#super exciting to be wearing a shirt with a logo that i made

[trashabilly]

logo i did for my buddy's band actually on a shirt!! holy shit that's so cool!!

[divineei]

modern!atwow x musician!reader

modern avatar mlist!

desc. headcanons for modern avatar: the way of water teens with a musician significant other who’s in a band. reader plays a different instrument for each character.

a/n. if this flops i’m retiring. real shit.

— neteyam. ( guitarist s/o ♪! )

he sleeps with a t-shirt of your band every. goddamn. night.

gives it back to you once a week so you can spray your perfume on it. you ended up bringing him a bottle of ur fave brand and he sprays the cologne on it every time he washes it (aka ever fucking week)

mans hooked. to both you and your music

listens to your band’s songs at least once a day. either w/ headphones or on full blast it doesn’t matter

his whole family knows all the lyrics

sometimes tuk comes to his room and jumps on his bed while playing air guitar and he absolutely joins

other times tho he closes his eyes to focus and pays special attention to the guitar while having your smile in mind

he once spent like 2 weeks watching youtube tutorials to (kinda) learn one song so he could play for you

was it good? no it was fucking hideous. was it the sweetest fucking thing ever tho? absolutely it was

always tries to pick you up after band practice

my boy would rather miss his basketball competitions than miss one of your concerts

this one time he actually tried to skip a match bc your performance was at the same time and the mf showed up backstage like “hEy🙂”

you had to call his mom for him to leave (u snitch that was kinda foul)

definitely knows abt “the rockstar’s girlfriend” aesthetic and makes it his personality. like he’s so into it

you got him a t-shirt that said “im with the band” as a joke but he actually wears it and its hilarious

— kiri. ( keyboard s/o ♪! )

comes to your house just to hear you play

she brings a book and lays down on your bed while you make new music

ADORES watching you come up with new tunes!!!!!!

you always have that focused look on your face as you move your fingers over the keys at makes her want to take a picture (she actually has a few ngl)

always goes back home humming your new melody

you record covers of her favorite songs on your keyboard and give her a cd that she listens to on her discman (she defo owns old gadgets like that)

sometimes puts her phone down on her window stool, where she has her favorite plants, and leaves it there with your music playing. she likes to think it help her plants grow

lowkey gatekeeps your songs

there was this one time you couldn’t sleep bc she kept appearing on your mind, so you connected your headphones and made your “ode to kiri”

it was 2am when you vídeocalled her to play for her what you just wrote

and kiri being the sensitive person she is, swore she could feel your affection through the music, little tears threatening to fall from her pretty eyes

it was truly a treasured memory in your relationship

until a loud ass knock on your door and an equally loud “FFS ITS 2AM!!!!!” almost made you drop dead

she absolutely laughed at you btw

— lo’ak. ( bassist s/o ♪! )

brings you stickers so you can decorate your bass w/ them

“aye babe i got a new sticker for your guitar” “for the hundredth time lo’ak, its a BASS!!!”

yeah he knows it annoys you and no he’s not gonna stop

his lockscreen is a picture of you on stage with a bunch of lil hearts he drew around you

when he goes to your concerts he tells everyone you two are dating

“you see that one over there bro? pfft yeah, we’re together” “do i know you man????” 💀

when you told him your band didnt have a logo yet he showed up at your door 3 days after, super excited and with a bunch of sketches to show you

i also think lo’ak would be really into graffiti art

so he goes around the neighborhood spray painting your band’s logo on the streets walls

“lo’ak you’re gonna get us in trouble” “oh cmon, its good promo!!”

he messes up with your amplifier when you practice, turning up and down the volume, the treble, etc. until you throw your pick right into his fucking forehead and he’s like:

“ma fault 😨”

the moment he (finally) sits still he actually pays really close attention to how your hands move

“damn, you make it look so easy” “im just good with my fingers ig”

cue the dumbest smirk you’ve ever seen

— ao’nung. ( drummer s/o ♪! )

imma just say it; he is popular. by that i mean ma boy has hella contacts

AND by that i mean he makes sure your band always has a venue to perform at. always first on every list fr

“ao’ stay the fuck away from my drums”

actually a fucking menace. tries to impress you by smashing the drumsticks everywhere.

“nah babe check me out i got it this time srsly”

rhythm left the room the moment he sat down

he even attempts some tricks he seen you pull off during your concerts, like throwing the sticks up or rolling them between his fingers.

they always end up either on the floor or hitting his dumbass head. it’s cool tho, u kiss it better (after a well deserved smack bc what did i tell u)

he’d still insist on learning so you two end up having a chick flick moment where you guide him by putting your hands on his

boy actually blushes. just a smidge

“your ears are red” “stfu no they’re not”

might not know shit abt making music but seeing the look on your face when you play is enough to make him see how passionate you are

loves being alone with you in your band’s backstage lounge

he’s so fucking extra he got his friend outside the door like some whack ass bodyguards. they’re so into it too bro

“aye keep walking man🕴️” “move along bitch aint nothing to see here🕴️”

whenever you’re about to go on stage he stays with you in your band’s room and massages your hands

makes sure you always put some baby powder on your palms before you perform in case you start sweating so you dont drop your drumsticks

— tsireya. ( vocalist s/o ♪! )

she sings along to your songs whenever they play

ao’nung is sick and tired of listening to her and uses ear plugs all the time bc he once told her to stfu and got smacked

you two even make your own carpool karaoke and scream the lyrics together on the parking lot

and she NAILS IT!!!!!

like my girl can sing fr

in fact you’ve asked her to help in a few songs for harmonies and second voices

she helps you out a lot with your vocal practice and your breathing exercises

she sits down with you and counts each second with her fingers when hold your breath and when you try your best to hold a specific note

let’s be honest here. A LOT of your songs are abt her

you really don’t have to tell her, she knows they are. bc when you’re up on stage singing abt the perfect girl, you look right at her. and her heart beats faster every time

sometimes you send her your lyrics like “what do u think of this??” and it’d be a full on poem abt her that makes her smile so goofy. kicking feet and everything

every time you get in the shower and start humming/singing her phone is ready

actually has a video of you freaking tf out bc you had an idea for a new song while showering and you stormed your way out the bathroom, wet and hair full off shampoo

“REYA PASS ME A PEN QUICK” “NAH WHY ARE YOU BOOTY NAKED PLEASEHAhH”

you had to mop the floor after that

— rotxo. ( acoustic guitarist s/o ♪! )

makes sure you are never out of strings to change

but since the strings are heavier from an electric guitar, he knows you sometimes hurt your fingers playing

so he bought you a bunch of finger protectors.

he’s a sweetheart, but those whack ass things he got you looked like this

yeaaah…. no. 💀

actually offensive he’d think you need that shit but you let it go bc he really just wanna be there for you

the actual definition of #1 fan

he’s on every concert

and i mean EVERY. CONCERT. front row, backstage, glowing sticks on one hand, phone on the other and zooming on you and only you

he goes to your house more than you go to his, just bc he always wants you to play smthn. and this way you dont gotta bring your guitar back and forth

when you’re together in your room, you get your guitar and he asks you to play some lofi style tunes

especially loves it when it’s summer and the both of you just lay down with the windows wide open and the breeze goes in and out. has a cool glass of your fave drink with a straw and he holds it up to you while you play

one thing ik for sure is rotxo is lowkey good at making beats/bases

the two of you have definitely made a few tracks purely for your enjoyment (like this)

many many many beach dates where you bring your guitar and he lays his head on your lap while the sun sets

taglist. — @rainbowsocks, @dearstell, @erenjaegerwifee, @neteyamyam, @lvrcpid, @grierpilots, @littlexscarletxwitch, @elegantkidfansoul, @anm3mi, @kachowness, @boilingpots , @lagoonabluebabe, @lethalvenus, @casiia, @liluvtojineteyam, @inluvwithneteyam, @syulangg, @junnniiieee07, @drugs-for-memes, @ilovejakesullysdick, @lovelyygirl8, @neqeyam, @ak-aaa-li, @sakura-onesan, @babyymeme, @gender3nvyy,

© to @divineei on tumblr; do not repost or steal

[waywardsunlight]

Post Hoot 4/28/2023

Cissy, Dana, Rebecca, Sarah, Avi, and Zelda Black

Reactions to the finale? 

Sarah cried really hard when she saw the Quincera (“a whole chapter in my life is over” line). Avi was excited to play a villain, Sarah said they were scary. Avi liked to play with character. Dana loved seeing Avi’s evil Raine, said it was intense. They said they wanted to see more evil Raine, but Dana wanted to avoid it. Rebecca’s birthday was the week the finale came out, talked about their appearance in the episode. Cissy started crying, said it was neat.

Continue reading below:

Cissy had been travelling, and got back right on time to see the finale, she was super tired. Cissy was crying, her kids were asking her if she was crying. Avi cried too. Sarah said she was choked up but she was more excited. Avi felt like it was surreal. Cissy said “no sequel” “we can hope” “It would be fun to do more but it would require Disney to agree” Dana. Sometimes Dana gets so pissed off about the cancelling. Rebecca said the finale aired and they were back to being angry. Wished they had gotten more episodes. Sarah was angry, upset and sad about the cancellation but she loved the finale. “It couldn’t have been more impressive”.“There’s always gonna be a thousand things we want to improve but it came out well” Dana

Dana loved the fight scene between Luz, Eda, and King v Belos. 

Music? How does it work? Brad has been on since season 2, he already knew the style of the show, so for every animatic, you put in temp music, and you send the composer the stuff and the spot notes, follow the concept of the temp music but add a horror genre spin on it. Brad’s first take on the episode was great. TJ did a remix for the epilogue, Dana cried hearing the remix for the epilogue. 

They brought back every single actor for the bye. Everyone’s last line is bye!!! Hooty originally had a line where he kept saying goodbye. Hooty coming out of Papa Titan’s eye? “I won’t say much, in hopes I get to do more in the future (slim chance), this youtube reviewer- The3rdBill got it right in an offhand comment”

“How did the writing change for season 2/season 3?” Dana had an ending she wanted, wasn’t able to do it bc too much set up. All of season 2A was written without the knowledge of the cancellation, Follies was the first episode fully written with the knowledge it was cancelled. Dana wanted to do more with galdorstones, coven heads, Bat Queen, it’s easy to see what we had to prioritize. It was a hard situation in the writer’s room. We did our best and we’re happy people still connected to it.”

“Keep being loud about how much you love the show”

“Support the Etsy artists!” Had a pin by SophieScrubs

“It’s not like we had whole episodes written that were trashed, they were one sentence ideas”- they were in Dana’s head “I’m just happy with what came out” 

“We kinda got to go out, 45 minute specials, it was fun to work with”

Cissy “There’s no way you can’t be a fan”, Cissy was wearing a King beanie and got recognized as a fan in Ireland!

Sarah met people who liked her shirt and the show lol (didn’t say if they knew who she was) Rebecca wore a king sweatshirt in DisneyLand, saw somebody else with a king sweatshirt and they side-eyed her lol “Anyone who ignores Rebecca can catch these claws”

Owlberts in the title of the show, Stringbean is there too, the L and S, when they made the pilot, they had a different logo, it wasn’t made intentionally but they saw it and they liked it.

Luz had a connection with snakes, having her reclaim snakes.

Sarah was a snake believer!!!

A lot of ppl had ideas in the writers room, Dana loves bad puns and loved snakeshifter (the guy who has Barkus named after him), Beastkeeping bc Dana loves animals, Oracle bc she could see the future of the show.

“Avi needs wrangling” Sarah, they joked around.

Raine’s Palisman: The Palisman was disguised as the violin, Raine smashes their violin- it was the staff part of the Palisman that was smashed.

Did they Clawthorne family ever discover they were descendants of Evelyn and Caleb? Eda and Hunter don’t know, the rest I won’t say.

Who had the old house? Who did that belong to? 

Sarah has a Stringbean! 

“The artistry of the fandom is inspiring” Cissy

Somebody’s making Cissy a Lilith one.

Caleb, Evelyn, Flapjack? “Save it for the spinoff” Dana: “One detail I like to think of, is when we were writing TTT, Flapjack is not Evelyn, to Belos he saw Flapjack as the culmination of the corruption in his brother “if it weren’t for you”, you can see a hint at it in the halloween decorations, Evelyn’s hand had Flapjack. First magic Caleb was introduced to, Evelyn was hiding her ears and pretending to be human, follow this bird into this portal? “Dog owners passing eachother and becoming friends and bonding over dogs”. I like to think that Evelyn and Caleb was sweet- platonic curiosity to romantic, it was good for a bit.

“Who did the shack belong to?” We never got to explore this, it was originally the home of Caleb and Philip, Eda comes out there for the first time when coming out of the portal door. Eda fixed it!!! Everything doesn’t matter, google death of the author, I am just a fan now bc the show is finished. If you prefer your version, it’s valid rn.

Eda becomes the owl beast before getting Owlbert. There was going to be an episode where they showed her reclaiming the image of the owl and learning to carve palisman with Dell.

When Luz and Hunter went down to the basement originally, there were graves down there for Philip and Caleb, based off old buildings in connecticut (no story purpose)

Belos concepts when he was taking over animals, didn’t end up in the show, Belos animal designs, alluded to but not shown

Eye on the portal is Papa Titan? Yes. 

Hunter is bisexual, Willow is pansexual.

Amity and Lilith rekindled mentor relationship, Lilith has a lot of history, Amity likes history + reading. They liked the blueprints for the library.

Cissy hadn’t seen anything she didn’t speak lines for, Cissy just got her lines/scenes.

Apparently they’re not supposed to bring the scripts home, before the pandemic they got full scripts

“Excuse me I’m talking” Avi (joking), Avi and Sarah are high energy

Avi didn’t have time to read the script, Sarah was confused when Luz died

Sarah got the script when Flapjack died, she said “no! Take me!” and they said “you’re going too”

Avi had trouble with the “you’re fluffy” line

Rebecca sent animatics to help the actors, it was easier for them to see the animatics

“It’s always up to the showrunner to show as much as they can” we go pitches in house with our own voices, Dana did Terra in For the Future animatic.Dana hates hearing her own voice, she talks really fast in her reads. When you pitch, you also do the sound effects. When they did the pitch for the finale (hour and a half), the line that got Rebecca choked up when Dana did Luz’s “Eda, King, thank you” “we got you kiddo”

There’s a recording of all of season two b  and season three of Dana pitching doing the lines.

If the show had not been cut short, would Amity and Hunter have had more time? Everyone would’ve gotten more of a chance to talk to each other- yes. Hunter would’ve talked to more characters like Vee and human realm kids, Camila. Literally everyone would’ve had more time. Dana loves the sibling relationship.

Luz and Raine barely interact, they’re bickering jokingly. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to hang out” Dana, “we can’t get the hexsquad to hang out”

Where did Luz attend school after WAD? She went to human realm high school, she had renewed motivation, even if high school was difficult, she had a goal, having a safe space for her and a family outside of the human realm made high school more bearable (that was the cause for Dana, having that escape was good).

Gus’s hair!! :D Emmy designed him. Dana designed Emira, Skara, Eber for the finale. Dana had two others but she forgot. 

King’s dad’s name is unpronounable. 

Does the Collector visit often? Has their relationship with their siblings improve? (STRONG LAUGHS) Dana can’t say much about the Archivsts, the Collector didn’t have a flashforward design bc they didn’t grow up that much, got a little taller but not really. Immortal space child. Dana was inspired by creepy dolls, and a nightmare. JBO had a google folder with cool references of creepy dolls, liminal nightmare scapes, stars. We know who is the Collector is gonna be but what’s their vibe. That was one of the most fun parts after the shortening. The Collector was always a part of it, not solidified, but yeah they were a part of it. The Collector has stayed connected, visits. Dana loves fan comics about King and the Collector. 

Won’t answer questions about the archvists. 

Hooty doesn’t have to be vacated from the owl house if he doesn’t want to, the door has a star motif on it, when the door isn’t active, Hooty can be there, but the portal door can fold up but Hooty is buddy. 

Who are the current residents of the Owl House? Raine and Eda’s business is their business, not all love stories end in marriage, that doesn’t diminism any kind of love? They live together in the owl house. Raine moved in.

Zach Markus invented Matt so he gets to answer Matt questions.

Vee and Masha dating? It’s hard to say, bc we didn’t include Masha in the finale, Vee has a crush on them. Yeah! Maybe.

Sarah’s husband is texting saying hi lol.

Odalia? Divorced. The kids happily live away from her. They see her when they have the energy to, they recognize she’s toxic and they don’t have to put up with her if she’s being awful. May have been explored if more episodes. Rachael MacFarlane (VA) is great. She’s not British, she’s just pretentious.

King’s Tower? Dana’s thinking… “dumb answer. The plans we had, it had something to do with… it was related to someone who you all know who may have amnesia

There was gonna be a moment for other characters to get eye glow (strong emotions)

What’s the mouse that looked like alador? In the boards, Dawn animated the scene, he has a pose where he looked like a t-rex, Dana saw it and thought he looked like Remy from Rattatoue, when they got to the scene with the lab, he remembered that convo and drew in the rat and Dana laughed so hard “keep it, don’t change it” “It’s his palisman”

“A show should be enjoyed as is, knowing how it’s made is also cool” “when the show got darker- we got to do the fun stuff we got to do, if we all tried to force ourselves to write a happy go-lucky show they’d be unhappy, we’re gonna put our feelings into this” It was a dark writers room for a bit.

Sarah likes the darker elements, mentioned the masks (maybe TTT?), not totally removed from reality

“It clearly struck a chord, we lived through a global quarantine, we’re feeling the fallout of it”

“What was extremely hopeful for the crew was that the characters would have a happy ending, Luz gets to study magic, the characters stay together and form a community” 

They got questions they couldn’t answer like about the quince 

They don’t know if this is the last post hoot

They opened presents but they didn’t get one for Avi bc they didn’t know they’d be there until 2 days before. Rebecca got them funko pops of Lilith and Luz. Rebecca said thank you.

“Hey disney, if you’re watching, this could be you”

Elizabeth (Camila VA) called her mom to translate stuff into spanish. 

Said byeeee!

[never-ending-fanfic]

Kallus concept art- artificial leg

*long post ahead, let me rant about my art*

If you remember this post, then you know this has been sitting in my head for ages, but only lately I decided to start actually working on the fic to it, but it's going poorly in between The Fall of Fulcrum and my new multichapter fic I posted lately a blind man needs no looking glass (*wink* check them out). I also don't feel educated well enough to write the aftermath of loosing a limb and getting an artifitial one, at least not yet, I'll need to make a huge research on that before I write it (any of your suggestions are welcome)

I wanted to share this after the fic was published, but it's been waiting for so long that I just wanna post it regardless of the status of the story so here

Important note: If you use any of the art as reference for your fics, which you are welcome to do, it would be nice if you let me know and credit me (out of respect for my art but also I'll probably be super excited to read and see your work ♥️)

In my idea for the fic, Kallus looses a leg as a result of a serious injury on a mission to break out some Imperial prisoners with the Ghost crew. He gets injured when he pushes Sabine out of the way of the explosion. I wanted to write the fic both for the reason of writing Whumped Kallus™ again (it's not my fault my boy is made to be hurt) and writing some of Sabine and Kallus Being Besties™ (I will never ever get tired of this friendship concept) but I only have one scene written so far, as I said, I need to make some research to continue and I'll post the story as soon as I think it's good enough. Don't know if it'll be a long one shot or a multichapter, but I know I wanna write it, so bear with me ♥️

Here are some closeups:

I really took my time with the details here:

Kallus is wearing friendship bracelets from Sabine and Ezra

Sabine has pins with meanings (the logo of Phoenix Squadron, the number 5 for her "Spectre 5" title and an "S" for her name)

the meteor necklace decorated with golden and purple beads 💛💜

the leg was decorated by Sabine mainly, I changed the design a bit and played with the colors. The paintings include the Fulcrum logo, the logo of the Phoenix Squadron, the logo of the Rebellion Alliance and twin moons of Lothal from Fulcrum's codephrase as well as just some colorful splashes and patterns. Also, the story takes place before Hera was pregnant, but, just as in the original post, after Jacen comes around he likes to decorate it as well so we can thank him for adding a Tooka head, hearts and flowers to the foot

the card says "get well soon" and it was made for Kallus by the entire Ghost crew when Kallus was still unconscious and recovering in the medbay after loosing a leg- I have the interior already done and I'll post it another time with the explanantion of what's written inside, cause it's all in Aurebesh 💕

also putting Kallus in a crop top was something I just had to do for personal reasons also you are welcome✨

adding his freckles is always so rewarding

Sabine's shirt is covered in paint because of course it is

[frogwithhatto]

Froggo!! Can you post some domestic Vessel headcannons? Like what he would be like if you two were living together or something like that 🥺 (or just whatever you feel like!!)

Domestic Vessel

Pairing: Vesselxgn!reader

Summary: What it would be like to live with Vessel. It’s just a bunch of fluffy headcanons tbh.

