#sweetpea’s on a roll :D

[leos-regression-cove]

could I maybe ask for a Cg!Frank Castle and Cg!Matt Murdock with little reader? I love them both so much and my poly heart thinks they would be such great cgs- and little me does too lol. If thats okay?

Bedtime!

CG!Frank Castle x CG!Matt Murdock x GNLittle!reader

Rating: Gen

Summary: It's bedtime for little reader so Dada Matt Murdock and Papa Frank Castle help them get ready for bed.

Word Count: 409

Warnings: confirmed romantic relationship, bottles, non-sexual un/redressing, baby/toddler reader headspace, kissing, non-sexual tickling

A/N: Sorry such a short story took so long! I watched some of the show but not the whole thing so it may not be perfect. Thank you for the request anon! This was fun to write. :D

Support me on AO3!

You laid on your tummy on the floor while Matt sat next to you. “Dada! Dis’ one! Do dis one, kay?” you asked, handing him a star shaped block. 

He ran his hands over it. “It’s not a circle… Is it a square?” he joked. 

“No!” you giggled. 

“Not a hexagon…”

“No,” you hinted again. 

“Oh! Okay, I know, now. It’s a triangle, right?!”

You erupted with laughter. “Es a star dada!” you told him. 

He smiled and put the star in the right hole of the box as your papa, Frank, stepped into the room.

“Hey kiddo, it’s bedtime,” he said in his quiet, low voice, leaning over the couch. He then came over to help dada Matt up, offering his hand to him, before picking you up, too. 

“Bed-time,” you repeated. 

“Yeah. We gotta brush your teeth, put on your pajamas,” he listed in a calming voice, hugging you to him, making you feel all warm. 

Dada usually helped you brush your teeth when you were this little, but tonight papa did, keeping you in his arms he handed you the toothbrush and timed you before giving you a stiff pat on the back to spit and rinse. 

Then, he set you down on the big bed, right in dada’s lap! “I’m gonna go make sweetpea a bottle. You’re on pajama duty,” he said to dada, before kissing him on the cheek. 

“Ew!” you squealed in mock disgust. 

“Is kissing so gross?” Matt asked with a grin. 

“Yeah!” you replied. 

He rolled up your shirt to plant kisses on your tummy, which quickly devolved into tickling you as he got your day clothes off and put your cozy, footie pajamas on. 

Then, he suddenly stopped. 

Opening your eyes, you realized he had crawled up onto his side of the bed and was about to pick you up to be put in his lap. “It sounds like Frank’s all done with your bottle,” he whispered. 

Sure enough, he was right and papa returned, shaking the bottle up as he handed it over to his husband to give you and selected a story out of your bookshelf. 

Many of them were in braille, but there were a couple that had been printed as well. He took down a simple one and started to read, petting your legs that spread across his lap.

You were half asleep so quickly. All you felt after shutting your eyes was the replacement of your bottle with your pacifier and your caregivers shifting closer to one another.

[neverchecking]

All of the Sages have at least fortnightly game nights where they can just relaaaaax. (The Champions do something similar only without the cool clubroom) However, Aaliyah and Sweetpea are the ones who use it the most regularly because it's also the only place where it is not On-Sight, but instead 'Let me Gush about my perfect S/O before I Explode.' They have to hide the increasingly larger wedding binders and there is a baby binder that's just joined. (It's Sweetpea's. He literally planned out how to be the World's Greatest Uncle. He's planned out how to be The World's Greatest Papa to whatever kid he, Sidon and Yona produce. Because that has to happen at some point. He's so excited :D but it wont happen until at least the Courting Period is over. Did he mention he's Courting Sidon and Yona, Sage? He's doing this the Proper way, Sage. He's gonna be Engaged, Sage.)

(If Yona ever gets pregnant before Aaliyah, Sweetpea is going to be insufferable and that'll make Sage insufferable.)

Wild and Cal coming to the conclusion they have to play Nice with Sage is great because Sage is gonna put them through Hell. Like if they think they are even a smidgen worthy to even breathe in the same air as Aaliyah, they are Mistaken.

But Sage might be persuaded to let them take an inch if only to see her crush them. (He gives them an inch. They take a mile. How Aaliyah reacts is anyone's guess.)

(But they still play nice and maybe even come to appreciate Sage for everything he's done for their Goddess. Because She has dubbed him as Worthy so maybe he can teach them how be so as well.)

(Tia's getting a little concerned but Sweetpea assures her it's all under control.)

The trio abusing Snuggle Priviliages to rub it in her suitor's face. First tries to have tea with Tia? Aaliyah has her head in Tia's lap. Warriors wants to chat about something? Whoops, Sweetpea has literally swept her off her feet. Twilight tries to offer a ride on Epona? Sage has thrown her over his shoulder and is now jogging away as she waves bemusedly.

But I feel like this is all their own fault really. Because however this works (only Sweetpea joins the chain, Sage and Aaliyah join the chain, all three of them join the chain, the chain is stuck in this Hyrule) they will be bragging about Tia (who can't join the chain because she is stuck Ruling. This is why she's overthrowing the Monarchy. It'll take several decades before Hyrule is stable enough to do so, but she's overthrowing the monarchy.).

So they're piquing the interest of the suitors all on their own. Sweetpea only briefly touches on the whole favourite thing when he mentions she got the idea to be his guide from Twilight's own experiences. And he wasn't even talking to Twilight! He was talking with Time!

And when they're spending enough time with her, they find that for all of the trio's bragging, every single word was right.

Game nights are heavily monitored because last time there was a fire and neither Link nor Aaliyah was the one to set it. It's both the best and worst time of the month. (The champions are a little more refined, but Urbosa's fury did not stem from nothing.). Aaliyah and Sweetpea/Champ's relationship is SO funny to me. Because one moment, they're throwing Octoroks at the other or throwing them off bridges and they next, they're gushing and picking out wedding colors. (Because red, green, and blue would make for such a pretty Zora wedding and Champ has no idea what he's talking about.)

It's their version of tea time. Meanwhile Tia and Sage are getting massages or something. They probably know about the binders and meetings but let the others pretend they dont. Or alternatively, they don't know and just trust the aren't committing treason to the highest degree.

OKAY LETS TALK ABOUT THE BABY BINDER. I just want them to be happy ;-; and while it will take a lot of healing, I'm convinced that Sage has potential to be a good dad! I know you guys are probably rolling your eyes and going 'Cinder for fuck's sake that guy has more warning signs than Canada's roads in summer' and to that I say he's my comfort character and I'm gonna mischaracter him to suit my needs when I want.

Now, Champ's binder probably sparks something in Aaliyah. I could say that she is immune to Baby Fever. I would be lying. She is the biggest suck for babies. When they smile and do that thing where they stick a fist in their mouth and giggle around it? She's clutching Champ as they both just fawn over them. She's the girl making faces at your kid in the superstore to make them laugh (Only then revert back to this stoic, I'll-fucking-kill-you resting bitch face.) It's duality. And Sweetpea just putting these ideas of little half-zora-half-hylian babies makes her entire inside squirm.

(Sage can't stand the baby talk with Sweetpea bc it always turns into a competition. That's nice, Fungus, did he mention he's living with Aaliyah? If a century couldn't separate them, nothing can, Fungus. He doesn't need to do it the proper way because at this point Aaliyah could point at a rock and he'd have it made into the prettiest ring money could buy, FUNGUs-)

(Heavens forbid Yona gets pregnant first because Sage will take that as a challenge. He refuses to be outdone by Sweetpea. Besides if that Ding-dong is ready and is going to be a parent, they can't fuck it up to badly, now can they?

WILD AND CAL MY LOVES- Now, I'm not saying Aaliyah isn't open to a poly-relationship. As my Ceres X Aaliyah x Sage piece portrayed, she is so down with whatever. It's just a matter of them wiggling their way into her line of sight. And to do that, they have to get through Sage. Who will make them wish they were never born. If they live to tell the tale of getting a tooth from a Magma Like-Like while keeping it alive? He might consider it (Not. He's sending them up to Hebra next just for shits and giggles.)

Sage can be persuaded though. If they survive, that means they won't go down easily. And he knows, no matter how much he hates admitting it, he can't be everywhere at once. So having more people to watch the most precious thing in his life? He'll consider it.

Aaliyah, like I said, is probably so focused on Sage that she hardly even registers their actions. It's not until their taking a hit meant for her she offers than just the slightest bit of attention. Like a feral animal slowly taking a piece of food to prove you can be trusted. It's slow and it's careful but it's something.

(Goddess help the poor girl if they decided to team up. That trio following her around like a lost pack of wild dogs? A recipe for disaster.)

(Sweetpea is so full of shit, he's just wanting to see how it all goes down.)

Snuggle privileges are being USED TO THE MAX. Tia can't go anywhere without having one of them all up in her business.

First and Aaliyah's beef is SO FUNNY TO ME LIKE- She has no reason to have beef with this guy, but she does. And it's even funnier if he returns it. Like Aaliyah is just 'Oh, woah is me the gloom or something is acting up and TIA I NEED SNUGGLES-' And First is just watching it go down like D:< "Do you not see this, my gem?" And Tia is all ":( She needed snuggles. :((("

SAGE JUST CARRYING HER OBFBFNFF NO SHITS GIVEN

I have no idea how it ends up playing out and I haven't overly thought about it, but the three of them all joining sounds like a fun idea because of the pure chaos that follows them. And they really do be doing it to themselves because they don't even realize they're bragging about Tia. They just know that she's done a shit ton for them and she's going to get the appreciation for it whether she likes it or not >:(.

Twilight listening in the SECOND he hears Tia's name jfofnf Time can only laugh at the situation bc he was probably the same with Malon.

and of course the Trio is right. They're a lot of things, but liars are not any of them. They'll spout her gospel to anyone who'll listen, sleeping well at night because they now it was all true.

[mzfancypantz2]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Brahmin Sweetpea Elaine Handbag.

[a-sweet-pea]

Wings

A/N: Don’t mind me, just dropping that out-of-nowhere, utterly disconnected piece of James/Elle faerie AU flash-fiction that I wrote in one sitting just now and then disappearing back into the bog of eternal stench.

Elle has been caught in a spider’s web before. It’s not too much trouble, the most bothersome part is cleaning all the silk off your wings once your out. But she’s never been bitten by a spider before. And it hurts. But worse than that, her wings aren’t doing what she tells them to. She’s heard of poisons that paralyze, the sorts of things you brew from dark, dread flowers that grow in the deepest part of the woods. She didn’t think they cae in the form of spider bites. A faerie with broken wings is easy prey for any number of forest predators, so she has to think fast. She’s near the edge of the woods when it happens, where Wild Woods thin, the beginnings of Human Country. She makes her way to an enormous rustic-looking shed. There’s a crack under the door big enough for her to slip through. At least in there, she’ll be safe from foxes and hawks.

Of course, there is the matter of the human.

He lives in the even more enormous structure beside this one, and it seems like he only comes to the shed during the day, making massive human furniture out of fallen trees. She’s able to keep herself out of sight for a day and a hafl. But Elle has never been very stealthy.

“A faerie...” The human stares at her, wide eyed. Her pulse quickens, the blood drains from her face. “Dinnae curse me.”

“I-“ Wheels turn in Elle’s head. What is he talking about? Fae can’t curse people, not her kind any way. At her most powerful, she might be able to wither a houseplant or spoil some milk, but the human is holding both hands palm up, as if to ward off someterrifying magical attack. “Yes. Curse you. I could. Do that, I mean.”

“Please don’t. Could I get ye something? Milk? Honey?”

“Both. A-and a hot towel.”

“Aye.”

And so Elle gets a lovely little meal and wipes the mud off herself, keeping her wings tucked strategically behind her back, answering aloofly when the human asks where she comes from, what she’s doing so near the edge of the woods. She tells him to keep his distance, and he does, but she fights to keep from flinching whenever his hand comes too close, offering her a bit of oat cracker.

How long can I keep this up?

She tells him she was sent by the Queen of the Faeries (as if there is such a thing) to make sure that he was a respectful human; that she will watch him for three days, and if he so much as lays a finger on her, his house will be beset by trolls and goblins and his family will be cursed for three generations. (If she’s going to lie, she might as well make a proper tale of it). Three days is how long it should take for the wing to heal, and when it’s healed she can fly off and he’ll never be the wiser.

The trouble is, it isn’t healing. Whatever that spider was, it’s venom is some dreadful stuff. She should be able to at least do gentle flaps by now, but her wings is as numb and dead as if it weren’t attached to her at all.

The human...the human is something else. He’s taken to calling her Princess (he guessed that she must be one, and she certainly wasn’t about to disabuse him of that notion). He occasionally puts on this mock, high-born english voice and play-acts that he’s her manservant, and it never fails to put a smile on her face. His rough, sturdy hands, so often hammering away at some piece of wood with a force that shakes her bones, are so gentle near her. He’s touched her once, with her permission of course, brushed her hair with the tip of his finger. He said it was soft as silk, and she had to hide her face, she blushed so much.

The trouble is, it has been three days now, and she’s making as if she’s readying to leave (what else can she do?). She’s had him pack her a little bundle in a handkerchief, of the honey oatcake she likes and some cheese (gifts for the Queen she said, hopefully they will be enough to live on for a few days at least). She tells him she’s going to leave in the night, that he’s not to watch for her as she goes. His face is so sad she almost second-guesses herself.

The moon is full that night. Good for omens and spells, bad for being spotted by owls. Elle keeps one eye trained on the sky as she slips out through the crack beneath the door. How on earth can she make it back to her hollow in the tree if she has to walk the whole way? And how is she going to live without a steady supply of those honey oatcakes?

Elle smiles, and feels like she’s going to need to sit down and have a long cry, but she can’t, she has to find some new place to shelter, there must be a good tree nearby that she can make a home in. One is never too far from a good, serviceable tree.

She is very good about watching the sky for flying shadows. So good, in fact, that she fails to notice the creeping ones until it is too late.

The slight rustle of something smooth sliding along a leaf. Elle freezes.

A green snake.

Hardly a danger if only she could fly. But here on the ground, it’s much faster than she is. It has seen her now, and it skates across the dirt like a fish in water, forked tongue flicking out to taste the air. She runs, becasue it’s all she can do, but a massive black shape slams into the dirt beside her, knocking her flat.

“Fuck off, ye wee bastard.”

It’s the toe of a boot, and she’s only barely had the chance to recognize it before enormous fingers close around her.

“It’s gonnae be awright, ah’ve got ye.”

Elle struggles to find words. She is in a hand. Fingers uncurl and she lays helpless in the palm; the human’s head and shoulders block out the moon and half the sky above her. She’s never been this close to him, felt the warmth of his skin beneath her, his breath surrounding her. ��P-Please-“ She hiccups. There’s no pretending any more; If she hadn’t enough magic to save herself from a snake, how could she possibly curse a human? He must realize it now.

“Hey, c’mon, You’re no feart o me, are ye Princess?” Tears prick at the corner of her eyes.

“I-I’m not-“

“Och, I ken you’re no a princess.”

“What?” He rises slowly, pulling her close to his chest.

“Ah’ve been round these woods all ma life, ah ken whit faeries are like.” He walks slowly, carefully, not towards the shed, but his home. “When I saw ye in the workshop and you didnae fly away, I knew fine there must ae been something wrong. But ah thought ye might be too scared tae ask fer help.”

“Y-you lied?”

“And you went along with it! Princess.” Elle feels a blush rising in her cheeks, in spite of the fact that her legs feel like jelly and she can’t stop staring at the curled fingers in front of her, each one as long as she is tall. “So, now that the serpent has been dispatched,” he lilts, meticulously overpronouncing every word. “Would the lady care to adjourn to her quarters?” He looks down, grinning. Seeing the confusion on her face, he continues. “Your humble servant suspected that the lady might eventually wish to move from the workshop to more suitable accomodations.” He tilts his head. “Course, ah thought ye might come clean, ‘stead of chargin’ aff intae the woods wi’ both your wings broke, nearly getting yoursel’ killed. Nae matter. Jist, goan dinnae dae that again, awright? If there’s some home in the woods you’re wantin tae get back to, that’s fine; jist tell me and I’ll take ye.”

“Th-there’s not.”

“Oh.”

“I mean, I had a home but- but I believe her royal highness deserves some rest and relaxation after her ordeal.”

“Most certainly.” He stops, suddenly enouh to jolt her forward a bit. The hand rises up, and she’s level with his face now, with those bright hazel eyes, so big she could fall into them. “Elle?”

“Yes?” There’s a gentle nudge at her back. Her wings are limp and numb, but she’s sure he must be touching them, running his fingertip along the veins.

“You stay as long as you want, awright?”

She leaps as if she can still fly, arms wide, pressing herself against his nose, burying her face into his warm cheek.

“Thank you.”

[slasherhaven]

this is probably a specific request but… maybe Lester with a s/o who lives with the twins? And they get to stay in his old room before he moved out so they’re wearing some his clothes and Lester comes over and sees them in his clothes and just Melts. bonus points for Bo and/or Vincent teasing him for how blushy he gets? ;D

Lester Sinclair seeing his S/O Wearing his Clothes:

Ambrose had been your home for a while now and since the brothers decided they could trust you, you had been staying in Lester's old room at the house. The room he stayed in before he moved out to the outskirts of town.

From the very beginning, since you had been given the room, you found it somewhat endearing. Of course, somethings had been cleared out (probably gone with Lester when he moved out) and some boxes had been moved in when the room was used for additional storage, but you could still feel the character of the room. It was so clearly Lester's.

The brothers hadn't really given you many clothing choices. You only really had what you arrived with and some pieces they had scavenged up for you. However, Lester's old wardrobe remained, the clothes he had left behind.

You huffed as you realised you had no clean clothes left, you hadn't done the laundry when you normally did it, and now you were the one suffering for it. You supposed that you only had yourself to blame. Luckily, you had an old wardrobe of clothes to dig through and, not having too much of a choice, you threw on some of Lester's old things that were still in decent condition.

Once you were dressed for the day, you headed downstairs, laundry basket in your hands. You crossed through the living room, where Bo was sitting.

"Y'sleepin' in his bed, now you're wearing his clothes" Bo commented with a small scoff, eyeing you almost disapprovingly.

"Get me more clothes to wear, and I'll stop" you rolled your eyes, barely paying any him any attention as you headed to the laundry room. He just liked getting under your skin and you knew that.

You were busying yourself with putting the dirty laundry on the wash when Lester arrived at the house. As soon as he stepped into the living room, Bo had pointed him in your direction, knowing why he was here in the first place.

"Hey, they keepin' y'busy?" Lester's voice caught your attention, making you smile as you stood from the washing machine and turned to him.

"Aren't they always?" you shrugged, greeting him with a hug. Lester visiting the house was always the highlight of your day.

"What'cha wearing?" of course Lester returned your embrace, he always did, but he soon had you held by the shoulders at arms length so that he could get a better look at your attire.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I ran out of clean clothes and these were left behind in your old room...I hope you don't mind" you apologised, figuring that you should have asked before helping yourself to his clothes.

"No...nah, I don't mind at all, Sweetpea...y'look much better in them than I ever did" Lester complimented, a smile growing on his face.

"You're sweet" you grinned, leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek, shading his cheeks a light pink. "Come on, I'm just about to make something to eat" Lester followed you back through to the kitchen one you put the wash on.

