#sorry this is supremely cheesy and mushy

[mooshymello]

nothing at all

･:･.☽˚｡･✧:･

*Warning for spice and dangerous amounts of domestic g/t fluff ;)*

Word count: 3.5k

It wasn’t fair. The universe must have been feeling especially cruel when it decided to drop Ezran into Tova’s life, because there was no way anyone should have this much power over her. 

And yet here she was, absolutely bowled over by something stupid as him handing her a pen.

Well, she’d give herself credit, it was a little more than the pen. 

It was late. Tova was sitting on the tiny table that folded out from the giant table Ezran sat on, looking over a mess of paperwork for different properties. Nothing could go unaccounted for. After all, this was it, the dream she’d clutched to her chest like a life preserver, the life she’d fought tooth and nail for. This was her flower shop. 

It had to be perfect. Tova wanted it too long for it not to be.

Truthfully, the flower shop was only half of the business. The other half was the magic plants shop. She bought a mirrorstone, an enchanted stone that would create a duplicate of the building she could place in any magic city. Many magic markets had empty lots between buildings, as if someone had cut a slice from the block, ready to be refilled with a new business. All Tova had to do was pay rent for the lot and place the mirrorstone in a doorway of the flower shop, creating a  portal to its magic twin. She had a few lots in Ogendale in mind. 

Everything was going smoothly except for one tiny, itty bitty thing: deciphering property laws was actually fucking impossible. 

So much fine print and conditions…If this were a magic building, she could challenge the owner to a duel and win it, but according to Ezran’s dad, dueling wasn’t “a legal way” to acquire property. 

“How’s it going?” Ezran asked.

“Meh?” She shoved a clump of documents toward him. “We can afford the one by the bowling alley, but who goes by the bowling alley for flowers?” She held up another equally disastrous cluster of pages. “The one on main street would be a great spot, it already has a cooler and everything, but it's pricey. I mean, I could ask my parents for a loan, but-”

“Nope.”

Tova barked out a laugh. “Woah, I didn’t know you liked them so much.”

“I’m sorry, I just don’t like the idea of them controlling any part of your dream. They spent your whole life crushing it.”

“I know. I agree.”

“And I know they changed or whatever, but they’re still so judgy. I can’t ask them for directions without them staring into my soul. Like I’m a bug or something. You know, like-” He squinted and pursed his lips at her.

“I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about, dear. It’s not like I spent my entire childhood being terrified of The Look”, Tova said, dropping her expression  into a perfect replica of said Look (It was more of an unimpressed glare down the nose than a squint, with the upper lip curled up a little to the left). 

Ezran shivered.  “How do you do that?” 

“TaChauer family magic, baby. Don’t give me a reason to use it on you.” She wiggled her fingers at him, cackling evilly. 

He rolled his eyes, smiling slightly. 

“But okay, no parents. They’re my last last resort, after giving a fae my firstborn. Hm. I wonder if Jamie was serious about that offer..”

“Jamie wants nothing to do with kids, you’d have to pay him to take it. And you are not trading our firstborn.”

“Boo, you’re boring.”

“And you’re crazy.”

Ezran sighed and leaned across the big table, closing 20  feet of distance between them in seconds, to peck her on the forehead. No matter how long they’d been together, her mind always went blank the second he kissed her. Her thoughts just sort of melted when the all-encompassing  warmth of his lips.

He picked up her coffee cup on the way to the kitchen. She marveled at how tiny it was between his fingers. He stood, her heart skipping as he loomed dozens of feet above her, impossibly big and never terrifying, his footfalls shaking through her as he disappeared around the corner. Funny as it was, she forgot he was a giant sometimes, until his tiniest movements gave her that particular thrill. 

The faucet hissed to life. Tova would never understand why he didn’t just use magic to do the dishes. Old habits from his normal life, she supposed. At the sound, her familiar Lil Dacey emerged from under the table, trotting after Ezran into the kitchen. She’d grown to the size of a small dragon, probably because Ez wouldn’t stop feeding her. 

As if to prove Tova’s point, she shoved her snout into the back of his knee, almost knocking him over, and gave him puppy eyes, whimpering pathetically. Ezran reached for the jar of treats on the counter, stopping to meet Tova’s eyes and pout.

“Look at her. She’s starving, Tova.”

Tova eyed the familiar’s pudgy belly and arched a brow. But now both of them were giving her puppy eyes. So Tova huffed and shook her head, but turned the other way as Dacey gobbled up the treat from his fingers. Spoiled little thing. 

She turned back to the table, where the paperwork waited. She chewed on her cheek, tapping her wand on the side of the table while she read. Paper stars started popping from her wand, a tick she’d never been able to shake since graduating, until eventually, the paper stars blanketed the paperwork, making it impossible to see anything. 

Tova groaned, hiding her face in her hands and sliding down onto the table. She could hear her brain grinding in her skull.

“I can’t even read this. I feel like a stupid,” Tova groaned. 

“Maybe you feel like a stupid because it's 3 AM and your brain is mush. You can’t figure stuff out with mush brains.”

Tova puckered her lips, hiding her face behind a papers. 

“Tovanni.”

