#saw them posting about their ocs and i was like ah yes i know who this oc is. you aren't saying everything. and it all came rushing back

[blastlight]

once upon a time i followed someone on tumblr for normal reasons, independently found their kink sideblog and identified them as the one running it, and then eventually discovered i have mutual friends with them. irl mutual friends. it's just something i think about occasionally :]

[world0fmadness]

HEAVENLY ANGEL

toto wolff x vintage fashion! wife! reader x ( platonic! ) oc daughter

faceclaim: assorted but mainly dita von teese

୨୧ sorry i haven’t been making smau’s lately! british summer has been kicking my ass, i’m getting stuff prepared for my birthday and i think i kind of burned myself out by making so many smau’s in so little time lol… have this for now

reading music recommendations: heavenly angel by patience and prudence - you’re the cream to my coffee by annette hanshaw - it’s a lovely day today by jo stafford

loveuyn: yn wolff ln’s new photoshoot featuring pictures of her with vintage mercedes cars!

totoyn: the way my jaw just dropped…

> ynsteponme: literally, i’m so down bad for her

> totoyn: it’s so embarrassing how much i want her 😭

ynscurlers: toto wolff can you fight?

> totoyn: i hope he can’t, i want both of them

ynwolffln ✔️: ah! i adore the vintage car pictures so much, now one of my favourite photoshoots ever 💝

> loveuyn: yn wolff ln, never stop responding to fan accounts please 🥹

❤️ liked by ynwolffln

iluvf1: just saw toto’s eyes turn into hearts like a cartoon character

> totontop: lmao 😭 oh yeah he probably LOVES these car pictures in particular

> ynwolffln ✔️: you’re correct! he’s a big fan of the vintage mercedes shots in particular 😉

ynsteponme: still can’t get over the fact that this woman has a child… AND WITH SOME F1 MANAGER GUY 💔 kidding, her and toto are cute… i guess

> totontop: “ some f1 manager guy ” i can’t 😭

totoyn: throwback to this yn wolff ln photo shoot

loveuyn: this photoshoot changed lives you guys…

ynsteponme: yn wolff ln run me over, beat me with a bat, set me on fire, please just do anything to me i really don’t care

> iluvf1: you guys RELAX she’s someone’s mother 😭

> ynsteponme: she’s someone’s MILF

ynwolffln ✔️: oh i love these pictures! it’s been a while since i’ve seen these

ynscurlers: TOTO WOLFF CAN YOU FIGHT?

oldf1lvr: okay yes this photoshoot is super overly hot but i’m more impressed by her hair 😭 it’s always so damn perfect!

❤️ liked by ynwolffln

> ynscurlers: watch yn’s vogue video! she shows off how she gets her hair like that all the time

> totoyn: not to mention the toto cameo is ADORABLE 💔

> totontop: him gently helping her take her curlers out at the back… there’s so many cute toto moments in that video 🥹

ynscurlers: never beating the hottest wag allegations… toto wolff watch your back fr…

totontop: thinking about the time toto posted this picture of yn to the official mercedes account and it was just a post of him fawning over his wife with “ - toto ” at the end

loveuyn: like yes toto, we knew it was you 😭

> iluvf1: he’s so obsessed with her i love it 🥹

ynsteponme: i absolutely love how yn goes from the really hot milf to someone that looks like they give amazing hugs and just wants to smother their husband and child with love

iluvf1: lewis commenting “ who is this beautiful woman? ” and toto commenting back “ that’s my wife, lewis… ” 😭 like lewis didn’t know lmao

> oldf1lvr: and george’s “ mate… please make your own account, can’t stand this lovely dovey stuff ( joking, of course, don’t fire me ) ” comment

ynwolffln: happy anniversary to my beloved husband 💞 the best husband i could ever ask for and the most wonderful father! you’re my necessity, i’d be lost without you 💕

georgerussell ✔️: happy anniversary yn and toto! i still remember the taste of that cake… so good

❤️ liked by ynwolffln

> ynwolffln ✔️: i’m glad you liked the cake so much george, i’ll have to bake you some for yourself one day

❤️ liked by georgerussell and lewishamilton

> georgerussell ✔️: please do… no bakery comes close to you mrs wolff!

❤️ liked by ynwolffln and lewishamilton

> lewishamilton ✔️: me as well please yn!

❤️ liked by ynwolffln

> ynwolffln ✔️: sounds like me and little miss marilyn have a lot of baking to do 🥰

❤️ liked by mercedes, georgerussell and lewishamilton

lewishamilton ✔️: happy anniversary you two! beautiful wedding and a beautiful bride

> iluvf1: lewis still playing into the beautiful woman joke after all this time 😭

> oldf1lvr: i love him

> ynwolffln ✔️: thank you very much lewis! marilyn sends kisses to her favourite uncle 💓

❤️ liked by ynwolffln

> georgerussell ✔️: hold on a minute… favourite uncle? lewis? get a grip!

❤️ ynwolffln

> lewishamilton ✔️: sorry mate! but it is i who has the cute dog

loveuyn: omg… marilyn’s little bow 🥹

> ynsteponme: so so so cute 💔

mercedes ✔️: my beautiful wife and the best mother to our gorgeous little girl ❤️ happy anniversary honey - toto

❤️ liked by ynwolffln

> ynwolffln ✔️: we really need to get you your own account love 💖

> totontop: lmao even yn is trying to get him to make an account 😭

ynsteponme: she really had the dream wedding for us vintage girlies 🥹

⋆ ˚｡⋆ ୨୧ ˚ NEW ADDED BONUS ˚ ୨୧ ⋆｡˚ ⋆

toto loves his honey and little miss marilyn

[z0mb1epuzzy]

AH SCREAMED AS SOON AS I SAW YOU REPLIED !!!

You have no idea I ate UP your vox headcannons!! I'm the one who put in the request for headcannons about vox with a very sweet but violently protective S/O (love a character with Phil Dunphy vibes I can't help it) and I am SO EXCITED to see what you come up with!!! No rush of course, I'm just v v excited <3

ALSO

LISTEN

Don't threaten me with a good time I have lots of thoughts about Switch!Vox and my OC I've been dying to scream about them with someone

YES I SAW!! i am slowly but surely working on those hcs for you and i am actually SO EXCITED TO POST THEM FOR YOU!!!!!!!!! hopefully they’ll be done in the next day or so..

I AM LITERALLY SO HAPPY TO READ YOUR ASKS THEYRE SO GOOD YOUR VOX THOUGHTS R SO YUMMY.

SINCE ur request may take a bit to finish i will satiate you with some good switch!vox thoughts…

IT WOULD BE SO HOT FOR HIM TO MAYBE BE IN A SUBMISSIVE POSITION BUT THEN YOU FUCK W HIM TOO MUCH AND HE GETS ALL FRUSTRATED AND PUSHES YOU BACK AND TAKES CONTROL OH MY GOOOOODDDD “I don’t know - (pushing you under him) - who you think you’re fucking with.” OHBMY GODDD. this man is so yummy.

i also feel like when he is in the sub position he’s the type to whine and curse but his voice is all glitchy while he’s squirming for more omg.

ALSO DOM VOX. this is a little teaser for part of ur other ask but he’s the type of dude to be petty and make u grind on his thigh and then make you stop as soon as you get on that edge - only to make you keep going again UGHH!!!! kisses all over ur neck the whole time…

[chaoticspeedrun]

saw ur recent post and thought

lets all stereotype the tmnt simps like they’re animals at a zoo together chaotic

[insert funny picture of us staring at the funny ppl in the cage with their desired turtles (i lowkey couldnt find a meme that would suite this 😠😠😠)]

raph simps ; either fiesty gremlins who’ll bite ur toes off if you go near them and spray them with water or sweet little souls who’ll tuck you in bed and give you forehead kisses. both simp types aren’t rare and are commonly found together as a pair, explaining their view on the himbo buff boy raph and how they can either “fix him” or “make him worse”.

leo simps ; traumatized beings, it doesnt matter if you’re a cocky and mean in a loving way or a i’ll do anything you say because you’re so great kind of leo simp, you’re traumatized in some sense, whether it be through fiction or real life. you guys lowkey ENJOYED giving ur oc’s or self inserts loads of angst when it came to the future and movie. man, you guys have so much love for this one turtle his ego is literally thru the roof.

donnie simps ; a true simp. let me guess— you like nerdy men who are also queer as hell, who is also straight as hell at the same time, who is also the type of man you’d expect him to do nice things for you to only throw you under the bus. listen up you simps, i understand that the few of you “down down bad” simps are into that and might sans fangirl your way into this— but let me explain and introduce you into the “ilovehimsomuchiwoulddieforhimandhisbigforehead” simps. you’d be an awesome duo trust.

mikey simps ; now i KNOW you guys got something beneath those precious and fluffy oc and self insert moments. there has gotta be SOME SORT OF EVIL ANGST AND TWISTY MOMENT YOU GOT GOING ON— much more worse than the leo trauma, FARTHER WORSE— teehee you guys got such a cute puppylove selfship going on teehee 😊😊WELL WHABAM!! the moment mikey gets his mystic powers n angsty moment in the movie out comes the freaking angst beast and comfort waves following behind it >:))))

— 🖼️🗝️ (guess whooo 🙃🙃🙃)

Not me looking at the way you signed and going "Who's Keyframe?" I AM HAVING A DIFFICULT TIME FIGURING THIS ONE OUT.

Also, I love psychoanalyzing people💖

In my opinion, from what I have seen at least, most Raph simps I've interacted with are like really sweet and anxious people that REALLY NEED A HUG just like my boy Raph.

The Leo simps, as I said earlier, enjoy bullying him so much- and with that I mean, they're most times the kind of people that tease or bully their crush, but they care so much about him and love adding so much depth to his character.

The Donnie simps I know can't drop the color purple for ONE DANG SECOND, the color is everywhere all the time all at once, they seem very curious and are some of the ones that I see the most active in the fandom.

And Mikey simps are freaking wild, one minute they're the sweetest and the next they're jumping around the walls and scaring you, I love those.

*Sips on coffee, staring at the cages*

Ah yes, what a wonderful and interesting set of specimens.

[mahs-dumpster]

a/n: I don't have a title for this one and for some reason I'm kinda shy about this so. I'll just post this and move on. Yup. Uhh tagging @4necdote bc I mentioned this to her

cw: fellow honest should be a content warning tbh; oc x canon (Maisie x Fellow); possibly ooc because I still haven't read Playful Land

words: around 1k

He couldn't take his eyes off of her, not after hearing her sing so beautifully on that stage. Her voice was high pitched, but it was soft and almost heavenly, it almost never went off tone, whenever a mistake was made she covered up so masterfully and wonderfully that it made it seem like the song was being improved. Every word seemed to captivate the audience — captivate him — and make them hypnotized, in awe of what they were experiencing at the moment.

That's why, to Fellow, he couldn't help but stare at the jazz singer who was currently drinking all the way across from him at that bar. A few minutes ago she looked like an angel, — in a way, she still does — almost ethereal… but now, she seemed human, like she could be reached, and Fellow wanted more than anything to talk to her, to use the charisma he had been building over the years to his advantage, not for a scheme like usual, but to get her attention, to make her beautiful blue eyes look at him. 

He needed to hear that voice directed towards him. 

As Fellow got up, with an idea as to how to approach her in mind, he saw that another man apparently had the same thought as him. He clicked his tongue and sat back down, not wanting to be pushy and try to fight for her attention, not wanting her to have this view of him before he even spoke.

The redhead glanced at them ever so often, curious as to how their interaction was gonna go. He saw as the man’s words seemed to make the cat beastwoman cringe, a wrinkle showing on her delicate features, and a twitch of her fluffy white ears; he tried touching her waist, which caused her to push him away, seemingly making the man angry. It was then that Fellow decided to take action. He walked straight towards the two after asking for another drink, a plan to shoo the man away, but before he could reach closer to them both he heard a loud groan, followed by a sound of satisfaction that came out of the singer’s throat. She had stepped on his foot, irritated with his advances and tired of repeatedly saying ‘no’.

Before Fellow could laugh though, he saw how the guy lifted his hand, his eyes widened in shock and anger as he quickly left the drinks there and ran towards the two, his hand holding the man’s wrist. 

“Now, there. That isn't very gentlemanly, is it?” Fellow said, his joking manner present as ever but his voice was firm. He pushed the guy, standing in front of the smaller woman who watched the situation with curiosity and shock at the audacity of the guy for trying to hit her. “I suggest you better leave. You wouldn't wanna get in trouble here.” 

It was a threat. Fellow’s fangs showed as he pronounced every word, his eyebrows furrowed with irritation. The guy grumbled something he couldn't care less about and walked away, then, Fellow finally sighed and looked behind him, a bit of worry in his eyes. 

“Are you, uh… are you alright, miss?”

“Oh.” The singer came back to reality and slightly bowed, a sweet smile on her lips as she nodded. “Yes, I’m ok. Thank you for helping me out, mister…?”

“Fellow Honest at your services, your ladyship.” He bowed playfully, making the woman giggle. It was music to his ears. “I have been keeping my eye on you ever since I saw your performance a few minutes ago.”

“Ah, I see. And what did you think of it, mister Honest?” 

“I can hardly speak my mind without knowing the name of the lady I talk to, can I?” Fellow said, his hand extended in a silent encouragement for her to introduce herself. The girl took his hand a bit hesitantly, but curious nonetheless.

“Well, alright." She started. "My name is Maisie Bows. Thank you for listening to my singing earlier today.”

“Maisie.” He tried, and realized he loved how the word rolled off his tongue. He hummed as a smile showed up in his face, then he brought her hand to his face, kissing gently the back of her hand. “A beautiful name for a beautiful lady.” Maisie let out a laugh, a more genuine one, and he noticed her cheeks getting red. She seemed to be delighted with their interactions, not being able to contain the smile on her face even after she stopped laughing.

“My, aren't you quite the charmer, mister Honest.” The woman joked, and Fellow couldn't help but chuckle, his hand never leaving hers. “Now, your opinion on my performance…?”

“It was one of the best I’ve ever heard.” She lifted an eyebrow as if she didn't believe him. “I promise, or my name isn't Fellow Honest.”

“I guess with a name like that you really can't lie.” Maisie sat down again on one of the benches at the bar, retrieving her hand from his grasp, and Fellow immediately missed her touch. “So. You came here just to play hero and compliment my singing?”

“Actually, I was coming here to offer you a drink.” He confessed, walking towards where he left said drinks, offering one to the woman sitting in front or him. “That is, if you would let me.” Maisie stayed quiet for a moment, as if thinking it over.

“I… don't really accept drinks nor food from strangers.” Is what she said, but he could see there was more in her eyes, a certain yearning he couldn't quite comprehend. He’d be a fool to simply give up when he saw that.

Fellow left the two drinks at the bar and called the bartender, looking at Maisie once they came closer. “If not, then let me pay you one. Your choice.” Maisie smiled and leaned against the bar, looking over at the options of drinks and pointing to one specifically. Fellow immediately ordered it and started drinking the one he already had in hands, not before curiosity struck him. “May I be so bold and ask for a dance as well, miss Bows?” 

Maisie turned to Fellow, she tried to contain a laugh but failed, she bit her nails as she pondered over his question, then she looked at him.

“We’ll see how this conversation goes.”

“Fair enough.”

•••

Maisie stirred in bed, the sound of her alarm clock bothering her sensitive hearing. As she turned it off, she sat up on her bed, a hand on her face as she remembered her dream, or better yet, her memory.

Her hands went to her phone, quickly opening the gallery and finding the small folder of photos she was not able to delete. A finger went over a picture of her and Fellow on a date, her wearing his stupidly big jacked as his arm was around her shoulders.

Maisie's eyes stung.

"Liar."

[nevernonline]

✧.* grow as we go; svt smau.

entry #6 quit!

synopsis: over the past ten years you’ve fallen in love many times. one day someone happens to stumble across your journal sitting out on your nightstand and started posting your entries online. after all of your secrets are leaked it’s clear things would ever be the same again.

𐦍 paring: svt members x afab! reader.

𐦍 feat: non-idol! svt, (g)-idle minnie&soyeon, oc’s

𐦍 genre/s: reader is super angsty low-key, fluffy, sexual themes.

𐦍 content: swearing, bullying, crazy ex’s, mentions of sexual , reader talks about parental death, sexual relations, some drinking& mary jane 🍃

word count: 2.8k

masterlist ▸ 5. 005. chronic memory keeper ▸ 007. snake in the grass

Stepping into her kitchen was the most relaxing feeling ever, it had been a while since y/n had the chance to dine in with a recipe she carefully put together or found on pinterest and craft something nice. Spending hours on end not thinking about her own problems and just focusing on a hobby she enjoys. 

After her overly embarrassing text messages hinting to Minghao that she slightly hoped he was single had her desperately wishing they wouldn’t come back to bite her in the ass. 

Cleaning out the insides of the chicken and placing them in a bowl saved for her next soup stock, she massages pads of butter or seasoning onto it’s skin and placed it in her hot oven, before moving onto the thinly silenced potatoes and root vegetables she had prepped that morning, boiling and simmering them. 

A chime from her doorbell stole her away from her stress free time in the kitchen. She was excited to see Minghao but it wasn’t him who was waiting at her threshold. opening it to reveal a small package, wrapped in brown paper and tied with a matching twine bow. 

No note was attached on the outer side revealing who may have left the wrapped item for her to find. So she decided to ignore it, just for now at least and get back to preparing her meal for a friend. 

An hour had passed since the last time someone was ringing the doorbell and left waiting for her to quickly wash her hands. 

“Y/n?” 

Minghao. 

“Sorry, one second I just need to wash my hands.” 

She yelled, leaving the water running and rushing herself to the guest bathroom next to the door, making sure she looked alright and didn’t miss an out of place hair or swipe of flour on her face. 