Lester stood back while you cooked, just admiring you. What you wore truly wasn't anything special, they were his old clothes for God's sake, but you gave them a brand new life. They didn't fit perfectly but, damn, you looked perfect. A simple pair of worn out jeans and a faded tee-shirt.

"Close y'mouth, y'look stupid" Bo chastised his little brother as he stepped into the kitchen. He couldn't miss the way that Lester was watching you even if he tried.

"What?" Lester jumped slightly, pulled out of his thoughts, as he turned to his brother.

"Damn, they put on some of y'old clothes and y'go all mushy" Bo rolled his eyes.

"No I ain't" Lester denied with a small huff, despite knowing exactly how he was staring at you.

"You're blushin'. You've gone all red" Bo teased.

"It ain't my fault...they look so cute" Lester muttered. He shouldn't be embarrassed for thinking you looked cute or wanting to admire you, you had been dating for about a month now!

"Fuckin' hell" Bo rolled his eyes at his brother's softness.

"They do" Lester insisted, his slightly raised voice getting your attention.

"What are you two mumbling about?" you asked, raising an eyebrow at them as you looked back over your shoulder. Lester couldn't help but blush a little more at being caught talking about you.

"Ah nothin', Lester here was just telling me about how cute y'look in his clothes" Bo told you with a smirk, nudging his brother's arm a little too roughly.

"Bo!" Lester scolded with wide eyes, just in time to for Vincent to walk in. The masked twin looked between the three of you, knowing he had missed something.

"Really?" you asked with a smile, to which Lester just gave you a flustered nod. "Thanks Lester" your smile only grew. "That mean I get free access to your closet?" you asked teasingly, only partly joking.

"Y-yeah, you can have anything you want" Lester nodded, stumbling over his words slightly. He could never say no to you. Bo just scoffed at him as he crossed the kitchen to grab himself a drink.

"How about we share?" you suggested, fondly shaking your head at your boyfriend.

"Yeah, that sounds good too" Lester agreed with a grin.

"Good, they're comfy" you complimented before turning your attention back to cooking.

Lester couldn't help that he was a blushing, smiling mess, it was just the effect you had on him. When he glance dover at Vincent, he could see his shoulders shaking in a silent chuckle.

"Hey, don't laugh at me!" Lester sounded genuinely offended. He was used to Bo teasing him, but now even Vincent was laughing at him.

Vincent just shook his head at his little brother as he took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Just because you two don't have anyone to wear your clothes and look all cute like that" Lester huffed, joining Vincent at the table.

"Careful, baby brother...might just have to steal 'em from ya for that" Bo warned as he sat at the table with them.

You just walked over with two filled plates, placing them down in front of each of the twins. As you gave Bo his plate, he shot you a smirk. You gave him an overly sweet smile before smacking him on the back of the head.

"Don't you listen to them" you rounded the table to Lester. "You're the only man for me" you assured him, kissing his cheek before going to fetch your and his food.

Of course, that left Lester grinning like an idiot, completely unashamed by the effect you had on him, as Vincent chuckled to himself. Bo, on the other hand, was muttering to himself and rubbing the back of his head.

As the days went by, you started incorporating Lester's wardrobe into your own more and more. Nearly every day you wore one of Lester's old shirts and they had become the only thing you could sleep in. And Lester loved it. He loved seeing you in his clothes, just seeing how much you seemed to want him around you even when he couldn't be there. How comfortable you were in his clothes, around him. It meant a whole lot more to him than it probably should.

[katsu28]

maybe something more

pairing: JJ Maybank x reader

summary: JJ and Y/N have feelings for each other, but neither of them want to address it until now

warnings: light swearing but I’m pretty sure that’s it (lmk if I missed anything though!)

a/n: y'all i started mapping out this idea in my head on the bus last week and deadass sprinted home so i could write it all down, may or may not have almost tripped over multiple curbs :D

masterlist + taglist

(gif credits to @jjmayday)

“Welcome to the—oh, it’s you guys again.” Your standard customer greeting turned into a teasing remark when your eyes landed on the three boys that had just sauntered into the Wreck.

“Don’t act like you’re not happy to see us, Y/N.” John B shot back, all three boys taking a seat at their usual table in the corner. You rolled your eyes playfully at him, wiping your hands on your apron as you angled your head towards the kitchen.

“Hey Kie, your friends are here!” You called.

“Are we not your friends too?” Pope chimed in, to which you merely shrugged, your hands effortlessly pouring a round of sodas for the boys like you’d done so many times before. Once they were full, you rounded the counter, sliding the cups across the table with a smile, but letting your gaze linger on JJ’s for a few extra seconds. He held your gaze cockily, the left side of his mouth quirking up into an all too familiar smirk while his hand slid itself up the back of your leg and into the pocket of your apron to snag a few straws. “Oh my god, will you guys just go get a room already?” Pope groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. “I don’t need to see you two groping each other while I wait for my food!”

“Don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, dude.” JJ shrugged, but the look he was sending your way said otherwise. You aimed a wink at the blond boy before slipping out of his grip and taking your place behind the counter again.

Your relationship with JJ was a little hard to explain. You were both definitely attracted to each other, always flirting with one another and making excuses to touch each other—his hand on your knee when you hung out with them at bonfires, your fingers dancing along his broad shoulders during boat rides on the HMS Pogue—and you were definitely more than just friends, but neither of you had addressed what was going on between you yet.

“Quit getting handsy with my girl, Maybank,” Kie warned jokingly, materializing at your side and hopping onto the counter with a teasing smile. “Food’s up in five. We can take it to the beach for later.” The three boys nodded, and then Kie turned to you. “Wanna come with us? We’re just gonna surf the high tide and chill for the night, maybe even have our own little bonfire.”

“Y’know, while that sounds like a blast, I do have a job to do here, and unlike you I can actually get fired, so…pass.” You chuckled. Kie frowned, holding one finger up in the universal wait a second sign and hopping off the counter, sticking her head into the order window.

“Hey, dad?” She called into the kitchen to Mr. Carrera, who was chopping some lettuce at the prep station.

“What’s up, sweetpea?” He replied, setting his knife off to the side and looking up at his daughter.

“Can Y/N get off early and come to the beach with us?” She asked hopefully. You opened your mouth to protest, because although you were close with the Carreras since you’d started working at the Wreck last year, the last thing you wanted to do was take advantage of that closeness, but Kie smacked her hand over your mouth.

“Sure she can,” Mr. Carrera nodded, much to your dismay. “I hear the sunset’s supposed to be really nice today, and I was planning to close up early anyways and surprise your mom with date night. Added bonus that you won’t be home for a while.” Kie stuck her tongue out at her dad for that last remark, but thanked him still.

“Looks like it’s settled.” She grinned at you mischievously, wiggling her eyebrows before calling out to the boys. “Y/N’s coming with us!” They all replied with a variety of different responses, but you couldn’t help letting your eyes linger on JJ again, who was genuinely smiling at you. No smirk, no half crooked troublemaker smile, an actual grin—like he was happy you’d be there.

-------

As soon as the food was ready, everyone loaded into John B’s ugly old orange hippy van, aptly dubbed “The Twinkie”. You’d settled in the seat next to JJ, not missing but choosing to ignore the suggestive look that Kie kept sending your way when JJ’s hand didn’t leave its place wrapped around your wrist, mindlessly fiddling with the frayed and faded purple bracelet on your arm. Your heart jumped a little in your chest when you got the the beach and JJ studied you with his hand on your waist as you hopped out of the van, and again when he bumped shoulders with you as he pulled off his shirt to get into the water and winked at you as he backpedaled towards the surf with his board.

Oh, you were whipped all right.

You opted not to surf with your friends, instead relegating yourself to stuff-watcher and picture-taker. Mr. Carrera had been right, today’s sunset was absolutely breathtaking, with its pinks and reds and oranges all bleeding into one perfect painting.

Even though you’d lived in the Outer Banks your entire life, its summer sunsets never ceased to amaze you.

You let out a sigh of content, rubbing your arms as a cool breeze whipped its way across the fading sky. Before you could get too cold though, you felt something drape over your shoulders—a blanket. Casting your gaze to your left, you saw JJ dropping down onto the sand beside you, blond locks still dripping wet and chest still heaving from his surf session.

“Thanks.” You said softly, drawing a short nod from him. “Sunset’s really pretty, don’t you think?”

A few seconds passed before JJ answered.

“Absolutely beautiful.” He replied, sounding a little breathless. Your eyebrows quirked up, mouth falling open a little bit when you turned to look at him and found him looking intently, not at the fading sunset, but at you. JJ’s heavy gaze pinned you to the spot, and you suddenly felt hot despite the cool wind ruffling your hair.

“What?” You managed to choke out, eyebrows furrowing.

Was this it? Was this the moment JJ told you how he felt about you? It sure felt like the moment.

The words that left his mouth, however, kind of disappointed you. “Mind sharing that blanket?” He asked, blue eyes twinkling mischievously.

You hid your frown as best you could, holding the blanket open so he could scoot in close. And by close, you meant close. The entire right side of JJ’s body was pressed against yours, his surprisingly warm skin a nice contrast to your cold touch, and his hand immediately came to rest on your thigh, drawing lazy circles on your skin that had you wanting to kiss him senseless.

The two of you sat like this for a while, neither of you wanting to break the thick silence, until you couldn’t take it anymore. You had to say something.

“What are we, JJ?” You asked quietly.

“What do you want us to be?” His voice was the softest you’d ever heard it, and when you looked over at him again and saw the way he was looking at you, your brain quite literally short-circuited.

The next thing you knew, you were kissing him and he was kissing you back. Your hands were tangling into his hair while his slid around to press against your back, mouth not leaving yours as he guided you down onto the sand, bracing himself on his forearms as he pushed himself closer to you.

It wasn’t until you heard a series of yells and wolf whistles from your friends in the distance that JJ pulled away, leaning his forehead against yours.

“I really like you.” You breathed, curling your hands around the nape of his neck. When JJ was this close, you could see every detail of his face—the tiny scar above his eyebrow, the flecks of green in his blue eyes, the grains of sand in his eyelashes—and it made your heart flutter.

“You’re telling me you don’t kiss all your friends like that?” JJ teased, shifting off of you and popping to his feet. You rolled your eyes, sitting up and letting him pull you to your feet as well. When he did, he pulled you closer by your waist, pressing a short kiss to your lips before brushing the sand out of your hair. “I really like you too, Y/N.”

“Come and eat, you horny shits!” John B yelled from where the rest of the group had since built a small bonfire. “Unless you just wanna keep eating each other’s faces, that’s chill too. More fries for me then.” JJ flipped his best friend off, slipping his hand into yours and tugging you towards everyone else.

You settled on the sand a few feet away from the fire, graciously accepting the box of fries Kie handed you, while JJ plopped down on the log behind you, reaching around to nab a fry and pressing a kiss to your hair on the way back.

“So…are you guys, like, a thing now?” Pope asked casually. You glanced back at JJ, who nodded for the both of you.

“Fuck yeah, JB, you owe us ten bucks!” Kie exclaimed gleefully, elbowing John B in the gut.

“You assholes bet on us getting together?”

“Uh, yeah. 'Course we did,” John B snorted, begrudgingly passing his friends a few crumpled bills. “It was pretty fuckin’ obvious, guys. I said give it a month-ish, Kie and Pope said three or four weeks tops.”

“Fuck you guys,” JJ rolled his eyes, but was smiling nonetheless.

“But on the real, we’re glad you two finally figured it out.”

“Yeah, we were getting tired of the longing glances and flirty shit.”

“Y’all do know that’s not gonna stop, right?” You pointed out, raising an eyebrow. “I get to mack on JJ right in front of everyone now.”

JJ cheered, but a chorus of boos ensued from the rest of your friends, John B even chucking a wet towel at the both of you.

“New rule, no macking on each other in front of us. Save that shit for later.”

“Oh, so you can mack on Sarah, but I can’t mack on my girl?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“That’s not fair!” JJ protested. “Y’know what, just for that—” He leaned forward, reaching around to turn your head towards him and planting a sloppy kiss to your lips that had you giggling against his mouth.

“Gross.”

“Disgusting.”

“I think I’m gonna puke.”

Taglist!

@milkiane @purple-flamingo @scenesofobx

[rainteez02]

hug me.

pairing: gn!reader x boyfriend!seonghwa

genre: fluff, angst

warnings: crying, stress, reader hates their job

word count: 479

summary: After a rough day at work your boyfriend Seonghwa finds you in your shared bedroom completely discouraged, but it’s nothing that he can’t fix.

writer comments: extremely impulsive and self-indulgent, I hope you enjoy this cute little scene, I enjoyed writing it.

In no way do I claim to know or believe that any of the Ateez members act this way. All the names used besides Ateez are from my imagination.

This writing is property of the author, please do not translate or reuse or take credit for my work.

“Baby what’s wrong?”

Rolling over onto your side you pouted, the whimpers continuing as you meet Seonghwa’s worried gaze, head tilted in concern.

“I’m j-just stressed out... it’s fine Hwa” you mumbled to him, his gaze immediately softening even more as he pulled you towards him, running his hands gently up and down your back.

“No sweatpea, don’t say that. Being stressed isn’t good. I’m here to help you.” Seonghwa mumbled into your hair, pressing gentle kisses against your forehead and cheeks as you let your tears fall.

“I-it’s so hard… they want so much from me, and the work is s-so stressful. I don’t know if I can stay at this job. They treat me like trash Hwa. T-they hate me...”

Sobbing into his chest, you released all your feelings of the past month into your poor boyfriend’s chest. You were well-aware that he shouldn’t have to hear you cry like this over your job. But he made you feel safe. You couldn’t help but let yourself break down.

“Shh, it’s okay now, we’ll deal with it together, okay? They’re not important love. I promise they aren’t important.” He whispered softly to you, pulling back to peer at your face. “Okay? I want you to say it with me, they’re not important.” He said, nodding his head to repeat his words.

“T-they’re not I-important...” you stuttered out, the stress slightly lessening much to your surprise.

“Good job baby, now I’m going to get you a glass of water, okay? Hold on.” He started, moving to get up but a tight grip around his hand stopped him.

Turning around to look at you he chuckled and squeezed your hand. “What is it baby?” He asked at the shy look on your face.

“D-don’t leave... j-just stay here and... hug me. That’s all I want” you slowly whispered, looking up at him with a pout.

A small laugh left him at your words accompanied by a nod. Sitting down on your shared bed against the headboard, he pulled you into his lap, pulling you gently into his chest as he rests his head on top of yours.

“How’s this for you precious? Or were there specifics to this deal?” He asked, a deep chuckle rumbling through your body as he noticed the pout returning to your face.

“I’m only joking sweetpea don’t get all pouty on me now, we almost had you back to my smiley baby.” Seonghwa said, mirroring the pout on your face with one that rivalled and surpassed yours.

With a loud sigh that had your boyfriend laughing once again, you laid your head on his shoulder, a yawn leaving you. The smile on Seonghwa’s face never faltered as he adjusted, rubbing your back with one arm as the other held you tightly against him.

“Goodnight sweetpea”

And with those words, you fell into a peaceful sleep.

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

@yxnkigi

[notmanagingmymischief]

I posted 3,348 times in 2022

1,176 posts created (35%)

2,172 posts reblogged (65%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@winters-witch-bitch

@consciouschunkofmoss

@thomas-the-goat-of-satan

@nonbinary-cryptid-baby

I tagged 1,667 of my posts in 2022

Only 50% of my posts had no tags

#ask - 1,006 posts

#anon - 399 posts

#wife xx - 339 posts

#anon ask - 247 posts

#not mine - 89 posts

#fic reblog - 84 posts

#my children xx - 81 posts

#sweetpea &lt;3 - 44 posts

#cara mia 🌹 - 39 posts

#georgie my beloved - 27 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#you think you've seen anger? think you've experienced revenge? you aint seen nothing until you've suffered at the hands of nico belladonna

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

My toxic trait is thinking any of my favorite characters would even want to date me in the first place tbh

71 notes - Posted March 28, 2022

#4

❝𝐉𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐮𝐱 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐫.❞

This is a (one day late) birthday gift to my beloved, wonderful, amazing girlfriend @winters-witch-bitch. I hope you enjoy it mon amour; I love you so so so much, and I can't wait to spend as many more birthdays with you as the universe will allow me to.

See the full post

91 notes - Posted May 7, 2022

#3

ᴀʟᴍᴀ ᴘᴇʀᴇɢʀɪɴᴇ | ʟᴏʀᴅ ᴋɴᴏᴡꜱ ɪ ʙᴇʟᴏɴɢ ᴡᴀʏ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ʙᴇʟᴏᴡ - ɪɪ

sorry about taking an actual century to update this bitch oh my gods 😭💀

oh and the bits between the '~' are in Alma's pov because....flustered bird woman. :D

finally, yes i changed the pov--people complained and peer pressured me into doing it /hj *cough* @merci-bitch *cough*

--

ᴘʀᴇᴠɪᴏᴜꜱ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ

--

title source: "heaven knows" by the pretty reckless

--

warnings: slight angst, light swearing, arguing

word count: 7.7K

--

taglist: @teddybear-named-george, @consciouschunkofmoss, @winters-witch-bitch, @holly-fire, @mxbeezkneez, @fxoehy, @evagreensimp, @crime-ninja, @vintageolives, @darlingimlostwithout, @vykanya, @missfalcon, @peregrine21, @feartheclipse, @inlovewithbilliedean, @nonbinary-cryptid-baby, @another-fantasy-world, @evil-feather, @aaron-despair, @badussy69, @marvels-writings, @thebijesus, @ahoy-gays, @jojalie, @sythaerin, @vintageolives, @iamawriterorsomething, @emiliaisdead, @sapphic-stress, @whutisthus, @when-i-miss-you, @sarahp-stan, @lexi1109, @spilled-ink-like-spilled-wrists, @picnicmic

if you'd like to be added to the taglist, please fill out this form! (it helps me keep everything organized <;3)

--

enjoy xx

--

After the night that Horace's dream had caused issues with you and Alma, your relationship had been...rocky at best, and obstructive at worst. Alma never raised her voice, which was a relief, but she was especially sharp for at least a month. With everyone besides you, she was completely normal, but anytime you asked her anything she'd tense up and her response would be unnaturally professional and snappy. Each time it would annoy you and you'd usually end up snapping something back, which would either end in Alma glaring at you, walking away, or it would begin an argument. Again, she never yelled, and neither did you, but her tone was enough to be intimidating and you could stand your ground without being loud.

Now, over a month later, you lean against the inside of your door, fists clenched and knuckles white as you hold back tears. The door is locked but you know that Alma is still on the other side as she mumbles "Y/n please, I'm sorry." You scoff, replying "If you were sorry you wouldn't have said it, Miss Peregrine," purposefully using her title instead of her name, knowing it'll bite more than if you call her Alma. It works and you hear her hiss quietly. A faint shuffling can be heard from the other side of the door before another sigh and a quiet "I'm not leaving until you let me in." Rolling your eyes you silently mock her words to yourself, grumbling under your breath. "Don't you have a house to run?" Alma doesn't miss a beat before replying "Everyone is outside, and the sooner you let me in, the faster we can get this over with." You consider her words, knowing she's right but also not wanting to give in, forever stubborn. Your mind returns to your latest argument, the one that had caused this whole problem, and another few tears burn in your eyes.

