#really i might start waffling about ocs at any time

[starrysharks]

BTW, i actually have a sort of order of focus when it comes to my ocs,,, right now reassassination is the most important, and starsaints is currently being actively worked on. projects on the back-burner that are still being rotated in my mind are x-calibur, sinstring manor, unnamed guts girls band project, and magical girl ward... completely "dormant" oc projects that i probably won't return to till much later are planet☆pigtail, spectre city online, and metallic miracle. but i care all my ocs equally :]

[magnolia-sunrise]

The way you explore Bastien’s sense of identity through his presentation reminds me of an OC of mine, so they might see eye to eye in at least some respects! My guy Evan (he/him) is a fat trans man who figured out he was trans a little late into his teenage years because he was too preoccupied being the third parent to his three younger siblings. Eventually this fact about himself was too strong for him to ignore, though, and thus he quickly began the process of socially transitioning and gradually sought medical transition as well. He changed names several times throughout this period (Callum, Beck, Rory, and many others among them)

His parents… They weren’t *un*supportive, but in the very least his mother, who saw a lot of herself in her oldest child, indulged his desire to transition while never quite shaking his deadname out of her vocabulary, you know? Especially with him changing names *so* often, it’s just *so* hard to remember which one is right these days. And Evan wanted to maintain a relationship with his parents for a long time (honestly what he wanted was to stay close to his siblings, the youngest of whom is 13 years younger than him). It wasn’t until after he met his eventual spouse, Isador (he/she), who called him by the right name consistently, who encouraged him to experiment and figure out what he liked about being trans, and who showed him what supportive family looks like (Isador was raised by her grandmother who absolutely loves the hell out of her grandkid), that he eventually got the courage to confront his parents. This eventually leads to him going no-contact with said parents, although his siblings reach back out to him on their own

It takes a WHILE for Evan to feel comfortable circling back to femininity for himself, and to feel totally comfortable in his body even then. He grows out a beard and dresses in layers to kind of hide how his body looks underneath. He pushed his feminine hobbies and interests to the side Hard when he started socially transitioning, because he convinced himself he Had to, and instead leans hard into new hobbies like handiwork and cars. Once again he’s content to simply push through the feelings as though they’re small, until they’re too big to ignore. Years down the line, after he and Isador are married, he can admit to himself that Christina Aguilera may still be one of his favourite artists. After they have a daughter together, he comes back to the mending skills he learned as a kid in order to fix her dolls — and maybe even make her some, when he feels brave enough

Evan also tends to be good at reading people and social settings, and if he knew Bastien to any degree, I think he’d be thrilled to see how their sense of personal style and the way they carry themselves changes over time. It’s good to see :)

(Wolfgang and Isador would also absolutely queen out. That’s a separate thing skhdjssjg)

(sorry for getting to this a bit late i got this ask as i was heading out!)

helloooo Evan(and Isador!!) so nice to meet them :") <3 !

really really love how much care and love you put into his story and the realistic and long identity journey (some of the family stuff really hits so hard).

i don't post about this stuff much since its not relevant to the story and i like exploring my characters identities in relation to each other but Bastien left his family when he was fairly young to get himself out of that town and that deeply supressive environment and off to med school as far away as possible, and they've been no contact pretty much since. he used to be a twinkish dyke, and then a dykish twink early on in university and that environment was really fundamental in experimenting with gender and sexuality for him. he was also really lonely, and unsure of anything - getting himself DIY testoterone and then waffling whether he actually wanted to go on it, then waffling about some of the changes, then waffling about top surgery (so he spent some years walking around with mustache and tits) just. a lot of anxiety and stress all the time, they preferred to just put their studies ahead of anything else and only engage in sexuality in terms of one night flings on campus. then after one dramatic event and a shoulder injury, continuing studies was no longer an option and his life just. shattered.

this is where Matteo came into his life in a bigger way, and immediately he was someone really attractive because he seemed so confident, his life figured out, future lined out. it was intoxicating to be in the presence of someone so self assured without a care in the world. who in turn also accepted Bastien - at least back then, when he was a depressed twink Matteo could "save"- and motivated him. but ultimately it was like jumping from one form loneliness and isolation into another form of it, now depending on his cis partner, surrounded by Matteos cis rich friends. his body still changing, gaining weight, feeling unattractive to his partner and locked into specific way of gender and sexuality expression, losing sense of his identity and what they even wanted to do with their life. its so alienating.

all this is to say-- i think if Bastien knew somemone like Evan early on, he would have really loved to have a friend like that - someone going through similar experiences i feel like they could have found a lot of strength and support in each other :") i think if they stayed in touch and friendly over the years, they could have been really positive influences on each other and maybe Bastien would not have such deep seated issues opening up to other people and even to himself. lost in the thought imagining the happiness Bastien would feel visiting Evan's family and seeing the pure love and joy there and what it took to get there its just :"))))) maybe he even would have the strength to leave his unhappy relationship seeing what it's like to be *actually* really accepted when seeing how Isador loves Evan :"))

thank you for sharing!!

[sege-h]

Storm the Hedgecat

OC ramble time for my pinned, in case people see him on @sonic-oc-showdown​ and end up wanting to know more without digging through lots of non context art and shitposts in my Storm tag! (Tho do that if you want anyways)

I’m gonna answer a buncha questions from an ask game now and since it’s kinda long + I might end up rambling anyway, I’m putting the rest under a readmore

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

A long time ago before I was smart enough to know not to name my sonas or give them even a bit of OC backstory or they WILL become their own characters, Storm was meant to be my Sonic-sona. Back then I’d name my sonas Storm, or other words fused with ‘storm’. And since this was Sonic, I just named this one Storm. But it wasn’t long before he wasn’t my sona at all, and developed into his own standalone Sonic OC. But the name stuck.

In universe, his dad named him Storm because his bit of grey fur on blue reminded him of a clear sky with a storm cloud on it

🌼 - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

In the ‘present’ time, Storm is 35. However due to shenanigans involving experiments, and an accident similar to a small contained super genesis wave, he is stuck forever looking like he did when he was 20, or younger considering he’s always had a baby face.

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

Nope! Storm is acearo, and uninterested in romance! If any poor soul was stuck having a crush on him, he’d be none the wiser as flirting flies right over his head, as do any advances.

He is however a very affectionate person, and likes cuddling and being affectionate with his friends. I’m acearo and uninterested myself, so seeing stories like his where two (or more) people understand each other deeply, and would do anything for each other, and where they get to be affectionate without any of it developing into romance is very important to me

🍕 - What is their favorite food?

Waffles! He has good memories of his dad making them for him, and they have since developed into a comfort food for him

💼 - What do they do for a living?

He doesn’t need to do anything to get by, but he has made a company he kind of semi-runs that he makes very advanced prosthetics with. His patents come with clauses that they can’t go above a certain price, and sometimes he will just give them away to people anyway.

Nobody even knows he’s the owner save for his close circle, and if anyone else does know he’s with the company they think he’s just an engineer and the boss’ personal assistant. He’d prefer it stays that way, since he values his privacy

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?

Yes! He participates in underground fights. He gets really frustrated sometimes, and he’d rather blow off steam that way. It also started out as a way for him to earn his own money on the side so he wouldn’t feel like he’s relying entirely on his brother.

He also likes tinkering with machines. It’s a good distraction and something he likes doing. He likes coming up with concepts for weaponized robotic arms (these are never for sale), whether they make it past the blueprints and prototypes depends entirely on if they hold his interest or not. Sometimes he makes ones he actually uses.

He plays guitar whenever the mood strikes also.

🎯 -What do they do best?

In his own opinion? Fighting!

Storm is an individual that isn’t very confident- but the one thing that’s an exception to this are his fighting skills! Even when he loses, he’s not hard on himself over it like with other things, and sees it instead as something that was fun and that he can learn from. He’s also an excellent swordsman

🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

Loves:

Fighting/sparring, tinkering with machines, eating homecooked food, cuddling with his closest friends, learning new things about other zones/dimensions and how they’re different from his, playing guitar, listening to friends talk about their interests, listening to loved ones sing, going on motorcycle joyrides with V, driving his truck, causing (non-malicious) chaos- especially in the lives of people he finds annoying

Hates:

Doing mathematical calculations, listening to arrogant people talk, eating spicy stuff, fighting people that were given no choice BUT to fight, looking up at tall people (friends are an exception), being surrounded by water/being on boats, going to the hospital

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

Getting to watch/listen to his dad play the guitar just for him. It’s what made him want to learn it himself

✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

The day he almost lost his brother. This memory only got worse down the line as he ran into an evil alternate of his- their lives/timelines had been the same up until that point. Storm is all too aware of exactly the moment his alternate chose his path, and that he himself had been seconds away from it, with the only thing saving him and everyone else around him being that his brother took in another breath and came back.

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

It’s pretty close! Artistic growth aside, his quills used to be longer and less messy, his bangs were also less messy, he had no pants, his boots used to be shoes, and he had a triangular bandana. He still had the smaller back quill though, and though you can’t see it here he used to have a huge scar on his chest.

His color scheme has stayed relatively the same, it’s not as pale anymore now that I have a better grasp of colors and coloring digitally

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

The Sonic franchise obv- though he was also made as my first non recolor OC! I’d had plenty of recolor OCs, and I’d had a bit of a pause between making them and Storm. So when I decided to make another OC I decided to finally make one where I wouldn’t be recoloring a Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles base

The current iteration of Storm was inspired by me seeing the GUN truck from Generations in 2011, the one with the saws, and thinking ‘who would drive that truck?’ and then putting my blorbo in the drivers seat

Here’s a character inspiration meme I did some months ago that also puts together some of his inspirations-- not all of these are direct inspirations and are rather characters I found later on that were similar to Storm and that I could point to for people to better understand him like ‘see this thing this character does? That’s what Storm’s like’

(I’ve since watched the original ‘98 Trigun anime, and Vash would DEFINITELY go on there now. I didn’t know anything about him before, but there’s just so many parallels between him and Storm)

🌂 - What genre do they belong in?

I don’t really slot my OCs into genres, since I feel like that can get pretty limiting for me. Like I could say shonen, but even that only fits as far as ‘character getting stronger as the story progresses, also seemingly has willpower and friendship powers’

Maybe whatever Trigun ‘98 has going on?? SHDGSH A mix of tragedy and comedy, a story about a seemingly goofy that’s more than he seems, from his life to his skillset

💚 - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

Storm is cis but doesn’t care much for any gender roles or how he presents himself, and he’s acearo!

🙌 - How many sibling does your OC have?

He has no biological siblings, but has a few that are either adoptive siblings or adoptive sibling adjacent! Exe (who belongs to rMADA on FA) and is his oldest adoptive family (though Storm no longer remembers the early years before he met Exe again)

V (who belongs to riftclaw on here and is also part of the tournament!)- they both consider each other ‘pack’, but there’s enough sibling energy here that Storm can introduce himself like either Vs brother or weird sibling if it’s easier.

Luka (who also belongs to riftclaw) who he tends to have sibling “arguments” with a lot, even though at the end of the day they’ll cuddle together (while still “arguing”). It lets Luka let out a lot of pent up energy, and Storm finds the whole thing hilarious and to be familiar territory so he’s more than happy to play along

He also has a couple alternates that he’s ran into, or will run into along the course of his story, that he considers his brothers.

He has a whole adoptive family, but these are the people that he’d label ‘siblings’ if he has to put any label on them, though that they’re family is enough for him.

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

OUGH. Storm’s relationship with his dad was shaping up to be a great one, before it was cut short in a tragic accident during a training session with Exe. Atos was a great dad. He wanted his son to have everything he couldn’t have as a child- normalcy, love, and no expectations that could never be met.

After he died, things went downhill fast with Storm’s mom. Storm’s terrified of her to this day even though she’s no longer alive either.

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

How long he’s stuck around, and how I can use him as an experiment to try out new art styles because I’m just so used to drawing him.

Story-wise I like that he can zone hop/travel dimensions, because I can fling him at whatever setting feels fitting, along with him meeting new people being no problem

✏️ - How often do you draw/write about the OC?

TOO MUCH PROBABLY. Even when I don’t do serious art I like doing little doodles of him with stuff that pops into my head.

He’s the character I draw the most, and the character I write about the most

💎 - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

NOPE not the main version of him. There Is a verse where he’s ended up dead. But his main verse story hasn’t had him die

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

LORT for someone that flings himself at danger whenever he sees fit, he also fears a lot.

He’s terrified of deep water. He CAN swim, but would prefer not to. He’ll swim in the shallows if he has to cool off badly, but deep water makes him panic.

He’s afraid of clowns and also puppets He’s afraid of needles

Not quite a phobia, but he hates the sound of loud wind, especially when he knows a blizzard is happening outside.

He’ll panic if he wakes up to the sound of a drill

He hates the smell of whiskey

And again not a phobia, but a trigger- it’s activated if he’s sparring someone and they rest their foot on his back while he’s already down. It has to do with the day he lost his arm

🍩 -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

He doesn’t quite have any! If anyone considers him a rival, it’s pretty one sided because he’s oblivious to it

His arch nemesis was the guy that took his arm, but through story progression he became his rival, and now their relationship is more of a friendship that neither will admit to. They’re sparring partners. Storm likes to annoy him

(Art by rMADA/Xx_G.U.N_xX on FA)

🎓 - How long have you had the OC?

Since 2011! I THINK I made the first iteration of him in either late 2010 or early 2011. But then Sonic Generations came out with THAT TRUCK, and me and my friends started doing a silly GUN Agent chat rp. So I made an au of Storm called ‘Agent Storm’ that drove the be-buzzsaw’d GUN truck. But then as the story progressed, I began to adore that version of the character so he just became the main verse for him

His story has remained fairly same-ish. Even though at the start you can see a definitive sign of that good ol ‘teenager writing angst’ type of story, I’ve left it fairly intact. I’ve only changed parts that were like ‘yeah this is too much’ or where I just couldn’t fit in some characters or storylines anymore. I like having it as a sort of timeline to how my storytelling has developed

🍥 - What age were you when you created the OC?

17!

SOME EXTRA FUN FACTS:

-Storm was the one that added the buzzsaws and jet boosters to the GUN truck. They didn’t let him do much but transport cargo, so he started reading up on engineering and robotics and tinkering in the abundance of spare time he had. He added those thing to the truck out of boredom, and didn’t think he’d ever really use them- cargo transport is rarely ever that exciting.

But then he was in the middle of a drive when he heard over the comms that Sonic the Hedgehog had escaped captivity near his area and. Well. The rest is history

-He’s since left GUN and stolen took the truck. He and his brother Exe have formed their own team through which they feel they can help the world more. Part of their activities include tracking down facilities (that are often GUN supported) that deal in Mobian experimentation, and shutting them down/destroying them (not with the experiments still in them)

-He’s Terrified of Shadow due to events in his universe. He’s trying to be better about it

-The ‘goofy clueless idiot’ behavior is all an act

-He has a fake southern accent as part of his facade. Yeehaw. A reminant of a childhood ‘dream job’ of being a cowboy that wanders around helping people where it’s needed

-Because he can zone hop, he has a few universes where he’s decided to stick around. One of them is a game/IDW verse. He went through the events of Forces there, and his initial plan was to just help out with the war and then leave forever. But then he became friends with that universe’s Sonic whoops.

He lowkey cursed the friendship when he also went through the zombot arc, but he’s never actually regretted it

-He platonically adores Rough and Tumble just from what he’s heard about them and what little he’s seen. He doesn’t take them seriously and thinks they’re so goofy and hilarious. He’s like “LOOK at them, they’re brothers! They got each other! They think they’re doin’ crimes!

-He often introduces himself as just a cat since it’s easier

-He has an ic/rp blog here in case you have any questions and wanna ask him ‘directly’ @sentientquillbeast​

IF YOU READ ALL THIS, thank you!

This post is already long enough so I don’t regret adding one of my favorite pics of him that I did for a zine

[jessicas-pi]

lskajhdjkal ok i've been messing around with an incorrect quote generator for my Star Wars OCs/AUs and here's some highlights

Problem Children AU

Esme: Don't worry, I've got a few knives up my sleeve. Jadan: I think you mean cards. Ahsoka: She did not. Esme, pulling out knives: I did not.

---

Jadan: Why would you think any of this was a good idea?! Esme: Probably because I’m a dangerous sociopath with a long history of violence. Jadan: Oh... Ahsoka, from across the room: I don’t understand how you keep forgetting that.

---

Ahsoka: Stop setting things on fire because you're curious about what will happen. What will happen is fire. Esme: But what if something else happens just this one time.

---

Jadan: I have a problem. Esme: Kill it. Jadan: Can you chill for like, two seconds?