Opening her front door, she revealed Mingaho standing with a paper bag in his hand as well as a bouquet of her favorite flowers, Hydrangeas swinging to his side. 

She looked him up and down forgetting she invited him here and still not inviting him in. He was dressed in a perfectly ripped pair of jeans and matching long denim coat, underneath she caught a glimpse of a white button down top missing the clasps of the top three buttons revealing his chest. He looked incredible. 

“Can I come in?” 

“Oh, shit. Sorry. Yes, please.” 

“This is for you, some wine and snacks for after dinner. I picked them up from the chinese market near my gallery.” 

“That’s so thoughtful of you, thank you. The flowers are beautiful, how did you know I liked hydrangeas?” 

“I saw on Seokmin’s instagram that he took you to a flower farm last year, I just assumed.” 

“Ah. Well you assumed right, they’re really gorgeous.” 

“What are you making? It smells so good.” 

“Roast chicken and root veggies, with some wild rice and my mom’s very special, very secret recipe sauce. 

Minghao was amazed watching y/n move around the kitchen with ease, seemingly like she was dancing around the marble floor. 

“I have to admit, I really thought you were joking when you told me you could cook. I almost expected you to order food and make it look like you were the chef.” 

“Ouch. That hurts my pride a little bit. Actually, my dad was a chef. He used to own a restaurant. I spent a lot of time there as a kid helping him.” 

“Was? What happened if you don’t mind me asking?” 

“He passed away when I was a teenager. It’s a long story.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be. It’s okay, I miss him, but cooking helps me feel close to him.” 

“Now I’m very sorry I ever doubted your skill.” 

Your laugh made Minghao happy, he knew he probably struck a chord in you but it was nice that even when you were sad you could still find humor in anything. 

“Need my help with anything?” 

“Just for you to either open that bottle of wine or make me a cocktail, dealer's choice.” 

“Got it.” 

Y/n’s dining partner strode off to the chrome bar cart and twiddled his fingers around the various bottles of liquor, some full and some half empty, giving him an indication of the things she chose for herself. 

“Here you are, chef.” 

“Wow, thank you bartender. What is it?” 

“Try it and find out.” 

Y/n took a sip from the slightly pink cocktail glass, swishing it in her mouth for dramatic effect. 

“Okay, so.. Gin, Campari, a splash of grapefruit bitters, and lemon?” 

“Wow, are you like a weird super taster or something? What the fuck.” 

“No, just a girl who loves gin old fashioneds.” 

“You are one surprising specimen.” 

“Shut up. Come on, let's eat.” 

After basically finishing every edible thing on the plate, Minghao offered to clean up for you as a thank you for the efforts of you cooking him one of the best dinners he’s had the pleasure of eating. 

Y/n switched into her role as bartender and opened a beautiful bottle of red wine for the pair to sip on as their night continued on. 

“Thank you for cleaning. I’m sorry again about the whole weird ass texts I was sending you. I was way too drunk to be alone with my thoughts and access to the internet.” 

“I told you it’s alright. I actually found it sort of cute.” 

“Cute? Maybe you are crazier than I thought you were.” 

“No, come on. You know you’re cute. Everyone tells you all the time, I agree with them.” 

“Shut up, THE Xu Minghao thinks I’M cute? I’m so flattered.” 

Minghao playfully slapped y/n’s hand off of her chest, knocking the red liquid around in her cup, causing it to fall onto the white fabric of her pants. 

“Shit. I’m so sorry.” 

“It’s ok, I can just go throw them in the wash. One second.” 

Y/n departed into her room, changing into a pair of pink pajama bottoms, not removing her corseted tank top in the process, fleeing quickly into the laundry room at the end of the hall to wash the stain out. 

Minghao in the meantime caught a glimpse of the twine wrapped package on her coffee table and went over to see what it could possibly be. In the time he spent inspecting it he didn’t notice his female counterpart entering back into the room. 

“Someone left that for me at my door. Weird right?” 

“Yeah, sort of. Should we open it?” 

“I’m kind of scared to be honest.” 

“Okay, I have an idea.” 

“I’m not sure how I feel about that.” 

“Trust me?” 

“Maybe.” 

Minghao stepped back to the now familiar bar cart and grabbed a bottle of whiskey that had been left unopened until this night, placing two shot glasses in front of them both. 

“What does taking shots have to do with us opening the package?” 

“What doesn’t it have to do with the package? It’s brown, similar to the wrapping. It’s sealed, maybe because you don’t like it or it’s not something you’re sure of. And it’s interesting. So we take two shots, then we open it, then regardless of what it is, we play a game. The game selfishly is for me to get to know you deeper. I feel like I’ve spent so much time with you and I don’t know that much about you, other than what was exposed. So, you in?” 

“Yes.” 

Y/n and Minghao cheered to their now growing connection and he placed the small package in her lap, holding onto her knee, getting the feeling that she needed moral support based on mutual gut feelings. 

“Okay.” 

“I’m sure it’s not bad.” 

As y/ns hands ripped apart the brown paper and untied the rope around the mysterious box, it revealed a soft purple journal, now torn apart, pages basically falling out from end to end all over the couch between them. 

“My journal.” 

Her voice shifted, she was no longer happy or full of anticipation, she was confused and slightly disappointed as her precious and private life fell out in front of her, photos, entries, and shards of her life. 

“Oh, y/n. I-” 

“No. Don’t say sorry, please.” 

“Why the fuck do people care? Just like why am I someone's target? Especially if it’s someone I know, what is so bad that you can’t just fucking talk to me about it? Sorry, I don’t know if that makes sense at all, but I just don’t get it.” 

“I think some people are just scared of genuine conflict, so instead of asking they make things about themselves and take the other person's feelings out of the equation to feed their own.” 

“Why give it back now? Am I expected to just ignore my privacy being invaded and be like well it’s over good? This makes me feel even more uneasy.” 

“Maybe they left you a clue or something by giving this back?” 

Minghao collected the various contents that were left as ashes for you, feeding you more alcohol and not talking while he did so. 

“y/n? Here.” 

A small envelope, matching the shade of purple of the cover of your journal was tapped inside the cover, inside a typed note. 

‘Just because it comes back to you, doesn’t mean it’ll always stay the same. See you soon. Xo.’

“What the fuck does that even mean?” 

“I guess they’re trying to tell you more will come out? And that they have no purpose for keeping the evidence anymore.” 

“Can we.. maybe, just for the rest of the night ignore this? I cannot focus on this anymore and it’s ruining my chance to have fun with you.” 

“Please. Let me distract you.” 

“Do you want to change? Or need clothes? I know Seokmin and Joshua left some stuff here in case they ever stayed over.” 

“They wouldn’t mind?” 

“No, of course not. I’ll be right back.” 

Y/n ran back into her room, gathering various styles of t-shirts and sweatpants to make Minghao more comfortable. 

“Here, there's some options. I know you care a lot about your style, so pick what you want.” 

Mingaho grabbed a black t-shirt with a logo from Joshua’s coffee shop on the front and an odd pair of Seokmin’s disney character pajama pants, just to make the air go back to it’s lighthearted space. 

“Oh my god, you look amazing.” 

“ I just wanted you to smile.” 

“Mission accomplished, Mickyhao.” 

“That is an awful nickname.” 

“Shut up, don’t be a dick.” 

“Got it. Okay, so let’s play a little game, y/n. I’ll ask you some questions, if you don’t want to answer you can drink and you can do the same for me. Got it?” 

“Got it. You go first.” 

“Okay, so what stops you from going after the things you want?” 

“Hmm, I’m shy, I guess? I don’t want to risk changing how things already are any more than they have changed on their own. I think confessions and love declarations are unnerving, I could ruin something good just for a single chance. Not knowing shit freaks me out.” 

“So you’re a control freak, got it.” 

“No. Not a control freak, just a loser.” 

“That’s accurate.” 

“You’re stupid. Okay, Minghao. What made you want to pursue art?” 

“I guess it was just always something I was good at? I loved being able to tell the truth about stuff without having to say it outloud, people can perceive anything they want, but I know how I truly feel and nobody can take it away from me. The truth, I mean.” 

“How are you so certain that its the truth?” 

“Well, it's my truth.” 

“Touche” 

“Why didn’t you tell Minnie about Seungcheol? Were you ever going to?” 

“Yikes. I guess, I didn’t feel like it was important. We hooked up way before they ever dated, he was just helping me out with something that scared me, which I didn’t think was a big deal. I knew she liked him, but she told me she’d never confess. I guess I didn’t think it was as big of a problem until it was. Does that make sense?” 

“Yeah it does, how did it happen?” 

“No, no, no. One question at a time. How did it happen for you?” 

“My virginity? I was at a party, junior year before college and I met a girl. She was nice, really pretty, and she seemed to enjoy my company. I guess I just asked her if she wanted to fuck and she agreed, but after she told me she had a boyfriend and that was that.” 

“So she cheated on her boyfriend just to fuck you? Alright, good for you I guess. Bad for the boyfriend.” 

“Have you ever cheated on someone?” 

“Me? God no. I haven’t even had the chance to be with anyone that seriously considers sleeping around cheating. I don’t think I could do that. Why? Have you?” 

“Nope, but I guess I’ve been the person someone used to cheat, so it feels sort of like cheating.” 

“Since we seem to be two overly honest people for this game, want to drink just for fun as well?” 

“Please. Cheers.” 

“Okay y/n, I have a question.” 

“Yes?” 

“What was it about Joshua or Mingyu that attracted you to them?” 

“With Shua it was how kind he was, everyone knows it and can see that. It just sort of radiates around him. I mean he’s beautiful, they both are. In such different ways. I’ll probably always view him as that first boy I loved, he’s really special to me. As for Mingyu, I guess I never knew why at first. He was just my hot friend that I hooked up with sometimes, but the more and more we hung out the more I realized how smart he was and how intriguing his character is.” 

“Do you still have feelings for them?” 

“I’m not sure what my feelings are for anyone at this moment, no.” 

“What about me?” 

“What about you?” 

“Would you ever consider me the way you consider them?” 

“Can I take a shot?” 

“Sure, but you still have to answer the question. Come on.” 

“Yeah, I would. I like getting to know you, I appreciate how fiercely committed you are to riding for the people you love. I like that you’re artistic like me, that we can laugh about wild stuff, but also be honest and talk about anything and everything in between. You’ve really made me happy even in the short time of knowing you. And to say that I’d have to think about considering you is silly, because I definitely already have. Seokmin and Jun think I have a crush on you.” 

“You don’t?” 

“Nobody needs to know.” 

“I do.” 

“You do what? Need to know if I like you?” 

“No, like you.” 

“Wait.” 

“A lot actually. More than I ever considered I would. I think you’re actually a really spectacular person despite everything.” 

“Oh. Thank you.” 

“Can I kiss you?” 

“Yeah. You can.” 

The smell of whiskey on Minghao’s breath made the hair on Y/N’s arms stand up as she fell into his touch, the kiss exploded into more and more touching and exploration of the pair's bodies. And continued on through the night, more than once. 

The next morning y/n woke up with a headache, checking the clock on her phone revealing it was almost time for Joshua to come and whisk her away from her new found bliss in bed next to Minghao. 

“Going somewhere?” 

“What?” 

“You have a suitcase in the corner and you keep checking your phone, is everything alright? I wasn’t that bad was I?” 

“No, but I’m going to see my mom this weekend with Joshua, I almost forgot. He’s on his way.” 

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry.” 

“Stop apologizing. I’ll just shower quickly and sneak out. You can stay as long as you need, I have an extra key in the blue jar next to my door, just lock it up for me?” 

“Sure, but come here quickly.” 

Minghao pulled y/n in for a long sweet kiss, before she ran into the warm water of her shower. 

Minghao propped himself up in her bed, collecting himself before making an attempt at a small getaway. Coming face to face with the unlocking door of the same apartment he spent his night in before. 

“Y/n, hey can I- Oh, Minghao. Hey.” 

“Joshua, Hi. Sorry I was just leaving.” 

“Without saying goodbye?” 

“What?” 

“To y/n, she’s in the shower, you’re just leaving?” 

“I don’t need to explain myself to you, for your information we already said a very thorough goodbye. Have fun on your trip, take care of her.” 

“Hah. Alright.” 

“I’m serious. Make sure she knows I’ll miss her.” 

“I’ll be sure to do that.” 

Minghao grabbed his jacket and slid out of her front door, looking behind him before walking away from y/n already feeling jealous she’d be spending her weekend with Joshua and not him, but he had things he couldn't tell her. Not yet.

"Oh, Joshua. I didn't think you were coming yet. Sorry, let me just grab my stuff."

"No it's fine, I just wanted to grab some snacks, hope that's okay?"

"Of course, take whatever you want. Give my five?"

"I saw your overnight guest on his way out."

"Yeah, he stayed over. I made him dinner, we just got drunk I didn't want him to have to drive home like that. Unsafe, you know."

"Right, well I'll meet you in the car."

"No need, I'm ready. I cannot wait to have the Boston Creme Pie from Boi's, I'm literally salivating thinking about it."

"We should go when we get into town and order an entire one."

"I see why we're friends now. Come on."

Joshua grabbed y/ns luggage, waiting for her to lock up her apartment and the pair headed to his car waiting outside.

bonus:

note/s: y/n love triangle era starting fr. srry this took a second and is a lil chaotic, I've been a lil busy. but!! I already have the next part on hand and will be posting v soon, some shit will be going down at minghaos show, but I didn't tell u that. xoxoxo. ily.

taglist:  @sun-daddy-yoriichi,@hipsdofangirl @kissesfrmwonwoo, @minhui896, @wonwooz1, porridgesblog,, jasssy051, @soonyoungblr, @saucegirlreads, @musingsofananxiouspotato, @young-adult-summer, @punkhazardlaw, @bibs-world @the-swageyama-tobiyolo @wonuulvr @woozixo

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

OC questionnaire

Thanks @oliolioxenfreewrites here and here, @winglesswriter here, @the-golden-comet here, here, and here, @paeliae-occasionally here, and @drchenquill here!

Rules: answer the given questions in the POV of your OCs, then give the next people three more questions!

Holy shit I'm actually caught up?!?!

Previous Questionnaires:

Rounds One and Two Masterpost

Maddie, Ash, Noelle, Ewan, Jazlyn, Lexi, Alex, Carmen

Gwen, Gabriel, Liam, Xitlali, Akash, Jedi, Rose, Sam

See below for: Robbie, Hye-Jin, George, Wade, CJ, Teo, Atsila, Niri

#1- Robbie

Would you consider yourself loyal?

“Well, I don't exactly want to toot my own horn or anything but yeah, I consider myself loyal. If anything happened to Akash, I'd actually lose it. I got into a physical fight in his honor. That was how I displayed my powers for the first time, actually, so that was pretty cool. Sammy, too, I'm very loyal to my sister. And my friends at Alium, they're so dope, I love them, okay? So, yeah, loyal. Me. I'm that. I'm like a dog that way. ... I think that's a good thing. I dunno why I had to say that, I was done. *Sigh* okay I'm just gonna stop now and move onto the next question because holy shit I'm rambling, and I always do that, and I never know when to stop annnd I'm doing it again, okay for real this time. I'm done.”

If you saw someone unhoused on the corner asking for money, would you stop and give or keep going?

“From personal experience, I'd stop. My mother always makes sure I have money, cash, on my person at all times. And unfortunately - well, maybe not unfortunately, I dunno why I said that, the POINT is, I have this thing where if I see something bad happen, and I know I could help, but then I don't, I literally cannot stop thinking about that for anywhere between a full 48 hours to the rest of my life. I passed someone before, because I was late, and then ran back and gave them like five dollars because it ate me up, but they were happy, so that made up for the fact that I was late. Great, now it sounds like I'm humble-bragging. I swear I'm not trying to. My point is that I want to help people. And I'll stop there before I ramble again.”

Pineapple on pizza. Thoughts?

“Gonna be honest, never tried it. But I'm SUPER curious. I gotta know what it tastes like, but I'm scared. Both Ash and Noelle like it. Ash I don't trust at all - that girl likes the dumbest food combinations - and Noelle is interesting because she likes food and knows what goes well together, but also I don't remember when she's ever described food as bad, and she has other pizza toppings that she claims are better anyway. Point is, I'm curious but scared to try it.”

✨ Robbie intro post✨

#2- Hye-Jin

What's your earliest childhood memory?

“Oh, that's difficult. Hmmm... I'm not sure which is the first memory, actually. It's not like I memorized the time and dates of everything haha! [Pause] Okay, fine, I remember. It was the first day of preschool. I had only just turned three. Everyone in the class had these, uh, Assignments, I guess. Roles? Hm... Ah yes, jobs, so everyone in the classroom had responsibility. It was randomized, but I got the "caboose," or the person who stood in the back of the line. I cried really hard because I thought that was the worst job in the world, and my teacher probably hated me. I got to carry a flower, though, so I think that calmed me down.”

Do you dance?

“It's more like did. From, hm... Ah, kindergarten grade through sixth grade, I did ballet, tap, and jazz at a local dance studio. But middle school kinda allowed me to take more extra curriculars that were more convenient, so my parents told me I should probably drop dance after my sixth grade year was a mess. I didn't want to, but y'know it is my parents' money. I wish I could've kept it up.”

What smell you can't stand?

“Oh, cinnamon. I'm so sorry, but I don't like it. The smell, anyway. It's weird, I don't mind cinnamon as a taste. But the smell is too much. Maybe that's weird.”

Other Hye-Jin: OC in three, fun facts, bingo, deep dive, origin, outfit, questionnaire one, questionnaire two

#3- George

What never fails to make you laugh?

