#stares at him unblinkingly for 5 hours straight

[skyhavens]

[feral-bard]

Honey Trapped (aziraphale/crowley crack!fic, 1.6k words)

Summary:

What happens when @racketghost​ makes a film reference that goes completely over my head, and I’m left pondering the question of how Crowley might come to believe himself a bee. 

Notes:

Unbeated. All mistakes are my own. 

(Link to ao3)

Slight warnings for some platonic, non-consensual cuddling from someone not currently in their right mind.

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4 months after the narrowly averted armageddon.

2 weeks and 6 days after Aziraphale and Crowley moved into a charming cottage in The South Downs.

2 weeks, 5 days and 10 hours after a comical series of misunderstandings  left them both under the impression the other was only comfortable with platonic cohabitation.

Shortly before Elevenses.

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Aziraphale was a creature of habit.

Every Sunday he made his way into town to pick up pastries to go with his morning tea. This particular morning was no exception. Shortly after breakfast he had left Crowley to his gardening and set off to visit the local bakery.

All in all, he’d been gone less than an hour.

Certainly, he thought to himself, not enough time to excuse (or explain) Crowley standing in their front yard - wings out for all the world to see - rubbing his face into a sunflower.

“Crowley?”

Aziraphale called out to him more out of habit than out of an expectation he would reply. Although unlikely, he supposed it might be possible Crowley was trying out some new unconventional method of gardening. 

That particular hope evaporated when the demon looked up and stared at him with an entranced expression on his face, sclera blown wide and orange pollen clinging to his skin.

“Are you- ah” Aziraphale took a few cautious steps forward, a little unnerved by the vacant stare, “Are you feeling well, dear?”.

Crowley tilted his head to the side, but otherwise only stared unblinkingly back at him.

As Aziraphale drew nearer, he noticed Crowley’s nose start twitching. The demon had flicked his tongue out and was alternating between sniffing and tasting the air. In a flurry of movement he spread his wings and beat them with such unnatural speed they emitted a low pitched buzzing sound. Before Aziraphale could react, Crowley flew straight at him. In a matter of seconds he had wrapped his arms around the angel’s shoulders and pulled him in close, effectively pinning Aziraphale’s arms to his sides as he pressed their bodies together. (Blessedly, Aziraphale managed to hang on to the pastries - but it was a close thing). The more the angel attempted to extract himself, the more Crowley tightened his grip. In fact, as if encouraged by the movement, he nuzzled Aziraphale’s neck and started lapping with his tongue all over Aziraphale’s face.  When Aziraphale flinched, Crowley took advantage of the angel’s shocked gasp to start licking directly into his mouth.

This act proved a bridge too far for Aziraphale. He recoiled, wrinkling his nose at the sickly sweet taste of pollen, and exerted a small amount of angelic strength to push Crowley away.

Unperturbed, the demon flew back across the yard, ostensibly in search of a new flower to harvest.

Well, thought Aziraphale. That was a thing. 

He watched as Crowley selected a new flower, favouring one large enough that he could start tonguing it enthusiastically.

"Hullo Mr. Fell." A familiar voice called out. Looking past Crowley, Aziraphale noticed a bemused adversary waving to him from the swing on their front porch, his diminutive hell hound on his lap.

"Adam!" Aziraphale greeted, faking a composure he didn’t feel as he miracled the pollen from his face and his disheveled clothing to its previous state.  "I don’t suppose you happen to know what's gotten into Crowley?"

Adam grinned.

“He bet me I couldn’t hypnotize him.”

Aziraphale resolved never to leave Crowley without supervision again.

“So now he believes himself to be a... bee?” Aziraphale guessed (taking into consideration of the demon’s recent affinity for flowers and buzzing).

“Yep.”

When no further information appeared forthcoming Aziraphale voiced the obvious question:

“Why?”

“Bees are great. Pepper’s mums keep a hive and- ” 

Recognizing a tangent when he heard one, Aziraphale nipped it in the bud.

“Sorry, dear boy, I meant why were you discussing hypnotism?”

“Brian’s Dad is trying to quit smoking and the doctor suggested hypnotherapy,” Adam said quickly, in a way that suggested this was not his first time telling this particular story, “but his Dad fell asleep during the session so Brian asked if I’d give it a shot. Pepper and Wensleydale thought I should see if Mr. Crowley could teach me how.” 

Aziraphale blinked.

“Adam,” he began, “Surely you realize it would be wrong to coerce someone?”

‘‘Yeah, but Brian’s dad wanted to try it.” he insisted, “We told him my godfather was a magician and he was going to teach me how.”

“You told him Crowley was a magician?” 

“He looks the part. ‘Just needs a spot of eyeliner, that one’ Mum said - ”

(Aziraphale possessed enough self-awareness that he recognized how ridiculous it was to be offended by that. He also recognized now was not the ideal time to engage in a conversation about how a spot of eyeliner did not a magician make.) 

“- so I popped over here to chat to Mr. Crowley and he said I probably wouldn’t be able to do it because it’s more of a snake demon trick than an occult trick.”

“I see.”

“That’s when I bet him that I could.” 

“Right.”

Crowley chose that moment to repeat his trek back over to Aziraphale who, now wise to what he was after, was able to narrowly avoid being pounced on before shooing him back off towards the flowers. Adam did a very poor job of hiding his amusement, but wisely kept his mouth shut as Aziraphale turned back to him.

“Do you have any idea why he seems quite so insistent on licking me?" 