---

The Time Heals 'Verse

Obi-Wan: Can I get a waffle? Sabine and Anakin: *fighting and yelling at each other* Obi-Wan: Can I p l e a s e get a waffle?

---

Sabine: *sighs* Anakin: You bored? Sabine: Yeah. Anakin: Wanna start drama for no reason? Sabine: I thought you’d never ask.

---

Obi-Wan: I currently have 7 empty notebooks and I have no idea what to put in them. Any suggestions? Sabine: Put spaghetti in it. Obi-Wan: I am currently taking suggestions from everyone but you. Anakin: Put spaghetti in it. Obi-Wan: I am currently taking suggestions from everyone but you two. Ezra: Put spaghetti in it. Obi-Wan: I am no longer taking suggestions.

---

Ahsoka: Name a more iconic duo than my crippling fear of abandonment and my anxiety. I’ll wait. Jacen: You and me! Ahsoka: *tearing up* Ok.

---

Ezra, talking about Anakin: Is this a friend of yours, Sabine? Sabine: Kind of? Not really. He's in my life and there's nothing I can do about it.

---

Anakin: What has the galaxy ever done for you?! Why would you wanna save it?! Sabine: Cause I’m one of the idiots who lives in it!

The Rebels AU With The Time Traveling Padawans

Ezra: *eating a cinnamon roll* Derriphan: Cannibalism. Ezra: *confused chewing noises*

---

Sabine & Derriphan:*Playing video games* Daesha: You guys woke up at 5:30 in the morning just to play games? Sabine: *silence* Derriphan: *silence* Daesha, finally figuring it out: ...You two never went to sleep, did you? Sabine & Derriphan in shame: Yeah...

---

Ezra: Why are you like this?? Derriphan: I used too much "No More Tears" shampoo as a kid and I haven't felt a single emotion since.

---

Ezra: When I see really attractive people like Daesha, I just laugh because I know if we lived in the Aztec culture, they'd be sacrificed for their beauty. Sabine: I mean, that's one way to cope with not being attractive. Derriphan: Works for me.

---

Derriphan: I love the term 'partners'. Are we dating? Are we robbing a bank? Are we the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies and are members of an elite squad known as the special victims unit? Who knows.

---

Daesha: Hello friends! The Squad: Daesha: You might be wondering why I’m taped to the ceiling

---

Teenage Rebellion AU

Youngest Brother: The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was changing her name to Leia.

---

Sabine: That's ridiculous, Youngest Brother doesn't have a crush on me. Youngest Sister: Yes he does. Katka: Yes he does. Youngest Brother: Yes I do.

---

Sabine: I'm having problems with a guy... Leia: Like his dead body won't fit into your trunk kind of problems, or you like him kind of problems?

---

Luke: So, are you two friends? Katka: Yes. Sabine: No.

---

Luke: You're violent. Youngest Sister: Yeah but I'm also short and that's adorable.

---

Things With Rune In Them (Mostly the Numbers AU)

Rune: We have a problem. Ezra: No, YOU have a problem. I have a daughter who keeps making them.

---

Calina: You made enough pasta that you could take it to lunch tomorrow. Put it in a container. Rune: Shovel the pasta into your face. Do it. Put it in your face. The future is meaningless but the pasta is now.

---

Rune: *wearing full Mandalorian armor* Am I a boy? Am I a girl? It doesn't matter. I'm going to burn your house down.

---

Rune: I have yet to encounter a problem where a sword didn't factor into the solution at least in some way.

[ragecndybars]

Oooh I had a hard time picking one, but your director's commentary on Should Have Known Better, with the scene starting with "The journey home felt ten times longer than he rationally knew it was. Not because he was sore and tired, although he was, but because he was hounded all the way by a swirling storm of uneasy thoughts." :>

ooh, thanks for the ask!!!

this segment was actually one of the last parts i wrote, since I initially didn't have any connecting tissue between the scene with the nurse and the scene where he gets home and talks to Koromaru briefly. I decided that I didn't like just cutting straight back to the dorms, though, so I replaced a line break with some pontification, haha

when I was writing the paragraph where Ken starts agonizing over all the help he receives from other members of SEES, I found myself waffling a bit, since I didn't want to make them all just variations on "they help him fight better", but I do feel that training for battle is the only real type of help that Ken would allow them to give him most of the time (since, even before the events of the fic, he doesn't have the highest self-esteem in the world)

I considered whether or not to include the line "How many times had Kirijo-san been forced to remind him to eat his vegetables [...]" because it initially struck me as too much of a cliche, as if I was just making a joke about Mitsuru being a "nagging mother", but I chose to keep it in because I was trying to lean really heavily on Ken's feelings of immaturity and sudden awareness of the difference in age between him and the others.

overall, I wanted the passage to really convey that Ken can't help but reexamine all of his past interactions and police them for signs of weakness in himself. though she may have meant well, I don't think the nurse OC in this fic could ever really understand just how badly she unintentionally preyed upon Ken's vulnerabilities .... I wanted to emphasize not only how he was internalizing the nurse's words, but also how he would interpret them specifically within the lens of his obviously not particularly normal relationship with his dormmates. I think Ken would have discarded all of her "advice", which was clearly predicated on the assumption that he didn't know the other members of SEES very well, if he hadn't translated it into something which actually did apply to them. That's why I put so much emphasis on him feeling like a burden on the team, rather than his more insidious fears that the other members of SEES might actually not care about him. (logically, at least, he knows that they do -- but, once he's fully internalized the logic that they have too much on their plate to worry about him, it becomes harder to remind himself of that...)

the reason I didn't mention the fact that he was crying until "As he crossed into their neighborhood, Ken scrubbed an arm angrily across his eyes, pretending that his sleeve didn’t come away damp." was that I wanted to give the impression that Ken was refusing to even acknowledge his own overwhelming emotion, to the point where he wouldn't mention in his inner monologue when his face got hot or even when the tears started to fall. in a way, I'd say he's even somewhat afraid of crying in front of himself, as if that will prove to himself that he really is weak.

poor Ken, man... I put him through the wringer emotionally in this fic even though all that really happens is that he gets sick and gets a very very bad pep talk, lmao

thanks again for the ask!!!! this was a ton of fun <3

[hijinxensues]

The Cloaking Brooch Dilemma - Part 5

RotTMNT Donatello x OC!AFAB

Synopsis: Donatello considered himself, nay, deemed himself the greatest mind of his generation. He was known for his skills as a scientist, inventor, engineer and was a technological genius. Dare he throw in that he was a damn good brother and held the title of being ¼th ‘Protector of New York City’.

He could barely fathom that he didn’t piece together that the pretty barista he was falling for was simultaneously his gaming buddy (might I add, for the last eight years) and was working for Big Mama.

At this very moment, Donatello was sure of two things in his life. One of them being his life was a joke and the second being that he was fraternizing with the enemy.

All because he decided to run errands whilst donning his cloaking brooch.

Warnings: Aged-Up turtles, fluff, Half-Yokai OC, AFAB OC (does use she/her/they pronouns in writing), swearing, light angst

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FIRST

Ch.5 – Lavender

Donatello is exhausted when he wakes up, which is a regular occurrence between satisfying his brothers need to spend time with him, inventing, hero duties and gaming. He squints at his phone screen and the time blares at him, 11:30am- he had slept in. Their ‘Jupiter Jim’ marathon ran much later than anticipated as Leo had abruptly left halfway through to who-knows-what.

He claps his hands, and the room illuminates in a soft purple. The family had moved around quite a bit, after the battle with Shredder and after the Krang invasion. The lair became bigger and bigger, ready to accommodate the steady increase of inventions he created for his family and the rapid growth spurt all of them went through hitting their early adulthood, he was certain Raphael was still growing, slowly but surely putting on height and width.

Sluggishly he drags himself out of bed, “Shelldon, a coffee please.”

His “lab” was more equivalent to his own penthouse suite attached to the lair than just a lab for experiments and inventions. He had the lab portion mostly separated for safety and sanitization purposes, going past that was more of a loft-living type of area which had a kitchen area with the works as well as a sectioned off part for his sleeping arrangements.

‘Bootyyyshaker9000 sent a link’

Bootyyyshaker9000: Sources from what I was talking about last night.

“Perfect coffee yet again, Shelldon! Thanks.” He raises his mug as a thanks to his robot friend.

Donatello shuffles out to the common area and into the kitchen and takes his seat at the table.

“He’s up! Glad to see you finally joining us, Donald.” His starry-eyed brother croons at him as he rests his chin on his shoulder. The genius pats Michelangelo on the head lightly and pulls his plate of pancakes closer to him.

“And where did you go in the middle of our ‘Jupiter Jim’ marathon last night?” Raphael quirks a brow at his blue clad brother. Leonardo spins his chair around so he can straddle his chair and lean on the back rest, “Just needed to take care of something quick, hermano,” with a grin he pops a piece of a waffle in his mouth. “Oh, this is amazing, Angelo! You outdo yourself every time.” He scarfs the rest of the waffle down and pulls another onto his plate.

“Awe, you really think so?! I tried a gluten-free recipe this time just to see how it’d turn out. I’m glad you like it!” Michelangelo smiles brightly at his brother while he digs in as well. He turns towards Donnie, “Were you going topside by any chance today?”

“Tired sigh, I wasn’t planning on it, Michael.”

“Perfect! So, what you’re saying is that you totally have time to go pick up more waffle mix for me.” Donnie doesn’t have his robotic arms to stop the onslaught of his younger brothers’ arms as they wrap around him, “Thanks so much, Dee! There’ll be extra pancakes on your plate tomorrow morning, baby!”

Donatello was soft for his younger brother, he seldom said no to him, and it was a good excuse to get a lavender latte topside.

“Say,” Leonardo starts, “is there such thing as half-rabbit Yokais?”

“You mean Kitsunes?” Donatello offers. Leonardo shakes his head, “No, like Kitsune but Rabbit version?” The genius hums, “Not that I’m aware of, no. There is a Rabbit Yokai that works at Hueso’s, but they aren’t what you’re describing.” There’s a glint in his twins’ eye at the mention of the Rabbit Yokai but doesn’t get to say anything as Raphael interrupts him.

“What’s with the sudden interest in types of Yokai? Does this have something to do with where you went off last night?” Raphael inquires and crosses his arms. Leonardo lets out a laugh, “You’re rather suspicious of me this morning, Raph-a-la! I solemnly swear I am not up to anything.”

Cavaletty: ooo, looks interesting /gen thanks

‘Cavaletty sent a link’

Cavaletty: plz explain this science meme sir i want to laugh lmao, im also off today if you wanna vc or just game today?

‘Bootyyyshaker9000 sent a link’

Bootyyyshaker9000: Here’s the meme explained, short video. It’s 1 minute or so long. Perfect, I also need to head out for a bit then I’ll be free for the day. Perhaps voice chat? I have to work on a few projects and would appreciate the company.

Donatello holds his forearm flush to his body to avoid Michelangelo’s wandering gaze as he types back, “Angelo, send me the brand of the waffle mix. I’ll head out now.” He nods and Donatello gets a ping on his monitor on his wrist with the brand name and picture.

The rest of brunch goes smoothly as everyone helps wash up after mealtime. Donatello gets back to his living quarters, gets dressed and hesitates whether to fasten the brooch on or not. He settles on pocketing it and heading out the door. Just in case I need it.

It’s chillier today and he opts to wear wrap a scarf around his neck and dons his trapper hat as well, along with his signature mask. Gloves on his tridactyl hands and boots on his feet he faces the weather topside.

--

Donatello gets to the grocery store quickly, not a fan of the weather or wasting time. He gets a few rapid pings from Michelangelo requesting more things for tomorrow breakfast which he begrudgingly agrees to get.

He rounds the corner to the aisle listed to have flour and baking ingredients, he begins to scan the shelves, but his breath gets caught in his throat as he catches a glimpse of ebony hair and a familiar face: Violet. Thankful of his quick reflexes bestowed upon him due to the ninja lifestyle, he backs out of the aisle silently and shoves a hand in his pocket frantically searching for and fastening his brooch then pulling off his bandana and trapper hat and shoving both items in his pocket. He checks his arm band, arrythmia- odd, he’ll have to do a health scan when he gets back to the lair, he didn’t have a history of heart problems or palpitations.

Clearing his throat and wiping his palms down his jacket he enters the aisle again to find Violet still browsing, in the area he needs to find the waffle mix. Maybe she’s gluten-free? No, he thinks he’s seen her have pastries at Rendezvous that we baked with regular flour. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts and fluff his hair out a bit he casually makes his way to the waffle mix section.

“Violet, right?”

She startles and takes a tiny step back for proximity, “Oh! That’s me. Lavender latte with a cinnamon bun?” she laughs politely, her glasses still a bit foggy due to the temperature change.

Donatello nods and offers a small smile while picking up the waffle mix, her eyebrows furrowed, “My brother likes to experiment with cooking,” he shakes the bag of flour gently, “I’m doing his grocery shopping.”

Violet smiles, “That’s super nice of you, just grocery shopping with a friend.”

There’s an awkward silence and Donatello reminds himself why he hates small talk so much. A ping on his phone comes through and he breathes a sigh of relief, what was he thinking? Small talk with a stranger?! He pulls his phone out and fumbles it, the crack of the phone hitting the ground cause them both to wince and reach down.

“Oop, I got-“

“Ah, shit-“

For the second time that day, Donatello is caught off guard. Violet’s wide eyes stared at him, her glasses had slipped farther down the bridge of her nose from her quick descent to grab his phone. Her ebony locks fall loosely around her face, the fragrance of her hair flooded his sense, vanilla. The tip of her nose and her ears pink from the cold weather.

There’s a quick zap at his fingertips which causes him to lose his balance and fall backwards, “Ah! Sorry! I shocked you.” She supplies his phone and her opposite hand to help him up.

His jacket is too heavy, it’s too hot and the lights are too bright in here. The collar on his jacket is suffocating and he wanted to dunk his head in ice cold water to bring him back to his senses- is he having a panic attack? Sensory overload, perhaps? A heart attack? No, that’s absurd. He steadies his breathing and takes her hand, a bit dazed from the literal spark he had gotten from her.

Violet pushes the phone into his hand and the bag of waffle mix into his chest, “You dropped this.”

Donatello swallows thickly and mumbles out his thanks and excuses himself then heads straight to the check out and then back to the streets. The crisp air brings him back to his senses and he practically dives to the nearest alleyway to regear himself in his bandana and trapper hat then unfastening the brooch. Quickly checking his vitals on his arm band, he concludes them normal enough to head home via rooftop instead of the streets, lest he run into Violet again on the way home.

--

‘All vitals unremarkable.’

The terrapin frowns, odd, he was a very self aware turtle but he simply could not place physically why he reacted the way he did earlier in the day. He could rationalize that he scrambled for his cloaking brooch to make conversation with her based on their last encounter at the coffee shop and almost entirely biffed that due to him very quickly leaving them with barely a ‘goodbye’.

Donnie had a decently sized ego, he’s been told, so today was out of the ordinary in his regular behavior. He’s inclined to blame it on something mystic or otherworldly. He’s never previously reacted that way around Violet when running into her at her workplace, what had changed? What was different? Throwing on his brooch made sense as that’s how he had last talked to her. Hypothesis and experimentation were where he excelled- he would need to run into her more often the phenomenon of what happened today.

Pacing around the lab, he settled in front of his computer screen and opens a spreadsheet.

‘Incoming call from Cavaletty’

“Hey bud, how’s it shakin’? Just playing ‘Hades’, it’s single player so I can do this while you do whatever nerd shit you need to do on your end. ”

Donnie snorts, “Greetings to you too. What was going on with that customer that made you hang up on me the other night?”

He had no reaction to running into Violet at Rendezvous so that would be used as his control. He created a section where he would record symptoms when he was wearing his brooch and when he wasn’t, then a section for the morning and then the evening. He created a final section for organic run-ins, like today.

“Oh, they just literally popped out of nowhere?”, there’s some shifting and rapid button clicking on the other end, “Literally though, like, they came out of a portal? Nothing bad happened, I was just startled. What were your thoughts on Yokai, by the way?”

His fingers stop abruptly over his keyboard and his chest constricts; has he been found out? Does she know?

“Portals and Yokai- what a segue.”

“Is it really? Magic literally exists now, how many Yokai do you think travel by portal? I’d probably think a lot. I mean, I feel like portals are the most baseline magic.”

“It’s mystic, not magic. You’d also be correct; portal or transportation mystic is widely used and is very common.” He pushes the conversation away from Yokai, his palms begin to perspire.

“Mystic- ah, fuck!”, he heard her slam her controlled down on a desk, “for fucks sake.”

“Get wrecked, you’re actual trash at that game.”

“Am not, you’ve never seen me play it so you can’t know that, science guy. Aren’t all about the…hypotenuse or whatever? No proof I suck.”

