#take 5 minutes to brainstorm
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tommyssupercoolblog · 5 months ago
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Headmates fuck sometimes in case you didn't know that
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theclearblue · 2 months ago
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I have genuinely met some of the nicest people playing the One Piece card game but others are actual dicks oh my GOD!!!!!
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luna-azzurra · 1 year ago
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What should Happen next in your Story? #Writersblock
1. Review Your Story Goals: Take a step back and remind yourself of your story's overall goals, themes, and the character arcs you've established. What message or emotions are you trying to convey? Reconnecting with your story's core can provide direction.
2. Character Development: Consider your characters' motivations, desires, and conflicts. Think about how their actions and decisions can further their development and the overall plot.
3. Conflict and Obstacles: Introduce new conflicts or obstacles that challenge your characters and move the story forward. Conflict is often a driving force in storytelling.
4. Foreshadowing: Look at earlier parts of your story for elements that can be developed or paid off in the next part. Foreshadowing can create anticipation and coherence in your narrative.
5. Brainstorm Ideas: Take a few minutes to brainstorm potential plot developments or scenarios, even if they seem far-fetched. Sometimes, these ideas can lead to more refined plot points.
6. Seek Inspiration: Read books, watch movies, or explore other art forms that inspire you. Inspiration often comes from exposure to different creative works.
7. Write Freely: Give yourself permission to write without judgment. You can always revise later. Sometimes, just getting words on the page can help you discover where your story is going.
8. Talk to Someone: Discuss your story with a friend, writing partner, or critique group. They may offer insights or ideas you haven't considered.
9. Change Perspective: Consider writing a scene from a different character's perspective or in a different setting. This can help you explore new angles and generate ideas.
10. Take a Break: Sometimes, a brief break from writing can provide clarity and fresh ideas. Go for a walk, engage in a different creative activity, or relax to clear your mind.
11. Read Writing Prompts: Look for writing prompts or exercises related to your genre or theme. These can spark new ideas and get your creative juices flowing.
12. Set a Deadline: Establish a reasonable deadline for yourself, even if it's self-imposed. The pressure of a deadline can help you focus and generate ideas.
13. Revisit Your Outline: If you have an outline, revisit it to see if you missed any planned plot points or if there are opportunities to add more depth.
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jellyfishbug · 4 months ago
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SWEET N' SOUR
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pairing. bsf!chris x reader genre. smut. MDNI. wc. [4.6k] ! not proof read.
content; candy play kinda?, slight bondage (he ties her hands with a tie for like 5 minutes), spitting, oral f receiving, fingering, p in v, unprotected (WRAP IT), big dick chris, creampie, pet names, praise kink, aftercare is not described but it is implied. first fic . . . be nice pls :)
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"I've never looked more stupid in my life." I sighed, tugging at my tie uncomfortably while staring at my reflection in the mirror.
Nick frowns at me. "You look cute!" he tries. "You've had better costumes for sure, but you can pull off anything. Matt, doesn't she look nice?" Matt, who's sitting at the end of Nick's bed in his cowboy costume, glances up from his phone and looks at my reflection in the mirror before nodding slowly. "Yeah, you look nice." he mumbles. I gave him an eyebrow raise, and he shrugged at me.
"Trust me, if you looked ridiculous, i'd tell you."
Nick swats at the back of his head, putting his ref whistle in between his teeth and blowing into it loudly. "Not helpful." He says through gritted teeth, glaring in Matt's direction as the whistle falls from his mouth and hits his chest.
Roughly an hour ago, Nick had opened the door of his apartment to see me standing on the doormat completely costume-less. He frowned at the sight of my white tank top and blue jeans, and asked me something along the lines of, "are you going as half the population?". Chris, who was standing behind him on a ladder behind him attempting to hang up lights over the curtains in a white tank top himself, snickered at Nick's comment. He was holding the lights in place with one arm and the other was hanging by his side with a hammer clenched tightly in his fist. His grin showcased the two metal nails that were in between his front teeth. Matt, who had told him previously that nailing the lights would leave marks in the wall, just rolled his eyes and went back to dumping the family size bag of twix into a clear glass bowl on the counter. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I usually go out of my way to dress up as something creative and funny, but I've had so much shit on my plate recently that buying a costume completely slipped my mind.
So, when i pulled my phone out of my pocket in the entry-way of my apartment and saw the calendar reminder "in one hour - trip's halloween party", I sighed in defeat and decided that I didn't have nearly enough time to pull something together. But fortunately for me, once I was inside of the triplet's apartment, Nick was already brainstorming. He ended up making me put on a pair of calvin cline briefs, put a red backwards cap on my head, tied a tie around my neck and shouted "you're magic mike!" So here I stood in front of the mirror, tie loosley hanging around my neck scowling at my reflection. I folded the hem of my jeans down so that you could see the calvin's better before crossing my arms in front of my chest.
I turned around again to face Nick, "Maybe its not that bad," He grinned at me. "See! It's good, I promise." He pulls his phone out of his pocket and turns me to face the mirror, snapping a picture of the two of us next to each other. He scrolls through them with a smile on his face. "We look gr-"
The doorbell ringing interrupts him and he shoots Matt a look. "Tell Chris to get his ass downstairs, people are starting to get here."
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It didn't take long for the apartment to be full of people. Some familiar faces, some people i'd never met. Half of them weren't even wearing costumes. When I realized this, I gave Nick a look, my expression saying "i didnt even need to dress up", but he shook his head. "Just because they're boring doesn't mean you need to be too." The smell of weed and sticky spilled alcohol was lingering in the air, and the hot and uncomfortable temperature continued to rise. Every couple of minutes, I'd run into someone I knew, but the interactions were quick before they ran off to join the crowd of people who were dancing in the living room. Chris had eventually come downstairs. He was wearing a black t shirt, blue jeans and a grey jacket with a pair of black sunglasses resting on the bridge of his nose. He was carrying around a bat with nails hammered lazily into it, but eventually, he set it down on the staircase railing, complaining that it was heavy and he was sick of holding it. At some point, he and Matt were playing a drinking game with warheads. By the end of it, Matt had started to feel sick, complaining that the mix of the alcohol and sour candy was making him "queasy" and he couldn't play anymore. Chris of course, didn't let him live in down for a good hour after the fact. The sound of chatter and music had completely filled at this point the room. Clouds of smoke and flashing lights surrounded me and the music blasting from the speaker buzzed against the bottom of my feet through my sneakers. Somehow, i'd managed to find my way out of the loud, sweaty, hot crowd of people, and i was now leaning against the kitchen island with a red solo cup in my hand.
"Why the fuck are you wearing sunglasses indoors? Its one in the morning." Matt drunkenly barks at his brother (in the worst southern accent i've ever heard). He puts his hand on the side of Chris's face to mess with them. Chris lifted his free hand and started to swat Matt's hand away, frustrated with Matt's attempt to tug at the lenses.
"Get the fuck off me, Kid." he snapped, finally grabbing ahold of his wrist firmly enough to get it off his face. "It's a part of my costume, dumbass."
Matt rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm going to find Nate." He mumbled, abandoning his cup on the island and wandering off into the mess of people. Chris rolled his eyes. "Can't handle his alcohol at all," he said quietly, lifting his cup to meet his lips. He looked towards me. I couldn't see his gaze through the sunglasses, but I could tell he looked me up and down.
"What're you dressed as?" He asked. Part of me thought he would've been able to tell already, but I answered nonetheless. "Guess," He furrowed his eyebrows in thought and shoved one of his hands in his pocket. "A frat boy?" I shook my head and make a "tssk" sound. "Magic Mike." I tugged at the tie around my neck in emphasis.
"Shit, should've guessed, the tie's a dead giveaway." He giggled, and I noticed that whatever was in his cup was started to stain his lips pink. "Nick's idea?" I frowned. "It's that obvious?" He shook his head. "Didn't say it was a bad thing,"
Finally, he put his sunglasses up so that they pushed his hair back on the top of his head like a headband, a couple of stray hairs resting on his forehead and dangling in front of his eyes. I knew he was looking at me before, but now that his eyes were no longer hidden behind the dark shield of the lenses, I felt myself turning to mush under his gaze.
We were standing facing each other now; him leaning against the sink with a hand in his pocket and a hand with his cup in it resting on the counter, and me leaning against the island with my palms pressing against the cold marble. He turned to look at the crowd of people, showcasing his jawline, which was illuminated in the flashing of lights reflecting off the disco ball that Nick lazily hung to the ceiling a couple of hours prior. He turns back to look at me. I realized I was staring, but I didn't look away. I felt myself get uncomfortable again, shuffling in place. Something about the way Chris looked directly at me whenever he spoke made me want to squirm away or cover my eyes so he couldn't anymore.
Out of the three of them, Chris and I were the least close. It's not that we didn't get along, and he was always nice to me, we just didn't click the same way i did with Matt or Nick.
The fact that I could barely look him in the fucking eye probably had something to do with that.
I look down at my feet in an effort to avoid his glance, and I heard him take another sip from his drink before setting it down on the counter, finally letting both of his hands rest in his pockets.
"D'you want candy?" I looked up, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the question.
"What?"
The grin - that fucking grin - was back on his face.
"It's halloween." He said dumbly "Do you want candy?"
I swallowed. "Sure?"
He reached to the other end of the counter and tugged the glass candy bowl towards himself. He fiddled around in the bowl for a second, digging through the candy like he was in search of something. I watched both impatiently and in confusion.
Finally, he stopped, pulling a red tootsie pop by the stick out of the bowl. He unwrapped it and took a step towards me so that he was standing on either side of my legs.
Instinctively, I reached my hand out to grab the lollipop, but he pulled his hand back.
"Say please,"
I rolled my eyes. "Chris, come on-"
"Say it."
His tone was teasing, but I could tell he wasn't kidding. I licked my lips and looked up at him. "Please?"
He nodded. "See? That wasn't so hard."
Another eye roll. I snatched the lollipop out of his hand and stuck it in my mouth. I crossed my arms in front of my chest. the silence lingers for a moment until i get the idea to return his question.
"What're you dressed as?"
"Steve Harrington." He said with a snarky tone, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Didn't you see my bat?"
"You mean before you got to lazy to carry it around? Yeah, i did." I laughed, the lollipop stick hanging between my lips. The drool was starting to built in my mouth, so I grabbed the stick again and swirled it in a circular motion on my tongue.
Chris's expression shifted slightly. "Mhm," he said, no longer focused on our conversation. Instead, his eyes lingered on my lips.
He grabbed my wrist, making all movements halt. He pulled the candy out of my mouth with a pop and tugged it towards his mouth, wrapping his lips around it.
I scowled, his grip on my wrist still firm. "Thats gross," I managed, my voice lacking confidence.
He looked at me with a sloppy smile, his lips glistening with spit. "What? swapping spit?" I nodded. He tilted his head. "You don't want it back?"
I wanted to shake my head. I wanted to say "no, thats disgusting." but I didn't move a muscle. I was completely still, my eyes still locked with his.
That same shit-eating grin still sat on his face proudly. He pulled the lollipop out of his mouth and started to move it back towards my face. Shamelessly, i parted my lips, and it was back in my mouth again.
"Doesn't seem so gross now, does it?"
The mocking tone in his voice grew poisonous. Embarrassment grew in my chest as I pulled the lollipop out of my mouth. "You sure are crass," i muttered.
"Why?" He said playfully. "Because i gave a pretty girl a lollipop?"
The way he said it made it seem so lewd. I felt like mush beneath him.
He stepped impossibly closer. He leaned down so that his lips brushed the shell of my ear. "Or because Because I wanted to see your lips all pretty and stained red?"
The heat of his breath against my neck sent a shiver down my spine. He pulled back and looked at me, eager to see how quickly i melted at his words.
The tension was suffocating. I could barely get a word, let alone a breath out.
"I don't..." I wanted to say something, but my breath caught. I closed my mouth so that my labored breathing wasn't so apparent.
He pulled the lollipop from my hand, not looking away from me for even a second. He placed it on my cheek, watching as it stuck to my face. "Stick your tongue out."
I swallowed. Everyone around us suddenly became invisible, and i obliged at an embarrassing speed, parting my lips once again and sticking my tongue out, allowing him to place the pad of his thumb on my tongue.
"Fuck." He mumbled, staring at my lips with intent. He swiped his tongue against my bottom lip, getting lost in the sight before his eyes finally met mine again. "Can I kiss you?"
"Please." it came out in a breath.
Before I could blink, the lollipop dropped onto the counter next to me and Chris placed his hand on the back of my neck, pulling me close so that our lips smashed together.
It didn't take long for him to obtain dominance, the hand that was on my neck falling to rest at the small of my back, and the other rested on my cheek, fingers lightly brushing the back of my neck.
My hands were on his face, then his hair, tugging and pulling. I whimpered at the feeling, and my lips parted just enough for his tongue to slide into my mouth. Maybe it was just the lollipop, but he tasted sweet. Sweet and sour. It could've been the alcohol we'd both been drinking, as well as the sour flavor the warheads had left on his tongue, but the way he tasted was intoxicating. The tint of cherry that coated his lips made me want to kiss him harder. I'd never get enough.
My hands fell back to the sides of his face, knocking the sunglasses of his head and letting them hit the floor, the sound almost entirely drowned out by the music.
Suddenly, I snapped back into reality, and our surroundings hit me like a freight. I pulled back abruptly, my eyes darting to the crowd in front of us.
Chris took the opportunity to latch onto my neck, leaving open-mouthed kisses from my jawline down to the base of my throat, digging his teeth into the flesh and swirling his tongue.
I whined. "Chris-"
His ivory teeth were enough to leave marks. I could practically feel my skin turning shades of indigo under his touch. He hummed in response, the vibration making me shiver.
"Chris, we can't-" his hands slipped lightly under the hem of the calvin cline briefs i was wearing to touch my skin, and my breath caught in my throat. "Chris, there are people. everywhere"
He finally pulled off my neck, but his hands remained where they were before. "So what?"
"So I don't want Nick or Matt to walk in here and see your tongue down my throat." I said messily, suddenly realizing how out of breath i was.
He put his bottom lip between his teeth in thought, glancing around the room.
"Lets go to my room,"
I had almost forgotten we were in his house. I glanced towards Matt, who was half awake on the couch, rambling to Nate. I couldn't find Nick.
"They'll notice that we're gone." I said.
He shrugged. "S'long as they don't come looking, doesn't matter."
I pause, but before I can even think about it too much, his eyes meet mine, and any thoughts I had were gone.
I nod quickly. He interlocks our hands and starts tugging me towards the stairs. I look over my shoulder, giving Matt one last glance, and I'm thankful he doesn't notice.
We quickly scurry down the hall, the rubber of our sneakers scuffing against the wood. Chris lazily opens his bedroom door, and once its closed, I'm immediately against it. His hands are roaming my lower half, and mine are latched around his neck.
We're kissing like I can't breath and he's my air. He pulls away, tugging on a fistful of my hair to make my chin go up for easier access. His lips latch to my neck again. I'm a moaning mess, and i can feel his lips grin against my skin.
"Fuck, you're so sweet," He says breathlessly between kisses to my jawline. He's telling me i taste sweet, but the lack of oxygen in both of us isn't letting him. "such a pretty girl."
I whimper at the compliment, and a huffed laugh escapes him.
"You like that?" He asks, pulling away from my neck to look at me. "You like when I call you pretty, baby?"
I nod, mumbling a "mhm" with closed lips. My hands are roaming the back of his neck, running my fingers through his curls. I'm lightly tugging him back towards me, desperate to feel him again.
"So responsive," he says quietly, latching our lips together again. He tugs at my belt loops to push our bodies together. I feel his hand roam to pull at the button of my jeans, fiddling with it for a second before unbuttoning them and tugging them down to until they fall to my ankles.
He steps backward, pulling me with him so I step out of my jeans, leaving them in a heap by the door. He turns us around so that his back is to the door instead, and we slowly make our way towards his bed, stopping when it hits the back of my thighs.
I lazily flop down onto the bed, my hands immediately finding his belt, tugging at it. He chuckles, grabbing a hold of my wrists.
"Needy girl, huh?" he asks.
"Chris, please," I beg. Part of me feels embarrassed at how quickly we ended up here - at how quickly i practically fell to my knees in front of him, but the growing tension in my gut is overtaking that feeling.
I need him, and I need him now.
"Not yet," he says. "'Wanna make you feel good first."
He holds both my wrists with one hand and starts to untie the tie that was hanging around my neck with the other. He places the tie around my wrists, before pausing in his movements to eye me carefully.
"Is this okay?" He asks, looking right at me when he says it. I nod slowly. "Verbal yes please, sweetheart."
"Yes."
He ties my arms together in a firm knot, his lip between is teeth in focus as he does it.
