is kind of a dick

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everybody! Christmas begins on this blog with the last new Ducktales of the season! Time to break out some eggnog, presents and warmth of good family, i’ve got a bushel of Christmas reviews planned for the season, and this one is just the start of htem. As you can probably tell by my enthusasim I love this holiday. Oh sure it has it’s bad sides, paticuarlly several jackasses making huge deals out of the fact some people say happy holidays because “there’s a war on christmas” when really their just petty morons who can’t accept theirs more than one holiday in the month and not everyone likes christmas. I do, but I know not everyone does, and that’s fine. But overall it’s a fine holiday with warmth, cheer, family, generosity and of course, what brings us here today, really damn good episodes and specials of television. It’s just a really warm and cheerful time that , whlie it can bring out the absolute worst in people.. can also bring out the best more often than not. And that’s why I love this holiday. If you don’t that’s just fine, but it’s my blog, I can love what I want. And I love this holiday.. and I loved this episode, a good end to a great run of episodes. So let’s rock around the Christmas tree and find out why Scrooge hates santa, this is How Santa Claus Stole Christmas!

We open with the classic night before Christmas poem.. only naturally since Della is reading it to the boys, it’s Scrooge’s version involving barbed wire and calling the man a traitor because what honestly did you expect. Though I find it ironic a man introduced in a Christmas story has a one-sided blood feud with Santa. The boys are annoyed with this and just want free presents and the presecne of a jolly fat man and don’t get why Scrooge hates him. And yeah.. all of that tracks. They were raised by Donald who, while he clearly spent several years at Scrooges tolerating this feud, likely figured the Feud was just some personal gripe of scrooges and that Santa had done nothing that terrible. Which given Scrooge isn’t personable on the best of days and the episode goes out of it’s way to point out Scrooge has no friends, is entirely accurate and Donald was, as always the sane one in this situation. Plus he was already mad at Scrooge, this was just another way to tell him to go fuck himself. 

The boys hear what they think is Santa on the roof but turns out to be Scrooge, in full Scottish war garb manning traps with webby.. in full chimney camo... putting a knife to Dewey’s throat for siding with santa.. well okay pointing at his throat but still god damn. Every now in then i’m reminded how ready Webby is to murder someone. It never gets easier or less disturbing. The boys.. continue to make a good point: Scrooge says he’s the richest duck in the world and can provide them whatever.. but being Scrooge just gives them itchy hats made of cheap fabric, and bemoans them wanting a trampoline, a new electronic game, and a new phone. And while Scrooge can give them whatever he wants, it’s his money, he also could’ve put some actual thought into it and clearly views the holiday more as a transaction and less for hte acutal sentmient. Instead of giving them personal mementos, or making them personal mementos, or even just simply building them a sled or something, a simpler toy than what they want but still something nice that comes from the heart.. he just gave them the cheapest hat he could find and tries to guilt them for not liking his thoughtless present he probably bought in bulk for everyone in the manor and his employ because he’s kind of a dick sometimes. IT’s good storytelling though as it sets up that Scrooge.. can possibly be int he wrong, so when the main plot comes to his front door, quite literally, there’s some doubt as to wither he or santa is in the wrong. Speaking of which Santa is at the door. So cue the credits and cue the cut for the rest of the plot as is usual. Full spoilers, and full plot under the cut. Ho ho ho. 

First a quick comment on the Holiday version of the theme, the same one from Last Christmas! IT’s really good, a really nice frank sinatra style verison of the theme. Good stuff. My only real complaint is like last time.. there’s nothing unique about it, it’s just the normal season 3 intro but with snowflakes. And that’s.. more on Disney than the creators. If Frank and Matt had the option they would likely do an entirely original intro.. it’s just Disney can be cheap when it comes to intros, see how possesed ludo stayed in the star vs intro long after that plot point was resolved, and only affords one a season. That being said they still have one up on most networks, who, with the exception of Netfix with she ra, never really let intros change more than once, if at all. I mean I get it, budgets are higher here than with anime, they can’t do a new song and intro every half a season.. BUUUT it wouldn’t kill more stuidos to do this more often and do a complete intro overhaul, as it adds freshness, and you can still use the same old theme, just over a new set of pretty images. Most just allow a few swap outs, Disney included, and while I get intros are expensive, this is something you can use for a whole season, or more, why are you like this? 

Anyways one theme song and me complaning about an animation trend I don’t like later, we’re inside the Manor with none of the other adults present because this season hates me. I do actually get it this go round: Besides Della, Donald and Launchpad getting a full subplot in the other holiday episode, they aren’t really needed. In fact most of the episode’s present day is a framing device for the tale of how Scrooge and Santa met and why Scrooge hates him, so for once the minmal use of the supporting cast.. is actually done well. The focus is on Scrooge and Santa, a feud that’s had four years build up in real time, and two years in series and a bunch of months. So yeah, i’m okay with sidelining everyone for once, because this story really needed all of the space and there was no real place for them aside from the climax. This is Scrooge and Santa’s story, with Webby there as an impartial-ish observer. We’ll get to that in a moment.  Also if your curious where in the fuck this episode fits on the series massively warped time scale.. i’m going with this and “The Trickining!” taking place before season 3, since “Astro Boyd” takes place in march, and “Forbidden Fountain” takes place in probably late april, huge thanks to a friend on discord for help with the timeline. Otherwise it just makes no sense whatsover and while it dosen’t TECHINCALLY need to, I prefer the series timeline at least making some rational sense. The world dosen’t have to but time still does. So the boys are at least 12, possibly turning 13. Congrats. Or maybe they just don’t age. I dunno. 

Now time and plot concerns aside, Santa gladly gives the boys their gifts which is.. everything they listed: A mini tramp for Dewey, Legends of Legend-Quest 2 for Huey, and another phone for Louie, which Scrooge dosen’t get. But Louie gets it on 2 levels: One, the one he asked for is probably a nicer model and as someone who just got a very marginally nicer model on insurance, I get it, even if like Scrooge i’m fine as long as mine works, it’s still nice to have more space to do shit. And two, he plans to sell the old one and keep the money. So yeah the boys already loved Santa but now they have every reason to since, you know, Santa actually gave them what they asked for and Scrooge gave them itchy hats because he’s cheap not because he put the slighest thought into it. And no i’m ont letting him get away with that: Again, off list, perfectly fine. Right behind me on my sprawl of book shelves is Weird Al’s biography, a really fun, really intresting book with photos on his career. I did not ask for it, but my mom rightly knew I would love it and got it for me for my birthday, which is very close to christmas, the 16th if you were curious, anyway, and I’ve treasured it since.. and really need to re-read it. My point is you CAN get someone something they didn’t ask for and still have it be something they LIKE. I did that for most of my christmas gifts this year. Scrooge just, as I went on about above, didn’t give a shit and was a bit callous about it so yeah, Santa wins this round.  But Santa naturally needs Scrooge’s help to save Christmas because his ankle’s sprained and he’s out of options. Scrooge.. naturally refuses because, as i’ve made clear this and past episodes, he can be kind of a dick and Santa is one of his worst enemies in his mind. Why help him? So Santa, reluctantly, offers Scrooge the one thing you can get for the man who has everything: An agreement to leave his house alone. The boys aren’t happy about it, but Scrooge reluctantly agrees to the deal. They prepare to mount up though the boys aren’t invited, as Scrooge thinks their too far in the Santa camp and Scrooge does not trust him. Which again is both accurate and fair on their parts as again, he gave them things with well meaning and love, he gave them hats he fished out of the dollar store clearance bin. I mean at least go for the dvd’s and blu rays man. Yeesh. Santa does lightly buy them off by offering them another present if their good boys. Though honestly given Santa in this universe, he probably was going to anyway and this is his nice way of getting them to stay behind to make Scrooge happy. 

So as they take off, while Webby is wary of Santa, she is curious what happened, especially since earlier Scrooge actually did finally voice his gripe, if without any full length explination: Santa took Christmas From him. And Della might know that, Scrooge likely didn’t tell her or Donald the full story and Donald rightly didn’t buy it was that one sided. And it isn’t as we’ll see. Since the episodes divided up into two storylines, i’m once again splitting the difference. This time though I would like to mention the story is beautifully woven in, with both complementing each other: there’s some legit suspense as we wonder if Santa did something really that bad or if he’s lying to webby, or if Scrooge being Scrooge was just exaggerating or holding onto a grudge that was partly his fault. It’s genuinely well done to build up the story and helps really flesh Santa out as a character in both stories. i’m only not doing that because my short term memory, while good enough to hold the story for now can be spotty, and this is a lot less taxing on it. Also parts of this segment happen before the boys leave, but it’s easier this way. Sooooo... 

Times Past: Santa’s Worst Christmas Some time ago... seriously I don’t know. Scrooge was born in the 1800′s and Christmas well existed by then, to the point there’s actually a story starring young scrooge published over seas. Granted the Duck’s are no stranger to christmas, as I already covered Christmas on Bear Mountain for Scrooge’s birthday, and will be covering “A Christmas for Shacktown’ sometime this December. It’s just something worth noting. But given this universe can do whatever it wants, having it invited sometime in the early 1900′s or late 1800s is fine just fine. 

Scrooge is a coal salesman, selling people what they need but getting no shelter as he’s, again, an ass. But in the depths he finds Santa, whose having trouble puling his sleigh, and gets them in the previously closed door with kindess and saying he’s with me. We now get an idea of who Santa truly is: a kind, selfless soul who thinks nothing of himself, and is happy to offer a gift in exchange for something, but does so only in the most well meaning, warmest way possible. In short this Santa really is.. what Santa is at his best in stories; a kind, generous man who just wants to make people happy. He just gave a gift not because he wanted to bribe his way in, but because he was genuinely hoping for some shelter and wanted to be greatful. It also shows that clearly, even if something did happen.. Santa probably isn’t evil. A twist still could’ve come.. but spoilers.. it dosen’t. Santa is genuinely this kind and self sacrificing and noble. He’s just a good person.. and that would ultimately be the problem but we’ve got a lot of subplot to cover.  So Santa parties with what are clearly going to be his elves, and turn out indeed to be elves at the end when the fire goes out and Scrooge is suddenly in buisness.. and he and Santa make a great team, as Santa talks him up and says he can deliver a whole year’s worth of coal all over the world by Christmas Morning, so Christmas DOES exist here, it’s just Santa didn’t which kind of tracks. Well played. I’ll keep my earlier mistake in there though. Keeps me fresh. But Santa offers to help.. after all what are friends for? And Scrooge says their not friends.. their partners. 

And Santa says why not both. And a friendship is forged. And it makes sense.. while i’ts not as tight as it will be, Santa is a warm generous guy who helped Scrooge multiple times just to be kind: He helped him find shelter to repay his kindness helping him.. then helped him sell his coal, when he didn’t have to and while he upsold him on what he could do, did so not out of malice, but so his friend could sell MORE and with eveyr intention of helping. And this friend is someone he just met, is kind of cranky and rude.. but as we all know is a good person underneath and to Santa.. that’s what he sees.. the kind young man who helped him pull his sleigh when he didn’t have to and was already cold and miserable. And that.. that just warms my heart a lot.  But Scrooge being Scrooge has a mystic artifact that could help: The Feliz Navidiamond, a mystic artifact that can seemingly control time he got off a  spanish sailor needing coal. The two head in but encounter it’s guardians. The Magic reindeer! And that’s part of what I love about this episode: besides really getting christmas, we’ll get to that, it has a creative and intresting Santa origin baked into the show’s mythology that also shows off an intresting part of Scrooge’s past. Santa manages to pacify them with jingle bells and our heroes head inside.  In the cavern they find a Giant Snowman.. because this show is fucking awesome and Santa’s attempt to be nice bacfires but Scrooge’s natural paranoia and gumption pull through. It shows off why they make a good team: Santa’s niceties helped them with the reindeer, and netted them future transportation, while Scrooge’s natural grumpus tendencies help when nice just won’t do it. They work well together: one’s a showman and the other hasn’t learned how yet, one is nice the other naughty. It’s easy to see why they worked so well together.. in both senses. They make it past the Snowman and find that the diamond slows down time running on “christmas time!”.. seriously a great pun and one of many this episode. This show had a chance to go all out on holiday puns this go round and they did not blow it. 

But... sadly... and obviously the good times can’t roll forever and when we next return to the story it’s a year later. McDuck and Klaus coal is a MASSIVE concern, and Scrooge is eager to get started... but Santa.. wants to just give gifts instead. To do something Generous. Buisness just isn’t in him and he just wants to do something kind. It’s.. not a bad goal.. i’ts just not Scrooge. To Scrooge it’s a betryal of all he stands for: foreswearing profit to give something for nothing for seemingly no reason and to a younger even meaner scrooge.. it’s an utter betryal.. and a breaking point. Either his daft presents idea.. or Scrooge. And why yes this episode is dripping with ho yay and why yes this does resemble his painful breakups with goldie. And why yes is glorious.. Imean I wasn’t shipping Scrooge with santa before but now? Hot damn. But yeah the two have come to a parting of ways, and Scrooge bitterly leaves, while the elves reveal themselves. And my heart hurts “The Empire Builder from Callisota” bad so thank you and fuck you show.  It also probably shows why Scrooge has exactly one friend, who also works with him so it’s complicated, in present day: He just dosen’t want to let people in... and now we know WHY. The first genuine friend he made, the first person he let into his heart.. betrayed him. It’s no wonder it took decades for Beakly, then the kids to get into his heart again: the guy’s been betrayed by goldie, in his mind betrayed by santa and as we’ve seen his own dad turned against him eventually. He had no one for so long, he built a wall all around him but the wall was too tall and it blocked out all the birds and the son. But this .. is a really damn good story that fleshes Scrooge out and explains his hardness. In the comics it was Glomgold.. here.. it’s much more personal and cuts much deeper. And I absolutely love it. This story could’ve neatly fit into life and times if it made any sense in Rosa’s timeline, and it would be just perfect there. 

PRESENT DAY: Concentrated Awwww

The present day plot is a lot simplier but still fantsatic: Webby slowly warms up to Santa depsite herself.. despite Scrooge clealry seeing she is.. she sees the man is just.. nice. He gives her a new crossbow, a really nice one she probably didn’t even expect to get given you know, everything and knowing scrooge, and appricates the sentiment and slowly sees the man isn’t some monster, but just a jolly old fat man who wants to give presents. Even Scrooge seemingly warms up a little.  We also get tons of cameos during delivery, as they visit tons of supporting cast.. sadly no Darkwing.. but this one was clearly meant to go anywhere and is clealry set before “Let’s Get Dangerous”, but tons of other great bits: We get the Drake recidence with Boyd getting a present.. and somehow also doofus whose filled his stocking full of.. something. I don’t want to know and you can’t make me ask. You can make me ask why the fuck Doofus gets a present, but it could be filled with bees or maybe Santa truly thinks theirs good in him.. which .. yeah tracks. I mean not their being good in him.. I think dr. loomis said it best.. I mean it was about micheal meyers but.. same diffrence minus the patricide?

I mean points for trying though Santa, you mean well you loveable bear in both senses of the word you. But anyways other cameos include Fenton, alsleep with his armor strewn about, aww, with the gizmo armor set to hit people with fruit cake. Thought that was against the geneva convetion but alright. Scrooge’s been hit with worse. We also get them visiting the boat and giving Donald and Della presents, awww. And of course I saved the cameo I put up top for last as Webby visits her closest friend and her gilfriend and gives both an adorable cheek kiss. Though only Lena reacts.. probably because this isn’t the first time Webby’s snuck into their bedroom at night but probably the first time it hasn’t been accidently creepy because she’s still learning boundaries. Also i did not realized they shared a room. Aww. Also it’s the first time we’ve seen their room, which as you’d image from a sorceress and a magical researcher/bookworm, it’s a massive sprawling library from what we see with a skull with a candle in it, a picture of a house, and a calender. IN short it’s perfect and i’m glad we finally saw their room. 

So yeah things are going well and Webby finally realizes “Shit Scrooge is the bad guy in this scenario” at the end of the story, realizing Santa was just as hurt by the split as Scrooge was and that he had to make the harder choihce for the right reasons. Unfortunately, as i’ve said a lot this review, SCrooge is a dick and only coperated, as he wasn’t using the magical present sack, but his own filled with Coal to teach people about responsiblity. Thankfully, Scrooge realizes he’s been a dick to the globe when he happens upon little Jeniffer, a small pig girl who mistakes him from santa and takes his coal, meant to warm her fires.. and makes it into a doll. And resists his attempts to take “Coalette away”... Scrooge then rants and .. we actually get a good reason for why he’s being such a douche... as a kid he had nothing, and a gift of coal for his fires would’ve been welcmoed. He simply just.. dosen’t get the frivolity. He gets the warmth and joy of the season but not the gift part. And it’s only seeing this small, innocent child, play with a doll, he realizes “A warm heart can keep you going through the coldest nights”. And it’s then he finally realizes why his old friend did what he did.. because as i’ve been saying the real gift.. is in the giving.. of giving someone something that makes their memories glow and their heart warm. Even a lump of coal can do that in the right hands... a toy can get someone through the roughest times and it’s the WARMTH of the gift you remember, not the gift itself. I remember that book I mentioned proudly.. as do I remmeber the copy of the art of the venture brothers right next to me, or the copy of the people’s doonesbury my best friend mike bought me, and so on.. not because of the book itself... but because of the thought and warmth of someone getitng something for you because they care, not for their own reward, but just to make you feel nice this holiday season. That’s the true spirit of christmas.  Naturally realizing the errror of his ways in true christmas story fashion, Scrooge is devistated by his own actions. And Santa is PISSED.. but Scrooge is now regretful.. if also pissed because Santa stormed in there and it turns out this was all a ploy to get his friend back... which destroys Scrooge’s anger as he realizes just how much his old friend missed him and how many years he wasted lashing out at him when , in the end, Santa was right. So with only so much Diamond power left, and time running out, what can they do to right this? Simple, Scrooge suggests splitting resources. 

So we get a glorious shot of the three boys, and the twins riding  the reindeer. Also we get Launchpad! 

Who naturally wonders if he can crash a reindeer while Beakly thankfully stops him from murdering Dasher. So Christmas is saved and Scrooge and Santa exchange gifts: For Scrooge, a set of bells with their old company name.. and for Santa? a garage door opener. While Santa’s confused turns out.. it’s to turn off the traps. He’s welcome any time.. just use the front door. Cue a big hug, and Webby narrating us out as Scrooge wishes everyone a merry christmas once again letting people into his heart.  I have.. the approirate response to that. 

Final Thoughts: Excellent, easily one of the best of the season, the series and possibly of chirstmas show episodes all together, we shall see when I put together my list. And given how utterly excellent Last Christmas already is, it was hard to top.. but they did it. This was a warm, wonderful special that gets to the heart of christmas.. and really why I LIKE santa so much. For all the comercailsim around him.. he’ s a kind generous man who gets kids to belivie in magic for a while, wants nothing in return , with the offering of cookies just there to be nice and thank him for being a good person, and just wants best for people. He’s what’s best about christmas rolled into a person. And the series gets that and makes him the kindest guy around. It ends up being a story abotu Scrooge learning the meaning of christmas, an irony that’s not lost on me, but in a way that’s diffrent and unique from last time and works just as well. It’s just a warm wonderful epsiode with plenty of great gags and adventure and a beautiful, unique story at it’s core that could only be told here with tihs cast and this version of scrooge and that’s what makes it so damn magical. Easily a fantastic note to go out on.  Next time on Ducktales: I don’t know! Next time this blog covers ducktales: We’re going back a few seasons to the only episode i’ve never seen, not even a little bit. It’s the treacherous summit of mt neverest!  Until then, if you liked this review, reblog and all that good stuff, follow for more ducks, and if there’s an episode of any show you want me to cover, my cyber monday sale is still going till midnight central, and even past that if you get in a liittle past it, so you can comission a review of any episode for just 3 bucks right now, 5 if you get to this review after monday. So spend if you have it.. and if you don’t.. happy holidays to you anyway. Have a wonderful season. 

[artificialqueens]

Come Home to My Heart, Chapter 10 [Final] (Lemyanka) - Plastiquedoll

read on ao3 ✨| previous chapters

A/N:I started writing this and I was like “so it’s going to be around 15k words top” and HERE I AM… no self-control whatsoever… anyway, I’m very happy with the result.If you have made it this far, thank you so much I hope you had a good time reading it and if it put a smile on your face I’ll be more than joyful 💛✨

-10-

Priyanka never –in a million years- thought she was going to feel as relieved as she was when she heard the sound of her car’s engine working again. Yes, maybe it wasn’t the newest car or the best car and yes… it was a gas-guzzler that ate her salary like a snack… but it was her car.

“Have you considered selling it?” The mechanic asked while he cleaned some grease with a rag.

“What?” That man was messing with her.

“One of my clients saw it the other day and liked it, said something about having one like this when she was younger. She asked me if I could extend her offer.”

“No, I mean…” She shook her head. “It’s not for sale, it’s my car and…”

The man handed her a piece of paper with a number written on it.

“Wow… and this is… wow.”

It was more money than what her car costed with the repairs and spare parts included. Way more…

“Can I make a quick call? I’ll be right back” She grabbed her phone from her backpack and called her father.

“Hello?”

“Hi, dad… I’m at the mechanic’s and there’s someone who wants to buy my car…” Her father cackled. “Don’t laugh, I’m serious.”

“Sorry… Your mother is going to be very happy about it. She has been trying to make you get rid of it for years and now you finally have the chance to…well, get rid of it.”

“I mean, I know I won’t get a better offer than this but at the same time… this is my baby and we fought so hard to have it back fully functioning.”

“The alternative was taking it to the junkyard.”

“Does everybody want to see my car turned into a cube of scrap? No need to answer to that.” She took a deep breath. “Do you think you can call the mechanic and check if the offer is legit?”

“I can drop by after lunch and talk to him if you want.”

“Please, that would help a lot.”

She needed to know if this person was serious about paying that amount of cash for her jalopy. Damn it, not jalopy, her car.

“My dad is going to come over after lunch to talk to you if that’s okay.” She explained to the mechanic. “Please don’t tell your client anything yet… I’m not sure I want to sell it.” She scratched her neck.

“No problem, miss. But I should give her a response by tomorrow at the latest.”

“I understand. You’ll have it.”

Priyanka drove back with her car with the windows down like she had done the first time she drove around the town, no music this time, just the tender summer breeze. When she stopped to refuel and at the gas station, she spotted a familiar yellow car parked across the street.

She honked her car horn causing the blonde to turn around with a grumpy frown on her face until she recognized the car and the owner.

“Well, well, well… look who’s back on the road.” Lemon lowered her sunglasses to take a look.