“Hypothesis. I do have proof, we regularly play multiplayer games and I’m always the carry. The MVP, if you so will. The Amazing Othello Von Ryan, I’m waiting for applause.”

There’s a few claps on the other end, “Thanks nerd, anyways. About Yokai’s. Er, I’m totally fine with them, you avoided my question, so I’ll just go first. My best friend is a Yokai, I don’t think I’ve ever told you? I’m totally a-ok with sharing space with them. I’m not xenophobic, I’ll put that out there.”

Donnie lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” there’s a very tense pause, “Is that going to be a problem with you?” he can hear the malice on the other end of the call.

“No, no!” he scrambles and hits a few buttons on his keyboard, accidentally deleting the spreadsheet he just made in a flurry of panic to get some words out, “Definitely not, I’ve got Yokai friends as well. I frequent one of the ‘hole in the wall’ pizza joints here. It’s ‘Run of the Mill’- have you heard of it?”

Here’s his chance! He has the urge to spill his guts, this is perfect opportunity to come out to one of his dearest friends as, Donatello Hamato: scientist, inventor, engineer, technological genius and mutant (that could absolutely be misconstrued as ‘Yokai’).

“Yes! Totally, oh my god, I was literally there a little while ago. The garlic knots are to die for there! Another food venue we totally share and are clearly in walking distance of but you won’t hang out with me~”

Donnie’s brain is screaming at him to take the opportunity to just tell her the truth, to agree to finally meet in person, but he can’t shake the nervousness he feels. Rejection is a feeling he’s familiar with and it makes his mouth dry as he pulls his lips into a tight line. Bouncing his leg, he wrings his hands together nervously. Letty confirmed that she was fine with Yokai’s- better yet, she had Yokai friends and went to Yokai establishments. She wasn’t going to reject him because he was part turtle, but what if she rejected him? Rejected Donnie? What if he wasn’t everything she thought he was? What if he disappointed her in person? There was always the possibility that they meet in person and Letty just didn’t like him as person, regardless of being a terrapin.

Her nervous laughter and deflated tone come through the headset, “Ah, I’m just joking. I know you don’t want to meet in person. You know I’m happy just being online friends with ya, Otto.”

Donnie. His name is Donnie and he yearns to hear her say it. There’s a pang of sadness that wells up in his chest and stays there, he’s missed his opportunity yet again to come clean about his online persona. He sighs into the mic, forgetting it’s not on mute. “Sorry, not sighing at you. Just tired, I’m happy being online friends with you as well.”

“No, no! Don’t apologize, I shouldn’t have asked. I know you like your privacy.” A beat, “Is it me?” the inquiry is so soft and uncertain it makes him want to curl around her to shield her from himself, from his insecurities and doubts.  

“Letty, you’re never, ever the reason.” It’s me.

The silence is suffocating, there’s no clicking on either ends of the phone.

“Well, I’ll let you go Otto. Chat soon.”

“Right, bye-”

A shiver goes down own his spine as the line goes dead.

Donnie throws his headset down as he sees his friends name greyed out as she logs out of Discord, “fuck.” Running his hands down his face, he decides it’s time for a nap.

--

TBC

[outeremissary]

I was late to the asks so idk if you’re still doing them, but if you are…

💖,🌹,💜,🍆 for Marcus!!

Never too late! Seriously, as long as I can tell what prompt list something is responding to I'll try to answer even if it's months late. I usually only get like two asks max per list I post anyway. Though of course sometimes I get stuck on random ones and take months...

Anyway, from this list.

💖 Has your OC ever been in love, be it romantic or platonic or otherwise? Who with and did they ever express their feelings or keep it private? How long did these feelings persist / do they still feel this way?

The question saying "in love" makes it hard to see this as anything besides a romance despite how the rest is structured... "In love" has some pretty specific connotations in English, after all. I love my friends very deeply, but I'd never say I was in love with them. And I don't think anyone could discuss a familial relationship in relation to a sentence that started like that... but anyway. My late night grousing aside.

I suppose Marcus must have had a crush at some point when he was a kid, before things really went south with his family. He seems like the sort of person who would spend a lot of time agonizing over the perfect confession, even as a kid (maybe especially as a kid). He'd plan the date and time and event for confessing his feelings. He'd write and rewrite love poetry, getting more and more frustrated with it, and try to show an adult some for critique before getting nervous and snatching it away right as they began to read. He'd waffle back and forth on the poem, throwing it out and then taking it out of the trash and painstakingly rewriting it on nicer paper in his best cursive. And of course he'd be the sort to try to get a gift- it's the right thing to do, right? Flowers, chocolate, some cute little trinket. He'd figure all that out and probably have everything all assembled, and then the time would come and he wouldn't have the courage to go through with it. He'd hold it in and keep moping as long as it took the roses to wilt and the candy to be eaten. Then he'd try to forget all about it. He'd be awkward for ages afterwards. I have to imagine this was the basic template for his precocious crushes- some on peers, some on a particularly handsome teacher or mentor. Some known, some possibly requited, some not. And none of them went anywhere at all.

In the end, all his little affections and any lingering romantic angsts he might have had were ended abruptly by the crushing weight of an unexpected and early adulthood. When his family's fortune was lost and it became necessary for him to be a significant earner for the household he stopped thinking so much about others like that. I suppose it was all consumed by the anxiety he now feels interacting with anyone who could discover him. And it's all too much work, and he's so tired, and it could never work out. He just has to focus on his devotion to his family. That's all.

🌹 How easy is it for them to connect with others and make friends? On the flip side how easy is it for them to make an enemy of someone? Are they the kind of person who hangs around the food table at a party and never talks to anyone or are they the type who can talk to anyone?

It's not very easy for him to connect with others. He's good at coming across as polite or professional, but making actual connections is tricky. He's a somewhat standoffish person who can be intensely rules obsessed, judgmental, and moralizing, and he doesn't really understand how to positively interact with others while maintaining healthy boundaries or asserting his own needs. As a result he comes off as either intensely combative or as a serious doormat in most of his personal relationships. It's as unpleasant for him as it is for other people, but he tries not to dwell on it. It seems best not to connect anyway- after all, the other reason for his isolation is his need to maintain the secret of his double life to protect his family's reputation and cover for his father's failings.

I imagine that it's not hard for Marcus to make enemies, or at least to amass a list of people who really dislike him. See above. He's not really a charmer- you know as well as I! Most people dislike putting up with his abrasive attitude or find him to be a suckup. His perfectionist tendencies make him unpopular at his job as well- he's the type of person to ask to be added to projects just so that he can appoint himself the editor/person doing the final checks because he doesn't trust anyone else to do things correctly or to a reasonable standard. He always wants to correct things on other people's desks. And on top of that, he's late or absent so often... He's a hassle to work with! No one can argue with his results, but no one can tolerate him beyond that.

As for parties, you've seen that yourself. He's able to talk to anyone, but really he doesn't like to... once he's hit what he thinks is the mandatory threshold of polite interaction, he tries to find somewhere to stay out of the way.

💜 Music or Silence? Swords or Spells? Cities or Nature?

Silence. Not out of any dislike of music, it's just easier to work in quiet places. He appreciates quiet space to relax as well. I think for him there's an association between music and crowded or busy places. Big social situations seem a bit anxiety inducing for a number of reasons. He prefers spells to swords- swords aren't good for much, after all! You can use magic to communicate, to clean, to count things, for transportation, to heat your drink... What are swords good for? Showing off and killing. Both aren't very good things. He's not interested in either use. Between cities and nature he prefers cities- he's hardly ever been outside of Absalom. I think he hasn't spent much time in rural areas and he dislikes them simply for their unfamiliarity. City parks are fine though! Nature has to be something you can ingest in bites.

🍆 Tea or Coffee or Hot Chocolate? Sweet or Spicy? Fruits or Vegetables?

He's a serious coffee drinker. Not because he has any special passion for it, just because it's easy to get cheap, adequate coffee to stay awake for early shifts or overtime hours. He'd prefer sweets- once more, not out of any special passion for sweet things. He's got low spice tolerance and can easily get an upset stomach from spicy things. Something sugary is safer. Of fruits or vegetables, he'd prefer fruit. He just prefers the array of flavors- perhaps he likes natural sweetness after all? But he's not exactly picky about vegetables. He'll dutifully eat most foods he isn't very fond of, even if internally he's cringing.

[lasatfat]

how about a little 1, 3, and 25 for Rian/Varric and/or Sigyn/Blackwall from the relationship asks

OC relationship asks

Number 1 spoils a Varric/Hawke fic I've had in the works for five literal years, so I'll put it at the end under a cut.

3 - What's their love language?

I don't really buy into the whole "five love languages and you have one main one" thing, so I guess I went more specific?

Rian/Varric: Kind of an obvious one for Varric, but words. Tale of the Champion is essentially one big love letter. (Rian read the first chapter and realised they hate reading about themself). They’re both big on doing things for people, and I can see that translating over to being generous with each other. Probably also becomes a point of contention at times, whose turn it is to spoil who.

Sigyn/Blackwall: They still leave each other notes. Mostly it’s little “I love yous,” or things the other needs to know, or jokes that they think the other might like.

25 - Do they have any pet names for each other?

Rian/Varric: Rian gets the nickname “Waffles” pretty quick (they’re diplomatic with a sassy edge), but the more Varric falls in love with them, the less he uses the nickname. The same thing happens with Athim, though I haven’t figured out what her nickname is yet. Rian will often call people “love,” and not always as a term of endearment. But they have fun coming up with ludicrously cutesy pet names to wind Varric up.

Sigyn/Blackwall: Blackwall calls Sigyn “my lady” quite often. She always protests that she’s not a lady, but in a playful way. She’s totally into it. Sigyn will refer to him as “my warden.” She’ll use it more often than she uses his name.

1 - Who fell first? Who fell harder?

Sigyn/Blackwall: I have some ideas about this, but I don’t think any of them fit into the “fell first, fell harder” trope. There’s a whole story about how they first came across each other that’s I’m planning to write out properly, but essentially, they started exchanging little notes. They left supplies for each other. They both fell for each other from afar, and quite gradually. It was important to me that they fell in love before they attached specific names to each other.

Rian/Varric: Varric falls first, all those years ago when Rian got them out of the Deep Roads. He kept it close to the chest for over a decade, because he was still involved with Bianca and Rian was in love with Anders. He confesses his feelings after Hawke returns from the Fade, and that kind of pushes Rian face-first into the realisation that those feelings are, in fact, reciprocated. So, I would say they definitely fell harder.

[super-unpredictable98]

Happy New Year - Part I (2005) - The Umbrella Academy AU

Pairing: Klaus x Vicky (OC - The Eighth Child’ Verse) Word Count: 900 Warning: Strong language, mention of drugs and alcohol

a/n: Am I late? Yes. But here's part 1 of my NYE series for TUA lol hope you guys like it

(Masterlist)

"So, excited for 2005, Schnucki?" Klaus walked into my room without knocking, as usual.

"Can't you see me jumping around?" I mocked.

"Oh, come on! Everyone's already waiting in the courtyard."

"Even dad?"

"Yeah actually, he's out there in a Jessica Rabbit costume... Of course not, he thinks this whole new years thing is bullshit, he thinks the way we tell time is arbitrary and blah blah blah, but who cares? It's even better without him."

"I should be wearing white you know? And eating twelve grapes..."

"You and these silly Brazilian traditions. What color are your panties this year?"

"Pink."

"Pink? Which one is that?"

"It's love."

"I thought red was love, I bought these special for the occasion," Klaus lowered the waist of his shorts enough to show his red underwear. "Since you know, dad doesn't love me, I thought I might find someone who will."

"Red is for passion."

"Yeah, it works too..." he shrugged. "So, let's go? It's almost midnight."

"Fine," I rolled my eyes.

I took Klaus' hand and we made our way outside. Allison and Luther were giggling on a bench, Ben and Diego were playing checkers and Vanya was reading a book.

"Heeeey! The life of the party is here!" Klaus waved his hands excitedly, but no one seemed to really care. "Wow, tough crowd..."

When mom came in I nearly cried, she was holding a tray with a silver bowl, inside there were twelve tiny grapes.

"Tradição, minha querida," she smiled tenderly. "Feliz ano novo."

"Thank you, mamãe," I grabbed the bowl. "Feliz ano novo."

"Oh, nice..." Klaus tried to reach for the grapes, but I slapped his hand away.

"Klausie, I need the twelve, one for each month of the year."

"So selfish," he taunted. "What's that thing you say about having eyes bigger than the stomach?"

"How about I make you a pile of waffles tomorrow? With chocolate chips and all."

"Belgian waffles?" he quirked an eyebrow, considering the offer.

"Yes, anything you want."

"You got yourself a deal," he shook my hand with a smirk.

As the new year approached, I felt like 2005 would be a good one. Little did I know that would be the last year I would get to spend with Ben before I watched him die violently right before my eyes... Well, let young me enjoy her New Year's Eve a little bit.

"I can't wait for the fireworks," I leaned my head against Klaus' shoulder.

"You get so excited every year," he held me. "I don't know what's so special about it."

"I think it's a great metaphor. Fireworks are beautiful, colorful, bright, but they only last for a few seconds... Like life itself, it's this amazing little thing that ends too fast and disappears into the sky."

"Vicky, are you high?" he mocked, but I could see in his eyes that he was touched.

Klaus used to be a very sensitive kid, he would cry for anything, but as the years went by he started to create this shell, some sort of mask. I guess dad and the others hurt him so much that he decided it was better to not feel at all.

I was probably the only person he felt comfortable sharing his emotions with. Sometimes we would have the longest conversations, we cried and we told each other the deepest secrets in our hearts, but we were in front of our siblings, so there's no way he would let it show.

"Sucks that none of us is getting a midnight kiss," he huffed. "Unless Allison and Luther decide to get frisky."

"Shut up!" Luther shouted.

"Don't listen to him..." Alli turned away from us.

"Well, I've spent the last 15 years without any sort of kiss, it's not like it's gonna make a difference," I scoffed.

"It's almost time, children," mom stared at the sky. "5 seconds, 4, 3, 2..."

"Happy new year, Klausie!" I hugged him tightly.

"Happy new year, Schatzi!"

As we pulled away slowly, our faces stood inches from one another. Our breathing was nearly synchronized, I could smell the faint scent of weed and stolen champagne in his breath. As my eyes stared deeply into those beautiful green pools of... Hope?

"Do you think we could..." he murmured softly.

I'm not proud of that and I regret that moment every single day. I wish I did it, but that's not how things happened. Klaus closed his eyes and parted his lips slightly, leaning in closer, but I completely chickened out. I moved and pressed my lips to his cheek instead.

"Couldn't let you go without your precious midnight kiss," I chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, of course not," he kissed my forehead.

"And we were the ones getting frisky?" Allison teased.

"Yeah, Alli," he draped his arm around my shoulders. "We're saving ourselves for marriage, get a clue."

"Marriage? You guys are getting married?" Luther kept pushing. "When?"

"The day after you two," Klaus flipped him off.

"Ok, now you just made it weird, let's go back inside," Diego grimaced before getting back into the house.

Klaus and I stared at each other for a few seconds before following suit. He wasn't disappointed, but he seemed... Almost hurt under his cheeky exterior.

I hated myself for being such a coward, I wish I could talk to myself back then and tell her that one day she'll have the nerve to kiss him, tell him how she feels, and be happy. But unfortunately, many more New Year's Eve would come before that happens.

Tag List: @elliethesuperfruitlover @firstpersonnarrator @holidayspirits

[wiypt-writes]

Riding On

CH25- A Series Of Very Fortunate Events

Summary: It’s Fliss’ birthday and Frank pulls off the surprise of the century.

Warnings: Bad language, Smut (NSFW, 18+)

Pairing: Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding On Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 24

I dunno how you do what you do, I'm so in love with you, it just keeps getting better. I wanna spend the rest of my life, with you by my side, for ever and ever. Every little thing that you do, Baby I'm amazed by you

Fliss gave a start of surprise as two hands grabbed her waist and spun her round.  She laughed as a pair of bright blue eyes, sparkling with love and mischief, met hers, her hands sliding up their owner’s chest to his shoulders, as a warm palm pressed into her back, fingers splaying over the top of her thin camisole. “Happy birthday, Beautiful.” Frank grinned at her and she beamed back, her nails gently scratching at the nape of his neck, tangling in his short hair as he gently swayed them to the soft music which was playing through the speakers in the kitchen.