"Lie down for me." He tells me.
I lean back until my back hits the comforter on his bed. He pulls his jacket and shirt off in one swift movement, carelessly tossing them to the side before climbing on top of me, his legs on either side of mine.
He pushes my arms up above my head and lets them rest on the bed behind me. "Keep these here, okay? Can you do that for me?"
I nod silently.
"Good girl."
He presses a kiss to my lips and then trails them down my face and my front, bunching up my tank top right below my tits. He's too impatient to take my shirt off, but he's already tugging at the briefs around my waist.
"Can I take these off?"
"Please," I whine at him. As soon as I say it, he's pulling them off and discarding them.
"Fuck." he says under his breath, kissing my lower stomach before hovering above my core, the heat of his breath making me want to squirm.
"Chris, please." I say desperately, growing more and more desperate by the minute.
He looks up at me through his lashes. He licks two of his fingers cleanly, coating them with spit before placing them in front of my entrance and slowly pressing them into me. "What?" He asks tauntingly, watching his fingers disappear inside of me, "What do you want?"
My mouth gawks open as he curls his fingers, forcing me to lean my head back. My arms fall over my eyes. "fuck!"
"Look at me." He snaps. My eyes dart back in his direction. "Arms above your head, or I stop. Do you understand me?"
I nod, moving my binded wrists back to rest above my head. "'Gonna be a good girl for me?" he asks, beginning to pump his fingers at a slow pace. "Gonna do what I ask you too?"
"Yes," I choke out, screwing my eyes shut as his pace gets faster.
"Tell me want you want, sweetheart." He asks again, his movements paused while he awaits my response.
"Please touch me, Chris."
I let out an alarmed yelp as his mouth finally meets my cunt. His tongue laps at my clit, as I whine and squirm in place, moans and whispers of his name falling from my lips. He lifts his head for a minute, "You're so sweet, fuck, 'could eat you forever." he babbles breathlessly before his mouth is back where i need it most, relentlessly pushing his fingers farther into me.
My back starts to arch and my hips lift lightly off the bed, but before I get to far, his free hand arounds around the base of my thigh and pushes me back down onto the mattress. My face is flushed and hot, the whispers of his name turning into cries.
His movements grow quicker, pushing me closer to the edge. He wants me to unravel under him, he wants me to go numb from his touch.
"Fuck, please, Chris. M' so close." I finally say, my nails digging into the sheets above my head. My eyes start to water lightly, the pleasure starting to become overwhelming.
He lifts his head, his fingers curling even deeper, a cheeky smile on his face. "Yeah? Gonna cum for me, baby?"
"Yes- fuck!"
My legs start to twitch as I chase the high, arching my back. He pushes my hips back down onto the mattress again, harsher this time, his grip enough to bruise the skin of my inner thigh.
He pulls his fingers away from me, licking them clean without thought, and looking down at the heavy rise and fall of my chest. The look on his face is proud - pleased - as he sees the tear streaming down my cheek. "Such a slut," he mumbles, "Aren't you?"
I can't do anything but whine. He leans back over me, placing a sloppy kiss on my lips. He still tasted sweet. He wiped the tear off my cheek and pulled my wrists down towards him, untieing the bind.
"You can give me another, yeah?" he asks, but he's already throwing the tie to the side and pulling my hips closer to the end of the bed to press against him. "D'you want another?"
"Yes- please, yes." I utter out, reaching for his belt again. "Please, m' need it,"
"Pretty girl wants my cock, hm?" He repeats, unbuckling his belt at painfully slow pace, looking right at me as he does it. "You wanna get fucked dumb? Want me to fill you up?"
"More than anything," I plead mindlessly, propping myself up on my elbows to see him better. "Please."
He pulls his jeans down and drops them on the floor besides him, now just in his boxers. He presses his clothed bulge against my lower half, grinning as my face twists in need.
I let myself fall back against the bed. I hear Chris fiddle with the hem of his boxers before pulling them down completely. I cant make myself look at him - my stomach flips every time i do.
He parts my legs slightly, his hand wrapping around my thigh. He uses the other to align himself with my entrance, and my hands fly to my face, covering my eyes. Licking his lips before looking at me.
He slowly pushes himself into me, furrowing his eyebrows and knocking his head back. "Shit,"
My mouth gapes open silently at the stretch - the burn - of Chris.
Fuck, he's huge.
He puts both his hands on either side of my frame, "Fuck, so good." He says breathlessly, pushing me farther down onto him. My moans and breathless babbles get louder by the second. If not for the loud music and buzz of the party downstairs, we'd be in trouble.
"So big," I whimper at him, my grip on the sheets turning my knuckles white, feeling every inch of him as he stretches my gummy walls. Tears prick at the corners of my eyes.
"Doing so good for me." he says, his voice soothing as I squirm and moan under him, the stretch turning from pain to pleasure. "You can take it, yeah?"
He finally sinks to the hilt, hovering over me as he kisses me again, basking in the view of me, the feel of me. My hands shoot to my eyes again, the almost unbearable pleasure making me unable to sit still.
I wiggle myself onto him, silently begging for him to move. He grunts, taking the hint and starting to slowly pump into me. He pulls my hands away from my face, mumbling "let me see your pretty face,"
He leans down, placing my thighs on either side of him and presses his chest to mine, mumbling praises and grunts into my ear. My arms wrap around his neck, gripping and scratching at his back. His pace quickens as the volume of our skin-to-skin contact gets higher. I tug at his hair, and he groans into my skin.
He pulls away, placing his hands back on my upper thighs with a tight grip, his nails threatening to break skin. He grins at my fucked-out expression. His pace speeds up even more, hitting spots i didn't even know existed. "M' I makin you feel good?"
It was almost mocking. He knew he was. My eyes rolling into the back of my head and the redness of my face was evidence he was.
"So good," My response was barely coherent, the twist of my stomach threatening to break. "m' so close, fuck,"
"Fuck, sweet girl takin' me so well." He chokes out between groans. "Gonna cum again? Gonna show me how good I make you feel?"
My arms fly above my head to grip the sheets behind me. I try to respond, but my thoughts run quiet; the only sound in the room is Chris slamming into me.
"Too dumb on my cock, pretty girl?" He hovers over me, the warmth of his breath hitting my face. "Such a good girl, fuck. Gonna' make me cum."
I whine, my hands flying to brush against his stomach, gripping onto nothing. "please,"
He's looking right at me again. "Gonna fill you up," he mumbles. "You want to be full, don't you sweet thing?"
"Please, please, please-" Is all that leaves my mouth. My hands grip his sides and I dig my nails deep enough to draw blood. "Need it."
He drops his hand between my thighs and rubs circles on my clit. My body shakes in place as the knot in my stomach shatters, bucking my hips up against him.
Chris groans. "Fuck, close,"
I start to whine from the overstimulation, my legs weakly hanging on either side of him as he pounds into me, chasing his orgasm.
He leans down onto me again, digging his teeth into my neck as his movements halt completely, his release filling me.
We stay like that for a minute, both catching our breath. My legs and core are numb, my face is flushed and drenched with sweat, and tears stain my cheeks. He carefully pulls out of me, whispering praises into my ear as I whine from the soreness and pressing kisses to my temple.
He messily kisses my neck, then my cheek, and pulls off of me, wiping the tears off my face. He smiles at my state. "So pretty," He pushes the hair out of my face and runs his thumb along my cheek. "So sweet."
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Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed :) reblogs, likes and follows are appreciated! ! criticism is also appreciated, its how i improve, but please be nice. links below . . .
masterlists ! guidelines / info !
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solarmorrigan · 11 months ago
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Hands Where I Can See Them, Part 6
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
The days pass like cold mud – slow, uncomfortable, and relentless.
But they do pass.
Eddie had said he could give Steve the time he needed, and he’d meant it; he would wait out the two weeks and be there on the other side to talk to him. To hope for a second chance.
They see each other here and there, mostly in passing: Steve comes to pick a few of the kids up from a gaming session; Eddie stops in at Family Video with Jeff, Gareth, and Oliver to grab a movie (where Jeff and Steve exchange a surprisingly friendly greeting); they occupy separate sides of the room at a group dinner.
Each time, Eddie is sure to at least acknowledge and wave at Steve, in spite of any protective hovering and scowling Robin might be doing if she happens to be present. Steve gives cautious nods in return at first, but as they near the deadline, he’s returning Eddie’s distant greetings with a hesitant smile and that ridiculous little finger-wiggle wave that Eddie had been reluctantly charmed by in the beginning.
And in the meantime, Eddie plots.
He is not, by nature, an optimist (strangely, between the two of them, that’s Steve’s area), but in this instance, he plans for the best: the idea that Steve will say yes and let Eddie take him on a proper date. And as improvisational as Eddie likes to be, he’s also a veteran dungeon master and plotter of all sorts of campaigns; if you want long-term plans to go off without a hitch, it pays to be prepared.
So, he plots.
He brainstorms and makes lists of all of Steve’s favorite things and schemes out elaborate romantic gestures and draws on all the knowledge he’s retained from the romcoms he’d whined about having to watch with Steve but had always given in over when Steve gave him that puppy-eyed look that Eddie has no defense against.
(And somehow, he’d continued to think they were just friends. His lack of awareness should be studied as a scientific anomaly.)
He thinks Steve would be proud of his accumulated work (and Eddie himself isn’t ashamed of it, but all the same, he makes sure to hide the notebook where none of the guys will ever, ever stumble across it, because they would never, ever let Eddie live it down).
In any case, the ticking down of two weeks finally comes to an end, and Eddie stands in front of the phone earlier than he’d normally care to be awake, hoping that his work will pay off.
Steve picks up before the fourth ring, just like he always does, and answers the phone like a dork, just like he always does.
“Harrington residence, Steve speaking.”
This is where Eddie normally makes a joke – says he’d been trying for the funeral home and asks if Steve happens to have a shovel and some time on his hands; says he thought he’d had the number for the Hawkins Gentleman’s Club and asks if Steve is much of a dancer; once, he’d even affected a terrible New York accent and spun some lines about how he’d been trying to call a speakeasy. He can always hear the laughter caught behind Steve’s dry responses to his nonsense, and he always loves it.
But now is not “normally,” and Eddie only just manages to sound like himself as he replies, “Steve. Just the Harrington I was hoping would speak.”
“Eddie,” is all Steve says for a moment; he sounds almost surprised, but not displeased. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Eddie says back. “So, I know punctuality has never been my strong suit, but it’s, uh. It’s been two weeks. Pretty much on the dot. And you said I should come talk to you again, so…”
“Uh, yeah. Yeah, no, did you – You can come over. If you want to talk, still,” Steve says – stammers, really, like he’s been caught off-guard, like he really hadn’t been expecting Eddie to call.
“Well, if I didn’t change my mind in two weeks, I’m not gonna change my mind in the fifteen minutes it takes to get to your house,” Eddie says.
“Sure,” Steve says, a little steadier now. “Yeah, I’ll see you in a bit, I guess.”
“You definitely will,” Eddie assures him. “See you in a bit, Steve.”
“Yeah. Yes. Bye, Eddie.”
It’s awkward, but – it’s something.
The only reason Eddie doesn’t break an egregious number of traffic laws on his way to Steve’s house is because he simply couldn’t bear the irony of getting arrested now, of all times. With his luck, he’d get sent up the river and Steve would be left waiting and waiting at his house before coming to the conclusion that Eddie had never really cared about him after all, only to be found surprised and jaded several years later when Eddie is finally released from prison and makes his first stop the Harrington house and – Christ, Eddie’s had romance on the brain too long. He’s going to have to binge reread Lord of the Rings or something to get his head back on straight.
He pulls his head out of the clouds and his van into the Harrington’s ridiculously massive driveway and heads up to the door with a vibrating surplus of energy sustained entirely by nerves and determination.
It seems like he’s not the only one running on anxiety power, though, based on how quickly the door opens after Eddie rings the bell.
It’s the first time Eddie’s really seen Steve up close since the trailer two weeks ago. He looks– better. He’s still tired, Eddie can tell; he’s got that slightly droopy look around his eyes and an almost painful set to his jaw that’s nearly impossible to spot if you don’t know what to look for – and most people don’t (but Eddie’s spent a lot of time learning Steve, even if he hadn’t picked up all the right tells). But he still looks better, and Eddie finds himself relieved.
“Hey, there,” he says, giving Steve a nod. “Just happened to be in the neighborhood, y’know. Thought I’d drop by.”
Steve shakes his head, a tiny smile quirking up at one corner of his mouth. “Come in, jackass.”
“Fine way to treat your guests,” Eddie drawls in return, gratified when Steve’s smile grows just a tiny bit more.
He takes off his shoes at the entryway (Steve hardly ever asks anyone to take off their shoes, because worrying about the state of your floors isn’t cool, but it bothers him all the same, and so Eddie takes them off) and follows Steve through to the living room, where they both perch awkwardly on the couch and sit in an equally awkward silence for about thirty seconds.
“So… you said I should come talk to you,” Eddie says finally.
“I did, yeah.” Steve nods.
“You said to tell you if this was still something I wanted,” Eddie goes on.
“I did, yeah,” Steve says again. “And… you’re here.”
“I told you I wouldn’t change my mind, Steve.” Eddie’s hand twitches, almost instinctively reaching out for a spot on Steve’s knee, or around his wrist, or threaded through his fingers, but he doesn’t think he can take Steve freezing up or pulling away again. “This – you, us – I still want it. I want to do it right. If you’ll give me the chance, I want to treat you how you should be treated.”
Steve nods. “Okay.”
Eddie blinks. “Okay? As in – just, yeah, okay?” He knows he’s not making much sense, but he’d been sort of prepared to have to make his case – to extol the virtues of the perfect dates he had planned, to sing the praises of all the things he knows now that he should appreciate about Steve, to lament the loss of trust and ease between them, but instead Steve is just sitting there, watching him with a funny sort of smile on his face.
“I was… I was never going to say no, Eddie.” Steve shrugs. “I just really needed you to think about it. To make sure this—a real relationship with… with me—is really what you wanted. Because if it’s not, if you took it back again, I don’t think I’d– I just really needed you to be sure.”
“Steve,” Eddie says, low and serious, “I have never been more sure of anything in my life. A real relationship with you is exactly what I want.”
Steve’s smile twitches, changes into something a little more familiar, a little warmer. “Okay.”
“You’re never gonna regret it, sweetheart,” Eddie says, can’t help bouncing a little in his seat as his nerves turn to excitement, to elation. “I have the corniest, most romantic dates planned, I swear, I’m going to knock your socks off. We’ll unlock your inner Molly Ringwald.”
Rolling his eyes, Steve shakes his head at Eddie. “You really don’t have to do all that. I’m not– putting you through a trial, or whatever, we can just go back to what we were doing, right? Just with… I dunno, more awareness.”
“Noooo, no.” Eddie shakes his head right back. “You said you didn’t want to pretend nothing ever happened, and you shouldn’t have to. I want to do this, Steve. Let me take you on a real date.”
Something unreadable flashes across Steve’s face, and suddenly his smile is wrong again. Sort of plastic – like he’s trying, but it’s not quite reaching his eyes. But before Eddie can ask what’s wrong, Steve is shrugging.
“If you insist…”
“I most certainly do,” Eddie says firmly. “I’m gonna romance the shit out of you.”
At that, Steve releases a helpless snort of laughter, and the plastic smile is gone, blown away by a real one.
“You’re making a super good argument for it,” Steve says, and Eddie grins.
“Aren’t I?” He bats his eyelashes. “So tell me: you free on Friday night?”
“I’m working, actually. Someone has to dole out dumb romances to other people out on dates,” Steve says drily, as if he himself hasn’t seen most of the films he’s maligning.
Eddie hums. “Saturday?”
“I could probably get someone to cover my shift,” Steve hedges, teasing and flirty and everything Eddie’s missed in the last few weeks.
“So you’ll be free?” Eddie asks.
“As a bird – as long as that bird isn’t a robin, considering who’s going to have to cover for me,” Steve says, and Eddie pulls a grimace.
“Yeah, maybe don’t tell her why you need the shift covered. I get the feeling she wouldn’t be as agreeable if she knew I was involved,” he says.
“I don’t think Robin’s ever been agreeable in her life, and she’d probably resent the accusation.” Steve smirks. “But as long as she doesn’t think I’m sneaking away to see you, and if I take the Monday morning shift she really hates, I don’t think it’ll be a problem. Let’s plan for Saturday?”
“Saturday it is!” Eddie pops up off the couch, both unwilling to sour the mood by overstaying his welcome, and suddenly overflowing with the need to set preparations in motion. “Six o’clock, sharp! I’ll pick you up.”
“Do I get to know where we’re going?” Steve asks, one eyebrow cocked.