Tw: none ?

Notes: This was literally written yesterday night and I only proofread it once bc I got so excited so I hope there aren’t any mistakes! Thank you for the request anon I loved the idea!!

- He’s not that good at cooking but he will try to make fancier stuff for you every now and then. He definitely taught himself how to make your favourite and your comfort food. Most of the time you two would cook together probably listening to some music while doing so. Get ready for silly dances and hopping around the kitchen with him but also if there’s a romantic song playing he would definitely slow dance with you.

- We know Vessel is a little science nerd so get ready to watch documentaries with him for hours! He definitely loves the serious super interesting ones but oh boy he’s a sucker for the trashy alien and/or gold digger ones. You know those really bad ones that never get to the point? Because those can get hard to watch you two would play Uno while watching!

- I also feel like he loves reading so get ready for sitting next to each other on your couch/bed your legs crossed over his lap sharing a blanket while either both of you read or he reads and you play nintendo (or whatever you like)

- If you’re not that big of a reader (or if you’re tired) he would definitely read his book to you. Like imagine you having your head in his lap as he makes funny voices for the different characters? He would be so cute!

- You’re the first to hear new lyrics and song ideas! „babe? Quick tell me if this slaps.“ (proceeds to play the most random thing you’ve ever heard but it does in fact go hard) He would also play guitar/piano for you if you asked him to. He definitely has recorded you a cover of your favourite song or even written you a song for a special occasion before

- He’s bath guy because I said so. He will bathe at least once a week if not more and he will ask you to join him not in a sexual way but more in a „let me wash your hair for you“ kinda way. If he has a bad day you would draw him a bath making sure to use his favourite bath salt and pick one of your oversized hoodies out for him to wear after it.

- Vessel is a big my clothes are yours and your clothes are mine guy. Will steal your hoodies, shirts and even jewellery.

- On the other hand if you had a bad day get ready for some cuddles and a comfort movie/show of your choice. (If you want to be alone he’s also very understanding but he will check on you from time to time asking if you need anything.)

- Lazy Sundays with Vessel would include sleeping in and after waking up you would start off the day by cuddling for as long as you wanted to. At some point you two would get up to make breakfast together and after it you either go straight to bed again to catch up on a show you’re watching or you get ready to go out (if you’ve made plans to go somewhere)

- „You wanna go take a walk in the woods??“ „Vessel it’s 10 pm… it’s super dark, cold and isn’t it raining outside?“

- He will leave notes for you around the apartment if he knows you will be home before he is. A little „I love you“ with squiggly hearts around it sticking on the fridge or maybe a random dad joke with a doodle on your dresser to make you smile.

- He will definitely send you postcards when he’s touring! Sometimes letters as well he’s a hopeless romantic which include the most random stuff. „The logo on this tag reminded me of you.“ „I thought you would like this flower I picked and pressed for you.“ You definitely keep everything he sends you though. Sometimes the letters will also include Polaroids of him and the other Vessels! (Maybe even a picture II took of him when he was writing said letter)

[sinners-if]

I’m super into fashion and all this talk is super exciting n thought provoking. Considering Grey’s personality, wealth, and the setting… I’d imagine they’d wear something formal or semi formal most days. Blends in w the city better and shows class and their wealth

Probably nothing designer, loud pieces and flashy logos draw too much attention and can be tacky. Maybe old money. Dress shirts and pants you could never guess were made by hand in some foreign European country. Rings with few jewels but impactful in a fist fight. Maybe a necklace or antique watch that while minimal, an expert might be able to recognize a gem or two from some stolen artifact that’s still missing…

If they’re going casual maybe a flowy, loose shirt tucked into waist high pants- swap it out for a fitted turtleneck and necklace in the autumn or winter. Maybe a parka and slimmer pants if it snows or rains.

Everything would most likely be tailored- some trusted source Grey has to both fix their clothing but also dry clean it in case of any messes.

Color wise I think Grey would go for neutrals, white, grey, black, light and dark browns, beige as well. Maybe a pop of color here and there for emphasis but patterns and textures kept to a minimal so they don’t clash. Most color use outside of emphasis are less saturated and more natural so it’d go well w beiges and white.

Depending on the warm/coolness of their skin tone, they might go for white gold or gold for warmer tones and maybe silver and platinum for cooler tones.

Maybe they’d even wear thin metal framed glasses 🤔 … there’s no real thought behind tbh- I just like glasses

(Sorry for the long rant I’m just very enthused😔)

No, don't apologize I really loved the details. You're absolutely correct, they can't get too crazy with fashion purely for the sake of blending in and mobility, but academia makes perfect sense for default!Grey.

RINGS. AESTHETIC. Thats it. That's all I have to say.

[imaginedreamwrite]

For Mushy Monday BNW Reader dressing their little pup in Captain America themed onesie/bodysuit. It (probably) made alphas very emotional 🥰

“Bucky I swear to god, if you don’t give me back my shield-“

“Steve I didn’t take your shield.” Bucky had been arguing with his mate all day, the two on edge, and had just now decided to face the alpha head to head.

Steve stops dead in his tracks, his mouth still parted as the words fall silent and he is rendered unable to speak from the image that’s laying before him. He stops so suddenly that Bucky runs into him, both super-soldiers aware of the scent of their pup and omega.

“Surprise.” Your voice had come with the bundled joy of your little pup, snuggled in a blanket and resting in the dip of Steve’s shield. “I took it, I had to use it-“

“God,” Steve exhaled shakily and moved toward the bed, “he’s beautiful.”

The photography session you’d whisked your son away to had already produced a beautiful image your baby boy sleeping on his daddy’s shield. He was wearing a tiny little onesie marker with the avengers logo, Bucky & Steve’s names on the front.

“I wanted to surprise you both and I had the pictures rushed.” You had sat behind the shield and your resting pup were a stolen shirt from Steve, and some of Bucky’s sweats, enveloped in their scent just as your pup was.

“Its beautiful, sweetheart.” Bucky was just as overcome as Steve was, encroaching slowly as their pup rested, as their pup has slept safely nestled in the symbol of freedom.

“Are those Bucky’s dog tags?” Steve questioned, addressing the part of the photograph where your newborn clutches the tags, unknowingly holding a part of both his daddies with him.

“I hope you don’t mind?” You furrowed your brows, easing into the idea.

“No honey, no. Not at all. Its…” Steve had smiled shaky, overcome with emotion. “Its beautiful.”

“Good.” You clapped your hands in excitement. “For the next one, I was thinking Bucky’s arm-“

“Next one?” Bucky asked with a laugh.

“You didn’t think we were having just one, did you?”

[libraryofloveletters]

albert request ! what if he accidentally gets a girl pregnant ? like what would his reaction be and his friend’s reactions lmao

Stranger In The Hallway 

Albert Han x Reader 

Warnings: fem!reader, mentions of pregnancy and pregnancy related topics/symptoms, 

Category: Fluff with 0.01% angst 

Word Count: 3.3k

Author’s Note: This is my first Albert piece and I'm super excited for it :) also this is dedicated to the president of the Albert fan club, @biqherosix <3

**italics are flashbacks

---

Empty boxes are now flattened into stacks of cardboards falling from your arms as you make your way to the garbage chute.

You groan, “are you kidding me?”

You lean to pick the cardboard up and shove it into the chute. “I think this belongs to you” a voice calls to you, a man with black hair and a grey sweater on. Your phone was in his hand, “where’d you find that?” you take the phone, shoving it into your pocket.

“Right over there,” he points towards the spot by the door. “Thanks, must have fell when the cardboard did” you give him a small smile.

“Are you new here? I haven’t seen you before” he asks, looking you up and down. There was a bag in his hand with a logo you weren’t familiar with but from the smell of it, it was probably like food.

“Yeah, I moved in last week.”

“Welcome then,” he flashes you a smile, the kind that gives you butterflies.

Stop it, you're not falling for the stranger in the hallway.

“I’m Albert, I live down the hall in 4B if you ever need anything” he tells you, you smile. “Thanks, I'm y/n by the way.”

“I thought I heard you out here” a tall blond man sticks his head out into the hallway, from apartment 4B to be exact.

You glance at Albert, brows furrowed before glancing back at the blonde.

“That’s my roommate.. well I'm his roommate? It’s his place” Albert tries to explain the situation to you after noticing your look.

“Anyways, it was nice meeting you y/n.”

“Nice meeting you too”

Watching as he makes his way down the hall, he steps into the apartment not before looking back at you once more.

--

From that day, bumping into Albert was a frequent thing. You saw him almost every afternoon as you came in from work and when you left in the morning, he would be coming in from a jog.

You had also met the mystery blond man in the apartment, Buck. Buck was Albert’s brother, Chimney’s friend/co-worker/unofficial brother-in-law which was interesting in itself.

The boys in 4B had invited you over for dinner, Albert was coming by to pick you up although you were just down the hall.

“Hey babe! You ready ?!” he stepped in and called for you. The layout of your apartment was similar to theirs, just that your kitchen wasn’t as nice as Buck’s but it did its job.

“Upstairs hun!” you hear him grow closer with each step, his arms wrap around your waist when he finally finds you by the dresser.  “Hello to you too” you laugh, your hand coming down to rest on his.

“You look beautiful”

“It's not too casual ? I wasn't sure what to wear” glancing at your reflection in the marrow, your hand smoothing over the red shirt you had on with a pair of black jeans.

“No, you look perfect” Albert hums, smiling at you in the mirror.

“Oh you’re too sweet,” turning to face him now, his hands on your lower back and your arms over his shoulder.

This thing between you and Albert has has everyone on the edge of their seats since he brought you to Eddie’s the last time they had a team get together.

“So are you two together ?” Maddie asks you, Karen and Hen beside her.

“Um-” breathing a laugh, a blush rising on your cheeks by the second. “No ? We’re just- just friends” you glance at Albert, who was on the couch next to Christopher. It looked like Chris was showing him something about the game they were playing and the sight of him with Chris made your heart swell a thousand times over.

“Uh huh,” Hen smiled at you, following your gaze to Albert. Karen gives her a nudge, “stop bothering the girl” she chuckled.

The topic of Albert and this blooming relationship was dropped until he appeared behind you. “Hey,” his hand resting by the curve of your hip, “you hungry ?”

“I’m alright, you?”

“Yeah, ready to go?”

“We’ve only been here for a hour” shifting slightly to look at him, “They won’t miss us”

You give in and say goodbye to Maddie, Hen and Karen before thanking Eddie for having you over.

“So they’re definitely together right ?” Karen hums, watching the two of you by the door.

“Oh yeah” “Yeah they are” the two women agree with her.

Chimney smiles as you walk arm in arm with Albert. “Good to see you, y/n” he hugs you, taking you away from his brother.

“Good to see you too. How are you ? How’s Maddie ?”

“Oh, just having to pee every 5 minutes but i’m fine” you hear her voice behind you, turning to face her but you’re met with her bump instead.

“Hey mama,” you move to her side to give her a hug, a hand resting on the bump. “Are we excited?” you ask, she hums. “It’s like she can’t wait to get out of there, she’s always kicking” Maddie smiles as her hand moves yours around to find a kick.

“Hey,” Buck’s hand squeezes your shoulder as he passes by the kitchen. “Hey” you smile at him, your eyes moving back towards Maddie when you feel the pressure against your hand.

There it was again.

Your face lit up with excitement and eyes beaming with happiness. “Oh my god, did she just kick ?” a hand still pressed to her belly, Maddie laughed at your excitement, “she did. She must like you because Albert’s been waiting all day for a kick and nothing”

You glance in Albert's direction, he smiles at you. “She’s excited for the baby,” his brother chuckles, handing him a beer. Albert nods, his eyes glued to you as you ask Maddie something.

“Kinda makes you want to have one of your own huh ?” Chimney turns to him, the question causing Albert to choke on his beer. Chim pats his back, “I was kidding, are you okay ?”

“Yeah, fine” he said, waving his brother off.

He had never thought of you as his girlfriend, the two of you were close, practically a couple and he spent most of his time at your place rather than Buck’s- all of his stuff was at your place and he slept there too. Sure, you’ve slept together once or twice but it was casual or so he thought.

There weren't any feelings there.

Or at least that’s what he kept telling himself.

After Chimney had mentioned having one of his own, it started to click. He liked you as more than a friend, maybe as a girlfriend or potentially as his wife and the mother of his children one day.

---

*4 months after the accident*

The purse was tossed onto the counter as you made your way to the fridge when the sudden urge to pee hit you.

You hadn’t noticed the contents of your bag had spilled onto the counter when you tossed it.

You also didn’t hear when Albert arrived. You had given him a key right before his accident. The two of you still weren’t together officially but you were basically living together but after the accident, he’s been staying with his brother while he was doing his physical therapy.

Things were starting to get back to normal, with his therapy over and him being able to move about on his own, he spent more time at your place rather than his brother’s. Even though Maddie and Chim had reassured him multiple times that they didn’t mind having him there, he still felt bad. They had given him their bedroom, they helped him with his meds as well as going to and from therapy all while having a new baby.

“Jesus, you scared me” you jumped, seeing Albert’s back towards you.

“How was your appointment ?”

“Fine, I’m sorry I cancelled lunch”

“It’s fine.”

Something was off with him.

Was he upset because you cancelled on him today ?

You were supposed to get lunch with him to celebrate passing and becoming a firefighter but your doctor had a cancellation which left an opening and you needed an appointment. You hadn't specified why you were going to the doctors, just that you were.

Albert turned to face you, a little rectangular paper in his hand, black and white image on it.

The ultrasound.

The two of you not saying a word, staring at each other and the ultrasound in his hand.

“How long ?” he mumbles, eyes on the photo.

“2 months”

He looks at you, “is it mine?”

“What ?” you scoff, “how cou- how could you even ask me that ?”

“I don’t know what you do with your free time” setting the photo on the counter, he walks back towards the door.

“No. You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to be upset with me just because I didn't tell you.”

“Were you going to tell me ?!”

“You know what, if you’re going to get upset and not give me a chance to explain and accuse me of cheating, you can go”

Albert looks at you, the sadness visible on his face. It was bad, he knew that and he knew he upset you as well. He turns and takes a step towards you, your hand out and shakes your head.

“Don’t.”

Albert sighs, he glances once more at you before stepping out. You go to shut the door but you see him in the hallway and you can’t help but yell for him.

“Hey!” he stops and faces you after you shout. “It’s not cheating if I wasn’t your girlfriend.” He seemed shocked that you told him that, he froze in the hallway and watched as you slammed the door.

He needed to make it up to you, he should have never said that to you. Of course it was his and in his heart, he knew that but he didn't even know why he said that.

---

The door opened and his brother stood there, his shirt covered in what looked like puke. Chim had Jee in his arms as he stepped aside, letting Albert come in.

“Here,” Chim handed her over to him gently, “Maddie’s out and I need to change.”

Albert smiled at the little girl in his arms as he made his way over to the bedroom. He sat on the bed, her little hand wrapped around his finger as he rubs her hand softly. Chim glanced at his baby brother and his baby, a smile on his face.

“You’re a natural.” he smiles

“You think so ?” Albert glances up at him

“Yeah.”

Chimney disappears from the room for a moment, Albert’s face softens as he watches Jee-Yun sleep in his arms. It was so easy for him to be there for her and to help Maddie and Chim with her. She was his niece and he loved her endlessly, there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her but he wasn’t sure if he was ready for the full time responsibility.

“I know that look,” his brother stops in the doorway. “What did you do?”

“Why do you think I did something ?”

Chim gives him a pointed glare, “Albert..” he trails off.

“Fine. Y/n is pregnant”

“Really ?” Chim smiles at his brother, making his way over to him. “Congratulations man, are you excited ?” He takes a seat beside him.

“Uh, she’s mad at me.”

“Oh, what happened ?” Before Albert starts, Jee wakes and stretches, her little arms raising and curling as she makes a little sound. Both men coo over her, staring at her in awh.

“Come put her down and we can talk” Chim steps out of the room, pulling her little rocker to the living room. Albert was setting her down, making sure she was comfortable when Chim’s phone buzzed.

“See who that is,” he called from the kitchen. Albert brought the phone with him, “Mrs. Lee can’t babysit,” he showed him the phone.

“Shit,” he pinches the bridge of his nose when he sees the time. “I have to leave in 20, can you babysit?”

“Oh yeah, sure”

“Okay, tell me quickly, what happened ?” Chim’s back now to him, trying to tidy up a bit.

“She cancelled on me for lunch and called to say she had an appointment. I went over to check on her, I wasn’t sure if she wasn’t feeling well or something but I saw her purse on the counter and all the stuff had fallen out. I thought I'd be a good guy and put it back in there for her when I saw the ultrasound.”

“She was upset that you went through her stuff ?”

“No, no. Nothing like that. She, uh- I sort of accused her of cheating” Albert mumbles, Chim stops and turns to face him.

“You did what ?”

“And then I left”

“You left?!” Chim smacks Albert at the back of his head. “Ow!” Albert whices, “why would you do that ?” he pouts, rubbing his head.

“Why would you do that?! Stop being dramatic, I didn't even hit you that hard. I cannot believe you.”

Albert took a step back before Chimney got the chance to smack him again. Chimney on the other hand, stared at his brother in astonishment. “So let me get this straight, you found the ultrasound, accused her of cheating and then left? Sounds right ?”

Albert hummed and Chim sighs. His hand rests on Albert’s shoulder. “I know it’s scary. You’re both young and I'm always going to be real with you, you knew what you were getting yourself into when you didn’t use protection, I'm not sure why you're surprised.” Chim chuckled, smiling at his brother who didn’t look half as amused as he did.

“Regardless, did you think I was expecting Maddie to be pregnant ? Definitely not and honestly- it was scary at first. Neither of us thought we were ready but we had each other and because of that, it became easier. We talked about things that bothered us, things that we hoped for Jee - y/n needs to know she has your support. I’m sure she could do it on her own if she wanted but is that really what you want her to think? That you’re just some douche that’ll knock her up and leave ?”

Albert paused- Chim was right. He knew he loved you and he would do anything for you to know that. It's not that he didn’t want to have a family with you, it’s just that he didn’t think it would happen so soon.

“Listen, I gotta leave now but are you gonna be okay ?” Chim is by Jee’s rocker when Albert glances up. “Yeah, i’ll be fine” he gives him a smile. He watches as Chim gives Jee a kiss and tells her how much he loves her.

Chimney gives Albert’s shoulder a squeeze as he passes by. Albert stood in the apartment alone, Jee was asleep and he sat on the couch.

His conversation with Chim replaying in his head over and over again, he needed to go see you. He couldn’t leave Jee alone so he called someone to come watch her.

It wasn’t long until there was a knock on the door. A crying Jee in arms when he opens the door. “There’s my baby” Buck cooed, smiling at the girl in Albert’s arms.

“Oh nice to see you too,” Albert jokes, making Buck laugh.

“Come to uncle Buck” Buck reached for her, holding her carefully. He rocked her back and forth as Albert pulled his jacket on.

“Do you know if y/n is home?”

“Looked like her lights were on but I'm not sure” Buck mumbles between singing to Jee.

“You’re gonna be okay right ?” Albert asks before walking to the door.

“Stop worrying, we’ll be fine, won’t we?” he smiles at Jee-Yun.

---

Albert finds his way back to your apartment. He stood in front of your door, his hands wiping on his jeans. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous.

Pulling the key from his pocket, he looks down at it in his hand. It didn’t feel right to use the key after the blow up you had.

He knocked on the door.

No answer.

He knocked once more.

No answer again.

“Y/n?” he called out, knocking once more. There still wasn’t any answer. All the possibilities began running through his head, what if something had happened to you? What did you slip in the shower and pass out ? What if you were kidnapped ?

He decided to use the key, pushing the door open quietly. He made his way up the stairs to see if you were in bed but you weren’t. The apartment was quiet but there was a little hum coming from downstairs. He made his way down to see you sitting on the couch, scrolling through your phone.

“Y/n?” he calls, his brows furrowed and arms folded as he looks at you.

“Albert.”

“Why didn’t you open the door?”

“Well you opened it, didn’t you ? Clearly the key works”

Albert held back the urge to roll his eyes. You always had snark little comments like that, especially if you were moody but it was the little things like that that made him love you.

“Can we talk ?” he asks, stepping towards you.

“Are you gonna accuse me of cheating again ?” snapping at him, clearly not in the mood for him and his shit.

“No, I came to apologize”

Scooting over, you make space for him next to you. Albert’s hand reached out, holding yours softly. Part of you wanted to be mad at him, pull your hand away and kick him out but somewhere deep down, you knew you wouldn’t do that because you cared about him even though he was an ass sometimes.

“I’m sorry” he started, “I- I’m not sure why my first thought was to ask if it was mine, because I know it is. I didn’t mean to run out either, I should have stayed and talked to you.”