“Ezran.” She sat up, wagging her pen at him accusingly. “Actually, don’t you have an early shift at the facility tomorrow? You shouldn’t be up either,”

“Yeah, but I have this girlfriend who’s, like, insanely stubborn. And I’d feel like a jerk if I let her stay up alone.” 

Her playfulness deflated into guilt. Sacrificing her sleep wasn’t supposed to come at the cost of his. Working at the creature care facility, as much as he loved it,  tired him out. He really didn’t need to start the day tired. 

Tova made grabby hands at him. Ezran sighed. He turned the sink off and dragged a chair from the other side of the big table, bringing it behind her. He folded his arms around her and gave her a sleepy smile when she kissed his cheek.

“Ten more minutes,” she promised. 

“Mmhm.” He laid his head down. “Ten more minutes. And if you don’t come with me after that, I’ll just have to kidnap you.”

Tova chuckled and leaned back on his cheek while she worked. Ezran would chime in every so often, small tips from watching his dad run the facility, but he didn’t understand the business side too well either. It made her feel better that she wasn’t the only confused one.

Then it happened. 

Tova let herself nod off for a second, lulled by the steady rhythm of his fingers stroking her hair, and her grip loosened on her pen. It landed with a clatter that made both of them flinch awake. 

She rubbed the crust from her eyes. Tova reached down to grab the pen only to realize it had rolled off both her smaller table and the big table, now dozens of feet below. A retrieval spell would do the trick, but Tova’s brain was so foggy she was afraid she’d mess up the spell and turn the floor into pens. Again. 

“Can you get that please?” 

“But you dropped it,” he yawned. 

“Only because you’re too comfortable and I fell asleep. So technically it’s your fault.”

Ezran shook his head but obliged her. He tried reaching for the pen too, but it had rolled under the table, so he got up. Tova didn’t notice how warm he was until he swept all the heat away. 

She hugged her arms and refocused on the papers. Her extra ten minutes hadn’t done much good. Her brain only managed to blurt out a few gibberish notes on a coffee-stained napkin. Tova brushed the paper stars away and started organizing the documents for tomorrow.

In the middle of sorting, one paper slipped out. She absentmindedly slipped it on top of the pile, doing a double take. This one was a picture.  It was a concept for the flower shop, a very simple square building with vines on the walls, shelves of flowers in front of a glass storefront. Ezran titled it “Tova’s Plants and Things” on the bottom, and Tova had replicated it in the cursive sign hanging above the door. They’d drawn the picture when she first decided to open the shop.

Simple as it was, the drawing was enough to set her imagination alight, like flowers bursting out from between endless black rows of legal text. 

She could see it now. Sandwiched between plain storefronts, a spot of color like a jewel catching rainbows in the sun. Caroline jessamines and blue morning glories climbing the walls, an arch of jasmine at the door-no, white wisteria. 

Ezran would help her set up the trellises, the wood enchanted to prevent the flowers from becoming overgrown, and she’d probably spend the whole day ranting about all her ideas. He wouldn’t tell her to shut up because he never did. He always just nodded and gave her the sweetest look, like she was an angel, like she was the most precious thing in the universe, and sometimes that was enough to make her shut up anyway.

It was the same look he gave her when he returned with her pen, albeit dulled by exhaustion. He didn’t fully stand, staying on his knee and offering it to her. “Are you ready?”

It was such a stupid thing to get worked up about. A pen. 

But it wasn’t the pen. 

It was the fact that she used that pen to draw the concept with him, to draw the climbing vines that were going to be yellow and blue because they reminded her of his favorite scarf. It was the pen that cemented the name “Tova’s Plants and Things” for her shop because he hand-crafted her a sign for their first Christmas together. It was remembering being awake with him at 3AM 100 years ago, whispering about the things they’d do after graduation, when Tova was sure the shop would stay a dream and Ezran was sure he’d come buy her flowers every week, and it was being awake with him again at 3AM, just because he didn’t want her to do it alone.

It was the realization that he’d become so deeply entwined with her life that she could pick any aspect of it and find him there.

So Tova laughed. To herself, because he would never understand how impossible that was to her. This was their flower shop. His, and hers, and theirs. The thought sent warmth surging through her, until she felt like she’d burst into stardust. All she wanted was to wrap him up in that feeling, make him feel as breathless and adored as he made her feel.

Actually, she probably could. Or at least something close to it. 

An idea popped into her head and Tova smirked, plucking the pen from his fingers. She scribbled “hey can I kiss you :)” on the back of the concept drawing. She put it on the big table and slid it toward him with her foot, keeping it far from the edge of the table. 

He squinted at the note(she wrote it extra small so he’d have to get closer)and gave it a bemused smile. “Uh, sure…?”

By then, Tova had already taken the opportunity to take her wand out and run her hand over his. Tova whispered a shrinking spell and tapped her wand on his nose. There was a distortion, the way heat wavers in the air. She felt magic simmer in her blood, seeping through her hand and crackled over Ezran’s skin like static electricity. 

One second, Ezran was peering down at her with wide-eyed confusion, the next, a glittery cloud poofed around them and he was leaning on her human-sized table, swaying unsteadily. Tova slipped her hand into his and waited for him to regain his balance with a giddy smile. 