“Guess who’s back, back again.” Priyanka tapped the door with her hand before stepping out of the car.

“That’s something I didn’t think I’d see. I must admit it even looks charming without the smoke coming off the engine.”

“Yeah… that’s-”

She was on her regular witty comments but Priyanka noticed she had big dark circles under her swollen eyes that she kept behind her glasses.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Me? Ah, you mean… It’s nothing, just my allergies acting up.” She made light of the situation. “I was about to drop by the pharmacy to buy some medicine, actually.”

“Oh, I see… So… Did you two have fun yesterday?” Priyanka leaned back in the vehicle.

“It was cool… for a stupid lake.”

“Oh, c’mon, admit it, you did have fun! You were with me.” She playfully bumped her shoulder.

Lemon smiled but Priyanka wasn’t sure that was honest, she couldn’t decipher what it was yet but there was a hint of sadness underneath.

“Is Rita feeling better?”

“Huh? Ah, yes… I should get her some aloe ointment or an after-sun gel.”

“Remember when your mom used to do that thing with the glass of water when we got sunburn after going to the pool? I still can’t believe the water actually had bubbles after it.”

“Yeah…” She shook her head. “I…. She still does it and kids think it’s a magic trick.”

Something was off.

“I’m sorry but I have to ask you, what’s going on?”

Lemon shrugged. “What do you mean?”

“You’re acting weird today.” She crossed her arms on her chest. “Weirder than usual…”

“I’m not…” She rolled her eyes as the most Lemon thing she had done that day.

“Spill it.”

“I’m not-” She looked like she wanted the Earth to swallow her then she looked at Priyanka in the eye. “I’m going back to New York.”

“Next week… I know.”

“This Sunday.”

“What?!”

“I… have a dance thing soon and I figured it would be easier to go back on a day without the heavy traffic since I’m driving alone. Rita’s staying.”

“Oh.” Priyanka blinked twice trying to absorb the new information. “So you’re leaving the day after tomorrow.”

“Yep… I’m staying for one last lunch with my family tomorrow, the dinner at your house, and then I’m heading back early in the morning.”

“Okay… Uhm… That’s…” She scratched her head. “Soon.”

“I know it’s a bit rushed but… I’ve been here for a couple more days than you and… It’s weird, I’ve never been away from the city this long, I’m feeling a little homesick already.” She avoided her friend’s inquisitive gaze.

Priyanka nodded. “Alright.” She took a deep breath. “So… would you like to hang out today or…?”

“Uh, I can’t… I promised Rita I’d go shopping with her… you know, this was our bonding trip originally.”

“Oh, right… no problem.” Priyanka cleared her throat. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

The blonde nodded and whispered. “See you tomorrow.”

And that was their cue to leave separate ways.

Priyanka couldn’t wrap herself around the idea of not having Lemon around. It was like time had slipped off her hands like sand grains and there was nothing she could do.

It wasn’t the end, right? It was their new beginning.

Their second chance…

During Saturday afternoon, Priyanka’s mother kept running around the house making sure everything was perfect as if Lemon hadn’t been there before a million times. Not that Priyanka herself wasn’t nervous to have her back there but she was being more realistic, trying to accept the fact that Lemon was going back to New York meanwhile she was going back to Toronto. Their summer together had been cut short but at least they had the chance to make things right between them and this dinner was the stamp of approval of their flourishing new-old friendship.

Friendship.

It was more than she could aspire from the first time she saw the blonde again. It had been just a week ago but it felt like much more time had passed since then and, simultaneously, it was like time hadn’t passed at all. There was a portion of their lives that would ever be crystalized in the past and it would always look pretty and luminous under the light. That was what she wanted to think, at least.

After helping her mother in the kitchen with the basic knowledge she had of cooking -and as far as she let her help-, Priyanka took a shower and spent a long time trying to decide what to wear.

She didn’t know what kind of energy she wanted to radiate with her clothing, not too much, not too little… Lemon always managed to look good no matter the occasion and she had to live up to it.

She finally picked a simple black and white striped mini dress –actually the only dress she had packed-, she put on a pair of black Converse, brushed her hair, and did her makeup hoping for the best.

Lemon was supposed to be there in fifteen minutes and knowing her Virgo-ass she was going to promptly knock on her door at seven o’clock. Therefore, she had just a couple of minutes to check on the mirror before she arrived.

Priyanka went down the stairs just to discover a family meeting in her living room. Literally, everyone but her sister that lived across the world were there.

“Hi, Priyanka!” They greeted.

“Mom!” She yelled. “Why is everyone here?”

“This is a family dinner,” She said casually. “they wanted to see Lemon too.”

“Why did you tell them she was coming for dinner? I thought it was going to be just us and dad…” She whispered.

“She’s family and you said she was going home tomorrow. They all remember her, after all, you were friends since you were kids…”

“I know that but… Is that our picture from kindergarten?” She walked directly to the wall where all their family photos were. “When did you have the time to put this on?”

“I was cleaning the basement yesterday and I found it… completely unrelated to her visit. Calm down.”

“I don’t believe you…”

“You’re the one wearing a nice dress, look at you. You look beautiful.” Her mother adjusted her glasses to admire her.

“That’s not…” She blushed. “All these people have to leave… It’s too much.”

“You’re overreacting. We’ll have a good time.” She squeezed her daughter’s shoulder trying to comfort her. It worked for a moment.

At least half a dozen people were chatting, drinking, and eating snacks plus a bunch of children running around… it was… chaotic. At least something was cooking in the kitchen and smelled delicious.

Exactly at seven, the doorbell rang. The room went quiet.

“She’s here…”

Her heart was about to burst.

Priyanka ran toward the door and opened it.

“Hey-”

The brunette got out and closed the door behind her before she could say anything else. Lemon –of course- looked lovely with a denim button-front romper along with white sneakers. She had her hair down with some butterfly bobby pins.

“Hi.” Priyanka sighed. “So, long story short… My entire family is inside and they’re thrilled to see you again. I didn’t know they were going to be here… they weren’t supposed to be here but… If you want to run away, this is the moment.”

She stared. “I’m not running away… I told your mom I was going to be here and here I am. Besides, I already know your family.”

“Oh, it has multiplied since you last saw them, trust me.”

“Pri, it’s okay. Don’t worry.” Lemon put loose hair behind her ear.

“Alright… Maybe I’m exaggerating.”

“Look at you, admitting it is the first step.”

There she was, the little spitfire she knew. Maybe Priyanka was just imagining what had happened the day before.

She took a deep breath.

“Okay, let’s go in.” Priyanka linked their arms together and walked in.

They got into the living room where her family was.

“Everyone, look how’s here…” The brunette announced.

At that moment the room greeted her in unison.

Dinner went great –to Priyanka’s relief- after Lemon met the new members of the family and she got questioned for a half-hour, Mrs. Suknanan called everyone to sit at the table. They ate tons of food and told stories about their childhood that made her mother rejoice. Priyanka’s niece, Mel, was glad to see Lemon again as well and, in fact, stuck with her most of the evening.

As she should’ve expected Lemon was the perfect guest for their family dinner. She complimented Priyanka’s mother cooking and helped her with the dishes, she caught up with her cousins and sisters and told them about her life in New York, she even played hide and seek with her nieces and nephews and challenged the brunette to a jump rope competition.

“I’m just saying, you didn’t have to go full Jump in! out there.” Priyanka was still out of breath. “These kids used to respect me… maybe?”

Lemon cackled. “Well, you should’ve practiced when the movie had everyone buying neon ropes.”

They sat on the stairs on the porch at the entrance of the house. It was the first time in the evening they were alone, the voices and laughter could still be heard from the inside.

“Hey, thanks for… you know, hanging out with everyone. You’re kind of good at it.” Priyanka rested her head on the wood column.

“Are you suggesting that I might be… likable?” Lemon pretended to be shocked.

“Maybe…” She shook her head. “Just kidding, you’re great… you’ve always been.”

“No, I’m a bitch and I acknowledge it.”

“Look at you, the first step is admitting it…”

“Fuck off.”

The entrance door opened and Priyanka’s brother carried a sleeping Mel in his arms, his wife behind him was holding the baby, they silently waved at them and then got on their car. They were followed by Priyanka’s sisters and finally the cousins who even hugged Lemon and wished her a safe trip back home.

“I think they all left now. My parents are probably inside drinking tea already.” Priyanka checked the time on her phone. “It’s not too late yet, what do you say if we get some ice cream?”

“I shouldn’t…” Lemon looked at Priyanka and couldn’t say no to her face. “Sure. Let’s get ice cream. Is that place on the Third still open?”

“Yeah! Best ice cream in town, I can’t say it enough, I preach it like a religion.”

“Their chocolate peanut butter was heaven, chocolaty and… buttery.”

“Great descriptive skills… but I get the idea.”

“You were the one who got sick after devouring three cookie dough cones and missed school for two days.”

“I really thought I was going to get my stomach removed or something because my sister told me we were going to the hospital. I cried all day.” She started laughing. “Why do we think things like those when we are kids?”

“Talk for yourself, I’ve always been a logical person.”

“No you weren’t,” She called out. “you thought the moon was made of cheese.”

“Have you ever been to the moon? Do you have actual evidence it’s not made of cheese? That’s all I’m saying.”

“Wow, it’s almost like there wasn’t any scientific proof to contradict that.”

“I was seven…”

“Okay, lunatic, I have my keys; let’s go get the ice cream.”

“Do you want me to get into that…?”

“Don’t complete that sentence.”

“…deathtrap.”

“There she is.” Priyanka spun the keys with her index finger. “For your information, she’s fully functional now.”

“But is it a threat to humankind or…?”

“C’mon, you’re not gonna die… but if you do, we’ll do it together.”

“Ah, nothing excites me more than a Thelma and Louise reboot.”

Priyanka stood up and offered her a helping hand. “The night is young. I’m sure we can find some cliff if you stop whining.”

“Only if we get the ice cream first.” She held her hand.

“See, it’s not that bad.” Priyanka turned on the noisy engine.

On the passenger seat, Lemon rushed to buckle up. “I’m ready… to die.” She crossed her fingers in the air.

Priyanka laughed at loud. “It’s not that bad. At least I know how to use a gear level.”

Before Lemon could protest, they were moving. The night was surprisingly hotter than expected so since the air conditioner was even moodier than the car itself, they had their windows down –Priyanka’s favorite way of driving in town.

Lemon’s old house was on the route and Priyanka drove a bit slower when they got into the familiar neighborhood.

“Oh, look at it…” The blonde smiled softly. “It’s been a while but from the outside, it doesn’t look like it has changed at all.”

“A family is living there, two kids I think.”

“Yes, my dad told me.” Lemon rested her face on the car door as they passed by. “You know, back in the day, we left in such hurry I never got to say goodbye properly to this place. One day my parents were fighting, the next day we were packing and then… we were gone.” She extended her hand in the air as the house was getting behind.

“I remember. You didn’t want to leave.”

“Leaving the house… my life here… you… it was the most difficult thing.” Her voice almost cracked.

Priyanka’s heart skipped a beat. She didn’t want to see Lemon crying.

“Okay, you know what… this visit to the ice cream shop wouldn’t be complete without some music…” She opened the glove compartment in front of the blonde.

“Celine Dion… I expected it.”

“No, under that one… Hey, Celine Dion is a great singer and I’m not ashamed of having her albums there.”

“You mean you have albums in plural?”

“Can you please get past my Celine Dion liking and pick another album?”

“I would but my heart won’t go on…”

“Shut up… that was bad.”

“Well, that’s what you get when you…” Lemon paused as she picked another album. “This is… Spiceworld.”

“The very same.”

“But… is it the one…?”

“It’s the one you gave me… Mine still works although it skips sometimes.”

Lemon’s bottom lip trembled as she had her eyes nailed on the album.

“Hey no… don’t cry,” The brunette put on the CD when they stopped on a red light. “there’s no crying if Spice Up Your Life is playing.”

“I’m not…” She sobbed.

The catchy tune started playing.

“When you’re feeling sad and low…We will take you, where you gotta go.” She encouraged her friend to follow the lyrics.

“Smiling dancing, everything is free… All you need is, positivity”

“C’mon, pre-chorus.”

“Colours of the world… Spice up your life!”

“Every boy and every girl… Spice up your life!”

“People of the world… Spice up your life, ahh!” They yelled at the same time.

Before hitting the chorus, Lemon was already cackling so loud she almost snorted. Priyanka was already laughing she nearly drove past the ice cream shop.

“We’re here.” She announced.

Lemon stared at her for a moment and shook her head before getting out of the car.

“I’m guessing you’re still going to order the cookie dough cone.”

“It takes more than a hospital stay to destroy a lifetime obsession.” She followed the blonde.

“That’s… wrong. You know what, maybe you need an intervention.”

“Uh, imagine something like AA but it’s for people with chocolate cookie addiction.”

“It’d be you and the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street sitting on an empty room.” She opened the door and held it for the brunette.

“But after the meeting, we’d be at the coffee table getting some snacks and guess what… chocolate chip cookies.”

“Utterly triggering.”

An older woman that was in line stared at them, their conversations out of context surely made more than one turn around. However, they didn’t even notice, their bubble was unbreakable.

They ordered their ice cream and sat outside the shop. Priyanka got her cookie ice cream and Lemon indulged herself with a chocolate peanut butter and raspberry double cone. The table was small and it didn’t have much space so they were squished there, comfortably chatting; seen from the outside, it looked like they were on a date.

They were halfway Spiceworld on their way back to Priyanka’s house when Lemon spotted it. Her eyes got wide as soon as she recognized the familiar location; the closed fence with the opening hours written on a wooden sign, the green lights shining inside, the fractured moonlight shining on the surface of the water and the eerie aura of a usually crowded place during the day and empty at night.

“Stop! Stop the car!”

Priyanka stopped the car violently making them shake on their seats.

“Are you insane? Why did you do that?”

“This is the pool,” Lemon looked amused. “the swimming pool we used to come when we were kids, right?”

“Yes?” Priyanka parked the car next to the curb. “Why are you so excited about it?”

“Because… before coming back I had a dream involving this pool… and you were on it!”

“Wait, what kind of dream?” The blonde was already out of the car. “Lemon, Lemon?”

She approached the –obviously- locked gate and tried to peep over it. Needless to say, she was unsuccessful at it and wasn’t very pleased with it.

“We have to get in.”

“Are you trying to trespass private property or something like that?” Priyanka stood, arms akimbo.

“Since when are you the sensible one?” She asked with disbelief.

“…You’re right. I think we can climb over the fence.” She suddenly felt the adrenaline rush.

“That’s the attitude.” She looked around. “Now… what do we do?”

“This was your plan.”

“Yeah… but I don’t usually break the rules so I guess it’s more of your area of expertise.” She batted her lashes, if Priyanka didn’t know better she’d say she was flirting but of course, that was impossible.

“Ha, ha, you’re funny…”

“I think I’m really funny.” She leaned against the fence. “Now… how are we going to get in?”

“Well, climbing seems the obvious choice but…” Priyanka took a look around. “I should tell you I worked here a summer to pay for my car and I know where they keep the spare key.”

“No way…” She gaped. “Wait, were you going to make me climb it on purpose?”

“I should’ve pushed harder just to see how serious you were about it.”

Lemon pushed her lightly.

“Hey! I’m the one getting you the key.” And with that said, Priyanka reached for the hidden key behind a loose brick. “Magic words?”

“Open Sesame?”

“Close enough.” She unlocked the gate and both got into the enclosure.

The green lights were on and it gave the pool a different appearance than what they were used to, everything was tinted under the bulb. The water of the rectangular swimming pool glowed in green. Even they looked fluorescent underneath it.

It smelled like chlorine and summer night.

“They use this color to keep away the insects… apparently it works.” The brunette pointed.

“This is so cool.” She walked around the edge of the pool. “This place hasn’t aged a single day.”

Lemon turned around with a naughty expression on her face. If it was possible, she looked even more beautiful while beaming.

“Are you coming or what?” She started unbuttoning her romper.

Priyanka ran out of words –something that didn’t happen that often but was becoming recurrent with Lemon-; the blonde surely wasn’t concerned they didn’t have swimsuits.

Lemon threw the piece of clothing away to where her sneakers were and jumped into the pool. The drops helped Priyanka to snap out of her rapture, she hurried to take off her dress and get rid of her shoes, once on her underwear she joined the other girl on the water.

She closed her eyes while she was in the air, it all happened in one second, she was floating and then her body impacted on the surface making a big splash, the water wasn’t cold but the temperature difference hit her to the core and made her feel alive. She touched the bottom of the pool and held her breath until her lungs demanded fresh air. Priyanka re-emerged and it took her a moment to get used to it. Her hair was completely soaked, her face was cover in drops and her makeup was ruined but she couldn’t care less.

Lemon had the biggest smile on her face the moment she opened her eyes, her hair had gotten entangled with the bobby pins and she had pushed it back making it look slick.

“So you were too good for a lake but a pool that a thousand kids use is better?”

The blonde threw water to her face.

“Hey!”

“I like this better… fewer people.”

“More like no people at all.”

“Exactly.” She floated around as if she was on a cloud.

“You said you dreamt about this… do you dream about me often?”

Lemon threw more water at her.

“Stop doing that to dodge my questions.” Priyanka swam around.

“I’m not going to answer them anyway.” Lemon giggled.

For a moment they floated in silence under the moon, under the artificial green light, their ears -as most of their bodies- were under the water blocking any sound aside from the movements inside, the way their hands created tiny waves, and how their heartbeats sounded. Priyanka’s kept beating loud enough to compete with a drum.

She stared at her friend and knew she wasn’t going to have another chance like that.

“Lemon…” She called.

“Huh?” The blonde stood up. “What is it?”

“I need to tell you something.” Her mouth was dry; she was shaking under the water. “I-”

At that moment an alarm went on, probably activated by a timed motion sensor.

“Oh shit,” Priyanka shouted. “We have to go. These people know me.”

“Oh my God…” The blonde’s eyes were full of terror.

They rushed to get out of the pool and grab their clothes before dashing out of the place.

“They didn’t have an alarm when I worked here,” Priyanka complained; her pulse racing as they left the pool and jumped back into her car.

The scene was ridiculous, all the dogs of the neighborhood were barking, the alarm kept ringing, Lemon was laughing out loud, Priyanka couldn’t find her keys and they were still in their wet underwear.

“Found them!” The brunette announced and turned on the engine.

She drove a few blocks until they were far enough from the pool and then parked because she couldn’t get to calm down. Lemon had her hand pressed against her chest; they were in the same euphoric state.

They exchanged a glance and burst into laughter at the same time.

“Oh my…”

“That was crazy…” Priyanka rested her head against the header. “I’m still shaking.” Her body was dripping over the seat.

“I know… I can’t believe we just did that.” Lemon took a deep breath. “My heart is beating so fast I might get into cardiac arrest.”

“Right? My hands are trembling… I don’t know how I got to drive this distance, to be honest.”

“Adrenaline, probably. Do you think they have cameras or something?”

Priyanka became pale. “I hope no, they know my parents.”

This made Lemon laugh again.

“Oh, you think it’s funny little rebel?” She poked the blonde’s arm.

“Wait, don’t do that, it makes me ticklish.” She kept laughing.

“You really shouldn’t have said that.” Priyanka automatically started tickling her.

“Stop! Stop!” Lemon kept giggling until she grabbed both of the girl’s wrists with her hands.

Suddenly, they were staring at each other in silence and daringly close. Priyanka hadn’t noticed how transparent their garments had become until that instant or how gorgeous she looked even when the messy hair and bare face.

Lemon wetted her lips as she let go softly. “What were you saying earlier? When we were in the pool…”

“Ah, that… well…” Priyanka took a deep breath, maybe the moment wasn’t gone yet, she still felt a bit courageous.

But then they heard the police sirens of a car passing by –maybe it wasn’t for them but they were still paranoid- so the best was to get out there and return to Priyanka’s house.

Lemon sighed loudly. She covered with the romper, shivering a little.

They were a red light from their destination when the brunette noticed the seats were going to be wet.

“Shit, I’ll have to take the car to the car wash or I’ll have to dry the seats with a hairdryer.”

“You’re taking care of it now?”

“I… actually sold my car this morning,” Priyanka announced.

“What? Okay, first of all, someone’s paying you real money for this? And secondly, I thought you loved this piece of trash.”

“Rude. You’d be surprised about how much I’m getting for it. Some rich lady named Jimbo –yes, that’s her name- wanted to buy it and she paid enough to cover the repairs done.” She held the steering wheel tightly. “And… I do love this car but… I think it’s time to move on to something else. I asked Jimbo if I could take her to one last adventure before handing the keys and I’m glad it’s with you.”

“Oh.” That was all she said.

The car stopped. They had arrived.

“Now, let’s get inside and find some towels.”

“Sure.” She mumbled.

Priyanka gave Lemon a towel and let the girl get dry before putting her clothes back on. The brunette did the same and then they drank some tea her mother had left ready for them. The hot beverage helped them recover the temperature on their bodies and left them feeling warm inside.

“I have your jacket in the trunk of my car… the one you lend me the lake day.”

“Ah, right… I forgot you had it.”

“Well, it helped me not to freeze to death.”

“It wasn’t that cold.”

“Penguin’s butt.”

“Stop saying that.”

“I’ll go get your jacket and be right back.” She pointed at the door and walked out.

Priyanka got a full moment alone and she cursed herself for a full minute.

“Idiot, you’re fucking it up again… She’s leaving and you didn’t tell her a thing or two…”

She shook her head. Lemon was leaving and maybe it was for the best that she hadn’t confessed her feelings. What was the point? They were going different ways again…

Lemon crossed the door. “Here.” She handed the piece of clothing. “Thank you or whatever.”

“You’re welcome.” She threw the jacket over the sofa. “So listen… Uh…”

She stared at her friend. Lemon was breathtaking, every detail of her face was worth being drawn, portrayed, traced… Even the little eyelash resting comfortably on her cheek.

“You have a…” She pointed at her face.

“Uh? What? Is it a bug?” She started touching her cheeks.

“No, just an eyelash… Wait… let me…” She shortened the distance and tenderly brushed the lash off her face.

Lemon’s breathing tickled her skin.

Priyanka stared at her clear eyes for a moment, she hadn’t noticed her hand was still on her cheek.

“Sorry, I got it.” She announced showing the tiny lash on her fingertip.

Lemon smiled at her. “I should leave now… I need to drive early in the morning to avoid the traffic and I should get some sleep.”

“Yeah… I suppose.”

She hoped the disappointment in her voice wasn’t noticeable.

“Pri?”

“Uhm?”

“I’m glad that we’re okay now. Not having you in my life for the past seven years was awful. Let’s not fight again, yeah?” She held her pinky finger in the air. “I promise I won’t break this one.”