“Yeah, you should have”

“I'm gonna be here for you,” his hand rests on your stomach, “both of you. I promise that”

“Albert, I'm not gonna force you to stay and you shouldn’t stay just because you think it’s the right thing to do. If you’re going to be unhappy, you should leave. I’m not going to bring a child into the world with you if you don’t want to be here, this baby doesn't deserve to be brought into an unhappy family.”

“Y/n, I’m not unhappy. I was scared. I love you and I want to have a family with you. I just needed a minute, it all happened so fast. The accident and i just became a firefighter and you started your new job, it’s all so fast”

“That's life” you state plainly, Albert smiles at you. “Listen, we can take this one day at a time, can’t we?”

“Yeah, one day at a time” you smile.

---- 

tagging: @advicefromnixxxx @dralexreid @keenmarvellover @beth-winchester21 @fernandaweasley2 @yikesyikesyikes95 @hotchsdarling @duhbar1975 @hailsstormthings @averyhotchner @captainxholmes @venusrosepetal @luke-alvez @looney-literature @caitsymichelle13@artemishunter18 

let me know if you don’t want to be tagged in Albert posts!!

[kookicrumbs]

╰ pink love

pairing: jungwon x fem!reader genre: fluff word count: 2985 warnings; like one super minor curse word (hell)! just some cutesy stuff for ya today! summary: jungwon and y/n go on a build-a-bear date! a/n: i really wanted to do something sweet beacuse i love fluff a whole lot, so please enjoy c:

“Are we there yet?” I pout, tugging on Jungwon’s sweater. I attempt to sway him with my best puppy eyes, but he continues walking, pulling me along with him.

“This honestly reminds me of a movie,” He laughs out, “Since when did asking a million times get us there faster?”

I’m not actually that annoyed, but it’s fun to tease him. “What if this is all a movie? Ya think we can break the fourth wall?”

“I don’t know, I’d consider us powerful enough to. If this is a movie, I’m obviously the main character. Since you’re my girlfriend, you can be my sidekick!”

“Ohh, ha, ha, ha. If I’m the sidekick, pigs can fly.”

He puts on a shocked expression, pointing up into the air. “Did I just hear an oink all the way up there?”

“Shut up!” We giggle, shoving each other with our shoulders. Our footsteps match each other as we pad through the open-air mall. Warm sunlight drifts down, encasing us in a soft bubble of relaxation.

“Hey look, I think that’s it!” Jungwon tightens his grip on my hand and we take off towards the familiar shop. As we run, the eyes of other passerbys follow us, but I don’t take the time to feel embarrassed; life’s too short for that.

My legs are shorter than his, so I nearly trip several times. The universe is totally watching out for me today though, because we manage to arrive at the store’s entrance without suffering from a single scratch or bruise.

The Build-A-Bear logo passes overhead as we make our way inside. We are still glued together, buzzing from the excitement of our date. We’re going to make bears for each other! With any other guy I might have found it cheesy, but when Jungwon suggested we do it, my heart fluttered in a strange way.

“Hello! Welcome to Build-A-Bear Workshop! My name is Kiana,” A sunny looking lady welcomes us with a large smile on her face. The cute bobble headband perched on her hair seems to wave at us as well. “Will you two be needing any help today?”

Jungwon throws one arm over my shoulder and presses me tight to his side. His dimples peek out playfully as he responds. “I think we’re okay right now, we’re gonna make some bears for each other. This is my girlfriend!” He looks so proud as our eyes meet, and my stomach twists. Even though we’ve been dating for one and a half years now, whenever he looks at me like that, it feels like the day I first met him.

We’d been at the movie theatre, not together, but coincidentally there on the same day. Jungwon was sitting in the seat in front of me with a couple of his friends, while I was there with my own. His buddies were being idiots and throwing popcorn and other snacks at each other, when a whole bucket came flying at me. Being my easily scared self, I screamed and jumped backwards, simultaneously kicking my legs out and up. It took a few seconds to realize that my feet hadn’t collided with Jungwon’s seat, but instead his head.

I’d been absolutely mortified, and my friends’ muffled laughter didn’t help with that. I’d expected a huge tantrum from him, considering his friends seemed the type to start a huge fight over it, but his reaction was the complete opposite. In fact, he was apologetic and blamed it all on the buffoon who launched the snack at me.

I immediately caught feelings when he laughed and complimented my kick; apparently he knew taekwondo, and he thought I’d be good at it. He got that from a poorly done, unaimed kick to his own skull. To this day, I think I knocked something out of place there, but what can ya do.

Regardless, we ended up exchanging numbers, which is something that confused the hell out my friends and I. A month later, we started going out. I’ve dated some questionable people, so getting the chance to be with someone like Jungwon is a dream come true for me. Another plus, I finally get to check “Build A Bear date” off of my date idea list!

“You guys look adorable together!” Kiana gushed. My cheeks heat up, but not in an awkward way. “We have all our plushes over there. You can take a look and pick one, and then we’ll get that all filled up for you.”

“Thank you!” Jungwon and I say at the same time before strutting towards the plushies.

“We should split up so our bears, or whatever we pick for each other, stays a surprise! Okay?” I’m already looking at each option, and I begin to wonder how I’m ever going to pick just one.

“Since it looks like the queen has already laid claim to this particular piece of territory, I’ll go browse the accessories so I can get your plush decked out in a gorgeous outfit.” He winks and makes his way to the rows of plushie-sized clothing.

The variety of options is amazing. There’s the classic bears, but there’s also other cute things, like lobsters, giraffes, and seals. I’m a sucker for the classics, so I want to pick out a bear for Jungwon.

Two specific bears are in a fight for my love. One is a simple vanilla color with rainbow sprinkle accents, and the other is a pink bear with heart shaped ruffles. Oh god, do I just… buy both? No, that’s be stupid. Eeny meeny miney moe, a classic just like the bear.

I’m not disappointed when my finger lands on the pink bear, meaning I made the right choice and won’t have to switch to the vanilla bear out of a previously hidden lust for it. Awesome.

I peek my head around the aisle and still see Jungwon sorting through racks of outfits. In the time I’d spent picking a plush for him, he grabbed a basket and began filling it with stuff I couldn’t make out. Comfortable with the fact that he isn’t looking, I sneak over to the filling station, the pink bear clutched tightly in my hands.

“Hi! I’d love to get this guy filled, please!” The man working at this station has a name tag that reads, “Jordan”, and he looks equally nice as Kiana.

“Good choice,” He leads me to a filling spot. “Are they for you or for someone else?”

My chuckle causes the worker to smile. I reply while he gathers a few items. “My boyfriend and I came here for a cute date, so it’s for him! This one is super cute so I had to get it for him.”

“Aww, I’ll have to write that down. I'm sure my partner would find it a great idea too!” Jordan sweeps his arm across in a grand gesture, showcasing the variety of hearts and other button-looking objects that sit before him.

“Would you be interested in adding a sound to your bear? You can pick from any of these or you can record your own.”

I pick quickly, sure of what I want to do. “Mm, I’d like to do a recording, if possible. Make it extra special, right?”

“Of course, let me grab that for you and you can record your message!” He gets the heart and let’s me know what to do. Once again making sure Jungwon is not nearby, I record my message and hand it back to Jordan. He puts it in the bear, a small smile playing on his lips. Did he hear me?

“Alright, perfect. Any scents or are you ready to stuff?”

I choose a sweet raspberry scent and get the bear stuffed. It’s fun to push the pedal and see the stuffed animal become plumper, until I finally fill them all the way up. Hugging it feels like hugging a cloud.

I thank Jordan and hide the bear behind my back as I go to the dressing area. Jungwon seems to have moved on, as I spot him at the plushie picking station. I wonder what he’ll get me. Knowing him, it’s going to be adorable.

His eyes meet mine and I suppress a squeal, making sure the bear is out of sight. My strange salute makes him smile and he turns back to picking a plush for me, but not before making sure I won’t look while he gets one.

“So, what would you wear…” I whisper to the pink bear. He seems fashionable and needs something that fits his personality.

Each outfit makes me want to curl up and scream. They’re all so cute and tiny, and I can’t help but want to grab a whole bunch. I create outfits in my head, imagining each on the plushie. Letting the bear try them on seems like a step too far. Instead, I pick up a white button down shirt, pressed pants, little shoes, and a pair of heart shaped sunglasses from my pile and get to dressing.

Putting everything on the pink bear proves to be a struggle. “Come on… tuck in your tummy!” The bear’s legs don’t want to squeeze into the pants I picked. Looks like Build-A-Bear needs more size options. After a somewhat graphic commotion involving lots of pulling, pushing, and whispered yelling, he is finally clothed.

“Jungwon better like what I picked because I don’t think that’s ever coming off.” I brush off my shirt and hope that no one was watching my heated argument with an inanimate object.

I swiftly finish up the washing part of the process, which consisted of pressured air being blown at my plush. I enjoyed seeing the bear’s fur waving around luxuriously. It really fit his vibe. I end up having to consult an employee about what to do next since my amnesiac brain likes to forget simple things: it’s naming time.

After I scan the pink bear’s tag, a naming screen is brought up. I’m given suggestions like Mr. Cuddles, Tiny, and Snuggles, but I choose to make his own name. What do I name you?

Maybe Love? Too plain. Bear? Way too basic. Pink? Pinky? I clearly don’t get around to naming things very often. If it hadn’t been for my siblings, I would have named our dog Cat.

I rack my brain for anything. At this point, the next thing that pops into my head is gonna be his name. No turning back. And my brain provides. Sir Loves-a-lot is inexplicably forged in the depths of my mind, and it shall be the name of this honorable bear.

I imagine a knighting ceremony for Sir Loves-a-lot and enter his name into the computer. It goes through and I get a printed certificate with his name on it. I’m extremely excited to give him to Jungwon and see his reaction.

Jungwon seems to be finishing up at the washing station, so I pay and wait near the entrance of Build-A-Bear. I swing around my finished bear, which is tucked neatly into a bag so Jungwon can’t see it yet. Our date is soon to reach its peak: when we get to see our finished products.

“Hey! Look what I have!” Jungwon skips over to me in a playful manner. His joy envelops me as he gets nearer. His eyes are alight with what looks to be the same thing I’m currently feeling. Is it love?

I show off my bag, my competitive side instantly coming out. “I’ve got yours right here too! If you want to see it… you’ll have to catch me!”

Adrenaline shoots through me as I take off running, Jungwon quickly shifting into a quick runner. My laughs impair my speed as I hiccup and yell, Jungwon’s voice matching my own. We both giggle like idiots while our shoes run thin on the hard ground and our bags crinkle with the whip of the wind.

“Got you!” Jungwon takes care not to throw me onto the ground, instead grabbing my shirt and pulling me to his chest. He lets out an umph as I knock into him full force, still reeling from the sudden shift in direction.

“Jungwon!” A shriek of laughter explodes out of me as we tumble to the concrete with a soft thump. No one is around as we breath off our fit of giggles, still in a heap.

“Looks like my bear made it.” He lifts up his unscatched bag. “Can I say the same of yours?”

A strike of fear hits me, but quickly dissolves when I see my bag looks fine. “I am pleased to report that Combat Bear Number 2 has survived.”

“Combat Bear Number 2? Don’t tell me that’s his name. What a mouthful!” He puts a hand to his chest and sighs dramatically.

“Don’t be stupid, I named him Sir— wait! Don’t try and cheat!” I softly whack him on the shoulder, earning a look of faux-sadness.

“Ouch. But you named him Sir… something. What a noble name! Of course, nothing but the best can come from you.” He holds out the Build-A-Bear bag. “But I’m actually dying to exchange these, so swap?”

“If that isn’t the most relatable thing ever.” I hand him my bag and he gives me his. “You can open mine first!”

“Ooh, don’t mind if I do.” He eagerly opens the bag and pulls out the tissue-paper wrapped bear. The material easily comes off and he holds it up. His eyes seem to glow with delight.

“Oh my gosh.” Jungwon swipes at Sir Loves-a-lot’s fur, fascinated by the heart-shaped ruffles. “He’s so cute! His clothes are... so tight,” His face betrays his confusion, and I snicker as he speaks, “but he looks hella fashionable! I really hope mine will live up to these standards.” He seems to get nervous so I hold his hands to try and calm him down.

“What do you think I named him?”

His mouth shapes into an “O” and he pulls out the certificate. His previously timid face transforms immediately as he reads it.

“Sir Loves-a-lot? Why?! So cheesy but so good!” He crumples onto himself, his head coming to a rest between his knees. I’m overjoyed by his reaction and I press forward to hug his side.

“I love him so much. I’ll cherish him forever.” He looks at me pointedly, almost like he’s trying to tell me something. He switches course though, gesturing to the bag that lies at my feet. “Now open yours!”

I cross my legs to get more comfortable, and I open the bag, wondering what he made for me. My heart dances when I see what he chose. It’s a blue bear with stars in her fur and white wings protruding from her back. I didn’t even see it when I was picking my bear for him.

“Woah…” I hold her up, noticing a soft scent coming from her fur. When I lift the bear up to my nose, I can detect citrus. “Jungwon, you made her smell like lemons! I love lemon… and—and look how pretty! All the stars, and the color… she’s perfect.”

I look at the certificate, all bright and new, and see her name: Mrs. Lovey. Mrs., not Ms.

Jungwon looks at me innocently. “What do you think, am I making my point clear? The future is never far away and I—”

I can’t help but turn away as I feel a prickle in my eyes. Never will I ever cry on a date.

“Awww! Don’t cry, you’ll make me cry!” Jungwon leaps towards me, catching me off-guard. I end up falling backwards with a yelp, but he throws his hand under my head and catches me before I can slam into the concrete.

We stare at each other for what seems like hours but is in actuality only seconds. The silence is loud, but Jungwon slices right through it when he whispers to me, “Is this a kdrama?”

“And… off!” I sit up, hugging my bear closer to me. I’m overwhelmed by Jungwon’s confession. He wants us to really stay together. As in, I’d be his “one”.

“Is—is that what you want too? It’s okay if not, I’ll understand if you wouldn’t be ready, even in the months it would take to get there, unless sooner is better, and I—” He rambles, more emotional than I am, before I put a finger to his lips.

“Yeah, it’s what I want too. I think we should go with your plan, um, wait a little longer since we’re so young and I don’t want to scare my parents.” That earns a laugh out of us both. “But the answer to “would I want it?” is definitely yes!”

Jungwon hugs me tightly, squealing in my ear. I squeal right back, suddenly lighter than ever.

“Dude, I want to say something. Yep, here I go. I— I love you!” Jungwon yells out to me, loud enough to wake up everyone half-way across the world. My heart expands when he says it. I want to scream it back and kiss him under the blue sky, but he continues speaking.

“Okay, look, even though I would have totally respected you for saying you wouldn’t want what I want, I’m feeling so relieved right now. Like whooh! I could jump off a plane! Ride the biggest wave! Sir Loves-a-lot here would come with me, wouldn’t you?” He high fives his bear.

I’m confused when his eyebrow raises. “Did you put a sound in him? Why didn’t you tell me?” Truthfully, I’d forgotten too. However, I smirk as I remember what I recorded.

“Press it.” I urge him to push on the bear’s paw, and he does, putting it near his ear so he can hear it better. The clear sound of my voice comes through, bringing waves of pink, soft love to both Jungwon and I.

“I really, really love you.”

[kyotakumrau]

2021.02.16 1st talk session of Meguro Rock-May-KanGIG at Zepp Yokohama

Zepp Yokohama is a such a nice venue, I really hope we will get to see dir play there live properly!

The concert recorded at Meguro RockMayKan was great! The setlist surprised me quite a lot (especially encore!!!)! And I think that was the smallest stage I ever saw dir on!😆 the footage definitely deserves a separate entry and I don't want to spoil anyone if they go to next events.

After the concert film screening staff quickly prepared the stage, bringing two long tables and four chairs, they also placed a water bottle at each seat.

Punctually (thank you for not repeating Nagoya's situation😆), at 3:30 Fujieda came on stage and started with greeting everyone, and asking us to greet the band members with applause.

After a moment of uncertainty (even as my heart was almost set it will be Kyo) Die came on stage with Kyo after him.٩( ˆoˆ  )۶

They both looked super classy. Die had a dark grey suit with a long jacket, his usual award winning hair and wore sunglasses.

Kyo had a black jacket (with a round Chanel pin) and shirt, green hair, he wore glasses (not sunglasses).

When they sat (Kyo stood in front of the chair first until Fujieda gestured them to sit) F asked them to introduce themselves.

D: ども、Dieです

K: 京です

...and then F announced 'today is Kyo's birthday!' and a birthday song melody began to play😆

Kyo turned on his murder face glaring at Fujieda who happily observed 'oh what's this song?'😂

The soft Happy Birthday melody got then a guitar joining in and Takabayashi came on the stage carrying a small strawberry shortcake (with a chocolate message おめでとう京さん) which of course he placed in front of Kyo.

We couldn't sing but we clapped.

Kyo snatched a strawberry and popped it in his mouth. He gestured 'throat slashing' looking at Fujieda😂

And then ate another strawberry🍓😂

F: the song was made by Die.

K: (only interested in the cake) Could I get a fork?

(staff went to get him one)

F: how do you feel? (about your own birthday)

K: I don't care.

The fork arrived and Kyo literally dug in right in the middle, scooping a huge piece he put whole in his mouth.

Fujieda wisely left Kyo to his cake then and started talking about RMK footage. Die said they had hard time deciding on a tour or events like this in COVID situation. They also mentioned the secret show in 2009 was held in RMK.

Next Die talked about how nice it was to rehearse and play together with the band, first time since March, he was happy about the show, creating sound together as 5 people.

F: did you finish eating K?

K: yup

(there was last 🍓 left (out of 4 big ones), he ate about 25~35%?)

F: then tell us about recording the RockMayKan show!

K: the place was very narrow.

F: anything else?

K: Not really.

But then he added more, that as it has been a while it felt like the first day of the tour.

F: was there anything that was difficult? Was a struggle?

K: when recording I can do it at my own pace, I can do one song when I want, but that day it was back to performing over 10 songs all at once, it was tough, hard on my throat, energy/stamina wise.

But at the same time it was exciting, meet with other members, play music together, that was nice.

F: 2019 was filled with shows, it was busy, then things changed. So after a break to see an audience again got me nervous, in a good way.

Next F said had would like to talk about the release of Oboro.

D: what do you want to know?

F: so the song is not out yet, any hints?

D: it's gonna stay a secret for a bit more.

F: the 2nd track is TDFF？

D: (interesting letters ???didn't catch exactly) it's a powerful song.

F: how is Oboro for you Kyo?

K: quite fresh/refreshing

F: really?!

D: especially the video

...but then Kyo just burst with a whole speech how Fujieda always ask something and when he gets an aswer he didn't expect he doesn't react well, just says what he wants, is not listening to what Kyo says and... it went for a while😆

Next F moved to the topic of the merchandise and asked the band members which items they like.

K: the big badge, before the big pick was huge, shouldn't the badge be like this size (showing about 20cm with his hands). It bothered me from when I saw it. Isn't it just normal?

in the end they agreed it's just 'a bit big' 😂

F: how about for you, D?

D: the rubber key chains?

F: they got sold out very quickly, sorry to fans about that.

D: they are cute. And I like the wristbands too. The color combinations are nice.

T: the badge has the old band's logo, it brings me back

D talked about old times when artists made stickers like that, with logos, to put on their equipment, they worked a bit like business cards, he said he still have some at home.

T picked the rechargeable heat pack.

K: so it's to be used instead of heat packs? (ホッカイロ)

F: uh, it's already warm.

D: huh? Show me? (F passed it to him) it's like a phone that gets hot when charging.

Next they moved on to fans questions. ("~~" is a question from fans they read)

K (unusually picks the first question super fast): "what's your favourite cake?"

K: Well, the strawberry shortcake is good, but this one doesn't have strawberries inside, just some jam, it should have strawberries inside too.

(F so dead😂😂😂)

F: "what's your best or bad memory connected to birthdays?"

K: at a concert somewhere, it was quite long time ago, I got a present all wrapped and in a bag from a silver accessories brand I liked, so nicely wrapped, I opened it and it was empty, isn't that really strange? I looked at the attached letter and it said the person is keeping the item for themselves. It annoyed me so much, the worst bd memory ever.

☹️

F: how about you D?

D: it's not exactly bad memory, but many band members have birthdays in February, in the past when we were still giving each other presents Toshiya and I had to think what to get for 3 people, it was always tough. We stopped that at some point.

T: "any memory/story about China Town?"

D: I like China Town

T: do you go often?

D: sometimes. But only to my favorite restaurants. (?? Talked more about the stadium?)

T: do you usually order the same thing?

D: Mabodofu, the spicy version

(then I think he said something like there's no point in overdoing spicyness, it's not healthy??)

K: I don't know which restaurants are good so I get annoyed. I don't know what decides it's a good one or not.