“Thank you, Sailor.” She smiled as his lips gently pressed to hers, a chuckle flowing from his mouth as he swayed his hips to the gentle rhythm of Otis Redding’s ‘(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay’. “You know, I had set my alarm a little bit earlier today ” He informed her, spinning them a little across the floor, “planned a little wakeup call plus breakfast in bed. So imagine my slight frustration when it went off and you were already gone.” “Sorry, but I woke up and,” she shrugged giving him an apologetic look, “you know once I’m awake I’m awake.” “I do.” Frank smirked, his hands on her hips gripped a bit tighter as he swayed his own along to the music. “Guess you’ll just have to wait for that particular present, Cowgirl.” She let out a laugh, the hand on his neck tightening a little in his hair as she pulled his head down to hers. “I love you.” “Love you too.” He whispered, his lips catching hers in a deep kiss, tongues sliding gently against one another before Frank pulled back, his forehead pressed to hers. “Can I at least make you breakfast?” “Sure but don’t you need to be getting ready for work?” “Nope.” He shook his head. “Booked the day off.” “Why?” “Well it’s a Friday and your birthday and I wanted to spend it with you.” He shrugged. “I know you’re working but thought I could finish the shelving and what not in the tack room and then we can get everything ready for the guys coming over.” Fliss beamed. “I’m so excited to show them the yard. I know it’s not fully finished but...” she sighed. “I’m really happy with how it’s turned out.” “And you should be.” Frank smiled, his hips swaying to the music. “You’ve put a lot of hard work in. I’m proud of you, Honey.” “We’ve put a lot of hard work in.” She smiled as he revolves them gently on the spot. “Couldn’t have done it without you and everyone else for that matter, Mum, Dad, Joanne, Steve...” “Well,” Frank grinned as he spun her out slightly, pulling her back into him, her back pressed to his chest, her giggle vibrating slightly into his body, “tonight we can fire up the grill as planned, thank everyone properly and have a few drinks to celebrate.” “Sounds good.” She sighed as his lips brushed her neck. “My last lesson finishes at two, I cut them early for the day.” “Perfect.” Frank gently nipped at her skin, his hands splaying over her belly, pulling her back into him. “And just think, this is your last birthday as a Gallagher. You’ll be Mrs. Adler next year.” “Two months.” She rolled her head to the side, allowing Frank to nuzzle into her even more. “I can’t wait.” “Me neither, Baby.” He whispered, his mouth now on her jawline. Eventually his lips found hers and he kissed her again, her head laying back against his shoulder as his right hand started trailing down further, and further, and his fingers had just worked their way into the waistband of her sleep shorts when a soft little whimper, followed by a louder garbled chatter chimed out from the baby monitor. Frank gave a groan, his head sagging forward and his hand moving back up to Fliss hip as she laughed a little, tilting her head to look at the screen where Alex was now pulling himself to a stand using the bars on his crib as leverage. “Cock block.” Frank grumbled as he shot the monitor a look and Fliss stepped out of his embrace, turning to face him. “I’ll go get him, you can start my birthday breakfast.” She smiled, standing on her tip toes to give him a gentle peck. As she padded out of the room, Frank watched her go, eyes firmly trained on her pert ass before he smirked to himself and turned to gather the ingredients for the waffles Fliss had shown him how to make. As he spooned out the flour into the bowl he heard Fliss greeting Alex good morning and their ten month old giving a garbled little response followed by a happy giggle, the one he always gave when he saw Fliss. “Momma’s boy.” Frank scoffed, picking up the baby monitor and pressing the intercom button alongside it. He heard Fliss laugh as she turned to the monitor, sticking her tongue out at the screen, knowing full well he could see and he chuckled, turning back to his task in hand. By the time she appeared after changing Alex’s diaper, Mary had surfaced, Fred hot on her heels, and the kitchen was full of the smell of waffles which sizzled away on the iron. Mary shot over to Fliss, wishing her a happy birthday before she placed Alex in his chair and Frank stepped over to give his son a kiss good morning. He smiled as Alex wound his small hands into his beard, giving a tug before he gently scruffed against the baby’s cheek causing him to shriek in delight. “Think I might try his cup again today.” Fliss pondered for a moment. “He didn’t want his milk after breakfast yesterday as he was full so Mum suggested offering it him alongside, he might be a bit more inclined to take it if he’s doing it himself, what do you think?” “Go for it.” Frank nodded, straightening up. “Don’t worry about it too much though, sweetheart. Mary dropped her morning bottle completely round the time she was his age. He’ll let us know if he’s hungry.” Satisfied with her choice, Fliss sliced up an apple and placed it down on Alex’s tray along with half a lightly toasted piece of bread and a sipping cup half full of formula. Alex immediately went for the apple, jamming it into his mouth making appreciative noises as Frank served their own breakfast of waffles, fruit and syrup up, handing a small piece of waffle to Alex. The baby paused, taking it with a cooing noise and proceeded to look from one hand to the other. “What’s it gonna be, pal?” Frank asked. “It’s a big decision. Apple or waffle?” “Bet you five bucks he goes for the waffle.” Mary grinned and Frank wrinkled his nose. “I dunno, he likes his apples.” “Yeah but waffles are much better.” Mary’s voice was muffled as she shoved a huge fork full into her own mouth and Fliss watched as Alex continued to ponder. In the end he raised both his hands to his mouth, attempting to shove the two items in at the same time. Fliss laughed and gently went to help him out, but no sooner had she done that, Alex had already realised it wasn’t going to work. His fingers still curled round precious apple slice, he dropped the hand holding it to his tray, using the other to shove the waffle piece straight into his mouth, chewing contentedly. “Told ya.” Mary smirked. The kitchen was full of laughter as they ate, and when they had finished and cleared the dishes, Frank and Mary disappeared upstairs coming back with a few gifts held in their arms. Fliss grinned as she took the one Mary handed her first. “That’s from me and Alex.” She nodded as Fliss kissed her cheek and tore off the sparkly blue wrapping paper, her smile growing even bigger as she saw the box which contained a radio mic along with ear pieces. “You said your old one was crap.” Mary grinned, ignoring the pointed look Frank shot at her for her use of the word. Fliss laughed. “Yeah it’s seen better days, everyone says I sound like a Dalek.” “A what?” Mary frowned. “Oh they’re an alien thing from a TV show called ‘Doctor Who’, they talk like broken robots.” Fliss waved her hand. “But this is great. Thank you!” “It’s fully charged and tested.” Mary grinned. “Dad had it on the other night in the garage fixing me a blow by blow description of how he was varnishing the boat. I stopped listening. “No wonder it’s taking you so long to finish.” Fliss smirked at him and Frank arched his brows. “The reason it’s taking me so long is because every spare moment I’ve had recently you’ve put me to work at the yard either building shelving units or painting.” He folded his arms. “You know, I could charge you a fortune.” “I pay you in other ways.” She winked and a Frank snorted as she reached for a smaller wrapped gift. She tore off the wrapper and Frank held his breath a little as she looked at the white leather box emblazoned with the logo of a company he knew she’d recognise. “Did you...” her eyes instantly misted over and Frank nodded as she opened the box with shaking hands. He watched as she studied the item inside before she picked it out to examine it in closer detail. It was a bracelet made out of the hair from Heidi’s tail, wound into a thick, chunky braid, the different shades of chestnut and dark brown perfectly woven together. The claw clasp was silver and there was a small silver horse shoe and heart shaped charms hanging from it, the latter engraved with the words ‘forever in my heart’. “Frank,” she stuttered and he gave her a smile. “You were talking about getting one, did I get the right style?” “Yeah.” She swallowed. “Oh, Sailor it’s perfect.” She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips, giving a little sniff as she pulled back. “Can you...?” She handed it to him and then held out her left hand arm and Frank opened the clasp, fastening it around her wrist. She looked at it for a moment before she smiled and wiped her eyes. With a little cough, Fliss cleared her throat as she reached for the final box which was a little bigger and when she opened that one she gave an excited shriek. “You got me a Pivo? How? These are like out of stock constantly!” Her hands trailed the box and she grinned, looking at Frank. “Lucky try.” He shrugged as Fliss opened the box to look at the starter pack. Not for the first time she was overcome with just how much Frank actually listened to the throwaway comments she made. She’d talked about getting one of the smart tracking systems you linked up to your phone for a while, it would make filming her videos for sales and the online blogging and tutorials that she had recently launched on the website so much easier. “Thank you, you’ve spoilt me.” Fliss beamed at Mary and Frank, before she turned to Alex to give him a kiss, and Frank glanced at Mary giving her a wink, both of them fully aware that the gift that was arriving later that afternoon was going to blow her mind.

***** Frank spent most of the morning putting up the shelves as promised, hanging the doors and whatever else he needed to do, whilst Alex was happily entertaining himself in his little pack and play, the air-con in the new large room a godsend as it gave some well needed relief from the sweltering late July heat. Bill and Verity arrived at midday with lunch from their favourite sandwich deli. Fliss beamed when she opened her gift from her parents which was a tripod for her new Pivo plus a year’s subscription to a new editing software app for her MacBook and iPhone. Once they had eaten, Verity offered to take Alex back to the house for his nap, leaving Bill and Frank free to head down to check that the new perimeter fencing had been done properly whilst Fliss carried on with her day's schedule, this time her, Joanne and Mary setting up the Pivo to film a little VLog for their YouTube channel that was linked to the stables. Then at just before two, Frank got the call he’d been waiting for, his big surprise was half an hour away. “I’m a little nervous.” Frank admitted as he and Bill walked back to the yard. “I mean, if she doesn’t like the damned thing when it arrives, I can’t exactly return it.” “Trust me, she’ll love her.” Bill shook his head. “If nothing but because it’s connected to Heidi and it’s something for her to start work with from the ground up. It’s what she’s always loved to do, and she does it well. As this all proves.” Bill waved his hand in the air, gesturing around the land and the various horses as Frank nodded. “Guess we’ll find out soon enough.” He was on edge for the next fifteen or so minutes as he tried to concentrate on a little more painting, but then they heard the rumble of tyres as the truck pulling the transporter trailer wound slowly up the drive. Bill looked at Frank with a grin before he pulled out his phone, no doubt to message Verity, and Frank glanced over to see Fliss had straightened up from where she had been leaning over the laptop at her desk and frowned, her head tipping to one side as she glanced out of the window which overlooked the entrance. “Joanne?” She called and the girl appeared. “Did we book a new client in today that I forgot?” “Nope.” Joanne shook her head. “Who the hell is this then?” Fliss’ frown deepened as she turned and headed out of the room, Frank following with a very excited Mary. As they walked into the courtyard, Frank watched Fliss speaking to the driver as he opened the door and hopped out. He saw the shock register on her face and a small smile played on his own as she stood stock still, blinking at the man who handed her an envelope. With a frown she took it, turning to Frank who merely gave her a puzzled shrug, before she tore open the envelope and her eyes scanned the message inside which Frank had asked them to prepare. There was a delicious moment where Frank saw Fliss’ face washed blank with confusion, like her brain cogs couldn't turn fast enough to take in the information from her wide eyes. Every muscle of her body just froze before a grin crept onto her face, it soon stretched from one side to the other showing every single tooth. This time when she looked at Frank, he smiled back, and she shook her head her own smile not faltering. “You did this?” She managed to stutter out as Bill chuckled, walking to the back of the large transporter to help the man with the ramp. “Well, I had help but yeah, I’ll take the credit for it being my idea.” He wrinkled his nose as Fliss gave a shriek and launched herself at him. Laughing he caught her as her legs wrapped around his waist and she pressed a kiss to his lips. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” She whispered. “But how did you even know I’d been looking at her? I never-“ “Mary.” Frank said simply as her hands slid to cup his face. “You should know by now she never misses a thing.” “Hey, Titch, you gonna let go of Frankie boy for long enough to come meet her or what?” Bill called, and Mary nodded. “Yeah, hurry up Mom, I wanna see her!” Giving him another quick kiss, Fliss moved and Frank dropped her to the floor. She turned, sweeping Mary into a huge hug before she took her hand as they walked to the back of the trailer as the beautiful bay horse was led off. Amazement didn’t quite cover what Fliss was feeling at that point in time as she stood rooted to the spot, observing the animal who stood up tall and glanced round, snorting loudly at the strange surroundings. It was a cacophony of emotions all firing at once and the smile Fliss was displaying on the outside sure as hell couldn't have adequately reflected what she felt inside; like every neurone of her brain was trying to fire in both directions at once - the best kind of paralysis. Simply put, the animal was beautiful. Sleek dark bay with unblemished limbs, two white socks on the hind legs and a blaze very similar to Heidi’s down her dark face. Her mane and tail were shiny black, and whilst the animal had little muscle definition, Fliss new that was down to the fact she hadn’t ever been ridden before having been used as an attempted brood animal. It was clear she had been looked after and cared for as the mare had a sweet eye, it wasn’t looking at anyone suspiciously or worriedly, simply curiously as she spun quickly on the spot, giving a shout which was answered by Cap in the barn, Fliss knew his whinny off by heart. As Cleo turned her pretty head, she glanced straight at Fliss who took a deep breath as shiny, bright brown eyes gazed back at her. At that the horse gave a soft little nicker and there was an explosion in Fliss’ brain... the good sort... the buzz of electricity she had felt when she’d been to view Heidi for the first time. As dramatic as it may have been to admit this out loud, to her it was the calling card of adventure, of paths awaiting both their feet that they could enjoy together. Whatever was ahead could be a great challenge, and there would undoubtedly be tears and frustration, many hours of patience and hard work as there was to be expected with any horse you were backing and teaching from the start, but it was Fliss’ adventure to take. With a gentle breath she stepped forward slowly, towards her new animal and held her hand out, palm up, offering the horse a sniff. “Hey, Cleo.” Fliss spoke gently as her other hand ever so quietly moved to scratch the horse on the wither. “Hi, how you doing, girl?” Frank watched and let the happiness Fliss was exuding soak right into his bones. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to smile at Verity who juggled Alex in her arms as she stood by his side. “You do realise that if you weren’t already, you’ve effectively just become a horse widow before you even get married, right? Backing a horse is gonna take a lot of her time and become an obsession.” She grinned as Frank offered to take his son from her and she obliged. Frank gently turned him and held him to his chest, facing outwards so he could see what was going on.

“I don’t much care.” Frank chuckled as he watched Mary extend her hand out to pat Cleo as the animal rubbed her head against Fliss who reached up to wipe the tears of joy from her eyes. “Look how happy she is.” He took a deep breath, her happiness was infectious and Frank was simply savouring the feeling of sheer pleasure in his system at seeing his girl so full of joy because of something he’d managed to pull off. Simply put, he wanted to still be able to make her feel like that when they were old. Half an hour later the horse in question had been given a quick feed and a drink of water and left to settle in a spare stable. Fliss had then been given a blow by blow account of what Frank, Mary and Bill had dubbed ‘Operation Cleopatra-Comin’ At Ya’ and she thanked them all, once more getting emotional over how much thought and effort had gone into everything so far. Eventually, once Cleo had been turned out into a field with Monty for the evening, they all made their way back to the house, showered and changed ready for the BBQ they were hosting later, Bill and V taking up residence in the guest suite for the night. Frank was already in the kitchen, dressed in jeans and a blue and white checked button down, sleeves rolled up, when Fliss walked in wearing a pale blue sun dress which accentuated her waist and boobs, much to his delight, her Cowboy boots completing the look.

Their friends arrived and there were more gifts exchanged before drinks started to flow and they then made their way to the yard so Fliss could show their friends around. She laughed as she saw that Bill had jokingly put a ribbon over the gate for Fliss to cut, which she did to a few cheers and some sarcastic comments from her brother, one of which earned him a slap round the back of the head from Verity. Frank watched as she showed everyone around, Jake taking particular interest in the state of the art security system that was installed as he said it was similar to the one he was looking at for Lisa’s cake shop. The pride was simply flowing out of Fliss as she talked and explained everything, and Frank loved to see it. A few hours later, it was dark and their back yard was lit up by the various strings of lights and lamps dotted all around, which Frank fake-grumpily liked to point out made their garden look like a Fairy’s grotto. The air was full of chatter, light music and laughter as everyone milled around in the way they always do at parties. After more drinks and the food had been eaten, Fliss said she was going to head up to check on Cleo and Frank hastily offered to go with her, not least because he didn’t want her going alone, but because he wanted to snatch a moment alone for the pair of them. It was a beautiful, clear night. Peaceful and quiet bar the sounds of crickets. The horses, who were in the fields happily settled, all raised their heads as they passed, Cap trotting over to the fence line to greet them. Frank gave him a quick stroke on the nose before they moved down to the next paddock and Fliss ducked under the electric fencing and strode over to check Cleo. Satisfied that nothing was amiss she came back, a smile on her face and they set off back down the path, her hand linked in his. “Thank you.” She broke the comfortable silence a moment or so later.

“What for?” Frank glanced down at her and she let out a contented sigh.

“Everything today. And everything everyday.” She said, her voice laced with happiness. “All my gifts, it just shows how much you actually listen to me...”