“Absolutely not. The surprise is part of the experience,” Eddie says.
“Dress code, at least?” Steve wheedles, and Eddie supposes that’s fair.
“Casual. And bring a jacket,” Eddie says.
Both of Steve’s brows go up now, as he rises from the couch to follow Eddie back out towards the door. “Telling someone to bring outerwear to a date is usually a red flag, man,” he says, watching as Eddie shoves his shoes back on.
“But you love being outside,” Eddie counters, glancing up at Steve with a grin.
“I,” Steve pauses, blinking at him. “I guess.”
“And no more hints,” Eddie says, rising from the floor and reaching for the door handle. “I’ll see you on Saturday?”
“Yeah,” Steve says, his voice warming around a small, pleased smile, “I’ll see you on Saturday.”
“Can’t wait.” Eddie throws one last grin at him before stepping out into the brisk, late fall air.
He doesn’t stop smiling the whole way home.
Part 7
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Tag List (Drop me a line if you'd like off the ride): @bushbees @y0urnewstepp4r3nt @gleek4twd @hellfireone @westifer-dead @anne-bennett-cosplayer @starman-jpg @mugloversonly @swimmingbirdrunningrock @alycatavatar @y4r3luv @rhapsodyinalto @vinteraltus @lilpomelito @tillystealeaves @noctxrn-e @pearynice @giverobinagfbrigade @novacorpsrecruit @hotluncheddie @strangersteddierthings @alongcomesaspider @theheadlessphilosopher @jettestar @rajumat @garden-of-gay @jamieweasley13 @dam28lh @oldwitcheshat @lololol-1234 @perfectlysensiblenonsense @salty-h0e @r0binscript @mavernanche @back2beesness @a-lovely-craziness @paintsplatteredandimperfect @redbullgivescaswings @emmabubbles @heartstarstar-blog @thesuninyaface @thatonebisexualman @fruitandbubbles @erinharvelle @m-owo-n @theystoodandplayedwithsilence @surroundedbyconfusion @luthienstormblessed @3ldr1tchang3l @pansexuality-activated
The tag list is full at this time, but I'll be posting this fic to Ao3 soon, so hopefully people can subscribe there if they want update alerts?
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c0la-queen · 9 months ago
Note
RAGHHHHHHHHH
Could you ever so kind and provide some general dating Headcannons for all the four boys?? 🥺👉👈
Maybe some extra with red leader or someone else if you’re fine with that??? 🥺💜
Mwah mwah you have amazing work <3 /p
Oh my gods I am SO sorry that this is so late!! For some reason, Mr. Tumblr decided not to notify me about your ask?? And then I was at my bestie's house this weekend, so I haven't checked my inbox until now. Begging for your forgiveness rn Anon!!
Also literally kissing you for asking for Red Leader!! Mwah, mwah!!
---
Edd
If you are dating Edd... girlie I am so sorry for your sanity.
Don't get me wrong, I love Edd! He was my first Eddsworld love, my pookie bear for real! But he's the biggest bastard of the entire gang and I stand by that.
Calls you dumb pet names to try and make you laugh. Sugar Tits (regardless of gender or lack thereof, might I add), Baby Doll, Sexy.
He WILL grab/slap your ass all the time. Even in public. Only grins when you glare at him.
This man is a horrible influence. It will be so hard to get your shit done if he has decided that you need to be spending time with him. Why worry about work or chores when you could be all cuddled up with him and Ringo on the couch?
Will sulk if you reject his attempts.
If he's trying to get shit done and you're pestering him for attention? He will drop his basket of laundry or the dishes in his hands in a millisecond.
If he's working on a commission or animation, he'll let you sit in his lap in his chair, let you sit all pretty for him while he works. When he finishes, if you've fallen asleep by then -which you usually do - then he'll carefully move you both to his bed and snuggle up to you and take a nap with you.
Speaking of cuddling, he does naturally run hot. Comes with being a big boy <3 But if you don't enjoy that, then he'll use his powers to cool down his skin for you. Anything to keep cuddling!
He also uses his powers whenever possible. Will abuse them without shame. He puts things on the highest shelf, just so you have to him for help. He'll put patches of ice on the floor under your feet, just so he can catch you before you fall (he'll never let you actually get hurt), and uses his super strength to scoop you up randomly and carry you around.
You cannot show your text messages to ANYONE. He will say filthy things, just to fluster you. Horny Bastard. Finds ways to turn even the most mundane conversations into teasing.
He'd do cute couple things with you, like painting together and swapping canvases every 5 minutes. His favorite is going to cat cafes. The cats literally love him, its like he's made of catnip with how they swarm him.
Physical affection is a huge thing with him. Even little touches throughout the day, like ruffling your hair as he passes by, or a big hug from behind while you fix food.
Overall, big teddy bear that just likes to see his darling blush.
Tom
As I've stated in previous works, Tom is a secret romantic.
He's not a traditional romantic like Matt, but he's romantic in his own way.
Likes parallel play a lot. Finds it relaxing to just sit in his room, testing new songs on his bass while you lay on his bed reading a book. Or in your room, lounging on one of your plush beanbag and organizing his Spotify playlists while you fold your laundry.
Dates with him consist of record stores, concerts, and late night walks.
He'll sing for you if you ask him to.
Very down to earth, both as a person and as a boyfriend. If you have problems, he'll listen patiently until you're done, then help you brainstorm solutions. He doesn't downplay or ignore your feelings, but he doesn't jump to emotions like others might.
He tends to sleep in late on his nights off, since he's more of a night owl than anything. You know that, so you've made it a little tradition to fix him coffee around 11. You know exactly how he takes it, and he always thanks you with a kiss on the cheek and a sleepy, mumbled "you're the best."
Very caring. He'll make sure you've eaten and had water. Will usher you to bed if he can see that you're tired, or do your chores for you if you can't do them for whatever reason. If you can't sleep, he'll make you a mug of chamomile tea and sing you a little lullaby.
When it comes to his monster tendencies, he tries to keep you away from it all. He's bitter about what he is, and he thinks that you're better off separated from that side of him.
At the start of relationship, he'd get angry if you tried to push it. He'd snap at you, distance himself, not talk to you for maybe a couple of days. Further on in the relationship, though, if you push the issue and reassure him that you love every side of him, even the monstrous one, then he'd be more willing. Willing to let you in, to let you see that part of him. He'd be nervous about it, but he'd do it because he loves you.
Matt
He is a traditional romantic! His Mama raised him right, and he drinks his Respect Juice.
Makes sure you two have date night at least once every week. Dressing up nice, going out to dinner or a play, taking a walk through the town to wind down the night. Heading back into the house, changing back into comfortable clothes. He'd wipe your makeup off for you, if you wear it.
Absolutely the kind of guy to get down on his knees in front of you and unbuckle/untie your shoes or high heels for you. He's just so devotional.
If, for whatever reason, you guys are unable to have your date night, he'll make it up to you in some way. A bouquet of your favorite flowers sitting on your bed with a little note. A passionate kiss before one of you has to leave the house. A heartfelt love letter sealed with wax.
Makes sure to text you throughout the day with sweet messages. Compliments, "I love you"s, selfies, updates on what is happening at work. Or just reminders that he's thinking of you. Misses you.
Likes to cook meals for you if its just the two of you at home. Breakfast is his forte, but he's not the worst at following a recipe.
Always amazing for advice. He'll let you talk to him while he hugs you from behind. If it's something sad, he might cry. Just the idea of you going through something negative makes him sad, too.
If he doesn't have advice for you, he'd do anything in his power to find someone who does. One of the other roommates, or even his mother, if you're comfortable with it.
Speaking of his mother, she absolutely adores you. Since Matt has such a good relationship with her, he's already told her so much about you. She thinks its wonderful that her baby has fallen in love. After a while, Matt will even bring you along to his lunches with his mother. You two hit it off instantly.
If you're okay with it, then Matt would love to show you off on his social media. He thinks you're so gorgeous, the entire world should know that he managed to land you. Its never anything invasive, and he always gets your permission before he posts things. Blocks any weird or gross comments.
Loves going on shopping dates with you. Most of the time, its at the mall or a mall in a different town, because he loves walking around and window shopping. Occasionally, he'll take you to more expensive stores. It doesn't bother him, he loves spoiling you. No matter where you two are, he'll buy you anything that you want. If you are adamant to spend your own money, he won't put up too much of a fuss, though he does prefer to pay for you.
He'll do that couples trend with you where you find nail polish that matches the other's eye color.
Gift giving is just one of his love languages in general. It makes him so happy to give his loved one things that he bought. For you specifically, he'll also throw in hand made gifts. He may not be the most talented artistically, but he'll stay awake late into the night, sitting on the floor with a YouTube tutorial playing, paper and cardboard scattered around, a pencil between his teeth, paint on his hands and smeared on his cheek. The end result may look a little crude, but he'll still present it to you with pride. And, of course, you always love it.
Tord
Tord is probably the most romantically stunted of the four. Its not that he doesn't love you, far from it really. He just grew up in an environment where love wasn't freely given, and was often limited for appearances.
His father, as the Red Leader, insisted that he keep a professional and feared image. So, Tord never saw him being affectionate with his mother.
It might be hard at first. You'll struggle. You two may fight. But you'll always make up in the end. He'll listen to you, try to understand your point of view.
He's not against physical affection, but he's able to live without it. Will indulge you whenever you ask. If he's busy, which he usually is, he'll let you drape yourself over him from behind while he sits in his chair, letting you rest your cheek on the top of his head and watch him work.
More than anything, his love language is words of affirmation. Despite being a man of few words, he'll always give you praise. He'll make sure you know that you are his, he is yours, and he loves you. Nothing will change that.
Scary dog privilege. He'll always walk just behind you in public, keeping a guiding hand on the small of your back. Stays alert of you surroundings and the people around, so that you don't have to. You don't even have to worry about people approaching you in public. One piercing glare from Tord is enough to deter anyone.
Not the best at giving advice to problems. He'll listen, but sometimes he can't quite understand why something is an issue. Doesn't invalidate your feelings on purpose, it just happens inadvertently at times. Always, ALWAYS apologizes and holds you close when he realizes what he did.
His preferred dates are nights in at home. Cuddled up on the couch with takeout watching shitty rom-coms. Cooking food that he ate growing up in Norway while you sit at the kitchen table watching. Going to the convenience store at midnight to get Ben and Jerry's in the middle of anime binges.
You become his crutch. When he's having bad paranoia on nights that are too quiet, he'll seek you out. Just having you lay in bed with him, warm and solid and breathing, always calms him down.
He will never let you meet his parents. You are one of the very few good things in his life, and he wants to keep that away from his fucked up home life. Might let you meet his little sister, but not for a long time.
Surprisingly, he does tend to talk more when its just the two of you. He allows you into his head, verbalizing his thoughts to you. He'll ramble about his projects, tell you about the history behind his culture, or rant about things that annoy him. Denies it vehemently in front of others.
He is a huge tease, second only to Edd. What's dangerous is how casual he is about it. Loves making you squirm, and he'll never even change his expression. Sometimes he won't even be looking at you, but rest assured that he is swimming in satisfaction over how flustered you are.
Red Leader
I have so many thoughts about him. Oh my lord.
This is going off the scenario where Reader is a Red Army soldier and met him through the army, after the events of The End.
I want to clarify that this is NOT following the events of TBATF!!! This is my own Red Army timeline, what I refer to in my Eddsworld bubble as "The Bad End"
There are two ways that you'd be able to catch Red Leader's attention. Either you are an extremely talented soldier that does well among your peers, enough to earn the praise of your superior officers and eventually Red Leader himself. Or, you were assigned as his personal assistant to help with paperwork and meetings, but you were so good at handling his temper and attitude that he found himself surprised.
The latter of the two is my favorite, so I'll be working under that one.
Before you, Red Leader had been through several assistants. None of them lasted more than a month. By nature, he was a moody, temperamental man. The stress of the army and oncoming war only made that worse. He saw those previous assistants as nuisances, only getting in his way. He would yell at them, berate them, drive them to the brink until they beg Paul and Pat to transfer them.
When they assigned you to him, they expected the same thing to happen. The two even made bets on how long you'd last. On your first day, Red Leader was nasty to you. Gruff and rude. But... you bit back. That took him by surprise. Instead of taking the insult and shuffling out like a puppy with its tail between its legs, you pursed your lips and gave him a stern look and talked to him in a way that nobody dared to. He should've been angry. Should have screamed at you, discharged you from the army in a heartbeat.
Instead, he found that he quite enjoyed it. He enjoyed your spitfire. Not that he'd let you know. He only gave you a noncommittal hum and dismissed you with a wave of his hand. But... he kept you around. Even found excuses for you to come into his office more than necessary. His penchant for teasing came back full force. He'd poke and prod, finding ways to make you react with that fire he so loved.
It takes a long time for him to finally make a move. Probably takes a near-death experience for him, or an injury to you for him to realize that he wants this. He wants a future with you.
At first, he may seem a little cold in public. Not to the degree that his father was - he promised himself that he would never be like his father. Simply a more... professional air about the entire thing. It was more out of anxiety than anything. He didn't want to make you a target, didn't want to cause you to get hurt. As his army grows more powerful and takes over more and more countries, he grows more comfortable with PDA. He knows that when he is the most powerful man in the world, he doesn't have to worry about anyone hurting you.
He would probably treat you more like a spouse than a girlfriend/boyfriend right off the bat. He's older now, thinking more about the future than the present. He already knows that he wants to be with you forever, so why go through the formalities and hassle of dating?
Always makes time for you whenever he can. If he's in a meeting with his generals or another world leader, he'll sneak text messages to you. Doesn't give a shit if he's caught. What are they going to do to him, Red Leader?
If he's cooped up in his office all day, his door is always open to you. Loves having you drop by unannounced to bring him food or coffee. He'll let you climb into his lap while he works, or sit behind him in his chair and cling to him. Even if you're just sitting in a separate chair nearby, working on your own stuff. He's happy.
If you want to continue being a soldier, or his assistant, he'll let you. But he's also perfectly happy to have you simply be his partner and not have a care in the world. You could sit all pretty in his quarters waiting for him to get off duty, or use the time to pursue your own hobbies and interests. As long as you're happy and cared for, it's okay with him.
Spoils you rotten. You're Red Leader's, so of course you only deserve the best things. Anything in the world you want, you only have to ask for it. It's yours. He would raze entire cities just to see you smile.
He does enjoy taking you out on dates. While also spending time with you, he sees it as a way to show you off to the world. Dressing you up in the finest clothes that he got you, the prettiest jewelry that he bought. Taking you to restaurants and operas where everyone can see you hanging on his arm. It makes him puff up with pride.
When the two of you are alone, he's so adoring. Loves snuggling. It's a struggle to convince him to let you out of bed in the mornings, he'll just be clinging to you. If you do somehow manage to escape his grasp, he'll catch you around the waist and drag you back to bed. Won't stop until Paul or Pat message him to get his ass out of bed. He always grumbles about how "it's my damn army, I should get to sleep in as long as I want".
Sometimes, at night, he has pains in his right shoulder, the side where he's burned and amputated. It can range from a dull ache to excruciating pain. On nights that it hurts too much to move, you'll scramble out of bed and get his medication from his nightstand, gently coaxing him to take it. You'll hold him and comfort him until the pain subsides and he falls back asleep.
He doesn't like to talk about it, really. It feels weird, letting anyone see this part of his life. Letting you see his vulnerability. Letting you see him.
But he does.
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beybaldes · 1 year ago
Text
it was simple, it was sweetness, it was good to know
Roy Kent × Fem!Reader
word count : 15.1k a fucking whopper I started writing and couldn’t stop this is the longest oneshot I’ve ever written in my life
summary : the 5 times Phoebe got dropped off at your house and the 5 times Roy realised he was in love with you.
content warning : tooth rotting fluff with the whole Kent family line, a little angst if you squint really really hard, allusions to smut towards the end but non actually written, me calling Roy’s sister Molly but I can’t remember where I first saw it, no use of yn.
masterlist
a/n : if you want to see a spin off based on any part of this please dot because writing this has broke my writers block!!!! I’d love to write some more Roy <33
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1. the first time
It had taken Roy about 15 seconds to decide he was going to drop Phoebe off with you.
When Molly had shown up on his doorstep at 5am, with an asleep Phoebe in her arms, citing she'd been called in for a surgery, he mentally rearranged his whole day to accommodate for his favourite girl. It wasn't until lunchtime rolled around that he remembered an important meeting with Ted and Beard that he, unfortunately, couldn't get out of. So, while brainstorming who on earth he could leave Phoebe with, his mind quickly settled on you.