Adam snorted and concealed it poorly with a cough.

"Well, Pep’s ma said the worker bees swarm around their queen? They sniff her out so they can feed and protect her.”

"Oh." 

Adam grinned but otherwise ignored him.

"He’s always around you, so seems reasonable he’d think you were important?"

A little distance away, Crowley hummed in displeasure as the flower he was nuzzling collapsed. Aziraphale performed a quick miracle to enlarge one of the nearby violets to keep him occupied.

"Is there any particular reason you haven’t restored him yet?" 

“Nah, just waiting for you to get back."

"Me?"

"Crowley suggested that I should wait for you if anything happened. I think he was worried about stinging me or something." Adam rolled his eyes. He stood up and walked down the steps, Dog at his heels. "You want me to do it now then?"

"Yes please."

"Sure."

Adam waved a hand and suddenly Crowley was coughing and spluttering, wiping his tongue clean on the inside of his shirt.

"What in the ever loving fuck?"

"Back with us, dear?" Azirpaphale asked sweetly.

"Angel what the sodding hell is going on? Everything smells like flowers-" he felt along his face, "- I'm sticky. Why am I sticky?"

Adam glanced sidelong at Aziraphale.

"Adam, what are you doing here?"

"Just visiting, thanks for the help Mr. Crowley!"

"Help with-?" Crowley’s face fell. “-don’t tell me you got it on your first try,” he growled.

Aziraphale feigned a sudden interest in his hands.

"Thanks for the chat Mr. Fell."

"Anytime dear, you're always welcome. Did you want a croissant before you go?"

Adam grabbed one from the proffered bag. He made a “cheers” gesture before biting into it and promptly vanishing (along with Dog).

"Angel?"

When Aziraphale turned Crowley was standing only a few paces away from him, looking stricken but considerably less orange.

"Yes dear?"

"Please tell me I didn't stick my tongue down your throat."

"Well, that's a little hyperbolic-" he began consolingly, "- I mean, even with your tongue the length it is, you could barely reach my tonsils."

When he finally looked up Crowley was starting at him in horror.

Stung, and not caring to conceal it, Aziraphale turned for the cottage. "Well, no harm done then. Let’s get you a cup of tea."

"I’m sorry angel, I’d have never done that if I was-”

"Never?" Aziraphale asked, somewhat sharper than intended.

Crowley blinked.

"Not on purpose!"

"That inspires confidence."

"Aziraphale." 

"No? Would you prefer coffee? The croissants are fresh, maybe some human food would do you good after all the pollen you’ve ingested-"

"Aziraphale." When he turned, Crowley was regarding him with a bemused look.

“Yes?’

"Was it any good?"

Aziraphale didn’t quite manage to avoid cringing. 

"It was rather like being licked in the mouth by an enthusiastic puppy,” he quipped. “Not much finesse I'm afraid.”

Crowley shook his head. He rubbed a hand over his face, and pulled slightly on his earlobe while not quite making eye-contact.

"Well apologies if my technique was subpar, there was the slight impediment of believing I was a bee." Crowley responded waspishly.

"Of course, dear." he gestured back towards the cottage, “Shall we?” 

"Seems like it's only fair I should get the opportunity to defend my honor." he offered a little too casually. 

Aziraphale raised his eyebrows.

"Consider it a professional courtesy. I'm the original tempter and you've impugned my abilities."

"Indeed," Aziraphale played along, pursing his lips to keep back a smile "In the face of such unassailable logic who am I to disagree?"

"Right." Crowley said. He walked up to Aziraphale, nodded, and tilted his head. "Right," he repeated.  Moving swiftly, he snaked an arm around Aziraphale's shoulder and brought his hand up to cradle the angel's cheek as he leaned in.  The kiss was forceful but chaste.  When Crowley made to pull back Aziraphale darted forward and gently nipped his bottom lip. That, plus a completely unsubtle pout, soon had the demon kissing him back in earnest.

By the time they parted Crowley looked exceedingly pleased with himself.

"Well?"

"Overall?” Aziraphale smirked, “A considerable improvement."

"Excuse me."

"It’s only fair I deduct some points for the overwhelming taste of pollen."

"Angel?" 

"Yes dear?"

"Buzz off."

[anthonyed]

Day 4 + 5: On A Date + Kissing

-//-

There was a time when Tony remembered things. Things like the time of the day, the date and the last time he’d eaten and showered. Right now though, his mind is a swamp of all things but miscellaneous.

The smell of burnt metal had sunk into his pore and become one with him. Which means, “Urgh.”

A light chuckle issues from somewhere within the four walls he’d trapped himself in and Tony straightens up, suddenly alert. His eyes scan around the wide area, for a while seeing nothing but wires and furniture and projects and projects and -.

“Steve!” He exclaims in delight, face helplessly splitting into a too wide grin. His skin tingles upon spotting the small bundle of perfection curled up in his favourite piece of furniture of all time; like a little cocoon of heaven carved especially for Tony because that is all he needs after his head finally stopped spinning with problems.

A soft purr satisfaction rumble in his chest as he rolls himself all the way across the work station to where his heaven’s situated, “Hey, Tony,” Steve greets when the chair comes to an end at the foot of the couch. He looks soft and warm, all wrapped up in Tony’s cosiest blanket which he keeps draped over the couch and he’s curled up with his sketchbook, pages open to a work in progress.