F: I don't go, but I'd like to.

then they talked about the types of Chinese food and food they tried when in other Asian countries.

K: when we were touring in the US I ordered Chinese abd it was terrible, it was all bad. The egg soup was all clumpy, so bad.

D: "any stories about RockMayKan?"

D: honestly I don't have good memories with this venue, when with a previous band we played together with more senior bands and they took over the dressing room, we couldn't use it, and we also had to greet all senpai musicians.

K: remember when Shinya sat on the lockers? Like on top of the 170cm lockers?

D: was it in Nagoya?

K: he's done his make up there, like a cat or something

D: Shinya climbed a locker and made a space for himself there

K: He's not exactly human. Normally you would not even consider climbing a locker...

D: we usually did our make up on the stairs, didn't use changing room. When we played at RMK as dir for the first time I saw 'this is the changing room!'

He also talked about how the hair spray used by all the bandomen would stink up the whole place 😂

F: "what do you usually wear to sleep?"

K: just underwear. Doesn't matter if it's summer or winter I want to feel the towel like fabric, I use towel cloth for my bedding, I want my whole body to feel it so there's no point in wearing pajamas.

D: at home...wait you mean my home or my family house? At my parents' I always wear the pajama my mum got me, currently the Mickey Mouse one. I only have that one there.

K( with sudden interest): can you draw it?

D: it's about this big, quite big print. The one I wear at home, it wasn't sent by my mum.

K: not Mickey one??

D:  that's Nightmare Before Christmas.

K: Disney theme?

D: this one has a face in the front.

K: do you change characters (for pajamas) every year?

D: this year it's Nightmare.

Next was something they wanted to say to F. K chose to comment on his haircut, because it's asymmetric K is bothered that it will end as an uzumaki in the back. They talked more about F's style.

F: "I'd like you to tell us about your costumes you wore for RMK show".

D: I wanted something motovating so red colour.

K: I had no special reasoning, just what I wanted to wear then.

D: "have you gotten any food delivery?"

He said he only got it once or not much, I think he said he's not fond of shops that don't do it properly, but when recording it's good???

F: Shinya said he orders Uber almost everyday.

K: I only got Uber once.

F: what did you get?

K: Burger King. I quit McDonalds. After eating Burger King I can't go back to McDonalds.

They talked about sizes of burger here?? Whooper versus Junior Whooper?

F: So McD is not good?

K: the meat taste is different. McDonald now tastes like trash.

F: what about the Mc fries, when they get a bit soft.

K: not only a bit. Gross.

D: in the US we usually also have some American staff, when we had some time and we went to eat out, it was funny, American staff went for sushi, Shinya went for McDonalds.

F: was it last time?

D: no, quite some time ago.

F: when did you eat McDonalds the last time?

D: I also don't eat it, it's been some time already.

They talked more about the food, some restaurants D liked in the US (didn't catch the name🙃 but in Sacramento?), then F talked more about event schedule and the time was over.

Last comments from the band members:

Die: From today the new series of film screening starts, thank you for coming to the first day. So well... the band is working on the new album while coming to the events at the same time, we're working on creating a great album. Please come amd enjoy the events.

Kyo: I don't have a special thing to say. Many of you will be coming to few or many events and will end up with many t-shirts, you can do whatever with them, even use them as a doormat, there are many ways to use them, no problem for the whole year.

[satendou]

𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕜𝕥𝕠𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝟚𝟟: 𝕘𝕝𝕠𝕣𝕪 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕖 + 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕖𝕩

⇀ kuroo tetsuro

kuroo was, to put it bluntly, bored.

kenma was absorbed in a new game-- seriously, kuroo had to check on him at least twice a day to make sure he was eating something-- and his other friends were all studying for exams he had already finished. his fuck buddy was mia and porn was just unappealing. 

he wanted something new, exciting--

wait, hadn’t atsumu mentioned something before? he was known for being a degenerate, at least among his friends, and had mentioned something about a fun new thing at some adult store he went to. of course, kuroo obviously knew what a gloryhole was, but had never actually encountered one.

texting atsumu, he received an almost too excited response telling him the name of the store and that he wasn’t going to regret it. 

as he searched on his phone for the website, his phone started rang and atsumu talked his ear off, telling him how the whole thing worked and offering to accompany him. in his words, “there’s nothin’ better than gettin’ fucked by a stranger ya can’t see. it’s exhilaratin’.

kuroo stirred at that, realizing there was something appealing in that idea and hung up, clicking the link to the website.

feeling utterly sleazy, he filled out the application, hesitating over the box asking for his credit card information. should he really be trusting a sex shop website? but it was the one that atsumu used and there wasn’t anything sketchy about it as far as he could tell.

fuck it.

he paused at the options for use, ears heating up as he read over them and picked the ones he was up for. to his surprise, he received a response shortly afterwards saying his preferences matched with someone else who had applied, and all he needed to do was verify he was clean, and his appointment would be scheduled.

that was how a few days later he found himself stepping into the sex store with atsumu, looking around at all the toys and books and, for some reason, hookahs and bowls everywhere. it looked just like every other sex shop he’d been into except for a door at the back that, if he was reading it correctly, said “private clients only”.

a cheery voice piped up from amongst the shelves and a young woman wearing a shirt with the shop logo on it came out, saying, “hello and welcome. how may i help you?”

it sounded more like she belonged in a bookstore than a sex shop, but she was cute and kuroo turned red as he said, “i, uh, booked an appointment a few days ago.”

atsumu clapped him on the back, laughing at how timid kuroo sounded.

her eyes lit up and she laughed, nodding. “of course. this way, please.”

she didn’t seem like she was judging them as she led them through the back door-- which did, in fact, read “private clients only”-- and into a narrow hallway lined with curtains. pulling one back, he found himself in a small cubicle with dim, red lights overhead, bathing him in what he assumed was supposed to be a sultry atmosphere. there was quiet music playing from speakers hidden in the darkness and, he admitted, it was cozy and a little sexier than he thought it would be.

“your partners should be here shortly, so please wait in your cubicles until the green light comes on,” she said, pointing at a lightbulb above his head. “it’ll turn off after a moment, so don’t worry about that. yours is down this way,” the woman said, leading atsumu down the hall a little ways.

it was almost another ten minutes and kuroo was halfway through some porn video atsumu had insisted he watched to “get in the mood” when the light flickered on for five seconds and dimmed again.

his heart skipped a beat and nervousness settled in his stomach, but it was tempered by curiosity. atsumu had told him to just “go for it because that’s what everyone is here for”. it still felt somehow rude as he unzipped himself and pulled his cock out, rolling a condom on before easing it through the hole.

he jumped at the first touch, just a featherlight stroke from a soft hand, and then a warm puff of air against his tip. his eyes fluttered shut because fuck whoever you were, you were already swallowing his cock like a champ. fighting down a groan, he held his hips still, palms flat against the wall by his head as warm lips met the base of his cock without even a hint of hesitation.

atsumu was fucking right, this was amazing. not knowing who was on the other side brought an air of mystery and arousal to getting sucked off. he could hear the slick sounds of you choking through the thin wall and it made him twitch in your throat. your tongue dragged over the thick vein on the underside before swirling over his head.

with a ‘pop’ you pulled off of him and seemed to disappear, confusing him. weren’t you supposed to finish him off? that was the point, as far as he knew, and he hadn’t picked any options that would leave him hanging.

he hissed as his attention returned to his dick. your hand was warm against him and then his tip was prodding something that was decidedly not a mouth and he couldn’t help but moan.

he heard a feminine giggle from the other side as your cunt swallowed him up. you were tighter than he was expecting and he jerked forward so his hips hit the wall when you hilted him inside you.

“holy fuck,” he groaned, and received a breathy curse from you in response. he’d picked the option for this, but hadn’t actually expected it to happen, and his mind blanked as you rode him through the wall. he tentatively pulled back and thrust forward again, hearing you squeal as he nudged deeper inside of you. kuroo already knew he was well-endowed and knew how to use it, even through a hole in the wall, and smirked. 

he pictured you, faceless but beautiful still, bouncing on his cock and rubbing your little clit furiously while you clenched around his thick shaft. imagining him getting a stranger off only stroked his ego and he met your thrusts as well as he could, angling his hips based on feeling and your whine told him he was exactly where he wanted to be.

he was already close when he felt you spasm around him suddenly, unable to recognize your tells before you were cumming all over his cock. he expected you to pull away now that you were done and almost choked when you began to bounce on him again. even through the condom he could feel how messy you were, the sensitive walls of your cunt fluttering and squeezing around him as if begging for him to cum.

he did so with a broken curse, head tipping back before falling forward again, hitting the wall with a thump as he spilled into the condom. 

after a moment, you pulled away and he backed up further into the cubicle, tucking himself back into his pants and wincing when the fabric chafed his sensitive skin. clearing his throat, he said, “you can leave first. i’ll wait.”

there was no response besides some shuffling and then the sound of a curtain drawing. waiting another minute, he stepped out as well, searching for his blond friend. he was nowhere to be found in the hallway, but kuroo spotted him browsing cockrings out in the main area of the store.

he was wearing a smug, shit-eating grin when he caught sight of kuroo, but he couldn’t look much better than him, with his blond hair mussed and sweat beaded on his forehead. “well, how was it?”

kuroo shrugged, feigning nonchalance, but then he smirked, hazel eyes sharp as he caught sight of two pretty little things limping slightly as they exited the store. it morphed into a laugh and he said, “maybe being a degenerate isn’t so bad.”

⇀ masterlist

⇀ @keijiskitten​ | previous: cuckold | next: yandere

⇀ taglist: @nekpma, @bokutosdivineass, @pehnguinn , @super-noya, @definitelythotful , @hoekaashi, @haikyuuwithadashofart, @sapphirecharm, @neomuxuxi, @animediplomat, @aristatrois, @chrollosheadband​, @bokutobutthicker, @bokuakadaily, @samkagi, @kuroosforeverwifu,@astrologypastelcom, @8zmingi, @bokutosworld, @thatnikkixx, @cuddlyroger, @miraclefons, @punani-parker, @voidbokuto, @v-sshi, @beex2d, @tendouscumslut, @byebyes-world, @blackbhabie2000, @weebymaria, @sakusatree, @elysianoneirataxia, @unstableye​, @shannonmccoy,@sakuyomi, @mooniestar, @iwaizumi-chan, @lostbread, @firefistmyass​, @follow-me-in-the-night​

bold could not be tagged

[undine-taz]

5 times Diavolo failed to be a sugar daddy and one time he succeeded

I'm just imagining poor Diavolo trying SO HARD to spoil an MC who is just. Not greedy in the slightest and loves weird little shinies while being totally indifferent to the super crazy expensive gifts he usually gives to people he's trying to woo. Just in case, this is the PUREST OF FLUFF and completely sfw. I can’t even think of any tw to tag??? Let me know if you notice something. Oh, and MC is imagined to be gender neutral. There’s a mention of perfume, but not in the feminine sense- that’s just the proper word for a certain level of scent concentration.

1. Expensive Perfume

Diavolo's first attempt is the most expensive perfume/cologne money can buy

He's not quite sure what MC's favorite scent is, so he buys a wide variety

All the bottles are sleek and minimalistic and the scents inside are VERY obviously expensive, the kind of thing Mammon would probably lose his mind over

MC's reaction is perfectly grateful, they say sincerely how much they appreciate him thinking of them. He doesn't feel a single lie off of them and he walks away mostly satisfied thinking maybe they’re just the type to not show a ton of excitement over gifts

That is, until he's walking down the hallways in RAD and happens to overhear a conversation between Asmo and MC

Asmo's talking about how he's been going through perfume at a record pace lately, and he feel so bad about wasting these beautiful bottles... would MC like them? He has one shaped like a rose, one like a star, one modeled after the cosmos... 

Asmo doesn't even get to finish because MC is already flapping their hands in joy (I'm autistic and MC is going to happy stim if it kills me) and wiggling and practically jumping into Asmo's arms in excitement

Asmo's laughing and promising to save all of his prettiest empty perfume bottles for MC from now on and MC is practically wiggling in joy and nuzzling their face into Asmo's chest in happiness

They’re talking about spending the night in Asmo’s room trying to make perfume blends for each other to fill up the bottles and tossing scent ideas back and forth

And Diavolo is sitting there feeling a bit like he's been bonked over the head. Those happy stims are ADORABLE and he wants to be the one who causes them. He's not sure why his perfume failed and Asmo's literal empty bottles worked but he's DETERMINED to try again

2. Fancy gemstones

Diavolo's next attempt is fancy gemstones. He finds large, beautifully cut and processed gemstones, the type that are so perfectly processed they look almost identical except for color

Again, when he gives MC his gifts he can tell that they're sincerely grateful! They tell him they love that he was thinking of them, they worry that he spent too much money on them ( they try to refuse at first because it's too much, but Diavolo breezes past their protests with a smile and an iron will) and Diavolo doesn't sense even the tiniest hint of untruth from their professions of gratitude

But.... there are no happy wiggles, no stunned gasps, no joyously flapping hands, no nothing. Just calm gratitude.

Diavolo goes back to the drawing board, and he's just going to visit the HOL library for inspiration in a rare book (and as an excuse to see MC) when he hears Satan and MC laughing together in the library.

When he walks in, he sees Satan and MC crouched together with some strange tools in their hands, gently chipping away at a large rock. There's a tiny pile of uncut, unprocessed gemstones at MC's elbow.

As soon as MC sees him, he's aflood in a wash of excited chatter as MC tells him about the gemstone mining kit Satan bought after reading a book on gemstones. In fact Diavolo can see the book open at Satan's elbow along with a notebook where the two have been identifying every gemstone they dig up.

Before he knows it, MC seizes his hand and he's drawn into the game, watching their eyes shine and seeing them bounce in their seat with excitement every time they uncover a new gemstone.

Dammit. Another failure. But, Diavolo finds as he watches MC's obvious joy, he can't be too frustrated when they're this happy. 

3. Shopping spree at Majolish

Diavolo is undeterred! He takes a day to bring them to Majolish, having them try on outfit after outfit. Sure, they're not picking out very many things, but he loves spending time with them and they say they're enjoying themself.

After several hours, Barbatos gently reminds him that he has a meeting soon and that MC seems absolutely exhausted.

Diavolo pouts, especially when he sees that MC hasn't picked out very many things, but he sighs and concedes.

When he drops them off at the HOL, MC gives him a hug and thanks him for helping them pick out some more formal outfits for any upcoming RAD events. Diavolo accepts the hug gladly, but there's no squeaking or jumping and DEFINITELY no flapping. MC seems rather exhausted, and Belphegor has appeared from nowhere and draped himself over MC and is mumbling about needing a nap buddy and MC isn't even trying to argue 

The next day, Barbatos shows him Levi's post on Devilgram. It's a video, of Levi giving MC a plain, unassuming box.

When MC opens the box, their mouth drops open, their eyes go wide, and they fling themselves at Levi, happily nuzzling into his chest and mumbling incoherent thanks while Levi turns bright red and starts stuttering and clearly tries not to combust

The video cuts out for a second and then starts again with MC wearing a simple shirt embroidered with a strange logo, which Levi explains from behind the camera is inspired by MC's favorite series and was handmade by Levi for practice. Levi was apparently asked to design formalwear inspired by anime, and he chose MC's favorite to practice a design. According to the caption, the two spent an entire day together watching the series and sketching ideas!

MC is beaming and happy stimming while Diavolo thumps his head into his desk dramatically and Barbatos elegantly stifles a chuckle behind him. 

4. Bouquets of flowers

Well now Diavolo is determined. HE WILL MAKE MC HAPPY STIM IF IT KILLS HIM

HE HAS HIS PRIDE AS THE FUTURE DEMON KING DAMMIT

He begins watching the corniest of romcoms for ideas.

Midway into one of them, he sees the character buy their love interest bouquets upon bouquets of roses

BRILLIANT! He's up and placing orders immediately. Barbatos stays behind for a few minutes to actually watch how this particular ploy works out on screen, before laughing and going to watch the chaos

As dedicated as he is to the young lord, watching Diavolo scramble around trying to impress his first puppy love only to fail because the target of his affections is simply too humble.... well, it's honestly adorable. He'll step in if it goes on for too long, but for now it might actually be good for the young master to experience something he can't have by throwing money or influence at it.

Diavolo has some of the Devildom's finest florists on the horn and he's sending a veritable flood of their finest cut flowers... AND he's sending them from an anonymous source, just like in the movie! The woman in the movie only sent over THREE bouquets to the object of her love, so Diavolo sends 300. Only the best for his MC :)

He's waiting impatiently for the results of his little scheme when he gets an apologetic text from Lucifer saying that he'll be late to the meeting and MC won't be coming at all. Some anonymous admirer sent MC an excessive amount of flowers and the sheer amount of pollen triggered allergies in ALL of the demon bros and MC.

Lucifer needed time to clear out the house and distribute allergy meds to everyone and buy out the nearest store on tissue paper

Barbatos is no longer even bothering to stifle his chuckles while Diavolo buries his face in his arms to hide his shame

To rub salt in the wound, Lucifer tells him a few days later that he set up a miniature greenhouse for MC to grow humanworld herbs in and they've barely left it in the last two days

Lucifer’s been spending most of his free time in the greenhouse with them, helping them tinker with humidity spells and listening to their excited monologues on human gardening techniques

Lucifer is definitely smirking as he tells Diavolo this and Diavolo doesn't bother to ask how Lucifer knew what was going on, because his old friend knows him too well and Diavolo realizes he's not exactly subtle.

What he doesn't realize is that Barbatos is also a dirty dirty snitch and he and Lucifer have been watching over his attempts with a mix of hilarity and pity

5. Desserts

Some might give up, but not Diavolo! His newest ideas is fancy desserts. He was told by a sweet old succubus that the best way to his lover's heart was through the stomach (actually she initially had some far raunchier suggestions that had made Diavolo blush and had given him some ideas for far, FAR in his future relationship with MC, but that's neither here nor there) and so here Diavolo is, placing a giant order at Madame Scream's to be delivered to the HOL.

This time he has learned from his mistakes and he signs it as being from him and addresses it to "MC and the residents of HOL" because even he recognizes there are far too many sweets for a human to eat before they go bad

Barbatos by this point is starting to feel pity and is almost tempted to suggest he wait until it's not Beel's day for Fangol practice to send a giant array of tempting sweets.

Almost. If it weren't for the maid cafe fiasco of last week Barbatos probably would have, but that lace had chafed in areas that should never be chafed.

Diavolo sent his gift only to receive a poorly drawn thank-you card drawn by Beel and signed by everyone at the HOL, including MC, even though "I didn't even get a chance to eat any, BEEL"

This poor man feels his soul leave his body, especially when he returns home from RAD to find Barbatos and MC baking together and singing along to Disney songs (well, MC was singing, Barbatos was simply watching them with a smile and occasionally twisting them into a simple dance to make them laugh and squiggle with joy)

Et tu, Barbatos?

After yesterday's glitter incident, Barbatos has no shame and simply smirks back. He'll help the young lord when he can shower without finding glitter in every crevice.

+1: Tea together

Diavolo is planning his next gift when he gets a message from MC, of all people

His heart flutters, he has butterflies in his stomach, and he hasn't even read it yet!

It's a simple text- "What are you up to?" 

Obviously Diavolo can't admit he's shirking paperwork to try and figure out a gift that would make them happy! So he improvises and claims he's working. He gets back a sad face emoji and a simple "Miss you! I feel like we haven't hung out in forever, but I know how busy you are. Good luck, I'm rooting for you!"

SHOT THROUGH THE HEART AND MC IS TO BLAME

This man is dramatically draped over his desk wailing about how cute MC is.

Luckily for him Barbatos has forgiven him for both the maid cafe incident and the glitter incident and Diavolo has been too distracted trying to plan gifts to cause any new chaos

Barbatos hands him a lovely picnic basket, complete with tea and fancy sandwiches, and tells him to go see MC and take a break since he's clearly not getting any work done as is.

Cue guilty glance to the overwhelming stack of paperwork that's been building up. He swears he's never seen Barbatos place more and yet they keep growing, are they breeding somehow...? Did Lucifer curse him after the taffy incident?

Either way, Diavolo takes the basket and heads off to HOL.

He's either very lucky or (more likely) Barbatos bribed Lucifer into helping him out, as MC is the one to answer the door.

They look kind of down until they see him and he explains he's there to spend time with them, and then they absolutely LIGHT UP.

Before he knows it, they've thrown himself into his arms and they're bouncing in excitement and snuggling him and happy flapping and boyo is confused but OVER THE MOON.

He finally did it!?!?! What was it!?!?! The picnic basket? Do they have a thing for picnics baskets!?!?! 

And then he actually tunes in a d listens to their flood of chatter and how happy they are to see him and how much they've missed him and how excited and grateful they are they he took time out of his busy schedule to spend time with him and out in the thought to prepare a way for them to spend time in each other's company...