You were sensible and probably good with kids considering he could remember a couple of mentions of a niece of your own, and he knew - given it was the weekend - that you'd probably be free to look after her. And, not to Roy's surprise, you'd quickly said yes when he called to ask if that was okay.
While it had only been 20 minutes since Roy called, he was already at your doorstep, Phoebe's hand held tightly in his as they waited for you to answer the door.
"Is she pretty?" Phoebe asked, eyes unmoving from the unfamiliar front door as she spoke to her uncle Roy.
Roy scoffed at the question, unsure where it had come from and why his niece couldn't have asked this in the car. If she'd asked in the car he would've given an enthusiastic yes, a smile creeping on his lips as he thought about you, and how you always looked pretty - even if you were in a Richmond pullover and sulking in your office - especially then, actually. "Why does it matter?"
Before Phoebe could answer him, your front door swung open, you behind it with a wide smile. No sooner then it had opened, you'd crouched down to Phoebe's level, giving her a small wave and a bright smile. "Hi Phoebe! I hope you don't mind that you've got to spend the day with me instead of your uncle Roy."
"I don't mind at all," Phoebe shrugged, the straps of her backpack moving greatly with the movement of her much smaller shoulders. "I see my uncle roy all the time."
The laugh that bubbled past your lips made Roy's heart skip a beat, and for a moment he forgot why he was even standing on your doorstep.
As you stood up straight, you gently took Phoebes hand in your own, pulling her closer to you and your home and giving Roy the opportunity to head off for his meeting. "We should let your uncle Roy get going then, shouldn't we?"
"Thanks again for doing this, I owe you one." Maybe I could take you to dinner as thanks? Roy wanted to add, but wasn't brave enough to do so. If he wasn't so head over heels for you, maybe it's be easier to do something about it.
"Don't worry about it," you brushed him off, gently pushing him off of your doorstep and back in the direction of his car, knowing he had places to be. "I'd like to think you'd do the same for me."
"Bye uncle Roy!" Phoebe shouted, giving him one last wave before running into your house, you quickly following after her to make sure she didn't injure herself exploring the new territory.
Thankfully, she made a b-line for your couch, climbing onto it and emptying the contents of her backpack out on the seat next to her. She pulled a colouring book into her lap and grabbed a fist full of pens, quickly pulling off the caps of her favourite colours and getting to work on her masterpiece.
"Have you had any lunch yet, Phoebe?"
"No, uncle Roy was about to make me lunch when he called you."
While you knew Roy was rushing to his meeting, you didn't realise he'd seemed to forget about it completely.
Phoebes lack of lunch had you searching through all your cupboards for something suitable to feed a 7 year old, and when you couldn't find anything you'd have wanted to eat at 7, your turned to her with a smile. "How do you feel about a trip to Tesco? You can pick out whatever you want for lunch?"
"Perfect!" Phoebe cheered, pushing her pens to the side as quickly as she'd picked them up, running back to your front door to put her shoes and coat on. As soon as she was dressed, you opened up the front door, grabbing your car keys from the dish by the door and directing her in the direction of your car as she ran ahead of you in her excitement.
"Phoebe, you don't need a booster seat do you?" While you had your own niece, she was still young enough to be in a carrier everywhere she went, so you weren't entirely sure what the protocol was for 7 year olds.
"I don't have one in my uncle Roy's car." That was good enough for you.
Phoebe spent the whole car ride to the shops chatting your ear off, bringing you up to speed on everything that was happening at school and football and how many times she'd been red carded this season alone. In many ways, she was like a miniature version of Roy, so it was easy to love being in her presence.
As you arrived at Tesco, you made Phoebe promise she'd stay close to you at all times, not wanting to lose her as soon as Roy had entrusted her in to your care - that wouldn't be good for anyone involved. Phoebe was quick to pull you by the hand in the direction of the frozen aisle, clearly set on something in particular for her lunch.
She broke free from your hold as you reached the end of the aisle, heading straight in the direction of the frozen chicken nuggets and pulling as hard as she could to open the door. Once she'd managed to pry the door open, she climbed inside of the freezer, attempting to reach one of the higher up shelves in search of what she wanted.
"Phoebe, sweetheart, let me help you." As you stood behind Phoebe, you put your hands under her arms, picking her up and bringing her to your height so that she could grab whatever she'd been looking for. "Turkey Dinosaurs? Good choice."
"The only correct choice, bruv." Isaac was right behind you, Colin on his left and Will on his right.
"Oh, boys, hi!" Phoebe leaned in closer towards you as the sudden appearance of the three men. While she'd exhumed confidence from the moment you'd met her a few hours ago, she seemed to shy away slightly at the sight of the three footballers. "What're you doing here?"
"Day off, innit." Isaac, never a man of many words, was quick to answer your question, though had one waiting for you in return. "Who's this?"
Phoebe's grip around your neck increased slightly again as Isaac pointed directly at her. You shifted her in your arms so that she'd face the three a bit better, knowing non of them posed any threat to her. "This is Phoebe. Phoebe this is Colin, Isaac and Will; say hi."
Now that she'd been introduced to them, a wide smile curled onto Phoebes face, her toothy grin making an appearance that had Colin and Isaac smiling right back.
"I didn't know you were a mum." Will spluttered out, staring at you and Phoebe with a rather surprised look on his face.
"Oh, I'm not," you were quick to reassure, though immediately regretted it as you had no clue how to explain how this child they'd never seen before had come into your care. You knew Roy well enough to know he loved his privacy more then anything, so you decided the best course of action was to keep it. "She's my niece."
"Cool." Isaac nodded, prompting the others to nod on silent acceptance of the knowledge they'd just gained. "Can you pass me a bag of the turkey dinosaurs, Phoebe?"
As soon as Isaac got his bag of turkey dinosaurs, he, Colin and Will were quick to leave, waving a goodbye to the two of you and getting on with the own shop. Once they'd left the aisle, you let out a loud sigh, pent up tension from the sudden reunion seeping out of your body. Phoebe dropped the turkey dinosaurs into the basket you'd picked up, wiggling out of your grasp and taking your hand instead.
"Why did you tell them I was your niece?" Phoebe guided you further down the frozen aisle as she questioned your actions, walking a few paces in front of you, your connect hands dangling between the two of you.
"Your uncle Roy is a very private person," you started, unsure exactly of what was the right thing to tell a 7 year old on such a matter. "I didn't want to tell them you were Roy's niece in case they decided that meant something more"
"Something more?" Phoebe wandered out loud, stopping in front of the ice cream section and pulling the door open. "Like if they though that meant you were dating my uncle Roy."
Jesus Christ, 7 year olds were so much smarter and observant then you'd thought. "Yeah, something like that."
"And why aren't you dating?" You didn't know what to say to that, instead opting to pick Phoebe up once more so that she could reach the specific tub of ice cream she was searching for. "My mum says uncle Roy should date someone nice and you're nice."
"Well I'm glad you think I'm nice, pheeb's." You ruffled the blondes hair as you placed her back on the ground, allowing her to place the ice cream in the basket before grabbing her hand once more. "How about we grab a pizza too? Just incase you're here for tea?"
Phoebe loved the idea, sprinting down to the end of the aisle in search of the pizzas with a wide smile on her face.
The rest of your day with Phoebe had flown by, you'd come home and eaten your lunch of turkey dinosaurs and potato waffles, done some colouring in, played knights and dragons, eaten your ice cream, and watched a movie. As the first spy kids had come to an end, something you'd put on at phoebes request all though you were heavily invested in it the whole time, you put the pizza she'd picked out in the oven.
"Phoebe," you shouted from the kitchen as you made your way back into the living room. "It's getting kind of late, sweetheart, do you have any pjs in your bag?"
"No," she instantly replied, licking her spoon clean of ice cream even though it only really added to the rim of vanilla that had formed around her mouth. "I don't pack pjs in my bag because I have some in my room at uncle Roy's house."
If you'd have had the common sense to ask earlier, you might've picked some up while the two of you were in Tesco, but you hadn't, and now you had to make do with what you had. "You want to get in some of my pjs pheeb's? I'll get into pjs too and then we can be all comfy while we eat our pizza and watch spy kids 2."
"I won't fit in your pjs." Phoebe countered, but got off the couch nonetheless, placing her empty bowl on your coffee table and joining you by the kitchen door. Lacing her fingers through your own she allowed you to guide her in the direction of your room.
She dove straight for the bed when you opened the door, similarly to how she'd made a b-line for your sofa earlier in the day when she'd arrived, but was quick to hop right back off of it when you opened your wardrobe doors. You stood quietly behind her as she picked out one of your T-shirts to act as a night dress.
"This one!" She proclaimed, quick to swap her current outfit for your top before sprinting out of your bedroom. Before you could ask what on earth she was doing, the oven started to beep. "Pizza's ready!"
You picked up the pile of clothes Phoebe had left behind, throwing it by her shoes at the door so that you wouldn't forget to pack them up whenever Roy came to collect her. Then you went back to the kitchen, clicking the timer off to stop the loud beeping and pulling the pizza out of the oven. Phoebe stood behind you doing some kind of 'pizza dance' as she'd called it as you cut it into 8 slices, grabbing one big plate to place it onto.
"Race you back to the sofa." Phoebe didn't need to be told twice, running for the sofa and throwing herself into the mess of blankets, pillows and felt tip pens. As soon as the two of you were comfortably settled, you put spy kids 2 on, the pair of you tucking into your dinner without a thought spared as to where Roy was or just how late it was really getting.
Though you didn't remember falling asleep, a knocking at your front door had you waking up. Sometime between pizza and now, Phoebe had crawled into your lap, and instead of waking her to go to the door, you scooped her into your arms, resting her on your hip as you stumbled sleepily from your sofa to your front door.
When you opened the door, Roy looked like he'd been prepped with an apology, something about how he'd never meant to come back so late and how he really owed you one now but his words befell him at the sight of you and Phoebe on the other side of the door.
It was a sight to behold, especially to a lovesick Roy. Your hair was all tousled and you still looked half asleep, Phoebe was fast asleep in your arms and in what he guessed was one of your shirts. "Roy," you crooned, opening the door even wider. "Come in, I just need to pack up Phoebe's stuff."
Roy shuffled into your living room, his hands still tucked stiffly in his pockets as you began to pace around the room packing phoebes things while she was still in your arms. It was a level of domesticity Roy hadn't been prepared to see when he came to pick up his niece, and it sent his head whirling.
It was almost too easy to imagine you in this position with him, and a child of your own in your arms instead. He shook the thought from his head, bending down to pick up phoebe's day clothes and shoes from beside the door as you put all her felt tips back into her bag, along with her colouring book - save the first drawing she'd done which she'd torn out, demanding you keep it to remember your day together.
When you were certain you'd collected everything from the couch that had come in her bag, and put it back where it belonged, you turned to face Roy with a sleepy smile. "How was your coaches meeting?"
A smile curled on Roy's lips, something rare that almost surprised you to see. "Good. Long. But we got shit done so I can't really complain; although it would've been nice if it could've wrapped up before fucking midnight."
"Oh my god, is it that late?" You passed Phoebe's backpack to Roy, watching fondly as he slid one strap over his shoulder like clockwork. The thought couldn't help but slip into your mind that it was a sight you'd like to see more often.
"What did you two get up to today?" Roy asked, pulling Phoebes coat from the hanger by the door and slinging it over the crook in his elbow.
"Well, we went and got some lunch, and did some colouring, and played knights and dragons and watched spy kids 1 and 2. She kept me nice and busy, don't you worry."
Roy reached out for phoebe, taking her slowly and gently from your hold in his best attempt to keep her asleep as he took her home. "Not too busy I hope."
"No just the right amount." You bit back a laugh, cautious to not wake the sleeping child now that she was safely in her uncles arms. Pushing a strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail back behind her ear, you thought back fondly on the day you'd shared and how easily It was to get on with Phoebe. "She's a great kid."
"Yeah, she really is." Finally, Roy was back on your doorstep, Phoebe in his arms and the pitch black of night behind him. "Thanks again, I really owe you one."
"It's no issue, really, I had a great time." You closed your door too, you leaning against the edge of the it being the only thing keeping it open. "Always happy to do it again, if you need me."
A million different responses crossed Roy's mind, some just inappropriate and some really fucking corny, so he settled on the easiest one to say. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." You responded with a small wave, creeping back into the darkness of your house without another word.
As Roy made the short walk down from your front door to his car, he tried to control the erratic beating of his heart less it wake Phoebe up. Though you'd offered to take Phoebe in again if he ever needed it, he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to take you up on the offer, not when the domestic scene of you with his niece made his feelings for you even more intense.
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2. the time when Roy had too many appointments
Though Roy had sworn he wouldn't drop Phoebe off with you again for the sake of his own feelings, he was calling you up to ask if you could look after her again less then a week later. Molly had been called into work again last minute, and it just so happened to be on the day when Roy decided to get all his check ups out of the way in one fell swoop.
You'd assured him through the phone that it was okay, and that you'd absolutely love to hang out with her again, however, when you'd asked how soon he'd be dropping her off the line went quiet.
"That's the thing," Roy started, a hesitance to his tone that told you he was reconsidering this whole request and on the verge of rescheduling his 5pm dentist appointment. "You'd need to pick her up from school. I can pick her up from 7pm, at the latest, so you'd just need to pick her up from school and give her some tea. I hope that's not too big-"
You didn't let Roy finish his sentence. "It's no problem Roy, really. Send me the address and I'll be there at 3pm?"
"Pick ups at 3:10, but that's perfect, thank you." You couldn't even see him and you could feel the smile that was pulling at his lips on the other side of the phone. "I really fucking mean that too, thank you."
"It's no problem Roy, really, I'll see you later."
You had an hour before you needed to pick Phoebe up, so you made a run for Tesco, picking up a jar of pasta sauce incase she didn't want the half a bag of turkey dinosaurs and potato waffles that were still in your freezer, a bag of popcorn incase she didn't want ice cream again, and a set of kids size 8 pjs.
Though Roy said he'd be back for her by 7pm, you doubted she'd want to stay in her school uniform, and it'd be better to get a size 8 and it be too big then pick up a size 7 and it be too small.
On a second thought, you grabbed a second pair of the plain pjs, and some tiny slippers, knowing it wouldn't harm anyone to keep a spare pair of comfy clothes and shoes for her incase she came by again at the last minute. While you were in the kids clothing section, you picked up a pair of jeans and a pack of plain T-shirts, wanting to be prepared incase she were to ever show up in her pyjamas instead of her day clothes. Deciding you'd got everything you needed, you sped through the checkouts and got in your car, not wanting to be late to pick up Phoebe from school.
Luckily, you arrived with 5 minutes to spare, lingering around the gate with the other parents that had come to pick up there kids. Only then did it dawn on you that you may have needed some kind of note to prove you weren't kidnapping Phoebe and as you pulled out your phone to text Roy in a frenzy, you'd discovered he'd already sent you a message.
Teacher knows you're coming, I got Molly to send a message. might ask you to sign some shit confirming you picked her up though.
Even though Roy wasn't here, you felt ten times calmer, moving through the gate as it opened and towards the classroom door furthest from it, as Roy had told you to go to. A loud bell rung and suddenly kids came sprinting out from all directions, some running straight to and out of the main gate and others nervously looking around for whoever was picking them up.
You watched as a head of blonde hair in two neat plaits lingered in the classroom door, eyes scanning the playground for a familiar face, her mouth dropping open in a gasp as she made eye contact with you. With a cry of your name, Phoebe came running from the classroom, a bright smile on her face at your sudden appearance outside her classroom. "What are you doing here?"
"Your uncle Roy has got the dentist, so we're going to go back to mine for tea - if that's okay pheeb's?"
"That's perfect! Lets go home." Phoebe tried to pull you out of the playground and back to your car, but you pulled her back to stand in front of you.
"One minute sweetheart, got to make sure your teacher knows I'm not kidnapping you." Phoebe lead you right back to the classroom door, calling on her teacher, Ms Bowen, as she dragged you into the room. "Hi, Ms Bowen, I'm here to pick Phoebe up; I think Molly told you I was coming?"
"Ah yes, Mrs Kent, it's a pleasure to meet you." Mrs Kent Mrs Kent Mrs Kent. Molly, Roy's sister, had told Phoebe's teacher that you were Mrs Kent. It took everything in you not to absolutely spiral with the new piece of information.
"Yeah, lovely to meet you," You tried to avoid Ms Bowen's gaze, it having an edge to it that suggested you weren't entirely welcome here. "Roy said I might have to sign something, so you know I'm not fucking kidnapping her or anything." As soon as the words slipped from your mouth you were apologising for them. "I'm so sorry that just slipped out."