The day was going decently, you'd helped Emma with her squirrel and watched Enoch mess about with his dolls, before returning upstairs and going to the kitchen to try finding something to nibble on. You remembered seeing some apples in the fridge, so you padded over to it and began searching for them. A minute later you caught sight of one and with a noise of victory, snatched it and gently closed the fridge door, standing up with your prize in hand. But you jumped back with a gasp when Alma appeared out of nowhere, leaning against the counter behind the open door. She glanced over at you indifferently, but didn't say anything even as you stared at her for a moment longer. You honestly expected her to make some snippy remark, but she did no such thing, and eventually you hummed and also leaned on the counter across from her, not making eye contact even as you felt the woman watching me.

Finally she spoke; "And what might you be doing?" You let out a heavy breath, chewing the piece of apple that was in your mouth and swallowing before responding. "Oh you know. This and that. Nothing you'd care about, anyway," you said, staring intently at the pattern of the floor. You heard Alma huff indignantly and snap "Why are you always so...sassy with me lately?" This time you did raise my head, leveling her with a disbelieving glare. "Me? I'm the one with an attitude? You're the one who's constantly starting arguments over literally anything!" Alma's eyes hardened significantly and you saw her fingers tighten around the unlit pipe she held, muttering "I do not start arguments. You turn conversations into arguments." "Oh please!" you scoffed, setting your apple down and taking a few steps closer to the ymbryne. "I can't say anything without you biting my head off, Alma." At your advancing, Alma did the same, discarding her pipe and standing straight, using her height to her advantage.

But it didn't deter you, and you held yourself high and confident as you stared each other down. Before, you wouldn't have dared to speak like this to the ravenette, but by this point you were sick of her attitude. "You've really lost it now, haven't you?" Alma hissed and you smiled wickedly, replying "If I've lost my mind, then you're out of yours," eyes sparking. You heard the woman pull in a sharp breath and she stalked towards you, but you refused to let her get too close and began backing up, trying to keep some distance between the two of you. But Alma didn't stop until you were backed up into the counter, and even as your resolve stayed strong, the proximity still made your heart skip a beat. It was the closest she'd been to you in weeks and you were almost unused to it. Before you could think about it too hard though, Alma snapped "If I hadn't taken you in you'd still be starving and most likely dead by now." You took a deep breath, swallowing dryly and hissing "And I'm sure you regret it every day."

You said this, yet didn't expect Alma to reply "Maybe I do." Your face fell, lips parting in shock and eyes going glassy. Your brows pulled together tightly, staring up at Alma in betrayal, hurt beyond words. She realized what she'd said a moment too late and pulled away, already apologizing frantically, but you weren't having it--and without anything more than a "fuck you," you stormed out of the kitchen and up to your room, locking yourself in and sliding down to the floor in tears.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen," you finally say once the memory clears, and Alma growls under her breath, spitting "Dammit y/n, I'm sorry! I've never regretted helping you, I was just upset and not thinking straight!" The laugh that bubbles up in your throat is derisive and sharp, and you shake your head, mumbling "Clearly." Neither of you say anything else for another long moment, but your resolve slowly begins to crack and eventually you whisper "If I let you in, will you leave me alone?" Quickly Alma says "Yes, I just need you to know that I mean it." You heave a great sigh, filling your lungs to capacity before letting it out in a pained exhale, and stand up, hesitating just a moment before finally undoing the lock. You leave it up to Alma to open the door, which she does as soon as she hears the click, and the instant it's open she's pulled you to her body and holds you tightly. You choke on air, at first trying to pull back, but she's stronger than she looks and eventually you give up, relaxing in her arms and loosely returning the embrace.

You breathe in her perfume and it calms you down, so when she murmurs "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,” you believe her. You nod slowly, tightening your hold just a bit, which seems to relax Alma as the tenseness of her shoulders fades. With one last squeeze, the woman finally lets you go, but doesn't step back as she brings both hands to your face. The genuine emotion in her eyes make tears threaten to fall, but you blink them away and nod again, mumbling "Okay. Okay, I believe you. But can we just..." You taper off, unsure what to say next. Alma encourages you quietly, and you finish with "Can we go back to how it was before? I don't--I don't want to keep fighting, Alms." The nickname, though not official as it's only the second time you've used it, softens Alma's gaze even further and she presses her forehead against yours, breathing "Of course. Of course we can, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to get out of hand, I was just overwhelmed."

Understanding, you hum in agreement. You stand there for a moment longer, one of your hands coming to rest on hers, which she removes from your cheek and instead threads your fingers together, holding your hand tightly. But eventually you have to separate when you murmur "I think it's almost time to eat. I'll help you." Alma sighs and the little breath blows against your lips, before she nods and pulls back with one last peck to your forehead. She doesn't let go of your hand, instead using it to gently pull you along with her down the steps and into the kitchen. She finally has to let it go in order to start working, but the little smile she throws over her shoulder makes up for the loss of warmth. You return it, though she's already turned her back, and silently begin helping. The air between you is no longer charged as it has been for the last month, instead it's returned to the warm familiarity that it had once been. You move fluidly around the kitchen, mumbling quiet words to each other every so often, and you manage to make some sort of inappropriate joke that makes Alma blush and laugh loudly, having to support herself on the counter.

You beam at the woman, laughing quietly along with her, but more just enjoying seeing her laugh again after so long without it. When Alma finally calms down, brushing a nail over her cheek as she still chuckles through her words, saying "That--That was brilliant. But I don't want you saying something like around to the others." You press your hand against your chest, dramatically exclaiming "I would never! What do you think I am, a heathen?!" Alma gives you what could be a scolding look if she wasn't still biting back another smile. You finally let a grin of your own break out, dropping your hand and turning around with a shake of your head to continue cutting up these vegetables for supper. You hear Alma shuffling about behind you but ignore it as you make sure not to slice yourself. You've been known to be clumsy when faced with sharp objects, so cutting yourself is a very real threat. "Did I ever tell you about that time when I just about killed myself?" You glance over your shoulder, the shock value of the statement making Alma's head snap to face you.

But you just smile teasingly and say "I was trying to help my mom with lunch and the knife slipped and caught my wrist. I ended up needing stitches but it just barely avoided hitting that big vein." Absently, Alma sighs and mumbles "The radial artery, yes." You nod, continuing your cutting while you state "But yeah, I was fine in the end." Alma hums quietly, and it's more tense than before, so you pause your repetitive slicing to set the knife down, coming over to stand at her side and leaning into her a bit, murmuring "I'm more careful now Alms. Don't go all quiet on me." The woman sighs heavily and casually tilts her head to the side so it can rest atop yours and replies "I'm sorry. I just...you had me worried for a moment." You shrug, understanding her worry. "Yeah, I guess I could've worded it a bit better. I just wanted to see your reaction honestly." The truth makes Alma grumble under her breath, miffed at the casual manner in which you speak, but her head doesn't move and she doesn't scold you.

Still, after a few minutes you pull back with a little nuzzle into the woman's shoulder that makes her let out a little huff of laughter, and return to the opposite side of the kitchen. The rest of the meal gets finished soon and without anymore bumps, until everything is on the table and Alma lets out a heavy sigh, rubbing her hands together anxiously. She checks her watch, as she's been doing incessantly for the past two hours, and you watch her stare at it with a tense expression before slipping it back into her pocket with a soft hum. You raise a questioning brow when she looks back at you, but she just brushes it off with a smile and softly asks you to get the others inside. You nod, brush your hand against hers as you pass her to head outside. Rounding up the kids doesn't take much effort, and they all run inside to get ready for dinner, changing if they're dirty or fixing their hair, etcetera. You do the same, changing into a nicer dress that's tight against your waist and chest, but loosens around your legs.

You smile to yourself as you make sure your hair is neat in the mirror, before skipping downstairs and entering the dining room, where Alma stands against the wall waiting for the rest to appear. She smiles over at you, and her eyes drop down to check out your outfit, smile softening into a teasing smirk as she mutters "That's a bit short, don't you think?" You notice the playful tone of her voice and a matching smile lifts to your own lips as you walk slowly towards the woman, replying "Only if you want it to be." Her eyes return to yours, amused. "And trust me, I have shorter. Maybe I'll wear one of them someday--although you might like that too much," you purr, winking with a grin at the shocked, then flustered expression that settles onto her face as the statement's double meaning registers in Alma's mind. As soon as it does she goes to say something, but you quickly cut her off with "It's almost time to eat, isn't it?" The woman lets out an annoyed noise, but checks her watch and, once finding out that you're correct, approaches the table and rings the bell that sits atop it's dark surface beside her seat.

See the full post

110 notes - Posted February 3, 2022

#2

Y/N: *slams fist into their wall in frustration*

Alma: Y/n! Don’t do that!

Y/N: >:(

Alma: How would you feel if I slammed you against the wall?

Y/N:

Y/N: I’m...I’m not sure you always understand the consequences of your actions or words.

129 notes - Posted July 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

thinking about her again <3

See the full post

159 notes - Posted September 18, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[godofsexdrugsandrocknroll]

Growing Pains

Nala Arc: *Jaune’s sixteen year old daughter with thick blonde hair pulled back in a low pony, blonde cat ears atop her head with her grandfather Ghira’s yellow eyes* --Yes Daddy.

Jaune: *Very seriously* And you’ve got your scroll.

Nala: *Shows it off* Yup.

Jaune: Your purse?

Nala: *Rolls eyes* Duh.

Jaune: And your pepper spray, mace, rape whistle and extra ammo?

Nala: *Sighs* Yes, yes, of course and even if I tried to leave the dust out you’d find a way to smuggle it in anyways, Daddy.

Jaune: *Ignores the sass* Okay, good. Good.  And you have--

Nala: *Growing impatient* --Yes, Dad, I have Pride. *Shows off twin automatic pistols in black and gold, connected by a thin gold chain and shifts it into weighted chain form before reshifting and holstering it*

Jaune: Okay, Dormiens Leo?

Nala: *Stomps foot* Dad, c’mon! I’m not taking my freaking sword on my first date!

Jaune: *Hands up, backtracking* Right, yeah, of course sweetpea! *Pauses*

Nala: *Stares at her father cautiously*

Jaune: Are you sure you don’t wanna wear the belt I bought you?

Nala: *Explodes* No! It looks nice, it looks normal, it’s super flippin’ cute but I know you had it custom made, I know it’s a high tech chastity belt that locks as soon as you put it on and only you have the code to it! Besides, I’m not even t-thinking about having that, about having s-sex with Dutch! *Blushing*

Jaune: *Gapes* W-who told you--

Nala: *Grumbling, not looking him in the eye* Mom.

Blake: *Entering the room, wiping her hands with a towel and tossing it on the table* And I’d do it again. Because, Jaune, you are overreacting.

Jaune: B-but she’s going on a date! With a boy!

Blake: *Cocks eyebrow* Mmm. So if it was a girl then it’d be okay?

Jaune: What? No! Boy or girl, doesn’t matter! *Hugs an irritated Nala fiercely* She’s my baby girl! She’s d-d-- *whispers* dating, Blake!

Blake: *Smiling* Uh-huh. And she’ll continue to date. One day - when she’s ready - she’ll even have sex. *Jaune whines and Nala turns into a tomato* But right now, you big baby, our little girl is going on her first date. She is being very safe, especially when you take into consideration that our daughter is highly trained, has two weapons and her King’s Flare semblance makes every fire semblance we’ve ever come across look like matchsticks. *Peels Jaune off of Nala*

Nala: *Embarrassed* Mooom!

Blake: *Fixes her daughters top, smoothes out her hair* She has her guns, she has common sense and honestly honey, she has my brains.

Jaune: *Long pause* I kinda think that last one mighta been an insult, but I do have to agree with you there.

Blake: Besides, Dutch is an athlete, not a Huntsman. No aura. You need to calm down.

*Jaune mutters mutinously, crossing his arms and Nala sighs and hugs her mother*

Nala: Thanks Mom. *Stands in front of Jaune, fidgets* Daddy?

Jaune: *Dramatic sigh* Ugghhh, I hate it when your mom makes sense. *Hugs Nala who squeezes him and puts her head on his shoulder* Just...have fun, okay? Don’t stay out too late, don’t do anything you don’t want to and you’re, uh...

Nala: *Rolls her eyes* It’s that neo-Valean restaurant near Auntie Nora and Uncle Lie’s neighborhood. If Dutch turns out to be a jerk, Auntie Nora will probably wind up leveling the place.

Jaune: *To Blake* Maybe we should give Ren the heads up instead of miss ‘Goddess of Boom’.

Blake: *To Jaune* Already called him. He has Nora busy with the twins tonight. *Smiles as Jaune kisses her cheek*

*The parents watch their daughter fuss over her hair, reapply lip gloss and fidget with her top, her ears twitching all the while and the door opens to an athletic young man with brown hair and dark green eyes*

Nala: *A few minutes later* --good that you all met, but we’re gonna miss the movie if we don’t go to dinner now. *Smiles brightly* C’mon, Dutch!

Dutch: *Grins, blushing a bit* Right, Nala. *To Blake* Bye Mrs. Arc. *To Jaune, winces* M-Mr. Arc. It was really nice to meet you. *Jaune just nods with a smile* I’llhaveherbackbytenbye!

Blake:

Jaune:

Blake: You just had to pull the whole ‘I am Paladin, Slayer of Salem’ thing, didn’t you.

Jaune: *Crosses arms petulantly* I have no idea what you mean, Blake.

Blake: *Rolls her eyes* Oh sure. Because you’re usually stern, terrifying and pushing your aura out to create killing intent.

Jaune: *Annoyed* If I was it must’ve just been instinct since he was checking of my sweet little girls behind.

Blake: *Snorts*

Jaune: *Whining* Blaaake! It’s not funny! She doesn’t even have your ass--

Blake: Oh she does. Just not my hips. Plus she’s more petite like your sister, Celeste.

Jaune: Nope, stop. But even still, that little fucker--

Blake: Is a teenage boy who thought he was being subtle. Who probably hasn’t asked out a future Huntress before, let alone the daughter of two veterans, even less two of the most talented swordspeople alive. *Takes Jaune’s hand and rubs a circle into his palm with her thumb* I know Nala growing up like this is making you a little crazy because of all your sisters and the fact that you were once a teenage boy, but have a little faith in our daughter.

Jaune: *Rubs face with free hand* Yeah, yeah, I know. I don’t like it though.

Blake: *Flippantly* And neither do I, Jaune, but it’s a part of being parents. We’re lucky Nala’s so even tempered and just skipped right over the teenage rebellion phase and isn’t just embarrassed by us. She’s a good girl. *Pauses, starts leading Jaune into the house* Or would you rather her be more Neptune and Dew’s girl?

Jaune: *Winces* No! *Grouchily* I just never thought letting her grow up would be so...

Blake: *Squeezes his hand* I know. But you got your licks in. And when Dutch brings our baby home, it’ll be his turn to worry about me. *Cuts off Jaune’s dumb grin* But until then...

Jaune: *Slumps* Blake, I don’t wanna do yard work. *Blinks as Blake sits on his lap* Oh. Ohhhhh. No, I’m definitely up for this task, ma’am. *Squeezes Blake’s ass*

Blake: *Smirking, leans in for a kiss* I figured.

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

I figured that if anybody would be both the cool parent and the responsible, easy to reason with but still every bit as protective one, it’d be Blake. And Knightshade’s a fun couple to explore although I like reading it better than writing it. Since other people do it better.

But I did have fun coming up with Nala Arc as a character. Named after the female lion from The Lion King that has a fair bit of meaning behind said name in the first place (I believe it’s Swahili for ‘Gift’). A weighted chain/pair of automatic pistols called Pride, plus a Nimcha sword named ‘Sleeping Lion’ in Latin (the name of the Lion King Keyblade from Kingdom Hearts II) and a semblance named after the Link Summon for Simba from Kingdom Hearts III (which works the same way: Nala becomes engulfed in fire, exudes fire and can cause loads of damage while active).

[morning-might-arrive]

Here’s the continuation of my last post. Thank you so much to everyone who liked and reblogged! This is becoming a lot longer than I thought, so there will be another part soon. Feedback is appreciated!

A series of misunderstandings involving a limousine and Spectra’s blog lead Jackson to the realization that he has way more friends than he thought.

Wednesday

Jackson sighed as he silenced his blaring alarm clock. 7:00 am. As he walked to the bathroom to get ready, he was suddenly struck by a memory.

“It’s nothing personal, normie. You just look like such a freak.” Manny told him as he shoved him off of the lunch table. Jackson looked towards the other mansters, but they said nothing. So they all agreed. Even Clawd. 

He cringed. He’d had to eat lunch in a bathroom stall that day. He looked at his reflection, desperately wishing he could change it. He sighed and got dressed. He had to leave early since he now had no car and his parents weren't home. He plugged his headphones into his phone. Holt had gotten them into this situation, only fitting that he deal with it.

Holt Hyde cursed under his breath as he walked to school. Although the weather was warming, mornings in March were still frigid. He sighed in relief as he approached Monster High.

“Heya there, sweetpea,” Operetta drawled in greeting as Holt waltzed through the front doors of the school. 

“What’s good, Oppy?” Holt responded, his usual loud and energetic self even at the early hour.

“Just peachy keen like always, hun. Say, you seen the Ghostly Gossip lately?” She asked.

“Nah, we usually stay away from that garbage ever since that story about us and Frankie. Humiliated the poor ghoul and almost tanked our relationship. It really ain’t cool what they're doin’.” He replied nonchalantly. 

“Oh. Okay. Well sugar, you know you can tell me anythang you wanna, right?” She continued.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Thanks Oppy.” That was kinda weird for the rough and tumble ghoul to say, but honestly Holt was just glad their botched attempt at dating didn’t mess up their friendship. Oppy was a cool ghoul. 

“What’s the word, cool cats?” Came a new voice.

“Johnny!”

“Johnny.”

Johnny spirit sauntered casually down the main corridor of Monster High, and students jumped out of his way as if he had the plague. He put his arm around Operetta’s shoulder. “Hey, babe.”

Holt snorted. “I’ll never get why everyone lets you float around like you own the place.”

Johnny shrugged. “Guess they don’t have a choice. Besides, I never see you doing anything about it,” he replied with a bit of challenge in his tone. Holt rolled his eyes.

“You know you don’t scare us, Spirit. Anyway, it seems like Oppy’s got you on a leash without our help.”

Johnny bristled at that “Y’know Hyde, I’m gettin’ real sick of-”

“Why don’t we scamper on down to the catacombs and finish that new song we been workin on, sugarpie?” Operetta cut in. She really didn’t want to deal with a fistfight this early.

The couple walked away and Holt made toward the auditorium. He found the symphony on stage setting up and dashed up to join them, plugging his guitar into its amp. Jennifire was nearby greasing the corks on her clarinet. He huffed and sat down next to her.

“Another run in with the phantom pianist?” She asked, not even looking up.

“That guy is such a jerk!”

She chuckled and shook her head. “You boys are so easily provoked; I may never understand it. My brothers were just the same. He has done not to insight your anger.”