Tony stretches and pops his stiff joints with little happy sighs while Steve observes with a fond smile. “Finally came to Earth?” He asks once Tony’s done and Tony pokes his tongue at him impishly. His stomach rumbles then, betraying his mundanity and while Tony glares at it in disdain, Steve chuckles and holds up a plate of saran wrapped sandwich in his sight. “Eat,” he says while Dum-E rolls up, helpfully presenting a bottle of water.

Tony says his thank you to both of them and starts digging in. Halfway through his meal, he realizes that Steve’s staring and guiltily offers a bite to which Steve shakes his head, no, then keeps on staring until Tony’s nape prickles and he puts down the empty plate, starting on Steve with a full mouth, “Whu?”

Steve colours high on his cheeks and the tip of his ears, shaking his head as he ducks and laughs nervously. Tony takes him in and wishes he’s bestowed with the liberty to lean in and kiss Steve on the nose.

On the mouth, along his neck, down his chest, and – well, you get the gist.

Harrumphing, he gives a slight kick to Steve’s curled up legs and makes a face. “What?” He asks again after swallowing. When Steve looks up, he’s properly blushing, neck flushed red and he scratches the back of his head and says, “Nothing,” and then, “I should go.”

“Why?” Tony asks with a poorly suppressed whine. He’d just pulled out the zone and now Steve’s leaving? Already?

“Well…,” Steve trails off before pulling a breath and looking Tony straight in the eyes as if he’s trying hard not to burst a vein. “If I don’t go now, then I won’t make it for our date tonight,” He says softly. Too soft that Tony gulps the shock and replies with a dumb “Whu?”

Steve blinks, blue eyes searching and he looks like he’s panicking. Tony feels like he’s going to faint himself; two second away from smashing his face on the coffee table. His heart is racing, pulses jumping and he’s feeling uncomfortable hot. Throat dry and all.

“Our date.” Steve says faintly.

Tony swallows painfully, “Oh.” The fuck? “Right, of course.” What the actual fuck? “Our date. Which is at…,” He drags, hoping Steve will fill in but Steve doesn’t so he ends with, “Tonight. Clearly.” He huffs a nervous laughter. Play cool, play cool – Jesus.

“Chop, chop.” Tony chases him when Steve starts squinting suspiciously at him. “Hurry up and dress pretty. I like my date looking pretty.” He babbles, pushing Steve to the exit as his ears ring in panic. Steve blinks like a deer in the headlight; wide and adorable but wide – panic, wide. Tony winces. “Or just come like this, your wish. I like you anyway. That’s why we’re going on a date!” He finishes ceremoniously, hands thrown wide apart like ‘tada’ and he waves at Steve opening and closing his mouth like a gold fish on the other side of the glass door.

Dammit.

“Jarvis, pull up the shop’s footage from when Steve entered.” He orders between clenched teeth, grinning and waving as Steve boards the elevator and once their door closes, Tony’s grabbing for his hair and yanking. “Did I ask Steve out?”

“Yes, sir. At precisely five past four this evening.” JARVIS replies with a subtle peppiness to his tone which Tony squints at but ignores for the footage of himself sitting ram rod straight in the middle of the workshop surrounded by a sea of holo-screen and there’s Steve walking up to him with a plate of sandwich.

“Volume up, please,” Tony murmurs distractedly, zooming in to the two men on the screen. He watches unblinkingly and listens carefully to every word spoken; the usual reprimands for keeping long hours from Steve and Tony’s witty replies even in his zone-out stage – which is frankly, impressive, he knows, he’s been told before too.

Then the bickering leads to mild flirting until it isn’t mild anymore because Tony says something about; “Yeah sure, like you’d date me,” to Steve who not only looks offended but recovers quickly to retort a haughty, “Why wouldn’t I?”

To which then Tony says, “Seven o’clock today works for you, Cap?”

“Only if it’s Italian,” Steve smirks and Tony – Jesus Christ – leans so close into Steve’s space that on screen it looks very much like they’re kissing - which is no way, because Tony would remember such if something like that happened right? Like, come on! His life’s dream is to be with Steve and if he fucking forgets something so crucial like kissing Steve, he’s about to set himself on fire and send his arse straight to hell – and says something too soft to be registered by the system. And Steve appears to ask him something, again, too soft and Tony yanks hard at his hair in the present.

For a long time, he’s frozen. The footage plays until it stops and Tony’s looking at himself looking at the footage on the screen. It’s JARVIS who interrupts his state, clearing throat like a through gentle-AI, “Sir, may I take the liberty to remind you that you have date with Captain Rogers in exactly thirty minutes from now.”

“Oh fuck.” Tony expresses faintly, feeling extremely light headed as disbelief clouds every single section in his brain. But, in for a penny and all that right?

Right.

“I have a date.” He stands up. “With Steve.”

“Indeed, sir.”

Then louder and clearer, he repeats, shaking off the disbelief. “I have a date with Steve Rogers.”

“In 29 minutes -,”

“JARVIS!”

“Glad to be of service sir.”

-

A quick shower and a brief meltdown in the closet after, Tony’s about as ready as he can be to a date he doesn’t remember asking but has every bit dreamed of. To make things worse, Steve looks utterly delectable.

“Hey,” He says, as if he’s not melting Tony on his feet looking like he does in a form fitting navy dress shirt. He got a blazer on his arm and a nervous look in his baby blue eyes, “Not sure if I need a jacket or not.”

Tony wants to whip him back upstairs, straight to his bedroom and strip him naked. You don’t need anything, “You’re perfect.”