"Well, at least I can be sure you're Mrs Kent. You and Phoebe are free to go." You barely had time to say goodbye to Ms Bowen before Phoebe was dragging you towards your car, impatiently pulling at the handle in an attempt to get in quicker and spend even more time with you. If you weren't so caught up in the fact you'd just been called Mrs Kent, then maybe you'd find her excitement even more endearing.
"So, how was school, pheeb's?"
The car ride back home was filled with another update from Phoebe on what you'd missed in the 4 days you hadn't seen each other and the 3 days of school she'd had since the weekend. Since it was a slightly longer drive back home then from Tesco, you'd even got to introduce Phoebe to some of your favourite songs.
As you pulled onto your street, Phoebe was already buzzing in her seat, desperate it seemed to get inside. Letting her make a run for the door as you got out of the car, knowing she couldn't get in without your key, you made your way around to the boot, pulling out your bag of goodies. "Got you some stuff to change into pheeb's," pulling out both the pyjamas and the normal clothes, you handed them to her, keeping the slippers in the bag still. "Go get changed and bring me your uniform when your done, yeah? I'll pop it in the wash for your mum and we can put on a movie or something until tea time."
Phoebe was sprinting off in the direction of your bedroom to change within seconds of you finishing speaking. In the two times you'd had the pleasure of meeting Phoebe she always seemed to be rushing and running about, but that was what kids were like, you guessed; even if she was the calmest child ever - and she was pretty calm compared to some of those other kids you'd seen in the playground today - you reckon you'd think she was all over the place, especially compared to yourself.
When Phoebe came back out in the plaid, pink pyjama bottoms and a plain white t-shirt, she declared she wasn't hungry yet and wanted to watch spy kids 3; telling you it was basically mandatory for you finished the movie series now you'd watched the first 2. You were happy to oblige of course, Phoebe cuddling into your side as you took a seat next to her on the sofa.
Half an hour into the movie, you whispered the question of what to have for dinner to Phoebe and she perked up at the mention of pasta, allowing you to bail on the second half of the film in order to make it. It didn't take long of course, but you were wary of the fact Roy was picking her up sooner rather then later this time around.
Roy. Roy. Even thinking of the handsome coach you worked with had your thoughts spiralling. Once you'd managed to crack your way through his hard exterior, you'd found one of the most thoughtful and caring people you've ever met, and if you didn't like him already, that side of him had you falling head over heels. The Roy that brought you coffee in the mornings when he stopped to get his own, the Roy that would buy you lunch without asking if you wanted any but would kick up a fuss if anyone else tried to get him to add to that order, the Roy that left sticky note reminders on the door of your office because he knew you'd forget something, the Roy that trusted you so much he was willing to leave his niece with you on multiple occasions. Your brain had been so consumed by Roy that you'd made him up a plate of pasta, and instead of putting it back into the pot, settled with covering it in tinfoil and giving it him to take home. However, before you could call Phoebe in to ask if she wanted cheese on top of her pasta, there was a knock at your door.
In an instant, you pulled the tinfoil back off of the extra plate of pasta, and opened the bag of grated cheese, then rushed to the door, opening wide to find Roy on the other side. "You're just in time for dinner." Without thinking, or so much as a hello, how are you, or how was the dentist, you grabbed Roy's hand, pulling him inside your house and into your kitchen. "Pheeb's dinner!"
"Uncle Roy!" Phoebe shouted, running into the brunettes arms, him bending down to pick her up. As soon as she was perched in his hold, she was quick to recount the days events like she had with you a couple of hours earlier, only pausing to answer your question of 'cheese?' and taking a fistful to sprinkle on her plate whilst finishing her recap of the day.
It was only then did Roy notice that you'd already played three bowls of pasta up, even though you shouldn't have been expecting him soon enough to eat with the two of you. Carefully he put Phoebe down, handing her her bowl of pasta and urging her to get back to the sofa and eat, promising that the two of you were right behind her.
"You made me up a plate?" Roy asked, part confused and part in complete adoration. The simplicity of it; such a small action meant so much to the retired footballer. Even in his absence you'd thought of him, made extra food for him, plated it up perfectly in time with his arrival. If he allowed his thoughts to wander, he would've revelled in the warmth of the action, in how loved it made him feel - as though normalcy was something completely within his grasps. As if it was something he could easily have with you.
"Yeah, of course I did. Can't have my favourite coach going hungry, can I?" You squeezed at his hand when you called him your favourite coach, and only god knows what would've happened if Phoebe hadn't called your name from the room over. Roy was certain he would've made a move; told you exactly the kind of effect you had on him, or squeezed your hand back, or even kissed you. Though he wasn't entirely sure, he knew he wouldn't have let the moment slip through his fingers so easily.
Although, when he walked into the living room, palate of pasta in hand, he received something better then anything that could've happened in your kitchen. You and Phoebe were curled up together on the couch, her little legs thrown over your lap and a pillow on her lap for her to balance her pasta on. Phoebe's head rested against your shoulder as she ate and you turned to see where Roy was, a smile curling on your face as you saw him in your kitchen doorway, pasta in hand.
You craved the domestic scene that was now playing out before you, like something straight out of a dream.
Phoebe's favourite place on your sofa had quickly become the corner, meaning the only space available was next to you. Roy, for once in his life, took full advantage of the opportunity, sitting as close to you as he could claim was suitable and allowing himself to really enjoy the moment.
Even when dinner was long finished, the three of you were curled up together. Spy Kids 4 had been put on in order to appease Phoebe's demands that you finish the series and Roy's arm moving to the back of your couch cushions, and in turn over your shoulders, meant he'd slowly moved closer to you. The two of you spent the movie talking in quiet whispers, you filling him in on any context needed from the first three movies and him telling you about his day full of appointments. The pair of you would've happily stayed there, on your couch, cuddled up together, forever, but Phoebe's gentle snores told you it was best for them to get going.
"She's already in pjs, so you don't have to worry about that and - oh!" You left Roy in your doorway, an asleep Phoebe in his arms in a mirror image of 4 nights before. "I washed her uniform so Molly wouldn't have to."
Roy's heart was bursting at the seams at the evening you'd shared, and now this? While it may not seem like much to most people, to Roy it was everything. Not only had you offered to look after his niece on multiple occasions at the last minute, you'd gone out of your way to buy her pyjamas that fit just because she was coming by, and you'd washed her uniform to take a weight off of her mum's shoulders - who you'd yet to even meet. It's like you were trying to make him fall ridiculously in love with you.
Love.
That wasn't a word Roy was supposed to use; at least not when you were only friends. But how could he not fall in love with you? He was sure that anyone who spent more then 10 seconds in a room with you fell in love with you; how could they not? You were so easy to love; selfless and caring in a way he'd never seen before, someone truly one of a kind.
"Seriously, thank you." Roy's face entirely softened as he spoke, tension seeping out from his features to a degree you'd never seen before. "I don't think you know exactly how much this means to me and Molly."
"Oh please Roy, It's nothing-"
Roy cut you off, his hand coming to rest on your arm, his thumb running up and down your forearm. "No. It's a fucking lot - and it means a fucking lot. Just accept the thank you, yeah?"
A bashful smile creeped onto your lips, your head ducking as you suddenly became very aware of the fact Roy was looking at you and touching you. "Okay, yeah, you're welcome."
"Perfect." Once again, you got a glimpse at the dazzling smile that Roy kept reserved for only the most important people in his life, the look of it alone making your knees weak. They only got weaker as Roy leaned in closer to you, placing a chaste yet scratchy kiss to your cheek. "Goodnight."
In a daze, you murmured a 'goodnight' back, this time waiting until he'd driven off before going back inside; and even then, you stood behind your door, processing exactly what had just happened and why you hadn't returned the sweet gesture.
Roy Kent and his adorable niece were going to be the death of you.
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3. the time you were meant to be going on a date
So far, in the three hours you'd been getting ready, you'd done your eye liner, wiped one side off, redone it, wiped the other side off and redone that, at least 200 times. You just couldn't get it to look right. And when you'd expressed to Keeley that maybe this was a sign from above you shouldn't be going on this date, she'd insisted, yet again, that you had to go because she was your perfect match.
Though you'd never met the girl, Keeley was determined to set you up with her, claiming from the very second she'd walked into KJPR asking about a job, she knew she was the one for you.
Part of you thought she just wanted to help you get over Roy, especially since this was the 9th blind date she'd set you up on since you'd confided in her about your feelings for the ruggedly handsome coach. Each one she'd claimed was your soulmate and each one, so far, had turned out to be a complete and utter douche bag. Despite her failure to actually find someone compatible for you, you greatly appreciated her enthusiasm and effort.
A knock on your door had you screeching down your phone at Keeley that you weren't ready for this, but one last twirl in front of the camera, and a 'you look hot as fuck babe' from the matchmaker herself, had you ready to face your date.
To your surprise, however, when you opened the door you were met with Roy, Molly and Phoebe, all in pyjamas and Phoebe's little hands curled into tight fists that twisted into the fabric of her uncles T-shirt. It took you a second to process the scene before you before you could offer a rather confused, "Hello?"
Though this wouldn't be the first time Roy had shown up with Phoebe on your doorstep, it was the first time he'd ever shown up unannounced and with his sister in tow. "This is a bad time, isn't it." Roy's sister, who you'd come to recognise as Molly, whispered, her gaze flickering across your knee length, fitted, red dress. "You look stunning though."
"Oh my god, thank you." With the silence finally broken, it was like your brain had brought the rest of your body up to speed, offending a hand out for Molly to shake. "Molly, right? It's great to finally meet you."
"Great to meet you too, I've heard great things." General pleasantries we're exchanged between the two of you, though it wasn't as awkward as it usually was when you were meeting new people, instead it was like bumping into someone you hadn't seen in a few years but genuinely missed.
In the noise of your small talk, Phoebe took the opportunity to whisper three little words into her uncles ear. "She's so pretty."
Roy's cheeks burned as his niece said everything he couldn't, and so easily too. It was obvious you were dressed up for a date in that long, burgundy dress that hugged you just right, and he was struggling to take his eyes off of you.
"So what brings you to my doorstep at 6pm on a Monday?" You asked, hesitant to ask at all incase you touched a sore spot. Molly had never shown up with Roy when he dropped Phoebe off, which told you this was potentially more serious then his other last minute drop offs - especially when he'd never shown up unannounced before. "Not that I'm upset that you're here or anything, just a bit confused."
"Clearly, you're on your way out, so we won't bother you, we just-"
You didn't let Molly explain, pulling out your phone, and sending to a quick message to your date and to Keeley, explaining some family stuff had come up last minute and offering to go out some other time. "My evening just freed up, actually." You offered Molly a genuine smile, taking Phoebe from Roy's hold and into your own. "Why don't you go and get into your pjs Hun, and then we'll pick out a movie?"
"Do you still have my ice cream?" Phoebe asked, tilting her head to look at you better. Now she was closer, you noticed her eyes were rubbed red, almost like she'd been crying.
"Of course I do sweetheart, and I've still got turkey dinosaurs if you've not eaten dinner yet."
A sniffly 'yes please' left phoebes lips before she got down from your hold, running into the direction of your bedroom without so much as a goodbye to her mum or her uncle Roy. When Phoebe was out of earshot, you closed the door a little, talking in hushed tones. "Is everything okay? What's going on?" And with a second thought, you added. "You don't have to tell me, I didn't mean to pry."
"Phoebes dad showed up." Molly simply stated, folding her arms across her chest protectively. "He knows he's not allowed around her, and we didn't know where else to take her while we dealt with him." Your heart ached for the little girl. In the short time you'd got to know Phoebe, you'd quickly come to absolutely love her to pieces - and you couldn't understand how anyone wold want to hurt her. Phoebe was a complete and utter ray of sunshine and, considering she was only 7 years old, was one of the kindest and smartest people you'd ever met. "You didn't have to take her, if we'd have known you had plans we wouldn't have just fucking shown up."
Molly sharply dug her elbow into Roy's side as she spoke, clearly signalling that she'd thought that Roy had had the decency to ask you if you would watch Phoebe before they showed up in your doorstep. A laugh bubbled past your lips at how offended Roy got by his sisters words, a comeback never leaving his lips as you interrupted him with a smile. "It's fine, really, I love hanging out with Phoebe. Besides, I wasn't really looking forward to this date anyway."
Now that caught Roy's attention. "Why not? You look fucking great, you'd have probably had a great time too."
Rather selfishly, Roy was incredibly thankful that they'd show up unannounced, he didn't want you to go on a date, and it seemed as if you didn't either. "Keeley keeps pushing me to go on these blind dates, it's not really my thing, but she keeps insisting she's found my soulmate, so I keep going on them to appease her." You leaned in closer to the two incase Phoebe heard your next words, though considering she was related to Roy, you knew she'd heard worse. "All of them have been fucking pricks so far though."
"Good thing we showed up then, yeah."
"Yeah."
Molly looked between the two of you with a smile bit back between her teeth, trying her hardest not to give anything away as she watched the two of you. "Well, we better get going, deal with this so we can take her off your hands as soon as."
Taking Phoebe's back pack from Molly's outstretched hands, you slung it over your shoulder. "Oh don't worry about rushing back, she's more then welcome to stay the night here. Do you need me to drop her off at school in the morning?"
"Oh no, she's all finished for summer now, so you don't have to worry about that." Molly's gaze lingered on you for a while, then she pulled you into a tight hug, cradling you in such a way you felt like a kid again. "Thank you so much for this. I really mean that."
Tears threatened to pool in your eyes at the genuine thankfulness to her words. Roy had told you before that he and Molly greatly appreciated you looking after Phoebe every now and then, but this felt so different to that - it made you understand why he'd told you to just accept the thank you.
"Yeah, of course, like I keep telling Roy, anytime you need me, I'm here."
"Oh, wait." Before Roy and Molly could head back to his car, he handed you a carrier bag that he'd been holding at his side since he appeared on your doorstep. "Your tshirt, and those pyjamas. I wasn't sure if you had anymore, and kept meaning to return them to you anyway."
"Ah, thank you!" Though you never said anything when Phoebe raided your closest, she'd picked your favourite sleep shirt, and you were glad to have it back. "I got another pair of pyjamas for her in my wardrobe anyway, or she could've just used another one of my shirts; she would've been fine either way. But, thank you Roy, I appreciate it."
"Yeah, no worries, washed them for you and everything so, they're all good to go." Molly shouted a goodbye to Phoebe who had made herself comfortable in her spot on your couch, and then said one to you, thanking you again for your help. You said one last goodbye to both her and Roy, waiting on your doorstep to wave them off before going back inside to tend to Phoebe.
Once Roy had driven out of your street and had started on the journey back to his sisters place, she turned to him with a shit-eating grin on her face. Molly had been waiting years to be able to tease Roy about someone he liked, and while he'd had plenty of flings over the years, nothing was ever serious enough, and non of them were ever nice enough, that Molly felt like she could get a rise out of Roy by teasing him. This time though, she knew it was different.
"She's incredible." Molly started, keeping her gaze intently on her brother, though his remained firmly on the road. "She cancelled her date to look after Phoebe, already had a change of clothes and food for her, and she's fucking hot." Molly let out an overly loud sigh as Roy ignored her words. "So tell me why on earth you haven't made a move on her yet? Because if you don't, I certainly will."
"Fuck off." Roy grunted, his grip on the wheel tightening at his sisters words. "She's obviously not interested in me like that if she was going on a date with a fucking stranger." Now that he'd started talking on the matter, Roy was worried he'd never stop. He'd not yet had the opportunity to talk about his feelings for you, the matter being as simple as he wasn't sure who he could tell. He even went as far as considering calling a diamond dogs meeting to get the weight off of his chest, but luckily, or rather unluckily for Roy, his sister had beaten the diamond dogs to it. "I wouldn't want to ruin what we already have anyway. She's so... good, with, like, everything. She's so kind, and she cares so much about everyone else; did I tell you she made me dinner when I asked her to pick Phoebe up when I had the dentist? And Phoebe! She's so good with Phoebe and I just- fuck!"
"That hard to get the words out, huh?" Molly teased, poking her brother sharply in the arm. "You must really like her." Before Roy could interrupt with what Molly knew would be another iteration of 'fuck off,' she added. "She likes you too, y'know."
"I'm sorry," Roy gasped, eyes tearing away from the road for only a second to stare at his sister incredulously. "Did you forget she was about to go for dinner with someone who isn't me?"
"Yeah I know that stupid," Molly scoffed, folding her arms back across her chest as she sunk into the seat of her brothers car. "But I did see the way she was looking at you - the way you were looking at each other - and I'm telling you, she likes you."
"Shut the fuck up." And that was that. Molly didn't need to tease Roy any further because she knew she'd hit a sore spot. Roy really liked you, and not that it mattered but Molly really liked you too - and Phoebe absolutely loved you - but Roy was still too scared to ask you out. That was punishment enough.