O H

He is M E L T I N G

He can't believe it was this easy.... no need for fancy gifts or anything like that, just... paying attention to their likes and spending time with them???? 

Holy shit he is gonna protect this human's smile witH HIS LIFE 

And now that he understands them better he can buy EXPENSIVE SHIT THEY'LL ACTUALLY LIKE AND HE'LL GET ALL THE HAPPY SNUGGLES AND JOYOUS STIMMING IN THE WORLD!!!! 

Yes, he decides, wrapping his arms around them while trying to keep the basket level

Now that he's gotten a taste of their sincere joy, he's hooked and he's going to make them as excited and happy as this as often as he possibly can. 

[yamithediaperdork]

Back to babyhood (kingdom hearts)

Sora woke with a start as his Micky mouse alarm went off. Looking around wildly and figuring out it wasn't a attack of some sort (he was kinda a dork for the first few minutes he was awake) he reached over and shut the alarm off and then sat there for a second, closing his eyes and building up for a reveal. He'd managed to keep his bed and pants clean for a whole 29 days so far, and if he was dry and clean, this would make it 30 and Rikku had promised to let him back in the master bedroom if he could prove he wasn't a big baby anymore. 'Moment of truth..' Sora thought and pulled the blankets back and then opened his left eye slowly and looked down, then both eyes. a big silly grin broke out over his face, he was all good! his white dino  print jammies weren't brown or wet and there was NO stains on the bed. "YES! HAHAHAHA! I AM KING OF THE BIG BOYS!" Sora cheered and jumped up and down on his bed, pumping his fists into the air. "would the king of the big boys like to get dressed and come out for pancakes?" Came his boyfriend/daddies voice and sora stopped jumping and locked eyes with Rikku, then jumped off the bed and ran over. "I did it! no poopie or pee and that means I get to sleep in bed with you tonight!" Sora said, super excited. "Mhmmm..as long as you stay clean during the day..and you know what happens when you get too excited. go get dressed and use the can, I'll go and finish making breakfast for my king." Rikku chuckled and winked, then ruffling Sora's hair he took off. 'hmmff..Of course I can keep my pants clean during the day! that's not even a concern anymore!' Sora thought with a huff. still, it was better to do what Rikku wanted then argue with him, just because he was out of diapers and pull ups didn't mean he couldn't take a trip over rikku's lap. Since he had to work in a little under a hour Sora decided to put on his uniform and save time. It wasn't as fun or colorful as a lot of his other outfits but it wasn't suppose to be. A pale blue shirt with the general store on the corners logo on it, and a pair of black dress pants..it wasn't even like he actually needed the job with all the money him and Rikku had made while saving the world. Rikku though controlled the money as back when Sora had been..well ok, a total big baby in a big boys body, he hadn't exactly been responsible with money. or much of anything. That's not to say that Sora really wanted for much, but Rikku would only dole out the cash in allowances with this month marking the first time he'd trusted sora to hold the money himself. The Job at the store was more about teaching responsibility to Sora as well as give him something to focus on and keep him from slipping back into baby mood. Getting him the job had been touch and go, as Sora was well known enough around town as a big baby no one was really willing to hire him. Rikku had pointed out to the store manger, Malcore, That with all the diapers and other stuff they had bought there over the years Sora deserved a chance.

Rikku smirked at how damn proud Sora looked as he walked out, and then chuckled as the so called big boy started to drool seeing the spread on the table. Don't get Rikku wrong, he was glad that Sora was finally returning to adulthood such as it was (the boy had never been the most mature 18 year old even before the diapers) but the constant dirty diaper smell in the house and having to change a minuim of 4 dirty diapers a day wasn't as fun as one might think. "heh, watch the drool buddy." Rikku said and came over with a dish towel and wiped sora's chin anyways for him. "O-Oh yeah..ehehe sorry..just..yowie wowie! Were you up all night cooking?" Sora asked. on the table there was a stack of pancakes, a dish with bacon, some slices of ham, a dish filled with scrambled eggs and of course two pitchers of Milk and OJ. "No, I just got up a little early and assumed you'd be a big boy and wanted to celebrate." Rikku said and kissed Sora's cheek. "And it's all for me?" Sora asked. "Well, I'd like to have SOME of it,guessing I should make my plate first?" Rikku laughed then added "Just don't go too hog wild, you don't wanna stuff yourself and be on the can all day at work..again." "O-Oh Malcore called you about that huh?" Sora said sheepishly. "Well Roxas complained about having to work the floor alone..Speaking of which, is roxas coming over again today after work?" "IIIII dunno. I'll ask him when i get there." Sora said and took a seat. Rikku let it drop and fixed himself a plate and then tried to look away as Sora wolfed down the food with such gusto you were swear he hadn't eaten for days. He wasn't the biggest fan of Roxas for a few reasons, the first one being that he was trying to encourage Sora to baby out. the second was that he knew for a fact Roxas was getting into the stash of left over diapers at the house, and helping himself. Rikku had been semi sure that Roxas was a little diaper thief back before Sora got out of his huggies, though it was hard to keep track of back then.. but with no new diapers coming in to replace missing ones he'd kept count. Still he was Sora's best friend and as long as he didn't end up making sora land back in diapers just so he didn't have to buy his own, Rikku would let it slide.

Roxas whined as he looked though his underwear drawer, and then under his bed..there was no two ways about it: he was out of diapers again. It just wasn't fair (at least in his twisted little mind) that Sora had to go and screw him over like this.Like, he put up with how toxic and stinky Sora could be, and watched the dumb baby shows with him (never mind Roxas actually liked the shows just as much and wasn't exactly a rosebush when he loaded his diapers) and now Sora had to go and ruin it all by trying to become a stupid big boy and cut him off from his supply of diapers! sure Roxas COULD of gone and brought his own diapers, but he'd seen the smirks and snickers everyone gave when Sora had been getting his and didn't wanna risk that. He did after all have a reputation to keep. So naturally like any clever baby, Roxas decided to do the only thing he could do..which meant turn sora back into a diaper baby so he could go back to stealing diapers from him without worrying about Rikku noticing. To THAT end he made a special lunch just for Sora, and had prepped some video's for his bestie to watch, and he'd have him loading his pants like a CHAMP in no time. Any guilt he might of felt over turning Sora back into a diaper filling baby was taken away by the anger of Sora making him have to go days at a time without a diaper to wear at home..and the belief that Sora would be happier in diapers. Really, more people needed friends like him.

Sora got a text from Roxas partway though his munching and smirked. "Don't worry about packing me a lunch today, Roxas made me one to make up for being a brat when i kicked his butt at chocobo racing on Sunday." Sora giggled. "heh, well at least he admits it..I thought he was gonna smash the controller before I told him to knock it off before I'd have to spank his butt." Rikku chuckled. "Anyways, I should go brush my teeth and start walking for work." Sora said, belching one last time and wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Breakfast was AWESOME, thanks da- Rikku." Sora blushed a little, catching himself at calling his boyfriend daddy, since that was what he did as a big BABY, but it wasn't always easy. Rikku just smiled and tapped his left cheek and tilted his head, and Sora took the hint. walking over he planted a big old smooch on Rikku's cheek then went off to finish getting ready for anther glorious day in retail.

Malcore yawned, he'd had to pull the night shift due to DT going back to collage and was mostly getting though on coffee. In truth if it hadn't of been for the fact  that Josh and DT had been forced to cut back on their hours he would of never hired Sora or Roxas. Lord knows what head office would of thought if they had seen what a massive diaper dork Sora had been before, and it wasn't hard to see Roxas was a diaper dork just waiting to happen, if he wasn't just one at home. Still, faced with risking coming into find the two playing in diapers in the baby section or covering all the hours himself, Malcore had made his choice. That didn't mean though as Sora and Roxas came in and went to clock in he didn't give them a once over..Sniffling the air and making sure there was no baby powder or 'other' baby smells, and of course eyeing their butts to see if they were padded. truthfully it wasn't hard to tell on that front, the diapers these two seemed to favor, or at least he'd seen sora wear/Roxas eyeball on the shelf, tended to be super thick diapers that left nothing to the imagination. assured that they weren't padded, Malcore went over what had to get done, and assigned Roxas on cleaning duty (As in sweeping the floors once a hour, and checking on the public bathroom) which, of course got a face from Roxas.. and then assigned Sora to handling all shipping and receiving stuff, in case any shipments came in. His work done, malcore walked out mentally praying that they could keep being big boys, he just didn't have it in him today to come in and have to put up with poopie diaper boys.

The boys handled the first part of the shift fine, they had a mild early morning rush of people stopping off for coffee or snackage on their way into work, not to mention a few kids/teenagers in school stopping off for the same. Of course a lot of these kids had seen Sora back in his diapered baby days and half of them seemed to be there least to pick up something, and more to see if he was back to being a big baby. (this of course made Sora huffy, But as Malcore pointed out, it brought in customers so Sora had better just suck it up buttercup.) with the morning rush over, the boys decide that despite what malcore had said, they would split their duties with each other, and So after best two out of three of rock scissors paper lizard Spock Roxas swept the floor while sora cleaned the bathroom, complaining the whole time. "Dear god, are they even TRYING to get it in the bowl! And they think -I'M- the one who should be in diapers!" came sora's wail from the bathroom, making Roxas snicker. "now now, don't be a sore loser..if you would pick something besides Spock you might of won a round." Roxas called back. "I call hack's!" Sora whined, but finished cleaning and came out. "would you feel better if we took our break early? I got some video's I wanna show you." Roxas said. "HECK YEAH!" Sora said, and despite himself, he wiggled his butt..a hold over from his little guy days.

they didn't go to the break room since well, with two of them on, one of them had to stay upfront anyways, so the boy's plopped down behind the front counter and Roxas took out some of the homemade chocolate chip cookies he'd made, trying to make sure he gave the tainted ones with ex-lax chocolate used for the chips to Sora, while pulling up the special video's he'd prepped for Sora to watch. what Roxas didn't know was that while he had taken the time to prep two batches of the cookies, one which was sure to have a boy fudging his pants and one without, he'd gotten distracted thinking about all the diapers he was gonna steal and had only packed his laxative laced baked goods. there was no way to tell from the taste alone, and as they munched away, Sora watched the let's play video's Roxas had sent hours mixing with subliminal messages that would encourage the return of big baby Sora. "oh man! these guys are SO good at mega-man! I never even KNEW about some of these paths they're taking! Roxas, come see this!" Sora squealed excitedly, bouncing up and down in his seat, cookie crumbs goes down the front of his shirt as ate like a piggy despite his big breakfast, if there was one thing you could count on, no matter HOW full Sora got, he'd always have room for sweets. "I'm good, I already watched it. You watch that and I'll keep a eye on the door." Roxas said, finishing the last of his cookies too. "your the bestest friend ever!" Sora coo'ed, and wiggled like a happy toddler. clearly the messages were going to work already. 'Like sandblasting a soup cracker.' Roxas thought with a smirk. "heh, and don't you forget it."

Sora just couldn't stop smiling and giggling as he watched, and found himself re-watching certain parts of the same video over and over again. it never even dawned on him once that the happy giddy feeling he was experiencing could be traced back to the video, or that his bestest buddy in the whoooole world was setting him up to be a derpy diaper boy. he was kicking his legs and moving his head back and forth, though found himself getting bored with the let's play video's and since Roxas was dealing with a couple of collage students who had came in, he put in some headphones and switched over to YouTube and started to watch some Barney. he was just past the intro of the episode he had brought up when he looked up and noticed the two guys, and Roxas looking at him, and all three were smiling big time. Pausing the video and taking the headphones out, Sora looked back. "uhhh, can i help you?" he asked. "heh, no no, but you have a lovely singing voice." one of the students said and started laughing. "I loved just how into you got." the other said. "I-I wasn't singing!" sora huffed and blushed hotly. "Uh buddy? we know your watching barney, or at least the intro." Roxas said, smirking and shaking his head. "you can go back to it, but indoor voice please." he added. "o-oh.." Sora said in a soft voice, and put the headphones back and and glued his eyes to the screen, though now it was less a desire to watch the show and more just to block out the collage guys.

"heh, so are you like looking after him ot something or does he really work here?" The bigger of the two collage guys asked, sporting a brown crew cut. Just a few inches shorter, but with more of a barrel chest was a blond who was rocking a ponytail. "he's cute either way." the blond chimed in. "Yeah, he works here, but he's just a total dork. he gets paid in diapers." Roxas said, thinking up the lie on the spot. but his calculations, the cookies should be starting to kick in any second now, so he wagged his eyebrows. "in fact, any second now he's likely gonna start going off so we better get you two checked out befo-" he started when a super loud booming fart filled the store. only problem was it hadn't come from Sora, but Roxas who turned crimson. "heh, looks like there's more then one big baby in the store!" Blondie laughed. "Holy hell, did that hurt?" Crew cut asked, though he was holding his nose as a less then pleasure aroma had followed the blast of gas. "I uh..I er.." Roxas stammered, then quickly made his way behind the check out. "I-I think we b-better get you out of here b-before-" he tried to say only for anther back door blast to come out from his butt, a little wetter this time. as if taking it as a challenge, though he was engrossed in his show, Sora leaned to the side and while never taking his eyes off of the screen added to the hurricane of farts that was quickly rendering the store a toxic zone. "uh..I think we'll..get out drinks and snacks somewhere else.." Crew cut said, gagging a little and wiping at his eyes. "Yeahhh clearly the food here is tainted if you guys have been snacking on it." Blondie said, and the two guys left quick.

Sora drifted out of the zone he was in, when the smell finally hit him. he'd of course let out anther two farts before being knocked out of it, and Roxas had added in twice as many and was doing baby steps as he headed for the bathroom. "Hey Roxas, who cut the cheese?" Sora asked, clueless and was answered by a super gross and wet sounding fart from Roxas who froze in place, and had one hand on his tummy, and one on his butt, hunching over. "I guess that answers that." Sora said and slid out of his chair, on his way over to help his bestest buddy. or he was when a powerful cramp hit him and he hunched over, letting out a fart that sounded more like a foghorn then something that should of been possible for a human. "OWIE!" Sora cried out as it wasn't all that pleasant to let out, and Roxas whined and answered with a even worse sounding fart. "oh gawd, S-Sora..I think I'm gonna..gonna..." Roxas whined. "G-Gonna what?" the clueless Sora asked, shuffling slowly and getting up next to Roxas and then leaning on him, ending ANY shot Roxas might of had to get to the bathroom. "I'm gonna crap my pants!" Roxas wailed and then proceed to do so, bawling as the back of his undies puffed out and the back of his jeans showed what was happening. "M-me too!" Sora whimpered, and then bawled too as his bowels cut loose too and his own pants were ruined.

Being Sora's emergency contract and fairly responsible, Rikku always had his cell with him in case he was needed. Hence why even though he was relaxing in the tub, reading a novel he was quick to answer the phone when a call came though from the general store. It was hard to understand what was going on at first, though the wails and the sobbing, and Rikku had been cut off before he could even say hello, but soon enough he got the general idea of what had happened. It took about five minutes, during which time he got dried off and started to get dressed, but Rikku got both of the not so big boys calmed down to just gentle whimpers. "Sora, Buddy, You and Roxas get in the bathroom, I'll be down there as soon as possible with some clean pants..among other things. Ok?" "I..I..I DIDN'T MEAN TOOO! WAHHHHH!" Sora sobbed loudly, and in the back round Rikku could hear that he'd started Roxas up again. and so anther five minutes were used up as Rikku packed a diaper bag, there was only two of sora's diapers left. getting off the phone with the big babies he went out the door and right next door to where Roxas was living, and found the spare key under a flower pot right where Roxas had left it. he could of just just grabbed two pairs of Sora's pants but figured if a leak happened, he'd prefer it happen in Roxas's pants, not Sora's. he noticed a pink notice on the floor that had been put though the mail slot, but ignored it as he went into Roxas's room and while getting a pair of his pants, confirmed his belief that the brat was stealing diapers as he had a few wet ones in a trash can by his bed. "I'll have to put him on time out for that." Rikku said to himself and was heading back out the door when something on the kitchen counter caught his eye. coming into the kitchen he found a wrapper for some chocolate ex-ax, and there were cookies on the counter. recalling how sora had mentioned all they'd had were some cookies Roxas brought from home Rikku put 1 and 1 together. "..Forget a time out, he's getting his buns blistered!" Rikku growled. Storming out Rikku made his way double time to the store, now knowing he was gonna have to for SURE buy more diapers, there was no way those two weren't gonna be pooping their brains out al day.

Thankfully there was more then one potty in the bathroom, and Sora and Roxas were each on one, poopie undies and pants in the trash and holding onto the side of the potties while going again. "Oh gawd how do I still have bones left!?!" Roxas cried out. "I'm pooping lava!" Sora whined and whimpered. of course while Sora was clueless as to way he was pooping up a storm, Roxas knew full well why it was happening, and that this wasn't ending any time soon as he flushed. monkey see monkey do, Sora flushed too though even as they finished, both boys stayed seated, panting and gasping and exhausted. "Roxas..I dun think i want yer cookies anymore." Sora whined. "heh..fair..fair enough.." Roxas said, letting it go that Sora thought he was just a bad baker and not that this had been all by design, at least till he'd eaten them too. the boys sat there, willing their butt holes to close and suffered in silence, mostly. Roxas could hear the soft slurping noise of sora sucking his thumb. 'I hope that wasn't the hand he was wiping with..' Roxas thought and wrinkled his nose.

Rikku made it into the shop and was glad no one was inside, and nothing looked like it had been stolen. There was a awful stench in the air from the boys accidents and Rikku mused that it was likely the smell more then anything else had scared off any potential looters. He knew the place like the back of his hand, Sora had given him a grand tour (with permission from malcore) of the entire store after his first week, eager to show off, and besides that there was only the one bathroom for whole store that was shared by the customers and the staff alike. Making his way to the bathroom and taking shallow breath, Rikku paused to grab a few can's of air freshener. 'I doubt Malcore will mind me using these..better then coming into a store that smells like a diaper pail.' Rikku reasoned mentally, and then used up all of one can and half of the second. with THAT taken care of Rikku made his way into the bathroom and announced his arrival by making use of the second can and putting a arm to his mouth and nose. if it had smelled like a diaper pail out front, in the bathroom it was a dumpster of dirty diapers. "whew, you boys ok in here? you didn't break the potties did you?" he called. From the stall closet to him Roxas's voice started to answer he was ok, but it was drowned out by Sora's voice in the stall closet to the window. "Daddy!" Sora whimpered out, and the door open and the naked from the waist down save for his socks and shoes Sora ran out and glomped Rikku. Rikku smiled and set the can down on the sink, then wrapped one arm around Sora and used the other to pat the boys head. "Daddy I'm sowwy! I don't know why but my bum won't l-listen to me and i just wanna wear my diapies and hug you and and I don't think I'm a big boy anymore and i just wanna be your babbbby!" Sora whimpered and wailed, nuzzling his head into Rikku's chest and getting his shirt damp with tears. "shhh it's ok Sora..it's oook. We're just gonna get you and Roxas dressed, and then we'll finish out your shift, all three of us ok? Then I'll talk with malcore and let him know you'll be quitting." Rikku said and rubbed the big babies back, then tilted his head up and kissed his forehead. Switching his gaze to the stall that roxas was in, Rikku cleared his throat. "are you just gonna hide in there, or you wanna come out too? I can give you a hug if you need one as well." rikku said. he'd been half joking when he made the offer of course, but wasn't shocked when the door opened and Roxas took a spot on the side of Rikku and whimpered and sobbed too.

Getting both boys fully cleaned up, Rikku wasn't shocked when neither one of them protested to the diapers he'd brought (in fact both of them had gotten a little 'exited' while he was powdering them) but then there came a problem that Rikku for all his skills as a daddy hadn't foreseen. the pants barely fit over the diapers, and there was no way to button them or zip them up. "er..who wants to go pants-less for the rest of their shift?" Rikku asked, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly after the tenth attempt to get either of them zipped up failed. "oh oh! Me! MEEEE!" Sora said, holding up his left hand and giggling. now that he had been told it was ok to go back to being a baby, he'd grabbed it with both hands so to speak and gladly kicked off his pants. "Now everyone can see how cute my diapies are daddy!" he giggled and wiggled his butt. Roxas on the other hand, turned pale. "No! no no no no no!" he whined and as if it was somehow Rikku's fault for not trying hard enough, hopped up and down tugging on the dress pants trying to force them up. "Come onnn work with me you stupid things!" Roxas whined, looking like a huffy toddler and Sora giggled and snuggled into daddy watching the show. "er..Roxas..i don't think it's gonna work. you might as well give up before you-" Rikku started. he was cut off as a loud rip was hear and the ass of the pants ripped open, along with the crotch of them. "..rip them." Rikku finished, trying not to laugh at the look of shock and embarrassment on Roxas face. "I..but..DAMN IT!" Roxas yelled and grabbed at the rip and tore it all, venting his frustrations at the poor pants while Sora gasped and covered his ears. "Daddy! he said a bad word!" Sora cried out. "I think we'll let him have a mulligan on that one buddy." Rikku said and gave Sora a side hug. A side hug that apparently helped whatever was left in the boys system come out because Sora yelped and then hugged Rikku tight and buried his face into his side as he started to load his diaper. not to be out done and with the remains of his pant's in his hands, Roxas dropped to a squat and used one hand to brace himself on the floor as the other arm clutched at his tummy. the back of both boy's white and chocobo print diapers puffed out rapidly and the chocobo's vanished from the back and front as they wet themselves while loading their diapers. '..oh good. because one stinky baby wasn't enough.' Rikku thought sweat dropping as the wails started again. "DADDDDY!" Came the twin cries, at the same time and Rikku wondered if maybe, just maybe..the two had practiced to nail such perfect timing.