Steve blushes and Tony inhales sharply, making sure that he’s still grounded and not up in the air, floating.

Tony takes Steve to that one place he’d never taken anyone to before; the one place that exists in his memories only because it’s where Maria used to take him to when Tony does well in his exams.

It’s stuffy, there is way too many tables in a too small space but never is it ever crowded. The walls are decorated with tasteless vintage photos and art pieces. The entire place is run by a pair of too old Italian couple; the husband runs the kitchen whilst the wife takes care of the customers and neither of them speaks English. Tony absolutely adores it.

Steve’s taken aback the moment he enters the place, but Tony reminds himself that if anyone can see the beauty of this place and appreciate it as much as he does, it’s Steve.

It’s why he decided to bring him here. It was as clear as the day the minute he asked himself; fuck, where do I take him – and Tony had just known.

And he was right. Two minutes after, Steve is glowing with the light of discovery, gushing, “I love this place,” and Tony hasn’t even showed him the best part yet. He waits until he’d placed their orders, tongue rolling smoothly in fluent Italian as he kisses Elena and asks for permission while Steve observes with an unfamiliar intensity in his eyes.

Manuel usually takes some time to whip up the orders. Although Tony had asked Elena a favour and reserved the entire place for only them, it still isn’t going to make Manuel any quicker on his old bones and creaky joints. So he stands up and offers a hand, palm side up, to Steve who takes it with an interest and follows as Tony wordlessly leads him behind the counter and up an immediate staircase hidden in the corner.

It’s a spiral iron staircase that is too narrow for even a perfectly standard sized male body like Tony’s. But Elena is petite and Tony knows for a fact that she still uses it because she had just said so. Confidently, albeit a little anxious because he can’t help it – he’s on a date with Steve! – Tony pushes open the old wooden door and steps out into the rooftop of the three storey building.

The evening breeze is pleasantly cool for a summer evening and Steve’s hand in his is deliciously warm in contrast. Tony closes his eyes for a brief second and relishes it before he turns to regard Steve.

Steve’s looking at him and only him; singularly focused, uncaring of the bright orange night sun that’s too stubborn to slip past the horizon or the cooing birds in the distant. Uncaring that even by Tony’s standard, this is the most beautiful roof top scenery he’d ever seen in his entire life – with potted plants and their blossoming flowers surrounding them - and right then, Tony feels incredibly privileged to feel the heat of Steve’s gaze on his face.

He wonders what Steve sees though, as he squeezes his hand in his. His own eyes dart all over Steve’s handsome face, searching, and he decides he’ll just ask him. But the moment he parts his lips, words ready on the tip of his tongue, Steve decides to speak.

“You’re stunning.” He says, stepping closer. Tony holds his place and lets Steve curl a hand around his neck, thumb pressing gently over his pulse point, caressing. “I could paint you like this” he murmurs, letting go of Tony’s hand to trace a curve over Tony’s ear and back before he fits the heel of his palm under Tony’s jaw, gently nudging Tony’s chin up and when he steps in impossibly close; both of their breaths intermingling; hot and heady, their foreheads touch.

“Tell me I can kiss you?” Steve’s breath brushes over Tony’s lips, his mouth barely an inch away from slotting perfectly with Tony’s and it aches to wait, hurts to even breathe out a ‘yes’ but Tony manages. Daze as he fascinates himself with the curl of Steve’s fair lashes and the ridiculously gorgeous golden way they glow under the sun.

He can point the precise second – down to millisecond - when Steve’s lips meet his. He knows he’ll remember it by the way his heart stutters and jump circuits, and the exact pressure, in mmhg, with which Steve’s fingers press into his skin and pulls him closer. The exact temperature and the direction of the wind; Tony knows.

He knows, but all those details blur out in the back of his head like a swirl of paint dropped into a jar of water. They’re present, but insignificant to the greater details of how Steve feels against him, his body temperature, the hitch in his breath, the way he kisses – him, him and all him. Nothing else.

Tony drowns, willingly helpless, into Steve and Steve, he drinks him in.

The sun is red when they finally resurface and realise that there are things more interesting around them and only each other. But still, Tony thinks Steve’s the most of them; the most interesting, the most brilliant, and all.

It’s that giddy love-stupid brain of him, fuelled by all those happy hormones yada, yada - he knows. But he doesn’t care as he intertwines Steve fingers with his and giggles. He’s been in enough relationships to know that this high will fade in time, but right this second, he’s happy and is unapologetic about it, because it’s Steve and Steve likes him enough to go on a date with. To kiss him, and well, Tony’s over the moon.

He hasn’t even shown Steve Maria’s favourite blossom before Elena’s curious head pops out. Reluctantly, he leads Steve back downstairs for their dinner, marvelling how for the first time in forever, Manuel’s faster than him. He tells Steve that; about Manuel and Elena and about those potted plants and one of them which Maria loves the most. He tells him about Maria and Steve takes his hand, asks Tony if they can come back again.

“Next year, same place, same time.” Tony jokes, but not really. Eyes anxiously searching for Steve’s and relief floods in when Steve smiles in that mischievous way he does when he’s up for the challenge and is bloody sure he is going to win it.

Love-high fades, Tony knows. But the love itself, that he feels for Steve? That is staying because it’s stayed for years now and it hasn’t gone anywhere. He knows Steve like the back of his hand, knows him and loves him with all of his heart, so with utmost confidence, he says; “It’s a date.”