“What was-” He closed his eyes and swallowed thickly. “What was that?”

“That was you saying I could kiss you.” Tova ran her fingers up his arm and curled them around his face, rolling onto her toes to whisper in his ear. “So I’m kissing you. Is that okay?”

“Okay.” He let out a breathy laugh, melting into her touch. His hands snaked around her waist and he touched his forehead to hers. “Weirdo.”

Tova giggled. She tilted his head down and pressed her lips to his. Her eyes fluttered shut.  His lips were impossibly soft as they captured hers. They tasted sweet and warm, like hot cocoa, because he refused to drink coffee past 3 PM. She was torn between wanting to cherish them or absolutely ruin them.

His hands found their way into her hair, pulling her closer. His touch set fizzling poppers off in her belly, made her blood all sparkly and tingly as it rushed to her face. God, she was addicted to him. The moment he kissed her she couldn’t think straight.

Which was probably why she forgot the shrinking spell left him woozy and made the mistake of leaning into him. He wobbled backwards, futilely trying to regain his balance, but by the time Tova pulled away he was already falling. Seeing as he was tangled in her hair, that meant he took Tova down with him. She broke the kiss off with a yelp, narrowly avoiding smashing their teeth together by ducking her face into his chest as they crashed onto the ground.

Ezran hissed, rubbing the back of his head. “Ow.” 

“Sorry, sorry sorry,” she blurted. 

She recited a quick healing spell and brought her wand to his temples. Their eyes met. Tova was suddenly aware of their position, going red and looking away. So much for being romantic. 

He tried to choke back laughter, followed by Tova giggling into his collarbone, ending with both of them bursting into laughter. They stayed there for a minute, simply enjoying being a mess on the table.

Not one to miss an opportunity, Tova propped herself up on his chest, tracing the scar on his face. “Wow Ez. I can’t believe you’re still falling for me after all these years.”

“You’re gross.”

“You love it.”

He rolled his eyes again, but didn’t disagree. He hugged her close, kissing her forehead and burying his face in her hair. “You’re extra mushy today. What’s up?” 

She turned her face into the crook of his neck. “Nothing. I just missed you.”

“Missed me? I’ve been here the whole time.”

“Exactly, and I haven’t paid any attention to you at all.” 

A devilish smile bloomed across her face. Tova skimmed her hands over his chest and up his arms, linking both his hands in hers. She knew it drove him crazy when they held hands at this size. But she could do one better. In one smooth motion, she shifted her knees to straddle him, positioning herself above him. She hooked her thumb under the scarf on his wrist, taking both his hands and pinning them above his head. 

She trailed a line of slow kisses up the side of his neck. He shivered. Any time he tried to kiss her back, she pushed him back down, teasing her teeth along his delicate skin. She smiled at the little noises he made when she laid gentle kisses on the marks, the way his pulse sped beneath her lips and his hands tightened in hers. Pulling back, she surveyed her work with a satisfied hum. 

Ezran was going to have to actually use his scarf after this. 

“T-Tova?”

She lowered herself so their chests were touching, her hair curtaining his flushed face.  “Don’t you think you deserve a little attention, baby?”

“Um…” His wide eyes flickered to her mouth. He bit his lip and turned his burning face away. “...fuck.” 

Tova puffed a breath through her nose, amused. She ran her thumb along his jawline and made him look at her as she ghosted his lips, tilting her head and parting hers just a bit. Tempting him. With a butterfly’s  touch, she ran her hands down his sides, reveling in the shivers that followed her fingertips, and she snuck the tip of her thumb under his waistband. 

Just to be cruel, she slid her hips down, the heat of him pressing on her inner thigh. The intoxicating heat of his moan bloomed across her lips. 

“Needy, needy, needy~” She laughed, an equally breathless sound. “But stars, I want you so bad.”

She waited. Her heart was thudding in her chest. Her stomach was somersaulting. The only sound between them was heavy, expectant breathing. Right when he started to shift impatiently, inching closer, she reeled back, planting a chaste kiss on his nose. 

“Okay,” she said. 

“Okay?”

Tova let go of his hands and lifted herself up on her knees so she wasn’t touching him. Almost immediately, the air wavered, and glittery clouds burst around them. When she opened her eyes she was kneeling on his stomach, and he was his normal size, splayed on his back across the big table.

He stared at the ceiling, taking a moment to readjust to his new perspective. Once he did, he peered down at her, bewilderment swirling in his eyes. 

“...what?” 

“I said I wanted to kiss you. You have been kissed.” She flopped onto her side and folded her hands under her head. “Bedtime!”

Ezran looked at her like he was waiting for the punchline. She refused to look at him. Tova was fighting to hold back laughter. 

“You asshat,” he said when he realized she wasn’t taking it back. 

The walls of his hands rushed into her peripherals. He scooped her off his stomach, scooting off the table. He turned off the lights and marched towards the bedroom, keeping her close to his chest. She could hear his heart thundering against her back. 

“This is a really aggressive way to go to bed. I thought we were supposed to sleep now,” she said, feigning innocence. 

“We were before you jumped me like that.” 