Holt really hated to admit it, but she was right. Johnny really didn't scare Holt, and he knew a little better than to try that tough guy act on Jackson. Plus, it was kinda funny seeing guys like Heath and Manny faint when he walked past them.

“Your emotions run like wildfire, I am very impressed you came to terms so easily with your end.” She continued.

Wait. What. “My what now?”

“Of course, it must be so hard for you to talk about. I am sorry.” A tear fell from her eye and promptly turned to smoke upon hitting her face.

“Jen, are you okay?” Holt asked, facing her.

She smiled. “Yes, I will be okay. So kind of you to think of me.”

“Okay, Okay, enough chit chat. Places people!” The director yelled as he approached the stage. Well. That was weird. Holt took his place in the stool beside the amp and looked up as the director began counting them off.

After an awkward hour of rehearsal, they were dismissed to second period. Holt emerged out into the crowd of students in the hall. Jennifire was nowhere to be found, so he made his way toward the art room. His Spotify playlist suddenly changed to a song by Pierce the Veil. He pulled out his phone to skip it and saw he had a message from Jackson. He scoffed. If D-low had told him what was wrong, would he be asking? JJ could be so oblivious. Maybe it was just a normie thing. 

He took his usual seat in front of his canvas and continued his painting for this week. 

“Psst, Holt.” he heard a whisper. He turned and met the shiny magenta eyes of retired popstar Catty Noir. “We’re turning up at Cleo’s place on Saturday, you in?”

“Yeah totally- oh, nevermind. We can’t make it, we kinda got a...thing that day.”

“Oh,” she said, looking kind of taken aback. “It’s that soon?” 

“What was that?”

“ I said I’ll see you soon!” she hastily corrected herself as she got up and turned in her painting, promptly leaving the art room. Man, everyone's acting off today. He touched up his work and quickly followed suit.

He basically had the rest of the period to himself, so he decided to riff on his guitar for a little bit. He couldn’t do it in the building anymore ever since that one time Headmistress Bloodgood caught him, so he moved to the front steps and set his bag beside him.

“Hey Holt!”

Holt turned towards the front of the school. “Frankie Fine-Stein! Where have you been hiding?” Her skin glowed a light mint green and her eyes sparked in the sun. Just as bootiful as ever. She sat on the step beside him.

“I was actually just in the library. I found this book about the original Jekyll and Hyde. It was way harsh; It said that Edward Hyde trampled a child in the streets of London, is that true?”

“Nuh-uh! Those stuffy normie’s didn’t like that grandpa’s were different so they dragged their reputation through the dirt!” Holt declared passionately. “Some of the people they charged him with killing didn’t even exist in the first place! Then they made Dr. Jekyll out to be a complete basket case and threw them both in jail! That is until they got bailed out by our great-great-grandma, Lucy.”

“Oh, man. I didn’t know any of that!” Frankie replied. She actually knew all about it, she had heard the exact same thing from Jackson before. They were both incredibly salty about the smear campaign launched against their great-great-grandparents that made their family flee to America in the first place, and you could hardly bring it up around them without a passionate rant. Frankie felt a little bad about bringing up something she knew was a sore subjet for them, but she had to make sure Spectra and the other ghouls didn’t get caught. It was for their own good, right?

Her phone buzzed in her lap and she glanced down. “Spectra got something, meet us back in the library.” Clawdeen. Frankie jumped up. “Sorry, Holt, I really gotta go.”

Holt watched her go in curiosity. He checked the time and quickly jumped up himself and dashed back inside the building. The only way to not be late now was to go through Section C, the so-called “vampires only” hallway. It really irked them when other monster’s used it, but he didn’t really care when it was either that or detention. As he made his way through he felt someone glaring at him, and met eyes with a large group of the former prep-school vampires. He braced himself, but instead of giving him grief like they usually did, they just let him pass. They were acting weird, but so was everyone else. Oh well, he didn’t really have time to think about it now.

Holt’s third period was Chemistry 2 with Mr. Hack. No thanks. Science was never his strong suit. Plus, there was seriously something off about this particular teacher. He just took a little too much pleasure in the cutting open of living things for Holt’s liking. He pulled out his phone.

“Keep an eye out. Today’s been weird, Bro.” He typed the message out and then disconnected his phone from his headphones. The world went dark.

Jackson blinked a few times. What was that ringing sound? “Oh, shOOT!” He bolted through the closest door- which just happened to be the right one- and took his seat as the bell finished ringing.

Mr. Hack passed out a hefty amount of worksheets to the class. “Okay class: no whispering, no talking, no looking around, no coughing or sneezing, no you can’t use the bathroom, and if I catch you on your cell phone the whole class gets detention. You have until the end of the class to complete the worksheets or it's a 0 for today.”

Everyone groaned. Good old Mr. Hack. Charming and likeable. Jackson tried to ignore the stares and whispers in his direction as he did his work. He knows he’s different, don’t they ever get tired of reminding him? Were they all paying more attention to him than usual, or was it just his imagination? He blazed through his work in about 20 minutes, it was just some simple thermodynamics equations. He looked up and noticed that Mr. Hack was asleep. Typical. Half the class were on their phones and the other half were talking amongst themselves. He pulled his phone out and saw Holt’s message.

Huh. Maybe it wasn’t just his imagination then, everyone was acting a little odd. Granted, every day at Monster High was pretty weird. Last week they had lost their school crest in a rollerblading contest and the school nearly toppled over, so maybe he could just ignore whatever this was.

The bell finally rang for lunch. He set his work on Mr. Hack’s desk as he jolted awake and practically ran from the room. He shot Clair a text

“Okay, transportation is set and decorations bought. Am I forgetting anything?”

“Measurements, goofy.” She responded almost instantly.

“Oh, right. I can get a tape measure from the woodshop teacher and get them during lunch.”

“Have you told the other monsters about Saturday?”

“No. I just don’t know how they’ll react, y’know?”

“Aren’t they always telling you about how you don’t belong? So why would they care?”

“Yeah you’re probably right. It’s just a difficult situation.”

“Yeah, I hear you. Let me know how it goes.”

Looking down at his phone, he didn’t notice Draculara until he bumped her as he passed.

“So sorry!” He exclaimed. 

“It’s alright.” She reassured him as she walked away. She made her way to the library where her friends were already gathered around in a circle. Spectra floated in the center.

“What’s this all about?” Draculara asked.

“While Frankie had Holt distracted, Spectra looked in his locker.”

“Well what did she find?” Cleo demanded.

“Just this. It appears to be a receipt for some kind of car rental.”

Clawd glanced at his phone. “Heath says Jackson is in the boys locker room right now taking measurements of himself and writing them down.” He told the group.

“Then what Spectra said is true.” Fraknie finally admitted. The room fell into extended silence.

“Well we can at least show Jackson he means something to us.” Draculara spoke up.

“Yeah,” Frankie agreed, “we can do something nice for him and Holt.”

“What are we going to do? Hijack the gym and throw a huge party during lunch?” Cleo asked sardonically.

“You’re on a roll Cleo! It’ll be closed tomorrow, but we can do it Friday!” Clawdeen agreed.

Cleo smiled. Very well then. Friday would be a day for the monster history books.

[snarkwrites]

ssw | sweetpea; kissed with love. __ with lust. | mature.

NOTES:

After a summer long break, I’m back at it again. I actually did work on a few things here and there in my absence, so hopefully, these next few days will see me finishing them off, polishing them up a bit and posting them, idk? We shall see.

This can be viewed as a second part to Sweetpea x Lodge!OFC ssw that I previously posted, which can be found [ here ] and will be linked again below. If anyone wants to see me actually sit down and write anything out with these two and like.. then write a version for my Andrews!OFC and Reggie.. just know I am highkey tempted and it probably wouldn’t take a lot of persuasion... Maaybe.

PROMPTS:

Prompts used for these six sexy words one shots are either taken from [here] or [here] at my choosing. I don’t take requests for characters / prompts for these but… If you just want to send me requests, I do take headcanon requests, fluff and filth alphabet letters. [ request rules / fandoms here ]

The prompts I used here are as follows: kissed with love. fucked with lust // “eyes up, sweetheart. look at me.” // so wet he just slips in.

FANDOM/CHARACTER:

Riverdale, Sweetpea x Lodge!OFC, Marlena

OTHER PARTS:

[ wondering what his kiss feels like. | sfw, squeaky clean]

WARNINGS:

{NSFW CONTENT. NO MINORS.} consensual but unprotected sex between two adults, biting / marking. body fluids. no foreplay.

Minors, this was not written for you. You shouldn’t be reading it. If you are and you stumble upon something upsetting or that you can’t handle after being clearly warned here… That’s on you, lovelies. Not me. Nobody made you keep reading.

TAGGING:

:( there’s nobody on my riverdale tag list actually. so if you’re out there and you’re reading this and you want to be on it, hit me up. or add yourself to the doc linked below. Either way. It’d make my heart so full, bbies.

OTHER STUFF:

[ faq | feel free to send me stuff | sfw masterlist | nsfw masterlist no minors. | taglist doc ]

I paced in front of the fallout shelter in the woods. It was getting later and later. I found myself tensing up at every little sound. I dug around in my pocket, searching for my cell phone. Pulling it out, I glanced at the time and took a deep breath. Tried to tell myself that maybe he was just running late.

Surely he wasn’t standing me up for a third time this week.

Almost as if on cue, my cell phone rang. It was Sweetpea.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“I’m not gonna make it.”

I sighed. Fighting back tears. Taking a deep breath or two.

“Are you there, Marlena?”

“Yeah.” I answered.

“I’m sorry. I gotta do this thing, okay?”

,, that’d be great if I didn’t feel like some dirty little secret. Or your kept girl. If you treated me in public the way you do when it’s just the two of us, rehearsing. If I had even a hint that you actually felt anything.” the thought crossed my mind and it took root this time. I couldn’t shake it.

Lately, it’s been getting harder and harder to shake.

“It’s fine. It’s just a play. And we’ve been doing so well together when we practice that missing a few won’t hurt.” I said the words but I didn’t mean them. I pouted as I said them because tonight marked the fifth night of me finally gathering up enough courage to ask him what it was we were doing here and it looked like yet again, Sweetpea was going to bail.

“You okay, princess?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m totally fine.” I was starting to try and navigate the woods in the dark. I swore when I got my favorite expensive sweater snagged on a branch and Sweetpea repeated his question.

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him I wasn’t fine. That our ‘practice sessions’ and private talks meant the world to me and they’d made me want so much more, but it felt like maybe this was all just something to do to rebound and get over Josie McCoy.

“We’ll meet up tomorrow, okay? I promise.”

I rolled my eyes at his words. And then that nagging thought that wouldn’t leave me alone crept in all over again. “Actually, I kind of can’t. I have a date.”

“What the hell do you mean, you have a date?”

,, what do I mean? I don’t have a date and this is only going to blow up in my face!” I was starting to panic at my ill-thought out response, but then another thought came, ,, If he really cares, let him be the one who worries. If he doesn’t care, you’ll know.”

“I mean… you don’t own me.” I answered calmly. Trusting the process, even though I was at least 80 percent sure that the process was going to royally fuck me over this time. Afraid to hope that maybe Sweetpea was feeling whatever I felt.

“Good point. Who’s the guy?”

Did he sound jealous just now? As quickly as the thought came, I shoved it back down. If anything going on between us mattered to him in the first place, he’d act like it. He wouldn’t act one way in public and a completely different way in private.

“Just a guy.”

“What’s his name?”

“Why does it matter?” I asked the question mildly as possible. I stepped into the lobby of the Pembrooke and wandered over to the elevator, pressing up. “I have to go. I’m gonna lose service in the elevator.”

“Wait.. you weren’t like.. waiting on me… Right?” Sweetpea asked.

I hesitated for a second or two. Every part of me wanted to tell him the truth, and then tell him just how much this whole game we were caught up in really bothered me, but when my mouth finally decided to work again, I gave a soft laugh. “Me? Nooo. No, you told me not to, remember? Because you never know if you’ll make it or not and you don’t want me out there alone in the woods.”

“Where were you then?”

“Out. I have to go now.” I hung up before he could ask anything else because if I didn’t, I knew I’d tell him the truth. And the truth might just make everything between us fall to pieces. Because he might not want the truth.

I barely got into the door of the penthouse before my phone rang again.

It was Sweetpea.

Rather than answer it, I declined the call. And I flopped down on the couch beside my sister. “How’d it go?” Veronica asked, pausing the movie she’d been watching to look over at me. “Did you tell him?”

“He ditched me. Again.”

“To be fair, he did tell you not to go out there until he told you he was definitely going to show up.” Veronica mused. I shook my head, sighing. “All I am is a rebound. Now I just have to decide whether I can be okay with that or not. Besides…” I paused for a few seconds, taking a deep breath, “I might’ve just messed it all up anyway.”

When she asked what I meant, I told her everything. Ending with the whole interrogation that he’d just put me through on the phone.

“You should’ve just made up a guy.”

“I’m not smooth enough to pull this type of stuff off, Ronnie! You know this. Ugh. Me and my big mouth.”

“Did he sound jealous or upset?”

“I mean.. I want to think he did but I’m also not about to be stupid enough to get my hopes up.”

My cell phone rang again and I hesitated. I almost answered it and told him everything but my sister smirked and she took the phone from my hand, wandering into the other room as she answered it.

I tensed all over, following her. Giving her a pleading look, shaking my head no.

But my sister wouldn’t be who she is if she didn’t stir the pot.

“Veronica, give Marlena the phone.”

“Afraid I can’t do that, Sweetpea.���

“And why the hell not?”

“Well, I’d love to but she’s kind of… busy… right now.”

“Busy doing what?”

“Showering, damn. Don’t raise your voice at me, Sweetpea.”

“Oh, he’s totally jealous.” she mouthed to me as she held the phone away from her ear for a second or two to let him rant on his end.

“Anyway, she’s busy. Is that all, or did you want something else? Remember, manners benefit you in this situation.” Veronica stated, flopping onto a chair. Waiting on Sweetpea to get to whatever the reason was for him calling.

I snickered to myself when I heard him swear and then mumble an apology.

“Who’s the guy she’s going out with tomorrow night?”

“Depends.”

“On?”

“On why it matters. I’m not going to tell you anything if you’re just going to hurt my sister or go beat the poor guy up.”

I tensed a little, getting frantic. Veronica seemed to pick up on it and she mouthed, “Relax. Listen, if anyone can get an answer out of him, I can. Just let me do my thing.”

“I’m not going to hurt her. That’s the last thing I wanna do. I thought we had something then she just casually mentions she’s busy tomorrow night, that some guy’s takin her out.” Sweetpea trailed off. I grimaced because it sounded like he’d just hit a wall or something.

Veronica was barely hiding back a grin.

She eyed me and then lowered the phone. “You can’t tell him how you feel, right? But you want to? This is a way to find out if he feels even a little of what you’re feeling.”

I eyed her, wary.

She put the phone back up to her ear.

“Is she there?”

“She’s still showering. Why’s a guy taking her out bother you so much, hm? I mean, you two barely speak at school and lately, you’ve kind of been avoiding her. She’s told me that you’ve blown off these little solo rehearsals you’ve been doing out at the shelter four or five times now?” Veronica questioned. Holding the phone away from her ear because apparently some of the bikers were doing shots and the crowd in the bar was getting a little out of hand, making it hard to hear or focus on Sweetpea.

“before we discuss this any further, Sweetpea, I’m going to need you to go somewhere more quiet.”

“Just like.. Tell her I’ll talk to her later.”

“No, no.. I think you might want to hear what I have to say.” Veronica’s words had me mouthing “Are you fucking mental?” while shaking my head no at her in a panic.

“Fine. I’ll step out in the alley.”

“Good.”

After a second or two, I heard Sweetpea ask, “Better?”

“Much.”

“Hey, wait… I talked to Marlena earlier and she said she hasn’t been going out there to wait on me.” Sweetpea trailed off, swearing under his breath.

“Yeah, well.. Maybe she didn’t want to be embarrassed?” Veronica walked into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her, leaving me out in the hallway, gaping at her audacity and the closed door. I paced back and forth, stopping now and then to hear bits of the conversation.

SWEETPEA’S POV

“Well what, hm? I told her not to go out there alone at night. There’s a fucking murderer on the loose.”

Veronica’s laughter had me glaring at the phone in my hand, rolling my eyes. “What the hell’s so funny?”

“One, that you think she’ll just jump when you tell her how high. Two, I can’t believe you’re actually this blind. Or stupid.”

I glared at the phone, scowling. “The hell’s that supposed to mean?”

“Do you have any idea how much she looks forward to seeing you? Like.. the happiest I’ve seen Marlena in years is when she’s sneaking out to go meet up with you. And then you pull all this shit. Honestly, I don’t see why she bothers. It’s obvious you’re just using her as  a rebound.” Veronica ranted, falling silent. Leaving me to stand frozen in place in the alley as my brain desperately tried to process what Veronica was telling me.

I’d been avoiding Marlena because I’m determined not to let myself get so caught up in someone that they have the ability to really hurt me like Josie did again. And just the thought that Marlena might have another guy interested in her upon hearing it earlier had me up in arms. It’s too late. I’m fucked. Somehow, Marlena Lodge got to me before I ever realized it was happening. “ I’m not using her as a rebound. Did she say that?” I snapped before I could stop myself. I apologized and then went quiet.

“She didn’t. But I know her well enough to know that’s exactly what she things. My advice here? Stop acting like you are towards her, because she feels like you are just using her as a rebound and she’s probably about to give up on you. The fact that she’s using the old I have a date excuse on you tells me everything I need to know. My sister only does that when she’s getting ready to cut her losses and move on. She does it so she won’t get hurt, so obviously, you’re hurting her. I have nothing else to say.”

“You’re sure she really feels this way…”

“If I weren’t, I wouldn’t even bother talking to you. I can’t stand back and watch her just close off a part of herself again, okay? Because sooner or later, she’s not going to have any parts of herself left to close off.”

Veronica hung up before I could really react to the statement and I leaned against the brick wall outside the Wyrm, just trying to process everything.

Fangs wandered out, lighting up a cigarette. “Everything alright, Pea?”

“She feels somethin, too.”

“I told you, idiot.”

“Shut the fuck up, Fogarty.” I grumbled, rolling my eyes. Laughing a little as I took a few deep breaths. “So that means she was only sticking to status quo at school because she thought that’s what I wanted.”

“Again. I told you so, Pea.” Fangs exhaled a plume of smoke and then asked the more serious question. “My question is what are you gonna do about this, hm? You gotta do something, man.”

I smirked as a half assed plan born of desperation began to form itself in my mind…

MARLENA’S POV

“Your father and I are heading out to the Halloween festivities in the town hall. Are you sure you don’t want to come along, Lena?”

I pretended not to hear my mom because I’m still not speaking to her or my father. I haven’t spoken a word to either of them in months now. I don’t intend to until they admit that everything they’ve ever done is wrong and it’s hurt more people than it was all worth.

Veronica says I’ll be giving them the silent treatment until they’re dead and I’m old and gray and I’m starting to agree. Hermosa is always preaching to me the importance of family and forgiveness. Trying to get me to just give it up already.

The storm picked up outside and I jumped a little. Mentally damning my decision to watch all the horror movies I could possibly handle while at this godforsaken and creepy penthouse all alone. My father eyed me in concern and my mom cleared her throat.