“Lemon, you’ll always be part of my life.”

Priyanka sealed the promise with her pinky and then hugged her friend.

Her heartbeats were so loud she was scared Lemon might hear them.

Priyanka opened the door.

“My car is at the end of the street, I can walk from here.”

“Do you want me to walk you there?”

“Nah, it’s okay. I’m fine… I’ll call you from New York as soon as I get there.”

“Yes, do that.” She took a deep breath. “Bye, love you…”

“Love you too.” Lemon blew a kiss in the air.

Priyanka closed the door. She couldn’t watch her leave again.

She started climbing the stairs. Her heart was supposed to be at peace –they were friends again- but she wasn’t happy about it… Lemon was leaving her again and words couldn’t describe how much Priyanka hated the fact there wasn’t something she could do.

Her dad almost bumped into her when she was lost in her thoughts.

“Hey pumpkin, be careful.” He was in his pajamas and a robe.

“Sorry, dad. I was thinking… too much.”

“You always do.” He patted her back. “Did your friend leave already?”

Priyanka nodded. “She has to go back to her home tomorrow morning.”

Her father frowned. “And you two are not spending more time together? You two used to be… joined by the hip? You cried whenever we went to pick you up from her house or when she left.”

Priyanka chuckled. “I remember… yeah…”

“I always thought you two…” He didn’t finish the sentence. “You were truly inseparable.”

She was trying to understand what he was truly saying.

He stared at her.

“And? Don’t stand there looking at me… go.”

“Dad? Are you…?”

He squeezed her shoulder. “It took me some more time but it doesn’t mean that I don’t want you to be happy.”

Priyanka felt her eyes getting watery. She hugged her father tightly.

“We can do this later; your mother is going to kill me if I tell her that you left that girl go.”

“Right…” Priyanka shook her head.

“Go!”

She ran downstairs almost flying over them.

Her father was right.

Her best friend.

The girl she loved.

What the hell was she doing there?

She had to get the girl!

Priyanka opened the door violently.

“Lemon. Lemon!” She yelled but the girl wasn’t on the street. Who cared if she woke some neighbors up? “Lemon!”

Was her car still at the end of the street?

“Oh, hey there…” A voice came from the porch.

Priyanka turned around and noticed the blonde sitting in one corner next to the door.

“Lemon, what are you doing there?”

She was sitting holding her knees against her chest. Priyanka got closer and kneeled next to her.

“I’m waiting to get some courage to knock on your door again and hopefully I’ll be brave enough then to tell you…” She looked at Priyanka in the eye, the words didn’t come.

“Tell me what?” Priyanka asked, desperate.

“That…” She bit her lips. “Forget it, I can’t ruin it… I can’t lose you again.” She was babbling to herself. Then she looked at Priyanka again. “Sorry, I’m just going to leave…”

She stood up and started walking fast.

“Lemon!”

She didn’t turn back. Priyanka stood up and grabbed her by the wrist, making the blonde face her. The tears were already rolling down her cheeks.

“I can’t let my friend walk away while being sad…”

There was a pause, they stared at each other.

“Am I really just your friend?” She finally cried out.

She hadn’t let go of her hand yet.

“No. You’re not… I mean, we used to be friends but…”

The moment… their moment was now or never… she had screwed it up before but she wasn’t going to let it slip again.

“I’m in love with you.” The words sprouted from her chest. “I’m in love with you.” She repeated accentuating every syllable.

“That’s my line,” Lemon complained, faithful to her character.

“Wait… is it? I mean, are you?”

“I’ve loved you all my life, you idiot.” The blonde was suddenly full of anger. “I can’t believe this… why didn’t you say something before?”

“When you say all your life…”

“Oh, for goodness sake… Priyanka I’ve never loved anyone else since that day in kindergarten when you shared your cookies with me and that’s embarrassing.”

“And why didn’t you say something?”

“You didn’t say it either!”

“Because I thought you just wanted to be friends with me!”

“Are you blind? I’ve been trying for days for you to notice… and that day on the stupid lake I really thought you were going to kiss me but you didn’t and then you said that it was never going to happen between us…”

“You heard that?”

“Of fucking course I did… And I cried for hours because I thought my chance was… gone forever… but tonight… I thought, maybe tonight… maybe… but you said those things about moving on to something new… and the last adventure with me…”

“I was talking about my car! You’re not a car… It’s not a metaphor, you know? I’m bad at metaphorical speech.” They were yelling.

“How would I know? You pick the worst moments to say things like those…”

“I said those things on the lake because I thought you wanted to be just friends with me and I didn’t want to make it awkward and I sold my car not because I don’t love it anymore… I did it because it’s old and I cannot travel anymore in that state… I can’t go visiting you with that car.”

“But you said…” Lemon’s bottom lip trembled.

“I know what I said but, after the past couple of days, I realized that, yes, I’ve grown up… I’ve changed but I’m still the same. I still like pop songs from the ’90s, I still like chocolate chip cookies in any existing form, I still like going on adventures, and, most importantly, I still like you… a lot.”

“You… I’m so mad at you…” She got rid of her grip. “I’m literally fuming, you are…” She stared at her brown eyes. “You’re the worst and…”

Before she could finish that sentence, Priyanka shortened the distance, grabbed her face, and planted a kiss on her lips, partially to shut her up and mostly because she had wanted to do that for so long. Lemon relaxed as soon as their lips touched as if her will to fight had abruptly disappeared.

It wasn’t her first kiss, it was a kiss that didn’t compare with the ones before but it would be the parameter for all the ones that would come after. It was a kiss that made other kisses seem insignificant and a kiss that rose up the standards forever.

Lemon smelled like chlorine and summer crush and she tasted like lip-gloss and warm tea. Priyanka entangled her fingers on her hair and pulled her even closer to the point their bodies were merging in a tight embrace.

“So you were saying,” Priyanka whispered when they reached for air.

“Shut up and kiss me again or I’m going to keep finding things to be mad at you.”

And Priyanka –gladly- did it.

They kissed some more while sitting on the porch until their lips were swollen and lightly numbed and then sat cozily with their legs entangled, stars above their heads and singing crickets on the ground. Priyanka thought she could get used to it.

Except, she didn’t have time to.

“Do you really have to go back tomorrow?” She asked, pinching Lemon lightly on her arm.

“I can delay it until Monday but… I have to be back next week for the dancing schedule.”

“Oh… I understand…”

They could have one more day then.

“But,” She began connecting her thoughts. “maybe there’s an alternative…”

“What do you mean?” Priyanka was puzzled.

“I don’t want to go back alone so… what do you say if you come with me to New York? You said you wanted to visit me there someday… why not now? You’re still on your break, aren’t you?”

“Yeah… I am…”

“Jan can stay with Jackie for a couple of days and you can stay with me…”

“Are you serious right now? Do you really want me to go with you?”

“Unless you want to stay with your family for what’s left of your break… I’d understand it.” She shrugged.

“You know what? I have the feeling that my folks are already done with my shenanigans…”

“I mean, who isn’t?”

“One would think that you’d act differently after having someone’s tongue down your throat.”

“Think again.”

“Anyway… Yes. I’ll go back with you.”

The blonde beamed.

“Great, so I can pick you up tomorrow before noon? You’ll need to pack and stuff.”

“I’m ahead of you… I never finished unpacking.”

“You’re actually the worst, did you know?”

“But you still like me.”

Lemon’s reply was to press a quick peck on her lips before she could say something else.

“And…? What happened afterward?” Denali was on the edge of her seat, she could see it even through the computer screen.

“Well… things were alright for a couple of days but then we realized that it was kind of awkward between us and we decided we’re better as friends.” Priyanka shrugged and spun a little on the chair.

“What?!” The other girl’s mouth dropped to the floor. “Are you kidding me right now?”

She shook her head, dead serious. “I guess it wasn’t meant to be after all.”

Denali’s eyes were like a pair of plates.

“Hey, I brought some coffee… Priyanka, are you still telling people we broke up?” Lemon’s voice broke the silence.

“Oh my God… I hate you so much right now…” She buried her face in her hands.

“Gotcha! I can’t believe you fell for that… Kiara, Juice… even Scarlett was dumb enough to believe it.”

Priyanka laughed her head off.

“Our friendship is officially over. Hi Lemon! How are you, my dancing diva?”

The blonde stood up in front of the camera almost pushing her girlfriend away. “Hi, Dee… I’m doing alright.” Her voice was melodic. “What’s up with you?”

“Just here, catching up with your awful girlfriend.”

“She scared the hell out of you, didn’t she?”

“First she leaves in a hurry without telling anyone and now she’s spreading some fake information… No… It’s a no for me.”

“Don’t worry, we’re actually –surprisingly- doing fine.”

“Hey, what do you mean by «surprisingly»?” The brunette hugged her from behind.

“Aw, you guys are so cute.” She smiled at them. “Wait, so you’re in New York now?”

“Yep, I’m staying for a couple more days and then I’m taking a plane back to Toronto.”

“And I’ll be visiting her there for the holidays in a couple of months.”

“Whoa, you have it figured out already.”

“And I didn’t forget that you have a competition here soon, I’ll definitely be here with you.”

“That’s great! I’m glad to hear it. Sure, oh… we’re going to have so much fun…”

“My friends are dying to meet you if you know what I mean.” Lemon winked.

“I can’t wait.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Listen, I’d love to chat some more but if I don’t go to practice there won’t be a competition to hoe around.”

They chuckled.

“Thank you for calling, Nali. I miss you already!”

“Miss you too, see you soon guys.” She blew a kiss in the air. “Bye-bye.”

“Bye!” They waved at the camera before ending the call.

“You’re so annoying sometimes…” Lemon kissed her quickly after saying that. She had a cup of coffee in her hands. “So… do you think this is going to work? At the distance and everything?”

Priyanka held her tightly in her arms making the girl sit on her lap. “I know we’re going to make it work somehow and… you know I’m graduating soon so maybe –just maybe- I could start applying for some internship here…?”

The blonde stared at her. “Really?”

“Don’t get too excited yet… I still have to do some things over there and I might take a while but…”

Lemon almost dropped her cup of coffee when she hugged her even closer.

“That would be… Pri… I’ve said it before but… I love you.” The same words acquired a new meaning in a different context.

Priyanka’s heart was full.

“I love you too.”

Priyanka kissed her forehead and let their words linger in the air. They were in a tiny student apartment in a big city, miles away from their hometown but they were together at last, at the only place they had always called home.

Maybe it was true, maybe we always come back to the place where we were happy.

And they were the living proof of it.

The end.

[drummergirl231-2]

If HDL's father ever did come back to his family's lives, do you imagine how awkward and complicated it would be? There would be the issues from Della having to adjust since she may not even have romantic feelings for him anymore (given how it's been 11-12 years) to the triplets having a worse time adjusting to his presence than Della's especially since Donald already served as their dad for years (And it is gonna be weird seeing Donald and HDL's father being father figures together).

Aw shoot dang I’ve got a whole AU like you don’t even know. XD It sprouted off this speculative post I made about HDL’s father possibly being a F.O.W.L. agent that the Buzzards sent in to spy on Scrooge by getting close to Della, but then he wanted out because he fell in love with Della for real. In this scenario, the Buzzards kidnap him and freeze him in whatever Rockerduck is currently frozen in after they realize his loyalties shifted.

I don’t think it’ll go like this in the show, but in my AU, the family eventually finds him frozen in whatever-it-is. Della screams when they stumble across him in a F.O.W.L. base. As far as she knew, the guy just totally abandoned her for absolutely no reason, and it never made sense to her. But as betrayed as she felt for his leaving, she needed answers, and she wasn’t going to get them just leaving him there, so she unfroze him and she, Scrooge, and Donald (who was fighting the urge to punch him in the gut every step of the way) get him out of there.

Can you imagine the horror on his side of things? He was a newlywed. He was happy. He was going to tell F.O.W.L. he was done being their spy. Next thing he knows, he’s waking up from being frozen in something and Della’s there but she’s walking on a prosthesis and he immediately knows he’s been gone for at least several months and Della went through quite the ordeal without him (but like, he has no flippin’ idea...).

Eventually in some heart-wrenching scene or scenes he finds out he was gone for about or nearly twelve years, and not only that, but he and Della had had triplet boys. He had wanted to quit F.O.W.L. to devote himself to his new family (Della, Donald, and Scrooge) and eventually, any children he and Della would have. He and Della had talked about raising a big family together but now he finds out he missed everything.  

And his wife of only a few short months doesn’t even want him to touch her. He’s a good guy and all. He respects Della and the last thing he wants is to make her feel guilty for how she feels or pressure her into anything. But it’d still be difficult for him when to him it feels like he and Della were living in newlywed bliss only a day or two ago. And even though he’s being totally respectful with Della, she still feels guilty, imagining what he must be going through. 

She tells herself it’s all his fault anyway and she doesn’t owe him anything, but after they fly him to Mervana and interrogate him in front of the harp, and she hears the whole story, and the harp confirms it all and Della knows he really does love her with all his heart... she can’t help but feel guilty for keeping him at arm’s length. And he feels guilty that she feels guilty. It breaks his heart even more, but he tells her it’s okay and she can take as much time as she needs to process all this.

Scrooge orders him to sleep in the spare room of Donald’s houseboat until he can get a lawyer’s opinion on whether or not the marriage is still valid. After all, they were both pretty much presumed dead for over a decade. Old Victorian Scrooge basically tells him he’s not allowed to sleep under the same roof as his baby girl without being sure they’re legally married. Extreme as it sounds, he knows he needs to re-earn everyone’s favor and trust, and he accepts it. But that night when Donald goes downstairs in his houseboat to use the bathroom, he can hear him crying from the spare room.

Della thanks Scrooge for buying her some time. He tells her he means it - he wants to make sure their marriage is still valid before letting them sleep in the same room. But more than that, he really does want to give Della some time to process everything, guilt-free.

“And what if the lawyer says my marriage is still valid?” she asks. “What then?”

“Then... I suppose the two of you will need to make a decision.”

But Scrooge can see the worry on her face. She doesn’t want a divorce. Would that be fair? Sure, the guy began courting her under false pretenses, but she knows after the interrogation with the Harp of Mervana he didn’t marry her under false pretenses. He really does love her. But would it be fair to him to keep him tied to her when she didn’t want him to touch her? She wished they could start all over... just fall in love all over again. But would she ever be able to do that? And what about the boys? What would be best for them?

“Ye don’t hafte make any decisions tonight, lass,” Scrooge would interrupt her thoughts. He’d ask her if she feels safe, and if she feels like the boys are safe. After making sure all of Della’s immediate concerns are dealt with, he’d tell her to get some rest.

As for the boys... I can imagine a scene with Huey where he screams “I don’t care that he’s my father! Uncle Donald’s my dad!” and he runs upstairs crying. And it’d be an absolute knife in the father’s heart but at the same time, the gratitude he already felt toward Donald would increase. He wouldn’t resent Donald or blame him. He’d be so glad his boys had a dad in their lives. 

Still, it would kill him a little inside knowing he didn’t get to be that dad, and that one of his own sons was rejecting him.

I think Dewey, being such a mama’s boy, would have some trouble accepting him, too. He pursued Della under false pretenses, and never told her about F.O.W.L. before he disappeared. She believed for the longest time he abandoned her. As far as Dewey was concerned, he didn’t deserve a perfect woman like Della Duck.

It would take Huey and Dewey a little time to come around.

And Louie? His loyalty is to his mom and uncle, first. But gahhh he can’t help but pity this dude. Louie’s such a sensitive little guy. He��d pick up on the all the guilt and sorrow and awkwardness and more sorrow between his mother and father and it would bug him, to the point where he starts wondering if his scheming powers might come in handy here, and he tries to reset them up.

A lawyer does conclude the marriage is still legal since they didn’t divorce and neither of them died. And even without Louie’s help, Della’s hubby has every intention of trying to start over with her. He just wants to make sure he gives her plenty of time, and doesn’t pressure her into anything. 

When they get the news they are still married, they sit down and talk. He is honest with her. He tells her he doesn’t want to divorce her. The vows he made to her (only a few months ago for him) are ones he intends to keep. But he understands, given their bizarre circumstances, if she doesn’t feel the same way. All he asks is that she doesn’t make any decisions quickly, but he will honor whatever she decides. And he asks that, no matter what she decides with regards to them, she lets him stay in their sons’ lives, since now that he knows about them, he can’t just leave them. He intends to get a job and cover their expenses (a decision that wins him points with Scrooge when Scrooge hears about it). Della agrees to his terms. She tells him she doesn’t want a divorce either, but she just doesn’t know how things can return to the way they were.

The fact she doesn’t want a divorce gives him a sliver of hope, but for the time being, he’s just friendly. He suggests they have a game night, just them, the boys, and Donald. He continues to hang out with Della in no-pressure sort of environments, like video game tournaments with her and the kids, family dinners, stuff like that. And he tries to avoid calling her cutesy things and talking to her like they’re married because he doesn’t want her to feel like he’s forcing her into a romantic relationship, but one day he accidentally slips up and says, “Morning, gorgeous,” at breakfast, and before he could kick himself under the table, she smiled and blushed and said, “Hey handsome,” back, and the teasing “OOOOOOOOH,” from the kids sounded like an angel’s choir to him.

It takes time, but Della does fall in love with him all over again, and one day he gets down on one knee and asks her to stay married to him, and she accepts. They even hold a simple vow renewal ceremony in the backyard (simple, but well-organized and beautiful, with Daisy’s help). 

And because I’m DG and I can’t help myself, OF COURSE THEY HAVE ANOTHER BABY AND GET A CHANCE TO RAISE A FAMILY TOGETHER FROM THE BEGINNING AND THAT BABY WILL BE “TWIN COUSINS” WITH DONALD AND DAISY’S BABY. SO SAITH ME.

WELP that turned into a pointless fanfic considering I don’t think that’s how it’ll go down in the show!

Frank described the family as “complete,” now. And that’s pretty much true. They’re a bunch of pieces of families that came together to make a whole one. They’ve got the brothers (HDL), the sister (Webby), the mommy (Della), the daddy (Donald), the grandma (Mrs. B.), the grandpa (Scrooge), plus whatever the heck Launchpad is (the crazy cousin or family friend who’s always over?). It’d be weird finding a spot for the father. Maybe he really is gone forever. But then again, if there’s a spot for Daisy in the family, maybe there’s still a spot for him, too. Hopefully we’ll find out!

[springsfordays]

Le Princess Isabella

Hello, Hello!! So I wrote an au fic and my very first one for Phineas and Ferb. I’ve had this idea for an au for a while so I finally wrote the first couple of chapters.

I’m posting the first chapter here and let me say it’s very boring dnndndjdkn. But I wanted to post it anyways. For future chapters I’ll probably just link it. Here’s the synopsis:

In a faraway place laid the noble land of the Tri-City State Empire where in the capitol of the nation, Danville, the castle of the royals resides. Among the rulers is the heir to the throne, Princess Isabella Garcia-Shapiro ward of King Monogram, wishes to escape her life of strict rules and the pressures of royalty for adventures beyond the horizon of her castle. What the princess does not know is that the journey she craves would come a lot sooner then she expects and in the worst way possible.

Read on AO3 if you want though! Hope you enjoy!!

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In a distant land far away from the rest of the world in the oceans laid an Island called Danvillious. There the kingdom known as the Tri-City State Empire was thriving. The inhabitants lived a peaceful way of life with seemingly no worries of a threat to their daily lifestyles. Those who lived in land, or the low country, were farmers, weavers, town folk who took care of the vast rivers and waterfalls that flowed through valleys. The people who lived along the costs were fishermen, sailors who surfed the large waves that were as crystal clear as the sky was blue. Then there were those who lived in the cities. They were mechanics, inventors, scholars and..

"A bunch of snobs! Ptooe" a young boy spat onto the ground scowling at the passer bys that walked around him. He very much despised the city folk for their "high way of life" and despised them even more since the only way they get to have that high life is because he does all the dirty work for them.

"ugh, Buford just because you come from the low country doesn't mean everything said about city life is true." A younger boy walking beside Buford pushed up his glasses as his brows furrowed in annoyance. Buford grunted holding up a pointed finger at the other boy "I could'a told you that much 'Jeet. It's always said that the city is the prettiest place to be but all I've seen is grime, garbage, and a lot of fake perfume. Plus how would you know anything? Oh wait! Maybe you would seeing how you're some high and mighty academy student!" Baljeet rolled his eyes "I'm a professor's apprentice Buford but you're a cleaner. Garbage is your whole lively hood."

As the two boys walked they came upon a small brick building right between two large apartment complexes. A sign hung loosely from the top to above the door reading "Flynn-Fletcher Antiques and Mechanics". Buford spoke in a low voice as he opened the door for the both of them, "I didn't always have to rely on garbage y'know. I helped farm the ingredients used to make the food the people here throw away without finishing."

Baljeet turned to him "I get that you miss the country side but you are here now. Try to make the best of it. Like, I bet you weren't able to go flying in a custom plane made by the Flynn-Fletcher boys on your farm right?" He smiled pointing towards the back of the shop. Buford shrugged "Yeah I guess. You and the other two are alright I guess."

With that the two walked through the- in Buford's words- creepy shop full of knickknacks and old relics from over time on the Island. Srnnnnk. At the counter a teenage girl had her feet over the register and the newspaper over her face snoring deeply. The boys walked up and stared at her for a moment. Baljeet whispered in disgust after a particularly deep snore, "Eek she sounds like a broken radiator." Buford sighed a wistfully "Yeah.. A broken radiator with pretty ginger hair.."

"What?"

"Uhh I mean.. Uh"

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

Buford smashed the bell placed on the counter repeatedly startling awake the sleeping teenager sending her knocking back over. "Gah! What the hell??" She said moving her head back and forth. Baljeet cleared his throat getting her attention. "Oh it's you two. What do you want?" She said rubbing her eyes irritably. "Hello Candace we were looking for Phineas and Ferb, do you know where they are?"

BOOM!! PRSSH!! CRASH!!

Candace put her head in her hand, "UGH Where do you think they are? Being annoying as usual." Baljeet and Buford glanced at one another then back at Candace. "Aren't you going to try and 'bust' them for making so racket?" Baljeet asked in confusion. "Why bother? Mom and Dad are visiting the capital today on a 'special antique assignment'. No point" The boys shrugged and entered the back of the shop where the Flynn-Fletcher boys, Phineas and Ferb, worked welding a metal sheet onto whatever contraption they were working on now. The two covered in oil stains and dirt all over their blue overalls looked up from where they were working over to their two friends.