Phoebe hadn't seemed phased by the departure of her mum and uncle, and a part of you was thankful for that. Though you didn't really know anything about Phoebe's dad, apart from what you'd learnt in the past 10 minutes, you were surprised to see she'd bounced back pretty quickly.
"So pheeb's, you want dinner now, or in a little bit?" Throwing yourself next to the blonde on the sofa, she was quick to cuddle into your side, wrapping both her arms around your bigger one.
"Can we have dinner now, please." She whispered into the warm skin of your arm, her fingers scratching at the fabric of your dress.
"Of course we can sweetheart." You squeezed her in for a tight hug, before standing from the couch, quickly putting on the oven and pulling the turkey dinosaurs and potato waffles out of the freezer. You lingered in the doorway as you waited for Phoebe's dinner to cook, watching as she searched for a movie to put on while the two of you ate. She seemed so much more relaxed then when you first opened the door, and you hoped it's stay that way now she was here and safe. At the beeping of the oven, your turned away from her, plating the two of you some dinner and quickly returning to the sofa.
With a pile of dinner plates and ice cream bowls on your coffee table, and a movie minutes from ending, you turned to face Phoebe with a soft smile. Brushing back the hair that had fallen into her face, you gently woke the girl, telling her that it was time for bed now. Too sleepy to fully wake up, you picked Phoebe up, opting to carry her to your guest room instead. However, when you'd tucked her in and tried to leave, she'd gripped tightly onto your hand.
"Can you stay with me?" If her quiet and sleepy state didn't have you agreeing, the knowledge she was in an unfamiliar environment would've. Even though Phoebe had been in your house plenty of times now, she'd never stayed the night before, and it was easy to understand how that might freak her out - especially on top of the night she'd had.
"Yeah. Come on then." Instead of sleeping in the guest room, you picked Phoebe right back up, carrying her to your room and putting her down on the left side of your bed. Finally having the opportunity, you sat down at your desk, pulling out a packet of makeup wipes, and wiping off the eyeliner you'd worked so hard to get right. Even though your date never got to see it, Roy did, which was even better as far as you were concerned.
Just as you'd finished brushing your teeth, in fresh pyjamas, and making a mental note to buy a toothbrush for Phoebe next time you went to Tesco, you heard a shrill cry of 'mum.' Running back into your bedroom you found Phoebe wide awake with tears in her eyes, looking around in an urgent search for the woman she'd just cried out for.
"Hey, Pheeb's," you soothed, flicking the bedroom light back on before you approached her, not wanting to freak her out more. When she recognised your face past the haze of sleep, she was quick to reach out for you and you were quick to cross the room to meet her, pulling her into a hug and rubbing soothing circles into her back. "We're at my house remember, your mum and uncle Roy had to do some stuff so you're having a sleep over with me, okay?"
It took a good half an hour for Phoebe to fully calm down, but once she had, she was out cold again. This time, you lay in bed beside her, keeping an arm wrapped around her shoulders to  make sure she knew she was safe. Before you went to sleep yourself, however, you sent Roy a text, leaving out the details of phoebes nightmare and just keeping him updated on things.
Phoebe's out cold so don't worry about picking her up until morning. Breakfast is at 8. There will be a plate for you and Molly whenever you get here xxx
You didn't wait see if he replied, and didn't worry yourself over if three x's at the end was too many, setting an alarm for 7am and putting your phone into do not disturb.
Thankfully, you beat Phoebe and your alarm to waking up, giving you a head start on making breakfast. If you knew anything, it was that kids loved sweet stuff, and given Phoebe's affinity for ice cream, you knew waffles were exactly what she needed this morning. Ted had given you a waffle machine as part of your present in last years Secret Santa and promised you you'd find a use for it eventually, and you were slightly surprised to find out he'd been right.
You got right to work on the batter recipe that came with the machine, letting Phoebe sleep in until the point you were ready to cook them. Though she'd been reluctant to wake up at first, at the mention of waffles and ice cream for breakfast, she sprang out of bed, hesitating in your hallway as she heard a knock at the door.
"You wait here while I get it, yeah pheeb's?" Phoebe nodded silently, creeping down the rest of the hallway so that she'd be able to hear who was at the door without being seen. Although you were 90% sure it was Roy and Molly on the other side of the door, you didn't want to risk anything.
Looking through your peep hole, your suspicions were proved right. "Good morning Roy, Molly." Phoebe came sprinting round the corner at the mention of her mums name, running right into her arms as you opened the door wider for her. "Waffles and Ice cream for breakfast, think we all deserve it, yeah?"
Molly mouthed a thank you at you as Phoebe directed her towards your couch, Roy allowing you to close your front door then following you to the kitchen.
The image of you, still sleepy and in your pyjamas, hair mused and making breakfast for him and the rest of his family, made his heart twist and his stomach churn. In some cruel twist of fate, everything he wanted was right in front of him but it wasn't that which he could call his.
"I know it's non of my business," you started, placing two scoops of mix into the two waffle shaped holes in the machine Ted had bought you then closing it, flipping it over, and scooping up another spoonful of mixture ready for when these ones were done. "But, is everything okay? Are Phoebe and Molly okay now?"
Why did you have to care about his family so much? Moments like this made Roy think you knew of his feelings for you, and that you were doing every thing you could to push him to tell you. Surely you had to care for him, at the least, not everyone would do what you did for him, and definitely not with the same level of enthusiasm and genuine happiness to do it.
"Yeah, everything's okay." Roy kept it short, knowing that ultimately, it wasn't his story to share. "Are you okay? I know we kind of ruined your plans last night."
"How many times am I going to have to tell you that I didn't even want to go?" The laugh that bubbled past your lips had a smile forming on Roy's face. He loved how easy it was between the two of you here. Sure, you made him smile and laugh at Nelson road all the time, but at Nelson road he felt like he had to be Roy Kent: here, he could just be Roy, Phoebe's uncle. And you really liked Roy, Phoebe's uncle.  "Besides, I had a better evening with Phoebe, and the 10 minutes I spent with you and Molly, then I would've had on the date anyway."
"How can you be so sure of that?" Roy's voice was even deeper then usual, not that you'd ever thought that was possible, from tiredness, and you'd only just noticed that he was still in his pyjamas, much like yourself. "That you wouldn't have enjoyed yourself?"
Roy leant over you, not noticing how blood rushed to your cheeks as he took the first two waffles out of the machine for you, allowing you to get the second lot started without hurting your fingers from picking up the fresh waffles. "My hearts not in it, you know?" You turned to press your back against the counter top, now chest to chest with Roy in the closest proximity you'd ever been. Neither of you made an effort to move. "The whole dating just to date isn't for me, I don't think. And if I'm going to date to, um, to marry someone, I'd much rather it be someone I know, someone who knows me."
You were worried you'd been a little too on the nose in your explanation, but Roy didn't seem to mind. He leant forward slightly so that he could rest his palms against your countertop, caging you in between his muscular arms. "Is that right?" You nodded silently, allowing your gaze to flicker down to his lips now that he was inches away from you. There was no way you were reading too much into things this time. "And, would that someone, would they have to be anyone in particular?"
"Yeah, yeah they would." You answered breathlessly, tilting your head back up so that your gaze would meet Roy's but instead brushing your nose softly against his.
Roy was finally going to do it.
A cry of your name and the padding of footsteps had Roy stepping away from you, Phoebe running into the kitchen with Molly hot on her tail. "Are the waffles ready?"
"You came at the perfect time!" You answered, brushing the moment off of you, and turning back to the slightly cooled waffles, sliding them down the counter towards Phoebe and Molly along with the ice cream scoop. As they plated up their waffles, you took yours and Roy's out of the machine, putting them onto plates and giving them time to cool before you added your ice cream on top. You watched intently as Molly and Phoebe plated up their food, your fingers drilling against the countertop in wait.
The second they'd left the kitchen and headed back to the living room, you turned to face Roy, leaving him no time to think as you grabbed the front of his shirt and pressed your lips to his. It was hot and messy, the two of you fighting to condense several months worth of building tension into one moment. At even the slightest of noises from outside the kitchen, you pulled away, turning your back to Roy immediately and scooping some ice cream onto your cooked waffle.
"Want ice cream on yours?" You asked Roy, turning to face him. His cheeks burned red and breathes heaved from his chest as though he'd just run a mile, his hair was a little more tousled then it had been when he first walked into your house and his lips were red and wet.
"Fuck the ice cream."
Roy grabbed you by your waist, twisting his fingers into the fabric of your sleep shirt to keep you close to him as he pressed a firm kiss to your lips. Roy's free hand moved up to caress your cheek, his other hand snaking around to rest on your lower back, pulling you even more into him. Moving one hand up to his hair, you kept the other on his shirt, keeping him close to you. While you'd imagined Roy to be a smooth kisser, you'd never imagined the day would come where he would actually be kissing you.
At a call of both your names from Phoebe, you broke apart once more, passing Roy his ice-cream-less waffle and pushing him out of your kitchen, taking full advantage of the fact that if he sat down first, you'd have no choice to to sit basically on top of him. You were sure he wouldn't mind.
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4. the time when Molly dropped Phoebe off instead
"And that's why the two of you need to get married."
Roy had been actively avoiding you since your kiss in the kitchen two weeks ago. And this was the 4th time in two weeks that Molly had asked if Phoebe could come over; two of them due to the fact both her and Roy were busy, and the other two being due to the fact Phoebe needed to have 'girl talk' with you. So far, girl talk had consisted of Phoebe listing reasons as to why you and Roy were perfect for each other.
"We're not going to get married, Pheeb's."
"But why not?" Phoebe dramatically collapsed into your sofa cushions, ignoring the fact her over the top tumble had knocked over one of your piles of folded washing in favour of going back to questioning you. "He talks about you all the time. And I see the way you look at him when he drops me off and picks me up."
"But he hasn't picked you up or dropped you off in two weeks sweetheart," you were back in the uncomfortable scenario of exposing something to a 7 year old, and you were trying your hardest not to let your confused feelings towards Roy interfere with what you wanted to say. "So, I don't think he wants to see me anymore. And that okay! But it also means we're not going to get married."
"But why not?"
"Phoebe." Your sterner tone had Phoebe sitting up right, her legs dangling over the edge of the sofa. Putting down the freshly washed t-shirt, you  knelt down in front of Phoebe, taking her hands in your own and squeezing gently. "It's not that simple, sweetheart," pushing a strand of hair back behind her ear, she met your eyes. "I wish it was, but it is isn't. Me and your uncle Roy aren't going to get married, Pheeb's, but I'm sure he's going to find someone amazing someday, and you're going to love them."
"But I don't want him to find someone else amazing." Phoebe sulked, tears brimming at her eyes as she thought about a future without you and Roy together. While she was definitely thinking of the worst possible outcomes, the potential it could come true alone was enough to send her to tears. "I want him to find you! I don't want my uncle Roy to marry someone else because then I'll have to hang out with them and not you and- and- and-"
"C'mere." You pulled Phoebe fully into your arms, adjusting yourself so that you were both sat comfortably on your couch. "When your uncle Roy finds someone he loves, and he wants them to be a part of your life, I'll still be here. And you can always come and hang out with me, whenever you want. That isn't going to change Phoebe. I care about you a lot, okay?"
Phoebe couldn't find the words to express what she was thinking. She wanted to scream that you were the person her uncle Roy wanted be a part of her life, that you were the one he loved. Even though she was only 7 years old, she was certain that she knew what love was: and love was the way you and her uncle Roy had sat together, eating waffles for breakfast and talking with her mum, love was the way you and her uncle Roy talked about your day in a whisper over spy kids 4 because you wanted her to enjoy the movie still, love was the way it took her uncle Roy exactly 15 seconds to decide he wanted you to look after her on that Saturday 2 months ago. But she didn't know how to say all that in a way she could get you to understand. She'd tried everything and you still wouldn't digest the crumb of Roy's love that she was trying to explain to you, so she settled on the saying the best thing she could.
"Promise?"
"On my life." You ruffled her blonde hair, causing a smile to pull at her lips. You went back to folding your washing and Phoebe went back to watching her movie, like the two of you always did.
The peaceful moment was unfortunately interrupted by a loud and quick succession of knocks at your door. You put down the shirt you'd been folding and even Phoebe paused her show to come and see who was at the door.
"Jamie? Hi, what- what are you doing here?" Phoebe seemed to have some idea, walking past you to grab Jamie by the hand and pull him to sit on your sofa.
"I invited him." You had too many questions to counter that statement, mainly how she'd contacted Jamie and why he didn't bat an eye at being invited to your house by a 7 year old. "We need to discuss uncle's day."
Phoebe had told you about uncle's day - a day to celebrate her love for her uncle Roy - but you weren't entirely sure where you and Jamie fit into that puzzle. "Why do you need me and Jamie to discuss uncle's day, Hun. I don't think your uncle Roy would want either of us to celebrate uncles day with him."
"Of course he would!" Phoebe cried, pulling out her notebook and one of her felt tip pens, flicking to a blank page in her notebook and writing 'uncles day' at the top neatly. "Jamie is his best friend and Uncle Roy loves you, of course you've got to be there!"
Before you could remind Phoebe that you'd just had a conversation about why that wasn't the case, Jamie turned to face you with a wicked smile. "I knew you and Roy had something going on."
"We don't."
"Is that why he's been all moody at training for the last two weeks?" At your silence, Jamie took it that he was correct, a gasp slipping past his lips. "Did you turn him down? Of course it's okay if you did, but why?"
"No. I didn't turn him down." Phoebe's ears pricked up at that, making you realise exactly how what you were saying sounded. "I can't turn him down if he never asked me anything."
"But something happened?" Jamie pushed, leaning his elbows on his knees, Phoebe sat in a scarily mirrored image of him beside him.
"Fuck off." You scoffed, a smile curling onto Phoebe's lips. In the weeks you'd spent hanging out with her, she'd filled you in on every inside joke she shared with her uncle Roy and everything that made him the best uncle ever. "You can bill your uncle Roy for that one Pheeb's." Phoebe flicked back to the front of her notebook, adding a line to a very long list of tally's that had accumulated there.
Jamie tightened his gaze on you, readjusting his headband so that it kept his hair out of his eyes better. If it weren't for the unwavering, and slightly creepy, nature of his gaze, you were sure you would've just kept it to yourself.
"I kissed him." You'd attempted to mouth the words at the striker, but he hadn't picked them up, instead mouthing them to himself over and over again until he loud out a loud gasp, repeating the words out loud. Phoebe let out a squeal, jumping up and down on your couch cushions in complete and utter joy. An hour ago you'd told her you and her uncle Roy would never get married and know you were admitting that you'd kissed - things were coming up Phoebe, she'd decided. "But, he hasn't spoken to me since."
"Yeah, but that's what Roy's like, you know?" Jamie extended an arm to you, encouraging you to crash down in between him and Phoebe on the couch. You took him up on the offer, curling into his side and letting Phoebe curl into yours. "He's like, super mean and cold on the outside and once he lets you get to know him, he's all... all soft. And I don't think he knows it's okay to be soft sometimes." You let your head fall against Jamie's shoulder, Phoebe nodding beside you at Jamie's words. "I think you've got to show him it's okay for him to be all soft. Cause he really does care about you, I just don't think he knows how to tell you that."
"That was," you didn't even have the words for it. Somehow, Jamie had crawled inside your brain and soothed the exact source of your worry. "That was very insightful Jamie, thank you."
"No worries, I'm proper smart when I want to be me. Plus, when you spend so much time around the guy, it's hard not to see past that façade he puts up." Jamie removed his arm from around your shoulders, rubbing his together and then loudly clapping. "So, uncles day-"
You, Phoebe and Jamie spent the rest of the after noon feasting on whatever snacks they could find in your cupboards and planning out every little detail about uncles days. The pair had convinced you to make an appearance even if you and Roy hadn't reconciled come uncles day; Phoebe wanted you there and that was enough for you. By the time 5pm had rolled around you'd offered to get started on dinner for the 3 of you, but Jamie said he'd best be heading out and Phoebe reminded you her mum was picking her up soon enough anyway.
"Pheeb's, go and get your bag your mums here."  When you opened the door, however, you were surprised to find Roy on the other side of it, his hands shoved into his pockets and half facing away from you. "Oh Roy, hi, I didn't know you were picking Phoebe up."