“Still not speaking to us?”my mother asked.

I gave them both the thumbs up and my father sighed in disappointment. Mumbled something about how Veronica and Hermosa came around and hopefully, sooner or later, I will too.

He went to hug me and muttered quietly, “I know storms scare you, mija. If you need me to come home, I’m but a call away. I know you’re upset with your mom and I right now, but I am your father and I do love you..”

I stayed stiff in the hug, though it killed me to do so. This whole silence and distance act towards my father and my adoptive mother, Hermoine is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.

,, and avoiding Sweetpea all day today even though he seemed to seek me out the most, that wasn’t an easy task either. But I need to let go. I was obviously just a rebound and I don’t want to be someone’s rebound. Just one time, I’d like to be someone’s first choice.” the thought came as the doors to the penthouse shut and locked behind my parents as they left. I did my best to push out the thought but tonight, it just didn’t want to leave me alone.

I reached for the remote to our home theater system to start my horror movie, - the Rob Zombie remake of Halloween, and I happened to notice my cell phone lit up, buzzing and vibrating.

Three texts and four missed calls from Sweetpea.

I shrugged it off and tossed the phone back onto the end table, unpausing my movie. Getting caught up in it all over again as the storm raged on outside.

The more the storm intensified, the more I found myself tempted. All I had to do was reach out and pick up the phone. I told myself that I could just call Veronica or something, but the only thing that kept me from picking the phone was that I knew if I did, I wouldn’t be calling my sister.

I’d somehow wind up calling Sweetpea instead.

The sound of the call box by the door going off had my brow raising and I slipped off the couch, wandering over to the  door.

Pressing the button to talk.

“Can you tell this jerk at the door you know me, Marlena?” Sweetpea’s voice crept in through the loud crackling static and reverb from the speaker.

“What the hell is he doing here?” I wondered, jumping a little when Sweetpea answered, “If you’ll let me come up, princess…”

I let go of the button to talk and dragged my fingers through my hair. Looking at myself in the mirror that hung right next to our front door and wrinkling my nose.

The intercom roared to life again.

“I know you’re there. Just let me up.”

“You forgot one very important word.” I answered after pressing the talk button on my end again.

I heard him grumbling a little and at first, I’d figured he’d just leave because for the span of time that I’ve known Sweetpea, he’s just not the kind of guy who says Please or I’m sorry or anything to do with feelings easily.

“Please?”

I swallowed hard. My heart was beating against my rib cage so hard I thought it’d beat right out. I tried to remind myself that I was attempting to just move on and the less I saw him, the better off I’d be doing that, but before I could stop myself, I was hitting the button to allow Sweetpea access to the building.

I started to race to my bedroom to change into something more presentable, at least throw a little makeup on because no one outside of my sister or my parents have ever seen me looking anything less than well put together, but I stopped myself.

,, He’s the one who came to me. Let him deal with the way I  look.” and with that thought, I made my way over to the door of the penthouse, opening it when he knocked.

Before I could say or do anything, I was being pinned against the door frame, my back meeting cold wood with a soft smack as Sweetpea’s body pressed right into mine and his hands wandered all over me without stopping.

When they did stop, one was tangled in thick dark curls at the back of my head and his other hand was on my ass, fingers splayed and digging into soft flesh roughly. Squeezing. Rubbing me against him slightly. Enough that I sucked in a breath because I felt the way his cock pushed against his jeans, strained.

When his mouth finally found mine, his tongue split my lips, finding my tongue, tangling with it. Pulling at the hair his hand was tangled up in to tug my mouth into the kiss deeper. Greedy. Teeth sinking into fleshy and swollen lips roughly.

I was starting to get really light-headed. I placed my hand palm down against his chest and shoved him away slightly, wiping at my mouth with the back of my hand and staring up at him with wide eyes. “What the hell was that for?”

A large rough hand caught against my face, caressing it. Tilting my head so that I had to keep my eyes on him when I did eventually try to look down and busy myself by pulling at a ragged thread in the front of his plaid shirt.

“Eyes up, Sweetheart. Look at me.” he muttered, a dazed and soft yet somehow still firm tone to his voice as he spoke. It was enough to make me keep my gaze on him. Waiting. Trying to pull myself together because I felt like I’d fall apart at any second.

“You still haven’t answered my question.” I pouted as I pointed it out.

The fact that his immediate response was to get all squirmy and for his hands to start wandering all over my body again as he melted against me should’ve been a clue as to exactly why he was here right now, but somehow, I missed it entirely.

His mouth crashed against mine all over again. Hungrier. Needier. A kiss so deep that more than a time or two, I forgot to breathe. Melting against him. The hand pressed against the front of his plaid shirt catching hold of a fist full of the fabric. My leg raised to his hip and his hand wandered down, squeezing my thigh. Rutting himself against me as he muttered “I love you, I love you, I love you. Fuck. I love you.” into softly smacking and frantic kisses that continued to deepen. His hand roamed over my bare thigh, a soft hiss hanging in the air between us, swallowed by the meeting of our mouths all over again. The kiss broke and he pressed his forehead against mine to stare deep into my eyes. I was trying to catch up, to process what was going on. When I realized what he’d been saying as we kissed, my breath caught and escaped in a quiet gasp. I realized that he was trying to avoid eye contact, staring down my shirt at the top of my breasts instead, so I made him look at me.

“Was there a guy, Marlena?”

“It’s Lena, for the millionth time and no. No, there wasn’t a guy. I was just saving face?”

Sweetpea raised a brow.

I explained sheepishly, “Well, when you started bailing on our private rehearsals, I figured I was just a rebound and I didn’t want you to know that you actually did keep me waiting more than once…” I stared down at my bare feet as I went quiet.

He curled his fingers beneath my chin, making me look up at him. Sighing as he tried to think of something to say.

“I didn’t wanna get too caught up in you, okay? I… I had to do something.”

The stammer in his words is what caught me by surprise because Sweetpea isn’t exactly known for being unsure about anything.

I tilted my head slightly. Taking a shaky breath. Nodding as I managed to grasp what he was getting at. Admitting after a seconds pause, “I didn’t either. I mean, literally every single time I do it… It all goes wrong somehow. Or I’m not enough. I don’t know.” I blew at a strand of hair that flopped down into my eyes and Sweetpea reached out, smoothing the strands back behind my ear.

“You wanna come in?”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“It’s better than me, being here all alone in this fucking tomb while there’s a storm going on out there.” I muttered, going quiet. I didn’t want to push or anything.

Sweetpea rubbed his chin in thought. Smirking just a little when he asked in a teasing tone, “You’re scared of bad weather, huh?”

“Very. It’d be nice to have something to take my mind off it.” I raised my hand to my mouth to cover it as soon as I realized just how coy the statement I’d made sounded. Rather than be off-putting -or too needy, to him like I was afraid it’d be, something entirely different happened.

He scooped me up as soon as he stepped fully into the penthouse and shut the door behind him. The warmth of his skin and the scent of his cologne had me sighing in content as I nestled my face against the side of his neck, the smooth edges of his double headed serpent tattoo drawing my attention as I raised a hand and delicately trailed the tip of my index finger over the design, making him shiver and have to stop to tighten the grip he had on my body.

As we passed the living room, he happened to see the movie I’d been watching, paused. “You’re scared to death of storms but you were watching that shit alone? You realize that was asking for nightmare fuel… Right?”

“It’s my Halloween ritual, okay?” I muttered, my lips brushing right against the tattoo on his neck with each word I spoke. “Do you wanna finish watching?” he questioned, stopping in the doorway of the room and lingering. A smoldering look in his eyes as he glanced down at the way he held me in his arms.

“Are you sure you want me to answer that?” I purred against his skin. Clinging to him a little more. The shock of it all was starting to wear off now.

And almost as if on cue, the storm picked up even more and all the power went out. I giggled quietly.

“Gee. Guess Hiram and Hermoine won’t be coming back here tonight.”

“Your parents are gone?”

“Mhm. They went to that stupid silent auction. They weren’t going to be back until stupid early. And with the power being out, they won’t be getting in here. It’s a safety feature that my father had put in. One he clearly didn’t think through.”

“So… nobody gets in and nobody gets out until the power’s on?” Sweetpea’s brow raised.

“Or until the backup generator kicks on. But given that the building staff is gone home for the night… The odds are against that.” I giggled a little more because I could see the gleam in his eyes and the way he was smirking right now as if he were thinking long and hard about something he wanted.

“Uh oh. I know that look…” I teased.

“Oh you do, hm? What’s it mean then, baby girl?”

If I thought our little makeout in the doorway left me wet and beyond worked up, it was nothing compared to the flood of slick I felt flooding the insides of my thighs when he called me baby girl.

“Usually means you’re thinking about something you really want to do. Something you know might not be a good idea, but you don’t care because you want to do it.” I answered quietly. Wondering if he’d pick up on what I was hinting at. Wondering if I was right to begin with.

I had to be. Given what happened when I let him up to our floor, I doubt I’ve misread the situation.

“Oh, I definitely want to do it. And the way you’re giggling right now and clinging to me, baby girl, I think you know exactly what I want. Either that or you’re being a tease.”

I whimpered before I could stop myself. Sweetpea stepped over to the couch and sank down to sit on it, letting me get comfortable in his lap. His hands were all over me at first, settling on my ass to pull me completely against him.

He was straining so hard against his jeans that when he pulled me closer, my throbbing core rocked right over the hefty bulge. He bucked himself up into me before he could be bothered to stop himself from doing it, his breath coming in short panting gasps as his mouth collided with mine and his tongue parted my lips. One of his hands left my ass, moving up my back. Tangling in the dark curls at the back of my head as he used his grip there to pull me even deeper into the kiss. A harder buck against me that had me whining at the dull throb that settled in even more.

The kiss finally broke and we pulled away very slightly. Catching our breath.

I pouted a little and leaned into him again, my mouth grazing against the shell of his ear as I whispered quietly, “Now who’s doing all the teasing, hm?” while rocking myself against the way he strained at his jeans. “Oh, I’m not teasing, princess.” he answered.

Standing. Making me pout when he did. Until he asked where my bedroom was and I told him where to take me. He rushed out of the living room, carrying me down a darkened hall and as soon as I saw the door that lead into my suite of rooms on the wing of the penthouse I share with Veronica, I pointed and giggled. “It’s there. That one.”

Sweetpea kicked at the bottom of the door with his heavy soled boot, letting me wrap myself around him as my back met the door with a soft smack and he got the door opened.

Once we were inside my suite with the doors locked behind us, he sat me on top of my mirrored vanity. Stepping between my legs as his hands moved down to the bottom of the oversized shirt I’d been wearing. He licked his lips and chuckled, pulling the shirt up and away from my body. Letting it settle on the floor of the room. I raised my hand to start working the buttons on the front of his plaid shirt free, but I was so excited that my hands were shaky, so I grabbed the front of his shirt with both hands, tearing it open. Sending a quiet spray of buttons scattering across the room.

He growled against my ear with a husky laugh, “Not fair. I didn’t tear off your shirt.”

“I didn’t stop you from doing it?” I pouted up at him, giving a soft giggle as I shrugged. My hands moved over his chest, the giggle at the way he shivered at my touch getting swallowed by a slow, deep and rough kiss. He nipped at my bottom lip, making me cling to him even more, rubbing myself against him as I whined; impatient.

My arms wrapped around his neck and my legs squeezed against his sides. The hand he had resting on my thigh started to trail upward. Squeezing my dripping core and drawing a gasp out of me that seemed to shatter the silence in the room all over again. When he felt how wet I was, he growled. Scooping me forward on the vanity. Rubbing me right against the way his cock pushed against the denim barrier of his jeans. His tongue dragged along the shell of my ear and he mumbled, “How are you so fucking wet already?” in awe. He cupped my dripping sex a little harder, massaging me through my panties. “Fuck.”

I gazed up at him with the most innocent look I could muster up as my hand wandered down his chest. My fingers toying with the waistband of his jeans, tugging him in even closer all over again. His breath caught in his throat when he felt me fumbling with the button and by the time I was tugging down the zipper impatiently, he was slipping his fingers beneath the thin waistband of my panties, pulling them away as a silent tear seemed to echo in the air around us. Letting them settle on the floor next to the shirt he’d taken off me and his own discarded shirt.

He took just a slight step back. Licking his lips and groaning as his eyes wandered over every inch of my body. When I went to raise my hands to cover myself a little, he stepped closer all over again, lowering my hands as his mouth found mine and devoured it. “Don’t do that. I wanna see you.” he mumbled into my mouth.

A loud clap of thunder had me flinching a little and he grabbed hold of my jawline gently. Leaning in to close the distance between our mouths all over again. “Focus on me, baby girl. Not the storm.”

I nodded. Taking a shaky breath. Tugging impatiently at his jeans until he chuckled and covered my hand with his own, lowering it. “Tell me what you want.”

“You.” I whimpered out, my lips straying from his to drag slowly down the side of his neck. Letting my tongue roll over the double headed serpent covering the skin there. Making him shiver and swear quietly as I did it.

“You want me, hm?” he questioned as we broke apart to breathe.

“Mhm.” I pouted, trying again to grab for the waistband of his jeans. He smirked and stepped away. His hand lowered and my eyes followed the movement of it. My breath caught in my  throat and escaped in a quiet gasp as he kicked off his boots and then worked his jeans down, letting them pool at his ankles. Leaving him standing there in front of me in only a pair of black boxers.

I barely stopped a whimper as he started to tug down his boxers, kicking them away once they pooled at his feet. Stepping back up to me all over again. His thick cock standing at attention and grazing right against my aching core as soon as he had me pulled as close to him as he could get me all over again.

“Have you ever done this before, baby girl?” he questioned just before his mouth latched onto my neck. Sucking a deep mark into my skin as his hands wandered all over me. Settling between my thighs. Rubbing my dripping sex until I felt my stomach starting to coil. He nipped at my neck. “I asked you a question.”

“N-no.”

“Fuck.” he practically growled the word as he scooped me off the top of the vanity, stepping over to my king sized bed. Tossing me onto it gently as he stared down at me and swallowed hard. Taking a few shaky breaths.

“I’m gonna have you all to myself then, hm?” he mumbled as he settled over my body, his hips pressing mine against the mattress. His mouth crashed against mine in a kiss that ended too soon. Then his lips trailed down the front of my throat, dropping hot little kisses and nips against my skin. Leaving any part of it he could get his mouth on covered in marks.

I couldn’t help but giggle because the fact that he was my first kiss and now, he was going to be the first guy I made love to just seem to amp up that cockiness of his to the nth degree.

But when his eyes met mine again, just as his mouth worked across my collarbones, the loving gaze he gave me had me blown away.

The lower his mouth moved on my body, the more I tried to come alive beneath him. The more I whimpered and moaned. Tried to rock myself against him until big hands grabbed hold of my hips, holding them still against the bed.

“Ah-ah. Let me take care of you, baby girl.” he muttered firmly. His tongue circled my navel and my back arched. I reached down, tugging at his hair. Making him growl and nip at my abdomen before rolling his tongue over my skin.

“I wanna fuck you so bad.” he groaned out against my skin as he rose up and bucked himself against me, letting his cock just barely graze against my sensitive,throbbing core. I raised my hands, grabbing hold of his face. Pulling him back down on me. “Then do it. Please? I-I.. I want you.”

He eyed me. Thinking it over.

“If it hurts…” he started to say something but I crashed my mouth against his hungrily. “Now.” I begged again, the word getting swallowed up by the meeting of our mouths all over again.

The tip of his cock grazed against my opening and I whimpered. Trying to rock against him more urgently. He caressed my face, staring down at me. Dazed.

Teasing just a little by letting his cock graze against me all over again, sending a shiver through me. My stomach coiled just a little tighter.

His mouth crashed against mine, his tongue devouring mine in a deep and slow kiss. His hands roamed over my body, settling on my hips. He sank his cock into me just a little more and I tensed as I could feel myself starting to be stretched out. He eyed me in concern. “Are you good?”

I nodded because the little bit of pain I’d felt was starting to ebb off. He sank in a little deeper, growling against my neck “Fuck, fuck. You’re so.. Fuck, princess. How are you so wet? I can barely stay in.” and I tensed up a little more, making him pause. Pepper my neck and throat with hot kisses and nips, latching on to leave the occasional little mark behind. My nails dug into his shoulders and as soon as the pain was gone again, I started to rock myself against him, desperate for the way it felt after the pain.

The way his thick cock seemed to split me in two. He started to pump in and out a little faster, his hands squeezing my hips until I knew they’d be bruised tomorrow because he was holding on to my body so tight.

“Ugh, fuck. Feels so” I moaned out, “Good. Don’t stop.”

He started to slow down, making me pout as my mouth latched onto his all over again, pulling him into a deep kiss. “Faster baby. Please?”

All he did was shake his head. Smirk at me as he went still. Letting his cock fill me. His mouth roaming all ov er my body. His hands leaving my hips to move back up my sides and stop at my tits, pushing them together. Dipping his head down. Latching onto a nipple with his mouth as I moaned and tried to get us moving again, the heels of my feet digging into the bedding on my bed because it felt so good. I wanted, no I needed more. Everything. All of him.

He started to pump into me all over again, his hips smacking against mine. My back arching away from the bed when he hit the same spot buried deep within me over and over. Slowing down just when I felt like I’d fall to pieces and I was shaking a little. Kissing. Touching.

“Pea, please? C’mon.” I begged breathlessly.

“Nope. I’m not even close to done with you yet, baby girl. Not even close.” he mumbled against my skin as he picked up his pace but only a little. My legs were almost shaking now and I wrapped my arms around his neck, dragging my fingers up and down his bare back. Barely digging because I didn’t want to hurt him.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and he growled, nipping at my mouth as he muttered against it, “Oh fuck. Fuck. C’mon, princess. Move your hips like you were.” when my movements got just a little clumsier because I could feel that tight coil in my stomach threatening to come undone just a little more with each deep drive he made.

He rose up, raising my legs to his shoulders. Slamming himself back into me, burying deep inside all over again. I gripped his shoulder and the blanket, moaning his name as tears of frustration started to sting my eyes, one of them breaking free and rolling down my cheek.

“C’mon, baby girl. I know what you wanna do right now. Let go for me. Let me have it all.” and as he pumped me up and down on his cock faster, burying deeper inside with each stroke he made, my orgasm shattered me. Leaving me with pretty much no other option but to cling to him and try to fuck my way down from the high. He growled as my walls clenched tight around his cock and I got so wet that he nearly slipped out more than a time or two, my juices coating him and the excess puddling below me.

His hips stammered and he slowed, peppering my skin with little kisses. His hands all over me, touching. His mouth leaving marks behind on every strip of skin he could access as his hips snapped into my body slow. Each drive he made seemed to go deeper and deeper. Until he couldn’t go any deeper and then he went still. Drawing a whimper and a pout out of me as I gasped out “Why’d you stop,hm?”