[keichanz]

Familiar

Nice and short because the last one burned me out lol

Spooktober Day 26: Familiar 

Bright and early the next morning and donned in the hated formal attire required for his profession, Inuyasha exited his house carrying his briefcase filled with the proposals and other paperwork he never finished last night. Though he’d much rather prefer to stay in bed with his wife an extra hour, he actually needed to go into work today to attend some boring meetings and apparently his secretary was having a meltdown from all the paperwork she’d gotten pushed onto her. He actually liked this one and didn’t want to her quit since she actually did what she was hired to do, so he also wanted to stop by her desk and take some of the load off of her as well.

He checked the time on his phone and decided he had enough time to swing by Starbucks for some java and so digging out the keys from his coat pocket, he swung open the door to his truck, but something black in his peripheral gave him pause and he turned his head to see what it was.

Inuyasha blinked as yellow eyes stared back at him. It was the cat from before, the black one he’d seen when Tai had believed that silly superstition about cracks and breaking backs. Curious, Inuyasha set his case on the driver’s seat and watched the feline for a moment. He’d thought it was just a stray since he’d never seen it before but maybe it belonged to someone?

To his surprise the cat abruptly stood up and lazily wandered over to him, tail sticking straight up in the air. Upon closer inspection however the cat’s hair was slightly dirty and rougher in some areas, suggesting it spent most of its time outside so maybe it was just a stray.

Inuyasha knelt down and held out a hand. The cat stopped and stared unblinkingly at him, studying him with calm yellow eyes. It inched closer, head down, and sniffed at the hanyou’s hand. Before Inuyasha could try and pet him, however, the feline turned and trotted off into the bushes in front of his house.

Inuyasha watched it go. Well, at least it wasn’t aggressive so he didn’t have to warn Kagome and the kids about it. Shrugging, he stood up and hopped not his vehicle to start his day, thinking he might indulge a little and get a flavor shot with his coffee instead of regular black today.

At lunch time, Inuyasha decided to take it at home today, the thought of getting away from the chaos at work far to appealing, so he hopped in his truck and drove the ten or so minutes home. With the kids and Kagome at school, nobody would be home so he could enjoy the peace and quiet while he ate a cup of ramen and texted his wife. She took her own lunch around this time too and knew she’d be free to chat for a bit.

Pulling into the driveway, Inuyasha cut the engine and left the keys in the ignition as he opened the door and hopped out. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he grinned, figuring it was probably Kagome and so he fished it out and woke up the screen.

His eyebrows rose in surprise; it wasn’t his wife, but his daughter, however he was pleased all the same. As it turned out Izayoi’s favorite feature on her new phone was the camera and she’d already taken about a dozen selfies, some with her little brother and mother, and even one with him. That one was his lock screen background, with the home screen being a professional picture of all four of them.

Unpredictably Izayoi had sent him another picture featuring her and Rin making silly faces. The caption read “because reasons” and he had to chuckle.

Opening the side door to his home, Inuyasha suddenly paused, frowned, and for reasons that he couldn’t explain, he looked over his shoulder. Sitting on the pathway was a familiar ebony feline, once more sitting calmly and staring at him with great yellow eyes.

“You again,” Inuyasha murmured and turned around, sinking onto his haunches. “You certainly like hanging around here, don’t you.”

The cat blinked and slinked forward, its tail high up with the tip hooked slightly. This time when he held his hand out, the animal sniffed his fingers and then rubbed against his hand, emitting a soft purr. Inuyasha indulged in petting the lean body, absently noting that it didn’t seem to be malnourished or anything. It looked healthy enough despite being a little dirty, so it appeared somebody was feeding it. Good to know.

Abruptly done with the pets, the cat turned and trotted away, dismissing him. Inuyasha cocked a brow, shook his head, and entered his home. Weird cat.

Somehow Inuyasha was not at all surprised that when he pulled into his driveway at 5 pm, the black cat was lounging on the porch steps, its sleek body sprawled out as it lazily stared at the big red truck as he put it in park. Its raven coat looked smoother and cleaner than when he’d last seen it, or maybe that was just from the sun reflecting off of it.

The hanyou raised a single brow, regarded the feline that had apparently taken put residence on his front porch, and mentally shrugged before heading toward the side entrance. Kagome was cooking dinner and from what he could smell it was stir-fry with jasmine rice with a side of pickled radishes. Fuck yes.

“Well, hello there, handsome,” a voice purred when he walked through the door and slim arms draped over his shoulders as warm lips pressed against his jaw.

“Hmmm.” Inuyasha buried his nose in Kagome’s neck and inhaled deeply, rumbling happily as she snagged an ear and rubbed the soft flesh. “Hey yourse—what the fuck?”

Lifting his head, Inuyasha looked down at the sleek black body as it rubbed against his legs, purring madly, then did the same to Kagome before casually strolling across the kitchen and into the living room. It hopped onto the back of the couch where it then proceeded to clean itself in embarrassing places, ignoring everyone.

Inuyasha gaped for a moment then turned his confused gaze to his wife. “What...”

Kagome sighed and suddenly looked very tired. “So we have a cat now.”

He blinked. “What the—”

“His name is Vader,” Izayoi supplied as she skipped down the stairs with a can of tuna in her hands, Tai hot on her heels.

“...Vader.”

“Cause he’s black,” Tai explained helpfully and sat down on the couch as Izayoi pulled the feline into her lap and let it eat from the can of tuna in her hand. That was when Inuyasha made the belated realization that it was his daughter who had feeding the animal, the sneaky little brat.