Helping himself to a pack of the extra thick nighttime diapers off the shelf, and keeping track of what he'd owe Malcore, Rikku got the big babies changed even as they hiccuped and whined. the sobs and complaints about the design of the diapers (have just generic moons and stars on them) were muffled as Rikku also snagged a package of pacifiers from the shelf and popped one in each boys mouth. red mouth guard for Sora, yellow for Roxas. the big babies sucked on their paci's and wiped at their tears with one hand, but also were (Squeal!) holding each others hands for support while Rikku got them changed. He tried to get them to stand up and find something for them to do once they were nice and safe in their diapers, but the boys legs were shaken and they both looked wiped. considering how much they had pooped out and how fast it had happened, it wasn't really all that surprising though really. Rikku added to his mental tab and got a couple of baby bottle off of the shelf and then some Gatorade and filled the bottles up. the electrolyte's in the juice would help them feel better in a bit, though they were both falling asleep. Looking around the store, Rikku spotted a play pen that was on display in the back and tilted his head. 'It'll be a little cramped..but it's the best I can do.' he thought. With the big babies fading fast and rubbing their eyes even as they sucked on their ba-ba's (Rikku had made use of paci clips and ribbons so the paci's just hung from the boys work shirts)  Rikku got them both up and set on either hip and carried them down to the playpen. "Ok sleepyheads, you two are gonna go night night for awhile ok? Daddy will be here when you wake up. I know the play pen is gonna be a little cramped, but it's the best I can do on short notice." Rikku said. there was no fight left in the big babies and they just slowly nodded. 'If they were only so cute and agreeable ALL the time.' Rikku thought to himself. of course just because Roxas was all cute and helpless NOW didn't mean he wasn't going to get punished later. it just meant Rikku was willing to let him work this this if for no other reason then bare bottom spanking a oversized big baby when they have the runs will ALWAYS end badly. Gently setting them in the playpen, Rikku couldn't help but grin like a fool and lean over the edge and watch as the more asleep then awake baby snuggled right into each other and let the ba-ba's drop and then (BIG squeal!) popped each others paci in the others mouth as they went off to dream land.'...OK..maybe having two big babies is gonna be worth the extra stink.' Rikku mentally gushed. grabbing a blanket he put it over the sleeping babies, and then went to work cleaning up.

Malcore was NOT happy as he made his way back to the store. the manger had been woken up from a dead sleep by a deliver man bringing certain ..packages.. to his place but when malcore had gone to take his wallet out to show ID he'd realized he'd forgotten it back at the store. Thankfully the guy cut him a break and let him get his packages but now the half asleep and grumpy Manger had to walk ALL the way to and ALL the way back to the store, because he'd been a dumb ass and let his next door neighbor borrow his car. "No good deed goes fucking unpunished." Malcore grumbled. walking into the shop he noticed a heavy fruity scent in the air and groaned. "Roxas, Sora, I swear if you two were playing fart war again Il.." Malcore started and then blinked as it was Rikku who was behind the counter, not one of his employee's. "oh uh..Hey Malcore." Rikku said. "is there a reason your behind the counter right now and not one of the two dorks i pay to be hind the counter?" Malcore asked. before Rikku could answer however there was a loud snore from the back of the shop. Holding a hand up to shush Rikku, Malcore walked over and looked down to the back of the store and yup, there was Sora and Roxas, asleep in a playpen. "..Do I wanna know the full details or do I wanna just save the head ache and fire them both and pray I can get someone else in to cover their shift?" malcore asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "..if it helps you've made about a $100 bucks off of them from everything I've had to buy and plan to leave with." Rikku said sheepishly. "Uh-huh.. I'll just be keeping their last pay checks, and you can sit here till I convince DT or Josh or Lute to come in. flip side, you can load up on what you need for them on the way out after I get a replacement in here." "heh, deal." 'And they wonder why I need my stress relief so much.' Malcore thought and headed for the office.

after about 45 minutes DT came into the store, looking pouty and smelling of baby power but dressed and ready for work. he did stop to gush and coo at how cute the big babies looked even if by that point Roxas and Sora had been changed into clean diapers and put into a black mage print onesie for Roxas, and a chocobo print one for Sora. they were also in a double stroller with lots of diapers packed in the undercarriage. Sora giggled and coo'ed as DT baby talked and tickled his chin while Roxas was red faced and sucking on his paci, hugging a teddy bear after finding out he'd been canned. "Who's a widdle cutie, who's a cute widdle big baby?" DT gushed and coo'ed. "hehehehe Meeee!" Sora gurgled in babyish tone and clapped his hands. "That's right! such a clever boy!" DT said and tapped Sora on the nose, then turned his attention to Roxas."Awww don't look so grumpy, your a big baby t-" DT started to say but Roxas shot him a look and DT gulped and moved away from the front of the stroller. "Er..yeah..so..I think that cuteness makes up for getting woken up." DT said, squeaking a little as he talked to Rikku "Right. you were were sleeping." Rikku said, giving a knowing look to the clerk. After all a professional daddy like Rikku knew a big baby when he saw one.

Wheeling the babies out of the shop they headed home with Sora going out of his way to wave hi to people and get attention from anyone they came across, the video had fried any sense of modesty from him and Roxas could only try and hide behind his stuffed bear as he thought he had a reputation to protect. Of course everyone on the block knew he was just as much of a big baby as Sora, but for the most part no one said anything because when confronted he had a habit of going into a high pitched whining denial speech and the whine could get SO high pitched dogs would howl. Making it back to Rikku and Sora's place first, Rikku got the stroller inside and then let the babies out while he unloaded everything from it. "Look uh..I'm glad you bailed us out and everything..but..I'm gonna go home." Roxas said, huffing a little as he stood there dressed like a big baby. "Well before you go, I figured you might want these..and know that I know what you did." Rikku Said, handing two of the large packs of diapers to Roxas and giving the big baby a look. The color drained from the big babies face and he stammered and whined a little as Sora who had been crawling over to go and play with some toys turned around and looked confused. "what did he do daddy?" the big aby asked. "Oh, nothing you need to worry about little guy. but he'll be coming over later to get punished for it. right Roxas?" Rikku said and looked Roxas right in the eyes. a wet fart escaped the blond and he gave a weak smile. "I.I..Uh..Yes sir." he said meekly. he briefly wondered about just trying to put it off and avoid contract with Rikku for like a week or so and see if this would just blow over. "And you know the longer you wait to take your licks, the worse it's going to be right?" Rikku added. 'Well shit.' Roxas thought. "I-I Understand sir." Roxas said, anther wet fart coming out and some bubbly ones coming from sora too. "if I was you, I'd either get my butt home before you end up unloading on the front lawn or just stay in here for anther diaper change." Rikku advised. Roxas went to say something but a bubbling fart had him change his mind and dash out the door, racing home.

Luck was on Roxas side, or so it seemed at first as he made it to his place and got inside before the churning in his tummy tum had him drop to his knees and start filling out the seat of his diaper once again. by this point he was basically used to the helpless feeling of crapping himself, though it still kinda hurt and burned. As he groaned and grunted and loaded his huggies, the door closed thankfully, he noticed the pink paper on the floor and gulped. even before he picked it up to read it he had a fairly good idea what it was going to say. he was maybe a month or two..ok 4 months behind on rent and had kept promising to make payments but then would go ahead and blow all his money on video games and the like. this mean he was the envy of every other boy on the block but as he looked the notice over, it also meant he had a week to move his stuff out. He was being evicted. "what did I do to deserve all of this!" Roxas cried out loud as he finished pooping his pampers and slowly got up to his feet using the wall for balance. a quick look in the kitchen and seeing the chocolate ex-lax wrapper reminded him. "..DAMN IT!"

Rikku was in the middle of changing Sora, who was busy sucking on his paci and playing with a stuffie as Rikku handled the the dirty deed, when the door bell rang. Since Sora was all clean and just waiting on a fresh diaper Rikku rubbed his belly. "you gonna be ok here for a second champ while I answer the door?" he asked. Sora nodded and went back to playing with his stuffie and Rikku made his way to the door quickly. It wasn't that he didn't trust Sora to stay put, it was more of he didn't wanna come back and find out he had peed all over himself. Opening the door Rikku was semi shocked to find Roxas back already, he hadn't been gone that long. A strong breeze blew and even if Roxas's diaper hadn't of been sagging in his onesie Rikku would of been able to tell that he was a stinky boy. "heh, you know, I'm not gonna change EVERY poo-" Rikku started, but was cut off. "I-I'm getting evicted..and..and..Can I move in with you guys for awhile?" Roxas asked, bottom lip trembling. "J-just till I get back on my feet!" Rikku thought about how Roxas had turned Sora back into a big baby, and gotten them both fired (though Sora again WAS gonna quit) and toyed with saying no. but in the end seeing the big baby scared and upset, he just couldn't bring himself to be mean. "I suppose so..but there are going to be some rules..but we'll go over them in a bit. first, let's get you changed into a clean diaper." Rikku said and ruffled Roxas hair. the big baby glomped him and Rikku just smiled.

Sora was more then a little excited at the prospect of having a brother to share his nursery with and babbled on and on about all the fun stuff the two of them were gonna do together as he sat on the floor in just a diaper and socks while Rikku changed Roxas. Rikku explained it was going to be din din time soon, the boys needed to get something in their systems and it was just easier to have big babies in diapers and socks while they ate. He also explained that as long as Roxas lived under his roof, he'd be treated JUST like Sora, which meant treated JUST like a big silly baby. no changing his own diapers, no using the potty, 7:30 pm bedtimes and the whole nine yards. If at any point Roxas had had enough and didn't wanna do it, he was always free to walk out the door. Sniffling as he heard the rules, Roxas thought about how all of this had started just so he could steal some diapers and pretend to BE a baby. Now he was trapped, with no job and no money..he was STUCK as a baby, It was a fitting punishment and fitting end for the blonds plans, and he STILL had a spanking to look forward to.  

THE END...For now.

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 26

A/N: I don’t usually say stuff like this but y’all can thank me later for the ending.

TW: mentions of covid-19

March 10th, 2020

Aberdeen Bloom was about to show Camden around Scotiabank Arena.

“Don’t touch anything that’s not yours to touch, okay?” she warned him as they were just outside the doors to the arena.  She looked down at him to make sure everything looked okay – that his hair was nicely brushed, that his shirt wasn’t wrinkled, that his pants weren’t drooping, that his shoes were tied – before she bent down.  “I mean it.  We’re taking extra cleaning protocols because of this coronavirus thing and you don’t want to make extra work for the cleaning staff, right?”

“Right,” he nodded his head.  “Don’t worry, Aberdeen.”

“And no touching the sticks.  The guys are super-finicky about their sticks.”

“No touching the sticks.”

“And no touching anything in their stalls, either.  A lot of them are superstitious so if one thing is off, they’ll know.”

“No touching the stalls.”

“And no touching the—”

“No touching!!!” he yelled, clearly getting the point.  “Can we go inside now?”

Aberdeen was nervous.  But Camden was a good kid.  She had confidence that he wouldn’t embarrass her.  “Yes, we can go in now,” she said, about to get back on her feet.  And then she remembered.  “But one last thing—”

“Aberdeeeeeeeeeeeen!”

“The most important thing,” she said over him.  “You cannot tell anyone William Nylander came to our house for Christmas and you cannot talk like you’ve met him before.”

Camden nodded his head.  “I knooooow.  William spending Christmas with us has to be a secret always and forever.  I get it.  Can we please go inside now so I can see everyone before mom and dad get here?”

Aberdeen smiled.  What a kid.  “Let’s go,” she said, standing up and putting her arm around his back as they walked into the arena together.  Aberdeen flashed her fob to open the door and led Camden towards the elevators, taking it up to her office.  Camden was looking around at everything – everything was big and shiny and very sports-y, and he knew that if he was good, Aberdeen would take him to the Raptor’s locker room too.

“Heeeeey,” Brendan smiled as he saw Aberdeen ushering Camden into the office, getting up from his seat.  He’d never seen Aberdeen look so proud as she did as they walked into the room.  “How you doin’, buddy?  Remember me?  The candy man from Christmas?”

Camden nodded his head.  “Hello Mr. Shanahan.  I remember you,” Camden held out his hand.  

Brendan chuckled as he shook his little 11-year-old hand.  “You’re just like your sister.  Very formal.  She wouldn’t call me Brendan for months.”

Camden looked up at her.  “Yeah, mom and dad make sure we always call people mister and misses.  If we didn’t and mom heard about it, she’d have a fit.  Same with dad.”

“My mom was the same way, you know.  I think it’s because they grew up in Belfast,” Brendan winked.

“Probably.”

“So what do you want to see, bud?” Brendan asked.  “I don’t think you want to see the offices, right?  But not a lot of the guys are here yet.”

Camden looked around at Brendan’s office.  He clearly had something on his mind, though he seemed a bit nervous to say it.  “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

Camden bit his lip slightly.  “My sister told me the guys get to eat here if they want to.  But where do they eat?”

Brendan had the most amused look on his face.  Aberdeen couldn’t help but chuckle from behind Camden too.  “You want to go see catering?”

“I guess so.”

Brendan shook his head.  He loved kids.  “Then we’re going to catering.”

***

Camden, Aberdeen, and Brendan went to catering.  Camden met the head chef and got to stir some onions and garlic frying in a pan as the base for the pasta sauce that night.  He even helped set the menu, deciding to go for grilled chicken for the guys.  He originally suggested fried, but the chef told him the guys needed to eat clean and that if they had friend chicken, John Tavares would get mad at everyone for eating it, because they would eat it.  

They saw Kyle, who brought them out into the empty arena, and brought them all the way down to ice level where Aberdeen was able to take some pictures of him on the empty ice, on the Leafs bench, and even in the penalty box.  Camden got a kick out of it all, and got less shy and more boisterous as the minutes passed and Brendan and Kyle allowed him to do funny things.  He was even able to see the Zamboni.  He was smart enough not to ask if the man tending to it was David Ayres.  

When they were back in the corridors of the arena, Kyle looked down at Camden who was practically skipping through the hallways.  “I heard your sister got you a pretty cool Raptors jersey for Christmas,” Kyle said.

“Yup!” Camden nodded his head.  “A Kyle Lowry one.  He’s the coolest.  I wore it on my first day of school back from Christmas break and all my friends thought it was soooo cool.”

“Do you want to go into their locker room?” Kyle smiled, already knowing the answer.  

Camden’s eyes lit up like the fourth of July.  “Can I?!  For real?!” he asked.

“For real,” Kyle nodded.  “Come on, let’s go.  Maybe we can get a picture of you in Kyle Lowry’s stall.”

Fireworks were practically shooting out of Camden’s eyes as they walked inside of the dressing room.  He looked at every stall and every player’s name written at the top.  The only thing he could keep saying was “This is so cool!” and “Oh my God!”  Aberdeen hung out at the perimeter of the room as she watched him, letting Camden get the full effect.  He kept looking back at her and smiling from ear to ear, clearly not believing anything was real.  Aberdeen would smile back and urge him to keep looking.

Suddenly, she heard a door open from behind her.  She turned around quickly to see who it was and make sure she wasn’t in the way, but realistically, there shouldn’t have been anyone else there besides them, so she was skeptical.  When she saw who it was, her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach.  “Oh, hello Miss Bloom!” Masai greeted her after he’d poked his head through the door.  He had a casual sports jacket on with a plain black polo shirt and a nice pair of pressed slacks.  “How are you?”

“I’m fine Mr. Ujiri.  How are you?”

“All good here.  What’s the occasion?” he asked, nodding his head towards Kyle, Brendan, and Camden.

“That’s my little brother Camden,” she said, only to see Masai’s smile grow.  “I think he feels like he’s won the lottery right now.”

“Camden?” he clarified the name in a low voice.  She nodded her head before watching him close the door and step into the locker room confidently.  “Hello Camden!” he beamed.

Camden whipped his head around.  When he saw that it was Masai Ujiri, his face dropped.  Brendan and Kyle smiled.  “Masai Ujiri?!” Camden yelled.

“That’s me!  Are you having fun?”

Camden didn’t know what to do.  He couldn’t formulate words, and he couldn’t move, and the step forward he took was mute when he froze in place because he didn’t think it was polite to hug Masai Ujiri, so he just sort of stood there in a weird stance with his jaw on the floor until he could formulate one simple word.  “Hi.”

Everybody laughed.  Masai made his way into the room.  “You’re a big Raptors fan?  Who’s your favourite?”

“K—K—Kyle Lowry,” Camden stuttered out.  

“Good choice,” Masai smiled.  “Do you want a picture in his stall?”

Camden could only nod enthusiastically.  He walked towards the stall, and Aberdeen knew it was her cue.  She took out her phone and began snapping pictures of him standing, sitting, pointing at Kyle’s name – everything.  Camden had the biggest smile ever on his face.  Then Masai posed with him too, and an even bigger smile appeared on his face.  It was all so cool.  And then—

“Hey!  Who’s that in my stall?”

A shiver went up Aberdeen’s spine.  From his spot in the stall, Camden’s face dropped again – if it was possible, even more this time than when Masai walked into the room.  She turned around to see the man himself, Kyle Lowry, walk into the room.  “What’s up, buddy?” Kyle asked, smiling from ear to ear.

“K—Ky—Ky—” Camden couldn’t get his name out.  “K—Kyle—”

“That’s me.  You having fun?” he asked.  Camden nodded.  “Have you ever been in here before?”

“N—No Mr. Lowry, I—I’ve just s—seen it on TV,” Camden stuttered out.  

“Who’s Mr. Lowry?  Call me Kyle,” he said as he walked towards him.  “You excited to be in here?” he asked.  Camden could only nod his head.  “You watch us at home?”

“I watch you at home with my dad all the time,” Camden said, which was true.  They’d watched almost all the games last season (until Camden’s bedtime, naturally), and he stayed up past his bedtime for all the playoff games.  This year, he and Mirza were continuing the tradition.  

“Do you have a jersey to wear while you watch them?”

“Aberdeen gave me a jersey for Christmas.”

Everyone laughed at his innocence.  It was only then that Aberdeen noticed a jersey draped over Kyle’s shoulder.  Even she was freaking out, because she knew how much this meant to Camden.  “So I guess you don’t want this one then?” Kyle asked, pulling the jersey off his shoulder.  He opened it up to reveal a vintage-style jersey, one with the original logo.  He took a Sharpie and asked Camden for his name and how to spell it before writing it on the jersey and signing it.  “You want a picture, buddy?” Kyle asked.  Camden could only nod.  He was too shocked.  Aberdeen was glad they were being so patient with him. 

They posed together with Kyle’s stall in the background, and then Masai joined in, and then Aberdeen got in, too.  Camden was rendered speechless.  When they were led out of the locker room, Kyle and Masai said goodbye before they disappeared into the elevator.  Kyle said a few parting words as well since he had to take an important phone call before the game.  Brendan left Aberdeen and Camden alone to go to his office, expecting Orla and Mirza anytime now.  It left Aberdeen and Camden alone, with Aberdeen knowing Camden was still star-struck by what just happened.

“Ab—Aberdeen,” Camden said finally, once the men were gone.  He was clutching onto the jersey so tight, like it would float away.  

“Are you alright, Cam?” she asked, bending down on her knee so she could look him in the eye.  

He shook his head.  “I w—wasn’t ready for that,” he said, his voice shaky.  “I didn’t—I didn’t look like a loser, did I?”

“What?  No way!” she exclaimed.  “Camden, you never look like a loser.”

“He was so cool Aberdeen!  I mean he’s Kyle Lowry!” he said as he began to cry.  

“C’mere,” she cooed, wrapping her arms around him tightly and pulling her brother in for a big hug.  “I know it was overwhelming, but that’s okay!  You just met your hero!  I bet if any of your other friends met their hero, they wouldn’t know what to do either,” she said, trying to get him to calm down.  

As Aberdeen continued to hug her brother, rubbing his back so he’d calm down a bit, she heard people making their way up the stairs, and soon, she saw William and Auston making their way up.  William noticed her first, looking her straight in the eye even though Auston was talking to him.  When Auston noticed him not responding, he looked and saw Aberdeen.  