"Me either," he grunted, staring intently at the floor as he let out a long sigh. Finally, he looked at you, shifting nervously under your gaze. He's practiced what he wanted to say at least 200 times on the way over; he knew Molly asking him to come pick Phoebe up was her pushing him to talk to you. All he wanted was to talk to you. But he was too scared of fucking things up and loosing you entirely that he'd resigned to the fact that he would just have to avoid you for the rest of his life. For once, Roy needed to just do it, to tell you how he felt and throw sensibility to the wind. If you liked him, and that kiss wasn't a heat of the moment thing, then great; if you wanted nothing to do with him? He'd figure it out. All he had to do now was-
"Jamie? What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Jesus, Roy, hello to you too." Jamie scoffed, pushing his hair back and out of his eyes then folding his arms across his chest. "I was just dropping off something for Keeley. Don't get all jealous on me old man, I'm not here to steal your missus." Jamie then turned to you, wiggling his eyebrows at you suggestively now his back was turned to Roy. He pressed a chaste kiss to your cheek before running down your driveway, presumably to escape the clutches of a pissed of Roy. "See you later love, you too Phoebe!"
"Bye Jamie!" Phoebe shouted, waving enthusiastically at her new friend then turning to her uncle Roy with a frown. "You owe me £1, uncle Roy."
"Bill me." He took Phoebe by the hand, taking her backpack in his other and walked away from your doorstep without so much as another word to you. Phoebe yelled a goodbye before she get in Roy's car but Roy continued to ignore you, even as you waited on your doorstep to wave them one last goodbye.
Roy spent the whole drive back to molly's and the rest of the evening absolutely kicking himself. Part of him wished he'd just come out and said it while he had you alone on your doorstep, but the worse part of him - the part that didn't believe he was worthy of you - told him Jamie being there was a sign it wasn't the right moment. And maybe, he thought, the right moment would never come.
Jamie was right. You were going to have to be the one to show Roy it was okay to be soft; especially with you.
—————————————————————————
5. the time where Roy told you how he felt
Phoebe had kicked up a fuss when she found out she was going to have to spend the night at her uncle Roy's, which was a massive surprise to everyone involved. It was well known that Phoebe loved spending time with her uncle Roy, and no matter what Molly or Roy said to her, they couldn't get a confession out of her as to why she didn't want to sleep at her uncle Roy's tonight.
When Molly had dropped her off, for the first time in years, Phoebe cried at the though of her mum going to work, and that told Roy enough that he was in for an eventful night.
He'd tried absolutely everything. He'd offered pizza, turkey dinosaurs, spaghetti, ice cream, popcorn and every favourite food she'd ever had in an attempt to wipe that frown off of her face, but nothing had worked. He'd even willingly been the princess in princess and dragons, put on a fucking tiara and tutu and she still didn't budge from her place on his couch. When bed time finally rolled around, he'd spent 6 hours in silence with Phoebe, a frown etched onto her poor, little face that all he wanted to do was turn into a smile.
The first sound he got out of Phoebe all day was a loud and shrill cry of your name at 4am. Roy ran for the first time in months from his bedroom to hers, terrified as to what could have his niece crying out for you in the early house of the morning. When he arrived on the scene, he was met with Phoebe sat upright in her bed, tears spilling down her cheeks and her hair sticking up in every direction. Her tiny fingers were death gripping a teddy bear that Roy had bought her when she was a baby and when she saw Roy in her doorway, her sobs only got louder.
Roy was quick to cross the length of the room, scooping his niece into his arms and holding her tightly against him, whispering soothing words into the crown of her head and running his fingers up and down her arm. Usually, this method would have Phoebe back asleep within half an hour, but as the clock pushed closer to 5am then 4am, he knew things were different this time. With each sob came a long pause, filled with shaking of shoulders and sniffles galore, and the occasional whimper of your name. Whatever had upset her, clearly wasn't going to be fixed with the usual uncle Roy remedy, and so Roy picked Phoebe up, slipping on his slippers and walking out his front door with his car keys in hand.
While the drive to your house had never been quick, it felt even longer then usual today. Phoebe spent the whole drive over still sniffling, and even though her tears had stopped flowing, the ache it caused in Roy's heart made it feel like they'd never stopped. In his whole life, he'd only seen phoebe this inconsolable a handful of times, and even then, she'd always been responsive to his attempts to find out what was wrong. The fact she kept calling out your name amidst her tears made his heart ache all the more.
It was no secret that since he first dropped phoebe off at your house all those weeks ago, the two of you had become practically attached at the hip. He loved phoebe, and as much as he tried to deny it, he loved you, and he loved that two of the most important women in his life loved each other, but he didn't think he was ever going to be brave enough to let you in in the way the he wanted to. Phoebe had happily voiced her opinions on the matter the last time he'd picked her up from your house, happily proclaiming that the two of you needed to get married yesterday and live happily ever after with 2 dogs and a family trip to Disney world. Roy had told her the two of you weren't going to get married and Phoebe had scoffed, saying that you'd said the exact same thing and she didn't understand why when you loved each other.
If he wasn't so distracted by how distraught Phoebe seemed, he'd have maybe taken the time to consider this was some wicked scheme she'd concocted.
When he pulled up outside your house, like he expected for 5am, all your lights were off, but with a still teary-eyed phoebe in his arms, he didn't think twice about knocking on your door with enough vigour you'd think his life depended on it. As far as Roy was concerned, it did.
Once he saw your hallway light flicker on, he let out a sigh of relief, a weight being lifted from his shoulders as you approached the door. The soft glow of the hallway light far behind you made you look more like the Angel Roy thought you were, your hands wiping at your eyes as you tried to wake up. Before you could ask what was going on, or why Roy and Phoebe were on your doorstep so early on this summers morning, Phoebe was throwing herself from Roy's arms with a cry of your name, blubbering into you shoulder the most words she'd said in the past 12 hours. "I had a nightmare."
In that moment as Roy watched you take his niece into your arms and comfort her more in 10 seconds then he had seemed to be able to do in an hour, he knew Phoebe was right that day in the car.
He was in love with you, and he was pretty sure you were in love with him too.
Roy closed your front door behind him, following behind you as you carried phoebe towards your bedroom. He couldn't hear what you were saying to her, but he could see how easily she relaxed in your hold - it made him relax knowing that whatever had plagued her nightmares was being calmed, even if it wasn't by him.
As you finally entered your bedroom, your bedsheets tousled from when you'd got up to answer the door minutes ago, Phoebe had dropped back to sleep in your arms. You weren't entirely sure if it was your words that had sent her back to sleep or if she'd tired herself out from crying so much, but you didn't dwell on it, tucking her into your bed and pressing a kiss to her head. Turning around, you found Roy leaning against your doorframe, the tight, grey shirt not leaving much to the imagination as to what was underneath it. Taking him by the hand, you pulled him back down your hallway and into your kitchen, leaving him in the doorway, you clicked the kettle on and pulled two large mugs out of your cupboard.
"Can't believe you got her talking." Roy whispered, suddenly very conscious of the fact it was 5:30 in the morning and you were no where near awake as he was. "I couldn't get a word out of her, except your fucking name."
You nodded as he spoke, putting a tea bag into each before and then, when the kettle had whistled and clicked, filling them 3/4 full of hot water. "So, she didn't tell you what her nightmare was about?"
"Wasn't even entirely sure it was just a nightmare until I heard her say it here."
"She thinks you're not going to let her see me anymore if you marry someone else." You'd both heard tearful stories from Phoebe about how scared she was that you two weren't talking anymore, but you'd never realised just how much it was affecting her. "I've talked to her about it before, you know, promised her I'd always be apart of her life even when you found someone you were going to marry, but I didn't think it was stressing her out this bad."
Roy didn't take a sip of his coffee when you passed it to him, instead looking at you confused while you took a long sip of yours. "What makes you think I'm going to marry someone else?"
"Well, you know what I mean Roy." You took another long sip of coffee, waking up more and more with each drink. "We're not going to get married, and I don't want phoebe thinking that you're not allowed to live your life and keep me in it."
"Why are we not getting married?" Roy's question had you stuttering and stumbling to try and make a sensible and coherent answer. It was one thing for him to show up at the crack of dawn and speak to you for the first time in weeks. It was another for him to now be suggesting he wanted to marry you. "I'm not sure if you realised, but I don't just go around introducing Phoebe and Molly to everyone... and I don't go around kissing just anyone either."
"Well, that's rich," you scoffed, using both hands to bring the warmth of your coffee closer to your face. "I'm not sure if you realised, but a normal person doesn't kiss someone like that, and then go no contact with them for nearly a month."
"Kiss someone like that, huh." Roy placed his untouched coffee down on your kitchen counter and took two steps closer to you, his hands coming to rest on your hips as he was now right in front of you. Though when you thought on it, he always had been. "And what exactly does that mean." Roy let his thumbs run over the exposed skin between your T-shirt and your pyjama shorts, the gentle motion sending tingles down your spine and causing you to arch yourself slightly into him. The smirk that formed on his face told you things were playing out how he wanted.
"You know," you whispered, letting Roy take your coffee cup from your hands and place it beside you on the counter. "Like," he gently cradled your hands in his larger ones, moving them to rest on his shoulders becket letting his fall back to your hips. "Like you want to be with them, like you-"
Roy cut your words off by pressing his lips to yours, using the momentum of his movement to tilt your head back, allowing him to get a better angle as he pushed his tongue past your lips. Quickly, you pushed him off of you, not giving him the chance to get a word in edge ways before you began to speak. "You can't keep kissing me like that, or at all actually, if you don't want this, us, whatever we are, to become something. Because I want it to become something." Jamie's words echoed though your head. Maybe you had to be the one to show Roy that it was okay to be soft sometimes, to let people in.
"I love how kind you are beneath all the gruff and cold exterior you try to put up. I love how fiercely you love Molly and Phoebe. I love how you leave little sticky notes on my office door so I don't forget to do things. I love how you bring me coffee in the mornings when you get your own. I love that you buy me lunch and get all grumpy when someone else tries to add on to the order." Sweeping your thumb across the middle of his brown, you brushed away the tension that had clearly been building there since the moment you'd pushed away from his kiss. "I love how your face gets all scrunched up when your confused and how you have the most wonderful smile I've ever seen but only let the people you love get a glimpse at it. I- I love you, Roy, but I can't handle you liking me one minute and ignoring me the next. I need you to open up to me about what's going on inside you head."
Roy pressed a kiss to your forehead, moving one hand up to cradle your face. If his heart wasn't already so full of you, it would've been now. Even though he'd known he was in love with you before this conversation in your kitchen, it had really consolidated to him why he was in love with you. You loved Roy Kent, Phoebe's uncle, lunch buyer and wonderful smiler.
"I've never been told I have a wonderful smile before." He pressed another kiss though this time it was to your temple, and the another to the end of your brow. "That's probably because you're right, I only show it to the people I love." Another kiss was pressed just below your eye, the scratchiness of his beard against your cheeks eliciting a giggle from you. "And I really fucking love you."
Roy leaned in for another, proper, kiss, though you dodged it allowing it to land on your cheek instead. "Is there anything else you wanted to say?"
Roy let out a loud groan, your head thrown back in laughter at the image before you. He shook his head at you though the wide and bright smile you loved never left his face. "I'm sorry I ignored you for 3 and a half weeks because I was a grumpy sod who couldn't talk about his feelings like a fucking grown up."
You hummed happily, nudging your nose against his, a smile now curled onto your own lips. "Yeah, that'll do just nice." Standing on the tips of your toes, you wrapped both your arms around his neck, pulling the two of you together. "Now, C'mere."
Roy happily complied, pressing his lips firmly to your own in a mess of groans and tongue, only pulling apart when you couldn't contain your smile any longer. Even then, he pressed a series of quick kisses to your lips moving them up across your cheek, along the tip of your ear and then down the side of your neck. You tilted your head to rest against his left shoulder, giving him better access to the right side of your neck, but before things could escalate any further, you gently pushed him away from you. "Phoebe is a room away."
"You've got a guest bedroom though, right?" Roy purred, resuming his attack on your neck, the scruff of his beard scratching against your skin sending shivers down your spine.
"She'll be up in an hour or so." You tried to deter Roy further although you didn't particularly have your heart in it, wanting more then anything to continue what you'd started now that the pair of you had everything out in the open.
"I can do a lot in half that time." He countered, his grip on you tightening a fraction and the kisses he was pressing against your neck now having scrapes of teeth to them.
Grabbing Roy by the chin, you turned him to face you, pressing a soft and slow kiss to his lips. "Please, with what I've got in mind, it's going to take at least twice the time we have." You revelled in the look of pleasant surprise that crossed Roy's features, pressing another kiss to his lips. Now that that was something you could do whenever you wanted, you weren't sure you were ever going to stop; he was just so kissable. "Want to help me make breakfast?"
"Where do you need me?"
You and Roy danced seamlessly around each other as you prepared breakfast for the two of you and Phoebe, sneaking kisses between exchanges of ingredients or just because you could. When things were nearly ready and it was just past 7am, you went to wake Phoebe up, careful not to startle her after the long night she'd had. Since you hadn't discussed with Roy anything about you telling Phoebe, you didn't mention it, letting her sandwich herself between the two of you as you ate breakfast together over reruns of adventure time.
Part of you couldn't believe that everything had pretty much worked out how you wanted it. Sure, it wasn't a nice feeling when Roy left you in the dark after sweeping you off your feet, but ultimately, the two of you were together, and with Phoebe snuggled between the two of you on your couch, you had a glimpse of the domestic life you'd dreamed of.
Roy was thinking something similar, looking at you and phoebe beside him. Something so simple as eating breakfast together had him dreaming of a future, that a few months ago, he never would've thought would be within his grasp. He could already picture a scene like this but with you slightly older, and still as beautiful as ever, two kids snuggled between you and a dog or 3 curled up at his feet. He hoped one day the image would be as real as the one before him right now.
"Shit, what time is it?"
"8am."
"We need to get going soon." Both you and Phoebe turned to Roy in confusion, heads similarly tilted in a way that had him fawning over the both of you. "Your mum is picking you up at 9am and you need to be dressed and ready to go, Pheeb's."
"Tell Molly to pick her up from here," you said, taking Phoebe's empty plate and stacking it on top of your own. Placing them both down on the coffee table, you turned to Phoebe with a soft smile. "There T-shirts, jeans and some shoes in my wardrobe, next to where I keep your pj's, yeah? And you know where your tooth brush is, don't you?" Phoebe nodded her head, still chewing her food, but with a kissed pressed to her temple, she was sprinting off in the direction your bedroom.
"You have day clothes here for phoebe? As well as pyjamas?" Roy whispered, a bright smile forming on his face for the millionth time this morning. This was a sight you were never going to get sick of.
"Yeah. I picked the day clothes up when you asked me to pick her up from school the first time, and then after you and Molly took her home after she slept over, I figured it couldn't hurt to also get a tooth brush and some other stuff. Just incase she ever needed them."
You'd never seen so much love and adoration in one persons eyes. "I fucking love you, did you know?"
Before you could respond, the padding of feet all the way down your hallway and across your living room filled your ears. "So you are getting Married?"
a/n : if you made it this far hello!! thank you for reading my first ted lasso fic, feel free to leave feedback and/or send in a request to my inbox!! much love <33 mwah
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akesdraws-blog · 9 months ago
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Finding one of the turtles asleep on the couch
Version: 🎞️TMNT Bayverse🎞️
Who hasn't fallen asleep on the couch at some point? It happens to all of us, it could even happen to turtles.
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⚔️Leonardo🍵
Like Donnie, it is very strange to see him asleep on the couch, but not impossible.
But for what you want, don't walk near this turtle if you see him collapsed on the couch.
Maybe you will say, why?
Well, Leo usually falls asleep on the couch only when he had a specifically heavy patrol and was also punished in the Hashi, and maybe you will say, What's wrong with that? Well, Leo ends a a little more tired than normal, which causes him to fall asleep, but also his reflexes to take over.
That's how it is.Walking near Leo when he is like this will probably only cause some accidental bumps. (Almost all in the abdomen and legs)
Casey was unlucky to find out after spending almost half an hour writhing in pain on the floor while he hugged his aching stomach.
Only Splinter is able to wake him up to go sleep in her room. (He is the only one with enough reflexes to avoid a blow)
Another thing, although it may not seem like it, Leo would be the guy with a very heavy sleep, Mikey could be playing his drums with all his energy, Donnie could be using one of his loudest tools, even Raph could be using the blender to prepare his protein shake, no one knows how Leo can sleep like that, but he'll wake up practically right away if a little bit of light hits his face.
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🥊Raphael🧸
He is one of those most likely to see you asleep on the couch.
Maybe there was a “Fast and Furious” movie marathon.
But everyone will know he's in the room by the loud snoring that echoes through the sewer.
No matter how hard you try to wake him up, it's just not possible.
Raph will just say 5 more minutes and he'll fall asleep again.
Although he is also an honest grump.
You could ask him anything and he'll grumble back at you.
And he will literally say anything you ask him.