“A couple things. One: my sister, Carla. She's actually really funny. Watch a movie with her, and you'll see. She's yelling at the screen, insulting her favorite characters, getting way too invested. She tells me all of her thoughts. Two: stupid customers. Hilarious! Someone told me their newly installed voice activator was broken. They were going to pay me a LOT of money. They programmed their voices and everything! Turns out, they hadn't turned it on yet. Three: Liam. The guy can turn everything into an argument, it's fascinating to watch. But funny as in he's super clever, and he can roast anyone. The funniest day for me would be if they came with me on my job, i had to deal with a dumb customer, Liam roasted them, and Carla ranted about a new movie she found.”

How can you tell if you’ll get along with someone?

“Haha, that's funny. People skills are just a little overrated. It's been Carla and me in our house for a while, and we've been doing fine! I'm certainly not going to make friends doing my job no matter how much the homeowners want to talk to me. Liam is cool, and I knew I was gonna get along with him when we met, so he's literally the only example I have for this question. Okay... I knew I was going to get along with him because I was getting everything hooked up to move a lot of the data to our place, and I was talking out loud and Liam seemed bored so he inserted himself into the one-sided conversation and helped me figure out everything. Then the next day, I was working on one of the computers, and Liam came up to me and just started talking. He said I seemed bored, and I was. Sometimes I can't fix things at superspeed because I have to wait for the computer to respond, or the hardware is delicate or something. He asked me to 'infodump,' he said, about any topic I wanted to. The previous night, I stayed up late reading the entire file on jellysponges, so I just talked about them and suddenly, it was like no time had passed and the computer was done! Liam nodded, said my information would be helpful if he ever got into an Alii marine biology debate, and then he invited me to sit with him at lunch. That was cool.”

Do you prefer sweet, savory, sour, or salty snacks?

“I have been talking for way too long. Well, I mean, you may not think it's that long, but I don't do this unless I'm excited about something, and being a speedster it feels like it's taken forever. Anyways, I like all snacks because I have to eat a lot for my metabolism, but honestly out of those snacks I like salty chips.”

Other George: OC in three, questionnaire one, questionnaire two, fun facts

What is your favorite season?

#4- Wade

“Ooh, that's hard. [A couple seconds of silence.] Sorry, Liam's in my head debating all of them. Alright *claps hands* I think it has to be summer. There's so many things to do, and it is always pretty fun to just make a vacation plan. And the beach is awesome. Teo and Parker and I plan our summer - well I plan it; if the others did it'd be a disaster, and they know it. The point is, our summers rock.”

Where would you like to visit?

“I would like to go to Japan. There's so much stuff to do in Tokyo alone. I haven't been to Comic-Con, and I'd really like to, or an anime con. Being from Florida, I've been to Disney World a few times, but not Disneyland in California. Then again, the one in Tokyo... Man, there's a lot of planning that'd be involved. Can't wait til I graduate.”

When do you usually go to sleep?

“I try to be in bed by ten so I can get to sleep before eleven because high school times are shit and I want at least six hours before I have to get up, and that's still not enough sleep! Parker and Teo have it worse, though, since they both can't get settled down until, like, midnight. Uggghhh, we should ban school before nine.”

Other Wade: OC in three, interview, kiss, questionnaire one, questionnaire two, two truths and a lie

#5- CJ

How long has it been since you last travelled?

“Last summer, my family went and traveled around Sector 8 in Alium. It was so fun. Though I admittedly kinda missed Issa. She would've loved it. My favorite part was seeing an opera, actually. It's quite fascinating.”

Where is your favourite place?

“I find it a little strange to have a favorite place. Sometimes my room is a good place to be but sometimes I just want to leave it. Now, I think you're probably just referring to a place that statistically I'm more likely to be happy in. In that case *shrug* not enough data to say definitively, sorry. However, I sometimes stop by the library and just organize books that are there. They're always out of place. And the librarians know me by name. I don't think I have any bad memories there, so even though I don't go to the library every day, I think that's my answer.”

If the inciting event never happened, what would you be doing?

Other CJ: questionnaire one, questionnaire two

*bursts out laughing* “'Inciting event?' Like, as in stirring up something or like, in a story? Cause this is real life, baby. Okay, I'll play along. I guess one could say it was Rose showing up. I suppose if that never happened, I would just be living life like normal. Rose and I don't have a lot in common, but I enjoy talking to her. She is really friendly and thoughtful. So I guess I would be a friend short. And I would be content, but not as happy as I am now.”

#6- Teo

Do you speak more than one language?

“Uh-huh. Three, actually. English, Vietnamese, and American Sign Language! I'm fluent in all of them. My parents decided to try and teach me ASL when they realized I'd need, like, hearing aids, so they, like, took classes and taught me! And not to toot my own horn but, like, having three languages down meant my brain was, like, SO ready for kindergarten.”

What is your favorite thing to eat?

“Do NOT make me choose. It's literally, like, whatever I'm eating in the moment. Right now *holds up* it's this sandwich.”

What drives you to succeed?

“My boyfriend. And also, like, my own ambitions. I can do a lot of things. Again, not bragging, just a fact. I know, like, gymnastics, acting, improv, role play, those are similar I know, playing the guitar, singing, photography, ballet, graphic design, editing, I can go on. It's literally just me wanting to learn how to do more stuff, y'know? I want to build an impressive ass resume. Not just for, like, jobs, life in general. I'm always looking for new skills.”

Other Teo: questionnaire one, questionnaire two, kiss

#7- Atsila

What's the worst thing you've ever done? Do you regret it?

“The worst thing? Ha-ha-ha, what a question. What, in my opinion? Well, I wasn't paying much attention in my literacy class, so I failed! Hahaha, I'm kidding. I'm just not the kind of person to do terrible things, baby. I guess sometimes my competitive nature has made other people upset, but that's technically not anything I've done. Well, that's settled.”

What's the quickest way to make you laugh?

“I do love watching someone make a fool out of themselves. Deserved, though. I have standards. I won't kick people while they're done, but it's sure funny when those who get in my way fall over. Also, make a sexual innuendo and I'll be on the floor in stitches.”

What is your favorite song right now?

“There's this lovely piece called ‘Who We Become in the Shadows’ by Keano Adler. You wouldn't have heard of it, being Ceter and all. Anyway, I should get back. It was lovely talking with you.”

Other Atsila: questionnaire one, questionnaire two

#8- Niri

Do you sometimes wish to be someone else?

“Sometimes, yes. I don't want to lie. I'm thankful that it isn't constant. Usually, I am happy. Sometimes I'm not. It depends on the situation.”

Do you push forward or take time to rest?

“Hard question. [Thinks about it] I think I rest if I find a task boring. I push forward when I like the task.”

What is your favorite drink?

“I like hot chocolate. It is not just a winter drink!”

Other Niri: questionnaire one, questionnaire two

Tagging @sarandipitywrites @theeccentricraven @reininginthefirewriting @paeliae-occasionally @bread-roses-and-chrome

+ ANYONE ELSE

Y'all's questions: 1) Describe your ideal life. 2) What are you most looking forward to? 3) What's your most unique trait?

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

@nebula--nix @literarynecromancy @honeybewrites @the-golden-comet

[kaledya]

I'm will mess the order of our conversations but I need to explain how the things happened !

So I was on Youtube, and i saw your post about you wanting to do some dark fantasy/steampunk story on your own world (and it is also my favorite type of book but with more fantasy politics I'm writing in my langage) and I was so hyped for the idea like putting some pom-pom girl outfit or whatever to encourage you to do it!!

Like let's go ! You have the potential and I will watch it all ! (Well not that my support can really help cause I have no influence on internet whatsoever but ahah) I will love it ! Like slayyyy🌸🌸🌸

And then I thought perhaps you had some concept art already on tumblr so I go here and then... IMMEDIATELY was attacked by your gift  and I was not ready. Kaledya *take my hamster* Like the doodles are so sooo cute !

First, Narrator is smooth. Ah ! My crazy baby. Just by the shape of his smile you know its over ahah

Second, Lolicia's second outfit (thanks bg3 again) and just, I just love how calm she looks.🌸 You did her so well, I need to try to do a profile like that for her!

Third, my favorite, the Human Lolicia. So pretty! First the doodles with the big eyes ! I love when you do that with the characters its very adorable. And her human face and the look is so Lolicia i think like soft and... unhinged a bit scary. Love it.

Fourth, Vittorio aaaah. So mischievous. *take my Astarion hamster back.*

Thank you ! I was not prepared! I know I was suppose to be. But I was not ahah. I will gift you back !🌸

_

I'm glad you liked the gift ! I will draw more and hopefully get better and better !

And fore the shape-shifting idea of Constantine for justifying differents type of horns is 🌸clever🌸. All questions of people answered just by that!

Also yes thank you, I just play doll with Lolicia's outfit and I justify it by saying its Velvette who makes it ahah

_

Anw I like your OCs too! And yes Narrator steal hearts of everyone I saw, good for him ahah ! Oh yes ! I think even if Constantine had a very strict and extreme education, even princes had time to go out with "friends" even if Constantine never really had friends before Serinity he still had guys of his age to spent time with sometimes and they just had a moment to be free a bit. So teen Constantine and Verdelet/Narrator we will see them in the short story !

I saw Turkish people weaponry in museum too! I don't like guns of our times but old riffles like that ? Yes. And don't mention Berserk like its not a trauma manga 😭 ahah

_

I love all of your designs I just don't say it all the time but I do!

_

I just love when you give all the comments about the chapters, rating about the songs and the ambiance (thank you again i just can't-) and then you just like :

You : So beautiful, I love it but now THE REAL DEAL, I don't fucking care, I want to know ABOUT LOLICIA...

And that just kill me with laugh. Every. Time.

_

Also for your exams (that is a damn important part) glad you made it to your first exam ! And for your boss exam just take an armor, focus on shading and proportion and just go for it. Slay! Everything will be okay *pom pom girl movement* Just slap that ART exam in the face.

The villain career just killed me twice ! Honestly, I can write your villain songs no problem. Let me just kidnapped a musician real quick just in case...

_

Thank you ! And you will do a fantastic animator once you are in that university of animation you want to be in. I'm not even worry, you have made a lot of progress since your first and last animatics on youtube for exemple, from the positioning of the characters, the dramatic effect linked to the music lyrics, the differents perspectives and the little details in the poses and camera work. So continue to be what you are !🌸🌸🌸

Now I will write !

OMG!!! Do you like the steampunk/fantasy theme too!!?? I'm so glad to hear that!! I seriously love this theme, both visually and in terms of the factors it adds to the story.

Right now, in my mind, the place where the first part of the story will take place will be a city that relies on technology and does not have much magic. Maybe it could be a region with class distinctions, a bit like the cyberpunk universe.

Or a universe where there is a lot of life difference between the nobles (wealthy people) and the Lower class people. in Red Rising and Mistborn While one side lives a rosy life amidst wealth, the other side is drowned in misery.

And did I understand correctly? Are you writing your own story about this concept in your own language??

SHOW MEEEEEE (in niffty's voice)

And THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! AND YOUR WORDS MEAN A LOT TO ME, THANKS A LOT!!❤️❤️❤️ And it doesn't matter whether you have an influence on the internet or not, you are someone whose work I love very much, it is an honor to be supported by you!)

---

YAAAAAAAAAY *gently takes the hamster* I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKED IT!!!! I wish I could draw them more now. I love all of them very much, and I love Verdelet more and more with each passing chapter! Lolicia is great as always and not to mention Abaddon. I want to draw him so bad and I'm so excited for Charlie's meeting with him!

*kindly gives the hamster back*

----

And definitely! Constantine was someone who thought that there could be alliances in hell, but even those he thought friendship was impossible, this changed with Serenity, but it was a very sloooooow process. Even then, at first, instead of calling Serenity a friend, Constantine says this "she is tolerable or I find her amusement."So it really was a long process of acceptance for him.

And yes! Although Constantine had no friends when he was young, he spent a lot of time with people at his age: his cousins, or other high nobles like Verdelet!

And I read that short story and loved it!!Constsntine's training sequence, the dialogues between him and Verdelet, everything!! I really loved the dialogues and dynamics of Verdelet and Constantine. It was great to read the little adventure between them!!

And I love brothel story arcs for some reason too.Strangely, very rich story arcs can occur in brothels. I always think of the Yoshiwara arc in Gintama, it was a really great arc.

Also, the scenes where Verdelet takes Constantine to the brothel and they live there were beautiful!

Con: These pants are not coming on tonight. *" You dont have my attention "by looking at the brothel*

Verdelet:HAH! I never said anything like that *rips out someone's heart and shows it to Con* We're just going to do a live anatomy lesson" *"well.. you got my attention now"*

The short story was a seriously fun read!

--

Definitely! In general, everything that is old seems more artistic to me, even the rain pipes on buildings.

Yes, it was a trauma (experiences traumatic flashback), but on the other hand, it was a masterpiece manga. It was a perfect manga, both in terms of story and drawings.(funny part is, I'm wearing a Berserk t-shirt while writing this part)

----

And (⁠´⁠⊙⁠ω⁠⊙⁠`⁠)⁠→of course I will do this, you always bless me in your writing

And LMAO I love Lolicia and your OCs in general. Sometimes I even say, "Damn the general plot, I want to see these characters."Looking forward to Lolicia and Con meeting *getting ready to draw ship fanart*

And all joking aside, I love the designs you chose for your OCs in general and I also love their personalities. They are so fun to read. On the other hand, if you write a story that is told only POW of your OCs Please send it to me, I'll be happy to read it! 🛐🛐

---

And thank you very much for the support!!!! I hope I can win by working hard But just in case *prepares rope for kidnapping*

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR KIND WORDS!!!!❤️❤️❤️

____

Now it's time to talk about short stories. The short story between Azrael and Abaddon was simply a masterpiece.I loved the dialogues between them, their protection details were very nice.I really liked Abaddon's personality, you really created a beautiful character.

Michael's idea of giving Charlie and Constantine a blessing to prevent them from going to the dark side was really interesting.At least it clearly worked on Charlie. 2x cinnamon rolls

And Azrael taking care of Lucifer's ducks was so sweet!!

I'm seriously excited to see abaddon in the future.

And I LOVED ABADDON'S DESIGN AND AZRAEL LOOKS AMAZING !!!

In short, thank you again for blessing my eyes!!

Have a good day❤️❤️

[bonnyhoddie]

Ocellus - Teenage Exocolonist OC

I need to post more so here’s something I made in February for a game I love a lot - I was a Teenage Exocolonist!

The character is called Ocellus (yes, like the changeling in MLP I could not think of anything else that sounded sciency or eccentric enough, ideas are welcome!) and their augment is chameleon, because I thought it’d be easiest for my mental health and art block to create a character with obvious signs such as that, without going into classic animals, like a cat or mouse. (Also I had a snake as a pet called Misty and I wanted to give a character a reptile tail)

The idea sketches (as you’ll find from the inconsistent outfits and lazier style, and also Ocellus being pink and blue to match the butterfly, when in the reference, it became decided that those colours would be romantic (I might change them actually)) and the reference drawing was actually made either on the same day or a day before I left my toxic environment lol

Also, fun fact, someone accused me of character theft because a bunch of members were planning to make a mod called Extracolonists (NOT Extracolonist by Seraphic on Reddit) so, AFTER I made Ocellus and just had to do some final details, I was like “omg how cool would it be if I joined in on the mod, they have some space left” so I looked through the discord search thing, looking up “chameleon” and I found a character called “Chanterelle”.

So, finding a chameleon augment character already I was like “oh ok so it won’t go in the mod, ah well, I’ll just post this in the art channel and make a little joke about it.”

Important thing to note: These characters looked nothing alike, aside from being POC and having multi-coloured hair. However, Chanterelle was default blue/pink and all I saw was an image, so I imagine a lot of the functionality stuff like the sign language and the tongue being too big in the mouth, is all mine (or, it’s ours now because sadly I did probably give too many ideas to them). Another thing to note is that I was exclusively following Exocolonist eccentric explorer styles, while the image I saw was Chanterelle’s child version just kinda in a blue hoodie.

And, at first I got compliments and, what confirms my thoughts about the functionality being mine, is that I was being COMPLIMENTED for my ideas AND my character. UNTIL, one person, decided to be like “I’m really uncomfortable with this” and, when I asked why, I get “Because it’s character theft! The characters look exactly alike!”

(They don’t, at all, whatsoever, again, aside from being POC and having multi-coloured hair with COMPLETELY different types of hair texture and multi-coloured types (Ocellus has straight thick hair that’s essentially just very tiny chameleon scales, so it’s a little heavy, with colours at the ends, while Chanterelle had afro space buns and split dye), which, is probably telling that those features make characters look “exactly alike” but idk I’m white, I don’t think I get to decide on what’s telling)

So then, the ENTIRE group, even ones that were COMPLIMENTING me, decided to just turn on me LMAO, (fucking pick a lane a stick to it dudes lmao /j) which, from the perspective of “I had just joined a few days ago and they don’t know me and they have established friendships” I get, but, first of all, I was doing a bachelor of ARTS at the time, which I stated on the first day, I’m sure that I wouldn’t be doing that if I was uncreative enough to be a thief, and, whenever I tried to defend myself and prove my innocence, I was not listened to and I had the EXACT SAME PHRASE repeated to me “you know how it looks right?” Over and over and over again no matter how many times I responded to that, it just was not going anywhere, my attempts of defusing the situation just was not working at all, and I was not being listened to. So then the person who “called me out” decided to post in another channel “let’s make another server for the mod because this doesn’t feel like a safe space for me anymore :(“

EXCUSE ME??? YOU accused me of character theft and dismissed my Timelapses, which is the ONLY way of proving that I didn’t steal a character design. I was reasonable and polite the whole time because I wanted to calm things down and clear up a misunderstanding, while you wanted to argue, and accuse me and my friend of being toxic because she has harsh tone sometimes, while YOU YOURSELF were displaying extremely toxic behaviours, the only bad thing I said to her was:

“I’m so sorry, this saying is only ever said in a mean way and I have no other way of saying this, but, I’m not gonna lie, I feel like it has to be said, you aren’t special, not every coincidence you see in a character is theft against you, and I’m literally in Uni for ART and MAKING CHARACTERS, where I am watched and observed when doing character design tasks, I’m not gonna be uncreative and steal a character design. I just checked to see if Ocellus could be in the mod, that’s it”

Because, I’m gonna be honest, the character wasn’t basic, and was fucking adorable, I’m not trying to insult the character, BUT, she had a LOT of popular character design choices when I checked, and not really much to separate her too much from the norm, which is absolutely ok, BUT, that means that that person is going to see a LOT of characters that look similar, and they can’t expect people to NOT have coincidental ideas of things that ARE unique to the character.