Phineas lifted his mask smiling widely, "Hey fellas! You're just on time! Come look what we've added to the wings." He walked towards the other side of the custom small plane to point out the paint job. On the wings the paint a fiery shape along the edges in bright red and orange colors. "Oooooo" the other two boys said seeing the paint. "Right? It was Ferb's idea he thought it needed a more badass look to it." Ferb walked over joining the huddle around the wings. "Well Ferb always has an eye for that sort of thing." Baljeet stated running a hand over the design. Ferb held up a pair of finger guns at him clicking his mouth.

"Yup. Now all we need is to finish the welding which should be done soon. Y'all could wait right over there so the sparks don't get you." Phineas said pulling his mask back over and beginning to weld again along with Ferb. Buford and Baljeet went to the corner of the room where a pile of old magazines, Newspapers and torn books were, Baljeet picked a book and began to read. Buford not one liking to read scrummaged through the papers. "I want to look at the funnies!" He continued shuffling until a single photo fell out gliding to the floor. Huh? Buford leaned over picking up and turning over the picture. On it he saw an adorably beautiful young girl no older than him staring somewhat thoughtfully back at him. The girl was dressed in all white, in huge contrast to her features, and sported gold and red medals and large white coat hung loosely on her shoulders.

"What the? Who is this?" Buford showed the picture to Baljeet. He corrected his glasses analyzing the picture. "Oh! That's Princess Isabella!" Buford's eyes went wide, "Wait! That's THE Princess Isabella?! Ward of the King?!" Baljeet nodded "Yup! That's her, I forget that not many pictures of her actually exist so most people don't even know what she looks like." Baljeet grabbed the photo scanning it some more with a curious look, "Which begs the question how a rarity such as this is in these newspaper clippings. Hey Phineas! Ferb! How'd you guys get this??" He shouted over the welding noises gaining their attention. "Huh? Oh! That picture! Be careful with it!" Phineas dashed over yanking the picture from Baljeet's hand. "Whoof! Possessive much?" Phineas blushed "Sorry It's just it’s the only picture we have of her." He said twiddling his fingers. Ferb walked over "Our folks got it from their last trip to the capital." Phineas continued for him "Yeah Mom and Dad sold the photographer a clock and when dad saw the pictures he knew he had to buy it. Y'know since she apparently isn't allowed outside the castle walls."

"Wow you're dad scored big time! I bet you could sell it for a ton of money!" Buford said excitedly. Phineas furrowed his eyebrows holding the picture away from everyone. "It's not for sale Buf!" Buford held his hands up "Damn okay! What's your attachment to this thing anyway?" Phineas face nearly went as red as his hair. "Well, I just like looking at it that's all. I don't want give it away." Baljeet giggled, "I don't blame you! She's very pretty."

Phineas sighed holding the picture up and staring longingly at the girl on it. "Yeah. What’s not pretty about her?" He moved around the room with the picture in hand, "That long luscious raven black hair. The olive toned skin. Those large deep brown eyes and that cute smile she has.. Besides the things I've invented she's the only girl I've ever loved." Phineas ran a hand over the photo. Buford groaned in disgust, "Oh my God, you're in love with a picture?? What is wrong with you man. I bet she ain't all hugs and kisses in real life. She's royalty, she's probably a brat!"

Phineas stared at Buford with narrowed eyes "Well you don't know that do you? Leave me to my crush on this photo alright?" Ferb and Baljeet looked at one another and covered their laughs. Buford rolled his eyes "Yeah, yeah. Whatever can we get this bad boy into the sky now and leave the princess talk here?" The other boys nodded in agreement and all went to start rolling the plane out to of the back of the shop. Phineas lingered behind staring at the picture once more. The girl's eyes somehow burned through the stilled image. He smiled Simply beautiful aren't you? He carefully folded the photo and stuffed it securely into his front overall pocket and ran up to join the others.

[iamseeress]

Tokens For Your Appreciation

Summary: Katsuki isn't into birthdays. But he does appreciate the gifts.

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Katsuki isn’t really into birthdays.

He remembers to get his mom a little something every year, he’d eat a slice of his own birthday cake if someone else buys it, but that’s it. Birthdays come and go whether Katsuki does anything about it or not. And if you miss this year, well, there’s always another one coming.

His dad though likes to celebrate birthdays. Not big productions or surprise parties, just enough to mark the occasion as special. There’d usually be a wrapped gift for Katsuki or his mom, and dinner plans in a nicer-than-average restaurant.

Katsuki doesn’t mind it; he just isn’t gonna plan it. Especially not for someone else.

Once when he was 12, trudging at the mall while his dad picked out a gift for his mom when he’d rather be on a run using the cool shoes he got for his birthday, his dad told him giving gifts is part of being in a relationship. It shows your appreciation for the other person and that you care; and when time comes that Katsuki gets a girlfriend or wife, she’d expect Katsuki to remember special dates like anniversaries and birthdays, and gifts on those occasions would not be amiss.

It was a good father-and-son talk, a valuable life lesson for sure thanks, but Katsuki has a goal to achieve, and relationships — romantic or otherwise — are pretty low in his list of priorities. It was low when he was 12, and it’s still low now at 17 turning 18.

In their first year in UA, his classmates hadn’t been aware that his birthday is on April 20. Classes had only begun 2 weeks before and Katsuki could barely remember his classmates’ faces, much less their names. They eventually found out because Iida and Yaoyorozu were given basic information about each student including dates of birth, but by that time Katsuki’s birthday had already passed.

It had come and gone with only a mumbled "happy birthday, Kacchan" from a nervous Izuku.

Izuku knows Katsuki’s birthday, of course. It’s Katsuki’s fate to be in the same class as Izuku since they were in their baby blue pre-school smocks. There’d been more than a handful of cakes and wrapped gifts between them over the years but none at all past grade school. By the time they were in middle school, they didn’t hang out enough to merit an invite to birthday treats or any gift buying.

They used to though. When Katsuki was younger his dad would have him invite a friend or two to have ice cream with him as a special treat after school for his birthday. When he got a little older, the treat included a side trip to the game arcade and a pouch full of tokens for him and his friends.

Izuku had usually been one of those friends, until they weren't friends anymore and Katsuki stopped inviting people altogether. He doesn’t need extras on his birthday.

In their second year in UA, Sato baked him a birthday cake. Katsuki deigned to stay in the dorm common room 30 minutes past his usual bedtime and allowed his classmates — friends by then he supposes — to celebrate his 17th birthday with him. His parents had called to greet him and the next time he was home they went out to dinner in a nice Thai restaurant that had a lot spicy offerings.

Izuku hadn’t gotten him a gift but he’d been smiling when he greeted Katsuki a "happy birthday, Kacchan” before they walked to class together, discussing their English homework on the way.

Katsuki is turning 18 tomorrow. He expects Sato to bake him another cake.

This isn’t because he’s an entitled ass but because Sato bakes a cake most days and definitely one on each of their classmates’ birthdays. Also because Sato had asked him earlier what flavor he would like.

Katsuki told him chocolate. Sato had hummed then explained that he could make a dark chocolate cake with a little red chili for heat and Katsuki found himself impressed and growled out a thanks.

So Katsuki will have a cake tomorrow and very likely a card signed by everyone in their class — he’s had to sign a card for 19 other people plus Aizawa in the past two years; Yaoyorozu is in charge of buying the cards from class funds — and that will be that for Katsuki’s 18th birthday.

For today though, it’s Saturday afternoon and he’s in the common room eating a pre-workout snack of yogurt and berries, watching chaos unfold.

“Are you sure you can’t repay me another way, Aoyama-kun?” Izuku says, in near desperate tones. “Or, or better yet, and this is definitely the better option now that I think about it, maybe we can consider us quits! I did it as your friend and no repayment is needed. At all. Your happiness, Aoyama-kun, is payment enough.”

“Non, non, Midoriya, mon ami. You have done me a great service and I would be remiss in my duties as a friend if I didn’t repay you in kind. Good deeds must be repaid, especially between friends. Otherwise, chaos would reign in the world, n’est-ce pas?”

“Ha ha, yeah, chaos,” Izuku laughs weakly. He throws a pleading glance at Uraraka seated by the sofa.

She dutifully comes to his rescue. Or at least attempts to.

“Aoyama-kun, as heroes-in-training we don’t expect any repayment from those we help. It’s just what we do,” Uraraka says with a cheerful smile. She pauses and a little furrow appears over her brow. “Not that I’d say ‘no’ if they wanna pay me extra.”

“Uraraka-kun!” Izuku hisses but it was too late.

“Bien sur. We do not expect it but we also do not say no when it is offered and in this case it is not just offered but insisted. Midoriya, I must insist that you allow me to do this for you. As your good friend, and as someone whom you’ve saved magnificently from dire straits,” Aoyama says, an earnest hand on his chest.

Izuku sighs and gives in to the inevitable. “Alright, Aoyama-kun. How do you wanna do this?”

“Fantastique! We meet here tomorrow morning at 9. You bring your charming self and I shall take care of the rest. We should be back in time for dinner with the rest of our merveilleux amis.”

“It’s gonna take the whole day?” Izuku asks, clearly surprised.

“Midoriya, one cannot rush perfection. It will take as long as it will take,” Aoyama says, batting elegantly long eyelashes. “But for now, a bientot. I need to make reservations for our little adventure tomorrow.”

And with a flip of his expertly cut and feathered hair, Aoyama exits the common room, leaving sparkles in his wake.

Izuku collapses on the sofa, rubbing his face with his hands. Uraraka pats his shoulder in commiseration but Katsuki can see her eyes bubbling with laughter.

“Do I wanna know what the fuck that was about?” Katsuki asks, spooning yogurt into his mouth.

“Aoyama-kun wants to give Deku-kun a ‘make-over’,” Uraraka says, very ineffectively muffling the giggles with her hand.

Katsuki raises an eyebrow. “Surprised he can do that in just one day.”

Izuku groans into his hands. “Kacchan, you’re not helping.”

“Cheer up, Deku-kun. You don’t know, you might have fun! He’s probably just gonna take you shopping… ermm, but maybe stay away from flowy long sleeved blouses in case he asks you to get them. I don’t think they’d suit you,” Uraraka says, waving her hand vaguely over Izuku’s well muscled form.

Katsuki imagines Izuku's short, stocky frame in one of Aoyama’s frilly white shirts, the ruffled collars high up his muscle-thickened neck. He snickers.

“Just give it up, Deku. You already said yes. Are you planning to mope there all day or are we doing that spar?”

“Spar please, Kacchan,” Izuku says, standing up. “Make me forget.”

“Always happy to kick your ass, nerd. Meet you back here in 5.”

Katsuki wasn’t quite sure when it happened but barring exceptional circumstances, Saturday afternoons is what he mentally — but never verbally — refers to as ‘Deku time’.

There’s no hard and fast rule about the content, only the participants.

It’s usually some form of physical activity because that’s how they first managed to bridge the gap between them: by fighting until one of them surrendered, got injured, or a teacher intervened. It remains as a way for them to stay in tune with each other, despite that these days they talk more together than Katsuki does with anyone else.

For today, they decide on a no-quirk wrestling match; whoever gets pinned five times should be ashamed of themselves. They are hot and sweaty, muscles bunched up, each trying to get a firm hold on the other — palms, arms, thighs sliding over sweat slicked parts.

An hour and a half in and Katsuki wins: 5 pin downs to Deku’s 3.

Izuku is already pouting underneath Katsuki, getting ready to challenge the last pin down, but Katsuki is taking the win and not giving it back. He grins down on Izuku, flat on his back with a mutinous look in his green eyes.

“That was sneaky, Kacchan.”

“Not my fault you got distracted.”

They had been in the middle of a grapple; Izuku was about to slip away, Katsuki could feel it. Katsuki had his mouth beside Izuku’s ear and he whispered “I wonder what you’d look like after Aoyama’s done with you.”

Izuku had gasped and there had been a tiny lapse in his concentration and Katsuki swooped in. He’d been pinned on the mat in a matter of seconds.

Katsuki should get up, get off Izuku, offer him a hand up, but he was enjoying this too much. He has Izuku beaten, aggrieved and under him. Can anything taste any better?

He’s still gloating, in the middle of relishing his victory when he feels a familiar stirring in his pants. Katsuki clambers off Izuku and gets up, faster than even Iida could have moved.

Teenaged boys get boners. It’s a fact of life.

It generally doesn’t happen when grappling for points or bragging rights — no matter what porn films may show you. The body pumps blood everywhere else except your cock, under the all-important mission of not letting you be pinned to the ground by your opponent.

But the moment the fight instinct is gone, with adrenaline still pumping through you, and you’re in contact with the hard heated body of your stupidly attractive classmate slash friend slash rival, well — blood gets diverted somewhere specific really fast.

It’s happened before, it will happen again. Until all these bullshit hormones stop raging across their teenaged bodies.

Tomorrow, Katsuki will be one year closer to that bliss and he’ll be grateful for it. Because these ‘incidents’ with Izuku have been happening faster, more often, and stupidly harder to get rid off each time it happens. Katsuki has better things to do than rage at his own dick for being a dick.

Katsuki walks off to grab their water bottles, surreptitiously adjusting his pants.

He throws one to Izuku, still lying on the mat with his eyes closed.

Probably willing his own hard-on away, Katsuki thinks viciously.

The bottle bounces on Izuku’s chest, rolls away and gets retrieved with Black Whip.

Izuku eventually sits up and Katsuki reclaims his space in front of him, their knees almost but not quite touching.

“I think I’m nervous about tomorrow,” Izuku says.

“You’re about to be a pro hero and you dress like an 8 year old. Can’t hurt to let him help you,” Katsuki says, blunt as always.

“We’re in uniform when we patrol though, what does it matter what else I wear,” Izuku points out.

“You weren’t in uniform when you fought Gentle Criminal.”

The video had somehow been uploaded, caught viral attention, then picked up by one of the biggest tv news stations a few months ago. It had brought unwanted fame and notoriety to provisional hero license Deku and Midoriya Izuku.

“I suppose we can all be grateful it wasn’t one of your stupid slogan shirts,” Katsuki says.

His muscles are pleasantly tired and an over-all feeling of langour and well-being is washing over him, now familiar after all this time spent with Izuku.

Izuku huffs. “Says ‘Aji Fry’ shirt.”

“Fuck you, I look good in it. You are just a mess.”

Izuku chuckles. “Can’t argue with that. You always look good, Kacchan. If you weren’t such an asshole scaring away people, you’d give Todoroki a run for his money.”

“Better an asshole than a dumb prince.”

“Todoroki’s not dumb,” Izuku says, mostly by reflex than any desire to argue. Katsuki has called everyone worse things.

Katsuki sips his water and doesn’t say anything. Todoroki ranked fifth in their last mid term exams.

“You think this is a good idea, Kacchan? Me getting this ‘make-over’?” Izuku asks.

There is a hesitation in his voice that Katsuki hasn’t heard in a while.

Katsuki knows that somewhere underneath that horrible slogan tee and roomy gym shorts is a body that most pro linebackers would kill to have. Broad shoulders, massive torso, powerful thighs. Built like a freight train and just as unstoppable.

He’s seen it, he’d just been grappling with it. Sometimes he even dreams about it. Stupid teenage hormones.

“You’ll fanboy over All Might even after you’re a pro hero yourself. You’d help little old ladies cross the street by picking them up and their entire goddamned house. You’re always gonna be a crybaby. What does it matter if you can Windsor knot your tie?”

“Just get kitted out with laser boy. If you like it, fine. If you don’t, then don’t do it again. It’s one Sunday. You’ll be a nerd regardless.”

“Kacchan…” Izuku says, green eyes filling with tears.

“What did I tell you? Crybaby.”

“Thank you, Kacchan,” Izuku says, laughing and sniffling at the same time.

“Just go,” Katsuki says, mopping away tears from freckled cheeks with rough fingers. “How bad could it be?”

Katsuki deliberates whether to explode Aoyama, Izuku or himself first.

For as long as Katsuki can remember, Izuku’s hair had been an unruly mass of soft green curls. It clearly had a mind of its own and refused most of Izuku’s efforts to tame it. They tend to stand up more in the mornings when Izuku has just gotten out of bed, and splay themselves out like wonky dandelions seeds during hot humid days.

They’re gone now.

That is, Izuku still has his curls and is not currently bald, but the unruly mess of green is gone. The curls on the lower half of his head had been trimmed away, buzzed off until only a short green fuzz was left. The curls on the sides and top of his head remain intact but they’d been shortened, expertly cut to make the green strands less of a mess that Katsuki had learned to live with and more a temptation he wants to run his fingers through.

Izuku has the audacity, the sheer gall to duck his head down and look sheepish. The soft blush highlighting his freckled cheeks is just overkill.

“I’m still not used to it,” Izuku tells their assembled classmates, “the back of my head feels cold.”

They’re all in the common room, Aoyama and Izuku walked in not 5 minutes ago. Aoyama looking pleased with himself; Izuku looking like he stepped off a fashion magazine, sports edition. The entire room had gone nuts.

Katsuki saw them leave that morning and he knew Izuku had on a pale green tee that said ‘bath robe’.

That’s gone as well and good riddance, replaced by a dark green button up that lent color to Izuku’s eyes and highlighted the planes of his impressive chest. The sleeves are folded almost up to the elbows, exposing arms that Katsuki knew for a fact could lift bridges. The scars only add depth of character to what is already a very delectable picture. The dark jeans Izuku had on actually fit, caressing the tree trunk thighs without being too tight, tapering just right down his legs.

Aoyama had clearly employed some kind of magic. Katsuki’s parents would approve. Short but stacked is not an easy combination to dress up.

Uraraka is clutching Izuku’s arm, looking at him in wonder. Kaminari is running his hands through Izuku’s remaining curls, fluffing them up. Everyone else in the room is crowding him, patting his back, squeezing his arm, telling him he looked great, getting a piece of Izuku’s freely given smile for themselves.

Everyone except Aoyama. Katsuki tears his gaze away from the spectacle that is Deku and finds Aoyama’s eyes fixed on him. He smiles and sparkles at Katsuki.

Katsuki scowls and contemplates exploding Aoyama again for causing this but Izuku is talking now, laughing about something.

“Aoyama-kun wanted me to get my ears pierced. Just one. Maybe get a red stone for an earring. But UA won’t allow that so maybe after graduation,” Izuku says with another laugh.

Katsuki realizes he’s bent the fork he has in his hand into something unusable. He goes to the kitchen to get another fork, bringing his plate of half-eaten cake with him.

He can still hear the laughter from the common area. He slams the plate down on the kitchen counter, but they're made to withstand quirk abuse and doesn’t shatter.

“Do you like my birthday gift to you, Bakugou?”

Katsuki turns and sees Aoyama, sparkling at him.

“What gift?” He asks, confused for a moment. Other than the cake and card, he didn’t get anything from his classmates.

“Sometimes it is difficult to see something if we are too close to it. It’s better if someone else rips away the veil, et voila! And you see what has always been there.”

“The fuck are you talking about?” Katsuki would be more irritated with the cryptic conversation except that he welcomes the distraction from all the giggling happening just a few meters away.

“Do you know that the entire day, our dear friend Midoriya has been talking about how amazing ‘Kacchan’ is? He was quite concerned if you would like his new look.”

Aoyama smiles again, looking both earnest and impish at the same time.

“He likes you.”

“‘Course he does,” Bakugou snaps out.

“Sometimes friends are just friends. Midoriya and I, we are bons amis. Sometimes, friends turn to lovers. It doesn’t mean they are any less friends. Or rivals. They simply become more.”

Katsuki stabs his fork into the chocolate cake, lets the dark sweetness of it cover his tongue.

“Happy birthday, Bakugou. Midoriya deserves the best, don’t you think?”

Message delivered, Aoyama leaves Katsuki.

Katsuki has always been decisive.

Unlike Izuku who mumbles and dithers with choices, trying to cover all possible angles, Katsuki is quick to choose a path and explore it.

Right now, decision made, it is easier to bear the admiring looks and constant touching happening in front of him. Izuku looks happy at least.

Half an hour past his usual bedtime, Katsuki growls out a good night. Everyone calls out their own good nights, happy birthday agains, and see you tomorrows, too used to Katsuki’s ways after 2 years of living together to protest at how early it still is.

He’s already reached the elevator doors when Izuku catches up to him.

“Can we pass by my room first, Kacchan? I have something for you,” Izuku says, the look may be new but the smile is the same warm one he’d always given Katsuki.

Katsuki pushes the number 2 button in response, still looking Izuku over.

“Where’d you get clothes that actually fit?”

“Ah, the clothes are from normal shops. It was the tailor that we had to look for. We had to get everything altered. Anything that fit me across the chest would be too long. What could fit my thighs would be too loose in the waist, and again too long,” Izuku said with a wry twist of his lips.

For all of Izuku’s nervous tics, he had never seemed particularly bothered by his height. He’s not short, per se, he’s past the average height for a Japanese man. But for a pro hero, he’s definitely on the shorter side of the field. He just barely tops Katsuki’s chin.

“So you got more of these?” Katsuki said, picking at Izuku’s shirt.

“A couple more but they’re all still with the tailor. I’m gonna go get them next weekend. Aoyama just made them finish this one set so he can show me off to everyone.”

Katsuki nudges Izuku's red shoes with his own. Izuku looks down at the contact and comes back up smiling.

"Yeah, Aoyama-kun let me keep my shoes. He said the goal is to show a more presentable side of me, not change me."

Izuku begins to tuck a curl behind his ear, realizes there is nothing to tuck and scratches the soft skin at the back of his ear instead.

Katsuki reaches out and encircles Izuku’s wrist with his fingers, pulling it away, halting the nervous gesture. Green eyes look at him in surprise.

“Don’t. You look good,” Katsuki admits. “You, this, it all looks good.”

“Oh. Thanks, Kacchan.”

There is a soft pink tingeing his freckled cheeks, more pleased than embarrassed.

The door opens and Katsuki follows Izuku to his room. It’s familiar. He’d spent hours in this room over the last 2 years; Izuku’s spent even more time in Katsuki’s.

Izuku grabs something bright colored from the desk.

“Here,” he says, holding out a small package wrapped in red and orange paper. “Happy birthday.”

Katsuki takes it, surprised. He hadn’t been expecting a gift but perhaps he should have.

“What’s this?” he asks rather inanely.

“Open it,” Izuku says, smiling at him.

Katsuki finds the flap and pulls on it, tearing the paper to expose a small rectangular box. Inside on a bed of white padding is a thin metal rectangle, the size of an ID card if a bit thicker. It’s a black matte finish with orange edging, portraying a stylized version of his hero mask.

The design is familiar. He’d seen Izuku doodle variations of it on one of his many notebooks. Katsuki hadn’t thought much about it; Izuku has been putting pieces of him on paper since they were kids.

On the flip side is inscribed his hero name in beautiful calligraphy, edged in dark green. Despite the small size, it has heft, lying heavy on his hand. A thin strap of black fine leather is looped on one corner.