Ezran gently put her down on the pillow. He set his arms on either side of her, brushing her hair from her face and running his thumb along her jaw. The intensity of his eyes made her stomach flip. 

“You’re crazy if you think I’m letting you get away with that, Tovanni.” 

“Maybe I’m-”

He immediately cut her off with a kiss. She sucked in a breath, her back arching in surprise. He slid a finger behind her, pressing her closer to his lips. She hummed, feeling her whole body turn to mush in his hands. Her hands made a beeline for his face. 

And then he stopped. He pulled his hand away and folded his arms in front of her, watching her pant.

“What was-”

He kissed her again, this time pressing her into the pillow. She was literally breathless. He had her lightheaded, seeing stars. The second Tova reached to hold his face, he cut it off. 

Tova gave him a questioning look. “What are you do-”

Another kiss, his hands cupped behind her and entwined in her hair. She moaned and tried leaning into it only for him to pull his hand back, dropping her back onto the pillow. 

Tova narrowed her eyes at him. She knew what he was doing. Either she stopped being sassy and got no kisses, or kept being sassy and got half a kiss, which was worse because as much as Tova liked teasing, she hated getting teased. This was payback.

The worst thing was that it was working. Tova tried holding out, too. She tried not to think about how perfect his lips were, and how they were right there. Instead, she crossed her arms and stared at him. Right in the eye. Right in his big, beautiful bitter coffee eyes, all softened with affection for her, even though she was a mess, and bright with smug amusement because she could see herself cracking in their reflection. Those eyes.

He leaned forward, his curls tumbling onto her shoulders, lips brushing her reddened face. “Tovaaa~”

No. She refused. Because there was no way she was that fucking clingy. 

Except she absolutely was and he knew it and it absolutely was not fair.  

“Ez,” she finally whined, exasperated. 

He grinned, cupping her in his hands. He peppered her face with kisses, like he was trying to connect a constellation on her freckles, until Tova was breathless and flushed, and both of them were laughing their asses off.

The exhaustion hit them not too long after and they settled down. Tova slid off the pillow, crawling over to his hands. They curled around her, bringing her to his chest.

“Tova?”

Tova hummed, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt.

He curled up, bundling her closer. His voice was thick with sleep, rolling through her like an ocean wave. “I love you.”

Tova doubted he could see the way she looked at him in the dark. Ezran was the first person to ever say he loved her. She’d never told him that. She thought about it every time he said it. It was more pathetic than it sounded, she'd had people who cared, but none who were so open about it. She never doubted it with him.

Maybe that was the part that made her tear up.

She wiped her eyes, smiling into his shirt. “I love you too, dork.”

[letsperaltiago]

Headcanon prompt: Jake and Amy’s trip to Coney Island like 2 months into their relationship

Jake and Amy’s trip to Coney Island like 2 months into their relationship

(Disclaimer: I’ve been to Coney Island like once before and can’t remember much so I’m making a lot of this stuff up, probably)

- It’s midsummer and a nice warmish evening. They ride the train there together, Amy in a flowy flowery dress and Jake in his nice green shirt (you know the one 🥴) and throughout the whole ride Jake has his hand on Amy’s knee/thigh and has her guess whatever he draws on it with his finger. “A penis? Get your mind out of the gutter, Santiago! It’s clearly a carrot.”

- They head for the amusement park where they start of with that “flying chairs”-ride (idk what it’s called) and they can just barely hold hands throughout the ride like the stupid, cheesy new couple they are. After the ride Amy’s kinda dizzy and stumbles out of her chair but Jake steadies her with his hands on her hips to which she blushes. “Wow, can’t believe I make you dizzy,” he flirts to which she pecks his lips before shooting back a “shut up”

- After that they walk around for a bit. The minute Jake spots the ice cream stand he has to get one and Amy willingly complies even though they haven’t had dinner yet. He gets one scoop with bubble gum-flavor and one with cookie dough while Amy gets a single scoop raspberry sorbet. “Wanna taste?” She asks but Jake makes a disgusted face in return “sorbet? Ew no that’s like adult ice cream.” She chuckles and steals a bite of his cookie dough kissing his cheek as to thank him.

- they get into a heated competition of whack a mole where Amy ends up winning and big time rubs it in his face. From the way they trash talk each other during the many games and rematches the person working the stand is sure they’re gonna break up and looks rather surprised when Amy uses her points to get Jake a cute Lion-plush. She notices and smiles sheepishly “Sorry for the yelling. We’re just...” “really into each other” Jake finishes her sentence shamelessly. “I was gonna say competitive...” she rolls her eyes and smiles apologetically before they walk away.

- they try one of the big roller coasters even though Amy is hella nervous. Throughout their entire time in line Jake is running her hands soothingly and repeats many times that she really doesn’t have to go. He can do it by himself. But she insists and is super ecstatic and excited after the ride, jumping with pride earning herself a high five from Jake. “You’re the coolest!” He adds and grabs her hand. “That deserves a round of pizza. My treat.”