“Because if I don’t, princess… Fuck. Do you know how good you feel to me?” his words came out muffled, his mouth buried in the curve of my neck. Teeth scraping against flesh as he nipped and sucked, leaving a bruise I knew I couldn’t hide. He muttered seconds later, “Wanna make every second count, okay?” as his eyes locked on mine and he raised a hand, caressing my face. His other hand gripped my hip and he started to pump himself in and out. The sloshing wet sounds with each deep thrust driving me almost feral as they joined with the quiet and steady creak and rustling of my bed and were drowned out by my quiet whimpers and moans and his grunts and the occasional growl. “I could fucking stay like this forever, baby girl.” he mused as he crashed his mouth against mine, his hips stammering. Slowing.

Those big rough hands all over me again, slow. Deliberate. Like he was trying to learn every inch of my body or commit it to memory. I sighed and my head fell back against the pillow, my eyes fluttering open and shut as my stomach coiled and I felt myself getting closer and closer to the edge. Poised to go over. I just wanted to let another orgasm shatter me. Sweetpea seemed to sense it and he muttered against my ear, “Let me have it, baby girl. Now. C’mon. Let go. I’ve got you.” in a coaxing tone.

My orgasm ripped through, leaving me clinging to him a second time. Moaning his name. Rocking my hips frantically, desperate to ride out the high. Sweetpea tried to stop a time or two, tried to grip and squeeze my hips, but he just couldn’t anymore and I caught hold of his face in my hands, muttering against his mouth, “C’mon. Please?”

“Ah fuck.” he grunted, his hips moving erratically. The soft smack of skin against skin echoing through the room. His fingers dug into my body, holding me tight against him as he started to fuck into me deep and frantic. His lower body pinning mine against the bed. The warmth of the way he emptied inside, throbbing and hot, filling me up.

As he came down from the high of his orgasm, he collapsed to the bed beside me. Reaching out to pull me on top of him. His lips pressing against the crown of my hair as his hands roamed slow and delicate up and down my bare back.

And outside, the storm was starting to quiet down.

[mzfancypantz2]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Brahmin Sweetpea Elaine Handbag.

[your-world-with-nct]

💌 • 7:06pm

markie ✨: you can stop ignoring me now

markie ✨: i won’t call or text after this y/n, i promise

a sigh of relief escaped you as you skimmed over the notification on your lockscreen, not wanting to actually open the text in case bestfriend!mark would see that you had read it.

it was hard avoiding him all day, but after the atrocious event that occurred the night before, you couldn’t face him, let alone text him. just as you were rejoicing at the fact that mark had given up trying to get to you, your phone pinged with another notification.

markie ✨: bc im right outside

markie ✨: oh wait... does that count as texting you again?

markie ✨: ah shit im doing it again, can u open the door pls

“what the— no way, please no,” you winced, hesitating to open the door as your hand hovered over the door handle, knowing that you’d be faced with mark’s pleading puppy dog eyes as soon as you did, and the memories of the unfortunate round of ‘truth or dare’ would come flooding back in a wave of fear and embarrassment.

without realising it, you were already face to face with your best friend, the discomfort from recalling the situation rising in your chest and suffocating you as you locked eyes with him, “mark... why did you come here?”

you stepped to the side, letting him in whilst he instinctively headed for the couch, sitting in his usual spot, but with a more serious expression than he’d normally have.

“haechan told me, about what your answer would’ve been. i-i didn’t ask him to, but he knew it was bothering me, so, uh, he told me, about what you didn’t say, y’know, to renjun’s ‘truth’ question,” mark stammered, his gaze avoiding you and trailing to his fidgety hands.

both your jaw and your heart dropped at his words, pausing in your steps as you approached the other end of the sofa. the unanswered prompt from last night lingered in your mind, ‘tell us one thing about someone in this room that everybody, except him, knows.’

you internally cursed out haechan for exposing you so quickly and carelessly, your panic levels rapidly rising as you came to terms with what mark had just told you, “he... what? no, no way, he wouldn’t have, he shouldn’t have.”

he took the risk and looked up at you once you took a seat next to him, adjusting his snapback and raking his hands through his hair, “hey, it-it’s not that big of a deal, y/n, don’t worry about it, yeah? i-i’m cool with it.”

just as you thought it couldn’t get any worse, mark’s response shook you to the core, the nonchalance in his tone piercing daggers in your thumping heart.

“you, you really think that me liking you isn’t a big deal?” your whole body trembled as you pushed yourself off of the couch and stood your ground in front of him. the floor felt unstable underneath you, as did the foundations of your whole relationship with mark.

“d-do my feelings... really mean nothing to you?” you didn’t hold back, your volume level slowly rising as the dry tears of fury stained your face. the soulless expression on his face did nothing to help the shattering of your heart.

meanwhile, mark sat in disbelief, completely frozen not only by your shocking reaction, but the unexpected words you had uttered. his silence intensified your anger, as he sat with his head in his hands, going over a specific phrase you had said.

“well, i guess that shows exactly how you feel about me th—”

“you, you like me?” your best friend’s timid question sliced through the palpable atmosphere and brought you back from your rampage.

you sank down onto the coffee table in front of him, sitting on the edge of its surface, “wha— i, uh, but, didn’t you already know that? i thought haechan told you...?”

“he, he said that you think i have a potty mouth? and that i should curse less,” mark sported a confused expression on his face, his eyebrows furrowing whilst you processed what he had just said.

unknowingly, you let out a sigh of relief at the fact that haechan lied about the answer that they all wanted to hear from you, “hyuck, uh, made that up, i-i don’t really care about your swearing habits, mark.

“but, you know what? just forget what i said before, i thought he told you something else, you didn’t deserve that... outburst, or me avoiding you all day,” you hung your head in shame, cringing at your accidental confession and the lack of response from mark.

a stray tear rolled down your cheek, followed by a few more that you clumsily swiped away, until you were practically hyperventilating, collapsing into the boy’s arms after giving into his warmth and comfort.

“no, oh y/n, i hate seeing you like this, sweetpea. i-i’ll admit that this isn’t how i expected to tell you, but, i, i like you too, i was just too scared to tell you in case you, well, you didn’t think of me that way,” he spoke tenderly, his breath hitting your neck, and sending shivers down your spine.

you slightly retracted yourself from his tight embrace, your teary eyes meeting his shining ones, “you, you do?”

“of course i do, how could i not fall in love with you, y/n?” mark’s hand shifted from the small of your back to rest on your face, delicately wiping away your fresh tears, “you don’t how anxious i was when you ignored me all day, i-i thought i did something wrong.”

running your hand through his chestnut locks, you took a deep breath to calm yourself, whispering, “mark lee, the only thing you could ever do wrong was think that i don’t love you.”

once again, your body took control before your brain did, pressing your lips against your best friend’s, laughing to yourself when you felt him smile into your kiss.

at that very moment, you had thought of what your answer could’ve been to renjun’s question: ‘the one thing that everybody here except mark knows is that his love will never fail you.’

[palettepainter]

Sick

Some more angst because none of you can stop me. I promise I have other stories that aren’t angst related-

In this story Higari is 7 and Hono is 2 - just so I don’t forget I’ll also add here that Kaigo died when Higari was 14

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Higari scurried his way back inside the home, bursting open the back door and rushing in from the garden glass jar in hand. He eagerly rushed inside, doing his best not to slip as he darted into the kitchen to proudly show off his finding “Ma!” He yelled, quickly scanning the kitchen only to leave a second later when he saw it was empty. “Mmmmaaaa!” He yelled again, rushing into the hallway to peer up the stairway and then dart back into the lounge.

From the floor, Hono, his two year old brother, curiously peered up, watching with big eyes as his brother screeched to a halt by the sofa. “Dad dad dad!” Higari cheered, noticing his dad sprawled on the sofa. His dad blinked open one eye “Hm..Sweetpea” he sat up, scratching at his beard and neck with a tired smile “You know not to yell in the house..” he said, thankfully the missus was currently out, so Higari wouldn’t be getting a scolding this time.

“Sorry..” Higari said before quickly brightening, holding out the jam jar to his dad “But look!! I found a hopper!”

“Heh, slow down there whirlwind! Alright, lemme see” Kaigo hummed, leaning forward on the couch to peer into the glass jar, where amongst the pieces of twig and leaves was a tiny grass hopper. “Hm, so you did” he said with a nod, his hand going to fondly ruffle Higari’s head of ginger hair “But make sure the hopper stays in the jar until you put it back outside. We don’t wanna repeat of last you let something inside the house”

Higari looked off to the side before muttering a shy no

The last time he’d found a critter in the garden he’d found a giant toad, sitting in a murky puddle of water right outside by their porch. Needless to say his mother had a..passionate reaction when she found the thing hiding behind a cushion in her favourite arm chair.

His dad chuckled, before breaking out into a sudden fit of coughs. Higari flinched back, the change in his behaviour causing Hono to let out a scared whimper. Kaigo’s eyes flicked up to them, his throat burning, but he tried to force a smile “D-Dont worry Higari, its just a cough!” He cleared his throat, trying to force down the urge to cough more “I’m fine now, see?”

Higari didn’t look so easily convinced “Are you sure?” He asked, tilting his head to the side. Hono peered back up to his older brother, before mimicking him and turning back to their father. Kaigo couldn’t help but smile at the sight “Don’t worry, I’m fine. You ain’t gotta worry your head off over me” his hand went back to ruffle his hair again, which successfully earned him a string of giggles “Your mother does a good enough job of that on her own” Kaigo pretended to look left and right, as if to check no one else was listening before he leaned down to whisper “She can be a little pushy at times when it comes to being all healthy and clean, can’t she?”

Higari snickered, obviously amused

The two’s laughter was cut short when they heard a thud noise coming from the hallway, it was the familiar sound of the front door being opened and closed.

Magaru, Higari’s mother, wondered into the lounge after hanging up her coat. At the sight of their mother Hono let out an excited squeal noise, prompting their mother to peer over “Hey boys” she said, already scooping Hono up off the floor as the excited tot instantly latched his arms onto his mother in a hug “You two where good for your dad?” She asked, looking down to Higari with a smile and then to her husband

“A course” Kaigo said in a lazed manner, looping one arm round Higari “These two are nothin’ but sweet lil angels” Higari tried to pull his best innocent child look. Their mother hummed, rolling her eyes - knowing that same ‘innocent’ child had been the one to break the shower curtain less then a week ago “Uh-Huh” she said, amused.

“Mama!” Higari picked you his glass jar he’d left on the table and then quickly held it up to his mother and baby brother. “I found a hopper in the garden!”

“All by himself” Kaigo added matter of factly with a a raised finger

Magaru peered down into the glass, watching as the tiny big tried to hip up at the glass only to slide back down into the bottom of the jar. “Well done Higari” she said, giving him a quick pat on the head “But please, keep the bug inside the jar” she repeated what his father had told him minutes ago, leaning forward to press her finger onto his nose “We don’t want a repeat of last time!”

While Higari pouted and rubbed at his nose, another familiar guest entered the room. “Evening Kaigo”

Kaigo hummed, peeking up at the sound of his brothers voice before he turned on the couch to smile at him “Hey Tsūkin” he greeted, his brother bowing his head in return as he placed his hat on the kitchen side. “Hi Uncle Tsukin” Higari waved over towards his uncle, and then held up his bug friend “I caught a hopper!”

Tsukin fiddled with glasses and squinted down at the jar his nephew seemed so proud over. “Ah yes, very good job Higari!” He praised, Higari beaming a toothy smile and letting out a small squeal at the praise.

“One day you’ll have to show me all the good bug catching spots!” His Uncle said, his last attempt to brighten the mood before he knew it would become somber “Though..I am here to talk with your dad, about what’s making him sick”

Kaigo tensed, but didn’t let his smile fall. Better to hide his nerves in-front of his two children, he didn’t need them fretting. “How exciting” Kaigo mocked, still smiling as he stood up from his chair. Kaigo walked over to Higari who looked to be trying to mimic the grass hoppers chirping noises “Alright sweetpea-“ he gently nudged Higari towards the entry way to the hall “-time for bed, say g’night to your Uncle”

Higari, like any child, turned up to his dad with a whine “But I’m not tired!” He insisted, trying his luck. Kaigo rose a brow and leaned back up with an “Oh?” Higari gave a sure nod “Mhm!” Kaigo hummed “Is that so?” He asked again, leaning against the kitchen counter while Magaru, his wife, gave the teeniest of smiles at her sons antics

“Yeah, I don’t want to go to bed” Higari turned to place his grasshopper down on the dresser and then crossed his arms “I’m not tired at all! Nu-Uh. I’m a big boy” he tried to balance on his tiptoes, but gave up when he ended up nearly toppling over. “Mhm” Kaigo gave a slow nod, managing to not laugh “You certainly are getting bigger” he stated

“Yeah!” Higari agreed, whirling up to look at his dad “So can’t I stay up for a little longer?” He rushed up closer to his dad, and under the mane of ginger hair, Kaigo made out a single turquoise puppy dog eye staring up at him “Pleeeaasseee?”

Kaigo once again hummed “.....Nope” he said, popping the P “Off to bed Higari”

Higari let out a long groan, throwing his head back and turning away from his dad with a huff. Kaigo didn’t take it to heart “Don’t pout” he said, kneeling down to be more closer to Higari. His son only further turned away from him with his cheeks puffed out in anger, it was arguably kinda cute, Kaigo thought.

Kaigo attempted a final time to try and make eye contact with the pouty boy, but when his attempt failed, he resorted to his last move. Higari let out a startled yelp noise when he was all of a sudden throw up into the air and caught again by his dad, who then launched a raspberry right onto his cheek, making him squeal and kick his legs like a flailing piglet. “I said don’t pout!” Kaigo teased, before blowing onto raspberry onto Higari’s cheek, eating up his delighted giggles and squeals

“Daaaddd!” He whined, trying to sound angry despite the smile that was now drawn ear to ear over his face.

From the doorway Magakure shook her head lightly, Hono giggling at her side “Alright Higari, that’s enough” she ended their fun before it drag on any further past Higari’s bedtime. Kaigo peered over to his wife briefly, and then looked back to Higari “Alright sweetpea, time for bed” he placed him back down on the floor “For real this time!” He nudged Higari over towards his mother, who held out her hand when Higari was close enough “Off to bed, and don’t forget to clean your teeth this time!” He yelled after them as Magaru lead them up the stairway to the boys room.

Hono was easily tucked away in bed, asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow. Higari took a little longer, as his mother tucked him into bed and closed up his bedroom window “Goodnight Higari” She said, leaning over to kiss his forehead before she turned off the night light, and quietly made her way out of the room.

Higari curled into the warmth of his blankets, happily drifting off into dream land. Being a country bumpkin he naturally dreamed of driving a giant tractor, a big red one with nice shiny paint! And it of course had a giant horn to boot, added coolness, he’d honk the horn and it’d let out a noise like a grasshopper...grasshopper?

“Hopper!” Higari bolted up in his bed, he’d left his grasshopper downstairs on the dresser! Higari knew his mother was insistent on then staying in bed when it was their bed time, he’d be herded straight back to bed if he was caught sneaking about. He debated the idea, weighted the pros and cons - and easily discarded the idea of sleeping in favour of retrieving his bug buddy.

As he put on his slippers Hono stirred in his sleep, rubbing at his eye when he noticed his brothers bed across from him was empty “Higari?..” he called quietly, yawning. Higari jolted, not realising Hono was awake “Shh!” He quickly shushed his baby brother who continued to look confused “You need to be quite! If Ma catches me I’ll be in trouble-“

Halfway through his sentence Higari heard muffled voices through the floor, coming from downstairs in the lounge. He couldn’t make out what it was they where saying, but it must have been loud in order for him to hear them from his bedroom. “Shhh..” he hushed Hono again, this time more gently. His baby brother slapped both hands to his mouth and nodded as Higari kneeled and pressed his ear to the floor. He still couldn’t hear any of the words they where saying

“Stay here..” Higari said, pointing to Hono who nodded again, tugging at his blanket. Deciding to push on Higari quietly creaked open the bedroom door, checked the hallway for either of his parents, and then crept towards the stairway. He could hear the voices more clearly now, they sounded irritated. Higari felt as though he should turn and go back to bed, yet he found himself walking further until he was standing just by the entryway to the lounge. He wondered maybe if he could get away with peaking his head inside-

“What do you MEAN it’s getting WORSE?!”

Higari startled, jumping back and almost falling over onto his butt. That was his dads voice, but he’d never heard him that angry before

“Honey, clam down” His stern yet still concerned sounding mothers voice came soon after

“K-Kaigo please-” the voice of his uncle followed

“I have done EVERYTHING the doctors have asked me! I’ve taken the meditation, the treatment, time off work: HOW can it still BE GETTING WORSE?!”

“Kaigo please! Calm down! They’re doing their best to try and find a way to help, but- b-but with where you live it makes visits and appointments so much harder!”

Higari tried to back up to the stairs, but he was too scared to move any further, none of the adults seemed to notice he was there, and kept yelling.

“I can’t just up and leave! I have the house, a wife, CHILDREN!”

“Y-Yes I know you do! But-“

“I have Higari and Hono to think about, I need to be here for them! If this is going to get worse I have to beHERE! I CANT LEAVE THEM!”

“I’m not saying you have to leave them!” Tsūkin pleaded, trying to calm his furious brother “But PLEASEconsider that moving to the city for treatment would benefit you! E-Even temporarily!” He tried to bargain, and failed

Kaigo shook his head “I worked to build a home here Tsūkin, I’m not giving up everything I’ve worked for just because of some silly sickness-“

“It’s NOT a silly sickness! And YOU KNOW IT-“ Tsūkin’s yell fell flat as he suddenly noticed Higari standing frozen in the doorway. Kaigo, noticing his change in behaviour, glanced over his shoulder.

His eyes shot open at the sight of his son “Sweetpea what are you doing up?” His tone had switched to soothing and calm in an instant, hurriedly walking over and scooping up the child into his arms, not sparing his brother or wife a word as he took Higari back up to his room.

When the door to Higari’s and Hono’s bedroom opened Hono quickly ducked back under his covers, badly faking sleep as Kaigo already knew he was wide awake. Higari was quite even as his dad tucked him into bed, but Kaigo made no move to leave. He sat on the edge of the bed and Higari was worried he was going to be told off. He nervously fiddled with his fingers, waiting for his dad to scold him “Higari?” Higari shyly peered up to his dad “...You” Kaigo rubbed his neck “..You shouldn’t eavesdrop on conversations. Okay?” Kaigo stood, not having the courage the make eye contact with his confused son “Now go to sleep okay?”

“Dad?” Higari’s voice stopped him from stepping out of the room. Kaigo swallowed, and then turned around “What is it Higari?”

Higari toyed with his blanket, suddenly shy. Kaigo took half a step back into the room, the way in which his son looked so nervous not helping his conscious. Kaigo was sure he caught a quite sniffle from his son before he quietly spoke “Are..You’re gonna get better right?”

Kaigo’s grip began close to crushing on the door frame, with his iron claws it would be easy to break through the wooden frame. “I..” words failed him in that moment, of all moments he had to loose his voice he thought. From his bed Hono poked his head out from his blankets, looking up to his dad in the doorway while Higari looked away, trying to discreetly wipe his eye.

“..Aw, sweetpea don’t be upset” Kaigo turned back into the room, picking Higari up into a soothing hug. Higari curled into his dad, trying to hide his face in his shoulder “..Dad just..” he struggled to think of a way to explain without making Higari and Hono more confused, or scared. “..I’m just a little sicker then we thought, that’s all” he said, nodding - trying to reassure himself

Hono instantly sensed the change in his big brothers behaviour, and with a determined look in his eye he scrambled from his bed and made a bed line towards him. Kaigo hummed, watching Hono as he attempted to clamber onto the bed. Despite how heavy the atmosphere felt he shook his head with a smile and picked up Hono with one hand, sitting him down on his other knee.