So I just sent a really long message about how I’m gonna leave because I TRIED to peacefully and calmly settle the issue, but everyone was willing to just attack me DESPITE complimenting me before, and not listen to me at all despite showing my Timelapses to show my thought process. And then for the person who started this whole thing to suddenly feel “unsafe” despite the fact that I was the one being attacked.

So, one of my friends (me and 3 others joined because we wanted to be a part of a community) stayed in the server, either that one or an 18+ one to see what happens after or for anyone to try and talk to me through her, and one of the mods did contact her, super sweet like:

“Hey I’m so sorry your friend went through that, we had a talk with the others, we don’t think Chari (me) did anything wrong and we’re gonna make a ticket system so things never escalate like this again, so if they want to join back at all, they are free to, again, we’re so sorry, we don’t let these things slide without a reaction.”

Anyway, I haven’t joined back since, because I said that I would if the person who called me out apologised, and, if I DID rejoin, I should get an apology from the people who escalated everything (bit immature I know and I did state that), but the mod kindly explained that she wouldn’t apologise and would just leave if I joined back, so I just decided that, instead of chasing her out of possible safe spaces by just existing, I was just gonna stick to talking about it with my friends and maybe in the future join another server, which I haven’t done yet. Also there was some Vace lovers /j

So yeah, fun story lol, I wonder how they’re getting on and I do hope the project is going well for them.

Might also add some more patterns and details to some parts of Ocellus and make an Ocellus mod, not out of spite at all, I promise, but because I really wanna do something with them and I really wanna make mods.

Also, despite how it seems, I’m not actually mad, I find this haha funny. I was also stressed and annoyed at the time but not exactly angry.

[dandelion-wings]

Aether and Lumine? Paimon too.

Thank you for the ask! :> I am going to split this not on Aether/Lumine lines but on Traveler/Abyss Prince(ss) lines, because, well, canon did set it up that way, and while if absolutely pushed, Lumine is my Traveler, I mostly prefer to be agnostic in my meta and fic about who is who.

TRAVELER

How I feel about this character

Ah, yes, Traveler von Protagonist Disease.

The thing that complicates the Traveler for me is that I absolutely loathe the kind of semi-self-insert-but-semi-independent-character protagonist that seems to be getting popular in video games these days. Byleth in FE3H is another good example. I wish they didn't exist! I wish that it was either a full self-insert, character-builder and all, or that they gave us a protagonist with a personality in the style of Tales Of and Final Fantasy games in the first place. I really enjoy roleplaying a character as I play a video game, whether given to me as a fully-realized character or as one I made up myself, and this in-between kind of robs me of that because I can't go full "this OC of mine believes this" and I also can't try for accuracy to the character I'm presented on-screen.

That said, they have been getting better about this with the Traveler over the last few nations, and I like the increasing sense of actual, independent personality that we've gotten for them! Obviously a protagonist of this kind of game, where all the others have to like the player character to make the gacha appealing, is going to want to help others, so I actually particularly like the occasional thread we get where they're like "no, I don't actually care half as much for Teyvat as I do for my sibling, I don't not care but my main mission is still to get to them" because it's very refreshing to me.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Childe with the Lumine version, as two people who can and will absolutely fuck each other up in a play-battle, post-fight sex optional but fun. (Also I once read a Childe/Lumine AU fic where Childe was attempting to pursue The Greatest Game with Lumine and she turned the tables and pinned him down with knives through his hands, and it was incredibly hot.) Ayaka, as a one-sided crush on Ayaka's part. That's... really about it.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Paimon! My bestest and beloved friend. :>

My unpopular opinion about this character

With a handful of exceptions, I... do not particularly enjoy Traveler-centered fic/art/meta. I don't know how unpopular that is but it's all I've got.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I know why Hoyo can't do this with their gacha game full of waifus and husbandos, but I wish we had at least one major/playable character who just did not get along with them. All their voicelines are along the lines of "you think I'm fucking telling you that?" I just want to see how it would play out.

THE ABYSS PRINCE(SS)

How I feel about this character

Honestly much more fascinating to me, in part because they've been a lot more allowed to have some kind of personality from the beginning! I want to know all about what's happened to them, why they hold the positions they do, why they give their twin so few crumbs, etc.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I mean. Dain. XD

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Aside from their twin, also Dain! Love their history.

My unpopular opinion about this character

This sort of overlaps with the second, but while I don't know how plausible or how unpopular it is, the mirror in the Caribert quest where the Traveler saw them in it combined with some minor previous stuff to unlock a Theory for me that the Traveler and the Abyss Prince(ss) aren't twins, but a single person with, for the Traveler, altered memories, whom the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles broke apart in order to nerf their power and/or for other reasons related to the whole "Fourth Descender broken up for parts" thing. Fascinating to me.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Related to the above: Hoyo, please give me this. For all the game's deliberate sibling analogies and their pleasing narrative resonance, this theory honestly has way more appeal to me overall.

PAIMON

How I feel about this character

My buddy! My bestest friend! :> I get mad when people are mean to her (in-game or people who choose those options in play). I get sad when she talks about being scared without us (@chrysoula has a theory that this is all foreshadowing a quest/arc where she's taken away and I think this is reasonably likely but I'm also dreading it). I refuse to believe the theories that she's evil, but I do love the theories that she's a reduced/de-powered version of Something/Someone in Teyvat's lore, that would be very fun. I want to give her so many hugs.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I do not. XD

My non-romantic OTP for this character

The Traveler, of course! :> I also love her rivalry with Itto. I love when characters treat her as a separate person from the Traveler and have their own relationships with her.

My unpopular opinion about this character

From what I've seen in the fandom... that I like her at all? XD;;

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Hoyo stop giving us options to be mean to her. She doesn't deserve it. >:( Appreciating and loving Paimon hours ONLY.

[theqreatorsworld]

1,2,4, and 6 for Ghost/Rose or Adler/Isabella for the oc relationship ask game 💖

You can choose from the two pairings, it's up to you my friend 👍

Hehehe my 2 favorite Oc x CC Parings

I would do both my OTPS featuring some short stories cause yess😍😍

The original post

1. Who fell first? Who fell harder?

For 💀💕Ghost/Rose

When Rose first joined tf 141 the 1st person she sat next to is ghost, All ghost could think While Rose was smiling and glancing at ghost cause he looked so interesting by the mask is

💀:Why is this annoying small child here

but ghost then starts to notice Hailey more as both him and rose start to hang out and get partnered up more in missions as Ghost and rose start to care for each other during MWII, This is when Rose started to fall in love with Ghost first, and because of Simon Saving Rose While She fights off Comatose (In a future MW Fic) Rose saving Simon from getting kidnapped and tortured by Markovs Men (In another Future MW Fic). Simon realized that he is soon falling way harder than Rose falling in love with him first.

For🚬🔔 Adler/Isabella

While Isabella’s Brainwash when she first saw Adler he looked so nice and liked his scar,it looked cute on him as she asked about the scar and he said he got it from a tiger. The more that Adler and Isabella interacted more including missions,Just the two of them,The more that Isabella started to fall in love with Adler first.And speaking about missions, That’s her favorite thing when it’s just with her and Adler.

When it came to Adler he was the type of person who would not show affection for another person. But when it came to Isabella he started to fall in love with her harder. And when he shot Isabella up at Solovetsky Islands, that’s when his static character from the CIA Broke, as he realized he might have shot the love of his life in front of his eyes. So much that he then took her back to the safe house where a group of sergons from the CIA Took care of Isabella’s wound while Adler was just watching in regret. (In a future BOCW FIC)

2. Who is the one who fusses the most? Does their S/O mind very much?

For 💀💕 Ghost/Rose

Omg Rose would fuss so much to ghost and ghost would be okay about it and just listen to her haha

For 🚬🔔 Adler/Isabella

It would be Adler for sure 😭 Isabella would get annoyed but she would listen to him

4. Has either OC ever gotten a hickey off the other? What was their reaction?

For 💀💕 Ghost/ Rose

Actually yes

as rose and ghost were sharing one room with 2 bed as “just friends😉🥴” Ghost started to take his mask off as both Hailey and ghost started to sleep, Rose couldn’t sleep as ghost couldn’t sleep as well

💀:Can’t sleep Can you?

💕:Yea I really can’t haha

Simon went up and sat on roses bed as rose was just laying down. soon Simon then layed down next to her as they both faced each other and close since the bed wasn’t that big for her no for him yes, Anywayys ghost had to hold himself next to rose in order for him to not let himself fall off the bed and all he could just do and that and something else aka get his mouth next to roses neck and kissed it as rose can feel the sensation but she never said anything because she liked the sensation. The next morning she opened her eyes and woke up to ghost cuddling her, She got up and went to the restroom as she saw a scarlet thing on her neck, she realized that Simon gave her a hickey and she gets flustered.

For 🚬🔔 Adler/Isabella

Actully a lot haha

As Isabella was looking at the paper she turns around and sees Adler,

🚬:How’s it going

🔔:Ah honestly difficult

Adler and Isabella noticed that they were the only two people in the room as they were so close. Adler pinned Isabella to the wall and you know it,gives her a hicky

6. Who would ask the "would you love me if I were a worm?" question? How would their S/O answer?

For 💀💕 Ghost/Rose

Nahh since rose is a bubbly person she would definitely ask that to ghost and that ghost would say this

💕:Heyy Simonnn? One question

💀:What’s up Rosie?

💕:Would you still love me if I was a worm

💀:Honestly I don’t even fucking care what you are if still show how much I do

For🚬🔔 Adler/isabella

Isabella would for sure

🔔: Hey darling?

🚬:Yes what’s up?

🔔:would you still love me if I was a worm?

🚬:Actually I would even if your the ugliest human being or just a animal I would still do

[siiversans]

OwO‽ I don't believe it, you really answered me QwQ and I thought you didn't have much time, and you think I'm sweet? What a beautiful person you are. Q u e e m o c i o n ! ! Well, sorry if these questions are bothering you a bit, but I didn't leave them to you before because I didn't know if you would be okay or available, plus the text was already long enough, Even I would be too lazy to read. Finally, here I leave you the following questions:

1) What exactly is that necklace that Hotaru! Frisk and Gin! Sans have for? Since when Gin! Sans died supposedly I would have to respawn with that at least, but I think I missed a part and didn't understand xd.

2) Are you ever going to do the story or you have no ideas and are you going to postpone it for the moment? I didn't see that movie, it looks nice so I might look for it at some point, But I would like to know what the story that you propose in your AU would be like, I think it would be great.

3) Why Tonbo! Chara is inside Kin! Papyrus? I think that was never explained or I don't know, maybe it didn't appear to me.

4) Do you like or dislike errorink? I like Frans, I don't care if he's gay, but I also like sanscest (I think it's written like that xd).

5) Is it confirmed that the Frisk of your AU is male? Or is it still a mystery and you just joke with its gender? It doesn't matter to me but I ask out of curiosity owo.

6) If I ask you for a drawing, would you do it? Or only for commissions?.

7) Who is Goatgurt (or yogurt) Asriel? I thought it was Tandoku! Asriel until I saw that he came out of the giant flower xD I felt so stupid jsjsjjssjs.

8) Why can't you leave comments on posts? Or does it only appear that way to me? Because I see that they are all deactivated.

9) What do Silveredge and Silverware mean? I know they are shipps but the names make me curious, also that of the children. Well, I think that was it. Wow that's a lot of text x,p sorry TwT I write too much almost what I think sometimes. I'm not one to edit things, I don't understand much of it, that's why I don't translate comics for others, I can barely manage jsjsjsjs. Bueno, Saravade linda😘

Ah sí, I almost forgot, won't you show me an OC of you? Since every artist has one and I would like to know how you look like x³

1) What exactly is that necklace that Hotaru! Frisk and Gin! Sans have for? Since when Gin! Sans died supposedly I would have to respawn with that at least, but I think I missed a part and didn't understand xd.

that will come into play soon :)

like. SUPER soon. like when we get back to hotaru soon!

2) Are you ever going to do the story or you have no ideas and are you going to postpone it for the moment? I didn't see that movie, it looks nice so I might look for it at some point, But I would like to know what the story that you propose in your AU would be like, I think it would be great.

if you mean gin's pre-outcode story, actually, yes! yes i will :)

it's a secret as to how or why right now but i'll probably reveal it properly when we get to that point in the plot (i'm busy with school right now!)

3) Why Tonbo! Chara is inside Kin! Papyrus? I think that was never explained or I don't know, maybe it didn't appear to me.

please imagine him as a combo of cross!sans and killer!sans!

bonus info: kin is mostly based on disbelief and handplates papyrus!

this is their dynamic! (apologies if theyre hard to translate)

as for how they both ended up this way, you can either ask about it to them or wait :)

4) Do you like or dislike errorink? I like Frans, I don't care if he's gay, but I also like sanscest (I think it's written like that xd).

i love errorink. it's in no way canon to this story or au but my current au fic is all about errink and i also run @errinkgarbagedump!

5) Is it confirmed that the Frisk of your AU is male? Or is it still a mystery and you just joke with its gender? It doesn't matter to me but I ask out of curiosity owo.

hotaru is amab (assigned male at birth) non-binary!

their pronouns are they/them, prefer presenting masc/androgynous (only a lot of the time! there are exceptions)

6) If I ask you for a drawing, would you do it? Or only for commissions?.

right now, i take little requests with tips on my ko-fi!

i can be a bit slow at responding and finishing the requests though <:)

7) Who is Goatgurt (or yogurt) Asriel? I thought it was Tandoku! Asriel until I saw that he came out of the giant flower xD I felt so stupid jsjsjjssjs.

goatgurt is the asriel from @asktheamalgamategoat! his story is concluded on the blog and i got the honor of taking care of little yogurt boy for the rest of time on my blog and story ^-^ <3

8) Why can't you leave comments on posts? Or does it only appear that way to me? Because I see that they are all deactivated.

i'll have to check on that! i changed the blog's tumblr settings some time back :p

9) What do Silveredge and Silverware mean? I know they are shipps but the names make me curious, also that of the children.

silveredge is just the ship name for gin x fell! it was just the name that came naturally and i felt fit them :)

silverware specifically was because me and my friends were joking around that "lol cross has knives. gink cutlery animatic. silverware, get it?" and there it is LOL

the names for the ship kids (im assuming sterling and rust specifically) was just because i thought it fit them and the ship :p

that's all!!! thank you so much for sending so many questions!!! i love writing these and answering them, im really honored someone finds these many details and has so many questions about it 😭💖

[shrimplymoray]

Hello, person whom i may or may not share a home with, it is i, simply the most guy of guys, i would like to request a simple oc (u know who) x Rook Hunt, where, possibly, Rook finds out that he has been the muse of a certain someone, if u cant or dont want to write thats ok too, drinks lots of water btw xoxo

--ur best bud ¬u¬

Ehehehe KrisRook content my beloved òwó I got u covered bro (btw sorry i wrote Kris name wrong on the other post, i forgro to change it, i'll do it after i post this teehee)

Rook Hunt x Kristoffer Hartdagger - aMUSEing

Normally the Arts and Crafts club is a silent place, with only some ambient songs from the club's collab playlist as a company to the artists all in their zone. Today started no different, the club president presenting them today with a simple mindless doodle session before them getting into the more ellaborate club activities. Kris stayed very much in his zone as always, being the softspoken and shy boy he is. on his normal seat, with a sketchbook and some colored lead eraseable pencils, he doodled. Except everyone around noticed how he would sigh and stare at his doodles. The truth is, for a while Hartdagger had been in love. He just never opened up with anyone but his bestfriend Moira about it. "Ah~Monsieur Spotted, I see you're on art duties. Beuté!" "AHHH!" Kris was close to throwing the sketchbook up in the air in fear from the oh so common voice he grew to love. Rook Hunt seemed to be observind the club... again. "ROOK! GO AWAY! SHOO SHOO!" The club leader tried shooing the man away, but to no avail. he made his seat next to Kris, looking politely at the club president. "Ah, monsieur artiste, I can guarantee I will behave according club rules during my stay, you have not to worry!" "I-I... Sir, I can keep an eye on him... I-if you want it, that is,, i'm not forcing it in aniway i'm sorry if i seem like-" "Keep him from touching anything and it's all good Kris, if he gives you trouble i'll just call the headmage." "Right. Okay. sorry..." during the small conversation, Kris failed to observe Rook's head getting closer and closer to his space, until he could quite literally feel the brim of his hat touch his forehead. "My, my... I knew you liked to draw people, Monsieur Spotted, but never thought i would be a form of inspiration for you. Such magnificence, so much attention to the details." "Eep! You were... you... were staring at my doodles?!" Kris hugged the book to his chest "don't mind it! really!" "Why, it is a beautiful! If you ever are in need of a muse, I will be happy to provide! La chasseur d'amour will always provide the inspirations to seek the beauty in all!" While others only groaned, Kriss mumbled something under his breath. It seemed almost unaudible, but to a pair of trained hunter's ears, it was as clear as day: "you already are my muse" Rook kept his composure, but of course, the hunter had the affirmation of the prey, and now he is ready to get it for himself. "Perhaps you would enjoy a posing session later on Pomefiore?" Kris stared at Rook, face already flushes since the moment Rook invaded the boy's personal space, but he didn't have in him to deny, so he slowly nodded. Rook was going to say something, when he heard the common call of Vil for his Vice Housewarden's aid. Rook smiled sweetly before stooding up "It seems Roi du Poison is in need of my hunting skills, but fret not, for I'll come back at when the meeting ends! Trés Bien!" As soon as Rook left, and everyoned seemed more at ease, the president went to Kris "Hey... Thanks for the help but..." "Yes, sir?" "Do you know how does he know when the meetings end when we have it end in different times each day?" Rook Hunt things, were all everyone could assume.