“Hey,” William greeted them, looking at her skeptically.  “Everything okay?”

Aberdeen nodded her head against Camden’s shoulder.  “Camden just had a big moment,” she said, giving them both a look.  “He just met Masai Ujiri and Kyle Lowry.”

Both William’s and Auston’s eyes bulged out.  “Ooooooh, wow!” they cooed together.  “Dude, that’s so awesome!” Auston said, sounding excited, trying to make Camden as comfortable as possible as Aberdeen let go of the hug so Camden could face Auston and Willy.

“I’d be the same way, bud!  Don’t worry!” William said as he noticed the nervous and embarrassed look on Camden’s face as he wiped away whatever few tears fell.  He noticed the jersey hanging from Camden’s other hand.  “Is that it?”

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“Let’s see it,” Auston said gently.

Camden unfolded it gently, as if the autograph would rub off.  When the guys noticed that it was a vintage jersey, they commented on how cool it looked.  And when they finally saw the personalized autograph, they were all but screaming.  “I don’t even have one of these, bud!” Auston exclaimed.  “You’re sooooo lucky!”

“Yeah, me neither!” William joined in.  “You’ve gotta frame that or something.”

“I gotta show all my friends at school first,” he said.  The more Camden calmed down, the more he came to his senses.  He took a second and third look at the men in front of him – he of course noticed and knew William, but it was Auston who he finally realized was standing in front of him.  “Holy moly, you’re Auston Matthews!”

Auston giggled.  “Yes I am.”

“You…you’re the coolest!”

“Thanks, bud,” he said.  “Has your sister brought you into our locker room yet?”

Camden shook his head.  “Not yet.  There was nobody here yet so we went to catering.”

“Catering?!” William was shocked.  “You brought your brother to catering?!”

“I told him how you guys could eat before the game and he wanted to see!” Aberdeen tried to defend herself.  

William shook his head.  “Come on, Camden.  Let’s see who’s already here.”

With Auston leading the way and Camden in front of him, William looked back at Aberdeen behind him and winked at her.  “By the way Aberdeen, how do I look?” he asked.

She smiled.  “You look like if the song ‘Africa’ by Toto were a person.”

Auston threw his head back and cackled loudly like a seagull.  William shook his head.  Camden looked back at his sister.  “What’s Toto?  Isn’t that the dog from the Wizard of Oz?”

“Don’t worry about it, Cam,” she said.  

Camden was nervous as they approached the doors of the locker room, so he waited for his sister to be near him before he stepped through.  When he did, he was wide-eyed and amazed; he couldn’t believe he’d just been in the Raptor’s locker room and now he was in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ locker room, too.  Most of the guys were actually already in the room, but luckily they were not in various stages of undress yet.  Morgan was the first one to notice them – it was his first game back from injury, so his energy level was off the charts.  “Aberdeen!” he yelled her name, giant smile on his face.  His eyes moved to Camden.  “Who’s this?”

“This is Camden, my little brother,” she said, introducing him.  “Camden, that’s Morgan Rielly.  He’s one of our alternate captains and it’s his first game back tonight.”

“What’s up, Camden?” he asked, smiling gently.  

“Hello Mr. Rielly.”

“Camden just met Masai Ujiri and Kyle Lowry, so he’s a bit shocked at everything right now,” Aberdeen said, making a face at Morgan that Camden couldn’t see.  

Morgan got the hint.  “That’s the jersey then, huh?” he pointed to the jersey still in Camden’s hands.  Camden nodded.  “Isn’t Kyle just so cool?” Morgan asked.

A smile spread on Camden’s face.  “He’s my faaaaavourite,” he said.

“Me too.”

“Do I hear a Bloom brother is here?” Tyson’s voice boomed from the other end of the locker room.  Aberdeen watched him walk through the door with a big smile on his face.  “What’s up?!  You must be Camden!”

“Hello Mr. Barrie.”

“You excited for the game tonight?”

Camden nodded.  “It’s my first ever hockey game.”

“First ever?!  Okay, we gotta make it extra special then,” Tyson smiled.  “Where are you sitting?”

Camden looked up to Aberdeen, because he didn’t have a clue.  “Mom, dad, and Camden are sitting in row 20 at centre ice,” she said.  “If he’s good he’ll be back after the game too.  But only if he’s good.”

“Hey!  I’m always good!” he objected.

“I’m not sure about that.”

***

As Aberdeen sat with Brendan in the box, she noticed him checking his phone a lot more than usual.  It was especially peculiar because this was a game against Tampa Bay – a very good team and many saw this as a must-win for the Leafs, especially since they won their last game against Tampa Bay on her birthday.  And like with the game in Ottawa, when Siena was there, and on her birthday, when he scored that insane between-the-legs goal, William was just showing off.  He was playing great, and had scored a goal in the first period.  Aberdeen knew he was hamming it up for her and her family, knowing they were in attendance.  

When Auston scored in the third period to get the score to 2-1, Brendan was happy but it didn’t last long.  He began furiously typing away on his phone.  She wondered if there was a problem with one of his kids or with Catherine.  He usually wasn’t this distracted during games.

“Is everything okay, Brendan?” she asked once the final buzzer went.  The Leafs had won 2-1 and she thought he’d be much happier.

He pursed his lips together, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head.  “Trying to keep up on the coronavirus,” he said.  The media had already been put at bay and weren’t allowed close to the players anymore.  She wondered if new restrictions were being implemented and the media wrote a pissy open letter demanding access again.  “It’s not looking good.  I mean, the entire country of Italy is in a fucking lockdown.  They can’t control this thing.”

Aberdeen heard that news yesterday.  It was a shock to her, mainly because she didn’t think it was possible an entire country could go into lockdown.  But the north was getting rattled by it, and it seemed like the only logical thing to do, however draconian it was.  She had a lot of Italian friends from high school whose family were still in Italy and were affected by it.  “What do you think will happen?” she asked.

“Don’t know,” he said.  “I mean…it’s getting serious.  Really serious.  And I’m not convinced it can be contained like we all hope it can be,” he said.  

“What do you think will happen with us?” she followed up.

“If…ah, I honestly don’t know, Aberdeen.  They could postpone games by a few days.  I mean, I think that’s the worst-case scenario right now – everything being delayed by a couple of weeks.”

Aberdeen bit her lip.  “Yeah…I guess that’s totally worst-case scenario.”

“Absolute worst-case scenario,” Brendan repeated.  “Do I think it will get that bad?  I don’t know.  I don’t think so.  But I have no clue about these things.”

“What…I mean, the directive has to come from the league, right?” she asked.

“Of course.  It always comes from the top down.  We’ll see what happens.  We can’t worry about hypotheticals.”

Aberdeen nodded.  He was right.  “So I guess I’ll see you on Wednesday when Nashville is in town?”

“You betcha.  Let me walk you down and say goodbye to your family.”

***

Aberdeen had barely taken her shoes off when she got into her condo before she felt her phone buzz in her hand.  

can i see u?

She couldn’t believe him.  But at the same time, she could.

You’re lucky you can.

i’ll be there in 5

She took the five minute opportunity to change out of her work clothes and take off her makeup.  When the calling buzz rang from her phone, she immediately let him in.  Within minutes, he was knocking at her door, and she was letting him in like she always did.  

“How’s your brother?” he asked as he took off his shoes.  

“He’s fine,” she smiled slightly, liking that William was asking about him.  Camden had returned to the Leafs locker room after the game (if the media found out, she knew they’d have a hissy fit since they weren’t even allowed back there, but Brendan didn’t care) and Auston gave him his game-worn jersey, which all the guys ended up signing.  By the end of the night, all of the excitement of the day and the game had caught up to him, and he was practically falling asleep standing up.  “He was tired by the end but I could tell it was the best day of his life.”

“He’s a cute kid,” William commented.  “You guys are alike, you know.”

“How?” Aberdeen was curious.

“You’re both…like, pure.  You both light up the room when you enter it,” he smiled.  The shy smile on her face was his favourite.  He approached her, not wanting to wait any longer.  “Is Kasha home?” he asked before he put his arm around her.  

“No.  She’s with Evan tonight,” Aberdeen said.

“Sleeping over?”

Aberdeen nodded, a smirk on her face.  “Aren’t you a lucky boy.”

William smiled.  “The luckiest boy in the world,” he mumbled, wrapping his other arm around her and pulling her against his body.  

“You always know the perfect opportunities to show up,” she said.  “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you’re in cahoots with her as to when to come over and get in my pants.”

William chuckled, leaning down. “In cahoots?” he mumbled against her lips.  “The only thing or person I’m in cahoots with these days is you, minskatt.”

“Not Rasmus?” she asked.

He grumbled at her before deciding to get her to be quiet by kissing her.  When his lips planted on hers, she let out a slight gasp before wrapping her own arms around his shoulders, kissing him fully and sticking her tongue down his throat in no time at all.  As they kissed in the middle of her kitchen, William slipped his hands underneath her shirt and up to her bra, feeling her breasts through the cotton fabric.  “Bedroom?” he asked.

Aberdeen nodded.  “Please.”

***

March 11th, 2020

Good afternoon.  In the past two weeks, the number of cases of COVID-19 outside China has increased 13-fold, and the number of affected countries has tripled.  There are now more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries, and 4,291 people have lost their lives.  Thousands more are fighting for their lives in hospitals.  In the days and weeks ahead, we expect to see the number of cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries climb even higher.  WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction.

We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.

***

Aberdeen’s brows were furrowed as she and Kasha watched TV, the both of them feeling like they were in the twilight zone or something.  The basketball game was supposed to have started, but never did.  People were rushing off the court.  Nobody knew what was going on, and the announcers were just speaking in hypotheticals.  It was all very confusing – that is, until, the headline came:

Rudy Gobert tests positive for coronavirus.

The girls couldn’t keep their eyes off the TV screen.  Now the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder were being quarantined inside the arena and being tested.  Just the other day, Rudy Gobert was making light of the entire situation and touching all of the reporters’ microphones after his interview with them.  Now he had the virus.

“Oh my God,” Kasha muttered as she looked down at her phone.  

“What?  What’s going on?” Aberdeen asked.

“Tom Hanks just announced he has it,” she announced, looking up.  

The girls looked at each other, speechless.

***

“Did you hear the NBA has suspended their season?” Aberdeen asked as she lay in her bed, holding her phone along the pillow as she looked at William through the screen.  He was doing the same thing.  His disheveled hair and sleepy blue eyes would have made her swoon in any other situation, but right now, she wasn’t swooning.  

“Yeah,” he nodded.  He noticed she was wearing the hoodie that he left there by accident last night.  “It’s crazy.  I mean it’ll probably be for the next few days until they have everything under control, you know?”

“Yeah,” Aberdeen said, but she wasn’t so sure.  “What do you think the NHL will do?” she asked.

“No clue.  Maybe they’ll suspend the next few days of games too, just to make sure everything is under control too.  We’ll probably have to get tested.  I heard they stick something all the way up your nose,” William said.  There were a few moments of silence between them.  “Are you scared, minskatt?”

It was the first time somebody actually asked her that question – asked her if she was scared.  Everybody talked about it but nobody ever stopped to ask if she was actually scared.  She felt herself nodding her head.  “A little bit,” she admitted.

“Don’t be scared, minskatt.  I don’t want you to feel scared.  But I’m here if you want to talk about it.  You know that, right?”

She nodded her head.  “Are you scared, Willy?”

He nodded too.  “Yeah.  A little bit.”

***

March 12th, 2020

Aberdeen had an incredibly early morning.  She actually went into the office at 7:30 in the morning because Brendan requested she be there for some additional prep and to scribe the minutes of the meeting taking place with the NHL and the Board of Governors.  With a tired body but overactive mind, thinking about all the possibilities that could happen, her fingers moved a mile a minute across the keyboard as she sat with Brendan and Kyle.  Up until this point, everything in the league was carrying on as normal, despite the NBA postponing their season not even twelve hours prior.  She knew for a fact other teams around the league were still preparing to hold practices because those who were on the call said so and asked about it.  The Nashville Predators were already in for a morning skate, and the Leafs were going to have their practice right after.  

When the decision was made, and all that needed to be done was tell the players before the statement was drafted and released to the media, Brendan took a long, hard, exasperated sigh.  He rubbed at his temples and let his pen drop from his hand.  He leaned back in his chair before he looked at Aberdeen.  “All the guys are present and accounted for in the locker room.  We have to go and tell them.”

The thought of having to tell the team was daunting.  She knew it wasn’t her that was going to be delivering the bad news, but it would still be disheartening just being in the room and seeing their faces drop.  They’d probably have so many questions and Brendan and Kyle wouldn’t have any answers for them.  She looked at Kyle to see if he could offer her any solace but he was rubbing his eyes underneath his glasses.  “What do you think they’ll say?” she asked.

Brendan shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.  “Who knows.  But nobody will be happy.  I know that much.”

As they made their way towards the locker room, Kyle texted Sheldon to make sure all the guys and all the personnel were congregated in the locker room to hear the announcement.  With the Predators also being there, Aberdeen knew there’d be overlap.  So many of them knew each other so she wondered if they had already gone to see each other.

When they got into the locker room, everyone was waiting like kids in class.  Aberdeen locked eyes with William and moved off to the side as Brendan and Kyle stood at the front of the room.  They were told the news.

“For how long?”

“Even practices?  I mean this is just going to be for a few days, right?”

“Are they releasing a statement?”

“Did the league say anything about making up the games?”

“When are we going to start again?”

“Does that mean the season is being extended even further into the summer?  Doesn’t that delay next season?  What about the CBA?”

“What’s the PA have to say about this?”

“Is the PA making a statement too?”

“What do we do with our equipment?  Our stalls?”

We don’t know.

We don’t know.

We don’t know.  

“Listen, the only thing we do know for sure is this: it’s been classified as a pandemic now by the World Health Organization and it’s spreading quickly.  This thing can’t be contained.  With Gobert testing positive last night, it was only a matter of time before this thing affected us, too.  We share so many locker rooms with NBA players.  It might already even be in our league and we don’t know it,” Brendan said.

“Schools have already announced an extended March Break.  Nobody knows a lot right now but what we can tell you is that we’re going to listen to the public health officials and their advice,” Kyle said.  “We’re hockey players – we’re not epidemiologists.  If someone tells me to stop playing a full-contact sports to stop the spread of a highly infectious diseases even the world’s best epidemiologists still know very little about, I’m going to listen to them.”

“So what do we do now?” Morgan asked.

“Go home.  Until you’re given further directives from us, go home and stay home.”

***

"In light of ongoing developments resulting from the coronavirus, and after consulting with medical experts and convening a conference call of the Board of Governors, the National Hockey League is announcing today that it will pause the 2019-20 season beginning with tonight's games.”

"The NHL has been attempting to follow the mandates of health experts and local authorities, while preparing for any possible developments without taking premature or unnecessary measures. However, following last night's news that an NBA player has tested positive for coronavirus -- and given that our leagues share so many facilities and locker rooms and it now seems likely that some member of the NHL community would test positive at some point -- it is no longer appropriate to try to continue to play games at this time.

"We will continue to monitor all the appropriate medical advice, and we will encourage our players and other members of the NHL community to take all reasonable precautions -- including by self-quarantine, where appropriate. Our goal is to resume play as soon as it is appropriate and prudent, so that we will be able to complete the season and award the Stanley Cup. Until then, we thank NHL fans for your patience and hope you stay healthy."

***

When Aberdeen got home, the news had just been announced that Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, Justin’s wife, had it.  The anxiety Aberdeen felt only multiplied.  Kasha wasn’t home when she got home – she was at work, obviously – so it was just her alone with her thoughts, and it wasn’t going well.  Aberdeen prided herself on watching the news and keeping up to date with current events, but the doomscrolling she was doing on her Twitter and the CNN feed she turned on in the background wasn’t helping.

Then she heard the buzzer for her apartment.  That could only mean one thing.  

“Are you feeling okay, minskatt?” William asked the first second he saw her, which meant she was unable to ask him why he showed up at her place.

“I…I don’t know,” she admitted.  “I’m scared, Willy.”  Knowing it was still mid-day and that Kasha was at work, he took the opportunity to move closer to her and engulf her in a hug.  Her arms were pressed between their bodies as he hugged her tightly.  She took a moment to take in his scent and compose herself and try to snap out of all the doomscrolling she’d just done.  “What are you even doing here?”

“I needed to see if you were okay.  Plus I left my hoodie here the other night and—”

He was interrupted by her phone ringing loudly on the kitchen countertop.  They both looked down at it and saw Brendan’s name flash across the screen.  A pit formed in Aberdeen’s stomach.  She let it ring a few more times before reaching out to pick it up and answer it.  “Hello?”

“Did you have contact with anybody from Nashville today?” he asked, not bothering with formalities.  “Including staff.”

“Y—Yes,” she said.  She had seen and spoken with a bunch of the staff about the situation as everyone was packing up and going home.  She was ruminating how it would be more dramatic for them to fly home whereas the Leafs just had to drive.  “Why?”

She heard him take a long breath.  “We’re getting information about precautions and what you can do to minimize the spread and exposure, and…listen, Aberdeen, the government and every public health official is instituting a policy of a fourteen day quarantine period—”

“Quarantine?!  What do you mean quarantine?” she asked.

“—Immediately.”

“Immediately?!”

“It means no leaving your house.  At all.  For anything.  You…you can’t leave, Aberdeen.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  She didn’t know what to think, how to feel, anything.  She was void of emotion.  “Oh my God.”

“I know.  Believe me.  The entire country is going into lockdown.  This is more serious than I could have ever imagined.  I’ve gotta call the rest of the team to let them know.”

He hung up the phone.  She looked over to William.  She knew he’d heard Brendan through the phone.  And before she could even utter a word, his phone began ringing.  Brendan’s name flashed across his screen this time.  He looked her in the eye as he answered.  “Hello?..........Yeah.  Yeah I caught up with Filip Forsberg for a bit, some of the other Swedish guys too……….okay…okay…what do you mean quarantine?  Like stay at home?  But like, if I’m out—I—okay, go home immediately?  Yeah yeah, I’ll drop everything..........Fourteen days?...Uh, I guess so.  I mean I have no choice right?......Yeah I’ll be fine.  I’ll have groceries delivered like I always do……Yeah…Yeah…Okay.  Bye Brendan.”

They were both speechless.  

***

Aberdeen called Kasha.  Kasha was going to take the opportunity to stay at Evan’s place for fourteen days, and would be by after work to pack, during which Aberdeen would lock herself in her room.  Aberdeen didn’t know how Kasha would be able to hide a fourteen-day stint at Evan’s place from her dad.  But then again, Aberdeen was hiding William from everybody.  They both had secrets.

Once everything was arranged, she could finally look at William sitting on her couch.  She didn’t even know if he had clothes.  Underwear.  Anything.  She looked at him.  “Does this mean we’re living together for fourteen days?”

William couldn’t believe what was happening, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but smirk slightly.  “I think it does.”

[prettyboyjackhughes]

-Draft Day- |J. Hughes|

“Char, you know as soon as they announce his name, you’re the first person he’ll try to find.” Trev says, messing with his tie. Tonight was the 1st night of the NHL draft. Jack is expected to go number one, Trev and Alex not far after. I was super excited for all of them but I wasn’t able to be in 3 places to sit with all of them. Trev and I had shared every little thing since we were born, might as well share this too.

“Well good thing he’s not that far away.” Jack says, turning around and smiling at me. Alex and Madi are in the row behind us. Madi and I had gone shopping for draft dresses a few weeks ago. I had bought a gray, short, off the shoulder sweater body con dress. Madi’s dress was a black, short body con dress with puff sleeves. She had paired her’s with nude heels and I had worn mine with black knee high heeled boots that made me almost as tall as Jack. Jack was wearing a blue suit with red stripes and a red and blue checkered tie. Trev had on a black suit with a light blue tie. Alex’s suit is my favorite. It’s light gray with a navy blue tie. Jack turns around and looks at me again.

“Trev’s right though. You’re the first one I’m looking for. So you’d better be ready to kiss me.” I laugh and lean in to kiss him.

“Baby baby! Not yet! I don’t want lipstick on my face when I get called up!” I roll my eyes and lean back in my seat, crossing my legs, my dress sliding up apparently too far for Jack and my brother’s comfort.

“Seriously Char? Pull it down!” Jack says loudly. Luke laughs and looks back at me.

“For real Charlie! No one wants to see that!” Trev says, pulling my skirt down for me. I roll my eyes and Madi laughs. The announcer comes on and asks everyone to take their seats and I reach over, taking Trev’s hand.

“Welcome to the 2019 National Hockey League Draft. Our first draft will be from the New Jersey Devils.” Jack shifts anxiously in his seat and Trev reaches down with his free hand to pat his shoulder.