Shaking his head, at a complete loss, Inuyasha stared helplessly at Kagome and she could only give an apologetic smile.

“Well...at least we don’t need to worry about litter training,” she said, obviously trying to be optimistic, but then she sighed and dropped her forehead against his chest.

Feeling like he missed something, Inuyasha could do nothing but stand there, absently patting his wife on the back as he stared at his children and, apparently, their new pet. Vader abruptly lifted his head, licking his chops and purring mightily when two sets of small hands stroked his back, and when it turned big yellow eyes his way, Inuyasha could have sworn that damn cat smiled at him.

[sniperofmyheart]

STORY STARTERS MEME

Rules: List the first lines of your last 15 stories. See if there are any patterns. Then tag 10 of your favourite authors!  Do it if you are interested? @maychorian​ @danosphere91​ Tagged by @justira​

I don’t even know if I have 15 stories. I am going with the first paragraph or first indent not including dialogue if that makes sense. Starting from most recent. I am including different chapters as otherwise I won’t have 15. I feel like I am missing a WIP but I can’t find it found it!

1. Sad Fic (WIP no real title yet)

“Hey guys!! Look who we’ve got!’

They hadn’t even arrived at Wano, and Luffy was already screaming. He stood on the railing and pointed proudly at Sanji, who tried his best to hide behind Brook.  So much for a silent approach.  Having just escaped from one Emperor, Sanji couldn’t shake the feeling that any second Kaido would come barrelling down on them. Best not to tempt fate. The Sunny pulled  into the hidden harbour with very little fanfare, besides the fanfare that Luffy self generated. There was a crowd to greet them but first glance he couldn’t spot any familiar faces. There wasn’t a smile among them.  Luffy was smiling enough for them all as he danced along the railing and dove into the crowd, his arms swinging back and shit, Sanji  and the rest was dragged down as well. One of these days he was going to figure out how far that his damn captain could stretch and stay a good foot beyond that near any high places.

2. Chopper’s Dream (WIP. Title to change)

The lights were off in the infirmary. Sanji had seen Chopper run in not too long ago, so just in case, he knocked as he entered. Chopper did take reindeernaps in here after all.

“Chopper? I brought some tea and cookies, the ladies didn’t want it all”

The small reindeer had his head on the desk, turned, eyes staring into the wall

Sanji carefully set the platter between Chopper and the wall, and waited.

Chopper continued to stare through the ever so delicious tea and cookies at the wall.

3. Raftel (WIP)

They had finally made it, Raftel. The imposing cliff face loomed over them. All those years of fighting, crying and laughing, suddenly felt very small before it. Even Usopp, brave warrior of the sea that he was, felt his knees shake a little. This was the end. The last island, X that marks the spot.  What could possibly be up there that was worth all this? Even with everything  they had seen, if he was really honest with himself, Usopp had no idea what the One Piece was. A mountain of gold? “Made you look” ponoglyphed into a wall? A doodle of sea gull with God D roger’s autograph at the bottom? Nothing could surprise him anymore. He looked over at Robin, she probably had a better idea. Even with the wind splashing the stinging seawater into the crew’s eyes, she kept looking forward, unblinkingly.

4. Reindeernapping Chapter 4 (WIP)

The Sunny was docked slightly away from the main harbour, tucked away half hidden. Apparently the locals (thanks Franky for the intel) were okay with pirates as long as they were seen and not heard. Zoro was on the deck trying to sleep as  Luffy continued the Chopper hunt. Cause of course Chopper might of just fallen asleep in a barrel or climbed up into the crow’s nest. Zoro couldn’t wait to see the shit cook’s face when he saw his kitchen, Luffy had opened every single drawer and cabinet, on the off chance that Chopper had somehow managed to shrink down to 6 inches and decided to hid with the spoons. Once he had satisfied himself that Chopper hadn’t buried himself into any of the bags of flour Luffy stumbled from the kitchen, caked in white powder and launched himself to the figure head. He lay out and stared at the sea

“This is sooooo booooringg! I want to look for Chopper too!”

5. Emergency Food Supply (WIP)

It has been 19 days, three hours, fifteen minutes and 30 seconds since they had last eaten. Not that Chopper was keeping count. Counting required energy. Luffy’s stomach didn’t so much as growl anymore, it was just a dull constant roar against the ocean.  Despite Thriller Bark being behind them, they still couldn’t find their way out of the fog that was the Florian Triangle. 

6. Shut Up Kiss Chapter 3 Lusopp 

They were sailing away. The cannonballs crashing into the ocean were so loud that Usopp could barely think straight, but the silence from the ship was deafening. They were going to leave him.

“If that’s what you want… let me say one last thing. You guys…” he tries to yell but it only comes out as a kind of whisper. What was the point, his throat was already sore from screaming and they were sailing away.

7. Physician Inquisition

“I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON THAT APPLE AND DIE YOU BASTARD!”

BZZZZZZ

“GOD DAMN CHARLEY HORSE!”

BZZZZZZ

“HEY I AM NOT A HORSE! I AM A REINDEER”

BZZZZZZ

Nami poked her head into the sick bay,

“Is everything all right in there?”