- they buy pizza (one ham/pineapple for her, one meat supreme for him) and eat it on the beach by the water where Jake once again thanks her for the lion plush and baptizes it with water from the sea. “I hereby name you... John.” Amy laughs and questions “John the lion?” He sits back down with her putting the lion down between them. “Yes after the great king John McClane.” “Of course,” she nods before letting out a sigh of happiness as she leans in to rest against his shoulder. He rests back against her, evening the pressure between their bodies out, and places the hand that isn’t holding pizza on her knee to stroke it. She shivers and smiles. She could do this forever.

- (a bit later they end up making out in the sand, with Amy on her back, accidentally lying down on John the Lion and they both agree afterwards as they fix their mushy hair and messy clothes that the poor thing must be traumatized)

[mydarlingvioletine]

Just a Puppy Crush - Chapter Thirteen Ship(s): Violet/Clementine, Louis/Aasim, Ruby/Brody Media: The Walking Dead Game (Season 4)

author’s note: finally introducing one of my favorite boyos into this au!! sorry for the late update i hope you like it!

Just on the outskirts of the school, there was a patch of land that Violet had always overlooked, chalking it up as nothing.

        Turns out it was the community garden.

Clementine had pointed it out to her on their way to the corner store, and abruptly remembered that she had to check on her bok-choy and spinach plants.

       Violet waited patiently at the entrance, not noticing Clementine’s expression turn from tentative to mischievous. She turned her head just in time to see Clem reaching over a small fence, plucking a flower from another garden plot.

“Dude, isn’t that someone else’s?” Violet stammered, as Clementine rose to her feet and tucked the red flower behind Violet’s ear. “Can’t you get in trouble for that?”

      Clementine pursed her lips, tugging at the collar of Violet’s jacket with a smirk. “You’re the one who has a shirt that literally says ‘Be gay, do crime’.”

Still bashful from Clem adjusting her collar, Violet huffed and crossed her arms. “Never said I was a role model.”

        Clementine beamed before shutting the gate behind them, and interlocking her fingers with Violet’s. “Don’t worry, they’re Javi’s brothers’ flowers. That guy is kind of a dick, so I don’t feel bad. Child support dodging asshole.”

With a weak smile, Violet walked alongside Clem beside the road, kicking the occasional pebble that she saw.

      “Plus, I don’t think anyone could be that mad if they saw how cute you look.” Clementine chided, happily humming when she saw the deep pink flush across Violet’s face.

Fighting every instinct to bury her face in her hands, her smile became wobbly. “I’m not - I’m not fucking cute. Cute is for puppies and... babies.”

        Clementine huffed, swinging their intertwined fingers back and forth between them. “Fine. Beautiful, then.”

Violet groaned with exaggeration, trying to throw the attention off of the blush she couldn’t control. Being pale sucks when it comes to stuff like that.

      Clem held the door to the front of the shop open for Violet, and a cool breeze met her, along with some borderline emo pop music.

“Benny boy! How’s your shift going?” Clem hoisted herself up onto a bar stool beside the counter top, and swung her legs as she smiled at the lanky teenager at the cash register.

        “Well, this fucking terrifying lady just left about five minutes ago. Textbook definition of a scary soccer mom.” Ben murmured, pushing back his mess of shaggy back hair to glance at Violet. “She was even taller than me. Like, nobody’s taller than me.”

“Glad to see your ego is still intact.” Clementine giggled, patting the stool next to her for Violet to sit down on. Ben smiled wearily, eyes dancing between the two girls. “Did you get Larry to fix up the milkshake machine?”

         Ben softly shook his head, and took two large glasses from table behind him and set them under the spout. “Cheap bastard didn’t do shit. I got it fixed out of my own pocket. So, what can I get for you guys?”

“Two taco bags, puh-lease!” Clem sang out, digging the twenty dollar bill out of her pocket and slapping it on the counter. “Oh, Vi. What flavor do you want?”

       “Flavor?” Violet scrunched up her nose at the question, and Ben pressed a couple of different Doritos bags towards them. “Oh, uh... the best flavor.”

“A woman after my own heart,” Clem swooned dramatically, leaning back in her seat. “That’ll be two bags of Cool Ranch.”

     Violet guffawed and shook her head at the notion. “What? No. I said best flavor, Nacho Cheese.”

Ben beamed, and grabbed the bag from a shocked Clementine, who then crossed her arms. “At least one of your friends has taste. That kid who almost broke my jukebox by sitting on it went for the Supreme Cheddar. Fucking nasty.”

     “It’s Louis-“ Clem interjected, as Ben rolled his eyes and turned the corner to the kitchen.

Violet tugged her knees to her chest, and focused her gaze on the cheesy cat clock in the corner with big yellow eyes. “You take all your dates here?”

     Clementine blinked rapidly, and went to say something when there was a bang in the kitchen, followed by a “FUCK!”

A disheveled Ben rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment as he came back into the counter area, holding two bags of Doritos with chunks of taco meat and lettuce and cheese in them.

        “Bon appetite.” Ben dramatically bowed, passing the bags to Clem and Violet along with a fork. “Is that it?”

Clementine’s eyes landed on Violet, and she pursed her lips while contemplating. After a couple of seconds, she slammed her hand enthusiastically on the counter.

                   “One chocolate milkshake, please.”