“With the first pick overall, The New Jersey Devils are proud to select, from the U.S. program, Jack Hughes.” Jack stands up, the biggest grin I’ve ever seen on his face. He immediately turns around and almost falls over the chairs, reaching for me. I stand up and step towards him. Our lips connect and I can feel the smile on his face. After a few seconds, he pulls away. He hugs the whole Hughes family, Turcs, Trev, and Madi, and then makes his way to the stage. He had left his suit jacket on the back of his chair; leaving him in just his button up shirt. It hugs his upper body and arms in all the right places and shows off the muscles he’s worked extremely hard to get.

“Damn, he looks good in red.” I say, leaning back and patting Madi’s knee as Jack pulls the number 19 Devils jersey over his head, his hair sticking up adorably. She laughs and we all sit, waiting for Alex’s and Trev’s names to be called. We politely clap for every guy drafted but all I can focus my mind on is the fact that my boyfriend got drafted number one overall and was gonna be playing in the NHL alongside my brother and his best friend. Along with what will happen after all this is over, what Jack and I will do when we get home. Jack’s parents and Dukes were all staying at Quinn’s apartment in downtown Vancouver. My parents and Alex’s parents were all at a hotel about 20 minutes away from Quinn’s apartment. But since this is a big couple weeks for the boys and they would be coming and going so frequently, the parents all pitched in and booked the 5 of us an Airbnb for the next 2 weeks. While Trev was the third wheel to both couples, I’ve been woken up by him sneaking a few girls out at 4 in the morning before he thinks we’re all awake.

“You’re gonna get hell from all the girls in love with him.” Trev says as they announce the 3rd pick. I shrug, not worried about it.

“They’re not the ones sleeping with him at night. I am.” I say, smirking and laughing. Madi high fives me and I flip my hair.

“Wow, real humble aren’t we, Char?” Alex says, shifting in his seat and putting his arm around Madi’s waist. I smile and Alex gently tugs a chunk of my hair. .

“And with the fifth overall pick, the Los Angeles Kings select, from the U.S. National Development Program, Alex Turcotte.” Alex stands up and pulls Madi up with him. He pecks her on the cheek, not locking lips like Jack and I did. He hugs Trev, his parents and then reaches for me. I stand up, hug him and whisper in his ear.

“I’m so proud of you Turcs, love you.” He smiles and heads down to the stage.

“Madi that’s your boy!” I laugh as she snaps pictures of him.

“I feel like a proud mom!” She says, smiling. Trev’s gotten quiet during the last few minutes. I nudge him, waiting for a response as he stares at his phone.

“Huh? Oh I’m okay. Just, taking it all in.” I can see in his eyes he’s off but I’m not sure why. The management at the Anaheim Ducks had talked to him a while back and had mentioned if he was still there when it came their turn to pick, they’d take him. He was happy about that, since that meant he and Alex would both be out in California, but it also meant he didn’t really have anything to worry about. He’d be getting picked in the first round no matter what.

“And with the ninth overall pick, the Anaheim Ducks are proud to select, from the U.S. National Program, Trevor Zegras.” Trev looks up, almost shocked to hear his own name. He stands up, a goofy grin on his face. I stand with him, pulling him into a hug.

“Trev, I’m so proud of you! This is our dream! Now go!” He pulls away and goes to Mom and Dad, pulling them both into a hug. He finally escapes the row and heads down the stairs to the stage, the big grin never leaving his face. I take a Snapchat of him pulling the Anaheim jersey over his head and shaking hands with the general manager. I caption it ‘Proud of my Bubs❤️’ and post it. Soon, after what seems like hours of watching boy after boy get called up, teammate after teammate of the boys getting drafted, we are finally dismissed and get to go meet up with the boys. We head to the family waiting area and see the boys, all huddled in a group, waiting for us. Madi and I take turns hugging each of them. Jack suddenly pulls me away and kisses me. He kisses me, tongue automatically slipping into my mouth. After what seemed like no time, he pulled away.

“Sorry, I had to finish that from earlier. But anyways, the boys wanna go out. But we don’t have to. I know we had...plans.” He says, very obviously squeezing my ass as his arm sneaks around my waist. I smirk as I see Trev’s face, who obviously saw what Jack did. Surprisingly, he doesn’t come to say anything.

“I’d rather go home. I’m kinda tired plus, I really want it.” I say, “accidentally” brushing my hand against the inside of Jack’s thigh as I turn around to face him. Trev sees that too and finally does come over.

“Seriously you two! What is your deal? Our parents are literally right there! Why not just walk over and tell them you’re leaving to go have sex?” He says, attempting to keep his voice quiet but Madi and Alex still hear and excuse themselves from Alex’s parents, making their way over to us.

“Good lord Trev, keep your voice down! Besides, we all know you’ve been texting some girl all night trying to get her to come hook up with you when y’all go out.” Alex says, elbowing Trev. His face flames red and I almost want to put an end to the embarrassment he’s suffering on his big night but after what he said, I decide not to.

“Okay no need to expose me like that and it was one, okay two girls. So leave me alone.” He says, crossing his arms. We all laugh and Trev’s signature grin returns to his face.

“Okay kids, I need pictures.” Alex’s mom says, coming over and bursting our little bubble. Jack’s hand, which was safely in mine somehow escapes and travels back down to its original place. I roll my eyes and elbow him in the side. His hand goes away and instead, he wraps his arms around my shoulders. He’s going through a phase where he always has to be touching me, no matter how. From his hand in mine to playing with my hair, he’s always touching me. And I’m 100% okay with it.

“I want the boys first then we can do the couples and Charlie and Trev.” Turcs’ mom is a family photographer and really successful in Island Lake, where they’re from. Jack is in the middle, Alex on his left, Trev on his right. They all have the most genuine smiles on their faces. I pull Madi over to the giant NHL draft logo on the wall and we take a few selfies in front of it.

“Charlie, you know that boy is in love with you, right?” She says, glancing up at Jack and nudging me. I look up and catch him staring. I smile and he winks. My stomach drops and I get butterflies.

“Yeah I know, Mads. And I’m in love with him.” I say, smiling and hugging my best friend.

[iamacolor]

fashion queen! which nct era has the best fashun in ur opinion?? and if u were a designer which neos would u pick as ur models?

I was so excited to answer this that I wrote several pages and it basically turned into a style analysis for each unit so I sure hope you have some time on your hands to read everything I’ve just written! (I did not reread so sorry for any typing mistake)

NCT is known to be experimental in their music and that’s also the case in their styling so there’s a lot for me to get into even though sometimes it’s a miss. One thing I will say though is that when it comes to the styling in mv/teasers, what’s around the clothes is super important because if you have a very specific styling concept, your set design or graphic design needs to complement that and give the audience more clues on how to read all these elements together (the cherry bomb era is a great example of that with all the added graphic elements and the predominance of the colour pink) and recently I’ve found that the creative team has not really gone further than just putting nct in an outfit in front of a basic background so it makes for a pretty underwhelming result

But let’s move on to my favourite styling eras. I’m going to do this per unit (I’ll finish with NCT U) and define an era by its teaser pictures and the mv (and not go through all the performance looks during the promotion period)

I’m putting this under a read more because it’s reaaally long (I put pictures so that it’s not just one big chunk of text)

NCT 127

Easily the most experimental unit when it comes to fashion, especially in their first years where they would wear mix of sportswear, grunge references, avant-garde fashion and a lot of layers. When it comes to their debut “Firetruck”, I think it fitted the song really well but that it didn’t fit all the members equally (especially the younger ones, for me Taeyong and Taeil pulled it off the best – it’s expected of Taeyong but I also think that Taeil always stand out when they go for edgy/unconventional look, I think it really suits him).

Anyway, just to say that they were off to a very strong start and then I’m just going to kindly ignore the Limitless styling and move on to Cherry Bomb!

One thing nicely done for CB is how when you look at a group picture they’re clearly all following the same concept but they’re not necessarily matching or giving off the same vibes if you take them individually. I love the use of the colour pink which brings a) a great visual impact (you don’t ever see that much pink at once – especially on men) and b) an harmony despite the shapes and styles of their outfits being so vastly different, you’ve got ties, tousled, shirts, little frilled collars, stripes and all-over prints, sportswear and formal wear… (ex: taeyong’s short jacket is reminiscent of something a little luxurious, even maybe historical/noble with the little added embroidery-like details, it reminds me of these boleros jackets worn by toreros that are often red/gold VS doyoung’s overalls is an outfit that has a much more recent origin as it was first worn by factories workers, it’s usually blue or grey and is meant to be practical rather than pleasing to the eye -> here it fits very well with the general setting of the mv in what looks like an empty industrial storage space)

This second look is more of a game on how to deconstruct formal wear (there are less prints and no bold colours, their hair is less messy…) but they don’t just add sportswear like the bomber jacket, you can find rock or more “modern” elements with the leather jackets or the jean jackets. All in black and white so great contrast with the previous looks, although that mix and match concept is still there. My favourite elements are the checkered ones (worn by taeyong, taeil and haechan) as it reminds me of the strategy element of the chess game which fits pretty well with all the weapons and other arms visible in the mv (a bit like a nod to the game battleship)

This one I love that they developed their own print, especially since it’s another graphic element used elsewhere (see their album cover), because it’s a great way to really introduce their identity as a group, through the different visual elements they put out in a comeback, it’s like a logo but as a print. And all the teasers and the mv did a great job at mixing 2D/3D contents so that’s another nice way to be cohesive. It’s not my fave look out of the 3 (especially because I do not approve of that belt-suspenders-bag they gave Johnny, it’s like everything you don’t want to put a dancer in and it’s ugly as well) but I still like the fact that’s it’s another nod to the battle/strategy aspect of this comeback, like they’re on a mission to hit the stage and conquer it

Then fast forward to my other favourite one, Simon Says! (No teaser pictures here because they don’t show anything or they show not enough lol)

First of all THE MASKS

Oh how I wish they could’ve been shown more (imagine teasers with the members wearing them!!! I would’ve loved individual teasers based on each of the masks concepts) Once again, a great to have group concept without making everyone wear the same thing. They’re all super different and full of details. Haechan’s is the only one from what I could who’s mask is actually a mask and not a fully covering hood. The materials and techniques used on these are either evocative of “fragile” things like glass and flowers but theses elements have their own hidden strength. Some others are covered in lace, pearls, fringes or fur…all these things are usually considered to be precious or even luxurious but it covers their faces and their identity and they throw it away in rebellion (and I think it’s also super interesting how Taeyong who takes off his mask first has the least ornamented one)

Then the outfits themselves. Simon Says in an interesting MV because unlike most others they wear one outfit for most of the MV (the second one appears quite late in the mv and is lit and staged in a way that makes it less visible). It’s a mostly grey/white set of outfits which is usually a colour combo for office wear or maybe factory workers, it’s not something that can seem very exciting or edgy. The styling in these outfits reminds me of the works of Japanese designers who came to Paris in the 80’s and kind of shook the whole high fashion system by bringing a different type of shapes, aesthetic and purpose to fashion (Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto…). These designers  went on to become super successful and inspired another wave of “avant-garde” designers nicknamed “the 6 of Anvers” (Anvers is a city in Belgium), this group includes Martin Margiella, Dries Van Noten…And to me the outfits in Simon Says really fit into this aesthetic. Unconventional fits, various layers, it’s not so much mix and match than a work on contrast between structure and fluidity (Yuta’s half skirt with un-trimed edges, Haechan’s long shirt with the long bow and the fitted jacket, Mark’s top with the various see-through layers of different lengths…).

An other interesting details (which to me calls back to the mask and that tension in the song/concept of letting go/being free of expectations), is the way they all have thick strings tied on their feet/ankles. Not holding them back because their feet aren’t tied together but there’s still this clear restriction of the garment itself, a reminder that there are tied to something and not completely free (also an interesting choice when dressing dancers who would need to have no added weight or discomfort in their outfit to dance but visually something is holding their ankles)

Honorable mentions:

Kick It– they managed to create very memorable outfits while taking inspirations from already well known elements (both for the fighting/training outfits and the bomber jackets). The black and white outfits especially are very original as performance outfits/dancing clothes since the og garment they’re inspired by has already such a strong identity outside of the performing arts and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it be used as a stage outfit? Or concept? It’s a nice exemple of how you can take inspiration for something designed to be useful and to be efficient (in fighting) and turn it into an aesthetic.

Truthfully, martial art training outfit was already an “aesthetic” on its own but they made it a performance costume and now I do feel like it’s one of these looks that everyone will remember (like if there was a “most memorable kpop outfits” list it could easily have kick it’s black/white fits). The rest of the outfits for that concept weren’t as memorable/original to me although I feel like it showed a new approach to the styling of nct 127 as a group since they all had very similar outfits this time (especially when wearing the jackets).

Also, interestingly,  that shot of Jaehyun that had everyone go “wow” ? Well it’s impactful because it’s him and he looks like that and it’s shot in a very specific way, but it’s also even more impactful because he’s the only one who gets to wear that kind of outfit in the mv. Everyone else has 3 sets of outfits (black and white, shiny black, red jacket and black pants) but he has 4 and that suit is only used in that shot which makes for a greater impact!

And I feel like Kick It in terms of styling opened a new era for NCT 127 has it kind of broke their usual mix and match/edgy concept. This time they were clearly referencing something already well known (either martial arts, the 90s…), and the members were all matching and they kept on doing that with the military jackets in punch, the other 90s concept in nct 2020…

Touch – for the way the outfits match the sets (in all their individual sets their outfits have a detail in a matching colour), the focus on colours !!! You can see that this whole concept was designed with this colour game/colour progression between the outfits and the set in mind. It’s just very pleasing to the eyes and a great contrast to their usual stuffs (also I wrote my graduation paper on colours so I am really into creative use of colours like this)

OK now moving on to Dream!!

The interesting thing about Dream compared to NCT 127 is that from the beginning although their outfits had to match the song an the concept of the comeback it also had to match their age. Dream’s a group that had to look young when debuting (to the point where they wore outfits that made them look even younger than they were which is rarely done for boy groups) and then they had to transition into adulthood, and all of that had to be made visible. In that aspect, I really like the styling for We Young and Boom (especially when you look at them at the same time).

For We Young, the styling is meant to be reminiscent of school/boy scout uniforms but with a marine vibe. It makes for playful outfits that aren’t too childish but that also aren’t grown up. I prefer the “seaside” outfits as I don’t really like school uniforms as a concept for styling and I think it’s really a choice that suited them and the song so well, it really fitted their energy. It’s playful but it also has a vintage touch to it as these outfits with their stripes and their squared flap at the back date back to the XIXth century (I just found out that it all started with the queen Victoria dressing up her kid in an outfit inspired by the royal navy uniforms for a painting after a cruise ).

Boom on the other side is their first proper “grown-up” concept. We go up was already more grown up but still very “teenager-ish” and although they were mostly teenagers when they did Boom it was clear that this was supposed to be their first entry into “adulthood” as a group at least. And although they did wear a sportswear/casual outfits which is something that isn’t related to age (and I really like the black and white “skeleton” set which already feels more grown-up and more “stylish” than the other casual outfit) , they wore two other “grown-up” elements: suits and all-jean outfits.

And yeah teenagers, and kids wear jeans too but a full jean-on-jean outfit is more of a “grown-up” fashion choice and it makes them look like young men rather than boys. As for the suits, I just really love when stylists play with the codes of that garment (length of the jacket, tightness of the pants, the way the shirt is tucked in…).

Notice how Renjun has a really short jacket, Chenle’s pants are wide, Jeno has a tail…Once again, a really interesting aspect of Kpop is the variations of the same concept based on the members. In the mv, there is a tension between their more grown up selves (the one in suits, the one with a craft/a path) and their young selves (the one running around in the field, the one laying down in the flowers and eating a cake). And there is also in these outfits and the contrast between them this tension, this contrast…which path should they go? The jeans are the more laide back, innocent outfits, whereas the suits come with responsibilities and status (and you’ll notice that in the scene where jisung is left alone to blow his candle it’s when he’s wearing jeans not when he’s in the suits).

Now on to WayV!!

WayV are different from the two in the sense than when they debuted they couldn’t have an “age” concept or an edgy concept because 127 and dream had already taken those and I feel like for that reason they’re still looking for what makes them stand out visually from the others (and in my opinion it’s not in whatever they were wearing for turn back time!). WayV’s concept is space and time travel, it’s building a new life, a new worl, going beyond anything! In my mind, they’re either supposed to feel a bit “otherworldly” (either spectacular or literally like they’re from another world/another universe, a little bit futuristic maybe?) or to look like explorers/travellers (they have a lot of travel/transportation “gears” references in their outfits). Their MVs also have a very different production than the other nct mvs (the scale and the way it’s filmed, the sets…it’s a different approach and it’s usually much more “grand” for their title tracks). The great thing about WayvV styling is usually that they match the outfits well with the world that the mv is set in (like in Moonwalk for example you get a sense of the world they’re in and the fact that it’s not ours or at least not as we know it now through the way they dress – you can’t really say oh it’s inspired by this era or by this or that because -at least- to me it immediately gives me a vibe of something that could be worn in a sci-fi movie, almost like a costume) or that they allude to travel in their styling.

When they debuted with Regular they went for a very sleek and high fashion look which worked really well for them! Even their more “casual” looks were a bit striking and I think that’s very “wayv-like” to me.

Same goes for Take Off where they mix the individual styles (and I don’t like ten’s leopard fur sleeveless jacket at all) and the group concepts – the “flying” outfits and the “racing” outfits (that last one is my favourite! I love the silhouette it creates with the tight pants and the larger tops with an emphasis on the waist).

There’s something a bit extra to WayV - which is why some of their outfits remind me of costumes more than fashion while at the same time they’re the most “high fashion” unit– like the “flying” outfit in Take Off are recognizable as “flying gear” but you can’t really tell what they’re flying, it feels once again like something that they could wear in like star wars or a similar kind of story.

Imagine a movie about 7 men on another planet trying to come together to overcome the dark forces or whatever’s bad on their planet in a futuristic society with a mix of “traditional” and “trendy” outfits? That’s WayV. The movie the 5th Sense? That’s WayV but on steroids. They’re also the only group with actual characters in their mvs, they’re all supposed to have a backstory or an individual setting and find a way to get together in their mvs.

Anyway all that to say that it’s hard for me to pick an era for them because they’ve only had a few and they still feel like they’re looking to solidify their concept, and since moonwalk and turn back time really set the styling in different worlds than ours, you have to look at how they fit in that world rather than ours and I think Moonwalk does it best since it’s the most cohesive one visually. But then I think Regular had the best individual styling!

Okay this is super long but we’re finally getting to NCT U!!!!

Number one favourite:

The Year Party outfits!!!! I’ve already talked about this but I love when they say we’ll put them in suits and then since they have to make a different one for each of them they cut bits an dpieces of the suits here and there, play with lengths. It’s not a revolutionary concept but in terms of searching for a shape, searching for variations of an already so famous, so well-known garment (everyone has seen a suit, and so many designers have already deconstructed it and then put it back together and so on) it’s so nice, it’s almost like a full collection given how many members there are and it’s just a good tailoring work.It almost feel like an exercise of how many variations of an outfit can you think of? And it looks fun to do! It’s all about the details and the way the layers are set together.

The accessories add to the “formal attire” aspect of it. It almost has a ceremonial look to it. A bit of royalty with the futuristic vibe usually associated with WayV. The dark blue suits were pretty classic, the most interesting details (for me at least) were on the light blue ones. Especially since it’s a rare colour to find in formal wear or in ceremonial wear. In general, I feel like it’s a pretty rare colour in fashion outside of like shirts and baby clothes? I think it was a great styling choice for a content like the year party although I do wish they (either NCT or WayV who’ve touched upon this kind of outfit a bit already) would do a full comeback with this kind of styling (like the lighter version of the black and green outfits in SuperM’s One). It’s not revolutionary but it was something new for NCT and I really hope they use that elegant/futuristic concept once again.

Also in these outfits, the jewelry is super important and adds to the “grand” aspect of these outfits. The concept is that these aren’t ordinary outfits for ordinary men, we’re witnessing something “special” and so they aren’t wearing their usual jewels either (of course the big chains are still there but differently look at that necklace jaehyun is wearing)

Honorable mention:

Boss & Baby Don’t Stop (they’re different but they go together in my mind lol). Look at them in their uniforms! And also they had doyoung wearing these sunglasses

Ok I think I’m done, if you’ve made it this far thank you so much and I hope it was a nice read!!

As for who would I chose as my models…it really depends on what I’d make them wear tbh for menswear the things I’d like to design would either be something like formal wear or knitwear – I’d pick Lucas, Taeyong and Doyoung (I think they’re the most model-like members and could pull off pretty much anything even my non-edgy concept because I can’t do that lol and they pose very well) and then depending on the concept I’d pick between Winwin, Jaehyun, Kun, Jungwoo, Taeil, Haechan and Shotaro (the way I struggled to remember all the members at once…there are too many really)