8. Don't Play With Your Food

Sanji stared at the freezer door and took a deep breath. He must have misread it, or it was mislabeled, or this was all some kind of fevered dream. If this was a fever dream, he expected some beautiful dancing ladies. He opened the freezer door and pulled out the parcel. Venison. So not dancing ladies then. In little black letters clear as day and beside it almost as an afterthought, reindeer. It sounded like a devil fruit, the venison venison fruit mode reindeer. A small slightly hysterical laugh escaped his mouth and he bit his lip but it still echoed through the kitchen. This wasn’t a devil fruit or some kind of joke, it was a slab of meat. Reindeer meat. In his freezer. Outside he could hear the tap-tap of hooves and a gentle high-pitched laugh. Their emergency food supply new crewmate, he really should stop those jokes, was fitting in well. He stared harder at the letters willing them to rearrange themselves. Fantastic.

9. Wedding Feast

“Welcome to my humble kitchen Lord Sanji” the head chef was groveling so hard his white chef hat scrapped on the ground. His hat seemed wrong, too small.

“Get up. I just wanted to have a look around, it is my wedding feast after all.”

The chef straightened himself.

“Why yes Lord Sanji, of course. I had heard rumours that our great Lord spent some time at a restaurant, so any comments or suggestions are more than welcome.”

The bustle of white smocks around him, the sizzling of pans and the smell of garlic filled the room. Throw in some swearing and a few half dozen tattooed men and you would almost have the Baratie. For the first time since he had arrived at Germa Kingdom, he almost felt at home. He had missed the bustle and the noise. The kitchen was never quiet even back on the Sunny. Someone was always whining for more meat, trying to sneak sake or sweets, and trying to drink all of his milk or cola in one go. Or just dropping by to talk and getting bullied into cutting veggies and washing dishes. He really should ask Franky to put a lock on the door, give him some peace and quiet for a change. But then the ladies wouldn't be able to drop by. Choices choices.

10. Man Overboard

“MAN OVER BOARD MAN OVER BOARD”

Sanji was already in the water looking around frantically so Usopp though it was safe to check who had fallen in. As Chopper and Luffy were the ones yelling their heads off a bit further down the ship with fishing rod in hand, or well hoof, it wasn’t them. Brook had come running over with his violin (how that would help a drowning person is anyone’s guess), and he could see one of Robin’s hand with an eye in the centre sprouted on the side of the ship scanning the water as well. So it wasn’t any of the devil fruit users, that was a relief. Nami had poked her head out of the girl’s room to see what the fuss was about her mapping pen still in hand and Franky had poked his head out of the bathroom. Which left Zoro. Had he somehow managed to wander off the ship into the sea, was that even possible? There weren’t any marine ships around so it wasn’t a surprise attack that had knocked him in. Maybe he fell asleep on the railing and tipped over? But just as Usopp had settled on this, he heard a loud voice behind him “What is taking that damn curly brow so long?”

11. The Question

There is a rare moment of silence, the Merry has burned and the Straw Hats are wiping their eyes and trying to catch their breath. The mighty Sogeking takes a deep breath and grabs Luffy’s hand, half dragging him away from everyone else. Or at least he tries to, but dragging a rubber man by the hand is surprisingly difficult and kind of awkward. You end up standing a few feet away with his stretched arm between the two of you as he picks his nose with the other. After some anxious head tilting and whispering what could be misunderstood to be the word meat, Luffy shuffles over. It is quiet and Luffy has to lean in a little to hear it properly but Sogeking manages to squeak it out

“Can I join the crew?”

no bravado no tall tales and Luffy just smiles.

“No way!”.

12. Reindeernapping Chapter 3

He had built the Shark Submerge III to carry up to three people so with only himself inside there was plenty of room, but the metallic echo of his own breathing and the itching sense that time was passing too fast was making Franky feel queasy. Being a dozen or so feet underwater and forced to wear unnatural pants wasn’t helping matters either. He would give anything for that squeaky little voice to start chirping away, dancing around the cabin asking silly questions about what each button did. Instead there was silence. Franky stared out the reinforced glass viewing window scanning the ocean view. If Little Bro was here, he wouldn’t miss him. One of the handy things about being a cyborg was that blinking was purely optional. With a few drops in his eyes every morning, he might blink once or twice a day, if at all. He had won a lot of money off Long Nose Bro that way, the poor kid couldn't say no to a staring contest. Franky usually wore his shades to avoid giving anyone the creeps but with an empty submarine, that wasn’t an issue.

13. Reindeernapping Chapter 2

The pink and purple smoke was still hanging in the air. Franky couldn’t help asking

“How do you guys usually go about finding lost people? This can’t be the first time this has happened, right?”

“ Chopper just tracks Zoro-I mean Chopper tends to sniff people out” Long Nose answered.

”Fantastic ”

He had seen a bit of their finding people attempts back at Water Seven, and been less than impressed. Franky sat down with a thud on the grass.

14. Reindeernapping Chapter 1

Grocery shopping was distinctly not super. Franky and Reindeer Gorilla had gotten stuck with last minute supplies duty as Cook Bro was too busy protecting the fresh meat and booze from Straw Hat and Sword Bro. Cook Bro had given them an extensive list and Reindeer Gorrilla had his own list of herbs and textbooks he wanted to get. It all added up to quite a haul so someone needed to order and pay while Reindeer Gorilla lugged everything around. Merchants didn’t take kindly to animals placing orders. So Franky volunteered to be Reindeer Gorilla’s designated human. He wanted to get to know his new crew mates outside the yelling and screaming that was Enies Lobby. The market place was jam packed, a lot of elbows to the stomach and competing smells that didn’t quite go together. Fresh flowers, half rotten cabbages and the body odour of the crowd (he was going to have to force Lil Bro to take a bath eventually, the smell was ridiculous) were enough to make his nose rust. It kind of reminded Franky of back home, he has barely left it 72 hours ago and he was definitely not crying. Rubbing his super dry eyes, he stared down at Cook Bro’s list. It seemed like he had everything. A note was scribbled on the bottom ‘Absolutely no cotton candy, that means you Chopper' Franky snorted.