It feels luxurious; the craftsmanship excellent.

“You know they can’t make merch of us yet. Officially at least. But you’re gonna be so big when you debut as pro hero, Kacchan. You’re gonna have tons of merch. I wanted to make this for you first.”

Katsuki turns the gift over in his hand, running his fingers over the smooth surface and design, feeling its weight.

“Are you really giving me my own merch?”

Izuku grins. “Tell me you’re not super pumped to see your name and colors.”

Katsuki grins back, sharp and pleased.

“Did you get one for ‘Deku’ for yourself?”

Izuku shakes his head. “No, just this.”

Katsuki rolls his eyes. Hero Deku will have just as much of an impact in the pro hero scene. But Katsuki understands, it's okay to fanboy over other heroes but not over himself.

“I can’t wear my own merch, Deku. That’s tacky. My mom would have my hide.”

Izuku laughs. “You don’t have to wear it. Just keep it somewhere. It slips in the wallet too.”

Katsuki’s fingers are still playing with the metal card, feeling the texture with his fingers.

“How about you wear it?”

Izuku blinks at him.

Katsuki walks over to the familiar backpack sitting on the desk chair. It’s easy enough to loop the leather on one of the front clasps. The black and orange design is stark against the yellow fabric.

Katsuki feels a rush of satisfaction looking at the obvious branding.

“Are you sure about this, Kacchan?”

“Why not. Maybe if you carry this with you everyday, you’ll catch up to me sooner.”

Izuku touches the metal, a small smile on his lips. “I wanted one done for me too,” he admits sheepishly.

“Of course, you did,” Katsuki says, amused. “You’d probably buy all my merch when they come out, even the limited edition ones.”

“Are you kidding? Especially the limited edition ones,” Izuku says, full grinning now.

“But Kacchan,” Izuku says, losing some of his brightness, “I won’t have a gift for you if you give this back.”

“Who says I’m giving it back? You’re just wearing it cause I can’t.”

“Tacky, I know.” Izuku says, smiling again. “Thank you, Kacchan. I hope you enjoyed your birthday.”

“Yeah, I got a good gift this year,” Katsuki says, recalling what Aoyama said, strengthening his resolve.

He’s looking at his gift right now — freckles, green eyes and a warm smile, all made up just for Katsuki.

He steps closer to Izuku, closer than is comfortable even between friends.

Izuku tips his head back, looking at Katsuki, his eyes wide with questions.

“Kacchan?”

“Actually, you could give me another gift,” Katsuki says, voice unintentionally low and raspy.

He lifts a hand, brushing his knuckles across the newly buzzed hair behind Izuku’s perfectly shaped ear, threading it through the unruly curls higher up. He feels Izuku draw in a shuddering breath, see the tip of a wet pink tongue dart out in a nervous gesture, wetting his lips.

“What gift?” Izuku asks, voice thready.

Izuku’s right hand clutches at the front of Katsuki’s shirt and he realizes he’d been slowly leaning down, leaning into Izuku’s space.

“You could give me a kiss,” Katsuki whispers and bends down to give it to himself instead.

Izuku’s lips are soft, moist, impossibly warm.

“Oh,” Izuku says softly when Katsuki pulls away.

“Yeah,” he agrees.

“Happy birthday, Kacchan.”

“So far, the best ever.”

Katsuki is surprised to find he knows when Izuku’s birthday is. He didn’t think he remembered anyone’s except for his parents.

It’s still 3 months away. Katsuki has time to get a matching pro hero Deku design made. Izuku can wear it on his backpack too. Their colors will clash horribly with the yellow but he doubts Izuku would mind.

He realizes Izuku would give him a gift every year now. And he’d have to give one back too because no way he’ll lose to Izuku. Maybe he’ll get him an earring next year, the red would look good against his green curls.

Well, Katsuki still isn’t big on birthdays. But it would be easy enough to remember Izuku’s.

___________________ Author’s Notes:  

Later, Katsuki finds out that it’s much more important to remember Inko’s birthday than her son’s. Izuku will love him no matter what but pleasing in-laws is a top priority mission. Did I research on how to dress a short, stocky man? Why, yes. Yes I did.

This fic was created for the BKDK Katsuki Birthday Exchange 2020 as a gift to Mimocha. They wanted an Ikemen!Deku for Katsuki.

[wild-battlebond]

Appmon Ep52 Liveblog

It’s the final episode! Our Singularity! There are several definitions of the word “singularity”, but the definition that best fits the episode (and entire series) is: “a hypothetical moment in time when artifical intelligence and other technologies become so advanced that humanity undergoes a dramatic and irreversible change.”

another fancy quote. this one is from Clyde Sinclair.

Haru was falling off a building but he’s fine now because Gaiamon came and grabbed him. I actually think that this shot is really cool, how the camera dips down as Haru should hit the ground but then raises back up when Gaiamon catches him.

and everyone else’s Appmon are back, too!

and now everyone else’s Appmon are getting beat up. good thing they don’t have to worry about protecting humans anymore, because this city is getting torn to pieces.

I still don’t really get why Haru holds up his hand at Leviathan (i guess it’s supposed to be like, he’s so heroic and fearless now? i think Haru has just been running off of adrenaline ever since the antenna fiasco and isn’t putting a whole lot of thought into what he does.) but everyone calling out to their Appmon, even from such a long distance, is cool.

Minerva’s dead now, but now everyone has a cool power-up! it’s basically like a reverse version of the power-up that Leviathan threw around during the Ultimate Four arc.

this fight is super cool, and really well choreographed with all of the swooping around and the solid impacts that the hits have. and they knew it was cool, too, cause the opening plays during it.

and now after all that big talk that Leviathan’s minions had about the irrelevance of feelings and what the heart wants and how logic will always prevail, Leviathan subccumbs to the raw emotion that is the fear of death. ultimately, no matter how emotionless and logical someone pretends to be, they will always be influenced by their emotions — we wouldn’t be living things without that.

aw man, I just thought of this... wouldn’t it have been cool if part of these power-ups had been fueled by an overdrive?

Leviathan’s body is destroyed now! this isn’t the end, though, but everyone thinks it is so they enjoy a nice moment of reunion and congratulations. So everyone hugs and hi-fives and stuff, Dokamon finally gets some affection, and Rei & Hackmon are just vibing!

i was gonna say something cheeky about how Yujin starts apologizing for what he’s done, but then I realized you can actually look at this as a parallel to Offmon’s profuse apologizing for some unknown deed from earlier on — the way Yujin repeats “sorry” even sounds like how Offmon would apologize.

but things are not over because Leviathan was scared of death so now Yujin is acting as a host for Leviathan’s remains.

besides the “no more fear of death” thing, I wonder why Leviathan is so enamored with the idea of a world without suffering or sadness? perhaps choosing to break away from the rules of humanity lead Leviathan to discover the depths of human suffering? maybe, like with the “no more fear” thing, Leviathan felt a bunch of negative emotions and was like “well this sucks” and decided to get rid of them?

yep, change is a really important theme in Appmon. change for the better, change for the worse — it’s what living things do

oh yeah lol then Leviathan turns that on its head and makes Haru choose between humanity and Yujin’s life.

but, in the end, to not have selected “yes” would have been extremely selfish, not to mention unprotagonist-y. looking at it as sheer numbers, there’s more value in saving lots of people instead of just one person... and, it would result in lots of people loosing those they care about. it’s one person’s valued relationship VS the valued relationships between billions of people, so of course “yes” is the best answer... really shitty of Leviathan to make Haru make that choice, though. it’s good writing.

and now Haru knows what he’s going to do in the future (and what kind of high school he’s going to apply for) — he’ll become a AI researcher so that he can try and revive Yujin after all this. it’s been only about a day since they had that conversation, after all, so it’s still fresh in his mind.

and Yujin knows that it would be horrible to make Haru willingly give up his best friend so he wakes his consciousness up and hits the button for him. so, despite Yujin not actually changing much through the series, he does finally make good on his App Drive question — he gave up his life to protect Haru. though the wording of the question made it seem like Yujin would wind up saving him from, like, physical harm, he actually winds up protecting Haru from emotional harm.

Haru’s request to Yujin to somehow come back and be his best friend again is pretty illogical (how would he do that if he’s dead), but again I think Haru is mostly just running on raw emotion rather than any actual thought throughout this episode. which is fitting, I suppose, given the themes of emotion VS logic. plus Yujin is going to be back in like five minutes so *shrugs*

also, I think this part is sweet, how the buddy pairs try to console each other... it’s especially cute how Musimon tries to wipe away Astora’s tears

and now it’s the near future and everything is getting rebuilt!

oh, the person watching the news is Unryuji Knight. i guess he doesn’t completely dissapear after the end of his arc.

oh, they actually go over the intended definition of singularity in the episode. I totally forgot since I was focused on everything else happening in the epilogue.

I can’t escape the feeling that Astora must get grounded or something sometimes after his videos. like there’s no way he gets off scot-free for breaking pots or filling ponds full of fish with slime

at this point, the first time I watched this episode I barely paid attention to the actual happenings of the epilogue because, once I realized that no Appmon were appearing, the only thing I could think was “and the Appmon? where are the Appmon?? they didn’t leave, did they???”. so this time, since I know the Appmon are still around, I’m going to pay better attention.

I’m really curious what the dissolving of L-Corp means — was everything owned by L-Corp just shut down, or did other companies get to buy up L-Corp’s subsidiaries? because it seems really coincidental that Eri would wind up working with Elena and Alice again under a completely different idol firm, so I wonder if they’re still working for Appliyama and it just got bought out by a new company?

and Grandpa Deneimon got put back in the real world. it’s never said whether everyone winds up telling their families about the Appmon or anything, so is Deneimon just living in Ai’s basement and Haru’s mom has no idea he’s still alive??

and the Appmon are still around, much to the relief of my past self! everyone’s still close friends, too — they still hang out together in the bookstore’s basement. and, they somehow managed to pull Offmon out of the wreckage of Leviathan’s body, and now Haru is careing for him. Gatchmon never really ever got over being annoyed-jealous at Offmon all the time, so I imagine that Haru’s home life must be real experience with those two around.

andddd Yujin is alive! somehow! it’s a little cheap that he magically comes back after Haru bases his future goals around losing him — generally, if you’re really going to use a death for character development, they should stay dead. But, this is a kids’ show, so I really can’t complain too much. and, soon after watching this for the first time, I did quickly cook up a theory to explain his return — since Yujin befriending Haru was so intrigal to Leviathan’s plans, it seems like there would have been a way to revive Yujin if something happened to him so that the plan could continue. so, based on the assumption that when Yujin returns home for the day and his doorway scans his memory and makes it so his mom knows what he wants to eat also makes a backup of his memory, it’s entirely possible that his mom was also saddened by his death and decided to just revive him from a backup (which would leave him without any memory of what happened the day they caught Bootmon or anything after that), using that last complete-but-unused Yujin body that was shown a few episodes ago. that’s my headcanon for what happened, anyways.

one last Haru’s birthday for the road :’)

And that’s the end of the show! I wound up really liking Appmon when I first watched it last August, to the point where I decided to rewatch it just a few months afterwards. And, lo-and-behold, I still really like it! It’s not only a really good mon-genre show, with a lot of focus on the friendships between humans and monsters, but it’s also a really interesting look at the potential bonds of people and technology. So, I’m really glad to have watched it again while doing liveblogs — and I’m proud of these liveblogs, too, since I wound up going way into depth on my thoughts and theories and headcanons for the show, so it was really fun! I’m also glad that other people have enjoyed reading these, too — ultimately, I do this just because I enjoy it, but it’s nice to know other people like it too. So, thanks for reading! And, also, if anyone wants to hear more of my thoughts on this stuff... I’m open to discuss the show at any time as well!

[inkjam-moon]

Code of Silence Ch 5 - The Party (M)

Genre: Mafia AU, light fluff, smut

Member: Min Yoongi

Word Count: 7.2K

TW: swearing, mafia talk, nipple play, biting, fingering, multiple orgasms, kind of exhibitionism

It’s been two months since you got married; almost august. Every day is much like the rest of them. You wake up, fix Yoongi breakfast, and then lay around the house, trying to keep yourself busy until you make yourself dinner, take a shower, and then go to bed. Sometimes, when you know Yoongi’s going to be home late, you relax in your room, or in the tub and play with yourself, breaking out your toys and wearing yourself out, because sometimes it’s the only thing left for you to do. You and Yoongi have gotten to know each other much better, in fact, you know almost everything about him, and you’re glad that he takes a day off here and there to spend time with you so you’re not alone.

Yoongi doesn’t like you down at the club too often, as there has been more and more trouble with the Busan gang crossing borders lately; he doesn’t want to leave you vulnerable; but today is one of the days you decided you want to go out, so now here you sit at a table, having lunch with Taehyung and Yoongi. Well, Taehyung and you are eating, Yoongi is fretting over some emails he received earlier in the day from the west end about some young thugs terrorizing a neighborhood.

“Yoongi, please eat something.” You beg, pushing his plate back toward him.

“I will in a minute.”

“You said that five minutes ago.” Taehyung states. “Come on boss, you gotta eat.”

“Fine! Fine. Jesus.” Yoongi shuts his laptop and brings his plate toward him, digging into the food you had the kitchen make for him, watching him gradually relax as he eats. 

“Better?” You ask, taking another bite of your sandwich.

He nods. “Definitely. How do you always know what I need?” He questions in amazement.

“Why do you always ask me that?” You giggle, trying to hide your smile.

“It’s because she’s your wife, she needs to know these things.” Taehyung blurts loudly, staring at something behind you.

“What are you talking about? Yoongi grumbles as you turn to see Yoongi’s mom walking up to your table.

“Oh, um h-hi!” You blurt, nudging Yoongi with your elbow to get his attention.

“Hm?” He turns to you as his mom speaks.

“Hi sweetheart! How are my three favorite troublemakers?” She asks, beaming.

“Hey mom.” Yoongi nods at her before turning back to his food.

“Hi Mrs. Min! You look nice today.” Taehyung charms, making her giggle like a schoolgirl.

“Thank you little Kim. I just wanted to remind you three about the party tomorrow night. You’ll be there, right?”

“Party?” You turn to Yoongi in question.

“Yoongi, don’t tell me you forgot to tell Y/N-ah?”

“Mom, I told you, I have work to do.”

“So much work you can’t stop by your own father’s birthday party? At your own club?”

“It’s Dad’s birthday? Why didn’t you tell me?” You pout.

“Because we’re not going.” Yoongi insists.

“Why not?” His mom demands.

“Yeah, why not?” You repeat. “I think it’ll be fun.”

“Yeah, come on Min, lighten up.” Taehyung joins in, elbowing Yoongi’s side playfully.

Yoongi drops his chopsticks, clearly aggravated. “Okay! We can go for a little bit.” He aquieces. “Can I please eat now?”

You roll your eyes and turn to Yoongi’s mom. “We’ll be there, I promise.”

“Perfect!” She exclaims as she begins to walk away. “Right after closing!” You and Taehyung wave goodbye as she disappears out the door onto the street.

“Yoongi,” You turn back to your husband. “Why don’t you want to go?”

“It’s just going to be like every other party. All of the family, and a bunch of my dad’s friends standing around, drinking soju and judging me.”

“Judging you?” Taehyung cock his head in confusion.

“Yoongi, no one’s judging you. If anything, they’ll congratulate you for doing such a good job.”

“Right…” He scoffs.

“She’s right.” Taehyung agrees. “You’re doing really well at running things.”

“Thanks Little Kim.” Yoongi sighs as he finishes the last bite of his food. “I have to get back up to my office and straighten some things out. Why don’t you go shopping?” Yoongi suggests.

“Shopping?” Now you’re the one that’s confused.

“Yeah,” Yoongi pulls his wallet out of his back pocket and hands you his sleek, black credit card. “Go buy a new dress for tomorrow night.”

“A-are you sure?” You check, hesitantly taking the card.

“Absolutely. Dress, shoes, the whole deal. Little Kim, you go with her. Buy yourself something nice, and make sure she gets something good. If we’re going tomorrow, I want to show you off a little bit to those asshole stiffs.”

“Boss, you don’t have to show me off, you already have my heart.” Taehyung coos, batting his lashes at Yoongi as he grabs the elder man’s arm.

Yoongi rolls his eyes as he shrugs Taehyung off. “Sometimes I really don’t know why you hang out with him.”

“Just for that I’m taking her to the expensive stores.” Taehyung pouts.

“Go ahead. Go wild. Buy designer.” Yoongi urges as he stands, collecting his things, leaning down to kiss you on the head before he starts to walk toward the back where his office sits. “I’m counting on you Little Kim. Make it good!” And with that he disappears around the corner. Before you can even say anything, Taehyung has tugged you up out of your seat and is rushing you out the door over towards his car.

Ten minutes later you’re walking into the Daehyun Primall, arm linked with Taehyung’s as he leads you through the doors. You’ve never been to a mall this big, usually you just go to the one down the street from your old house, but Taehyung insisted the shops here were better.

“Where should we go first?” Taehyung asks, clearly more excited for this than you are.

“I don’t know.” You shrug. “You know this place better than me.”

“Well, do you want your shoes to match your dress, or your dress to match your shoes?”

“Is… Is there a difference?”

Taehyung sighs at you. “Let’s just get started.”

Taehyung drags you into an expensive looking store, and you immediately feel uncomfortable. Everything looks fragile, and you know if you touch something you’re going to break it, so you keep your arms crossed in front of you while Taehyung whisks you around, pulling things off the rack at will and holding them up to you, either putting them back or folding them over his arm. When he’s made his selections, he ushers you into the dressing room and has you try on dress after dress, but none of them feel right to you and you quickly move onto the next store, and then the next store… and then the next store. You’re afraid you’re going to run out of stores before you find something.

It’s been four hours. As you’re walking between stores again, you happen to walk past something that catches your eye; a pair of shoes. Their beauty physically stops you in your tracks, causing Taehyung to bump into you.

“Y/N, what are you-?” He looks up into the window display and sees what’s caught your eye, smirking at your reaction. “Good choice. They’re Loubotin’s. Et voici et voila if I’m not mistaken.” You shake your head when you hear the designer name and begin to walk away. “Ah, where are you going?” Taehyung grabs your arm.

“They’re too expensive.” You mumble.

“How do you know? There’s no price?” Taehyung asks, looking back into the window. 

“They’re designer…”

“Um, were you not at lunch? Your husband specifically said to buy something designer. He gave you his card for a reason. He wants you to get something you’ll like.”

“I can find something I’ll like that’s less expensive.”

“Y/N, we’ve been here all afternoon and this is the first time you’ve even shown interest in something.”

“But Tae-”

“No buts. Come on.” Taehyung tightens his grip on your arm and drags you into the store, walking right up to the first salesperson he sees. “Excuse me, she’d like to try on the lace Loubotin’s in the window please.”

“Very well.” The associate looks down at your feet and then walks away into the back of the store. You take a seat on the bench and wait a few moments until she returns with a box of shoes. You take off your sandals and the woman slides the shoes on your feet, fastening them with care.

“How’d you know my size?” You ask, amazed that the shoes fit perfectly.

“It’s a gift.” She says, smiling at you. “Go ahead and stand up.”

You stand and walk over to the mirror, staring at the expensive shoes on your feet and how unbelievably cute they look.

“Y/N,” Taehyung groans. “Those are perfect. You have to get them!”

“You think so?”

“Plus they’re white, which means Yoongi will adore them.”

“I don’t know…” You mumble, still unsure.”

“I do know.” He turns to the saleswoman. “We’ll take them.”

“Just so you know, they cost-”

“Nope. I don’t want to know.” Taehyung leans over and grabs your wallet out of your purse, taking out Yoongi’s credit card and handing it to the woman. “Just ring them up.”

The next minute, you’re walking out of the store, expensive ass shoes in hand, your heart having palpitations from all the money you just spent, but Taehyung refused to tell you how much, and even threw out the receipt before you could look.

“Now we just need to find you a dress to go with your shoes.”

“Tae, why are we even doing this?” You ask.

“Because Yoongi told us to?”

“Yeah, but why?” You repeat as he tugs you into the next store.

Taehyung smiles at you. “Because Yoongi wants to show you off. Which means he wants you to wear something sexy to show everyone how hot you are, which means he’s probably going to fuck you tomorrow night after the party.”

You choke on the water you just took a sip of. “Are you always so crude?”

“How long have you known me?” He asks as he looks at ties.

You roll your eyes. “Too long. But Yoongi’s not going to fuck me. He doesn’t want to. If he did, he would’ve done it by now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“We’ve been married for two months, he’s had plenty of chances!”

“Aren’t you the one who said he’s slowly starting to show more skinship with you?”

“Well, yeah, but that’s different. And it’s usually just in front of people who think we’re actually in love.”

“Y/N,” Taehyung sighs as he stops looking through a rack of dress shirts, clearly exasperated. “I don’t know how I can make this any more clear. Yoongi’s fucking into you. Okay? He likes you.”

“He does not.” You insist.

“You just… You’re too close to it, you can’t see what I see.”

“And what is it that you see?”

“The way he looks at you doll. It’s the same way my parents look at each other, the way your parents looked at each other… The way you looked at those fucking shoes.” He teases. “He sent you out today so he can show you off to the world tomorrow night. He wants to show everyone what’s his and his alone.”

“...You really think so?”

“Yes. So stop questioning yourself and let’s make you look hot!”

“Alright, fine. What kind of dress?”

It took two hours to find the perfect dress, by the time you were at the register, the mall was about to close. You walk into your apartment exhausted, your bags in hand as you shut the door behind you when you are immediately wrapped in two strong arms and knocked back up against the door.

“Oof!” You recognize the cologne as Yoongi’s and stand there a bit stunned. “Yoongi…?”

He pulls back and cups your face in his hands and you look around the apartment to see Namjoon, Seokjin, Yoongi’s father and Big Kim are all present. “Where have you been? Why haven’t you answered your phone?”

“I didn’t have it with me, I think I left it at the club. What’s wrong?” Yoongi seems unable to speak as he strokes his thumb across your cheek, his eyes red and puffy as though he’s been crying, so you look elsewhere for answers. 

“We got a hit that Busan was following you to the mall.” Yoongi’s dad explains. “We checked it out and sent several of our guys down to protect you, but when they got there, they couldn’t find you or Little Kim, and when you didn’t answer your phones, we could only assume the worst.”

“Oh my god. We didn’t go to the usual place, Taehyung and I went to Daehyun. We had no idea.” You look back at Yoongi to see nothing but worry on his face. “I’m so sorry.”

“I thought they got you…” Yoongi whispers, pulling you close to press a lingering kiss against your forehead before wrapping you in a tight embrace, all for show you’re sure. 