“What you mean is I don’t ignore you deliberately as you accuse me of doing?” Frank shot back and Fliss snorted.

“If anything this proves it is deliberate when you do something I don’t like.” She looked at him and he chuckled before shook her head. “I still can’t believe you managed to get a horse here from England.”

“Yeah and basically empties half our savings.” He snorted and she shrugged.

“She’s worth it. I’m impressed, Francis.”

"Well like I said, I had a little help, it was a family affair.”

“I know and I love that Mum and Dad and Steve all chipped in but still, it was your idea.” She smiled. “It’s so thoughtful.”

“Well, you spend enough time thinking about everyone else, making sure we’re all happy,” Frank shrugged, the pleasure lancing through his system at her happiness made him in turn feel contend. “I thought it was time you got something back.”

“You make me happy every day.” Fliss shrugged. “And I’m not saying that just to be sentimental either. It’s a fact. And you know what else is a fact?”

“What?”

“That you’ve now imported as many horses into this county as I have.”

“Guess that makes me the Cowboy to your Cowgirl.” He nodded seriously as they stopped at the end of the path by the large open fronted barn just off the main yard area.

“Yeah? Is there a snake in your boots?”

“There’s one in my pants.” Frank grinned, and she laughed. 

“Is it dangerous?”

“No, but it spits.”

“Frank!” She scoffed, elbowing him in the side as he laughed, looping his arm round her shoulder,  pressing a kiss to her head as he pulled her back into him, his chest flush to her back. “Wanna fuck in the haybarn?” His voice was deep and soft in her ear as his lips dropped to the side of her neck, large hands curling softly over the curve of her hip, the cotton of her dress bunched in his fingers. Her entire body erupted into goose bumps and her belly was in knots, but still it was there, that overwhelming sense of comfort and familiarity that enabled her to laugh softly as she tilted her head to the side to look at him. “Only taken you what? Like three years to suggest that?” "So I'm a little slow.” Frank chuckled as she turned to face him, her hands sliding up his chest. “Well,” she smirked up at him, eyes flashing in the moonlight, “better turn up the speed because they’ll be wondering where we are.” “Fuck ‘em.” Frank shrugged, but still he wasted no time as he hurriedly backed Fliss into the haybarn, the two falling into a pile of it with a giggle. His large hands hiked up the sides of her dress, exposing her panty covered mound as his lips latched to hers in a deep and tantalizing dance. Thick fingers, soft and rough in their own way, played at the hemline of her panties just at the apex of her thighs, a thumb pressing into her clit just over the fabric. As his mouth moved from hers to her jawline, the scruff of his beard giving her that delectable burn she loved so much, a needy rumble vibrated from her throat and chest, Fliss enjoying every bit of pressure Frank offered. Then, a cool breeze touched her wet opening as she realized Frank had moved her panties to the side, an elicit sound escaping her lips as he slipped two fingers inside her. "You know today, I remember thinking that your laugh was the prettiest sound in the world.” Frank’s breath was hot on her ear as his teeth nipped at her neck. “I was wrong, it's your moans." Fliss choked a little on another groan as his fingers curled against her spot, over and over, in a beckoning motion, as if he was motioning her towards him. The heel of his palm pressed up against her clit and she pushed her hips down, rotating them a little as she sought out the friction of his strong but gentle touch. “That what you want?” Frank’s voice was husky, his mouth hovering over hers as she gave a wanton mewl, his hand keeping the same steady pace, forcing her to up his. “You wanna cum on my fingers, huh?” “Yeah, God, Frank...” a hoarse murmur  slipped from her lips as her eyes flickered shut, head tipping back in pleasure. “Jesus, that feels good!” “I got something that’ll feel even better.” He quipped in a low, rough tone that was almost a growl and a grin spread across Fliss’ lips as he slanted his mouth over hers, swallowing the noise of protest she made as he removed fingers from inside her, kneeling up, both his hands flying to his belt buckle. Fliss sat up, wriggling her panties down her legs and over her boots. With a cheeky flick of her eyebrow she tossed them straight at him. Possessing reflexes Fred would be proud of, Frank caught them in his left hand and held them to his face, his eyes locked on hers as he pressed his nose into them, inhaling deeply. “You’re a dirty, little shit, Adler.” She let out a naughty sounding chuckle as Frank stuffed her panties into his back pocket. “Yeah, and you’re filthy, goddamned minx, Gallagher.”  He quipped back, and a matter of seconds later he had his jeans and boxers down over his slim hips. Falling back over her, his mouth pressed back to hers again and he gave a hiss through his teeth as she reached down and grabbed him in her hand. Her fingers curled around his shaft and she gave him a few, quick strokes, before she guided him to where she wanted him. Slowly he pushed into her, the pair of them letting out a shuddered breath before his hips began to move quickly back and forth with fast, shallow thrusts and Frank reached down, large fingers curling over her thigh, hooking her leg up round his waist. His hand moved upwards, bunching the hem of her dress up, stopping as he grabbed at her hip, his other palm flat on the rough, coarse hay bale that they were propped up against. His lips crashed to hers in a desperate, needy kiss. His tongue traced the inside of her mouth as her hands tangled in his hair and she let out a little whimper, tipping her hips up to meet his as his thrusts grew deeper, more powerful, his pace still equally as fast as he drove her nearer and nearer to her high, a broken groan rumbling from his chest as he felt her walls tightening down around him. Fliss’ chest hitched, and her eyes closed momentarily, her mouth falling open as she croaked his name repeatedly, almost in time with his thrusts, a mantra as he watched her face which was contorted in pleasure. “Feels so good, don’t stop.” She mumbled, her hands tangling in his hair as her eyes opened. His forehead pressed to hers, a sheen of sweat covering both their red faces as his hips snapped back and forth, simple, fast ruts. Fliss could feel him, deep inside her, and soon that familiar heat and tingling began to burn between her legs and in the bottom of her belly. Her breathing quickened and then the waves of pleasure washed over her, her back arching as she gave a loud cry her nails digging into his scalp. Frank continued thrusting through her orgasm, and it didn’t take him long to catch up with her. “Fuck, Lissy...” his words cut off and a broken whimper slipped from his mouth as he came with a final deep thrust, his fingers tightening around her waist before he collapsed forward, burying his head against her neck. Fliss could feel herself pulsing around him, the aftershocks of her orgasm still coursing through her body, her walls contracting every so often as they lay still, his dick still twitching inside of her. Leaving a soft kiss to the spot under her neck, Frank pushed himself up and brushed his nose against hers, giving her a soft kiss as she gave a hum of satisfaction, the fingers of one hand gently stroking the nape of his neck, the other brushing up and down his bicep. “We should get back.” She whispered. “We’ve been gone half an hour.” Frank gave a groan but nodded and moved gently away, pulling out of her. He stood up, held his hand out and helped her to her feet, tugging her into him, large hands cupping her face. He kissed her again, deeply and she smiled as he pressed his forehead to hers. “Love you.” His lips pecked hers again, and she chuckled, giving him another kiss. “Love you too.” She beamed, stepping back to sort her hair out. Frank pulled his boxers and jeans up, brushing the remnants of forage and dust off his thighs and shirt before Fliss turned round and he did the same to her, plucking away a few strands of straw and hay that had become tangled in her auburn locks. “Am I presentable?” She asked and Frank nodded. “The evidence of our crime is eradicated.” He nodded, giving her a little smirk before he jerked his head towards the outside. “Erm, you’re forgetting something.” Fliss stopped him. “What?” “My knickers.” She held her hand out, palm opened and Frank gave a teasing frown. “Oh, do I have those?” He asked and she rolled her eyes, his hand falling to her hip. “Yes, so gimme.” Her fingers curled into her palm and back out in a demanding gesture and Frank shrugged. “You threw 'em away, so I think I’ll keep 'em.” “Frank, I can’t go back with nothing on underneath this!” She gestured to the floaty skirt of her knee length sundress and Frank shook his head. “Just don’t bend over and we’re good.” He looked at her with that maddening, cheeky smile, holding out his hand. “Such an asshole.” She scoffed, taking his hand and allowing him to lead her out of the barn. 

 As they walked, she squirmed a little, feeling his release beginning to trickle down her leg and Frank looked at her, a knowing smug expression on his face and she glared at him. “I’m going straight upstairs to clean up.” She grumbled and he laughed, letting go of her hand so he could loop and arm round her shoulders. “That would be rude considering we have guests.” He teased, pulling her close he pressed a kiss to her head as her own arm slipped round his waist, a smile on her face, the sounds of laughter and chatter from their guests drifting to their ears as they neared the farm house. They walked into the back yard through the gates and Fliss smiled at Mary who came running over. “Was she okay?” “Yup, settled in the field with Monty and eating away. He’s a good babysitter.” “That’s so cool!” “Where’s Alex?” Frank asked and Mary looked at him. “Poppa Bill has him.” She said, and Frank glanced around to see the man in question did indeed have their son in his arms, the baby grabbing at his short, grey hair letting out squeals as Bill pretended to bite his little neck. “Hey Mom, are we still going in the pool? Joel and Charlie are exited for night swimming!” “Yeah, in fact I’ll go in and get changed right away.” Fliss smiled, shooting a smug glance at Frank as she has been unwittingly handed a perfect excuse to go and clean up. “Cool!” Mary shot off, passing Bill as he walked over towards them. “Hey Dad!” Fliss smiled, “I’ll be right back, the kids want to go swimming so...” “Yeah okay.” He smiled, handing Alex over to his dad who pressed a kiss to his chubby cheeks. “Oh, Titch?” “Hmm?” She spun round to face him and Bill looked at her then to Frank and back again, his eyebrow raised. “Might wanna pull that hay out of your hair too before you come back down.” Fliss felt her cheeks heat up and her hands hastily moved to the back of her head, pulling a few long strands from her ponytail. She threw an accusatory glance at Frank who simply shrugged. “Guess I missed a bit.” He replied innocently, although he was anything but. He knew full well they were there, but there was that naughty, smug little shit inside of him that had wanted everyone to know they’d just been for a roll in the hay, quite literally. It appealed to his macho, alpha-male masculinity. “Dick.” Fliss scoffed, and as she headed inside his laughter accompanied by her dad’s exasperated chuckle hit her ears. 

**** Chapter 26

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

OC-tober Day 7: Power

OC-tober prompts by @oc-growth-and-development.

Oh dear gods, I waffled HARD on who to write this for! But Kary rarely gets the spotlight in my rambles, and even in the stories her REAL level of power is hardly ever unleashed! So I thought I’d write down more about her and her power. (Or as she likes to think of it: her magic’s power.)

Yes, Kary thinks of her magic as something separate from her. To be fair, the magic IS technically provided by a semi-sentient fire entity that was ritualistically sealed in her body and essentially grafted to her soul.

Kary can access that magic any time she wants, but she can't control it as well as she likes to pretend. The abilities granted to her in any given moment are largely dependent on what "her magic" (i.e. the parasitic fire entity) agrees to let her use. Among the only constants are pyrokinesis and canid shapeshifting. The full roster of her abilities is a chaotic mess of one-offs and flukes, enough that I've recently been considering that she might more accurately be described as having a very low level of omnikinesis, but since she doesn't have conscious control of it, I'm not sure it counts?

(Sidenote that she does have some low-level empathy inherited from her mother, but she's neither experienced nor interested in honing it, so it's kind of a vague awareness in the back of her head that she can ignore like the background humming of a fridge.)

The pyrokinesis is the one she practices most with, so naturally it's the one she's most skilled at. It's also the one that varies the most greatly in power level! The magic entity sort of "opens the gate" to different abilities based on what it "considers" a threat to its hostess, and thus to itself. More severe threats unleash greater power. Kary can sort of willpower-brute-force stronger pyrokinesis if she's sufficiently angry or fearful, but overriding the magic's will to Not Drain Her Beyond Self-Defense takes a lot of "convincing".

Low-level threats get her easy access to throwing fireballs at things, stronger threats might also give her heightened reflexes, and in the most desperate circumstances, well... This is where "power" really comes into play.

Kary's body becomes a blaze of light and heat, damage resistant with superhuman reflexes and acute awareness of other magics in the area. It's the state where she's most capable of producing wind tunnels, rapidly switching forms, and producing shields and/or walls of fire to hold for extended periods of time.

Though it feels ecstatic in the moment, being in that state drains her energy very quickly, and it leaves her perpetual fever even higher than usual for awhile. However, it seems to "quiet" the magic's protests to being around her friends and family who have other forms of magic, which the parasite generally reacts negatively to. (In a typical day, the scar that acts as The Actual Seal that keeps the entity attached to her might start burning for any reason it considers a threat, including being around other powerful people, and if she remains near the "threat", it hurts her until she starts using the magic. After using the magic, it quiets down for awhile.)

[sweetyyhippyy]

Part of You. Spencer Reid x OC! Character. Chapter 6.

Chapter 6: Birthday

(not my gif)

Summary: The morning after last chapter. Spencer and Bridgett spend the day together, being cute, having breakfast, and talking about the future. 

Pairing: Season 6 Spencer Reid x OC! Plus size character, Bridgett Mendez.

TW: Small talk about the night before, start of sexy time, a cuss word I think? 

Word count: 2.4k

A.N.: I’m really sorry, this chapter is filler so it’s not the best. There is some fluff sprinkled throughout the chapter so hopefully you’ll like it! This is still season 6 Spencer! Also, if you reblog this chapter I will follow you!! 

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Spencer turns over, stretching his body and opening his eyes to see the back of Bridgett’s head next to him, her hair tied up on her head. She managed to push the covers down from around her body to her hip, her entire back exposed to him while she was sleeping away. She ran hot most nights, especially when Spencer was cuddled up behind her.

Spencer wraps his arms around her, moving closer to her naked body. Bridgett was cold to the touch as he hugged her close. His fingers trace from her hip bone, up her curves and across her back over a red bite mark on her right shoulder from last night, then around to the side of her neck to the hickies he had left on his girlfriend, kind of concerned he had hurt her. Bridgett’s body shutters next to him, a low moan coming from her as she stirs next to him.

“Shhh, go back to bed.” He whispers in her ear, rubbing her shoulder lightly.

“That tickles, I can’t go back to bed.” Bridgett mutters despite her eyes still being closed. She lets out a laugh feeling how softly his fingers were touching her bruised skin, feeling the dull soreness on the side of her neck.

Spencer leans on his arm and drops down to kiss her cheek multiple times. She hums in happiness finally opening her eyes and laying on her back to face Spencer. Bridgett lightly touches Spencer’s exposed collarbone with her fingers, making him shiver in return. Spencer moves to lay his body on top of Bridgett, resting his head in between her shoulder and neck, leaving little kisses on her skin.

“Good morning.” She smiles, grabbing the sheets and pulling them up over both of them. “I’m cold.” Bridgett says, playing with his hair.

Spencer wraps his arms around her and holds her tight, giving her a squeeze. “Probably since you slept naked.” He teases.

“Or because you weren’t cuddling with me.” She pokes back. Spencer laughs, kissing the top of her head twice.

“You’re right, you’re cold because I wasn’t touching you.”

“I’m glad you agree.”

Brat.

“Hey,” He starts, picking his head up to look at Bridgett’s face. “Did I hurt you last night?”

Bridgett cocks her head to the side, giving him a questioning look. “No? Why?”

Spencer moves the necklace over carefully and lightly runs his hands over the two bruises on her neck, his eyes not leaving hers.

“Oh, Spence, baby no.” Bridgett coos, touching his cheek lightly. “No you didn’t hurt me. I like when you leave marks on me. It’s a pain to cover them up, but I do like them.” Bridgett can tell Spencer isn’t 100% content with her answer, he still felt a little guilty leaving such ugly purple-black bruises on her. She grabs his face, making him look at her. “Hey, don’t make that face at me. I’m telling you I’m okay. Plus, I would have used the safeword if I wanted you to stop.”

“You hate using the safeword.” He says, furrowing his brows.

“Because I can handle a lot more than you think I can, doctor. You think I’m a fragile little flower who can’t handle you being rough and nasty to me.” She smiles devilishly.

He bites onto his bottom lip to hide his smile, rolling his eyes playfully at her. “So do you want to go into town and get some stuff to make breakfast and some dinner? I’ll make waffles, eggs, and bacon. And you could make that fajita pasta tonight?”

It was Spencer’s favorite thing to eat that she cooked.

“Only if you give me a kiss.” Bridgett says, puckering her lips. Spencer kisses her back with a smile, lingering a little longer than he should have.

“Okay, let’s get showered and let’s go.” Spencer throws the covers off his body and rolls out of bed.

“Shared shower?” Bridgett questions, smiling at her boyfriend, making grabby hands up at him.