Her eyes landed on Violet, and she cocked an eyebrow, her lips curving into a lopsided smile.

                  “Two straws.”

Violet scoffed to herself as they left with arms full of Gatorades and Doritos. Clem held the milkshake tightly in her hand, the water droplets from the sunlight making it slippery.

      “Louis dragged me along after one of our games. He asked Aasim to show up and watch him, and I guess he really didn’t expect for him to actually show up. But, he did and Louis got all flustered and had me be a third-wheel while they were doing all their mushy gushy shit. Definitely was not a date.” Clem confided.

“Oh,” Violet mulled it over in her head before giggling, letting a vulnerable snort slip out. “I can’t believe Louis is really trying to slip into my relationship shit when he can’t even handle his own. He’s.. so dumb.”

        “Relationship shit?” Clem cooed with curiosity, bumping her shoulder against the taller girls’. “Do tell.”

A rush of heat hit Violet’s face at the feigned obliviousness, and she ducked her head to take a sip out of the red straw from their shared milkshake. “It’s nothing..”

      Clementine was about to press further when the calamity of adults screaming hit their ears. With an eye roll, they quickened their pace back towards the ball game, which had just started.

The chanting from the green team was incoherent until they got closer. The time the words were said, and the wires in Violet’s brain short-circuited, Louis and Marlon had dropped their attention from the game, and looked worriedly at the two.

“Let’s go, Delta Destroyers!”

Violet froze in her tracks and scanned the field. Her eyes landed on an uninterested kid who was crouching down and playing in the grass.

        The kid with the burn scar across the side of his face.

“Vi, you good?” Clementine picked up on her change of mood, and brushed against her to snap her back into reality. “Violet?”

     “I’m okay. I’m - yes. Good.” Violet stammered, her eyes dancing nervously across the crowd that had accumulated around the Delta’s side.

She slumped herself down beside Carley and Lee on the bottom bleacher, and tried to channel her focus on cheering for AJ. But she couldn’t fucking stop looking, checking.

    With a concerned frown, Clementine sat herself down next to Violet, and placed her hand on top of hers. Relaxing at the touch, Violet let out a deep, shaky breath. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Violet gave in, her hands wrapped around the milkshake as if it could soothe the racing thoughts in her mind.

       “The private school, Delta.. I’ve got history with a girl from there. Her brother’s out there. Fuck... I hope she’s not here.”

Confirming her suspicions, a shout from the other side rang out that Violet knew too damn well. She flinched at the familiar tone, and tugged her knees to her chest. “Shit.”

      “Hey, we can ditch this if you want,” Clem offered, tightening her grip on Violet’s hand. “I’m sure Ben wouldn’t mind some company.”

Violet shook her head, and pulled the straw towards her lips. “I’m good. Just haven’t talked to her since the whole thing went down. Was kinda hoping it’d stay that way.”

         Clementine rolled up her sleeve and dramatically flexed, bringing an involuntary smile to Violet’s face as the dork next to her kissed her bicep. “Don’t you worry, my darling. You won’t have to. Let me know if I need to kick some ass. Take some names.”

“Clem,” Carley groaned, reminding them of her presence relatively close to them. “Javi can only let so much pass before you get kicked out again.”

          “Again?” Violet softly elbowed the pouting girl beside her, intrigue in her smile. “What’d you do?”

“I didn’t do anythin-“

        “Threatened to shove a foam finger up the ref’s nose and had to be physically held back by Javier.” Lee interrupted, a glint of pride as he smiled down at his daughter.

“That call was bullshit and you know it.” Clem huffed, crossing her arms and shoving a forkful of taco meat and Dorito chip crumbs into her mouth. “Let’s not forget when you got so mad at a call and you accidentally spilled the entire ice bucket.”

      The domestic moment that she got to be a part of brought a sense of peace to Violet, and she let her shoulders relax with a happy hum as Lee and Clem bickered. She shared a glance with Carley, and they burst into a giggling fit at the sight of their sweethearts squabbling passionately over the dumbest things.

A sharp ‘crack’ interrupted their arguing, and everyone’s eyes landed on AJ, who was holding the bat in disbelief, looking at the ball he’d struck almost over the fence.

       Clementine and Lee pushed up against the fence, cheering incoherently and yelling for him to run as the shocked kid just blinked. He tossed the bat aside, and booked it towards second base.

Looking at the kids mindlessly fucking around in the outfield, his velocity was definitely unnecessary but she’d be damned if it wasn’t adorable.

       “Go, AJ!” Violet rose to her feet, raising the foam finger above her head and cheering as the flustered kid made it to third. “You got this!”

The kid beamed at his fans, and sped towards home, letting himself get low to the ground and slide dramatically on the base.

       Carley and Lee’s cheers were quickly cut off by groans as AJ stood up and dirt and dust was absolutely covering his baseball uniform.

“Not it for laundry tonight!” Clem pressed her finger to her nose, and Lee and Carley followed suit. Confused, Violet glanced between them and reluctantly raised her finger to her nose.

     “Technically, Vi was the last one. She’s on laundry duty.” Clementine beamed, slinging her arm around Violet. “Don’t worry, my dirty underwear will not be included.”