“Well, as long as everything’s good here, we’ll head home.” Big Kim states. 

“I’m sorry to cause you so much trouble everyone.” Yoongi lets you go enough that you can bow in apology to the rest of the men in the apartment.

“It’s what we’re here for joka.” Big Kim assures you as he walks over and opens the door. “Let’s go kids.” He instructs the two younger men. “I’m sure these two have some things they’d like to do without us standing here gawking.” When the two boys still don’t move, Big Kim snaps his fingers. “Hey, let’s go.” Namjoon and Seokjin suddenly scramble to follow Big Kim out the door, Yoongi’s dad bringing up the rear. 

“I’m glad you’re safe Y/N-ah.” He offers you a smile before heading out and shutting the door behind you. 

You relax a little when they all leave until you realize Yoongi is still holding onto your waist, tightly. “Y-Yoongi.” You whisper. His gaze snaps up to meet yours. “I’m okay.” You smile softly and reach up to cup his cheek. “I’m here.”

“Right.” He immediately drops his arm. “Sorry.”

You feel a little sad at the loss of his touch. “Why don’t we get some sleep, hm? We’re going to be up late tomorrow at the party.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Yoongi nods.

“I’m going to hang my dress up, I’ll be right there.”

“You can hang it up in my closet.” Yoongi offers.

“I’ll be right down the hall.” You assure him. “Besides, I want this to be a surprise.”

“Okay, just hurry.” Yoongi nods.

You head down to your room and take out your dress, hanging it up so that it doesn’t wrinkle, and putting your box of shoes underneath before changing into your pajamas and heading back to Yoongi’s room.

Yoongi’s sitting on his bed, flipping through channels on the tv, until he sees you come in and immediately forgets what he was doing. You climb under the covers with him and he scoots right up next to you, wrapping an arm around your waist and resting his chin on your shoulder, surprising you a bit; usually he ends up cuddling you in his sleep, it’s never intentional. 

“Yoongi… Are you okay?”

“I’m just… I’m glad you’re safe.” Yoongi whispers. You can’t think of anything to say in response, so you just hum contentedly as the two of you drift off.

The next day you wake up to an empty bed and look over on the nightstand to see a note; Yoongi always leaves you one now when he goes to work before you wake up.

I’m working late so I’ll meet you at the party. I can’t wait to see you. 9 o’clock. -Yoongi

You spend the morning putting about the apartment, flipping through make up tutorials online to try and figure out what to do with your face tonight. After you eat dinner, you finally decide on something and get to work, a natural looking eye with a dark nude lip; your dress will draw enough eyes. You leave your hair down in loose waves on your shoulders. When it’s time, you shimmy into the underwear Taehyung forced you to buy yesterday. “You don’t wear a bra with this kind of dress, but you should definitely have some cute underwear to balance it out!” Was his excuse. Then you slide into your dress, a white floor length, skin tight halter top with a low back, a deep v neck, and a mermaid bottom. You swear this thing cost more than your wedding dress. You sit on your bed and slip your shoes on before standing and taking a look at yourself in the mirror. 

Somethings missing. You open up your jewelry box and dig through until you find them; your mother’s favorite dangling pearl earrings and one lone pearl strung on a low hanging silver necklace, the pearl itself settling right between your cleavage. You quickly put the jewelry on before taking another look in the mirror. Perfect. You grab your clutch before heading out, locking the apartment behind you and heading down to the curb where Taehyung is waiting for you.

He whistles when he sees you come out of the building. “Damn doll, you look smoking!” He hollers at you as you walk up and open the door.

“Shut up.” You roll your eyes as you get in. The two of you listen to music as Taehyung drives to the club. It’s not a far drive, maybe ten minutes, but the entire time you’re fussing with your boobs. Taehyung parks the car and you both hop out and you walk toward the club’s back entrance. “This feels wrong.” You complain, still messing with your dress. “Something’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong.” Taehyung smacks your hands away from your chest. “It looks sexy.”

“I feel like I’m going to have a nip slip.” You whine.

“I told you to buy dress tape, but you didn’t listen to me.” Taehyung reminds you. “But you’re supposed to show a little side boob.” He stops and adjusts your dress for you, making the fabric sit just right on your breasts. “There. Better?”

“Maybe…” You huff. “Why is it that you can do these things and I can’t?”

“I’ve had a lot more experience taking off and putting on clothes than you have.” You roll your eyes at the smirk plastered on Taehyung’s face and walk away from him. “Come on, that was funny!” He calls after you, running after you as you open the door.

“Why didn’t we go in the front door?” You ask as you walk down the long back hallway, past Yoongi’s office and the kitchen to the dining room doors.

“Because we always come in this way, it’s more dramatic.”

“Whatever, let’s just go.” You state, pushing open the door and walking into the room. 

It’s already filled with people, you look at your phone to see it’s 9:15; you’re late, but just barely. You look around to see if you can spot your husband, but you can’t find him until Taehyung nudges your side and points at the bar where you see Yoongi slumped over, staring at his beer, a bit dejectedly. Is something the matter?

“He’s probably just waiting for you.” Taehyung whispers, reading your mind. “Go get him, I’ll meet up with you later when you’re ready to leave.” You nod and feel Taehyung’s hand leave your back as he disappears into the crowd. You straighten yourself up and head over to the bar, tapping Yoongi on the shoulder.

“Is this seat taken handsome?” You coo.

He holds up his left hand, not even looking at you and fiddles with his wedding ring. “Married. Thanks.”

“I know.” You giggle. This causes Yoongi to look up at you, his eyes going wide when he realizes it’s you, they grow even wider when he takes in the sight of you in the skin tight dress. 

“Holy shit…” He mumbles, not even trying to hide his hungry eyes raking over your body before they meet yours again. “Y/N, you look amazing.”

“Good enough to show off?” You ask.

“Perfect.” Yoongi finishes his beer and the orders you a drink before wrapping his arm around your waist and whisking you around to show you off. You meet several official looking businessmen that are apparently investors of your lifestyle as they back the family before you run into Yoongi’s dad.

“Happy birthday!” You cheer, giving him a hug.

“Thank you so much Y/N-ah.” He smiles wide.

“I got you something while I was out yesterday, I hope you don’t mind?” You ask, taking the carefully wrapped package out of your clutch, still unsure as to how you got it to fit in there, even after you took it out of the box.

“Well, I’m not going to say no to a present!” He claps his hands excitedly as you hand him the gift which he quickly tears into. 

“I heard Yoongi saying you needed a new one.” You explain as he takes the watch out of the wrapping. “I hope you like it.”

He admires the beauty of the new watch and beams at you before fastening it to his wrist where the tan line of his old watch sits. “It’s beautiful joka, thank you. What an amazing daughter-in-law!” He says, a little louder than normal, obviously trying to impress someone nearby, and apparently it works. A tall, muscular, and rather intimidating man walks over to your small circle.

“What are you barking about Min?” He asks, slapping Yoongi’s dad on the back.

“Look,” He holds out his wrist. “My wonderful daughter-in-law gave this to me!”

“Ah, the elusive Choi girl is finally here?”

“She’s a Min now Hanbin.” He gestures to you. “This is her. Y/N, this is one of my oldest friends, Park Hanbin.”

“Pleasure.” Hanbin sticks his hand out for you to shake, but when you do, a chill runs down your spine. Something about this guy seems off.

“The pleasure’s mine.” You smile sweetly as he looks you over, pursing his lips.

“Yoongi.” He nods at Yoongi before glancing at you again. “You seem to be doing well for yourself.”

“Always good to see you Mr. Park.” Yoongi nods back, protectively tightening his grip on your waist.

“Well,” He turns back to Yoongi’s dad. “Afraid I have to cut out early. The misses is calling.”

“You better run home.” Yoongi’s dad jokes, clearly having delved into the liquor quite a bit already.

“I’ll see you next time.” He shakes Yoongi’s dad’s hand and then Yoongi’s. “It was nice to finally meet you Y/N. I’ll see you around I’m sure.” He gives you a sly smile and then walks away, disappearing into the fray.

“Yoongi, there’s a few more people you two should meet.” Yoongi’s dad states, ushering you both in the direction of the bar.

You meet about twenty more people, including Namjoon and Seokjin’s mom and dad; honestly, you didn’t know the two were brothers they’re so different; but after you escape and have a few more drinks, you find yourself out on the dancefloor with Yoongi. You arms are wrapped around his neck and his around your waist as you both sway slowly. A few songs in, you decide to ask the question lingering in the back of your mind.

“Yoongi, how does your dad know Hanbin?”

“Mr. Park? They grew up together. They were friends all through high school.”

“Does he… Does he know about-”

“The family business?” Yoongi shakes his head. “As far as he knows, my parents are just happily retired.”

“How did he know my last name?”

Yoongi ponders this for a moment, then shrugs. “My dad probably mentioned your family once or twice as friends, that’s all. He wasn’t around to be able to come to the wedding, otherwise you would’ve met him there.” You simply nod, something about than man bothered you, but you can’t put your finger on it. Yoongi seems to sense your discomfort. “Y/N, what’s wrong?”

“Hm? Oh, nothing, I-” You look around for an excuse when you see several pairs of eyes around the room staring at you.”

“Everyone’s just… T-they’re all staring.” You mumble.

“Because you look amazing Y/N-ah. If I was them, I’d be staring too. Your ass looks incredible in that dress.” He suddenly stops moving as he realizes what he said, the alcohol clearly having an effect on him tonight, and you can’t help but giggle.

“You think so?”

“Definitely.” He nods, his cheeks turning pink as he starts to sway again.

“Well I have to say, I’ve always liked the look of you in a fitted suit.” You admit.

“Really?” Yoongi looks a bit shocked by your confession.

“Yoongi, do you not realize how handsome you are?”

“Me? Uh… Not really. Taehyung’s way more handsome than me.”

You shake your head. “You’re different kinds of handsome.” Yoongi looks at you, confused so you explain. “Taehyung is goofy handsome. You’re quietly handsome.”

“I’m… I guess that makes sense.”

“You’re hot stuff Yoongi, just accept it.”

Yoongi chuckles. “If you say so.”

“I do.” You confirm before resting your head on his shoulder. You sway for a bit longer before you hear Yoongi’s voice, low in your ear.

“You’re beautiful…” He whispers, making you shoot back up in surprise as a shiver runs through you.

“R-really?” You stutter. He nods, his gaze flickering between your eyes and your lips.

Are you drunk or does Yoongi want to kiss you right now? Your eyes flash down to his lips, catching a glimpse of his tongue flicking out to wet them and suddenly your head is spinning with arousal. One of Yoongi’s hands comes up to cup your cheek, his thumb brushing your skin before he pulls you close, pressing his lips to yours for the first time since your wedding.

His lips are just as soft as you remember, but they feel needier now than they did before. He quickly tilts his head to deepen the kiss, filling your senses with bliss until he pulls away, both of you suddenly out of breath. Yoongi searches your face, looking for some sort of emotion, but all you can do is smile shyly as you look away and blush. Yoongi looks like he’s about to say something, but he’s interrupted by a voice from behind you.

“Y/N-ah! It’s getting late, are you guys ready to head home?” Taehyung asks, slinging his arms around your and Yoongi’s shoulders. 

“Yes.” Yoongi nods quickly. “We’re ready.”

“Perfect. I’m parked out back, let’s go.” Taehyung walks away, and Yoongi grabs your hand, tugging you along after him. You grab your clutch from behind the bar, say goodnight to everyone and then head out the back door, but as you go to sit up front with Taehyung, Yoongi stops you and pushes you into the backseat before climbing in with you and shutting the door, never letting go of your hand. 

“What am I, your chauffeur?” Taehyung asks as he pulls out into traffic.

“Just drive.” Yoongi grumbles. As you drive he squeezes your hand in between both of his, rubbing the back of it with his thumb, you can’t help but stare at his long slender fingers, entranced by the way they move until one of his hands starts pulling at the fabric of your dress, hiking it up until he can slip his hand under the fabric onto your bare high, your breath hitches as his fingers move closer and closer to your center before quickly slipping under the lace.

You feel him hesitate for just a second before his fingers find your clit, making your gasp and slap your hand over your mouth. Yoongi’s not even looking at you, but man is he paying attention; every little twitch of his fingers that makes you whimper, he memorizes and uses it against you until finally he sinks two of those long slender fingers into your core as a whine slips past your lips.

You catch Taehyung’s gaze in the mirror and he raises an eyebrow, but you shake your head and turn your gaze out the window, your face flushed red. Your breathing picks up as the hand that isn’t covering your mouth reaches out and grabs Yoongi’s thigh, squeezing it tightly as you silently beg him to stop, but he ignores you, curling his fingers up into your g spot. You can’t help the gasp that slips past your lips as you bend over, grabbing Yoongi’s arm and stopping his motions just as Taehyung pulls up in front of your building.

Yoongi quickly slips his fingers out of you, popping them in his mouth as he opens the door and steps out of the car. You have to stop for a moment and give yourself a reality check. Did that just happen? You tug your dress down as Taehyung opens the door for you. Did Yoongi just finger you? Out of nowhere?

Before you even realize it, Yoongi has your arm and is walking you toward your building. You wave goodbye to Taehyung, who is nice enough to wait until you get into your building to drive away. You and Yoongi step into the elevator, and suddenly it’s quiet; the only thing you hear is the pounding of your heart in your ears. Now he chooses to  be completely silent?

Yoongi still has a hold of your hand as he walks out of the elevator and punches the code into the keypad, unlocking the door and leading you into your apartment. The two of you stand in the entryway after he shuts the door and take your shoes off, but after they come off, you can’t bring yourself to move. What the hell happened in the car? And why isn’t he saying anything now? Did you do something wrong? Did you- Mmph!

Yoongi pushes you back up into the wall and plants his lips back on yours, grabbing your hips and pulling you close to his body. The sudden action takes you by surprise, but you don’t waste a second in kissing him back, tugging at his dress shirt to get him closer to you. Yoongi’s hands slip around to your back, caressing your skin as his tongue slips into your mouth for the first time; he tastes like you. His kisses only grow more and more needy as you stand pinned between him and the wall until he reaches his hands down and grabs your ass, squeezing it tightly, causing you to moan and break the kiss.

Yoongi doesn’t even stop, his lips trail to your neck, leaving hot, wet kisses against your throat. You gasp with each touch of his lips against you, your nerves electrified as your arousal swirls in the pit of your stomach, your panties already soaked through. Is this it? Is this really happening? Are you finally going to have sex with Yoongi?

“Y-Yoongi…” You whimper.

This causes Yoongi to stop, his forehead resting on your shoulder as he catches his breath. “Shit…” He curses. “Y/N-ah, I’m so sorry I… I should’ve asked in the car and I-”

“Don’t apologize, please.”

“We don’t have to… I mean. I feel like I’m- You can say no.”

“Yoongi.” You grab his face and force him to look at you. “I-I want this. I need this, I want… I want you, please.” You beg.

That’s all it takes. Suddenly you’re being pulled into Yoongi’s room, the door is shut behind you and his lips are back on yours. Yoongi is uncontrollably needy now, his lips are all over you; your own lips, your neck, your shoulder; and his hands are following close behind; caressing your neck, your back, your hips, your ass, pulling you as close to him as he possibly can. His tongue slips back into your mouth as his hands slide down to your chest, groping you over your dress before pulling back in surprise.

“No bra?”

“You don’t wear a bra with this type of dress.” You repeat Taehyung’s words, smirking at Yoongi.

“Then I’m glad you bought it.”Yoongi smiles back, bringing his hands to your back and unzipping the dress before reaching up to the clasp around your neck, undoing it, and letting the fabric fall to the floor. “You looked sexy as hell tonight.” He groans, walking you over to the bed, letting your knees hit the mattress before you fall back, Yoongi falling on top of you, his knees on either side of you as his lips latch back to yours. “It took everything in me to keep my hands off of you.”

“Why’d you try so hard?” You tease. Yoongi pauses and climbs off you, standing up. Wait, you didn’t want him to stop. “Yoongi-”

“Because I didn’t know you wanted it this badly.” Now it’s his turn to smirk as he shrugs off his jacket, never taking his eyes off your body as he takes off his tie and starts to unbutton his shirt.

“You didn’t ask.” You sit up and pull him to you by the hem of his shirt and start to help him with the buttons, staring up at him, admiring the way his hair falls into his eyes at this angle, making him seem more mischievous than normal.

When you get his shirt undone, you part the fabric and your hands explore his toned abdomen, loving the pale translucence of his skin tone, until your hands find the waistband of his dress pants, meeting his gaze for permission. He nods, ever so slightly and you smile before unbuttoning then and pulling down the zipper, you’re about to grab the waistband when Yoongi pushes you down on the bed, drops his pants and then scoots you back, climbing on the bed between your legs before his lips find your neck again, leaving hot kisses along your skin before he reaches your collarbone and decides to bite down, sending pleasure sparking through your body.

“Yoongi…” You gasp.

“Does that feel good?”

“Mm.” You nod, blushing. “I-I like to be bit.”

“Lucky for you, I like to bite.” He leans back down and bites you again on your shoulder, then your neck, then your chest, then he slides down to your breasts, squeezing them tightly before biting down harshly on the top of each of them, causing you to let out a small moan.

Yoongi then flicks one of your nipples before pulling the other into his mouth, sucking on it harshly before tugging on it with his teeth, causing your back to arch off the bed from pleasure.

“A-Ah~ Oh god…” You whimper, your hands gripping the sheets. While his mouth stays on your breasts, one of Yoongi’s hands slips down between your thighs, touching you over your panties again.

“God, you’re still so wet.” He muses, pushing the soaked lace out of the way and touching you directly, his fingers deftly slipping into your folds and circling your clit.

“Y-Yoong-i.” You whine, your hips bucking up into his hand.

“What’s got you so worked up Y/N-ah?”

“I-I-”

“You just want to be touched, don’t you?” He teases, tracing his fingers around your entrance.

“Y-yes.” You moan, trying to get him to slip the digits inside you, but instead he pulls away. You whine as the loss of sensation until he grabs your underwear and yanks them down your legs, allowing you to catch a glimpse of his hardness in his tight boxers until he starts to play with his own waistband, but then changes his mind.

"You're so beautiful." He mumbles, laying at your side as he presses his lips to your neck, spreading your legs before slipping those two fingers from the car back into your core. Your head falls back against the mattress as Yoongi's fingers curl inside you, rubbing right against your g spot and making your head spin. Suddenly, you feel your release creeping up on you at a rapid pace, and it only takes a few more well placed thrusts of his fingers before you come undone, your body quivering at his touch. He coasts you through your orgasm the best he can with the way your thighs squeeze together.

"God, you're even more beautiful when you cum." Yoongi groans, sitting back up and grabbing his boxers. He takes a deep breath and pushes them down his legs, revealing his length; you watch it bounce as he throws his boxers to the floor, your mouth watering at the sight.

He follows your gaze and blushes before scooting up between your legs, his long cock brushing your folds, making your shiver with anticipation. “Um. It’s… It’s been a while for me so I don’t know how long I’ll last.” He admits.

“It’s okay.” You smile up at him with a small giggle. “It took me, what. Two minutes?”

He chuckles as he leans over you, giving you one last lingering kiss before he pushes his hips forward. You gasp harshly as Yoongi’s cock slips inside you, not having been stretched out for a while, there’s a slight burn, but it feels oh so delicious. Yoongi holds his breath, only letting it out in short pants when he’s completely seated inside you.

“H-holy shit.” He groans. “You already- Are… Are you always this tight?”

You can only whine in response, wrapped up in the feeling of him inside you, your core contracting in pleasure. You wrap your legs around Yoongi’s waist, urging him to move by digging your heels into his back. He gets the message and pulls his hips back before quickly snapping them into you, making the two of you simultaneously moan out. After that, Yoongi can’t hold back. He thrusts into you over and over, moaning and groaning above you, filling you up so wonderfully. One of your hands grips his shoulder for support, the other finds purchase in his hair, tugging on his dark black locks in pleasure.

“F-feels so good.” You whimper. “Yoongi…”

He grunts in your ear, resting his forehead on your shoulder as he picks up his pace, slamming into you relentlessly, causing a lewd squelching sound between your legs from just how wet you are. You’ve been waiting for this for so long, the anticipation alone has you a mess, but it’s even better than you imagined, better than you ever dreamt. You whine with each thrust, your breasts bouncing as sweat forms on your body.

Yoongi’s not faring much better; his hair is damp, his chest sticky where it presses against yours. He sits back on his knees and plunges into you even deeper, hitting spots inside you that have you seeing stars. You study him; the way his chest heaves, the way his muscles ripple, the way his arm veins pop out, the way his eyes close, the way his brow furrows in concentration; you’ve never seen him look this sexy before, but it turns you on like nothing else, your core contracting harshly around Yoongi’s length, causing him to gasp as his hips stutter.

“Fuck, I-I’m not going to l-last.”

“Yoongi p-please…” Yoongi takes a deep breath, slowing down his thrusts to make them intentional, purposeful, wiggling his hips around until he finds your spot. “Oh god, right there!” You moan. “Fuck~”

“Cum for me Y/N. Please.” Yoongi begs, thrusting into your g-spot over and over. To help, Yoongi slips a hand between your bodies, circling your clit harshly, causing your release to hit you sooner than expected.

“Y-Yoongi!” You cry out, your back arching off the bed as you orgasm harshly, your core spasming around his cock as your body shudders beneath him.

“Oh god, ohh fuck~” Yoongi curses, riding out your orgasm before quickly pulling out and stroking himself to release on your lower abdomen, some of the hot white mess dripping down into your folds.

Yoongi sits back on his knees, his chest heaving as he tries to catch his breath while you’re still slightly out of it from your own orgasm. Yoongi quickly climbs off the bed and pulls on his boxers before heading into the bathroom. You lie on the bed, still trying to process if this was real or not when Yoongi comes back with a damp washcloth. He cleans up the mess he made between your thighs before throwing the cloth into the laundry basket as he walks to his dresser. He pulls out a t shirt and tosses it to you before climbing into bed with you, just watching as you lay down.

You turn and look at him. “ Is everything okay?” You ask.

“Um, was that… I’m sorry. Are you- Did I-” He sighs before laying on his back. “Nevermind.”

You scoot over to him and lay your head on his chest before wrapping your arms around his waist. “It was great.” You assure him. You can feel him relax under you before he pulls you close, burying his face in your hair, humming happily, and it isn’t long after that that you drift off.

When you wake up the next morning, the bed next to you is empty. You frown a bit as you stretch. You had hoped Yoongi wouldn't immediately head off to work, but you guess some things can't be helped. You sit up and are about to get out of bed when the door to Yoongi's room opens. You look over to see Yoongi coming in with a tray in his hands, dressed in a t shirt and sweats. When he sees you're awake he smiles.