“Reindeer Gorilla, look at this-”

But he was speaking to thin air. The parcel packed Reindeer Gorilla was gone.

15. Shut Up Kiss Chapter 2 Lusopp

“Thinking back, when I was about to sail out, you guys asked me to join you. That's all that's tying us together. We don't have to-”

Something slams into Usopp’s face and everything goes dark. Luffy had been across the room sulking in the wrecked table, right? Had Luffy punched him? Or Gum Gum belled him in the face? Usopp peeks his eyes open, he didn’t remember closing them, and finds himself staring into black circles. Luffy was close, too close. Close enough for Usopp to pluck out his stupid eyelashes one by one. The words won’t come out, he can’t breath. Something was blocking his mouth or rather someone was. Luffy. This wasn’t a surprise punch to the face or a head butt. This was something else.

[millercrystal]

Budgets and Bargains

Fandom: The Flash

Cynco week 2017 - 7 June: free day

Warnings: nothing triggering that I am aware of, feel free to tell me if you need anything tagged.

Rating: general

Genre: general

Word count: 757

Note: Another idea I have for the prompt, Flashpoint!Cynco (theme of day 1). I’m not too happy about the ending scene… and the whole 4 times of interaction - I wanted to do a 3+1 thing if it’s not clear in the fic. It feels kind of flat but eh.

---

Cynthia has been pouring over paperwork for 10 hours straight but is still buried chest-deep in documents, in both literal and physical senses of the expression. No, seriously, the files she needs to look over are stacked to an alarming height next to her desk. Complicated patent application drafts waiting to be checked before sending back for applicants to revise or off to the Central City Patents Registry, references she is reading through to make sure new patents Ramon Industries employees are applying for do not infringe on existing patents, and paperwork for her team - the patents affairs division - such as work distribution, and records on receiving and sending the looked over drafts to the appropriate people.

She and her team have been working overtime until at least 8 pm every business day for 2 months; they are understaffed for the rocketing workload accompanying the meteoric rise of the company. The sacrifice in personal time is deeply felt across the office, many on the team have whispered about barely having time for dinner with family. Everyone is burnt out but no one has acknowledged it. Yet.

As the head of division, it is Cynthia’s responsibility to address this issue.

---

Petitioning Mr Ramon to raise budgets for expanding the patents division is an art in itself.

The first time, Cynthia emails him, citing the workload and requests allocating budget for adding 2 more legal staff to her team.

He replies in 5 minutes, stating that he will look into it.

After that, it has been another month but there is no word about adjusting the departmental budget.

---

The second time, Cynthia corners Ramon in the lift when he returns from lunch, letting him know about low morale in the patents division.

‘Nah uh, not now. My green smoothie’s waiting.’ he walks out of the lift briskly and waves her away.

‘You don’t need your mouth to listen! That’s what ears are for!’

He pretends not to hear her.

Frankie, his secretary, catches her eye and smiles apologetically, then jogs after her boss.

---

The third time, Cynthia follows Cisco around his bi-monthly departmental visit, under the guise of needing to discuss about his patent documents in person. Frankie trails a few steps behind them.

‘Patent applications would be edited and confirmed so much faster, if only the division had more staff to check them over.’ she remarks nonchalantly.

‘And the division would get them sooner, if only their head lawyer would agree to talk about it over dinner.’

‘Isn’t that blackmail?’

‘It’s a conditional offer. Your call, not mine.’

‘I don’t have time for this.’ Cynthia huffs, turning on her heels to go back to her files. Frankie squeezes her arm sympathetically as she passes by.

---

The fourth time, Cynthia manages to convince Frankie to squeeze 10 minutes from Cisco’s schedule for her petition. At the scheduled time, she marches into Cisco’s office.

With legs on the desk, Cisco glances at her out of the corner of his eyes and shoots a ball at the hoop, but does not spin fully around to face her.

Pressing her palms to the top of the desk, Cynthia blocks Cisco’s line of sight of the hoop. ‘If you don’t let my team expand, there’ll be a strike. Do you really want the whole Industries’ worth of patent documents held up? That can’t be good for business.’

‘How kind of you to be concerned about my company.’

‘Which I’m a part of. I don’t want to look for another job, Ramon.’ she glares at him.

‘Fine,’ Cisco leans back in his chair, ‘you know what, I’m gonna boost your division’s budget enough for hiring 5 more people.’

‘If?’

‘If nothing.’

They stare at each other unblinkingly for 10 seconds, silently challenging the other to cave first.

Cynthia straightens and crosses her arms, ‘You’re a businessman, there’s always something in it for you.’

Cisco sighs, ‘True… Well, if I bump up your budget, will you join me for dinner sometimes?’

‘Is that a demand?’

‘No, it’s a … Ah, forget it.’ avoiding her eyes, he pushes up his glasses and types something into the computer, ‘Budget’s raised now.’

‘Finally, thank you.’ she turns to leave and feels the context of the dinner offer start clicking into space. Right as she reaches the door, she has it all worked out.

‘When there are more staff and my team can get off work at more normal hours, I’ll have dinner with you. Preferably not work related.’

Cisco looks up, a wide smile blooming across his face.