Spencer cocks his eyebrow at her, not being able to keep his smile in. He holds his hand out while she gets out of bed, grabbing his hand and heading off for their shower.

***

A few hours had passed, they got enough food for the rest of the night and some snacks for the next day.

They ate brunch in bed, Spencer trying to steal strawberries off Bridgett’s plate because he ate all of his. Bridgett yells jokingly as Spencer weasels his fork across her plate, impaling 2 of her strawberries.

“Excuse me!” Bridgett complains. “You should have cut yourself more strawberries if you wanted them, these are mine.” She taunts him, moving her strawberries away from close to him.

“Couples share!” Spencer says, shoving the whole berry in his mouth.

“They do but I don’t share strawberries. Just like you don’t share your jello. I learned that lesson the hard way.”

Spencer laughs, remembering when he basically interrogated Bridgett when he saw a jello cup missing from the fridge. The one freaking time she craves jello and Spencer turns bad cop on her.

“I have a question.” Spencer says, stuffing his face with a piece of waffle.

“Okay.”

“Is there any fixing the relationship you and your parents have? Or is that broken beyond repair?”

Bridgett stops chewing, looking over at Spencer, completely taken back by his question.

“Where is this coming from? Before I answer.”

He shrugs his shoulders, “I dunno, I was curious about if you would ever take me home to meet your parents.”

Bridgett sighs, thinking about the answer to her question. To be honest, she hadn't even thought about Spencer meeting her parents. Mostly because she didn’t want them to scare Spencer away.

“Well, I don’t know. I haven’t given it thought until 5 seconds ago if I’m being honest. If my parents weren’t… how my parents are, and we had a good relationship, I would have taken you to meet them a long time ago. I know how they are and I don’t want them to do or say anything that’ll make you uncomfortable or upset you.The only person I can see you meeting is my sister, Celeste.”

“Upset me how?”

“I never told you, but there was a boy back when I was a junior, I had a huge crush on him, his name was Cruz, and we weren’t ever boyfriend and girlfriend or anything, but he took me out on a few dates. Anyway, my mom saw us out one night at a mall, and she started tearing him to shreds. Calling him a ‘hoodlum’, ‘gang banger’, any other insensitive name she could call him because he had a tattoo and his ears were pierced. And she said all of that to his face. I was mortified, he was pissed, and we never went out after that. I just don’t want them to treat you horribly. You don’t deserve that.”

“I get it, it’s okay if it doesn’t happen, but you know I can handle it, right?”

“I know, babe, but then I’m going to get mad and it’s just going to end in the three of us yelling and I don’t want that. I’m not counting it out completely just… not yet. And since you brought it up, have you ever thought about me meeting your mom?”

“Yeah of course. It might be further down the road, but yes I do want you two to meet. You two are both very important to me.”

“Unfortunately neither of us have a normal family.” Bridgett jokes.

“We can make our own normal family.” Spencer says nonchalantly, making Bridgett turn her head quickly toward him. Spencer feels her eyes on him, making him look back at her. “What?”

“You know what you just said right? You’ve thought about us having our own family?”

Spencer breaks eye contact, his cheeks getting a little red. “Well yeah. I’ve thought a lot about marrying you, us having kids. We’ve both talked about wanting families one day, and it was before we got together that we had that conversation, but it still stands at least for me.”

Bridgett smiles at him, kissing his lips, a hint of strawberry on them. “What’s stopping you from marrying me right now?”

“Not much, honestly. But we’re only in our 20s. I think we should wait a little while longer before we get married.”

“I’m imagining you in a nice tuxedo,” Bridgett grabs both of their plates of food, placing them on the nightstand, and climbs onto Spencer’s lap, straddling him.

Spencer raises his eyebrows, resting both of his hands on her hips, and a peaceful smile on his face.

“Your hair combed back, looking like SuperMan in your glasses, because you know what your glasses do to me.” She whispers, kissing him again.

Spencer pulls back from the kiss first, a smile on his face. “Actually, Clark Kent wore glasses to cover up the fact he was SuperMan. But glasses aren’t much of a disguise, if I put glasses on you I would still be able to tell that it was you. Even if he was a strang-“

Bridgett kisses him again, lingering for a few extra seconds before pulling back. “I love when you info drop, I think it’s very cute and I love hearing you go on about stuff you know a lot about, but I was trying to be sexy.”

Spencer laughs, cupping Bridgett’s face in his hands. “You don’t have to try hard, my love.”

***

Bridgett’s body shutters, making her wake up. She grabs for the blanket that she pushed off her body during the night. As she pulled the blanket it wouldn’t come up further than her stomach, making her whine.

“Spencer you’re on the blanket. You’re being a blanket hog.” She mumbles, turning around to lay on his chest to wake him up but the spot next to her was empty. Bridgett opens her eyes, lifting her head up off the pillow and looking at the empty bed.

“Spence?” Bridgett calls out, sitting up on the bed to find her discarded clothes on the floor. She slips her underwear on, putting her long sleeve sweatshirt over her bare torso to go find Spencer.

She walks around the cabin, finding a yellow heart shaped balloon and a birthday cake balloon swaying back and forth on the counter in the kitchen, the ribbon tied to the handle of the overhead cabinet. Bridgett smiles as she sees Spencer sitting on the couch, bringing his coffee mug to his lips. She walks up behind him, leaning down and runs her hands down both sides of his chest and enveloping him in a hug.

“Good morning, hermoso.” Bridgett whispers in his ear, kissing the spot below his ear.

“Good morning.” Spencer smiles, putting his coffee down on the table next to him. He motions for her to come over to him, holding his arms out.

Bridgett rounds the couch, sitting next to him, and placing her legs in his lap, kissing his cheek.

“Happy birthday, babe.” He says, giving her a peck on the lips.

Bridgett gives him a kiss back, smiling into his lips as they pull back. “Thank you. I love my balloons.” Kissing him again. “And you.”

“I love you too. I have another present I want to give you. Well technically it’s two, but one is more symbolic. Well, symbolic is the wrong word, one is romantic, and the other is a gesture. I don’t know if that’s the right wo-.”

Bridgett laughs, grabbing his face and making him look at her. “Your brain is working faster than your mouth baby. Relax.”

He presses his nose against hers and reaches behind the pillow next to him. “The romantic gift first.” He says, handing her a CD case with a yellow piece of construction paper taped on the inside with the words written in his chicken scratch, “Songs That Remind me of You” with a heart on it.

Bridgett pouts her lip out and makes soft eyes at him. “Babe!” She says in a whiny voice, hugging his waist.

“This can be our playlist for tonight. And I have something else for you.” He says, handing her a key.

Bridgett smiles at him, raising an eyebrow to him. “What’s this for?”

“I could say something cheesy that I had seen on the internet when I was looking up cute ideas for gifts for you, but it’s a key to my apartment. I figured you’re already at my place more often than not so, yeah.” He smiles.

Bridgett takes his face in between her hands again, bringing his face close to hers and kisses him passionately. “I love you so much, Spencer. I’m so lucky.”

“I was nervous that giving you the key was going to freak you out.”

“Why would it freak me out?”

Spencer shrugs his shoulders, looking down at the coffee table trying to sort through the thoughts in his head. “I’ve never done the relationship thing before. I don’t know how soon is too soon to do things, and I don’t want to hold off on doing things because I get in my head about rushing into things… but I don’t want to freak you out and make you feel pressured into something you don’t want to do just to make me happy.” Spencer clears his throat, narrowing his eyes. “You can tell me to stop talking.”

Bridgett giggles, bringing his face closer to hers, her thumb rubs his cheek lovingly. “You know that I would tell you if things were moving too fast, right? Plus, we’ve never had a normal moving relationship in case you haven’t noticed. And I kinda like it… just like I kinda like you.”

Spencer lets out a deep laugh, his eyes scrunching up as she smiles. “You just like me? That’s it?”

“Yup. A strong admiration.” She giggles, bopping her nose against his. “I’m fond of you.”

“Alright, let’s see how fond you are.” He says, shifting his body against the couch and making her lay down on her back against the cushions.

Bridgett wraps her legs around his waist, putting her hands on both sides of his face. “First one to say I love you loses.” She says.

“What's the punishment for losing?”

“The loser has to give the other head… twice.”

“I love you. I love you so much. The love of my life. I love you.” Spencer says, kissing all over her face.

[somerandomdutchfangirl]

Hetalia Family Week - Day 1: Hobbies

This is my entry for @hetafamilyweek day 1 - hobbies (and hugs)

Summary:  They didn't have time for family hangouts often, with them being nations and all that, but whenever they did, it was safe to say it was the most fun any of them would have that week.

Sometimes, they would just go for a coffee or lunch or have a picnic. Other times, they would binge-watch a series while cuddling on the couch. And then, there were times like this.

This has also been posted to my a03!

Disclaimer: the opinions of the characters aren’t necessarily the authors opinion. Also, some of the sentences have been translated with Google Translate. If there is any mistake, please let me know and I'll fix as soon as possible! The translations are at the end.

Names used:

Willem = Netherlands

Femke = Belgium

Laurent = Luxembourg

Antonio = Spain

Matthew = Canada

Abel = Holland, @starflight-blog oc

Sjoerd = Friesland, @starflight-blog oc

Lieke = Groningen, @starflight-blog oc

Relevant headcanons time!  

- Femke owns a cat named Mika

- Matthew and Willem are married (see end notes for more info)

- Matthew uses he/they pronouns

:readmore:

They didn't have time for family hangouts often, with them being nations and all that, but whenever they did, it was safe to say it was the most fun any of them would have that week.

Sometimes, they would just go for a coffee or lunch or have a picnic. Other times, they would binge-watch a series while cuddling on the couch. And then, there were times like this.

"Can't you two sit still for like five minutes? If you want this painting to actually look good, you're gonna have to let me actually have time to paint you!"

"What if we want it to look like Picasso?"

"Laurent, hoepel een eind op, Picasso sucks and so do his paintings."

"Don't let Antonio hear you say that."

"Antonio can go fuck himself."

"Guys, let's keep this fun, alright? I want to enjoy this day," Femke chimed in. Willem huffed but didn't complain further. Laurent grinned and continued composing a piece for the harp standing next to him.  

(When Laurent had led them towards his "inspiration room" as he liked to call it, which was just a room filled with instruments, art supplies and more, both siblings had been filled with dread at the thought of Laurent playing the tuba, or god forbid, the trombone. Willem had said: "Laurent, I swear to god, if you're going to play the tuba or the trombone, I'm going to throw both you and the instrument out of the nearest window." To which Laurent had been a smartass and replied, "Can you even lift all that weight though?" That had ended up in a chase through the house that ended when Femke tackle-hugged both.)

The comfortable silence continued for a while, broken only by the occasional sigh from one of the siblings or Laurent trying the piece on the harp.

"Hey, Fem," Laurent walked up to her while he was taking a quick break, "What're you making?"

"Well, I'm trying to embroider our pets, but this stitch just won't work, godverdomme-"

"Maybe you should take a break and come back to it later? It's getting late anyway, we should eat dinner soon," Laurent suggested. Femke nodded. When no conformation came from Willem, they turned to him.

"Hey, earth to Willem! Did you hear what we just said?" Laurent asked, walking up to him and quickly stopping next to him. "Nondikass!" He exclaimed. "Willem, that looks amazing! How'd you do that in such a short time?!"

Femke, now curious, walked up to her brothers and peeked over their shoulders. "What the fuck, Willem," she gaped at the painting in front of her. It was clearly her and Laurent doing their respective hobbies, with beautiful lighting and background. The vibrant colours of the front of the painting was a stark contrast to the background, which had much softer tones. "You told us you were rusty! What part of this is rusty?!"

Willem, who was now looking more like a tomato, opened his mouth, no doubt to point out all the things that were wrong with it, but Laurent cut him off. "Nope, Mr. Perfectionist, you're not pointing out all the imperfections of this, and that's final. This is a masterpiece, seriously. Don't give me that look!"

"You know," Femke mused, "I might actually hang this in my house once it's dry."

"Guys," Willem said, flustered, "It's not that good. Really. Thanks for the compliments, but-"

"No buts!" Femke exclaimed at the same time Laurent yelled: "Not that good?!"

"Yeah, it's... the colour's off, the perspective is weird, and-"

"I am this close to actually strangling you with your scarf, Willem," Femke cut him off, her hands on her hips. "So what if it isn't perfect? That doesn't make it look any less amazing! I'll tell you what, we're gonna take a break, then we're going to come back here, and you'll see how amazing this actually looks."  

Willem looked at her for a few seconds before sighing. "Fine..."

"Now don't go around brooding like that, it's no fun," Laurent said while shooting Femke a quick thumbs-up. Femke grinned.

"Now, come on! I'll make waffles!"

---

"Hey, Matthew replied!" Laurent exclaimed, effectively cutting off Willems' story on the antics of Abel and Sjoerd.

(Apparently, they had gotten into a fight over who had the most creative curse words. This had ended in Abel singing along to the curse word song in Dutch, until Lieke walked in. Sjoerd had promptly slapped a hand over Abel's mouth to stop him from ‘tainting Lieke's innocence’. It was weird.)

"What do you mean?" Willem asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, dearest brother of mine," Laurent replied with a shit-eating grin, which did absolutely nothing to ease Willem's worries. "Because you didn't seem too convinced by us literally shouting how amazing your painting was, we decided to send a picture to Matthew-"

"You what?!"

"-to see what he thinks of it," Laurent continued, unfazed. "Since, you know, you seem to care a lot about what they think, about as much as you care about what we think? I mean I would hope so, considering we're your siblings, but-"

"You're getting off track, Laurent," Femke cut him off. "Anyway, we figured that if anyone other than us would manage to convince you that your painting is amazing, it's gonna be Matthew."

"I-"

"Don't even try to deny it. We went to your wedding, remember? We know how much you care about him. Which is a good thing, by the way. So, Laurent, what did they say?"

"Well, there's an all-caps keysmash, followed by an all-caps 'what?!'. Scratch that, basically everything is in caps. So, the general train of thought is 'what the fuck, this is beautiful, how the fuck did he do this, he calls this rusty?!' And finally, 'I love it 10/10 would hang in my living room and/or show off to my family and friends. It's beautiful and I'll physically fight him on that.'"

"Awww, that's so sweet! See, Willy, your painting truly is amazing!" Femke, sporting a somehow genuine but shit-eating grin, patted her brother on the back. Said brother had his head in his hands and may or may not be crying.

"I hate you two," came the muffled reply with no real heat behind it. Femke and Laurens laughed.

"We love you too, you softie! Now come on, who's ready to spend more time together!" Femke cheered, already halfway across the room.

---

"Jezus Christus, Femke, that looks amazing!" Willem said, looking at the embroidery his sister had made. It pictured their pets, Pelutze, Mika, and Nijntje. 

"Aww, thanks Willem!"

"Wait, let me see- wow, sis, this is really good! I love it!"  

"Thank you, Lau! By the way, is your composition nearly finished? I want to hear it!"

"Me too, actually."

"Well, it's not done yet, but I can play what I have so far?"

"Yes please!" Femke smiled.

Laurent sat down and started playing the piece of music he had written on the harp. Moving his fingers delicately along the strings, the beautiful melody carried along the room. Once he was done, he looked up.

"So... what did you think- Femke are you okay?!"

"Yeah, sorry, it's just... it's so beautiful!" Femke cried, flinging herself at Laurent and crushing him in a hug.  

"I agree with Femke, it was wonderful," Willem chimed in, walking over to his siblings. Femke quickly included him in the hug.

"You two are so talented, what the hell!"

"Fem, you're crushing me," Laurent gasped. "And don't you dare exclude yourself, have you seen what you just made?!"

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts, remember," Willem said, parroting her words back to her with a smirk.

"Why are you like this?"

Willem laughed at this. "You still love me despite it, though!"

"That's not an answer!"

"Is it not?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Guys, please stop. This is a stupid argument," Laurent rolled his eyes.

"Rolling your eyes at us? How rude, Lau," Willem said, locking him in a headlock and ruffling his hair.

"Hey, let me go!"

"Hmmm, let's see... Nope."

"Oh, come on! Fem, help me out here!"

Femke just laughed in response.

"Betrayal!" Laurent screeched, struggling to get out of his brother's headlock. Femke just laughed harder in response, almost falling over.

"You know, you could always just say the magic word to get out."

"The magic- What am I, five?"

"You certainly act like it sometimes."

"Fëck dech."

"Real mature, Laurent."

"Oh, like asking for the magic word is so mature."

"Absolutely. I haven't heard it yet, by the way. Femke, are you doing alright?" Willem asked, as his sister was now lying on the floor, tears streaming down her face. Gasping for air, she shook no.

"Seems like you'd better let me go before we make Femke choke," Laurent commented. Willem tsk-ed.