"M-morning." He mumbles walking over to the bed and sitting down in front of you, placing the tray down between the two of you.

"Good morning." You smile sweetly at him. "You're not at work?" You ask looking down at the tray as your stomach rumbles; omurice, and it looks amazing.

"I decided to stay home. I wanted to make you breakfast, a-and i thought maybe we could spend the day together? We haven't for a while s-so... yeah..."

"That sounds great." You nod and grab a fork before digging in. "And this looks amazing. I didn't know you could cook!"

"I can sometimes I guess. I just.. wanted to make something for you."

"What's the occasion?"

"It's a t-thank you. For last night..." He admits, scratching his neck as he avoids your gaze.

You pause and look at him for a moment, swallowing before you say something. "You're... thanking me for... Sex?"

“I-I didn’t want you to think I just did it because I was drunk. I’ve- Well, I’ve wanted to for a while I just didn’t… I didn’t know how to ask.”

“Really?” You smile up at him.

“Are you kidding? Do you know how often you turn me on? Walking around in your little shorts and no bra? Helping you get out of the tub?” He smirks. “I should’ve asked sooner, but I think the alcohol made me braver.”

“I’m glad it did.” You say, taking another bite. "So what did you want to do today?"

"I was thinking um... maybe we could stay in bed and watch movies?" He suggests.

You can't help but giggle. "Are we actually going to watch the movies?"

"That depends." He smirks.

"On what?"

"If you're going to need a break or not."

You laugh full out now. "Can I at least finish breakfast?"

Yoongi nods, taking a bite for himself. "You'll need your strength."

Copyright © Inkjam-Moon 2019

[anonsally]

Days 55-58 of COVID-19 shelter-in-place

I am having a hard time keeping up. 

Day 55 was Mother’s Day. Wife baked banana bread! (which is sort of a big deal because she used to bake all the time but has not baked in at least a year due to feeling overwhelmed...) It turned out very nicely--though really it was more of a banana cake baked in a brownie pan, rather than a loaf pan. I picked some flowers from our garden and we wrote a card and then drove over to my parents’ house. We spent maybe 90 minutes or so hanging out in the backyard with my parents, seated a safe distance apart. My mother liked the flowers and the banana bread, and it was lovely to spend some time together--but the weather was much hotter than I was expecting. My brother also called (video call) and so we all got to chat with him, too.

We went home in time for my dance class, which was fun. (My mom took the class too!) I did one really good inversion (handstand) in which my hips got all the way over my hands! That’s something I only achieve once every few months, even though most of my dance classes have inversions. So I was pleased with myself. 

I managed to do some Adulting as well, so all in all it was a good day.

Day 56: Although it was sunny when I woke up, it clouded over and got very cold, and it rained much of the afternoon. Rain. In May. We were all outraged--that’s totally against the rules in California.

Work was okay--we had our group meeting, and various people gradually dropped out of it as we finished discussing projects they’re involved in, until there were only 4 of us left. We had a funny video-meeting experience: when one of the 4 left, my coworker said “Did you see that?! Someone walked across behind him! At his house! I think it was a woman! He must have a girlfriend!” I was very disappointed that I hadn’t noticed, and then our boss said “Oh, yeah, she moved out there with him when he left here, she lived in Marin” and we were gobsmacked... how did our boss know this when we did not?! how did we not know he had a girlfriend when he was still living here?! (In fact, he had mentioned his “friend in Marin” many times, but we had all assumed it was a dude, not a woman he was romantically involved with!) Anyway, after my boss left the meeting, the coworker and I caught up a bit--the first time we’d spoken one-on-one since the shelter-in-place started, so that was nice. And then we made some progress on a work thing. 

Later, I had a video coffee break with @llamapunk, who enjoyed the gossip. But she also told me that a guy who I vaguely knew at work had had a bike accident and is unconscious in the hospital.

After work, I talked to a dance friend who told me she’d been contacted by a woman we had been friendly with a few years ago when she was coming to dance classes, who has lost her husband to COVID-19. He was in his early 40s, I think, and had no underlying conditions, so it’s really shocking in addition to being tragic, and the poor woman is having to deal with this grief (and not having been able to be at his side in the hospital or even to visit him at all) during a lockdown so she can’t get emotional support from people who are physically there. They didn’t have any kids and weren’t living with anyone else. It’s really heartbreaking.

I didn’t leave the house that day--the weather was too terrible--but I did do a lot of Adulting. Maybe hearing about all these tragic things made me need to feel a bit more in control of my surroundings.

Day 57: Dance class in the morning! It wasn’t very strenuous, though. But starting next week, it will be 15 minutes longer, so that might help. In the early afternoon, Wife and I drove to downtown near my office--Wife was dropping off a computer for repair, and we picked up lunch at the taco place where I normally buy lunch at least a couple times per week. TACOS! We came home and ate and I was SO happy!!

Wife had a job interview. It went well and she has her second one with the same company on Friday morning. Fingers crossed! 

We did a bunch of Adulting. I took a very short walk after work, during which I think I saw another spotted towhee. I stopped at Trader Joe’s on my way home and managed to buy some facial tissue! 

In the evening, Wife finally finished Breath of the Wild! I’m not sure what game is next, but she won’t start till at least Friday, because tomorrow is her D&D night.

Day 58: I have been going to bed ridiculously late pretty much every day. So it was a struggle to get up this morning for ballet. But I did it. Ballet class was hard work. I think by the end of this shelter-in-place, I will be stronger, but probably less fit in the cardiovascular/aerobic sense.

Afterwards, I did some long overdue scrubbing of the shower, and then after lunch I went grocery shopping for my parents. I’m not sure why it was more difficult today than it has been in past weeks, though. The parking lot was a zoo, even though in past weeks there were always spaces available. Lots of people had parked badly, making it difficult to get in and out. Then it was sort of drizzling while I waited in line. Inside the store, it was a bit crowded, though perhaps no worse than usual. But when I left, it was out-and-out raining. Which, again. It’s May. I was not dressed for rain. 

Still, I had a nice chat with my dad when I dropped off his groceries, and I had bought some very pretty sunflowers to bring home. 

When I got back, I had a very late start to my workday and did not get very much done. However, a college friend of mine introduced me over email to a science journalist who wanted help interpreting his county’s benchmarks for reopening. So I spent some time looking at the county’s website about it and trying to explain it.

I took a leisurely walk after work, and saw some nice gardens and flowers, plus an Anna’s hummingbird, a crow hassling a bird of prey, and a very cute floofy puppy.

Wife had ordered some clippers, which finally arrived today. So she cut her own hair! It doesn’t look too bad. The back is a bit of a mess, but that won’t matter for a video call! 

I am very fortunate that I happened to get my hair cut just 3 days before the shelter-in-place started. I normally get a haircut approximately every 6 weeks, so it’s definitely getting a bit shaggy, but I don’t think I would dare try to cut it myself... even though it might be a long wait for the day I can return to my hairdresser. Well, we’ll see how bad it gets. I hate how I look with long hair, but it’s only barely at the bottom of my ears now.

Stay safe, everyone.

[purplesurveys]

851

How have you been feeling lately? Have you been doing ok? Uncomfortable because of period cramps and the heat WHICH IS STILL HERE, even though it’s supposed to be gone right about now and it’s supposed to be raining at this point. I wish I was kidding saying this but we literally have three electric fans turned on just for the living and dining rooms. It’s crazy and stupid and it shouldn’t be this hot anymore. I’m doing better mentally and emotionally, so at least that balances things out lol.

Are you currently in quarantine? Still am. While all countries are slowly going back to normal, our Covid cases continue to get higher and higher everyday because our government hasn’t done anything except to make us stay home for three months. No mass testing, no alternate public transport plans, and for some reason Duterte keeps borrowing billions of dollars’ worth of loans from the World Bank nearly every week, and we have no idea where the stupid fucking money goes. Our government is convinced they’ve been doing everything right so they’ve loosened up quarantine protocols, so with malls and restaurants being open again we’ve done nothing but reach record high cases almost every day.

Do you wear a mask when you go to the store? I’ve gone outside a total of three times since March and I wore a mask for two of those times. The first time I went out I just genuinely forgot to bring a mask, but in the end it was fine because I only had to stay in the car.

Does your state require people to wear masks in stores? As far as I know it’s not a requirement per se, but fortunately everyone follows the safety precautions anyway.

Do you know anyone who’s had the coronavirus? Yeah, my mom’s former boss. This is a bit of a stretch but I also know someone personally who had immediate family members that tested positive.

What was the last sweet treat you ate? I had a peanut butter doughnut from J.CO! Soooooooo good.

Was it a nice day out today? No, it’s too hot. Even if life was normal rn I’d prefer to be indoors with air conditioning, like a mall.

Is the weather nice where you live usually? Fuck no. It is disgustingly hot, sticky, and humid 3/4 of the year.

What was the last thing you ordered online? I don’t do a lot of online shopping. When I get something online it’s usually to get food delivered, and the last time I did that it was me and Andrew getting Hong Kong noodles.

Are you expecting a package right now? Nopes.

Have you ever ordered anything from Wish? If so, what did you buy, and did you feel it was worth it? No, though I remember Good Mythical Morning featuring it in a couple of episodes. I don’t feel comfortable buying from stores or sellers that sell things for a lot cheaper because they could always be fake, so I wouldn’t feel comfortable buying from that site.

Are you a youtuber? If so, are you consistent with uploads? and how many subscribers do you have? I’m not, but I do have my own channel. I just use it to like videos and subscribe to my favorites, though.

What is one thing you hate about summer? The weather. Honest to goodness I’d really rather live somewhere that gave me -40C weather everyday.

Did you go outside today? No. My dad wanted to bring Cooper to my grandma’s place and I planned to come along, but at the last minute he changed his mind and did just the errands he was supposed to do.

What is the name of your youtube channel, if you have one? It’s just my full name because my YouTube is linked to my Google account.

What was the name of the last store or restaurant that overcharged you? I don’t know any instances where that would happen. I don’t find service charge inconvenient because I know that directly goes to the servers anyway so I don’t mind how high it gets most of the time. Is your room more often messy or clean? It’s clean most of the time but sometimes when I’m busy I won’t be able to keep it clean and it’ll be clean-messy? Like I’ll leave stuff around but I’ll still know where everything is lol.

Who is someone you miss? ALL MY FRIENDS BRUH

What is something you miss? Being able to go out and freely do activities. Life Pre-COVID < Life pre-COVID, perfectly put. I miss getting an allowance, being out until midnight, having dates with my girlfriend thhe most.

Do you feel like your emotions are often haywire? Not necessarily, but they can get pretty unstable sometimes.

Have you ever received a misdiagnosis from a doctor? Nah but I’ve been given a prescription that didn’t work. We went to our family doctor who made me take a certain medicine for three days, and I started getting worried when three days had passed and I still had my fever. I went to Angela’s mom and she was super quick to tell me that that medicine wasn’t the right one to take for a UTI and prescribed me with something else; and that second one ended up working like magic.

Have you ever been “diagnosed” with a mental illness from an online friend? who is not a doctor? If yes, isn’t that frustrating? That’s never happened before, but if it did I wouldn’t let my frustration get the best of me. I’d just tell them that they should avoid doing that if they’re not a professional because they could very much end up seriously harming people.

Do you have any friends that you can trust and tell everything to? All of them.

What was the name of your favorite roommate you’ve had? Kimi :)

Do you have a favorite book that you’ve read multiple times? Yeah when I was a kid I would reread this book that an aunt had given me for Christmas as much as I could. For many years I forgot the title but after painstakingly Googling the few keywords I could remember I finally found out it again – it’s a series called Three Girls in the City by Jeanne Betancourt, but I only ever read the first book because it was the only gift I got. It’s not my favorite book, but I’d be so happy if I got to be reunited with it again because I don’t think we got to keep it around when we moved houses.

What’s one book or book series that you’ve read multiple times? ^ That, multiple wrestling memoirs, and Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. I’ve also reread the Twilight Saga once.

What was the name of the funniest kid you’ve ever babysat? I never babysat anyone other than younger relatives, but the one I enjoyed taking care of the most was my cousin Lucas. He was the smartest kid I babysat so it was fun talking to him, plus his yaya was always nice to me, they had a playground and sandbox at home, and all I had to do was keep him company while he watched Thomas and Friends over and over.

Do you enjoy babysitting? Just the younger relatives that were smarter and more behaved. I didn’t like the kids who thought kicking and being rowdy were fun.

Do you have any big regrets? One big one.

Are there things about your past that bother you? Of course. My entire childhood is one.

What was the last thing you saw or read on social media that made you angry? OMG get ready for this one. Our dumb as a rock presidential spokesperson was talking about how happy he is that the country beat UP’s (my school, which the government hates because we always talk shit about them lol) prediction of 40,000 Covid cases by the end of June if the government doesn’t do anything to prevent more cases. How many cases do we have? Fucking 36,000. Our government is happy because they finally beat our school over something for the very first time and they are technically happy that we got 36,000 cases, which if you round up will give you 40,000 anyway. My school had a fucking FIELD DAY over it and now he is a national meme.

Do you often post about controversial topics on facebook? At first I didn’t but that’s because I wasn’t active on Facebook in the past anyway. After I realized that I had a bigger friends list on Facebook I decided to put it to good use and post about controversial topics to educate others. It’s made a bunch of conservative family members uncomfortable and that’s the goal, son. 

Do you think it’s a good idea to post about serious topics on social media? or do you think that it’s better to discuss serious topics in person? It definitely is. In person is good too but you don’t always get that opportunity, so sharing stuff through social media doesn’t hurt too as long as information is accurate. For instance most of my relatives life far from me, so if I want them to get a piece of my mind about Trump or BLM or abortion, sharing informative graphics and tables is always convenient.

What was your favorite book you had to read for school? Without Seeing the Dawn by Stevan Javellana is my absolute favorite. It’s probably the closest thing to being my favorite book. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry is a good runner-up. On the other hand, Dekada ‘70 by Lualhati Bautista is my favorite that was written in Filipino.

Have you ever failed a class and had to repeat it? Nope. I really believe I was meant to fail algebra in my freshman year in high school because I failed every exam, but I think my teacher just took pity on me and gave me a barely-passing mark at the end of the year so that I didn’t have to go to summer school. As for college, I’ve never failed a class.

What class in school did you hate the most? In college I hated my economics elective. I still don’t know why that’s mandatory for us journ students... I also dreaded a couple of journalism classes, but it was more because of the teachers than the classes’ topics.

Have you ever wanted to be a teacher? I don’t think so.

What’s one childhood dream that has stuck with you, and one that has not? Having a big house; becoming a firefighter.

Would you want to re-live your childhood over again if you could? I’ve already said it on this survey, but: fuck no. I’m ok where I am now, even if I am a clumsy adult.

Which do you like more: being an adult or being a kid? Being an adult. Being a kid meant having to stomach the smell of hard alcohol and cigarettes from morning to evening everyday; being caught in the middle of screaming matches between drunk relatives; and being cramped in a single-floor home with 12 people. Like I said, I love where I am now. The amount of independence I gained in college was freeing and felt so nice and I’m glad my parents never tried holding me back. I’m also glad that I didn’t fall into the same alcohol trap, and that I know how to deal with my alcohol responsibly.

At what age were you when you started to feel like you were mature enough to offer others advice? Around college-age, so like when I turned 18.

Did your parents smoke or drink when you were growing up? Neither of them did, because we had enough alcoholism happening at my old home. It was actually my drunken relatives that finally drove my mom out of that house.

Do you enjoy bonfires? I’ve only been to one and I was like 9 years old then, so I wouldn’t know how I feel about them now.

Have you ever stepped on a sparkler? Nope.

What, do you know of, are you allergic to? No allergies.

Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? Also nopes. I always feel bad for the ambulances that I see because I live in a very traffic-heavy city and they always end up getting stuck and crawling through traffic like the rest of us. We do try to swerve, but our roads are so tiny and always cramped that there’s little space left for us to move out of the ambulance’s way, so even though we’re able to make a path for it, the space is not big enough for the ambulance to drive in the speed it’s supposed to.

What is your favorite version of the Bible to read, if applicable? That’s a big no thanks from me.

Do you follow trends? or are you a trendsetter? Yeah, I follow some of them if I think they are nice.

Has anyone ever described you as a trendsetter? Nope, because I am not.

Do you know anyone who used to be loving, but then turned cold? List three people you’ve known whom this has happened to. My mom, Athenna, Macy. The only person I don’t resent out of these three is Macy, because I know she turned distant due to mental health issues and because she wants to fix herself first, which is responsible.

What SAT subjects, if any, did you get a perfect score in? We don’t have SAT.

What were your best subjects in school? and what was your favorite subject in school? I loved taking history electives in college, and I performed the best in them too. I also did well in international relations, which was under the political science department.

Have you ever been abused by a parent or legal guardian? I’ve been verbally and emotionally abused by my mom ever since I can remember.

Do you have a lot of wounds from your past? If we’re getting visual then I’d rather say that I have one ugly, infected gash that gets bothersome from time to time. My past isn’t made up of little tiny scattered wounds.

Has anyone ever called you a jerk? Behind my back, probably.

Are you a jerk? I can be, so I don’t mind being called it. I never said I was the nicest person.

What color were your bedroom walls in high school? They have always been white. My mom doesn’t let us have control over our own rooms, so in the beginning it’s always been plain boring white. Don’t get me wrong, I like my room but sometimes it just feels like living in a cell.

Is there a girl or guy you wish you hadn’t let slip away? I wish I was still close with my high school friends, and I remember saying how they were for keeps in my old surveys so that makes me extra sad haha. I’m civil with most of them, but no longer close. And I only ever talk to them if it’s their birthdays or if they achieved something big. The only people I’ve remained close with from that original group are Angela and Hans.

Is there an old friend that you miss and would like to reconnect with? Not really. Sofie and I have grown apart from each other now and we’re both very happy, so there’s no need to change that. I’m okay with seeing her once or twice a year.

Who has hurt you the most? My mom.

Have you been bullied? Yeah in kindergarten. Long-lasting effects though.

Which talent show, if any, would you most like to audition for? and have you auditioned for one? No thanks. I don’t have the kind of talent that I can show off, like singing or playing an instrument.

Do you know anyone who’s auditioned for American Idol? I don’t think so. But my mom knows someone who auditioned for our local version of America’s Got Talent. He’s a ventriloquist that my mom used to get for our parties. As far as I know he got into the grand finals, but I’m not sure if he won.

Is there someone you think should audition that hasn’t yet? American Idol’s been over for a while now.

What time of day do you usually feel your best? I love the evenings.

What’s one way in which you’ve changed within the last ten years? I was in sixth grade then, I’ve graduated from college now. My mom was purely verbally abusive to me then, now we have brief stints of having an actually healthy relationship. I had one dog then and I have two dogs now; I had no friends then and I have tons of them now. There’s been a lot of tiny changes but nothing that were life-changing.

Do you feel like time goes by fast, or slow? It goes both ways depending on how stimulated I am or how much fun I’m having.

Who do you know who has died of cancer? One of my great-aunts.

Has there been cancer in your family? Yeah, ^ that. Other than her I’m not sure if we’ve had other cases. My family tends to be hush-hush about cancer and only ever call it ‘c’ or ‘the big one.’

Have you ever stayed overnight in a hospital, and if so, what for? Yes, once for a low platelet count.

Have you ever been a victim of police misconduct? No but the cops here are just as corrupt as the ones in the US, so I can very much be a victim any time. It’s just a matter of being in the wrong place at the right time.

Have you ever been so angry you wanted to sue someone? Not so much that I wanted to sue someone, no.

Have you ever been a victim of racism? My country isn’t diverse at all and we’re all Filipinos here, and I’ve only ever traveled to Asian countries, so no. But racism is a big reason why I have no plans to go to other countries known for it.

Have you ever deleted a friend on Facebook for making racist comments? I’ve unfriended those who were being little bitches about BLM and George Floyd’s death, so I guess that kinda counts as being racist. I still have a few racist Facebook friends that I keep around, but that’s because they’re family members.

What was the last thing you ate? Binagoongan.

What was the theme of your senior prom? Clair de Lune, so like the moon and shit.

Did you go to prom? It was mandatory, so I had to go even though I really had no interest.

Have ever been engaged or married? I have been neither.

Are you an aunt or uncle? Nah but I’m a godmother to one of my cousins.

Do you live to glorify God and to do His will? LOL no

Are you happy with the way you are living your life day-to-day right now? It could be better and more filled with activity. But I’m not miserably depressed right now and that’s more than enough for me.

Do you feel like your life was better or worse six years ago? It was slightly better. I feel like 2014 was my best year.

Have you ever made a huge, catastrophic mistake? Not anything that ruined my life or someone else’s, no.

Do you feel like you are currently in a state of suffering? and that not all of your basic needs are being met? If so, how long have you been in a state of suffering? Basic needs?? So you mean poverty? No.

Do you hate social injustice? Absolutely. Anyone who tolerates it is automatically a gigantic prick, I’d say.

Are you happy with the current social class you are in? No. I don’t know how it translates to English, but in Filipino we have this term called naghaharing-uri that comprises the very very very very tiny top of the social pyramid and it’s made up of top government officials and their families, heads of corporations, old money families, etc. It’s no secret that it’s this 1% that exploits the 99% remaining in the pyramid, so even though I’m relatively comfortable in my class, I hate that, when it comes down to it, we’re only being used by this 1% for their own benefit.

Life isn’t fair. True or false? True.

Do you hate that life is so unfair? Sometimes, if it’s for stuff about social injustice and how some people have to be homeless, why homophobia exists, etc. But if it’s for tiny problems, I feel like they’re necessary sometimes so we can learn from them.

Name a few people who seem to have everything handed to them. Some richer kids that I know.

Who do you go to when you’re upset? Sometimes myself, sometimes Gabie.

Do you pray less or more than you did 5 years ago? A LOT LESS, thank fuck I got out of that trap.

Do you pray a lot? Definitely not.

Do you frequently have back pain? Yeah, haha. Kinda expected considering I have scoliosis.

What’s the worst side effect you’ve experienced for a medication? and what’s the worst withdrawal effect you’ve experienced from a medicine? Nothing worse than diarrhea. I’ve never experienced withdrawal.

Have you ever used an epi pen? Nopes.

What’s a name that you like but probably wouldn’t use for one of your kids? Isabella because I’m already an Isabelle and my girlfriend has a sister named Isabela.

What’s your name, and do you like it? Robyn. I like it now.

Would you prefer to give your kids common names or unique names? Common, more old-school names. I just feel like they sound super elegant.

Do you feel like anybody values you in the way that you deserve? Angela, Andrew, and Gab.

Who have you felt the most valued by? ^ Them.