Hope u like it! I never wrote Rook and I saw almost nothing of him yet so I'm getting used to him still!

[tamelee]

Personally I don’t really get people who say they acknowledge Sasuke and Naruto’s romantic bond but still ship Sasuke with a woman… Like, they saw that he was gay (he’s shown to not be attracted to women so he’s not bi) but kinda don’t care?

Actually I don’t really understand the whole shipping culture, or even mainstream fandom culture… I don’t know, I just don’t see the point in just making up content for pre-existing characters while completely destroying what made the characters unique in the first place by ignoring canon entirely (like crack-shipping). I get why people wouldn’t like everything about canon, it’s my case too, but if they don’t like anything about canon… Why are they here in the first place?

Nooo now I sound grumpy. I must be bothering you I’m so sorry 😭😭

Anyway, you’re amazing and I hope you know it 🥰

You don't sound grumpy to me dw 🫶

Well, I don't believe such ships have much to do with Canon either way. And I doubt all of them hate Canon per se, though some change 'Canon' to like Canon, which is funny. "This is my Canon." Yeah, not how it works, but ok- have your Canon your way ofc ┐(￣ヮ￣)┌

Side-note though, I don't think Sasuke even knows who Hinata is? 😆 It's as you say; crack-shipping. (I saw that giant/small-yaoi meme here on Tumblr again. No idea what it's called, and immediately thought; a yes, Sukuna and Levi. Kinda want to draw xD Makes no sense at all.) A lot of Headcanon is derived from personal... ideas/desires/inspiration or self-inserting reasons? (Isn't that exactly what 'x-reader' fics are?) Or even trend-posting. As much as characters are used to tell a story for the original author/creator (they're essentially tools), do fans use them to create new ideas. "Ah yes, we all know this character, let's create something around it simply because I want to." Which is completely fine, right? Look at rare pairs. And to be fair, a lot of content, fictional writing and art aren't even based on canon either. The closest thing through fan-work are Manga analyses or meta's, even panel redraws- stuff like that. People adapt 'canon' into fanwork through various degrees or sometimes ditch it altogether. Nsfw/spice is by default made up and entirely Headcanon :') (Though personality can be depicted in a way ig, through expression/behavior and whatnot.)

I totally get what you mean though, although I guess I'm caught up in fandom-culture now. Personally, I do like characters as 'canon' as possible, but it really depends. For some Animanga I don't really care. I think I ship pretty much all TR/BlueLock-characters for literally no reason, but I wouldn't claim it to be Canon in any way (˚☐˚! )/

However, I don't like it when Naruto and Sasuke's characters are butchered. Made-up context or not. The originals are so special to me and it's the reason why I'm a fan, though I don't mind too much in fics, depending on the story. I find it hard to feel the same when they've practically become someone's OC's with only the same name and design. I can't even read height/age-differences because I can't imagine it xD But anyway, this all includes "official" work made for financial/marketing reasons also- especially those damn novels. Those never have anything to do with canon, nor does it align with it. No matter how passionately people claim otherwise.

I'm only a tiny bit petty about it >< u&me grumpy 🤝 And aahhww I don't actually, you should see me sitting here in giant red Christmas socks and a glittery green sweater that's kinda itchy tbh. I don't really feel anything other than those glitters annoying me every 3 seconds... which reminds me I should change -.- anw thankyou <3

[mahs-dumpster]

"Happy 100th anniversary"

a/n: this is soooo self indulgent please. It's a vignette (written only in dialogue) for Daisy's (my Yuu) birthday jacket card that I just made! I'll be linking it here once I edit this post!

cw: oc x canon (Ruggie x Daisy; they're established to be in a relationship and Daisy has already made her decision to stay in twisted wonderland); dialogue heavy; poor attemps at making this look like a fake translation from a vignette bc I'm delulu

The template for the frames of the paintings can be found here.

Words: around 1k

Happy birthday, Daisy!!

Daisy: To think I'm able to visit a museum like this! I wonder what sort of paintings I'm going to see…

Daisy: I'm expecting to maybe recognize a few from the stories mom used to read to me… let's see if I actually can recognize them!

Daisy: I wonder… is she someone I'm aware of? A lady who constantly cleans her house…

???: That's the princess who inspired the glass slippers you always wear.

Daisy: Huh? Oh, Ruggie! I thought you were all the way on the other side of the museum! 

Ruggie: I was, but then I met Trey and we kinda ended up wandering around until I got here. 

Ruggie: What a coincidence that I found you looking at the painting of the lady who inspired your favorite shoes, shishishi~

Daisy: I guess it is a fun coincidence. Oh, right! Would you mind explaining more about her to me?

Ruggie: Fine! But don't go walking around telling people I've gone soft…

Daisy: No need to worry, I wouldn't even dream of it. 

Ruggie: *sigh* anyway… This lady is the princess that inspired your shoes, do you know the story behind it?

Daisy: Sam only explained to me that the princess who wore them danced with them until midnight… so I guess I don't know much more than that.

Ruggie: Right. Legend says she was an orphan who was forced by her stepmother to become basically a servant.

Ruggie: She cleaned the house all day everyday, was forced to hear awful things by her step family and when she wanted to go to a ball her stepsisters tore down her dress. 

Ruggie: A Fairy Godmother – well, her Fairy Godmother – decided to help her get to a ball, she gave her a gown, a carriage and everything! 

Ruggie: the Prince fell in love with her almost immediately and when she ran away and left her glass slipper fall, he tried it on every lady in the kingdom to find out who his beloved was. Then they got married and she never saw her family again.

Daisy: That’s basically the story of Cendrillon. 

Ruggie: What? Oh– one of the fairytales from your world?

Daisy: Yes. I’ve always admired her story, I reread it a lot growing up because I related to her. 

Ruggie: Ah… you did say your stepmother treated you horribly.

Daisy: She… treated me as best as she could.

Ruggie: Which wasn't anywhere near good enough. 

Daisy: Haha… I guess you're right. 

Daisy: What I mean is just… she treated me badly, but I don't hold grudges. 

Daisy: Whatever she's doing, I forgive her. And now that I'm somewhere better and living a happier life… I hope that her and her children manage to grow as people.

Daisy: That's what my mother taught me. 

Ruggie: …sometimes I really do wonder how I fell for such a goody-goody.

Daisy: W-what’s that supposed to mean?

Ruggie: I’m just saying, you're way too naive and nice to forgive someone like that.

Ruggie: if it were me, I’d never forgive them. No way someone's gonna step all over me and I'll forgive them.

Daisy: because that's exactly what you did to Leona-senpai, huh?

Ruggie: besides the point. 

Daisy: Ruggie, isn't this painting depicting that story you told me about? The ones about the dogs sharing spaghetti?

Ruggie: Oh, that one, yeah! I didn't know they actually painted the scene, who would've thought.

Daisy: They're so adorable, I see now how romantic this is.

Ruggie: I guess? It's still just spaghetti…not only that but it's outside in the middle of the night. I guess for dogs it would be cool but for people? I’d honestly just be excited because it's free food.

Daisy: Oh, come on now! This is super romantic! It's a candlelight dinner under the night sky! 

Daisy: If someone did that for me, I know I’d be pretty happy and satisfied.

Ruggie: You’re just trying to convince me to ask you on a date, aren't you?

Daisy: …

Ruggie: Should’ve figured, shishishi!

Daisy: You can't blame a girl for trying, I’ve been pretty lonely these past few weeks since you’ve been working more than usual.

Daisy: But jokes aside, this right here is already enough. I’m already way less lonely just by walking around this museum with you, it's practically a date!

Ruggie: I don't think a date would consist of everyone from our school coming with us…

Daisy: You get what I mean…

Ruggie: Tell you what, once we get back I’m cooking us both some spaghetti and lighting some candles if that's what you’d like.

Ruggie: If my flower is feeling lonely then I better give her a proper date so she can feel loved, right?

Daisy: You really don't have to… but thanks. I would love to. 

Ruggie: Ah, this one's actually a very famous painting, I’ve seen pictures of it around quite often.

Daisy: R-Really…?

Ruggie: What? You don't believe me?

Ruggie: It ties with Sunset Savannah’s history and with The King of Beasts’s story! 

Daisy: Well, forgive me for not understanding the historical significance of a monkey holding a lion cub…

Ruggie: *sigh* Alright. Lemme explain.

Ruggie: This is a ceremony often done by members of royalty when a new child from the royal family is born. 

Ruggie: It goes so far back even the lions from The King of Beasts’s story did that. They basically present the baby to everyone else in the kingdom… it's kinda hard to explain.

Daisy: Oh, I get it now!

Daisy: I see why it's so famous, seeing how it portrays an aspect of the royalty of Sunset Savannah. 

Ruggie: Eh… I never went to one, as you can imagine.

Daisy: Never? Is it not open to the common folk?

Ruggie: Well yeah, but back when there was one for who I now know is Leona-san's nephew, I was trying to survive.

Ruggie: I didn't have the time to go to a ceremony just to watch a new baby I didn't care about being presented to the whole kingdom.

Ruggie: I’d learn about him regardless, so I just didn't care much.

Daisy: I guess that makes sense.

Daisy: Still, it must be super interesting to see it happening. How cute would it be to see a baby cub being shown to the entire world just like that, hahah! 

Ruggie: Ah– sorry, before I got here I told Leona-san I’d go fetch something for him at the cafeteria in a few minutes… if I don't go now he’s gonna be pissed.

Daisy: Why didn't you tell me sooner?!

Ruggie: Well, ya know– it's impossible to resist spending time with you~

Daisy: Alright there, Romeo, enough! Go before he gets upset. I'll be looking around this area for a while more if you want to come back.

Ruggie: *sigh* ‘kay, I'll be off then! 

Daisy: Hm? Ah, this is another painting of Cendrillon.

Daisy: She looks so much free... I'm happy she got her happy ending.

[thesugarclubs-blog]

Just A Taste - AU Bucky Barnes x OC

warnings: chef Bucky, pastry chef OC, second-chance romance, grumpy x sunshine, office smut, 18+

word count: 12.9 k

WP: https://www.wattpad.com/1351680783-just-a-taste-olivia

Masterlist

“Steve,” Olivia sighed, her feet up on the coffee table. 

She was looking forward to a relaxing weekend off, swiping through Tinder and watching TV while drinking far too much wine. But Steve called her right as she sat down to unwind, begging for coverage at White Wolf.

“Look, I wouldn’t be calling if I wasn’t desperate,” Steve replied. “This isn’t exactly an ideal scenario for you or Barnes, but Parker burned his hand.”

The mention of her ex-boyfriend made her chest clench. She was more than guilty of scrolling through his Instagram to see if he had started dating again. Outwardly, she told people she wanted him to see other people, but there was always a knot of desperation in her throat whenever she typed in his username. Followed by a sigh of relief when he was still single. 

She still loved him, but their obsessions with their jobs drove them apart. Olivia wanted to be friends, Bucky was the one who pushed her away. She left, it was what was best for everyone, even if it killed her. 

She hadn’t had any communication with Bucky since, other than him liking her Instagram posts. It was the tiniest olive branch, but she was always afraid to ask for more. 

“How?”

“Tripped and put his hand right down on a hot burner.” Olivia winced and audibly hissed. Steve chuckled. “He almost rivals you for biggest klutz of all time.”

Olivia frowned.

“You’re not exactly winning me over with compliments.”

She could hear him tapping his pen on the desk, the rhythm quick like the beat of a hummingbird’s wings. 

“You know the restaurant inside and out and we need to be impressive tomorrow night.”

“Why, exactly?”

“Tony Stark.”

She almost threw up. He was the most ruthless food critic Olivia had ever read. Stark had the power to make restaurants explode in popularity or to shutter their doors- all it took was a single review of approximately 1,000 words. He was a god in the New York restaurant scene. 

“Please, Liv. We’re desperate.”

She sighed.

“And?”

“You’re the best,” Steve sighed somewhat dramatically.

She grinned.

“That’s what I like to hear, Rogers.”

“I’ll pay you double—”

“No, you—”

“No arguments! You’re too nice!”

“I haven’t even said yes yet!”

“Ah! Your voice went up a partial octave, that’s a yes!”

“It so is not!”

“So is! Be here at 2:00 for prep! Byeeeee!!”

“Steve!”

The line went dead and she couldn’t help but laugh before dread crept in. Bucky wasn’t going to be happy about this, but part of Olivia was hopeful that they could repair things. 

She hardly slept, was showered and pacing with her pastry kit and knife set by the door by 10 am, itching to get back into the kitchen she loved so much.

Excitement laced with apprehension, but she could be professional around Bucky and cooking for Tony Stark was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Even if Bucky shut her down, she knew they could work with each other in the kitchen like clockwork. In truth, she was most excited to see him at work again after so long. A master at his craft, there was nothing like seeing Bucky with a knife in his hand.

Before she could get too hot and bothered thinking about it, she decided to just head out, getting an early start on dessert prep was never a bad thing.

The trip to the restaurant felt familiar, dangerously so. Olivia came to a halt in front of the big glass doors, gaze running the length of the steps to the classy wooden reception desk; her hands fled to the straps of her tote bag, gripping them tightly to ground herself.

Next to the desk, tinkling with his phone, stood Steve. Hair combed neatly, white chef’s uniform on. He furrowed his brows before flickering his eyes up as if he was sensing Olivia standing there and staring at him like she just saw a ghost. 

He smiled then, a calming curl of his lips that allowed her to breathe out and open the door, stepping inside with purpose despite how shaky she felt.

“Lookin’ good, Rogers,” she said coolly, heart hammering away under her playful tone. “The beard is new!”

Steve cocked an eyebrow, smirking, and slipped his phone into his uniform’s pocket. 

“And so is my phone,” he sighed, snaking an arm on her shoulder in a half-hug. “I’m having trouble understanding how to set it up. Peter was supposed to help me, but y’know…”

''He took a trip to klutz-town and almost singed off his hand, I know. I can help you, old man.'' Olivia chuckled as she watched the blonde man's brows furrow. 

That man didn't look a day over 30 and he knew it.  ''I'm gonna set up in the back.'' She turned on her heels to walk into the state of the art kitchen, when Steve called after her. ''Make sure you don't end up strangling Barnes.'' 

''Can't promise you that, Rogers.''

The air around her lightened a bit, the walk through starting to feel like she was back home despite the ball of nerves that had settled at the pit of her stomach at the anticipation of the rush that awaited them tonight. 

You’re the best in this town, Liv. She whispered to herself as she stopped just short of the traffic door and released the tight grip she had on her tote. She smoothed down her coat and squared her shoulders before pushing the door open with a tap of her toes. 

Her eyes followed the sound of soft chopping against a board. With an hour to 2 left on the clock, the kitchen was still, quiet except for the low whistles of the over 6-foot-tall man who stood at the helm of the White Wolf.

Olivia had always loved the dark, stormy shade of blue that formed in his eyes when he was angry, and despite her nerves and regret, tonight was no different. They were hypnotizing. His hair was longer, a few stray chunks falling from the bun he had pulled it into before starting his exhausting shift. 

The kitchen stilled as she came into his view and the silence that fell around them was deafening. 

"No," the word left Bucky's lips, dragging her eyes down to his tense jaw. The muscles in his neck flexed as he let the knife fall to the board, he floated around her like he was afraid to touch her and pushed out into the empty front of the restaurant.  "Anyone else Steve."

Olive sighed, turning around and following the sound of Bucky's voice back to where Steve stood, trying to calm a furious Buck.

"Buck–" Steve rolled his eyes at the broad man storming into the office. 

"I'm sorry, Liv. Just... set up and I'll talk to him." 

Her heart was heavy as she nodded. Watching a tired Steve follow the man that was and still is the one her heart desired, even if he was mad at her for being here. The little whiff she caught of his cologne was enough to feel the longing knock on her heart's door.

Back in the kitchen, Olivia emptied her tote. Unfurling her knives and pulling out her apron. Peter kept the station immaculate but then Bucky wouldn’t have his kitchen any other way, she knew that. 

A glance around the space told her that he still ran the place like a sergeant would his unit and a wave of nostalgia for the place suddenly hit even as she stood in the centre of it. 

A flashback of hard-ass Chef Barnes, critiquing a sauce and then the sudden warmth of him as he’d slide up behind her and whisper something a tad too rude for his professional critique just to make her giggle. 

She could almost feel it again, the shadow of his broad frame — until someone cleared their throat and she turned to see him, jaw set and eyes hard. His tattoos were peaking out from the sleeves of his chef's jacket, the white starchy material strained over his arms as he crossed them in front of himself. 

“You can stay,” he murmured and Olivia glanced up to see a pout on his lips, “just don’t get in the way.”

“Yeah,” she replied with a sigh, if it was relieved or not she couldn’t say. Returning her gaze to her station, she glared at the mixing bowl like it was all its fault. “We have a big night ahead.”

Okay, conversation, she thought sheepishly. Let’s start small.

“Mh-hm,” he simply hummed back, stalking to his previous spot and resuming his task. No indication whatsoever that he wanted to grace her with the sound of his voice.

The air felt so thick Olivia had actual trouble remembering what the hell she was supposed to do, opting to try and keep her breath even for just a second. She puffed her cheeks with air, somehow feeling guilty about being there even if Steve coerced her by flattering her and dropping the name every chef in town was scared about.