“Hug!” Hono clumsily leaned over to grab Higari in a hug, his brows furrowed - it was like he was trying to hug the sadness out. Higari tried to wriggle away, but Hono remained glued to him like a leech “Aw see?” Kaigo smiled down at Higari despite him trying to shove his little brother away “Hono wants to make sure you’re feeling okay? You don’t wanna make your baby brother upset do you?”

“Mngh..” Higari gave one last attempt to shove Hono off, before accepting his fate “I guess..” he mumbled under his breath.

“...Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“Do..” Higari paused, looking down at the floor “Do the doctors know what’s making you sick?” He asked. Kaigo grit his teeth, why did kids always have to ask such difficult questions??

Kaigo looked away to collect his thoughts, he’d need to word his answer carefully “Well..” he started, not rushing “You know how...dads been sick for a while now?” Higari nodded. Kaigo moves further back along the bed until his back was leaning against the wall “You see...well, the doctors think it..might be more then a tummy bug”

Higari thought for a moment “Tummy bug and..a headache?”

Kaigo chuckled lightly “Uh- No no, a..a bit more then that too”

“Like what then?” Higari asked innocently, Hono following Higari’s gaze while still hugging Higari’s arm in a vice grip

“They’re..not sure yet...But don’t worry!” He placed Higari and Hono down on the bed, Higari thought his dads eyes looked oddly watery, an emotion behind his smile that Kaigo tried hard to hide “T-The doctors are gonna find a way to help, that’s why your uncles here! Because..we don’t live in the city near a hospital, he’s here to make sure I’m doing okay” he added “Don’t you worry your little heads off, alright?” He gently brushed Higari’s fringe out of his face and then did the same to Hono “Before you know it I’ll be fit as a fiddle! You won’t even remember I was ever sick”

Higari looked away with a whimper “That wasn’t what you said downstairs..” he mumbled, catching Kaigo off guard.

He pulled his hand away, stuck. Not sure what he could say or do next to reassure him. Dammit, why did he have to hear that?? Guess reality liked to play cruel. Kaigo sighed through his nose and shuffled up the bed “Okay, how about this” Kaigo laid down, moving the boys further up so that he could lay beside him “I’ll stay here until you fall asleep, will that make you feel better?”

Higari didn’t need much more persuasion, as he curled up into his blankets, sticking close to his dad but not quite falling asleep just yet, despite how heavy his eyelids felt and how cozy he was. Kaigo let out another sigh, one arm carefully wrapping around Higari in a gentle hug

Hono scowled at his dad, and then wriggled his way in-between the two before sticking his tongue out, arms latching onto Higari’s other arm “...Pfft-“ Kaigo raised his hand in the face of his youngest ones glare “Alright alright, you can hug Higari” Hono narrowed his eyes more at his father as if to say ‘I’m watching you’ before he soon gave a cute yawn, and then laid down next to his brother.

At seeing Hono settling down, Kaigo carefully moved his arm back over his two sons, reaching down to lightly tug the blanket over them both so they wouldn’t get cold. “You need to try and sleep now, okay?” Kaigo shifted on his back, trying to get comfy on the bed that was obviously too small for someone so tall “You’ll be exhausted in the morning!”

“...Dad?”

Kaigo hummed

“...You’re not...g-gonna leave, are you?”

Kaigo instantly snapped his eyes down to Higari “What?!” He shook his head “N-No! No no!” Kaigo began to gesture with his hands, as if trying to grasp the words, starting a sentence was always the hard part “I wouldn’t-...You need to understand that-“ Kaigo wasn’t sure what he was aiming for, but words just kept pouring from his mouth in a desperate attempt to put his concerned child at peace “I-...I-I’m not...” he pressed his lips into a thin line, looking lost, Higari turned to press his face into his pillow, sniffling.

It broke Kaigo’s heart

...He gently ruffled his head again, leaning down to kiss his forehead, smiling - at the last end of his strength when it came to keeping the sad quality from his tone and the tears from pouring “I’m not going anywhere for a long time” he finally said “It’ll take more then some sickness to get rid of me buddy”

“Promise?..”

Kaigo held eye contact with Higari, his big blue eyes staring up at him - he just wouldn’t understand...

“...Alright” Kaigo said with a sigh “Okay Higari, I promise”

Higari at last finally smiled, a weight lifted off his shoulders at the sight, some happiness seeming to make its way back into the room. “...As long as you try to sleep!” Kaigo poked at Higari’s tummy, and the boy quickly curled up in a fight of flight response, ready to protect himself from an onslaught of tickles “Okay okay!” He pressed, flopping his head on his pillow to make it look like he was asleep.

“Good” Kaigo said, laying his head down also, before yawning himself. No sooner then a second later Higari yawned too, letting his body sink into his mattress and pillow, the warmth welcoming slumber as his eyes drifted slowly shut “G’night you two..” Kaigo said, waiting for Higari to fall asleep. It hasn’t taken long, bless him, he was probably exhausted - it was very late at this point.

Kaigo calmly watched his two sons sleep, their little chests rising and falling, even in sleep Hono hugged onto Higari’s arm as though it was some treasured teddy bear. He gently tugged the blanket over them more and slowly stood up from the bed.

He saw no point in trying to pry Hono away from Higari, not when he’d just gotten them to sleep. The moment he was out of the room and in the safety of the hallway he let out a breath, pulling his hands back through his hair. He let his nails drag along his scalp and then pull at the skin under his eyes. He mumbled nothings to himself, rubbing his face to try and calm himself

He let out a shaky exhale, teary eyes upon the ceiling, a sinking feeling in his gut

“...What the hell am I gonna do?..”

[sunnieskies02]

Slow Down

2.1k Words  Poly!Izuku x Read x Amajiki  TW: N/A

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The ringing of your alarm woke you out of your slumber as you turned on your side. You reached past Tamaki to reach your phone to turn off the alarm and start your day, and wanting to be as silent as possible you shimmy from underneath their arms. You slide onto the cold wood floor of the room and peak over the edge of the bed and watch both of their bodies rise and fall. Rising up slowly you tip toe out of the room and down the hall to the bed room.

You finish brushing your teeth and handling your morning routine you walk into the kitchen working on your breakfast. You reach into the fridge and grab some eggs, and as you pull away from the fridge you open the cabinet and reach for a bowl but another arm has already grabbed it for you. You jump in surprise and turn to see who it is, but it's only your green haired lovely Izuku.

“Goodness Izu~ you scared the lights out of me, when have you gotten that quiet before.” He chuckled softly with a blush tinting his freckled cheeks and said “Well….I had to puppy just so I can catch you leaving for work.” He laid a kiss on your temple and handed you the bowl. You smile at his morning affection and roll your eyes “I’m sorry Izu bunny~ I got to get this work in okay I wish to make it to the top ten.”

Izuku’s sigh is audible as well as the pitter patter of the second pair feet, “Baby, is being number one in my heart not enough?” His large, toned arms wrap around your waist as you whisk the eggs together in the bowl and move to season them. “Well…..kinda but not really… I kinda feel insecure between the two of you. Both you and Amajiki are in the top ten and you Izuku in the top five…..I just…” You look down at the mix of eggs and spice and sigh being with the two of them at home was never a problem but when it always came to work you just felt...inferior to them.

“B-bunny...um...d-don’t think that a-at all… y-your perfect in our eyes.” Your bleary eyes look over at a freshly awakened Amajiki who also strode into the kitchen and listened in on the conversation. You smile at him and work to get the pan and start to cook the eggs. “W-well that's good to know you guys but…..I-I don't know…. I just hate feeling like I’m not enough for the two of you.” You felt Izuku’s index finger and thumb place themselves under your chin making you face him.

“Do you need me to make you feel like enough, beautiful?” As heat rose to your cheek and made your face hot…..so did the eggs. Smoke started to rise from the burning pan and eggs as Izuku tried to be suave with you and your breakfast was burning. “IZUKU!!” He backed off quickly and watched the eggs burn over the stove and watched you turn the stove off and quickly move the eggs onto a nearby plate. As the adrenaline rush finally boiled down and Amajiki’s efforts of trying to help were silenced, you shot Izuku a pained glance. “Well thank you suave Izuku~ I had no idea that was one of your quirks more or less the second one making my breakfast burn.”

He chuckled weakly and smiled “S-sorry y/n…..I just hate seeing you so down on yourself because of our places in our job as hero’s. Your fine where you are a-and” “ W-working yourself t-to the bone i-isn’t the best thing to do….even u-use bunny. W-we both take breaks w-when we need it and we think you sould to bunny.”

Hearing Amajiki’s pleas almost made you stay at home, but you didn’t, in the part of your mind that told you weren’t good enough pestered you. Scooping the eggs into the bread, grabbed your duffle bag and kissed atop of his forehead and smiled “Sorry sweetpea, I...gotta go.” You send the two of them a weak smile and she their deflated looks on their face knowing that they weren't able to keep you at home. You walk out of the door and turn to them, “I’ll be fine you two, I’ll be home before you know it.”

oOo

“Amajiki they still haven't picked up yet...right?” Amajiki shaking and on the brink of tears he shook his head frantically. Izuku sighed and called the number again hoping that Y/N would pick up. It’s been a whole week since they saw them and they both felt horrible that they left the house on a bad note.

Izuku started to prattle on about the whereabouts of y/n and couldn’t think of anything at all. And Amajiki’s doubts weren’t making any better, “W-what if they got h-hurt Izuku….w-what if they were kidnapped. Ah~ I-I wouldn’t be able to l-live with myself if t-they did get hurt more or less i-if they….if they--”

“D-don’t say what your about to say Amajiki…..let’s have a little bit of hope but…..they would have told us if something did happen to them like that...right?” Two top heroes were alone in their home shaking and scared without Y/N, they both tried to think of the best worst case scenario but it always landed at the worst thing possible.

For hours on end, Izuku and Amajiki were pacing around their home wondering and waiting for a call. Something, anything just to let them know that they won’t be alone. That their laugh won’t be heard in the bedroom, that they won’t come home to a smiling lover, that they won’t be able to snuggle with them in bed. Wake up to their smile when they go off to work.

Amajiki and Izuku were broken before the news even came to their attention. Finally a knock came to their door and Izuku slowly opened the door and he was welcomed to Bakugou and Mirio’s face.

And their expressions were not anything comforting.

“C’mon loser, we’re going somewhere and stop crying.” Izuku’s eyes were puffy and red and he frantically nodded his head. He grabbed his coat and started to walk with Kacchan.

“Hey Amajiki, lets go buddy, we just need to take you to someone. I know your nervous and scared but I promise...everything is fine.” Amajiki looked up slowly at Mirio and threw himself into his chest and nuzzled him. Snot rolled down his face as he held Mirio and walked alongside him next to Izuku and Katsuki.

The four pros walked out of their home and to an SUV and got in, and as soon as the four of them were in the car Bakugou got at the wheel. He started the car and pulled out of the driveway, he look through the rear view mirror and saw a sniffling bumbling Izuku. “What the hell is wrong with you, just calm down and shut up.”

“Why did you p-pick us up Kacchan?” He glared at Izuku through the rear mirror and scoffed “Me and mock TinTin are taking you to see Y/N. “ And Izuku was going to start to badering him with questions but Bakugou quickly held his hand up. Izuku hushed himself in his wake and looked out of the window, his tears started to dry on his face but worry was still on his face.

Amajiki was shuddering and whimpering still, all he wanted to see was his little bunny and seeing Mirio and Bakugou look so down it didn’t help him at all. He just wanted to know that their lover was fine and that they weren’t six feet under ground. “Hey buddy. Everything is going to be alright okay! I promise, don’t worry about it, your best friend is at your side.” Amajiki whimpered but nodded his head, he had never been positive in situations like these but hearing mirio mad him relax only for the slightest.

The SUV rolled to a stop at the front of the hospital and Bakugou got out and opened Izuku’s door. “Get out. Now.” Izuku jumped out of the car and Mirio was holding Amajiki close as they walked into the hospital. The receptionist had her eyes glued to the illuminated screen and looked up at them as they got closer.

“I’m guessing they are here for Y/N L/N?” Bakugou nodded his head and the nurse moved from behind the reception desk and started to walk them down the hall.

The double doors to the ICU unit opened and icy air bellowed through the four of them. As the nurse walked and talked to them Izuku caught wind of her saying “Your lucky that they were able to stabilize themselves and power through the surgery. They were on the brink of not waking up again.” Izuku’s heart dropped into his back, ‘O-on the brink of not waking up…..’ The tears started to prickle his eyes again but he swiftly wiped them when they finally made it to room 324.

“Here you go you four, they’re doing just fine.

They nodded their heads and started to walk into the room, Izuku and Amajiki were already on edge but when they saw Y/N bandaged up with a breathing mask they completely broke down.

__________________________________________________________________

The beep of the heart monitor stayed at a constant level, when you were first admitted into the hospital you knew that Izuku and Amajiki would have been furious that you had gotten seriously injured. But that was the main thing you thought about when you were fully admitted to the hospital and were put under surgery.

With the villain attack, you suffered from a ruptured stomach, several broken limbs, even some broken ribs in your lungs. You were a complete wreck. A bandaged baddie stuck on a hospital bed who was in a coma for four days. But, that wasn’t what made you sad, when you finally woke up you were greeted by two of your crying lovelies Izuku and Amajiki.

They were sobbing at the foot of your bed and you painfully lifted your arm up and placed it on Amajiki’s head, who knew a pro hero could cry like this...well...we are talking about Tamaki Amajiki. “Puppy, w-why didn’t you s-say anything t-to us?” “W-we were worried s-s-sick about you bunny.” You chuckle a bit, “Well...I knew you would have gotten mad at me so cough so I just didn’t want to worry you. B-but it seems that I did just that.” A loose chuckle fell from your lips as you caressed Amajiki cheek as you felt his hot tears run down his face. The two of your lovers looked at you and smiled, the silence was filled with relief and relaxation. You would be able to see them another day and they would be able to see you too.

They two of them stood up and planted a kiss on your forehead and smiled nack at you. They were about to speak but you cut them off.

“Oh and if your wondering if I’ll be home more often I will….my boss said and agreed with the two of you that I work to hard and more than I have to so I have been given a mandatory vacation for a month, and if I dared to step foot into the agency I would be reprimanded on the spot.” The worry in their face dissipated once they heard that you would finally be taking a break and relaxing for once.

“That's good to know puppy and me and Amajiki were so worried that we wouldn’t be able to see you again. Especially since you left us last week in a messed up attitude and we were worried that those words would have been the last thing you heard of us so… I-I hope you weren’t upset with us.”

A pained but heart felt laugh came from your lips, “You two are silly, I know that your words were meant to protect me and I know know that more than ever but…..I love you two too much to hate you. Okay?”

Amajiki nodded his head and kissed you on the forehead one last time. “I-I I love you b-bunny……” You smile at Amajiki and said “ I love you too okay, I’m here now and you don’t have to worry about me alright. They said I’d be here for a while so you can visit me whenever you can okay?” The two of them nodded their heads and started to walk outside of the room, the same nurse greeted them again and walked them out.

Izuku and Amajiki could finally rest and vist Y/N as much as they wanted to and spend hellish amounts of time with them when they came home.

[is0gild]

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 6

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 4,673

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

“Oh jeez, seriously?” Rayne snerked, a tiny plastic taste spoon hanging out of one corner of her mouth. “C’mon Elsa, they were just man boobs!”

Feeling a faint warmth creep up into my face, I huffed and turned my head to one side. “You don’t know, you weren’t there!”

“Psssh,” her eyes rolled, “I doubt they’re as mind blowing as you’re making them out to be.”

I twitched, gaze darting to the left. “I never exactly said the words mind blowing...”

Never said they weren't either.

...shush, brain.

She removed the tiny pink spoon from between her teeth to twirl it in the air as she singsonged, “The way you’re overreacting, you may as well have.”

Blushing intensifies.

“I’m not overreacting, I… I’m REacting! In… in just the exact right, perfect amount!” I stammered out, lightly stamping my foot down.  “I mean, one second he’s just standing there, and the next? He takes his shirt off! Right in front of me! Who does that?!”

“Sure a lotta guys would love to,” she muttered, but I hardly heard her in my current state of mid-rant.

“I mean, the Pizza Planet back room was just a ten second walk away, he couldn’t wait that long? He had to do it right there, right that second? That’s it! That’s the only reason that I’m being all… this! It has nothing to do with the alleged mind blowing...ness of his, uh…his...” I floundered, gesturing wildly to my bosom, “... décolletage or the accompanying, er…” my hand now did a frantic circle around my abdomen, “...accoutrements! I mean, fine, okay, I’m sure as far as man boobs and such go, his are very, ah… very nice.  Adequate. Stately, even.” Dear god, somebody stop me. “...pleasantly symmetrical? Quite… satisfactory and well structured… s-some might even say-”

“You done?” she cut in, an eyebrow quirking.

I hid my face in my hands, mumbling, “Yes please.”

“Alright. Now girl, let me tell you, you haven’t seen mind blowing pectorals until you’ve seen Riku’s. I-” she stopped, snapping her fingers. Then she was digging her phone out of her back pocket, her thumb now rapidly swiping across the screen several times. “Hang on, I got pictures, I can show you. Ah-ha!” She grinned brightly, turning the phone screen towards me and thrusting it in my face.

“Gah!” I quickly looked away, raising a hand to block the image. “Why?! Just… why?!”

“What? I’m proud of my hubby’s man boobs and like showing them off!”

Thankfully, Kristoff chose that moment to join us, usual bored look in place as he stretched his arm across the counter, offering a dollop of ice cream on another small spoon to Rayne. “Here’s the taste of Daisy Sorbet you asked for, Ma’am,” he droned out.

Eyes lighting up, she tossed the first spoon, snatching the new one up and sticking it in her mouth. “Mmmmm, fantastic! Now, garçon, I’d like to sample the Honeybunny please!”

He huffed out a soft growl. “Ma’am, that’ll be the twentieth flavor you’ve tasted. Would you like to try, oh, say, I dunno… actually buying something?”

“Excuse me,” she sniffed, raising her nose up and placing a hand on her chest, fingers splayed, “but I am with child, sir. Picking the exact right flavor of ice cream that won’t upset my sweet lil jellybean is a delicate, delicate process.”

Kristoff groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. Then he fixed me with a dull stare. “Elsa, make your friend go shoo.”

I gave him a sympathetic smile, but just shook my head, “Sorry, not happening.” 

“Ha!” Rayne cried triumphantly. “Now be a good boy, run along and get me that Honeybunny! Chop chop! We don’t need you hanging around listening in on us discussing our important business!” 

His eyelids droop. “I believe I overheard the phrase ‘man boobs’ several times, how important can it really be?”

Rayne thrust out her lower lip, tapping an index finger to it. “Oh dear, there’s been such a long interruption now to my taste testing… I hope I don’t forget all the flavors I’ve already tried and have to start all over from the beginning again…”

“...one sample of the Honeybunny coming right up, Ma’am,” he said through grit teeth before turning and walking away.