"Fine, fine. Fem, get up," he said, letting Laurent out of the headlock and extending a hand towards Femke.

"Give- give me a... minute," she said, still gasping for air. After she managed to get enough air in her lungs and not burst out laughing after she saw her brothers standing in front of her with worried (albeit semi-irritated) looks, she finally took Willem's offered hand.

"You two are utter morons."  

Willem gasped. "Are you hearing this, Laurent? Slander, complete and utter slander!"

"Well, she's right about one of us, and it isn't me."

"Laurent, ik tyf je de Noordzee in als je niet ophoudt-"

"Try me, old man-"

"Who're you calling old you little-"

''Oh for- hou uw bakkes! If this becomes another argument, I will smother both of you!''

''You wouldn't dare,'' Willem said. After a beat of silence and a fierce glare from Femke, he added: ''Would you?''

''I don't know, why don't you find out?''

''Fem, you're scaring me a bit here,'' Laurent said nervously. Femke hummed. Laurent looked at Willem, wide-eyed. Willem just looked back and shrugged.

''Could you even reach me though?'' Willem, who apparently had a death wish, asked.

Femke whipped around, glaring at her brother. Willem just glared back.

''Guys, no, no one's getting killed today,'' Laurent interjected. ''This is supposed to be a fun family meeting, remember? If there's any way anyone's going down,'' he added on, a devilish grin on his face as he slowly inched closer to his still glaring siblings, ''It's going to be this way!'' he yelled as he quickly poked Willem in his side, who immediately yelped and tried to get away. To no avail, because Femke quickly latched onto his arm and started poking him in his side too.  

''No, Fem, wait- What did I do to deserve this?!''

''Well, uh... you took the last waffle?''

''Are you asking me, or-'' Willem started to ask, then yelped again as his siblings started to tickle him.

''No! Please, mercy!''

''Hmmm, Lau, what do you think? Should we stop?'' Femke asked, looking at her younger brother.

''I don’t know, Fem,'' Laurent answered back, devilish grin still on his face. ''He hasn’t said the magic word yet.''

''Godverdomme, natuurlijk is dat het antwoord. Kut! Laurens, stop!''

''Hmm, let me think. Nee.''

Femke snickered. ''He looks like a worm, wiggling like that.''

''How the fuck-''

''Oh my god you're so right,'' Laurent said. ''Willem the worm,'' he started to say, but burst out laughing halfway through. Femke laid on top of Willem, wheezing. Willem, meanwhile, looked absolutely mortified.

''You two are so immature,'' he said.

''Says the guy currently laying on the floor because he's ticklish.''

''I will strangle you,'' Willem threatened.

''Try me, bit- Hey!'' Laurent started to say, before Willem had reached forward and pulled him besides him.

''You know, this is actually surprisingly comfortable,'' Femke commented after a beat of silence.

''No, you're heavy. Get off me- Lau don't you dare lay on top of Femke or I swear- oof!''

''Hmm? What was that?''

''I'll kill you.''

''Aw, we love you too!''

''... Ugh, fine, if I say it, will you get off?''

''Maybe!''

''You two are gremlins, oh my god. Fine, I love you too.''

''He said it! Lau, he said it!''

''Yeah yeah, we all heard it. Now get off me.''

''I mean... technically I never promised I'd get off-''

''Off. Now. Or I'll never bring you stroopwafels again.''

This earned him a scandalized gasp from both of his siblings.

''You’re so mean! How dare you deprive us of stroopwafels?!''

''You can't do that!''

''You two are impossible. I said off,'' Willem complained, trying to sit up. Which was hard, considering Femke was literally laying on top of him.  

''Say the magic word first.''

''Are you serious right now? Femke, we are not five.''

''So?''

''... Fine. Femke, can you please get the fuck off me?''

''Fine, close enough,'' she said as she got off Willem, who immediately took a deep breath.

''Finally, oh sweet air how much I've missed you.''

''You’re so weird. Anyway,'' Femke said, turning towards Laurent. ''You recorded the whole thing, right?''

Laurent laughed and rolled his eyes. ''Like you had to ask.''

Willem gaped at them, before jumping up. ''Godver- Laurent give that camera here, right now!''

''No, I don’t want to. I must say this is great blackmail material.''

''Laurent, als je nu niet die camera hier geeft, dan-''

''Du muss mech als éischt fänken!''

Needless to say, Willem ended up chasing Laurent through the house, Femke following closely behind. In the end, all three of them ended up in a dogpile on the couch, laughing. Yeah, family meetings were fun indeed.

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

Translations:

Hoepel een eind op (Dutch) = a nice(ish) way of saying ‘fuck off’ or ‘go away’

Godverdomme (Dutch, Flemish) = goddammit

Nondikass (Luxembourgish) = used as an exclaimation, meaning something like ‘damn’.

Jezus Christus (Dutch) = Jesus Christ

Fëck dech (Luxembourgish) = Screw you

Ik tyf je de Noordzee in als je niet ophoudt (Dutch) = I will throw you into the North Sea if you don't stop. (The word ‘tyf’ is pretty rude though, albeit used by a lot of teens in my experience, so I would not recommend going around actually saying this.)

Hou uw bakkes (Flemish) = shut up

Godverdomme, natuurlijk is dat het antwoord. Kut! (Dutch) = ‘Goddammit, of course that's the answer. Fuck!’ (even though the word 'kut’ doesn’t mean ‘fuck’, it's used as a replacement pretty often. The more accurate translation would be ‘vagina’, as that is literally what it means, but it's used as a curse word more often than not.)

Nee (Dutch, Flemish, Luxembourgish) = No

Laurent, als je nu niet die camera hier geeft, dan- = Laurent, if you don't give me the camera right now, then-

Du muss mech als éischt fänken! (Luxembourgish) = youre gonna have to catch me first!

Stroopwafels are a Dutch delicacy, I love them so much. Basically, they’re waffles with syrup in between. Google them for examples and probably a better explanation.

I am physically incapable of not adding in a sprinkle of NedCan. I'm sorry (but actually not really,, as stated, Willem and Matthew are married so technically Matthew is family- *gets smacked*)

The ending is more crack and longer than I intended because I have no self-control. Sue me.

Moral of the story: don't anger short ppl. They’re angrier cuz they’re closer to hell-

Yes Willem is ticklish, I said what I said.

Bonus scene: ''Wait, so if Willem is a worm, would Matthew be like... a moose?''

''I am begging you two to stop. Laurent, stop laughing!''

[junquisite]

C’est La Vie - Finale

WORD COUNT : 1.4K

GENRE : Fluff. SIngle Parent! OC AU

WARNING : None. yearning if it’s considered one

PARTS : 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  F

NOTE : Please enjoy the last chapter of my favourite fic i have personally ever written. Thank you for all the love and support for C’est La Vie, Please keep supporting Victon~

*3 years later*

"Mom how do I look?" Jiah asked and Jinae turned around to look at her.

"The prettiest baby." Jinae said and Jiah made a sad face.

"I gotta go change quickly." She mumbled and turned around but Seungyoun stopped her.

"What do you mean change? Why?" He asked.

Jiah turned around to look at an equally confused Jinae.

"I can't look prettier than Mom today. It's her day. It's her wedding day." Jiah said and Seungyoun and Jinae burst out laughing.

"Wedding day.." Jinae mumbled happily.

 That day when Sejun entered the diner and saw the lady startled and heard a hiccup and saw Jinae, he rushed to her, to comfort her since she was crying. Instead of telling him what was wrong, she kissed him which he pulled back from. Looking at her from that close, teary eyed but red face and trembling lips, he couldn't pull back again when she kissed him. When they pulled back for air, with their foreheads still touching, she couldn't stop saying how much she missed him, how much she hated seeing him with someone else and how sorry she was to turn him down when he asked her. They talked like that, pecking in between conversations and giggling until a loud thud made them look at the table where the diner lady had put their usual order - both pancakes and waffles and they laughed, slightly embarrassed acting like teenagers in love.

After that, they talked and talked almost as if compensating for the 10 years that they missed. Until Seungyoun called her to ask where she got stuck. He sounded really mad and then they looked at the time and she cursed because it was 4am and time really passed away too quickly and they stood up to leave and apologised profusely to the lady because she kept her diner open for them when she closed around 2am. They insisted on helping her close up but she shooed them away and when they left, she shouted,"Get married already!" And they only giggled looking at each other.

 The door opened and Seungsik peeked in, "Can I come in?" 

She waved him happily inside and he looked at her giving her the biggest smile,"You look absolutely gorgeous! Sejun is going to cry at the altar." And she laughed.

"So he should. If he doesn't, I'm not giving her away to him." Seungyoun said, coming behind Jinae and squeezing her shoulder.

"Like you did?" Jinae asked and Seungsik and she laughed at Seungyoun's pout.

"I still can't believe you said Yes to him when he asked you like that." Seungsik mumbled and they all laughed.

 3 months ago, It was a regular night when they all- the boys and Jimin and Seungyoun decided to crash at her house and it was a 'huge sleepover' as Jiah called it.

The reality behind the plan was that Sejun wanted to propose to her and Subin and Seungsik had planned it all out for him. They were all to wake up and have breakfast together. Then Sejun would ask Jinae to go out for a movie and when they'll leave, the rest of them would decorate the house and set up a candlelight dinner for them. They would come to that, enjoy the dinner and then Sejun would ask her to marry him.

But did it go that way?

They all woke up and Jinae and Jimin came out from the room they slept in. All the boys crashed in the living room and they were all in different stages of waking up. She walked out in her cute pyjamas and slept in hair and bare face and he felt something tug at his heart. He looked at her walking to the open kitchen but she came back from half way and gave him a kiss and asked him what he wanted for breakfast.

Instead of answering what he wanted he asked her to marry him.

Everyone froze and turned to stare at him and she said huh.

He said loudly, "Marry me!"

Before she could respond, Subin and Seungsik were shouting at him for ruining their preparations, Jimin was congratulating her and Jiah was asking him if she can call him dad now.

But he had her eyes locked with her's and slowly she smiled and nodded and mouthed 'Yes' to him and he felt like the happiest man on earth.

 "How could I have said no to him?" She said and Seungyoun gagged.

"How is he?" She asked Seungsik and he shrugged.

"He's excited and nervous. And dying to see you ofcourse." Seungsik said and she chuckled. 

Soon Subin peeked in to tell her that everything was ready and they'll start any moment now. She nodded and Seungsik left after giving her a hug, Jiah with him who was supposed to be the flower girl and the ring bearer.

When seungyoun and Jinae were alone, he hugged her tightly.

"I'm so happy for you Jinae. You deserve this and so much more." He whispered and she heard a sniffle.

"Don't you cry on me now youn or I'll cry too and I don't think the makeup is waterproof." She said and they both shared a laugh, slightly teared up.

They heard a knock on the door and the music for the bride started and he gave her his hand which she took, smiling widely. She had her best man with him and was going to marry the love of her life and nothing could top that feeling.

 They exited the small cottage rented and walked down to the beach. They had booked a private beach house for the wedding and only the closest people were to be there - the boys and their Significant others, Seungyoun and his wife, Aerin, and Jimin. Jinae and Sejun had personally invited the dining lady to the wedding but she had some private business to attend to and couldn't make it. 

They reached the small way between the seats and everyone was standing and looking at her but her eyes were only for Sejun, her Sejun who was smiling at her with so much love in his eyes and his dimples on display, who was also slightly teary eyed.

"Glad he's crying or else I would have just turned around and dragged you with me." Seungyoun Whispered beside her and she couldn't help but chuckle.

Then there was her excited baby, Jiah, happily waving at her from beside Sejun. She had declared that before the ceremony she'll be from her mother's side but during the ceremony she'll be with Sejun. Jinae was slightly offended but seeing how happy Sejun was and how he almost cried after hearing the news, she might have accepted it. Jiah had been dying to call Sejun dad since the day he proposed to her and she would always get this giddy smile whenever she'd talk about it to Jinae and she couldn't have been happier.

Before reaching Sejun, she thanked her late husband in her heart, he was the reason she had Jiah and she hoped he would be as happy for her as she was feeling in the moment.

And then they had reached the Altar and Seungyoun was passing her hand to an ecstatic but close to crying Sejun who would not stop smiling at her.

The ceremony went too quickly and she felt like it didn't even register to her and then they were saying "I do" and then the priest said, "You may now kiss the bride." And Sejun Lifted the veil and then his hands were on her waist and he bent her down and kissed her and she could feel him smiling in the kiss, couldn't help herself from doing the same and they heard Whooping from among their friends and then he was pulling back, smiling and red faced and whispered to her, "Ready for the future Mrs. Lim?" 

All she could do was nod before she felt tiny hands hugging her waist and she looked down to see Jiah and heard her say, "Congratulations Mom and finally, Dad!" And the smile Sejun had when he bent down to hug Jiah made Jinae think that she made the best decision ever.

She looked around at her small group of friends, and how much she adored them all and how happy she was at that exact moment, looking at the love of her life hugging her child with so much love, looking at her best friend standing hand in hand with his wife and all the other friends who have always been there for her whenever she needed.

And she had never thought she could feel so much love and happiness at one moment but here she was, looking forward to more of them with all these people in her life.

[boymeetsweevil]

the most magical place in hell

Grouping: (For Science) Reader x JK

Word Count: ~3.1k

Warnings/Themes: implied sex, 5 is a crowd annoying friends since that’s the vibe these days, d*sn*y please don’t sue

Prompt: “For Science, I miss this couple sm. Any scenario would be fantastic! For inspo, did JK and OC get to go on a vacation, (jk expressed he wanted to in his journal) if so how did that go? Any fun new experiments?”

A/N: This commissioned fic is part of the Changes with Luv project, hosted by FicsWithLuv. Here you can find more information about the project, cause, places to donate, and ways to commission a piece or offer your services if you are a content creator. Thank you!

On the third day of the cruise, Jungkook rolls over in his sleep. His hand reaches for you. His palm meets the bare skin of your shoulder already moving despite how pale the morning light is under his lashes.

“What’s happening,” he mumbles before grabbing more greedily at you. There’s not too much resistance as you let yourself be dragged a few inches across the sheets.

“We have to get up. Breakfast starts in 10 minutes, remember?”

You lean down to press a peck just above his brow bone and he groans. As you pull away, there’s a sweet waft that hits him and lets him know you’ve already showered and gotten ready. Now it’s his turn.

He gives himself just until you gather your things and shut the door to the room. Then he’s pulling himself out of bed with every ounce of energy he has left. He brushes his teeth with his eyes closed, does a perfunctory shower with the lights off like it’ll give him some more sleep. But he’s still dead tired as he throws on an outfit and heads out the door.

The walk to the dining area was exciting 3 days ago. The decadent decor, the view from the high balcony separating his floor from the others, the grand 20’s style atrium with Mickey Mouse memorabilia incorporated throughout. Everything used to be exciting 3 days ago. Sadly, the first day passed and things quickly lost their charm.

As he scoops a smiley-face omelette onto his plate in the buffet line, he searches for your face in the crowd of families scarfing down their first meals of the day so they can take their kids to the waterfall pool on deck 6. By the time he reaches the end of the line, there’s still no sight of you among the tables. So he ventures outdoors where there’s less seating but considerably more sun. He thinks back to his quick routine in the room. Did he remember to put on sunscreen?

When he finds you, you’re stretched out on a beach chair and taking in some of the sun. His mood is partially lifted when he sees just how content you look getting warmed like a lizard on a rock in your tiny bikini. He stands over you deliberately just to see you pout and pull down your sunglasses with a huff.

“Oh, it’s just you.”

“Who’d you think it was?”

“I thought it was Hoseok about to ask me to take his profile pic again.”

Jungkook chuckles a little before sitting in the open seat next to you. “Couldn’t have been him. Too early.” “That’s true.” You sit up then, peering at his plate. “What’d you get us?”

“Us?” His smile is warm. “I thought you’d have eaten by now with the way you left the room.”

“I was looking for an empty spot for us. It was your job to find the actual food.”

“No one else would willingly wake up this early,” he cuts a fraction of the omelette before holding the bite up to you. “But I guess it’s only fair.”

You open your mouth happily.

“Permission to board the S.S. girlfriend?”

“Are you serious?”

“I’m wasting fuel in the port,” he continues to hover the fork just outside your reach, even when you jump forward with a nip.

“Permission to board,” you grumble.

He laughs like you told a great joke and gently feeds you the bite. With soft eyes, he watches you point to different things on the plate and dutifully feeds you your fill. This might be the first time he’s been able to spend a few moments alone with you since the five of you got on the cruise. He finishes up the bit of toast you couldn’t finish and the few blueberries that didn’t interest you. He must be staring because you turn to him in your reclined position and return the favor.