The doors flew open, almost knocking her off her feet from how harshly the noise pulled her out of her mind. 

“Am I travelling back in time?” A voice boomed dramatically from the threshold, an amused pitch to it Olivia would recognize everywhere. Thank god.

“Did Steve even tell someone I was coming tonight?” She chuckled, glancing above her shoulder to find a smirking Sam standing with his arms folded across his chest.

''He got a new phone and apparently texting is a thing he doesn't know about yet.'' Olivia snapped her head to the snickering Bucky who was checking on the oven, the muscles in his back playing along with the movement. She remembered the way those muscles and the heat of his skin felt beneath her palms, don't you dare even go there. She shook her head from the thought, gripping the edge of the mixing bowl to ground herself. 

As she heard the sound of more kitchen staff making their way through the restaurant she walked over to Sam, throwing an arm across his shoulders as she fell into his open arms. 

“It’s good to see you Sammy,” she whispered. 

He tightened his grip on her and nodded, “You taught the kid well but we’ve missed you in here Livvy.” 

They both pulled back from the hug and Olivia looked at him, a tight-lipped smile on her face as her heart squeezed in her chest. 

“I said we,” he reiterated, clapping a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll let you keep at it, I need to set up too.” 

She nodded sharply and quickly turned to head over to the pantry to grab hold of all the dry ingredients to begin preparing her desserts. Mumbling beneath her breath what she needed she walked into the pantry without looking and crashed into someone making their way out. A strong hand grabbed hold of her waist as she bounced back on impact, a huff leaving her lips.

“Head up,” he grumbled, letting go of her as quickly as he had reached out. 

Olivia froze as he stepped back from her leaving her feeling like she had done something unforgivable. And maybe she had at some point, stepped in the wrong direction, left him behind. But he had been pulling away long before she had the chance to tighten her grip. 

She had just been the first to cut the strings that threatened to hang them. 

“Sorry chef,” she nodded, swallowing the half-baked apology that rose in her throat.

The crease between Bucky's brows had gotten deeper since she last saw him. Those ocean blue eyes were dark, cascading over every part of her face, and for a split second, he let his guard down, revealing pain despite the scowl that seemed permanently etched into his features. She remembered what Sam said:

We missed you.

A tidal wave of emotion threatened to knock her over and her knees locked. Bucky’s tattooed fist clenched at his side. 

“I told you not to get in the way.”

“I said I was sorry, chef,” she repeated, her face bright pink with humiliation. “It was an accident.”

Over Bucky’s shoulder, Sam was watching them. The weight of his eyes was nearly crushing. In fact, most of the kitchen was watching them, waiting for something to explode.

“This is a big night for me.” Bucky’s tone was measured. “And it’s not exactly starting the way I wanted it to. Don’t screw this up for me, Olivia.”

The use of her full first name felt like a gut punch. With a grunt, he turned and headed back toward his station while Olivia turned her back to the pantry and took a deep breath. 

“Don’t let him get to you,” she whispered as she grabbed what she needed. “It’s one night, and you can cry later.”

She took a deep inhale of breath, slowly counting to five as she let it out before she continued. 

When her arms were full, Olivia straightened and prepared to walk back to her station, avoiding everyone's eyes because she could feel them all. Knowing it was better to look ridiculous and carry everything in one go then have to make a trip back to the pantry and be at risk of pissing off Bucky even more. 

She reached her station with measured steps and dropped everything with a loud thunk. Glancing around to make sure she hadn't disturbed anyone, her eyes caught Barnes' gaze focused on her before returning back to prepping and chopping and leaving her to curse internally at the heat flooding her face.

It was fine, everything was fine. Lemon tarte was on the menu for dessert. It was her specialty, so much so that when she was an in-house pastry chef, Bucky used to write Liv’s Lemon Lovely on the whiteboard in the kitchen and draw hearts around it like the sap he was. Tonight it just said Lemon Tarte w/ citrus and ginger crust — straight to the point. 

Olivia sighed and washed her hands, up to her wrists, in between her fingers until her palms squeaked. 

And then she set about prepping. Lemons first, enough zested for both the pastry cases and filling and it soon became second nature as she scraped fruit after fruit over the zester and then— 

“Shit!” 

Blood pooled instantly on the tip of her finger as she caught it on the blade and she squeezed it tight to try and stop the flow. 

Just what she needed.

What the hell was even happening? Olivia was extremely skilled, one of the best in the field, and she earned every right to be in that kitchen by breaking her back hours a day for years— and Bucky had been there to witness the whole damn time. He was being an ass, preaching about not standing in his way, but what about Olivia’s? What about knowing well enough how she could get in her head, how dangerous it would be for his restaurant to push her like that?

Maybe he just forgot.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I’m sorry chef,” she didn’t even raise her eyes to meet his cursed blue pits, because if his hoarse voice was any indication of the look on his face, Olivia was going to stop breathing altogether. “I’m gonna clean this cut up and be right back at it. No worries, everything’s under control.”

Before she could spin on her heels and stalk to the first-aid kit conveniently hanging in the far corner of the kitchen, right before the small hallway that connected the space with Bucky’s office, he grabbed her wrist. 

“Let me see.”

Slowly she held out her hand. He looked at her waiting for inaudible permission to touch her. His brows furrowed as he lightly turned her hand to inspect the injury. 

"Looks like you micro planed a few layers of your skin. Let me clean this off and put a bandaid on it." 

"I can do it myself, James." Olivia tried to sound tough while the juice of the lemon was penetrating her wound, making it burn.

"Always the tough guy, Liv."

She watched him closely as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a navy handkerchief with JBB embroidered in the corner in gold string. Another pang shot through her chest when she saw it, that had been a part of the gift she gave him when he and Steve signed the lease for the space the White Wolf now stood. 

He pressed it to her finger with a gentle hand and lifted his eyes to meet her gaze. Olivia's breath caught in her throat as his eyes met hers, the strained look in them letting her see that he hadn't even noticed what he grabbed until it was already too late. He swallowed thickly and his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat, "Keep pressure on that and follow me." His voice was stern once more as let go of her hand and reached for the Microplane laying on the table.

“Bucky, I'm fine,” she chuckled nervously as everyone seemed to stop in their tracks. “This is kind of my M.O., remember?”

The only thing she heard was an exasperated sigh as he led her toward his office pulling the first aid kit from its place on the wall along the way.

“This ain’t a goddamn movie, kids!” He shouted to the rest of the kitchen in his thick Brooklyn accent. “Keep prepping!” 

Olivia lingered near the doorframe, not wanting to come inside. The office hadn’t changed at all. On the desk was a picture of him, Steve, and her on the day they opened the restaurant. She was Bucky’s first hire. Even though they’d broken up, there were remnants of her all over this place. Bucky sighed and his massive body covered the picture as he grabbed a bandaid.

“I can't help you if you don't come here," he grumbled.

“I said I'm fine. I don’t need—“

His jaw ticked and he turned to her, eyes blazing. She could almost feel soft pops of electricity on her skin as his eyes dug into hers. Whenever Bucky looked at her, it felt like he could see everything, and right now, the only thing she wanted to do was run.

“Olivia, I’m in charge tonight. Come here and let me help you for Christ’s sake.”

With trembling legs, she took the small six steps toward the desk and stood in front of him. A low growl rumbled in his chest as he took the handkerchief away and examined the wound before wrapping a bandage around it. 

“You’ll live,” he whispered. 

“Was that a joke, Barnes?”

The moment the words slipped out, she bit her lip and winced. Bucky glanced back up at her, eyes icy.

“I— I mean, thank you, chef," she stammered.

Olivia didn't miss the flash of mischief in his eyes at her response, something remaining of the carefree man who just wanted to do what he loved every day with his best friends. She watched his hands as he crumpled up the bandage wrapper, tossing it over his shoulder into the trash. A perfect shot, of course, Olivia thought to herself. 

"You workin' anywhere new?" 

The barely audible question made her gaze snap up to his but he wasn't staring at her, just the space between them. A few strands of hair fell onto his forehead and her fingers suddenly itched to push them away like she used to. The reminder made Olivia's chest flare with heat.

"Interesting question from a man whose last words to me were "do what you want, I don't care"," Olivia remarked, crossing her arms in front of her. 

Bucky pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply. Olivia just wanted to see one part of him, one still gaping wound, that regretted any of the things he had said to her, or the kitchen he wrecked the last time they fought. The stress in those days built into something unbearable and their relationship was the first to crumble under the weight. Instead of waiting for his response, Olivia turned on her heel and pushed the door of the office open much wider than was necessary. Her finger throbbed with the motion but at that point, she felt like she deserved it. Just another reminder of how being around James "Bucky" Barnes would only bring her pain.

Back at her station, she cleared the contaminated lemon zest in silence and made a swift journey to the pantry for more lemons, avoiding eyes and tuning out the rest of the kitchen. 

They still had a little while til service started, enough time to start over. Both with her dessert and maybe Bucky. He used to ease up a little once service was underway, helping out where needed and actually smiling. 

“He’s been miserable without you, y’know. Parker doesn’t giggle like you do.” 

Sam stood beside her, offering a cup of iced lemon water. 

“It’s not 5 o’clock yet, Sammy,” she chuckled, sparing him a sideways glance. 

“It’s water and you know it,” Sam grinned as she took it from him, gulping it back with a blissed out sigh. “And I mean it, Steve has had to reel him in a few times when things get heated back here.”

"As much as I'm sorry for you guys, being miserable and lashing out is his choice." Olivia got to work on the lemons again. 

"I know. I know. But I can't help to notice the way his focus has changed ever since you came here today. The stolen glances he makes, trying to not get caught staring at you. Not on my watch, Buckeroo." 

"Sam," Olivia said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry, Livvy. I just wish my best friend would smile more since you were the light of his life." Sam looked kind of defeated. 

"Well, sometimes a light can dim until it goes out completely."

"Change the bulb," Sam knocked her gently with his elbow, "flick the breaker, have you tried turning it on and off again?" He joked. 

"You've been spending too much time with that Parker kid, he's making you crazy," Liv shook her head and turned back to steal a glance at Bucky but found him leaning over the metal counter staring at her while the pan behind him smoked. 

"You're on fire," she said plainly and loud enough for him to hear her. He doesn't move, he just holds his glare leaving Liv to say, "Not you, your chicken." 

Finally, Bucky turned to look at the pan, swearing at himself as he went. "Like a moth to the flame," Sam chuckled and floated away from her.

Olivia continued to whip up the lemon tarte, moving with grace and ease like it was the most natural thing in the world. She caught Bucky walking past her with the still flaming pan— the only reason she knew it was him was because she could see the flames and smoke in her peripherals. She had to focus. She was notorious for being a klutz in the kitchen when she was nervous, and right now, Barnes made her feel like she was in the goddamn military.

She could feel him stop for a second, and the weight of that gaze on her, watching her work just like he used to. Olivia looked up just in time to see him heading for the dish pit. She heard a clatter and more swearing as she turned her focus back to the dessert.

“I think you’re making him nervous,” a voice announced. She glanced up to see Steve grinning at her. “He’s turning into you.”

“Don’t let him hear you say that,” Olivia giggled. “He’ll lose his mind.” “He's all talk, you know. He really does miss--”

“Rogers! Get back to your station!” Bucky barked.

Steve turned and gave his best friend a mocking salute.

“Yes, Sir, Sergeant Barnes!” He winked at Olivia. “Good to have you back, Liv.”

“I’m not back!” She called as he walked away.

“Damn right you’re not,” Bucky grumbled as he stomped back to prep another chicken.

"Oh shut up, Buck, you know you love it!" Sam hollered across the now-bustling kitchen. 

"You know what I would love, Wilson? If you could add some balsamic to those fucking dry-ass green beans," Bucky shot back, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead as he seasoned the pan. 

Olivia bit her cheek to hide her smile, catching Sam's raised eyebrow through the stainless steel rack. He grabbed a whisk before sliding across the tile, barely missing Kate, one of the new prep chefs. 

"Ooh baby, I'm hot just like an oven...I need some lovin'" Sam crooned into the utensil, eyes closed dramatically as snickers erupted throughout the kitchen. "And baby, I can't hold it much longer" 

"Marvin Gaye, Sam? Really?" Bucky said with a shake of his head, jaw flexing as he attempted not to grin. 

"Why you gotta say it like that?" Sam whined. "Who doesn't like Marvin Gaye?" 

"I love Marvin Gaye, Sam!" Olivia shouted, catching Bucky's annoyed eye roll before he turned back to his pan. 

Sam sauntered over, grabbing Olivia's hand and making her giggle as he spun her in a slow circle, still singing. Olivia glanced up to see Bucky watching them intently, a different kind of look on his face, one that actually made her think he really missed her just a little.

It seemed the moment was too good to be true though, the slight twitch upwards of Bucky’s lips and softening of his eyes gone not even a second later. 

Was it because Olivia may have caught her foot on Sam’s and stumbled just a little? Maybe. But old Bucky would have at least chuckled at that, swooped in to steady her before murmuring a soft ‘what am I gonna do with you, my love?’ as he pressed a kiss into her hair. 

This time though, he shook his head and bore his steely glare into Sam. 

“Real smart dancin’ in a working kitchen, Wilson. Get back to work.” 

“See! Mr. Grumpy Gills,” Sam shrugged, nudging Olivia before returning to vegetable prep. 

She stole one last look at Bucky before turning back to her station. Watching him wipe his brow with a cloth from his shoulder, sweaty hair suddenly wild as it frizzed away from his face. 

She fought the urge to go over there and fix it.

Olivia rolled her shoulders with resolution, chin raised defiantly to no one in particular. And eventually, falling back into character became almost natural. Working in what used to be her kitchen, surrounded by the best wingmen ever known to mankind, everything made her stomach warm just enough to forget the anxiety the tiniest bit.

After all, she was doing the thing she loved the most. Nothing works as a better therapy than that. Even when the person you love the most is glaring at you at every given chance.

A couple of doughs of buttery crust were now staring at Olivia through their cocoons of plastic wrap, cool enough to be worked on, as she lined up small tart pans to put in the fridge and start on her lemon curd. Perfectly on time. Smiling to herself, she glanced at Steve who simply shook his head with a grin. 

“Whatcha laughing about, Rogers?” She called a snicker hidden beneath her tone as she pulled the wrap from one dough. “Mouth watering yet?”

Sam chuckled beside him. “We need to do a taste test, y’know?”

“A taste test,” Olivia laughed, breezy and amused despite herself. “Consider it done, boys. We gotta make sure Stark is pleased, don’t we?” 

“Just hide a couple of those, Boo. Or I’m gonna steal one when you’re not looking.” Sam replied, gaze flickering beside her for a second before Steve sucked his cheeks to keep himself from smirking.

“Make it three.”

And sure enough, Bucky’s grumble rang in her ears like an alarm. 

Keeping eye contact with Sam, gaining strength from Steve’s effort to not snort at his best friend's crankiness, she smirked, “Yes, sir.”

With a pastry bag filled with lemon curd, she piped the tarts and let them level out before sliding them in a neat line on her counter.

She saw Sam and Steve sneak behind her, approaching the tarts.

"Boys." she playfully scolded them.

"How did you notice? We were quieter than mice." Sam pouted as she swatted his hand away from the pastries.

"Y'all do realize you are both about 6 feet built like dump trucks, right?"

“Yeah, and we need to be fed!” He exclaimed, reaching out for one of the tarts.

Olivia slapped at his hand, earning herself a pained squawk.

“Leave them to set, you heathen. I won’t have my best work ruined by an over-eager man child.”

A subtle huff of laughter sounded from behind her and she turned just enough to catch the soft smile spread across Bucky’s face before he managed to wrangle it back into the grumpy expression that was his comfort zone.

“Ooooh!” Sam teased. “Was that laughter, Barnes? When did they program that into your brain?”

“Get fucked, Wilson,” Bucky grumbled as he turned back to his station.

“Been trying! But I spend too much time here!”

Olivia chuckled, continuing to work and make some extras for the kitchen. She knew that Bucky adored her lemon tarts. It was part of the reason why she decided to make them for tonight. She wanted to build a bridge. As she whipped up some more filling, the kitchen grew quiet and all she could hear was Sam humming Marvin Gaye.

“Wilson…”

“I can’t stop, Buck! The music’s got me!” Olivia looked up to see Sam doing a little wiggle at his station, knife in hand. 

She rolled her eyes and realized she needed to grab one more thing from the cooler, some fruit to put on top of the tarts. The cooler that was right next to Bucky’s station. Olivia decided to kill two birds with one stone and headed for it, opening the door. She turned to him with a smile.

“I’m making some extras for the staff after work.”

He grunted in response, flipping the meat on his pan while sweat gathered at his hairline. Her eyes drifted down to his tattooed forearms that flexed as he worked. She missed the way those arms held her against the bed, the wall… 

She cleared her throat and pretended to huff as she headed into the cooler, grateful for the cold air on her flushed face.

Leaning over, she reached down for a tray of already prepped blueberries, imagining how pretty they would look sprinkled with powdered sugar when the cooler door closed behind her. She snapped up, almost hitting her head on the shelf before turning around to face a very agitated Bucky. His cheeks were flushed and it made every freckle on his face stand out. 

"Um, you locked us in the cooler, Buck," she laughed shakily, nodding behind him. 

"It's a new door, has one of those stupid little buttons," Bucky gestured with one hand, the other coming up to brush his hair back with frustration. "Olivia..." 

"James," she replied, mocking the raspy gravel of his voice as he stared at her incredulously. 

"What do you want, Olivia?" Bucky nearly growled, frustration in every syllable. "Why did you tell Steve yes?" 

Her mouth dropped open in shock. The chill of the cooler was raising bumps on her arms, but she started to sweat regardless. 