Have you ever been treated like you were inferior? For sure.

What was the name of the biggest bully in your high school? Oh my god this survey is so long... we didn’t have bullies in high school. We had mean girls and mean girl cliques, but as long as you weren’t involved in drama with them you’d be fine.

Do you ever sleep outside? Nah. I’d sleep at the rooftop but there are sooooo many mosquitoes at night.

How many siblings do you have? Two.

Are you the oldest, youngest, middle, or only child? Eldest.

How many kids do you want to have? One or two would be great.

Do you want to get married? Yessssssss.

Best date you’ve been on? Probably that time we went to BGC so we can feel fancy and have a fancy dinner, then when we meant to walk back to our car to go home we ended up having impromptu drinks at like 11 PM when we randomly found a jazz bar loudly playing live music in the area. OH and that time we went museum hopping in Manila and we ended the day having delicioussss Italian food.

Dream date? Traveling out of the country.

Ever kissed someone on New Year’s? Nah. We celebrate New Year’s with our respective families so there’s no chance of that happening. Which is fine, because New Year’s is traditionally a family-centric holiday here so it would be weird for anyone to ditch their families.

Have you ever had an experience so good you felt like you were flying? Sure.

Have you ever been in so much pain you prayed that you would die? YES, with my toothache last year.

What brings you the most joy? My dogs.

What is your passion; what is it that would bring you the most joy and fulfillment in life? I’m at a point where it still keeps changing, so I don’t wanna give an absolute answer to this just yet.

Have you ever laid your dreams aside because someone else wanted you to? That’s never happened to me. I only ever gave up on one dream because it realistically wasn’t attainable, when it came down to it.

Who supports you in everything you do? My two best friends.

Who always tries to stop you whenever you try to go after your dreams? I haven’t had anyone bar me, but if someone tried to they would definitely hear from me.

Do you believe in following your heart, in going after your dreams? Not always.

Do you wish other people would want you to be happy? Of course.

Do you wish you had someone who loved and supported you? I already do.

[ayellowcurtain]

Finding Polaris - Chapter 5

Finding Polaris - Chapter 5 

Disclaimer: none of the pictures are mine (just the lame edit with their two pretty faces)

And it’s my first cover! I guess it’s not terrible.

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

It was a long, mostly sleepless night for Lucas. He can’t be sure because he couldn’t see Eliott’s face but he was also restless all night long.

It’s his aunt’s wedding tonight and he didn’t tell Eliott about it yet. The original plan was to just go by himself, play a few songs and enjoy the party, then he met Eliott and the plan turned into going there, spend a few hours with his family and rush back to Eliott’s arms. But now he wants Eliott there with him, can’t afford spending hours away from him while he has a choice.

He can’t help a dumb smile on his lips thinking about Eliott wearing formal clothes, meeting his mom and his family. Eliott is so incredibly handsome, he’ll be the main subject of the wedding after the bride and the groom.

Lucas closes his eyes when he notices Eliott finally moving, rubbing his eyes. He can feel the bed moving and Eliott is looking at him, coming closer.

“I know you’re awake, stalker.” Lucas frowns, opening his eyes.

“How did you know ?” Eliott laughs and Lucas comes closer, putting one leg around his waist, pulling him even closer, resting his hand on Eliott's chest.

“You barely slept tonight. What are you thinking about?” He puts one hand on the small of Lucas’ back and the other one on the top of his head, combing his hair, looking at his fingers running through the strands on hair.

“We need to talk…” Lucas looks down, his fingertips touching the small tattoo on Eliott’s chest.

“We do?” He just nods with his head, thinking about how to say it and what Eliott’s reaction will be.

“I have a wedding to go later today. That’s why I came here. It’s my aunt’s wedding and I took the opportunity to come a few days earlier to relax a little...And I want you to come with me, if you want to.” Eliott smiles, pressing his hand against Lucas’ back, pulling him closer and Lucas hooks his leg perfectly around Eliott’s waist.

“You sure you want me there with you?”

“Yes.” Lucas looks up to meet his eyes again and he doesn’t seem bothered or insecure about it. Eliott's eyes are still soft and inviting.

“Ok. I’ll go with you. But I need to buy clothes.” He talks so easily about it like he really wants to go. Lucas looks for any doubt in his expression for another second, he doesn’t want Eliott to feel uncomfortable but he seems ok with it.

“Ok. We can go shopping.”

-

Eliott is taking forever inside the fitting room. He tried a bunch of clothes but he didn't seem happy in any of them, even though he looked fantastic in all.

Lucas could tell that he was getting a little anxious about deciding which one he should buy so he helped him and the final choice was black trousers, a black button shirt and a leather jacket that he really wanted.

“Are you ok in there?” Lucas decides to ask, getting up, stopping close to the door and Eliott instantly opens it, looking like a scared wild animal holding his purchase on one hand.

“Yeah, sorry.” He smiles but it doesn’t go all the way to his eyes like usually happens. Lucas stands on his tiptoes, putting his hands on Eliott’s chest, kissing him softly.

“We’re done now. It wasn’t that bad. And now we can go back to the hotel! We can eat a little, spend some time together, take a shower…” Eliott tries another smile, nodding his head and putting both hands on Lucas’ cheeks, kissing him again.

-

Deep inside Eliott notices his feelings creeping up on him, very slowly climbing to the surface, making everything black and numb.

He wanted to go to this wedding with Lucas but now he doesn’t want anymore. There’ll be a bunch of strangers in there, in a small place, drinking and partying the night away while he doesn’t feel like it. He doesn’t feel like doing anything right now.

He’ll meet Lucas’ family and they’ll look at Eliott and see how Lucas deserves better. Even if he's just a plus one to some aunt’s wedding he doesn’t really care about. Lucas is also nervous, biting his nails while putting his fancy clothes on, looking at Eliott through the mirror.

“You don’t want to go.” It’s not a question and Lucas can read him so well it’s the weirdest thing. But he needs to go, needs to man up for once and do what others expect from him.

“I want to, it’s just hard to get out of bed and put clothes on when there’s a hot guy as you right next to me, putting his fancy, sexy clothes on.” Lucas exhales relieved, turning to really look at Eliott, putting his black suit and it fits him perfectly. Eliott needs to get up and put some clothes on or they’ll be late. He needs to try harder.

And so he does, doing everything consciously or he would let his body take him back to the bed and stay there for days.

-

“Can we hold hands tonight or we’re just friends?” He asks and Lucas stops buttoning up Eliott’s shirt, looking up.

“What?” Eliott tries to give him a smile but it doesn’t work again.

“Can we hold hands tonight?” Lucas seems upset by the question, finishing his task and stepping back before answering.

“Yes, of course, we can, if you want to.” He can only force himself to nod, pulling Lucas closer again, kissing him just to make the other one happy and soft again and it works, Lucas melts into him like he always does and he seems to forget about the question.

-

Eliott is trying to play his uplifting and social self while walking around the place, constantly holding Lucas’ hand or at least his index and middle finger when they walk to the bar or to get more food.

The ceremony was beautiful, Lucas told him that he knew how to play the song on the piano and Eliott didn’t even know he was able to play the piano.

Apparently, Lucas thinks he was invited just to play at the party. He doesn’t really see his family, everyone sort of disappeared when Lucas’ parents got divorced and he’s used to it by now, couldn’t care less about his family but his aunt acted like she cared enough and even paid for his trip to the wedding so he accepted.

It seemed like a fair trade: to play a few songs in exchange for a train ticket and some money for the hotel and free wedding food that Lucas is indulging in a lot. Eliott isn’t hungry, just drinking a few beers and Lucas doesn’t complain about his lack of appetite, he's too worried about the time.

The dinner was already served, everyone was starting to get drunk and his aunt was looking around, probably searching for him.

“Shit. Guess I have to go.” Lucas buttons up his shirt again, putting his suit as well, putting a hand on top of Eliott’s, caressing the back of his hand. “You’re gonna be ok here by yourself? It’s just a few songs and then I’ll be back and we can go back to the hotel.” Eliott just nods, trying to smile for the third time to Lucas and he gets a quick kiss on the lips as an answer.

“Good luck.” He manages to say before Lucas leaves him by himself at their table. He manages to finish his and Lucas’ beer while he watches the other one walking to the small stage, fixing his clothes and hair.

-

For the first time, Lucas feels in control. These last couple of magical days with Eliott were all about doing what the other one suggested. He had just as much fun but he wanted to show Eliott how happy he was to spend this time with him and to take him as his plus one to the wedding.

He’ll have to go back to Paris in a few days and they didn’t talk about it and he didn’t think about it until now, on his way to the piano. Lucas doesn’t know what will happen, he doesn’t even know if Eliott lives in Paris as well.

It’s been such a long time since he played the piano for the last time but he thought about which song he wanted to play. He still knows a few songs but he needs to play his favorite one, it’s powerful and until today that was it, but now it has a different meaning to him. Even if they don’t have time to say it or to explain their feelings, he’ll show his to Eliott.

Lucas sits on the bench, pulling it closer to the piano, breathing slowly, trying not to fuck everything up. He looks back one more time where he left Eliott. He nods quietly trying to give Lucas some type of reassurance. Eliott is still alone at their table so that’s good. Nobody went to sit with him and talk about Lucas being gay or something stupid like that.

Eliott looks like a God wearing all black, everything fits him perfectly. His pupils were still blown when Lucas left him a minute ago, maybe it was a bad idea to smoke on their way to the wedding but they were both nervous and a bit shaky and Lucas couldn’t think of a better opportunity to finally smoke Arthur’s weed. Eliott also seemed relieved to have something to smoke and make them relax a little bit.

Every girl and some guys around their age attending the wedding seem to be looking at Eliott but he never leaves Lucas’ eyes, biting his nails.

He’s with me tonight.

Lucas forces himself to look at the piano, forget about everyone else but Eliott. He puts his hair back, touching the keys quietly for a second, making sure that it’s there and it’s happening, praying that everything will go perfectly.

The room slowly goes quiet, you can only hear whispers and a few chairs being dragged against the floor and someone coughing. And then he starts playing.

Soon he’s letting himself be pulled by the music and the notes, thinking about what it all means to him right now. His heart is racing, his body is overheating but it feels good, like certainty about his feeling and about his company tonight. Eliott.

-

Eliott is having a very hard time. He’s exhausted, maybe the lack of sleep from the past days are catching up to him. He doesn’t dare thinking about his medication left behind in Paris. It’s probably still on his nightstand, staring at his empty bed for days, blaming him again for forgetting about getting the small flask before leaving the house.

It’s been years and he still forgets about it. Maybe deep down he hopes he’ll be able to live his life without having some kind of drug controlling him when he doesn’t feel like being under control.

He’s never been as happy as he’s been these days hiding from everyone else. He’s with Lucas and that’s all that matters. But he’s aware of the thousands of messages unread of his phone, the missed calls and the voice messages that Lucille left him. She can’t leave him alone. Ever.

The moment he saw Lucas on that train station he knew his heart was taken. By the most beautiful human being and he couldn’t fuck this up, not today. At his aunt’s wedding.

Eliott could easily marry Lucas right now. If it was the hardest decision of his past life with Lucille it would be the easiest to just marry his boyfriend tonight and spend their lives together, running away all around the world, constantly traveling, tasting the best food, sleeping on the most comfortable beds, making love every night.

He thanks the waiter when he finally brings more drinks, putting it on the table, taking the empty dirty plates and cups with him. Lucas is still playing so Eliott empties the new drinks, putting the empty cups back on the table. He can feel his hands cold but sweaty and his body buzzing with energy. He can’t wait to go back to the hotel.

Lucas is suddenly by his side, the live music stopped playing, he looks around and the other guests are still applauding Lucas but everyone is moving around close to the dance floor to join the newlyweds.

“Can we go home ? I don’t feel good.” He manages to explain, already getting up, feels like the world is spinning around him. Lucas frowns, nodding and coming closer, hugging him by his waist, guiding him out of the party.

-

“ Cause it's a beautiful night, we're looking for something dumb to do

Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you

Is it the look in your eyes or is it this dancing juice

Who cares baby, I think I wanna marry you”

He whispers against Lucas’ ear making the other one laugh, holding his waist tighter. They’re out of the party, walking on empty streets to their hotel.

“How much did you drank while I was playing ?” Lucas teases him and he just rolls his eyes. He’s not drunk.

“Not enough. I’m not drunk, I just think this is a party song and it fits the moment.” He shrugs, holding Lucas tighter. He’s trying very hard not to ruin his night, his vacation. If they were married, he would have to tell Lucas everything.

He knows about him being bipolar but Eliott is not sure if Lucas understands what it means. He’s definitely not ready and he doesn’t have to be, Eliott wants Lucas to be happy, not a worrier that would become his nurse and he would lose interest in Eliott.

“ If we wake up and you want to break up

That's cool

No I won't blame you

It was fun, Lucas .”

“That’s not how the song goes.” Lucas comes closer again, hiding his face against Eliott’s neck, kissing it and putting both arms around his waist to steady the other one.

“I don’t know. I want this song to play at our wedding.” Lucas makes them stop, looking up. Eliott can see him again, his cheeks starting to blush and he’s trying to hold back a smile.

“So we’re getting married ?” Eliott frowns, putting both hands on his face, brushing his lips against Lucas’.

“Of course we are. A big fucking wedding. I wanna marry you, Lucas.” Lucas looks up to meet his gaze, he opens his mouth a few times but never says a word. “I would marry you right now if you wanted as well.”

“I-We can get married sometime in the future.” Eliott chews his bottom lip, stepping back and starting to walk again, finally arriving at their hotel.

Lucas is still looking at him, trying to ask for forgiveness without saying and without needing to apologize. Eliott is stupid for even talking about marriage when he left his ex when just the idea of getting engaged to her became a reality.

“Eliott…”

“Don’t worry, Lucas, it was just a stupid idea.” He locks the bedroom door after Lucas, taking his new clothes off and leaving in a pile right next to the door, he’s exhausted.

“I-I like you. Really like you.” Eliott passes by him on the way to the bed, taking his underwear off when he’s under the covers, Lucas is still where he was a minute ago, looking like he’s about to cry, ashamed.  

“You don’t have to. I’m a whole lot of problems and it’s so fucked up, no wonder why you wouldn’t marry me, I get it, I know I’m asking too much. I need to sleep, we’ll talk later.” He doesn’t let Lucas answer him, making it clear that the conversation is over when he covers himself completely with the covers, trying to stay still so Lucas won’t bother him.

The room is silent for a long time, Eliott is trying to keep his breathe slow so he won’t start sobbing and call Lucas' attention to come see what’s going on. The other one finally moves, walking around the room but Eliott doesn’t bother looking what he’s doing, he closes his eyes, trying to fall asleep for a little. Soon it will all be over and Lucas won’t even remember they existed.

And Eliott will be the one thinking about it while he walks up the aisle to marry the girl he doesn’t want. He finally closes his eyes, hoping to be able to fall asleep tonight.

[littlemessyjessi]

“Blissfully Blizzard”: Alpha! Steve Rogers Imagine

Steve Rogers Imagine Alpha!Steve Rogers Omegaverse Headcanons/Imagine Alpha!Steve Rogers x Omega!Plus Size Reader Winter Imagine: Stuck in a Blizzard (Yes, I know it's Fall {N. Hemisphere} No, I'm not trying to rush it. Geez.) Enjoy!

Imagine getting stuck in a blizzard with Steve (aka Mother Hen).....

You were trying so hard not to roll your eyes at Steve as you looked out the window of the car into the pure white gusts of snow and icy wind.

Theoretically, Steve being the super soldier he was could've got out and went for help or even pushed the car for that matter- no sweat.

However, there was no way in hell he would leave you here alone.

Not a chance.

"This was supposed to be relaxing." he grumbled.

Clearly he was irritated and you could feel it coming off him in waves.

Normally, as your Alpha that would have your little Omega self dizzy with anxiety ....but you weren't some delicate flower.

You could at least hold your shit together.

As much as popularized Omega culture would like to force everyone to believe that all Omegas were these frail, useless little waifs who can't survive without an Alpha....you didn't buy it.

Never had.

Hell, you hadn't even HAD an Alpha for most of your life until Steve...and you'd only been with him like two years.

Your father bailed after a one night stand turned very real and you're badass Beta mom got shit done.

She raised you to believe in yourself without fail.

She was also in the military and didn't take no for an answer so you now, there's that.

Anyway, you Mr. Soft Blue Eyes over there years ago and he'd been trailing after you like a pup ever since.

Kind of ironic in a way and man, the courtship had been something awful.

You didn't have time for Alphas and he had to do a whole lot of convincing for you to even give him the time of day.

What really sold you was when you realized who he was.

Not that he was Captain America.

In all honesty, you couldn't give a flying fuck about that.

But that he was Steve Rogers- that skinny, stubborn little shit from Brooklyn who never backed down from a fight.

That was what had your attention.

Of course, when he figured out that this was what got your attention....he basically fell in love with you on the spot.

Back to the original point.

He was irritated and you were trying not to let it affect you.

"Well it's kind of relaxing, babe." you offered.  "The snow is pretty and I like the sound of the wind. We've got the heat on.  There's snacks in the back and an extra blanket or two.  And you know I always like being in close quarters with you."

He smiled a bit but gave you a look.

He knew what you were doing ...and he loved you for it.

"You're really trying to make the best out of a sucky situation here aren't you?" he chuckled as he looked down and shook his head.

"Might as well." you said with a shrug before turning around and promptly diving into the back of the SUV.

All he heard was a bunch of noise for a second before a bag was produced in front of his face...yours following it just a second later with a grin.

"Plus we have hot cheetos." you said. "And thanks to ME! We also have all of the leftovers from the fridge this week. Which I conveniently heated up in the oven before we left and kept warm in my handy dandy thermal bag.  And you said it was a waste! Ha!"

A few more seconds of you shoving things around and Steve began to shake his head.

"Are you doing what I think you're doing?" he asked narrowing his eyes at you.

"Shut up." you said pulling the lever and lowering the seats down into the floor.

Silently, you thanked Sam for convincing you to upgrade your vehicle into this fancy schmancy little situtation.

"In the middle of a blizzard?" Steve asked.

"Shut it." you said as you found your beloved blanket....and the six pillows that you'd vacuumed sealed down and then hid under the seats.

Steve died laughing.

"Are you serious?" he was basically choking on his own spit in the front seat.

You turned around and placed your hands on your hips.  

Well as best you could while you were hunched over the back of the vehicle trying to build the perfect nest.

"Listen here, Captain Spandex.  I am an Omega.  You know this.  I know this.  Everyone fucking knows this.  This means that wherever I go, whatever I do....I will bring a certain amount of shit along with me to nest.  It's a fact.  This also means that whilst we're stuck under this damn pavillion in the middle of bumfuck-nowhere-ville with a blizzard around us....I'm going to fucking nest!" you snapped.

Ok, so ...you're emotions and slight worry in the situation had actually began to creep up on you.

It would anyone really.

Hell, even Steve and he was an Alpha.

When he finally caught the scent of it...he bit him bottom lip.

"Hey, babe." he said reaching out and gently touching your elbow.  "Baby, I didn't mean anything by it.  I was just teasing.  I'm actually really happy and grateful.  You being you kind of makes this whole situation a lot better."

You just nodded silently.

That was one thing about being an Omega that really chapped your ass.

As much as you prided yourself on keeping your emotions in check and not needing anyone....sometimes you flew off the handle.

It pissed you off so badly that sometimes you'd spent hours at the shooting rage just blasting through as much as you can.

Steve called it your Rage Monster.

You called it Stress Relief...because you're a fucking lady.

Hmph.

He gently pulled you over to him and planted a kiss on your cheek.  

He knew better than to go back there until you had your nest the way you wanted it.  

It would make you severely angry and upset...and of course he didn't want that.

He nuzzled his nose into your neck and placed a few kisses there all the while drawing his hand down your back.

"I swear, baby." he said. "I just thought you were being cute.  I always think you're cute when you're in nest mode."

You blinked at him a few times really grateful for the close proximity.

His scent really could calm you down like no other.

"Well then." you said. "I'm about to be positively adorable."

And with that you smacked him in the face with one of the pillows.  

"Fluff and scent, please." you instructed before turning back to your nesting.

Steve did as you asked and just watched you work.

Fourty five minutes later and he had to admit that you'd created a little haven in the back of the SUV.

He'd been put on fluffing and scenting duty and instructed to set all the hot food in the floorboard so that the heat could blow on it and keep it warm.

You'd arranged the blankets six times before you were satisfied and hung up extra clothes over the back windows for privacy and to piece together a projection screen.

You just knew that battery charged projecter port would be useful.

And Steve said you would never use it.

Hmph, Etsy can solve everything.  

What did he know?

#you'rekindofaddictedtoshopping #hoarder

When he was done he just sat there and watched you sit in the middle of it all.

"Is it ready?" he asked.

"Maybe." you said with a little laugh.  "Please hand me the food?"

Steve passed you all the food that required heat and let you set it up how you wanted before he climbed in the back with you.

Having the good sense to leave his shoes and yours in the front under in the floor board.

God forbid, he bring dirty shoes into your nest.

He'd likely lose a toe if he did.

"This looks amazing." he praised you and had to hold back his 'aww' when you involuntarily and unknowingly purred.

A purring Omega was an happy Omega.

You busied yourself with setting up plates of food for the both of you and getting a movie ready to project from your lap top to the makeshift projector screen of tshirts, lol.

He teased you for all your junk and how  much stuff you supposedly had to be prepared for.

But in reality he loved it.

This time it worked out that ya'll actually needed it.

But in reality, he just loved you because you actually cared enough to think about stuff like that.

Everyone always said how lucky you were to have Captain America as your Alpha.

But Steve Rogers knew he was the lucky one.

He'd been blessed by the gods, won the lottery, whatever you'd like to call it...because you actually wanted him.

So no, the romantic evening hadn't gone as planned but as he looked around the back of the SUV and took it all in...he suddenly didn't miss it.

Hot leftovers from all the different things the two of you had eaten that week.

A cute little Disney movie projected on several white t-shirts.

A comfy nest of pillows, blankets and jackets.

And most importantly, you.

His sweet, cuddly little darling, just waiting for him to wrap his arms around.

Suddenly, he was very fond of this blizzard after all.

Heeeeeey, smoochies! I hope you enjoyed this little Steve imagine! Alpha! Steve and Omega! Plus Size Reader is one of my favorites!  And while it's just fall here in the US ...I have quite the love affair with winter in my heart.   I live for the colder months.  Anyway, I was listening to some beautiful winter sounds this morning and just had to share this little number floating around in my head! If you like it and want more Alpha! Steve and Omega! Plus Size Reader please be sure to let me know in the comment section!  Happy Reading!

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Love, Kenny