Clementine’s willingness to let her in on family outings and secrets and all that stuff meant so much more to Violet than she let on. When she started catching on to inside jokes and eventually creating ones of her own, a sense of belonging just overflowed all of her senses.

       Lee rolled his eyes, and scoffed. “You really need to take a class or something on the proper way to ask someone out on a date.”

He earned simultaneous punches in the arm from both Clem and Carley.

    Clementine huffed, and sat back in the bleachers, watching as AJ high-fived his teammates. “I volunteer James, then. Bastard ate my Cocoa Pebbles.”

The rest of the game went by pretty quickly. Turns out Delta is all bark and no bite. From her past experiences with their students, Violet would’ve never guessed that they couldn’t back up their smack talk.

      The Delta kids - besides Tenn - begrudgingly shook the hands of the home team, and the players dispersed back to their families.

Violet watched as Tennessee slung a backpack over his shoulder, and hopped over the fence to embrace his older sisters.

         It happened too fast. Minerva’s eyes raised up to meet hers, and she seemed thrown off, standing stiffly before she turned her attention back to her little brother, who’d attached himself to her leg.

Her thoughts were cut off by Louis running up to her and squeezing her tight, even lifting her a couple inches off the ground. Over his shoulder, she saw Clementine beaming, and her face went numb as she shoved the tall dork off of her.

        “I can’t believe you came all this way to see little ol’ me,” Louis feigned a Southern accent that would make Ruby turn in her grave. “You really do love me!”

Violet discretely flipped him off.

     “We still going to the diner? I can give you guys a ride.” Louis offered, eyes flickering down to his watch.

“Oh, fuck yea.” Clem squealed, tugging on Violet’s arm. “I’d take late night pancakes over a fucking casserole any day.”

       “Pancakes sounds amazing right now,” Violet agreed, shuffling her hands into her pockets. “I’m in.”

The four of them walked back to Louis’ car after Clem said goodbye to everyone, and sneak-attack tickled AJ. Marlon glanced at Violet with his bottom lip pursed, and the weight of the flower on her ear suddenly occurred to her.

         “People are really stupid if they eat anything other than breakfast food.” Clementine chirped, earning a collective sigh of agreement from everyone else in the car.

“Onward! To pancakes!” Violet lightly kicked the seat in front of her, causing Louis to twist himself around and wag his finger at her.

            “I will turn this car around, Violet. Don’t you test me.”

“You kinda have to anyway, to get to the diner...” Marlon noted, earning a stern glare from Louis.

      The cheer of the three passengers crying for pancakes was drowned out by Louis aggressively turning up the volume, and shouting along to the Britney Spears lyrics.

[j-esbian]

Pillow Talk

I’m super excited to be able to post my piece for the @miraculouspridezine! if you haven’t already, you should totally check it out because it’s got a ton of other great pieces!!!!

on ao3

Words: 1430

The sun had risen some time ago, though the light was still dim, and Adrien’s room slowly brightened as the light leaked through the storm clouds that clustered outside, suffusing the room with an almost stifling warmth. Nino stirred lazily, and leaned into the comforting weight on his back. He didn’t know what time it was--was it even still morning, or had they passed into afternoon already? He was willing stay there with his boyfriend all day, without complaint.

His boyfriend. Nino grinned at the thought; such a simple phrase, but one that he couldn’t stop repeating to himself. He loved Adrien no matter what; they were best friends. But finding out after so long that his deeper feelings were, in fact, requited… Nino thought he might burst.

Nino could feel a heavy, steady stream of warm air against his neck, and he tried to roll over without waking Adrien up. They were near enough that Nino could feel the heat radiating off Adrien’s skin underneath their shared blanket, and despite his best efforts, he managed to wake the sleeping beauty.

Adrien’s eyes fluttered open, staring right into Nino’s. Nino’s heart stopped, shot by an arrow from Adrien’s clear, piercing green eyes. Adrien smacked his mouth a few times, wet his lips, and croaked out, “Morning.”

Nino smiled sheepishly. “Hey, dude. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

Adrien shook his head blearily. “N-no, it’s--I should’ve… should be up by now anyway.”

Nino propped his head up on his hand. “Sleep well?”

Adrien stretched, groaning involuntarily as he pulled out the stiffness in his back. “Mmm. Yeah. You?”

“Definitely.” Nino’s smile grew more confident; one might even call it sly. “I had a great dream.”

Adrien’s cheeks, rosy from the warm air and warm sunlight, grew pinker. “Wh-what was the dream about?”

Nino opened his mouth, then paused and frowned. “I don’t remember. But it doesn’t matter, I guess. It can’t measure up to last night.”

He brought a hand out from under the covers and gently brushed Adrien’s bangs back from where they had fallen over his eyes. His fingertips lingered on his forehead for a moment before he drew back, but Adrien reached up and trapped Nino’s hand with his own against his cheek. He scooted closer on the bed and, after a moment’s hesitation, brought their lips together.

Nino swallowed his grin and responded, and the two of them lay there lazily, languidly kissing, for so long that Adrien almost drifted back to sleep. Maybe it was because he was still tired from staying up so late the night before, but it also just felt… natural. Comfortable. Right.