"I told Steve yes because about three months ago, my asshole ex-boyfriend told me to fuck off and I've been unemployed ever since," she snarled, gesturing to Bucky with the tray of fruit. "Not that you even care. I came here to work, and right now you are keeping me from doing that."  

It was petty, but Olivia needed to say it. He broke her heart by choosing all of this over them. Bucky took two steps forward and suddenly the cold metal box he'd trapped her in seemed much much smaller.  His icy stare bore into her skin and warmth spread throughout her body at the sight of the flecks of grey in them. 

"Yeah, well I can't do my job because I can't stop watching you." 

The admission made Olivia almost break, drop the container she held and climb him like a tree in the middle of the cooler. His gaze flickered to her lips just as a knock sounded through the thick metal door. 

"Uh, y’all?" Sam's voice was almost scared. "I hate to break this up, but Stark's here and Steve looks like he's gonna cry."

Bucky groaned, closed his eyes tight and with his fist clenched, muttered an angry “fuck” to no one in particular. 

“We’ll be right there,” Olivia answered Sam, catching Bucky’s eye and silently asking if he was good to head back out there. 

When he inhaled sharply and breathed out on a count of five — something she’d make him do when things got a little too much — she knew the answer. 

“Good. Let’s go, chef.” 

“Liv,” Bucky started, catching her wrist as she pushed past him. Bewildered eyes stared down at her and for the first time, Olivia could see the toll this evening was taking on him. Knowing Bucky, he probably spent the last week staying late, working and reworking the menu until it was perfect.

“Later,” she replied and Bucky sighed. “This is one of the most important nights of your career, Bucky. I’m here to help you succeed and nothing else. If it helps, for now, pretend I’m not here.” 

“Easier said than done,” Bucky whispered, letting go of her wrist and running a hand over his forehead in an attempt to tame the flyaway hairs. 

Before Olivia could reply, Bucky was back out in the kitchen, shouting out orders for the start of service.

You could have cut through the tension with a knife back there. I can't stop watching you. 

The chaos of the kitchen swirled around her as Bucky began barking out orders and everyone fell in line. Steve looked particularly nervous as he put up the first appetizer for service, and they waited. Bucky tapped his foot against the floor and flipped his knife in his hand. He was dripping sweat, but she couldn’t stop thinking about their moment in the cooler.

She could have sworn she could see the longing in the piercing blue eyes of his; the same semblance of longing that he had when they shared a bed, when he pinned her against the wall, caging her in his warmth, in his desire. Every inch of her skin was worshipped by him. 

"Earth to Liv, Barnes is about to combust. Stark sent back the appetizer. Better you go into hiding before pans start flying,” Sam announced.

She heard those words and she knew. Hurrying over to the pass she saw Bucky, his arms braced against the stainless steel countertop, staring at the barely-touched plate of food that Stark had returned. His eyebrows were drawn into the deepest scowl she had ever seen and he was almost vibrating with tension.

Without even thinking Olivia reached out and laid a palm in the space between Bucky’s shoulder blades, pressing gently, letting him know she was there without having to speak a word.

She held her breath, allowing him a moment to collect himself before she flexed her fingers slightly. The feeling of him leaning back into her hand, however subtle the movement may have been, made her heart soar. Turning his head a little, as if searching for her presence, he let out a deep sigh and then projected his voice to his kitchen.

“We’re gonna blow him away with the entrée people!” He announced.

Without thought and years of practice, Olivia fell into step beside him. Silently working together like they had so many times before she stretched the limits of her cooking knowledge, helping where she could but never hindering his movement or craftsmanship. Olivia had always been better at sweets, chocolate and pastry. Delicate hands and perfect math. Bucky was built for the chaos of a hot kitchen, he was born into wielding sharp knives and demanding attention. 

Olivia had missed watching him work, missed seeing the way his massive frame became like water as he moved in and out of bodies. There was nothing like the tidal wave Bucky Barnes became when he cooked. He finished the proteins, laying across a bed of vegetables and started in on the sauce. 

"There," she pointed as he cleaned the plate of any imperfections, "and that," she noted as he missed a small detail of sauce in his hurry. "It's perfect," she whispered, giving him the nudge of confidence he needed.

Bucky stared at the plate the way most people would stare at a complicated equation, searching for imperfections. He lived to beat himself up, and it was hard not to in this job. He demanded perfection out of everyone in his kitchen, but nobody was harder on Bucky Barnes than he was.

“You think so?” He asked as his throat bobbed and he turned to her, eyes aching for approval.

“I know so," she beamed.

He looked back at the plate with his bottom lip tucked beneath his teeth, still searching for an imperfection and finding nothing.

“We were a hell of a team.”

She couldn’t help herself, reaching over to place her hand on his forearm. His muscles twitched but he didn't move.

“Still are.”

“Buck, I need that plate!” Steve shouted.

He sucked in a breath and his mouth opened to protest, to buy more time - but Olivia grabbed it first.

“Don’t doubt yourself,” she whispered before handing Steve the entree. “Right here, chef!”

Steve beamed when he saw the plate perfectly laid out, colorful, and decadent. He glanced up at Bucky.

“This might be your finest work yet,” he murmured. “Both of you.”

As he walked away, Olivia reached out her hand, palm up while Steve passed the plate off to a server. Bucky slapped her palm and they did their dumb little handshake, wiggling their fingers together before they collapsed into laughter. She had missed this so much.

"Ooooooo, Bishop, you smell that?" Sam asked the dark haired girl to his right with a wide grin as Bucky and Olivia separated and returned to their respective stations. "Smells like...a reunion??" 

His eyebrows wiggled as Bucky walked by before dodging a slap from the man himself. 

"Dude," she replied, watching Bucky help another chef chop zucchini and squash with a deft hand. "I'm not answering that while he has a knife."

“I wouldn’t,” Olivia piped up with a chuckle as she passed them, hands full of two perfectly plated lemon tartes. She weaved her way through to the pass, calls of ‘behind’ as she rounded other kitchen workers. 

Bucky had left his station to see off a side order Stark had ordered last minute, a small plate of honey-glazed carrots and parsnips. They used to make them every Sunday lunch without fail and Olivia’s mouth watered a little as she caught the honey glistening under the heat lamp when one of the wait staff swiftly took them away. 

“How are we doing?” She asked Bucky, squeezing in close so she could whisper as she deposited the desserts. She followed his eye line to where Stark sat in the centre of the restaurant.

“I can’t tell and I hate this. The waiting, trying to figure out if he likes it or not.” 

“Everybody loves your food, ba- Bucky,” she replied softly, “you’re a genius with it, and don’t you dare deny it or you’ll have both me and Steve kicking your ass.” 

Bucky laughed, finally a full, face splitting grin and he pulled her under his arm like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“I missed you, peach.”

Olivia's breath hitched in her throat, feeling his arm squeeze her into him just a touch but enough to be reminded of the hardness that was disguised under his chef's coat. She glanced up at him, the smile on his face quickly faded with the realization of what he had said and their closeness. 

"I--" she started before his arm dropped, cutting her off. She so badly wanted to tell him that she missed him too. That every day since she had left was filled with tiny reminders of them. Of him. 

Bucky huffed out a breath in frustration that lingered between them now and went back to preparing another dish. It took a moment for her legs to move and shift her back to her station. She glanced up watching him through the line of the other chefs, his shoulders were pinned back and his voice gruff shouting directions and demands. 

"That looked cozy," Sam said just loud enough for her to hear, nudging her with his elbow. 

"For all of five seconds before he realized he hates me again." She muttered, angrily rearranging blueberries and tiny leaves of mint on top of the small tarts. 

Sam chuckled, "Livvy, what he feels for you is far from hate."

Olivia shook her head and set the tarts aside before pulling a chocolate and raspberry cheesecake forwards. Peter had baked them the day before and she had to admit they looked fantastic.

She sliced the dessert into equal portions, her expert eye needing no measurements, and plated them up, adding fresh raspberries and raspberry coulis to the top. They’d be finished at the pass with whipped cream and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

“You remade these from those miniature cheesecakes we had in Paris,” Bucky’s voice rumbled close to her ear. “I let Pete use the recipe.”

“You kept my recipes?” She asked, emotion gathering at the base of her throat.

“Of course, I did, Liv. They’re the best. Your name is still on the menu in the dessert section.” He turned to her and drew in a breath, and she could see his pulse thrumming in his throat. “You helped make this place what it is, it would be wrong of me to try to erase you from it completely.”

She smiled.

“Bucky, you didn’t have to—“

“Yes, I did. You helped build this place, Liv.” He shook his head as they continued to plate the desserts, working expertly. “I’m sorry I said that shit to you. I was angry and obsessed with the restaurant. I didn’t realize that I was losing you until you were walking out the door.”

There were tears in his eyes and Olivia put her hand between his shoulder blades, taking a deep breath. Bucky breathed with her.

“Why don’t we talk after service?” She asked.

He nodded.

“I’ve got a bottle of champagne in my office.”

“Well, you’d better put it on ice, because Tony Stark is smiling and devouring that entree.”

He turned to her, eyes misty as his large arm wrapped around her shoulders and he pressed a kiss against her temple. Her stomach flipped.

“You did this.”

She shook her head and gazed up at him.

“We did this.”

Nodding with a soft laugh, Bucky sniffed and shook his head. 

"Fuck," he murmured, almost in disbelief before pulling away and speaking with more volume to the kitchen, Olivia's hand still resting on his back. "Alright look, that asshole out there is lovin' it and we got one more course." 

He trotted off back into the fray, Olivia's face breaking out into a broad grin at the added spring in his step. Checking the plates for another table, he glanced at two of the servers before pointing at them. 

"And if either of you fuck up my girl's plate-" 

The servers nodded immediately in response, muttering "Yes, chef" under their breaths like they were part of the crew and not on the restaurant floor. With a snort, Olivia turned back in time to see Sam pass Steve a folded-up $100, a grin on the tall blonde's face.

“Did you plan this, Rogers?” Olivia asked with a tilt of her head, her lips betraying the tone of her voice as they curved into a smile. 

She expected Steve to deny it, but instead, he shrugged, his eyes soft as he glanced over Olivia’s shoulder to where Bucky was hovering over a dish. 

“I know you two,” he replied simply, “I’ve seen you fight and make up more times than I can count, and I saw a little piece of each of you turn to the shadows the moment you walked out that door. You just needed time, Livvy. Him more than you,” he added and Olivia suddenly felt Bucky behind her again, his large palm landing on her shoulder, warm and grounding like it always used to be. 

“You’re such a punk, Stevie,” he chuckled, kissing the top of Olivia’s head, “and stop distracting my pastry chef, I need her, uh, to… check the quality of some berries in the cooler.” 

“Smooth, chef!” Olivia heard Sam laugh as Bucky’s hand fell to the small of her back and he guided her away.

Olivia let him guide her. She opened the door stepping inside the cooler, his hand practically burning through her chef's jacket as the door clicked shut behind them. "There are no berries here, are there?" She chuckled, turning to him. 

The deep shade of blue in his eyes had brightened a little, the corners of his mouth turned up as he shook his head. "Do you remember opening night?" His voice had dropped low and raspy in a way that sent goosebumps up her spine and judging by the way his grin grew, he knew exactly how it affected her. 

"You mean when we got locked in here for ten minutes and Steve was convinced we did it on purpose?" She laughed, pushing away the nerves crawling up her neck. 

Bucky tilted his head back and chuckled, those small tendrils of hair falling and framing his face. "To be fair, finding us lip locked wasn't a convincing scene." 

Her bottom lip moved between her teeth as he took a step toward her, "I hate when you call it that." She rasped, the air in the room dissipating with each tiny movement he made toward her. She hadn't realized she was also moving until her back hit the cold metal shelving and his arms framed her in. 

"I should have never let you walk out that door," he almost groaned, his eyes raking over her face and landing on her lips. Bucky lifted his thumb, running it along her chin before tugging her lip from between her teeth, "when you walked through that door tonight," his voice trailed off. Her heart hammered in her chest as the warmth of his breath fanned across her face, "I really, really, need to kiss you." 

Her breath hitched again as her eyes flicked up to his own and she hadn't realized truly how much she had missed him until now, "so kiss me, Barnes." She breathed, anxiety ripping through her until a low growl left him and his lips crashed into hers, melting away every doubt she had about coming back tonight.

Olivia couldn’t stop the moan that spilled from her lips but he drank it down like the restaurant’s finest Barolo. 

Her hand slipped around the back of his neck, tangling with the short hairs that had escaped his hair tie, and pulled him even closer, until there wasn’t even space for baking parchment between them.

She kissed him back feverishly and the two of them stumbled until he had her pressed up against the shelf. Something clattered to the floor and she broke the kiss, laughing as he let out a pathetic whine and unbuttoned the top half of her chef’s jacket to get at her collarbones.

“Bucky, something fell.”

“Sweetheart, this whole restaurant could collapse on us and the only thing I’d care about is kissing you."

"You lie," she giggled. He cupped her face and kissed her again. She surrendered to him completely, feeling one hand reach down to squeeze her ass. “We still have to finish service.”

Bucky let out another pained whine. She missed every single second of this, and she was embarrassed to admit that whenever she let her mind wander, this was the thing she went back to. They had incredible chemistry. It was lust at first sight, and love not long after that. He was her partner, and Olivia didn’t realize how lonely she was until she saw him tonight. 

“I only need five minutes." 

She cackled as he sucked on her neck.

“Well, I need a lot more than that, baby.” 

This time, it wasn't a slip-up. He peppered her face with kisses and she couldn’t stop giggling, mussing up his hair despite the sweat and grease that lived in it. She liked it. It meant he was working hard.

“Baby?" He purred. "Are we finally getting somewhere?"

“Obviously," she rasped. "But we still need to talk."

“You’re right,” he breathed. “We should stop.”

“Agreed.”

But neither of them could. The second his mouth found hers again, she whimpered and hooked her leg around him.

It was the only sign he needed to ground his hips into her, pressing her between the shelf and his body until she could only think about him. The growing bulge in his pants turning Olivia's mind into mush as her hips moved like a wave over his, out of her control with his hand on her ass helping guide her.

She recalled every time they did this in the past. Stealing whatever time they could between working in the kitchen, stoking the flame until they could finally put it out at the end of the day and release all the tension. But she wanted to talk to him before they fell back into that rhythm again. 

They needed to survive this service first. 

Pulling back from his lips with a gasp, their eyes met and she was struck by how pretty his looked blazing down on her like that. For her. 

"We really should get back out there," she whispered against his lips, voice thick with desire. Peering up at his beautifully flushed face as he took a deep breath, Olivia felt his hand run down her leg in a gentle caress before lowering it to the ground and steadying her on her feet. 

"We should." He nodded. 

"We'll talk?" It came out as a question. Uncertainty swirled in her mind until he lifted her chin up to look into her eyes.

"We'll talk." He affirmed. His tone leaving no doubt.

"Sounds good," she murmured back with a soft smile, Bucky leaning down to press his forehead to hers. 

Olivia let a few moments pass, breathing in time with his as Bucky's fingers trailed the edge of her ribs with a featherlight touch. Without a word, she stepped around him and forced the door open. 

Bucky ran into her back with a small "oof" followed by a muttered "shit" when Olivia stopped about ten feet from the sarcastic expression of the man who they had been busting their ass to impress.

Olivia tried to subtly slide to the side as Tony Stark’s gaze flitted between them, an eyebrow raised before his mouth quirked in a way that could only be interpreted as a moment of understanding. 

Her efforts were in vain though, as Bucky’s hands anchored her to the spot in front of him. 

“Mr. Stark, I… uh— hi, I would have come to your table, sir.”

Bucky was rambling and Olivia could feel his fingers tapping on her shoulders as he tried to keep his cool. 

“Oh, I like to see backstage,” Tony replied like it was nothing. “The food is only half the story, Chef Barnes. It’s good to see where the magic happens.” 

Bucky’s breath hitched as Stark winked at them, eyes sparkling with amusement. 

“What, uh— how was your meal?” Bucky inquired. 

“Delicious… but I gotta say, that lemon tarte? Best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth. And I’ve put a lot in my mouth.” 

Olivia couldn’t hide the giggle that burst from her, earning her a playful jab in the side from Bucky. 

“Is this your sweet dealer?” Tony asked, his gaze falling on her expectantly.

Olivia's eyes widened for a moment until Bucky's throat cleared above her, "This is Olivia Anderson the best Pastry Chef on this side of the Atlantic." He hummed, pride dripping from his voice. Tony's eyes flickered between the two of them before landing directly on her again. 

"Is that right?" His hands folded in front of him, pausing for a moment, "Well if it's not too much trouble I'd like to take a few of those tartes home." A sly grin spread across his cheeks, "inspiration for the article." His eyes finally peeled from her to pick off an imaginary piece of lint from his suit. Both of them frozen with whatever was coming next from the man in front of them. 

"Chef Barnes, I must say, aside from the appetizer hiccup, You've outdone yourself tonight." 

Bucky's body tensed behind her. "Th-Thank you, Mr. Stark, coming from you-" 

Tony waved his hand dismissively, "I don't need compliments, Barnes, you've already got yourself a shining review. Keep up the good work." 

Olivia finally glanced up to Bucky seeing the glossiness return to his eyes as his throat worked to swallow whatever lump was stuck there. "I'll have those Tartes waiting for you with Steve, sir."

“Perfect!” Tony called as he headed for the entrance. “I look forward to coming back!”

The entire kitchen stopped and before Olivia could wrap her arms around Bucky, Sam was hurdling toward him at breakneck speed, crashing into him and nearly knocking Bucky back into the cooler. The door slammed open and Bucky gripped the doorframe, trying to keep himself upright. 

“Wilson!” He roared. “Get off!”

“Shut up, you idiot! Let me love you!”