“You’re looking a little red. Did you put on sunscreen?”

“I think I forgot. I was trying to get ready fast so you wouldn’t have to sit around alone.”

“I wasn’t alone,” you reach into the bag you brought for sunscreen. “Yoori was with me. She left for the gym maybe 2 minutes before you came out here.”

“Oh,” is all he says.

Jungkook scowls a bit as you rub the lotion onto his face. That Yoori and Hoseok, and probably even Taehyung, might be spending more time with you on this trip than him is starting to be the horrible icing on this shitty vacation cake.

“Why don’t we take some time to—” He begins but a large shadow looming over the two of you makes him stop in his tracks.

“Hey,” a man with thick blond hair and even thicker muscles nods down at you. “You were at the adult lounge last night, right?”

Jungkook’s mouth drops open. Thor—or the actor who plays him during the Marvel day activities—has come up to your spot. He’s got the Ragnorok breastplate on with board shorts adorning his chiseled lower half. From the top up, he looks just like the real thing.

“Wow. Yeah I was, I’m surprised you remember,” you hold a hand over your eyes so you can look up at “Thor”.

“How could I forget. You and your beautiful friend were quite the sight yesterday.”

“Oh, uh. Thanks.”

In all his excitement, he overlooks the flirting. Jungkook stands up from his seat then and sticks out his hand. “Thor” shakes it hesitantly.

“Hey. I know you’re not the real thing, but it’s great to see you. I wasn’t at the adult lounge last night, so we didn’t get to meet.”

Jungkook makes sure to puff out his chest so “Thor” will notice the print of his button down shirt. Tiny little hammers.

“Do you like the shirt?” He beams. 

“Thor” squints down at the animated hammers.

“I can’t say I really know what’s on it, but sure.” 

“They’re...they’re Mjölnirs.”

“Mole-whats?”

You gasp, clapping your hands over your mouth. 

Jungkook drops “Thor”’s hand at the same moment, disappointment turning down the corners of his mouth.

“Nothing. They’re just drawings. Have a good day, man.”

“Thor” chuckles before looking back down at you. “Cute kid,” he says before sending you a wink and making some comment about getting to rehearsal.

Yoori returns from the gym that moment, nearly running into “Thor”. He gives her an appreciative once over which she returns smugly. Her expression changes as she approaches you and Jungkook looking like you had both seen a car crash.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing,” you respond quickly with a subtle look at the back of Jungkook’s head to tell her ‘not now’.

“Well,” she plops down on the end of Jungkook’s beach chair, “How was breakfast?”

“It was fine,” Jungkook sighs and scoots back so she’ll have some room. “We finished a little while ago. Now we’re just making plans for the rest of the morning.”

“Couple stuff...I’ll go get myself a plate, then.”

You wait until Yoori’s disappeared into the dining area to turn to Jungkook. He doesn’t look angry per se. Just resigned.

“What were you saying before?”

“Hmm,” his eyes are far away, “I was just saying we could take some time to ourselves.”

He wants to say he feels like he’s barely seen you since he stepped on the ship, but he doesn’t want to make you feel bad. The funny thing is that you weren’t even looking forward to the trip before the first day. The tickets for this Marvel cruise were a last minute gamble. You had dropped many not-so-subtle hints about wanting to go somewhere a little less kid-friendly, but he’d waited until the last minute.

At first it seemed like the best possible last choice a person could have. You were all fans of the comics and movies with the exception of Taehyung and Yoori. Taehyung was more of a DC fan and Yoori just sort of let the movies wash over her. You’d been worried that the week would be torture for you with all the screaming kids around. But you were actually having the time of your life. Meanwhile Jungkook was having a less than ideal time.

“Sure. Like what?”

“Maybe we could relax? I’ve had research video meetings the last two nights, so I haven’t really been up for the late night stuff. And I’m just barely up for the morning stuff.”

“Hmm. What about the spa? I haven’t been there yet and it’s on my list.”

“The spa?” Yoori comes out with a mountain of waffles and rumpled-looking Taehyung and Hoseok behind her. “Yeah, let’s go to the spa!”

“Actually, I think Kook just wanted to—”

“I heard it’s actually pretty decent on this boat. They have a hot rock massage where all of the rocks look like the Tinman’s suit.”

“The Tinman,” Jungkook practically chokes.

“I think she means Iron Man,” Hoseok grins sleepily. “Anyway, I’m down for the spa thing too. Never too early to have a tiny lady go in on my thighs.”

“You’re literally so nasty,” Yoori glares back at him.

As your other friends bicker, you flash Jungkook an apologetic look. He shrugs because that’s easier than fighting it. He relishes the second plate of food you get for him and lets you feed him the bites in between kisses and mini-reapplications of sunscreen. It’s all the rest he gets that day. The spa is probably the least relaxing moment of his life.

He doesn’t even get to sit near you. Instead, he gets roped into the men’s section where Hoseok’s tiny lady goes too hard on his thighs and the resulting yelps make Jungkook’s ear drums pound. Taehyung falls asleep two minutes into the Iron Man hot rock massage and snores in a way that’s nearly identical to the 60 year old guests napping nearby.

You emerge from the women’s section with Yoori looking like you’d smell and feel like a rose petal. But Jungkook doesn’t ever find out if you do, because he’s being thrown right back into more “fun”. Somewhere in the back of his mind—between Black Widow meet and greet and the Ant-Man lunch show—he thinks that he would probably be having actual fun if he had some time to breathe. Although, he figures it’s enough to just breathe you in. He feels slightly less drained looking at your smiling face and wide eyes as a wild Hulk appears behind you at the pool after lunch, spraying you lighty with comically huge muscles and a comically tiny water gun.

“You’re not coming?”

Jungkook groans, partly out of guilt and partly out of exhaustion. It’s nearing 10:30 at night and you’re getting ready to go to the adult lounge again. This time it’s for all-things-Spiderman trivia and drinks. He wants to want to go. But he can’t find the strength. He figures too much sun and too much socialization is the answer.

“You’re not staying,” he counters as he does his best to sit up in bed. There’s a nice soft glow bleeding in from the giant picture window of the suite that looks onto the water and there’s some Loki pajamas calling his name. Your tight little dress is calling to him too. I’d look better on the floor, it says.

“I figured this would be a lot more lowkey than everything else we’ve done today. There’s no water and no noisy families. Or screaming Hoseoks.”

“You heard that earlier?”

“I did,” you grimace. “He must have really pissed off that masseuse.”

“I’m pretty sure he just talked with her like he talks normally.”

“Can’t fault her for that, then.”

There’s a beat of silence as you test the security of some strappy heels. Naturally your eyes wander from the shoes to your boyfriend. He’s tapping away at some emails on the ship’s slow wifi no doubt. If you couldn’t tell how tired he was from the slope of his shoulders and the bruise-like shadows under his eyes, the giant yawn he barely stifles is a giveaway.

“Maybe I could just—”

The door to your suite swings open, revealing Taehyung looking frightened in a silky peach button down as Yoori pinches Hoseok’s ear.

“You’re coming, right? Please tell me you’re coming.”

“She’s coming,” Jungkook pipes up from the bed. His eyes never leave the screen of the computer as he types away, but he blinks slow and long. Your heart aches a little.

Taehyung breathes out a sigh of relief and links arms with you. You get one last look at your exhausted boyfriend before you’re pulled out of the room entirely.

“Do you think they’ll even bother asking about the Garfield version?” Taehyung’s question shakes you out of your worry.

“Pfft, no.”

On the fourth day of the cruise, Jungkook is awakened earlier than he wants yet again. A large clap of thunder and the bolt of lightning flash from the other side of the window. He crawls quietly around your sleeping form and throws on his glasses. There’s heavy rain too—a sure sign that the pools and sundecks will be closed. Out of habit, he checks his email and sees a message from the ship coordinator.

Esteemed Guests,

As some of you may know, two performers at last night’s dinner show in House of Mouse theatre (Deck 5, room 6B) showed signs of a stomach bug during the performances. For the safety of the rest of the cast, staff, and guests, we will be postponing today’s shows to sanitize the performance rooms and allow the actors time to recover. Room service will still be available.

We know this is a large inconvenience, and to thank you for understanding, please check your trip accounts for a refund for today’s fares. Additionally...

Jungkook can’t help the fist pump and small hoot he lets out. The email gives him the same feeling he gets on those days when he wakes up hours before his alarm only to discover his professor had cancelled class for the day. With a skip in his step, he returns to bed.

When he wakes up hours later, it’s natural. You’re still spooned to him, still soft and warm and pliant in sleep. He runs the tip of his nose along your neck while the fog of sleep lifts. The smell of your soap and skin is warmed with sleep. The sniffing must tickle you, because you stir before arching against him in a morning stretch. He moves so he doesn’t get in the way of your swinging limbs and smiles to himself. It feels like it’s been forever since he last got to hold you like this without the threat of someone whisking you away.

“Morning,” your voice is gravelly from disuse. “What’s going on. What’s the plan?”

“There’s no plan.”

You’re still half asleep, but you have the social awareness to let your voice go high with incredulity. “No plan?”

“No plan. They sent an email.”

“Read it to me?”

He reads the formal apology while you turn in the covers so you can embrace him while you wake up. By the time he’s done reading, you’ve sat yourself up to look at his phone screen as well.

“Sounds good,” you chirp.

“Really? I would have thought you’d be disappointed about not having a packed day. You’ve been zooming around since we got on board.”

“Yeah, but this was supposed to be our time together. It’s only natural that your friends would tag along.”

“So they’re my friends now?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Only when they’re annoying.”

As if on cue, the front door sounds with knocking. Taehyung is the one who calls out about breakfast plans, but you know all three of them are out there. It’s almost a menacing thought.

“Your friends are here,” he groans. His head falls back onto his pillow defeatedly. They’re likely to burst in any second.

“Don’t worry.”

The sound dies down momentarily when Yoori mentions the extra keycard you gave her for emergencies. Hoseok and Taehyung continue to jiggle the door for sport while chatting idly. Meanwhile, you crawl underneath the sheets and re-emerge on Jungkook’s side of the bed. You look him over, as if searching for something. He’s about to ask what you’re looking for when you reach out and pinch both his cheeks suddenly. While he’s mid-yelp, you swoop in and nip at his lips. It’s quick but it was just harsh enough that his face looks blotchy and his mouth starts to swell.

He whines. “Is this because I called them your friends?”

“Just trust me,” you hiss before your hands disappear further down the sheets to tug off your own underwear and throw it towards the door.

A moment later, the door swings open to reveal Yoori, Hoseok, and Taehyung. Their smiles are bright until they take in the scene. Jungkook’s hair is a mess, his cheeks are flushed, and his mouth looks like it’s been lightly ravaged. Though you’re mostly covered with the sheets, the underwear that is very clearly not on your body and the way the sheets drape over your head as you lay between his knees tell a very convincing lie.

“I think I just caught that stomach bug.” Yoori says lightly, still smiling. Hoseok peers behind her, looking mildly interested.

“I hate it when I remember they have sex with eachother,” Taehyung buries his face in his friend’s shoulder looking mortified as Yoori slowly closes the door.

“Yeah, it’s kind of like walking in on your aunt and uncle doing it. But, like, 12 times worse.”

Jungkook basks in the new silence for a few moments before it’s replaced with the rustle of sheets.

“What are you doing” he trails off to a whisper as you tug the waistband of his underwear down. Your hands still.

“You don’t want to have boat sex?”

“No, no, I do. I wanna have boat sex.”

He nods intensely and you laugh at how earnest he still is. Jungkook’s cheeks flare up, now doubly red from quiet excitement.

“Guess I should have just proposed this, huh?”

“Yeah,” you hum thoughtfully while moving on your knees to straddle his hips. “I can't see how this would have ruined anyone’s fun.”

“I can think of a couple people’s fun we just ruined.”

“I really meant my fun. Speaking of which,” you settle onto his lap and begin to grind.

He shudders, head falling forward with a sigh. This, he thinks, is the real happiest place on earth.

[shoujorose]

There’s something that’s been on my mind for a long time, and a disproportionate amount recently. I want to talk about it openly, but Twitter is just too Open, there’s too many people (and it’s bad for this stuff anyway)...but Tumblr is smaller and cozier so. Here I am I guess.

For some time now, I’ve been thinking I’m probably nonbinary, and for some reason recently hiding that fact has been...idk. It feels kind of stifling and isolating. But I’m afraid to really be open about it, because it’s...hard to explain.

I’m very happy with things like my name and pronouns — actually, in regards to the latter...I don’t even like they/them pronouns for myself. I don’t mind if people use it occasionally, but it feels terrible when people only use those. And I still prefer to be called with masculine words. It’s not that I’m not a man, it’s more so...if you had to put a label on it, bigender would probably be the closest one.

A friend of mine expressed a similar sentiment to me a little while ago, and maybe that’s why I can’t stop thinking about it. They put it in words I always struggled to — they identify both with being a man and with being a woman, and they don’t always necessarily consider themselves their apparent gender. But they don’t talk about it because they like their name and pronouns, so it might just seem confusing. And that’s pretty much the boat I’m in I guess.

I wish I could understand why it’s bothering me so much...like, whatever my gender is kind of doesn’t matter. All you need is my name and pronouns, really. So why is it gnawing at me?

Maybe it’s because...in spite of my best efforts not to shove myself into another box, it sort of feels like I have. I’m not...like other men. I’m certainly not like cis men, and I’m not like a lot of trans men either. I know people don’t like this kind of terminology now, and I understand why — but the whole “man in a woman’s body” thing, I feel like that describes me pretty well. And that fact, that along with my upbringing...many people can shed it somewhat easily. I can’t. And it’s...well, it’s hard to explain. It goes beyond my stupid girly interests, although that doesn’t help — it’s like...I have a tie to femininity that I just can’t break. But I’ve always felt there’s something inherently masculine within me. It’s like I’m at the edge of two worlds.

But overtly claiming that feminine side...I guess it feels a bit scary because I wonder if people would use it to degrade my masculine side, which is what I truly identify with. The feminine aspect...it’s just what society’s hoisted upon me — but I don’t hate it. Hell, for a long time, I very badly wanted to be a woman...me being trans was never about hating being a woman. It’s that I’m simply not one, and pretending I was felt terrible after a point. I guess now, pretending I’m a Pure Man (?) is starting to feel similarly.

...although, at the same time, maybe that’s just stupid. Am I really doing that? I feel like I’m a failure at that too. I mean, I use a bunch of pictures of girls as my icons, I go around in dresses, I’m even thinking of bobbing my hair again, even though the last time it happened (accidentally) it left me in a wreck... I’m not really presenting “like a man.” And funnily enough, I worry about that too, like I’m just...lying to everyone. And maybe that’s the thing? I’m not sure I really have...anything of what society considers of a man, both in ways I don’t care about, and ways that truly hurt me inside. But I’m not a woman. And no, I don’t think it’s because gender roles and shit cause...why would I still align so much with what’s considered proper for a woman? And even before I was really that cognizantly aware of sexism, I had some similar feelings, so...

I think there’s just...a lot of insecurity. Everything’s so rigid, and...I don’t even know if I fit the bare basics. I waffle on whether I even want T or not...sometimes it sounds nice, but also I’ve become somewhat fond of what I’ve been given. I straight up really like my singing voice and am not sure I really want to change it. I just want to exist as myself, comfortably, and mix and match as I please and not have these worrisome thoughts. Maybe that’s why I keep having this urge to be more open about this stuff, because it feels even more like telling the world to piss off. Although in reality, that’s not how it works. To most of society, you’re a “boy” or a “girl”...and I feel more like a boy. But I’m in a girl suit and am actually okay with that, when it doesn’t feel like it’s conflicting with the “boy” part. Idk, I’m sorry for rambling so much, if anybody’s somehow gotten this far...

...and as an aside, I’m so fucking annoyed. I made (?) an OC who’s very similar not super long ago, and right then I fucking KNEW it. I was thinking, “oh he’s more nonbinary than me though ahaha,” but in the back of my brain I had a feeling this was something I’ve been repressing manifesting because this shit ALWAAAAYS happens. It happened when I thought I was gay, and then when I realized I was trans, and then when I started accepting (again...) that I’m bi...ugh! This shit always manifests in my work before I’m able to wrap my head around it myself. But, it’s easier for him at least...he has more “preferences” than me, who is pretty adamant about things like pronouns. I wish I didn’t care cause that’d make it easier. Although maybe I’m just making problems for myself...idk.

but yeah that’s my massive bitchy rambling, and thanks if you somehow made it this far. If you have any advice, feel free to share it cause I’m just...idk. This is all increasingly bothering me but I’m not sure what to do...although I might just not hide it much longer. I don’t even know why it feels like such a big deal, I doubt anyone would care that much...sigh. It’s dumb.