Adrien broke away from the kiss and gave Nino a dopey smile. “Morning,” he whispered.

Nino tapped his nose. “We already did this, dude.”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t properly awake then,” Adrien replied. He cupped his hand around Nino’s neck. “I’m good now.”

It was such a cheesy thing to say, but Nino could tell by the earnest look on his face that he wasn’t trying to make a joke out of it. Nino’s heart felt like it might burst. His hand trailed down to rest at Adrien’s waist, and he let it linger there. “You’re being cute,” he warned.

Adrien blushed. “You’re one to talk.”

Nino arched an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, come on,” Adrien replied, growing redder. “I mean, you-you’re not wearing your glasses, and your hair’s all--” He ran quickly his hand up the back of Nino’s head in lieu of finishing his sentence, making his bedhead messier.

“Oh my god.”

“I mean, you’re hot the rest of the time too, man,” Adrien said quickly. “It’s just, you know…” He trailed off. “I mean, you do know, right? I’m your best friend. You can trust me. And you’re my best friend, so I usually trust you to make me stop talking by now, before I embarrass myself.”

Nino smiled bemusedly. “Sorry?”

Adrien scoffed, his cheeks still glowing, and he pulled his hands from Nino’s hair to bury his face in them. When he had collected himself, he looked over at Nino, who was staring hard at him. The intensity of his gaze would have made him a blushing mess all over again, if not for the deep creases on his forehead.

“What’s wrong?”

Nino blinked hard, and his brow cleared. “Uh, nothing. Well, okay, not exactly. It’s just--there’s something I meant to tell you last night, and we just… never got around to it? I missed the right time to bring it up, and then you told me that you liked me, so we started talking about us, and--” He took a deep breath, and let it out, hard.

“I’m gay.”

Adrien's instinctual reaction was to laugh. “I, uh, I thought we covered that already, especially since you really seemed to enjoy all the kissing last night.”

“Yeah, okay, true,” Nino replied, frowning uncertainly. “Sorry. Maybe it was a given, but I just--I don’t know, man. I had this whole big speech planned, where I’d lead with that and then segue into, you know, the other thing, but I let you go first, and you just kind of jumped the gun on that.”

Adrien reached out and grasped Nino’s shoulder, propping his head up with his other hand, and struggled to come up with a good response.

“Hey, no, don’t be sorry, man,” he said. “I mean, if it’s important to you, then it’s important. Like, if it’s something you feel like you have to say, or it’s something you want to say, then don’t be afraid to say it. You can tell me, dude.”

“Alright, don’t get too mushy on me,” Nino replied. “Because, like, the next place I’m going with this is to let you know that you’re not the only one. Dudes are hot. I just like you best.”

“Aww, likewise.” Adrien smiled. “And, like, thanks for telling me, dude. Babe.”

Nino laughed. “Sorry, run that by me again?”

“Listen, I just thought, I don’t know, we’re dating now,” Adrien said. “So it feels kinda weird to keep calling each other ‘dude’ and stuff, right? Aren’t couples supposed to have, like, pet names for each other?”

“Oh.” Nino considered this. “Yeah, that totally makes sense. So, what, like, cher? Honey? Darling? Those are all kind of lame.”

“Yeah, Nino, get a little more creative,” Adrien chided. “Hmm. How do you feel about mon ange? Muffin? Gentle moonbeam?”

“Sparkling lemonade?”

“Baby’s breath?”

“Dweeb supreme?”

“Dorkasaurus?”

Nino burst out laughing. “Hey, that’s not fair. I came up with that one.”

“I’m sorry, my sweet bluejay, were you planning on using it?” Adrien asked.

Nino didn’t answer; he simply rolled onto his back to get air back into his lungs. Tears streamed down the side of his face, running through ready-made ruts of laughter lines.

Adrien began chuckling along, despite himself. “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing,” Nino managed. He gulped down some air and sobered up. “Well, you, a little. But I mean, I’m not laughing at anything. I’m just--” He glanced at Adrien, who now stared down at him, and found it hard to swallow down a soft, genuine smile. “I’m just in a really good mood,” he finished softly.

Adrien smiled back. “Me, too.”

In a movement that still felt a little awkward, although marginally less so this time without Nino’s glasses to get in the way, the two kissed for a long while, with considerably more energy than before. But they were interrupted after a minute or two, by an abrupt knock at the door.

“Adrien, are you and your guest coming down for breakfast?”

He broke apart from Nino and cleared his throat. “Yeah, we’ll be down in a minute, Nathalie.” He held his breath, but Nathalie didn’t come in, and the sound of her high heels clicking down the steps let them know that the coast was clear. Adrien lowered himself back onto the bed, and rolled onto his back to nestle Nino into his arms.

They wanted to lay there longer, in the warm room and tangled sheets, and pretend that no one else in their lives existed for a while. But, for one thing, they were both starving, and breakfast sounded like a wonderful idea. And they could always come back to this later. There would be time.

“Hey, Nino?” Adrien asked.

“What is it, my beautiful bisexual buttercup?” Nino replied.

‘I’m really glad you stayed the night.” Adrien squeezed Nino’s forearms, and he returned the embrace.

“Me, too, man.”