Olivia cackled and Steve packed up the tartes, handing them off to a server to give to Tony’s table. Soon, the entire kitchen was in the cooler, wrapping Bucky in a giant hug. Sam made room for Olivia, who was pressed right up against Bucky’s chest, hugging him tightly.

“Okay, okay,” he laughed. “That’s enough. We’ve gotta debrief. Clean up your stations and let’s shut this place down.”

“I’ll go and get the good beer out of the fridge,” Steve replied.

“You guys keep beer here?” Sam asked. “How come no one ever told me?”

“Because you’d be cracking a cold one and singing Sexual Healing,” Steve chuckled as everyone let go, giving Bucky and Olivia pats on the back.

“What’s wrong with that?!” Sam barked, stomping after him.

Soon, it was just Olivia and Bucky shutting the cooler door. He smiled at her, he looked like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. 

“Let’s open that champagne,” she whispered.

“On one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You come back here,” Bucky whispered. “Full time.”

“But Peter—"

“Peter will stay, we’ll make space for you. I could use an extra set of hands and we made a hell of a meal tonight.”

In all honesty, she wanted to say yes the second the words left his mouth but nerves kept her from doing so. She knew she was a great pastry chef. Had no doubt in her own abilities whatsoever.  It's the fact that she and Bucky would be working together again and possibly butting heads again. Even if tonight's service was great, it wasn't without a few hiccups. 

It was scary and exciting at the same time. Her heart was already beating a mile a minute at the possibilities.

"I–" 

"I need you here. In this kitchen. With me." He interrupted. Blue eyes pleading with her to agree.

She gulped audibly, scared to voice her thoughts.

"Please baby, say yes?" His hands had slowly come up to her face, his thumbs running back and forth on her cheek soothingly. Temptingly.

"What about outside of the kitchen?" 

Bucky glanced down at her in confusion for a split second, causing Olivia to continue. 

"I mean," she whispered, nerves creeping in at his response. "What about...when we aren't here? Do you still need me?" 

"If I ever don't, it's probably because I'm dead," Bucky laughed before giving her a soft smile.  "And even then, I'll still be a little lost without you to guide me." 

Lifting up onto her tiptoes, Olivia pressed her lips to his, the sweet taste of him and this night on his lips.   She squealed as Bucky deepened the kiss with a grin, swiping his tongue along her lip and making her knees weak. 

"EW."

"GET A ROOM, Y'ALL ARE GROSS." 

Olivia met the smirk on Sam's face with an eye roll as he followed Steve out, both of them chatting animatedly. She felt bad for the bartender who was gonna have to deal with those two tonight. 

Bucky's hands caught her waist and he looked at the door, then back to her. His eyes were softer now, a polar opposite of the man she first walked in on. 

"Lemme go lock those two jerks outside and I'll meet you in the office, 'kay?"

She nodded as Bucky scurried off, opening the swinging kitchen doors to a wolf whistle and some name calling that Olivia prayed none of the younger staff heard.

She took a deep breath, letting her nerves settle as she moved through the kitchen and toward his office. Aware of the fact that the last time she was here the room was a thousand times more tense than now. Olivia pushed open the door feeling like she had stepped through a time machine. Papers were still scattered over the small wooden desk, empty water bottles filled his trash can tucked in the corner and the bulletin board screwed into the wall was covered with images of food and scribbled down recipes. 

A small smile spread across her lips as she settled into his chair, spinning around slowly to take in the room that was Bucky Barnes when he wasn't behind a stove. Cluttered and chaotic but never the less organized. Her tornado of a man all wrapped up in four walls. Her feet stopped her as soon as she spotted a picture frame tucked into one corner of his desk. The photo they took of themselves under the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower. Her gaze was glued to the camera and a huge smile plastered over her face from eating their way through Paris but when her eyes flickered over to Bucky in the photo, his eyes were focused on her. 

Tears sprung up again in the corners of her eyes. She had missed him. Missed the laughs and even the stupid fights they had. But it was Them. 

"I snagged the last two clean flutes-" Bucky pushed open the door with his shoulder, two champagne flutes in one hand and a bottle in his other, "what's wrong?" He asked, his brows furrowed as she quickly turned to him.

“You kept the pictures too,” she whispered, swallowing tears. He never forgot her, even though she tried so hard to forget him. 

“What pictures?” Bucky asked. “Liv, darling—“

“Of us in Paris… of you, me, and Steve at the opening of… Goddammit, I said I wouldn’t cry today!”

She sniffled and Bucky laughed, setting the two flutes down on the desk as he wrapped her in a hug. She was crushed against his chest, smelling a concoction of sweat, herbs, and sweetness with his cologne lingering just beneath the surface. Every part of her ached for him and she buried her face in his chest. 

“Of course I kept them,” he breathed. She could tell he was fighting back sobs from the way his body twitched and the tremor in his voice. “I never stopped loving you, and I never stopped wanting forever with you.”

"I just got in my head thinking.." he mumbled against her hair, arms tightening even more around her. 

Her arms slowly lifted to wrap around his torso, her small fingers running up and down his spine to soothe him. His heart was beating wildly against her ear and his whole body was shaking as he tried to hold back tears.

".. I got scared, Livvy." 

He pulled back, looking at her with tear stains on his flushed cheeks. His eyes were mesmerizing even when they were sad.

"Why were you so scared?" Olivia murmured her question softly. No judgement in her voice and wanting him to know that she just wanted to understand.

He huffed out a nervous breath, a hand coming to brush back the hairs falling on his face. 

"The pressure got to me," he started shakily. "I was scared maybe you'd realize that there were better opportunities for you than being stuck in this place... Stuck with me."

“So I pushed you away.”

His eyes had left her face. Refusing to meet her eyes as he confessed the last part.

Olivia brought her hand up to his cheek, running a thumb over the slight dimple of his chin. Shocks of pain coursed through her chest at the sight of his beautiful blue eyes welling up. He was too much to give up again. 

"And I shouldn't have let you," she replied, tears causing his handsome features to blur. "It was easier not to fight it. I knew you were in there, that what you said and did wasn't forever. I'm ready for all of it now." 

With a gentle motion, his forehead bumped hers, their gazes still locked.  Olivia ran her hand down his jaw and felt the tip of his nose brush hers. Her fingernails skated down his neck as he moved, pushing her back against the desk. 

"Bucky?"

"Hm?”

"You are not fucking me with my apron on." 

He smirked wickedly, pulling away only to untie the apron string around her neck, then at her back. Her body pressed up against the hard planes of his chest as he did it and she bit her lip in anticipation.

In theory, she should have been bitter. He was the reason she spent two years bouncing from kitchen to kitchen, never able to fit in the way she fit in at White Wolf. 

But she wasn’t angry, she just wanted him. 

Olivia wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and kissed him with everything she had, two years of missing him, of checking his Instagram and making sure that the restaurant was surviving. She still loved him, no matter how many times she looked at herself in the mirror and professed that she didn’t. There was no escaping him, she was tied to him forever in this place, and right now there, was nowhere else she wanted to be. 

Bucky tore his lips away from hers, leaving both of them gasping for air. He lifted her up and set her down on the desk. 

“You wanna toast to us now or after I make you come?” He asked as he let her apron drop to the floor and took off his chef’s jacket. “I’ve got a lot of apologizing to do, darlin’.” 

She licked her lips, fire roaring through her veins.

“Mmm. Better put that mouth to good use, Barnes.”

He threw his jacket across the office, letting it land on a pile of papers. 

“Yes, chef,” he purred before his mouth engulfed hers once more in a slow and sensual kiss.

There was no urgency. They had time, and Bucky kept his movements slow, caressing her thighs as he pushed them apart to make room for his massive frame. She just wanted to feel him and all of that softness that she'd dreamed about for two years.

His tongue entangled with hers, teasing her with what it could do to her. What it had done to her many times before. His kisses were always an addiction. A habit she couldn't kick easily because even now, kissing him, she found herself still craving. 

His hands were roaming every inch of her body, setting her on fire and making her blood sing as he leaned over her until her back hit the desk. Arching her into him further with a hand pressing on the low of her back. 

Olivia almost cried when the need for breathing hit them both and his lips left her own to trail soft, wet kisses on her jaw and down her throat, pulling moan after moan out of her. 

"I've missed you so much, Liv," he rasped. Harsh breathes against her ear as he ground into her making her close her eyes at the overwhelming sensation of him all around her.

"Bucky," Olivia breathed, head falling back as he gently pulled up her shirt from where it was tucked in, undoing each button with torturously slow speed. "C'mon, I need you." 

She felt his smile against each part of her chest that he exposed and knew he could feel the hammering of her heart. Blown out blue eyes on her own hooded ones, Bucky pushed it from her shoulders. His fingers trailed against her stomach as he pressed soft kisses to every freckle and mark he could find. Removing her pants so slowly, Olivia thought she was going to combust. By the time he knelt between her legs, she was a melted, writhing mess on his fucking desk. 

"Sweetheart," he murmured, accent thick with home and lust, "I have waited 24 months...over six hundred fuckin' days...waiting for you." 

His nose trailed the inside of her thigh and as if on muscle memory, Olivia's legs fell apart and she moaned from deep in her chest.

Large hands wrapped around her exposed thighs, tugging her to the edge of the desk as her fingers fumbled to find anything to grasp a hold of. A gasp left her when his lips pressed just above her clit, blowing cool air over her already swollen bud. “Jesus,” she moaned. 

Bucky chuckled, the sound reverberated through her, lighting tiny fires across her heated skin. 

“More, please,” she choked out just as the tip of his tongue dipped into her. A groan left him and she lifted her head just in time to see his eyes roll back and close before pulling back again. 

“Still as sweet as I remember.” He rasped before diving back into her core, tasting her, savoring every last bit of exposed skin he could reach while his finger dug into the soft flesh of her thighs. 

Olivia arched her back, the rubber band in her chest tightening with the realization that it had been way too goddamn long since she had Bucky between her legs and again breathed out the word “more” before falling back against his desk and sending his own cup to the floor with a clatter.

He devoured her like an animal, his stubble burning the insides of her thighs and making her squirm as he alternated between fucking her and teasing her with his tongue. Soft moans escaped her lips and she thanked God the door was locked. Her hands pushed more papers off of the desks, and more recipe books tumbled to the floor, but she didn’t care. She burned for him. 

His tongue lashed against her swollen clit and he slowly pushed two thick fingers inside of her, making her nearly tumble over the edge. Bucky stopped and looked up at her, a big smile spread across those perfectly plump lips.

“Already?” He teased. “I’ve just started with you, darlin’.” 

“You wanna carry me out of this restaurant when you’re done with me?” She laughed, reaching down to push some dark strands of hair away from his face. 

“Yeah, and back to my apartment."

"Oh?"

He grinned and she saw the storm clear in his eyes. 

"You’re not getting any sleep tonight. I've got two years to make up for and I don't want to waste another second doing anything other than making you scream my name.” 

He crooked his fingers and she cried out, clamping her hand over her mouth as Bucky began to thrust them slowly, his mouth wrapping around her clit. A low chuckle tumbled from his mouth, making her whole body vibrate and tingle. Her eyes fluttered and rolled back while she rocked her hips against his mouth, her climax nearly reaching its peak.

It was maddening how skillful he was at eating her out, stopping right on the edge of her climax every time her moans started to get higher in pitch. She could feel the smirk against her wet folds every time Bucky slowed down to nip and suck on the apex of her thighs. Teasing her as his thick fingers thrust slowly in and out of her and curled to brush perfectly against that spot that only he could reach.

"Please!" She whined as she felt her walls clenching around his fingers, tugging harshly on his hair. 

Thankfully, he only sped up, granting her the release her body craved. His satisfied groan vibrated against her sensitive clit as her taste started to flood his mouth. 

"Oh god fuck!" She screamed. His tongue followed her mercilessly as her hips writhed on his desk, the waves washing over her and threatening to take her under. 

As he, oh-so-slowly pulled back from her with a resounding smack when he released her clit, her eyes met his ocean ones when he got up to hover over her. 

As they both caught their breath, breathing each other in, she decided that she wanted to drown in James "Bucky" Barnes. To dive head first into his waters.

"Christ," he growled, tongue darting out over his swollen lips as they practically breathed the same breath, he was so close. "I love that sound." 

Olivia gave a dazed smile as he kissed her, the taste of her on his lips and restarting the fire in her belly. Her hand drifted down to Bucky's belt as she caught his tongue, sucking softly while unzipping his pants. His hips snapped closer to her hand, the head of his cock already weeping before Olivia could even start. With her other hand, she had pushed his pants down just below his ass before Bucky gripped her hips and tilted her throbbing cunt towards him. 

"Bucky, please," Olivia whined and his smile only made her more frustrated. This was some kind of punishment for two years of separation and a night of desperate tension. "Fuck me."

He reached down, dragging the tip of his cock through the wetness between her legs and making her head fall back once more. With a high-pitched moan, her hips chased the sensation and his hands came to her belly, holding her still as he teased her further by barely entering where she wanted him most. 

"Just remind me not to break the desk like last time," Bucky drawled. 

Olivia's almost maniacal giggle turned into a breathless groan as Bucky swiftly buried himself deep inside her.

“Well, now I want you to break it.”

He laughed and discarded his shirt, tossing it aside to reveal a torso decorated with tattoos. She saw the one he got for her. Olivia. Right above his heart. When they broke up, he told her he was going to get it covered up. Bucky was right, she was embedded into every part of him. 

He pushed a little deeper as his mouth eclipsed hers.

“Don’t go talking like that. New desk isn’t in the budget.”

“And I am?”

He bottomed out and they both groaned. Bucky held her tightly as her eyes rolled back, his hips setting a slow and languid rhythm. He wanted to draw this out, and she wanted to let him.

“Spending everything to get you back, Liv.” He paused. “Was there anyone else? After me?”

“No,” she breathed honestly. 

She’d tried a few Tinder dates, but nothing worked. They weren’t him. They weren’t this, his strong arms holding her while he drove himself deeper and deeper, hitting that spot that made her moan his name. Bucky fit her like a puzzle piece in every conceivable way. 

“Good,” he growled. “You’re mine.”

"Yes. Yours– aah" Her words were swallowed by a loud whimper as Bucky pulled back slowly and slammed back in at her words. 

His cock was filling her just right. She'd missed the feeling of him inside her like this, thick and pulsing while caging her in with his big, tattoed arms and stealing her soul. 

The desk was creaking under both their weights. The sound of it joining their moans and the filthy sound of their bodies slamming together. Her legs dragged up his thighs and wrapped around his back, one foot digging into his ass while Olivia's fingers scratched his back as she felt the delicious drag of his cock along her slick walls.

"Feels so good," she whined. "Please don't stop." 

The deep moan that he let out as his lips sucked marks all over her neck had her shivering in response. 

"Never. Never gonna stop," he swore against her skin. The sting of his bite on top of her breast increased the pleasure coursing through her body and her sweat-slicked body arched like a bow, clinging desperately to his own as he continued to drive himself into her swollen cunt.

Every snap of Bucky's hips neared her closer and closer to the end, causing her own hips to rock against him as she chased the feeling they both missed so much. 

"Shit, Bucky, I'm-," Olivia whimpered, nails digging in and gripping the thin fabric of his shirt. "I'm so fucking close." 

"Me too, baby, fuck you feel good." 

He grasped her ass in his palms, gripping her soft skin and spreading her wider for him. With a groan, Bucky rolled his hips deeper, and faster until the desk creaked across the floor. Olivia could only hold on, the breath knocked out of her with each thrust. 

"Come with me, Olivia," Bucky growled in her ear, nipping at her skin. "Gimme what's mine. I'll fill you up so fuckin' good, come on-" 

With a bone rattling moan, Olivia felt as if her entire body lit up, stars dancing behind her heavy eyes as Bucky throbbed deep inside her. Her muscles went taut, the orgasm lasting for what felt like a lifetime as she simply held on. His thrusts grew sloppy and small whimpers left Bucky's mouth as it captured hers, rocking them both until they were too sensitive and spent to keep going.

He nuzzled against her neck and let out another whine as he shivered, still filling her to the brim as his muscles rippled and pleasure washed over him. She stroked his back, her fingers running up and down his spine the way she used to when he would pin her to the bed and fuck her like he owned her. 

“I love you,” he rasped.

It had been far too long since she'd heard those words.

“I love you too, Buck.”

His mouth was clumsy and stumbling as he peppered messy kisses up her neck and along her jaw. 

“Take me back.” Laughter filled the space between them but Bucky lifted his head, those eyes forever needing reassurance. “I’m so sorry.”

She pressed a finger to his lips, shaking her head.

“No more sorries, okay? I’ll come back to work. I want to.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped her in another bear hug. 

“I have something for you.” He kissed her temple. “Bought it a month before you left. I was gonna have Pete or Steve drop it off at your place, but I didn’t have the guts. It’s been sitting in my desk drawer.”

“Bucky, I am not marrying you—“

“No!” He laughed, pulling back. “Are you insane?!”

“No, but you are.”

He opened his mouth to protest but instead nodded.

“Fair. Hang on.”

Bucky pulled out of her, leaving her hollowed out. She watched him, shirtless, his pants shoved down his hips as he rifled through his desk drawer, tossing things behind him while he swore.

“Where the fuck— Oh!” He pulled out a long rectangular box. “Found it.”

Bucky placed it in her hands and she stared at him. He grinned, popping the champagne and pouring it into the champagne flutes.

“I didn’t get you the box, Liv. You gotta open it.”

She sighed and flicked it open with her thumbs, gasping when she saw a beautiful emerald pendant surrounded by tiny diamonds on a silver chain.

“Bucky…”

“It’s your birthstone, right?” He asked. "Please tell me I didn't fuck that up."

"You didn't."

He grabbed the box, putting the necklace on for her as he kissed her cheek. Olivia wrapped her arms around him, never wanting to let him go.

“Welcome home, darling.”