I muffled a snort into my hand as I watched him go.

Sorry, Kristoff!

It was now the next day and I was back at work. I’d done my best the night before to clean up the devastating aftermath in the wake of Hurricane Ice Cream, but hadn’t quite been able to get it all - in particular, the splatters across the ceiling were just simply out of my reach. So I’d shown up early this morning to meet the opening crew on their way in and explain what had happened, offering what further assistance I could. Luckily, I hadn’t gotten in trouble. According to Kristoff, pushing the Anger Button was practically a right of passage for all new employees at this point. Pretty much everyone that’d ever worked here had done it at some time or another. I was just warned not to let it happen again.

Which, trust me, I wasn’t. I was going to be very mindful to not invade the Anger Button's personal space from now on.

I’d been exhausted when I’d got back home so late last night, so had gone straight to bed. Then this morning I’d rushed out practically at the crack of dawn, so I hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to Rayne. But she was making up for lost time by coming down now in the middle of the day to visit me at work and had just finished dragging my latest little misadventure out of me. She claimed she had a sixth sense about these things, that she’d known something was up and that I'd needed someone to talk to. 

And I'm sure all the free samples she was scoring right now had absolutely squat to do with it.

As soon as Kristoff was out of earshot once more, she hunched over the counter towards me and lowered her voice, “Alright but no, seriously, why was seeing Lea in all his shirtless glory such a big deal now, hm? You act like you've never seen a dude topless before.”

I flinched. “Well…”

Her brow furrowed. “…you have seen a dude topless, right? I mean, you were engaged for crying out loud!”

“Oh no, I have,” I nodded before pursing my lips to one side, averting my gaze. “But…”

“But?” she prompted. If she had a seat, she would quite literally be on the edge of it.

My hand reached up to toy with my braid. Nope, still a ponytail. Sighing, I said, “It was only ever in public settings, like big group outings on Father’s yacht. Last night was just… different.” I paused to bite down on my bottom lip before whispering, “I’ve never been alone with a half naked guy before.”

Something clicked behind Rayne’s eyes as they widened. “Wait… Elsa… did you and your ex ever, you know… do the do?”

I hesitated, fidgeting with my fingers. “We-”

“Alright, here’s the Honeybunny, as requested.”

Whew! Saved by the Kristoff!

He offered the new spoonful of ice cream to her, but her hand snapped up to block it. Her gaze remained narrowed on me as she told him, “I’m gonna need a sample of every single flavor. Stat.”

“Oh, come on!” Kristoff whined. “Even the ones you’ve already tried?!”

“Especially the ones I’ve already tried.”

Grumbling under his breath, he spat out, “Fine, but then that’s it, I’m cutting you off. Crazy preggo lady or not, you’re either going to have to buy something or beat it.” 

He turned to go, but was halted as Rayne said, “Kristoff.” He looked back over her shoulder to see her eyes dead serious. “Leave the Honeybunny.”

His lips flapped as he puffed out a heavy breath, then handed her the taste spoon and stomped off. 

“That should keep him busy and buy us a few minutes of privacy,” she beamed, shoving the ice cream into her mouth and once more leaving the spoon dangling from her lips. Then she planted her elbows on the counter, propped her chin in her palms and bat her lashes at me. “So… you were saying?”

I could feel that soft heat cozying up inside my cheeks again. “Could we maybe talk about this later? This isn’t particularly a discussion I want to have at a mall nor in my place of work, and we’re two for two right now.”

“Well tough noogies, sweetpea, cuz it’s happening. Now out with it.” 

Exhaling through my nose, I relented. “No, we never… I’ve never… done that. I... told him that I wanted to wait until marriage.”

She released a low whistle - an impressive feat given the spoon still between her lips. “So you’re still rocking your V-card? Who woulda thought you were so traditional? I mean, knowing you, I guess maybe I shoulda figured...”

“That’s just it though, I’m not sure if I am,” I hung my head with a frown. “It’s just… me and him, we made sense as a couple on the surface, at least in my head we did. And sure, we would go out on dates and we would kiss, but… I was just never really interested in going beyond that… with him…”

“But you’re thinking with the right guy, you might?” She bent in further, waggling her eyebrows. “...be interested?” 

My nose wrinkled and I lifted one shoulder.  “I’m honestly not sure… maybe?”

Rayne leaned back once more, holding her hands up, “That’s okay, that’s a big topic to tackle and not one you necessarily have to sort out right this second, so let’s take a step back from that. Start with something smaller. Something like learning to get out of your comfort zone every once in a while.”

I tipped my head to one side, “My comfort zone?”

“Sweetie, I love you, you know I do, but you’re one awkward penguin, plain and simple. Last night is a prime example, and just one of many at that. Now that you’ve left the life of the rich and pampered behind you and are out in this brave new world, you should start putting yourself out there more. You know, try new things, anything really would be good, no matter how small and insignificant it might seem, just to get you out of that protective bubble you tend to keep yourself in.”

“But I like the bubble,” I pouted, my voice small. “It’s all round and comfy and safe.”

She grinned gently, “I know it is, but I think this could really do you some good.”

Grimacing, I managed to snag a thin tendril of my ponytail to twist around my finger. “Okay, so then… what kind of things were you thinking?”

“That brings us to Lesson Two of The Real World for Dummies,” she held up a pair of fingers with a tiny smirk. “Making friends!”

I blinked and then gave a tiny scoff, “I’ve made friends.”

“Name one since you’ve started this whole independence thing.”

“Easy,” I crossed my arms, “Riku.”

She shook her head. “Riku and I are a package deal. He was basically a freebie and doesn’t count.”

Frowning in thought, I tried, “Frozone and Kristoff?”

Rayne gave a derisive snort. “Work friends? You’re gonna have to do better than that.”

My eyebrows knit together before I brightened. “Sora! He’s my friend, he said so himself!”

“Please, that boy would make friends with a toaster given half the chance,” she deadpanned. “In fact, he did once. It involved a sharpie smiley face. Nuff said. No, name one new friendship that you had to put some sort of effort into forming and didn’t simply fall into your lap. Go on. I’m listening.”

...darn it, she was right.

It seemed my hermit was showing.

Her grin turned smug. “That’s what I thought. So here’s what you’re gonna do. You’re gonna go out there and you’re gonna make yourself a new lil friend. That’s part one of getting you out of your comfort zone.”

Oh no.

“There’s a part two?”

“Yup!” She slammed her phone down on the counter before me and ordered, “Call them.”

I gave a nervous chuckle and tossed my hands up in a loose shrug, asking innocently, “Call who?”

“Don’t get cute with me, missy! You think I forgot our lil chat a few days ago, but think again! Enough is enough, you’ve had plenty of time, now stop making excuses and just do it already. I know it’s scary, but this is just something you gotta do! You-”

“I thought I might find you here.”

Back stiffening at the third voice chiming into the conversation, Rayne slowly turned around to see Riku standing there, arms folded under his chest, one foot tapping as he went on, “Isn’t somebody supposed to be staying home and getting lots of bed rest?”

“Tch,” her lip curled slightly, “c’mon, I’m barely showing, just let me live my life!”

Biting back a grin, he took a step towards, “Come on, you, let’s get you back-”

“Jailbreak!” She booked it, darting off into the plastic jungle that was the food court.

His shoulders slumped and he scratched the back of his head as he called after her, “Seriously? You’re gonna make me chase your sorry butt?”

“Yup!” she cackled, strategically positioning herself so that several tables were between her and her husband. 

“Fine,” he smirked slyly, “but you asked for it. Here I come!” He bolted after her.

“Great,” I heard a grumble beside me, turning to see Kristoff standing there with a sour look and roughly forty of those teeny, ice cream laden spoons wedged between all his fingers on both hands. “Now what am I supposed to do with these?”

“Eat them?” I grinned as I plucked one free and closed my mouth around it. Mmmmmm, chocolate! “Otherwise it would be wasteful, which is bad for the environment.”

He gave me a flat look. “Okay, I know you’re being facetious and I don’t care.” One corner of his lips turning up, he lifted one spoon-adorned fist into the air. “I must do my part… for the environment!” Then he crammed five of them into his mouth.

“The planet applauds you for your service and your sacrifice, sir,” I snorted as he ambled off once more.

It was only then that I looked down and realized Rayne’s phone still rested atop the counter before me. Taunting me. Maybe she’d simply forgot it, but honestly? Pretty sure that girl knew exactly what she was doing. With a sigh, I picked it up, my reflection staring back at me in the blackened screen.

...okay, maybe I had been putting it off long enough, to the point of ridiculousness even. Delaying the inevitable was probably only making it worse at this point. I should give them something at least. Some sort of proof of life so that they didn’t think, I don’t know… like I’d run off to join the circus only to get murdered by Bozo the Clown or something. 

Still I hesitated, my fingers frozen around the phone.

“Ma’am, is this man bothering you?”

Welcoming the distraction (perhaps a bit too eagerly), I looked up to spot two familiar figures in matching uniforms. The security guards from last night were standing out in the food court, addressing Rayne now as she used a chair as makeshift cover to hide from Riku.

“Every second I’ve been married to his ass,” she replied dryly.

“Gotcha!” Riku pounced, eliciting a squeal of delight from her as he scooped her up. I snerked as the mall cops just shook their heads and meandered off.

And these two dorks were going to be parents.

My eyes drifted past them to the Lucky Cat Café and I blinked. The stocky brunet was back and manning the register this time, but more importantly, so was that blonde guy. The one I’d seen working at the Pizza Planet just yesterday. How odd. So then, I guess he was currently working both jobs? Barista by day, pizza boy by night? Did he need the munny that bad? Yeesh, how expensive must his rent be?

Having just handed a customer their drink order with a smile and a wave, he then said something to his coworker before I watched him disappear into the back door. Just as it had clicked shut behind him-

“Ta da!” he sprung up on the other side of the counter directly in front of me, arms raised high over his head, startling a yelp from me and nearly making me drop the phone.

Heart hammering in my chest, my wide eyes darted from where he stood now not three feet away from me, to the door I’d just seen him walk through all the way on the other side of the food court.  Then to him. Then to that door. Then back and forth a few more times.

He’d somehow traversed that large gap in the space of mere nano-seconds.

And had managed to swap his coffee shop uniform for Pizza Planet duds no less!

How did he do that?!

“Now I know what you’re thinking,” he beamed at me, striking up a finger. “How did he do that?”

...woah, he was a mind reader too?

“And there’s only one plausible explanation!” he continued with a cocky wink. “Teleportation!”

“Or maybe you just have a twin, you knucklehead,” another voice said as a hand cuffed the blonde on the back of his head.

… oh. A twin. Right.

That made way more sense than the next stage of human evolution being upon us and super powered mutants now walking amongst the rest of us mere muggles.

What a silly notion. Who would have thought that? Certainly not me.

Nope.

“Man, why you gotta always ruin my fun?” the blonde grumbled as he rubbed the fresh sore spot and scowled at the owner of the palm that had just delivered swift justice to his noggin.

“What can I say, Rox? Your suffering gives me life,” Lea shrugged before turning his gaze on me with a grin and waggling his fingers. “Hi again.”

This was the first appearance he’d made all day. It was a bit of a comfort to see him in his work clothes - a likely sign that he hadn’t gotten fired. I would have felt horrible if last night’s antics had cost him his job. In any case, he’d probably arrived just a few minutes ago and would be starting his shift shortly.

Becoming aware of the fact that my fingers were still absently fiddling with the phone, I quickly pocketed it and cleared my throat. “H-hello… wha-”

“Hiya!” a black haired girl shoved Lea out of the way to lean over the counter and get in my face, blasting me with a huge smile and causing me to stagger back a step. She too was decked out in the Pizza Planet attire. I recognized her from my first day of work. “So happy we finally got to come over here! I’ve been dying to meet you!”

My eyebrows rose. “You have…?”

“You kidding? It’s not just any chick that can make Lea here drop pizza dough on his head! Besides, it’s truly an honor to be in the presence of the record holder. I’m in awe.” 

Further up and up those brows went. “The record?”

“Yeah! I mean, that has to be the fastest anyone’s ever planted one on Lea’s li-”

“Xion!” he hissed, clamping a hand over her mouth. “Zip it!”

The blonde - Rox, was it? - smirked evilly beside them, “Lea’s just glad that Ice Palace finally hired a cute girl and- ow!”

I couldn’t see it, but was pretty sure Lea had just kicked him.

“That’s enough out of you two twerps,” Lea grumbled, stabbing a finger out in the direction of the food court. “Table. Now.”

“Fiiiiiine,” Rox huffed out while Xion just shot me another grin and a wave before the pair of them wandered off to find seats.

“Oi, those two, I swear,” he groaned, rubbing the nape of his neck as he turned back towards me, chuckling softly. “Don’t mind the kiddos. Their teasing’s all aimed at me, not you. They mean well, they can just be a lot sometimes.”

I cocked my head. “The… kiddos?”

“Heh, yup!” Then his spine snapped straight and he winced, rapidly shaking his head and waving his hands back and forth in front of him. “Not that they’re my- No, I’m not a- I’m nowhere near old enough to be their- That is to say, uh… they’re my friends. That’s it, no… familial connection whatsoever.”

“Ah… I see,” I said, feeling a tiny tug at one corner of my lips.

It was nice for once that I wasn’t the one that was spazzing out.

Also nice that the two of us could finally manage to hold a conversation.

Sorta.

...it was still a work in progress.

I looked down, gathering my thoughts to find something to say. I immediately regretted it as my eyes inadvertently landed on his chest, prompting my mind to gleefully run a slideshow of his topless exploits from the night before. Face heating, I snapped my gaze back up to meet his, blurting out, “So they didn’t manage to ab y-” I paled. “Nab, I meant nab! They didn’t manage to nab you last night?”

Scratch that. I’d really love to go back to the whole not talking thing.

“Those couple o’ brick-for-brains? Please,” he brushed off, “they couldn’t catch a sedated sloth dragging a one ton slab of concrete behind it. I coulda outrun them blindfolded and with one leg tied behind my back.” Now there was an image. “Gave them the slip no problem, then had my boss sort it all out with them this morning. We’re in the clear!”

“That’s good to hear,” I gave a small sigh of relief.

Then I just stared at him. 

He stared back.

Yup.

Whoooooole lotta staring.

All of it awkward.

I glanced sideways. “So…”

“Oh! Right. Three bars of the Sea Salt Ice Cream please,” he held up a matching number of fingers while his other hand scratched a spot behind his ear.

“A-absolutely! Coming right up!” Yes! Ice cream! Ice cream I could do! I darted over to the bottom freezers, opening them up and crouching down to look for the stack of light turquoise frozen bars. The cold air felt good on my face and I took this chance to recuperate and collect myself. 

Steady, keep it together, girl. You got this. Just another minute more and you’ll be through this social interaction and on the other side. And it should only get easier from here on out, right? ...right? And hey, look on the bright side. This wasn’t going all that bad. So far you’ve gotten through this with little to no mishaps. Sure, there was that one teeny “ab” slip up, but he didn’t even notice… I think. You can do this. You’re doing fine. You haven’t even thought of the Kissident once the entire time he’s been here!

...aaaaaaaaand now you’re thinking about it.

Great. Thanks a lot, brain.

Grabbing the three plastic-wrapped Sea Salts, I slammed the door shut and made my way back towards the register with determination and resolve.

Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about it.

No more slip ups. Don’t you do it. Don’t you say it. Don’t you dare.

I rang him up before looking back up at Lea as I offered him the bars. “Will that be all? Could I interest you in anything else-” 

Don’t say “kiss,” don’t say “kiss,” don’t say “kiss.” 

“-like a cone of the Milky Way? Rockin’ Crunch? Vanilla Lips- Glitz!” My eyes screwed shut. “Vanilla… Vanilla Glitz? Or any of our other fine flavors?”

Well… at least I hadn’t said “kiss” anyway.

He smiled. Oh gosh, he had dimples. “Nope! Just those, thanks.” He paid for his purchase and took the ice cream. With a nod, he turned to go but then hesitated, glancing back down at me. “Listen, that pair of clowns I call friends just went on lunch and I’m not on the clock for another thirty minutes. We’ll be at that table over there,” he crooked his head towards where Xion and Rox now sat chatting over their trays of food. “If you can take a break, you should come hang out with us.” 

I blinked once. Then twice. Then pointed a finger at myself. “...me?”

He was asking me? To join them?

Lea snorted. “Yeah, you. And if you’re worried, don’t be. The kiddos have had all their rabies shots. Just think about it, kay?” He lightly rapped a knuckle against the countertop before walking off with a wave. “Hope to be seeing ya!” 

I watched him approach the other two, giving the back of Rox’s seat a swift kick before easily dodging the swipe Rox threw back at him. Then he mussed up Xion’s hair as he tossed the ice cream bars into the center of the table and spun an empty chair around so he could sit in it backwards. I watched his mouth move as he told them something before they all burst into laughter.

They seemed nice. And they’d invited me to sit with them.

...wow, that’d sounded so high school.

Which, by the way, was something I’d never been good at, surprise surprise. And I wasn’t talking about the academic part of it, no, that’d been fine. But when it came to all those cliques and that whole popularity contest and just in general trying to fit it? Yeah, no. That hadn’t been for me. At lunch times, I’d only ever sat with my ex and his friends, and even then only because it was what was expected of me. His buddies had only ever ignored me anyway. If it’d been up to me, I never would have sat with anyone at all. Risk someone actually trying to start a conversation with me? Nu uh. Too scary. Left to my own devices, I probably would have just secured a table all to myself and built a fort out of trays to hide in and shut out the rest of the world.

Needless to say, the thought of joining Lea and his friends? Frigging terrified me.

Which is why it wasn’t going to happen.

Thanks, but no thanks!

I’ll just keep chilling over here inside Ice Palace, aka my beloved Fortress of Solitude. Or rather… Fortress of Almost Solitude, since Kristoff was still around. But you’d hardly even know he was there. He was just off in a corner, still contentedly making his way through those taste spoons.

But as I looked back to that happy trio out there, I frowned. Something was nagging me. Needling at the back of my mind.

Took me a second to realize that it was Rayne’s words from earlier.

That I needed to get out of my comfort zone. That I had to put myself out there and try new things. That I should put effort into making some friends. 

The effort in this case being something so simple as sitting at a table.

One tiny act that seemed so insignificant and yet so intimidating at the same time.

I watched them for a few minutes more. Then I looked to the clock hanging on the wall. I was due for my own lunch break.

...oh god, was I really going to do this?

Another heartbeat of indecision. Then I lifted my chin, squared my shoulders, marched into the back room to grab my paper bag lunch before exiting into the food court, heading straight for their table.

Apparently yes. I was really doing this.

Operation Make Friends was a go.

Courage don’t fail me now.

...pretty please? 

Author's note: Will Elsa ever call this mysterious "them"? How will Elsa's next thrilling adventure in human interaction go? Will Operation Make Friends be an amazing, glorious success or end in epic, tragic failure? Will Kristoff get a terrible tummy ache from eating all those lil ice cream samples? Stay tuned for the answers to all those questions and more! (Except for that last question... some things were just meant to always remain a mystery...)

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to my new followers, as well as to those of you who hit that like button on the last chapter, seeing that always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

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