Last time Mikey asked if he loved him (at first he just wanted to see him frown and take a picture), and in response he received an honest reading of how much she adored his little brother, no matter how many times she made him angry. (Mikey almost cried after that)
While asleep he is so honest that sometimes his brothers use him as a kind of psychologist.
Leo even apologizes for the times they have fought, Donnie sometimes lets out some insecurities, Mikey just wants to hear his brother say that he loves him.
But changing the topic.
If you want to wake up this big turtle, just move one of his weights and he'll be there in a second.He does not like the weight to be modified or altered if he has not been notified beforehand.
Do it and he'll be checking every weight he has for about an hour.
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⚛️Donatello ⚗️
Seeing him asleep is practically a miracle, because this adorable mad scientist doesn't sleep unless his body screams it at him.
So when you enter the lair and discover that the one on the couch is none other than Donnie, it's a huge surprise.
Of course, that also comes with certain caveats.
1. Don't try to wake him up or tell him to go to bed. (If you do, the thought of going back to sleep won't cross his mind again.)
2. Don't try to prank him when he's in that state. (Everyone learned the hard way that they shouldn't do it, and I'm talking about EVERYONE, even if you are their partner, revenge will come to you if you dare to do it)
3. Do not touch anything that has been left lying around.
The last one is the most important. Don't try to tidy it up, don't try to pick up the trash, don't even think about moving that plate with a half-eaten slice of pizza on it.
For heaven's sake, don't do it.
Because when Donnie wakes up and notices something different, he'll spend a full hour complaining that it wasn't a mess, it was a materialized brainstorm.
That's right, it seems that the empty soda can that Leo had thrown over had a purpose.
So if you don't want to have a dramatic Donnie, don't move anything around him.
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🎉Michelangelo🍕
He is the one we will always see asleep on the couch.
Most likely, he tried to defeat a final boss from his most recent video game. (Courtesy of April)
So sometimes you could see his fingers move.
Donnie discovered that it was a combo that Mikey creates in his head and he writes it down so when Mikey wakes up he applies it. (And he copies it for when he wants to have an advantage)
But you should be careful if he stayed up late because of a horror movie marathon.
Because at any moment you can hear him screaming as loud as his lungs allow... and then he falls asleep again.
That's something everyone has experienced when Mikey is asleep after a horror movie.
Leo almost always loses his balance due to his brother's unexpected scream, but in the end he considers it as involuntary training for his reflexes.
Raph ends up breaking his comic book, or his water bottles burst from the force with which he crushes them in surprise.
Donnie ends up breaking his keyboard, or an experiment explodes.
°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•~°•
Hello everyone!, here returning from the lowest of my emotional state.
But here we are!
Tags: (Because it hasn't been tagged for a long time)
@turtle-babe83 . @dilucsflame33 . @thelaundrybitch . @scholastic-dragon . @leosgirl82 . @tmnt-tychou .@little-bunny-in-space . @happymoonangel . @lazyafgurl . @kikithedreamerwriter .@androidships007.
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doodler16 · 2 months ago
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If you asked me during the hazbin hotel pilot era who my favorite character was, it be Alastor 100%. He unironically stole the show with his mystery (if the pilot didn’t have Vaggie lore dump unnecessary I would’ve enjoyed a bit more), personality, voice, charisma, and heck even his design especially his consistent smile intrigued me. Even the way he interacted with the entire cast made me excited.
So what do I think of Alastor now? Alastor to me is a loser, unironically an attention whore in terms of screen time and merch, an egotistical, petty person, and a man child edgelord. He lost most of his mystery and charisma throughout the show (though I will admit I am interested in his backstory but I won’t be surprised if he, himself has daddy issues. And, I did find some of his jokes funny).
The pilot portrayed Alastor as this powerful overlord who didn’t care about his status which made him so unique. He wasn’t gloating about how he’s the radio demon about to end your fucking life. Alastor in the pilot was subtle. At the snap of his fingers he destroys Sir Pentious with no hesitation and no exchange of words. Meanwhile, Alastor in the show has to blab and go this tangent of how sloppy, slow, and unprofessional Adam is only to get his ass handed to him.
Alastor in the show frequently mentions his status and gets pissy when most don’t care that he’s back or straight up not recognize him. Meanwhile, in the pilot you will notice that it’s the opposite, Charlie (the princess of Hell) and Vaggie are freaking out that Alastor is here at their door. It truly shows much power and control presents in the pilot without even trying.
The thing that disappointed me the most was his lack of interaction with the main hazbin squad. It was the driving point of why I was excited for Alastor and how his involvement was going to shake up the hotel for better or worse. Only to find out He barely interacts with them and I’m supposed to “care” when the most of cast members hug and get excited that he is alive in episode 8.
Speaking of the hotel, he barely contributes much regarding the hotel and fucks around. Like I was expecting him to at least help Charlie and Vaggie brainstorm activities for the sinners to do or even take control in his own of how he would handle Angel dust and Sir Pentious. Heck or even go outside with Charlie and Vaggie to promote the hotel to other sinners via singing and cause some drama/mischief along the way. Specifically talking about the hotel, the only things he did was do the commercial, fix the walls, and protects the hotel twice. But That’s it.
As I mentioned earlier, Alastor is an attention whore in terms of stealing the spotlight in the actual show and being in most episodes, which may be good for Alastor fans. They got the full course meal but Vivziepop needs to focus on other undeveloped main characters who desperately need the attention and development. Which why Alastor should be used sparingly, this would also make the audience more interested with him and creates more mystery.
For example: Episode 5, Dad Beat Dad: you would think the episode would focus on Charlie and Lucifer’s relationship which it does for a small portion but we also gotta have Alastor in there so he could drop the biggest F bomb to Lucifer to show that he means business and hatessss him. We also gotta dedicate a 2:30 minute song duet between the two men having a pissing contest, along with our home girl Mimzy being a plot device/prop for Alastor in order to HYPE HIM UP and tell his origins. Because Alastor soooo mysterious and such a hunkkkk. Oh yeah, Charlie is there I guess…
Also, Alastor’s smile in the show bothers me personally, more specifically the way it’s drawn. It’s to jaded and sharp, so it’s pretty obvious to tell how he feels and emotions Alastor goes through. Meanwhile, in the pilot his smile and energy is so goofy and I miss that. That really added to mystery because not only keeps you on your toes but you don’t know what’s on his mind for the most part or his long term goal.
This is by far my longest post and I wanted to get this off my chest regarding Alastor. 😭
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byoldervine · 6 months ago
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Why No Writing Advice Seems To Work
There’s millions of tips out there for writers, but so much of it just doesn’t apply, and it often feels like nothing ever works because you have to wade through a million failures before you find a success. But why is that, exactly?
1. Implicit phasing. Seeking advice while in the drafting phase of your writing can be difficult when many popular tips are more important during the editing phase. It can build on perfectionism struggles that a lot of writers have, but a lot of people genuinely don’t realise that this advice will suit them better for editing rather than drafting. If it’s about improving what you’ve already got, or just improvements in general, don’t touch it until you’re editing; you can’t improve on something that doesn’t exist, so you’ll just be going over the same draft a gazillion times without making progress. What you need to look for are tips for brainstorming, getting out of a funk, etc
2. Concept to blueprint. For me, literal thinking has kept me from understanding a lot of writing advice and, even when I’ve got the gist of it, I struggle to figure out how to take it from a general phrase (e.g. “Show don’t tell”, “Make it a habit”) to something actionable that tells me what I need to do. If you’re misunderstanding what the advice is saying, or you don’t know what actions it’s implying that you take, of course it’s not going to be helpful. Sitting down and dedicating a minute or two to considering it can really help, and if you’re still unsure then always feel free to ask other writers; there’s bound to be others who were in the same boat that can share their own interpretations and the actions they took that helped them
3. Hobbyist approach. If you’re only writing for fun, and especially if you don’t consider yourself a ‘real writer’, it’s easy to think that some of the advice doesn’t apply to you. For me, I always thought that the whole “Write every day, make writing a habit” thing was just for people who were super serious about it or on a schedule, not for people who were just writing for fun and didn’t mind it taking forever. But after trying out NaNoWriMo, I realised I actually quite enjoy having a set routine that allows me to see consistent improvement, and even after NaNoWriMo I experimented to see how often I could write without it feeling more like a chore than a fun activity. It’s definitely worth it to at least try out tips that you think may not apply to a hobbyist just working for fun; sometimes you might learn something else about your writing style, even if the tip doesn’t work for you
4. Unique takes. Ultimately, we’re all different people with different experiences, habits, interests, styles, physical abilities and neurotypes; not everything will work for everyone. And that’s a good thing! Yes, it’s frustrating when we try a popular tip and it just doesn’t work for us like it does others, but that’s one more thing we know about ourselves and how we work, and maybe it’ll lead us to a new discovery that makes it easier going forward. If everyone was the same, all our writing would be the same, and that would be boring. You’ll stand out as a writer by working differently to achieve unique results. And if you find something that works for you, make sure you share it in case others benefit, too!
5. Customise. Finding your own tips and sharing them can lead others to you, and it all starts with experimentation; try new things, mix and match existing tips you’ve tried and figure out what can be adjusted to make your writing process better. I can’t keep to NaNoWriMo’s 1667 words per day demands, it’s too much work in too little time, but I can do 1000 words every week and be much more consistent than I used to be. Or maybe watching your word count all the time demotivates you? Try changing your measurement from X words to writing for Y amount of time - or you could even try both and say you’ll write for a max of Y minutes unless you can reach X amount of words beforehand. Even if it’s not something that was originally intended by the tip, can you find a way to customise it to work better for you?
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holyschnitzel · 4 months ago
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Hey...... I want to make a visual novel like yours....... Can you tell me what program or engine you use and some advice? I currently don't know how to start
sure! like most developers, we use the Ren'Py engine because it's completely free and there's a friendly online community to help you with any questions or problems! here's the latest version of the launcher that you can download: Ren'Py 8.2.3
simply read all the instructions to install everything correctly.
learning the basics of coding, like how to display text and images on the screen, isn't difficult. you can pick it up in just 5 minutes ^^
my advice would be to just start writing your story first. after all, you'll have to copy paste the entire text into the engine anyway, and right now you don't have anything to work with.
so first think about what kind of story you want to tell and who the characters are. brainstorm, take notes and create the first outline for each chapter. I highly recommend writing in chapters to help you keep a better overview of what happens in each part of the story ^^
oh, and start small. don’t plan for anything grand or epic, or you’ll set yourself up for failure. a short story serves the purpose of learning and discovering what you can do in Ren'Py much better :)
I wish you good luck with your project. I hope to hear from you again!
if you have any further questions, pls don't hesitate to ask <3
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dreamofjoys · 1 year ago
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𝙄 𝙒𝘼𝙉𝙉𝘼 𝙓𝙓𝙓𝙓𝙓𝙓 !
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♡ A/N: Hello to everyone! I am excited to announce that I will be participating in kinktober 2023! This is my second time participating, so Im quite excited for it. There's a lot for me to write so I seek your understanding that I might not post them on the day itself (school is starting mid october eek but I will try and get it done). Last year's kinktober was focused solely on twisted wonderland but this year there will be other fandoms as well, and it will also be more plot focused? Hopefully that makes it more interesting. Only posting on some days
♡ Brief C/W: Dark themes, kidnapping, drugging, dubcon, pregnancy, double penetration, stalking and many more (will update as it goes by but will state in more details at the start of each fic). Everything is strictly character x fem/afab readers only
♡ General rules: Minors DO NOT INTERACT, No mean or rude comments (why read when I already stated the warnings and synopsis?Just block if don't like or uncomfy) and lastly, DO NOT ASK FOR PART 2.
♡ Participating fandoms: Genshin Impact (Neuvilette, Wriothlesley, Zhongli, Ayato, Alhaitham), Honkai Star Rail (Luo Cha, Jing Yuan, Blade, Nanook, Dan Heng, Dan Feng), Twisted Wonderland (Malleus Draconia, Lilia Vanrouge, Leona Kingscholar)
♡ P/S: Everything is subjected to changes! Some fics are still in progress of brainstorming.. you can try to req and I'll see if I want to take up the idea. Just putting out the masterlist early to test and see how things go. Might make some changes here and there but it honestly just depends on my situation and mood. Also teasing you guys and adding some sneak peaks lol (I genuinely hope it's good) You can literally guess who will be in the fic base on the title. Will only open taglist if there's a demand.
DREAMOFJOYS KINKTOBER 2023 COLLECTION
DAY 1-7 ; 7 minute in heaven? More like 7 days inside you!
— Characters involved: Malleus draconia(TWST), Wriothlesly(Genshin), Ayato(Genshin), Nanook(HSR), Luo Cha(HSR) — Synopsis: After getting officially married, you and your husband decided to finally go to your long awaited 7 days honeymoon in a resort at private island specially reserved by your husband! Those 7 days were meant to be fun and relaxing, but why are you so tired by the end of it? — Story parts: 1 / 2 /3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
Day 9-11 ; The Demons of Xianzhou
— Characters involved: Jing Yuan, Blade, Dan Feng (HSR) — Synopsis: There has been a legend of demons existing and residing in Xianzhou for a long period of time. Surely, they can't be one of your closest friends, right?
Day 13-15 ; In the name of Justice
— Characters involved: Neuvilette, Wriothelesly (Genshin) — Synopsis: Two of the most well known men in fontaine has fallen head over heels for you. They claim that everything that they do is for the sake of justice
Day 18-19 ; Egg Incubator
— Characters involved: ? — Synopsis: A young maiden was chosen by her village and was sacrificed as an offering to appease the 5 dragon gods who were terrorizing their land. She plots to escape from them, but can she really succeed?
Day 20 ; The General's Slave
— Characters involved: ? — Synopsis: ?
Day 23-24 ; The Princes's Sin
— Characters involved: ? — Synopsis: ?
Day 25 ; The Acting Grand Sage's Filthy Secret
— Characters involved: ? — Synopsis: ?
Day 26 ; The Destruction of Nanook
— Characters involved: ? — Synopsis: ?
Day 29-31 ; Briar Valley's Eternal Ruler
— Characters involved: ? — Synopsis: ?
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makeitmingi · 11 months ago
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The Cat and Dog Game [Chapter 10]
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Genre: Romance, Fluff, Comedy
Pairing: Yunho x Reader (y/n)
Characters: Chef!Reader, RestaurantOwner!Yunho, MaitreD!Hongjoong, Waiter!Yeosang, Waiter!San, Waiter!Mingi, SousChef!Seonghwa, SousChef!Wooyoung, PrepChef!Jongho
Summary: Yunho's dream was to open and run his own restaurant. But he doesn't know anything when it comes to cooking. Until you came along and accepted the job, bringing with you a small crew. How will the black cat tame the energetic golden retriever?
Word count: 3.4K
When Yunho entered the restaurant the next day, he heard you already giving instructions and tasks to the rest of the crew. He walked in with the box of tools he had bought the day before. He was excited to show all of you what he bought, especially you.
"Surprise!" He beamed as he walked in. All 4 of you stopped, turning your head to see the tall male walking in, his face covered by the boxes he was carrying.
"Yunho hyung, what's this?" Jongho asked, helping to take the box from Yunho and putting it on the counter.
"I bought some stuff for the kitchen!" He explained, opening it.
"The guy at the store told me these are important essentials that every kitchen needs. Tomorrow, the electrical equipment is coming." He took the different things out and set them on the table.
"Oh yes, we needed these." Seonghwa said as he looked through all the things Yunho bought.
"Did you have that much fun shopping?" You raised an eyebrow. Yunho blushed slightly, did he seem too excited?
"I didn't really know what to get. And I felt bad for waiting so long to properly equip the kitchen with what you need. If you need anything else, let me know!" Yunho said. Wooyoung and Seonghwa took all the things to be washed and sanitised for you all to use immediately. You went back to mixing your fruit mixture.
"(y/n), the things I go are useful right?" Yunho came to stand next to you. Seonghwa watched on in curiosity. If Yunho had a tail, it would be wagging in anticipation now.
"Yeah. It's tools that we'll definitely use." You replied. Yunho perked up and grinned widely, happy by your words.
"What are you making?" He asked.
"Jam tartlets. The jam is blueberry and thyme." You said, grabbing a disposable spoon and scooping up a little for Yunho to taste. He ate the little bit of jam.
"That's nice! I'm guessing that herb flavour is the thyme?" He said. You hummed and went to take the tray with the blind baked tartlet shells. You gave Yunho two tablespoons.
"Two spoons per tart shell." You instructed.
"O-Oh! Okay!" He beamed, going over to wash his hands before stepping back to help you. He was glad that you just had him do tasks without him having to offer anymore, it was like you were used to him being around.
"So what other stuff are we putting out this morning?" Yunho asked as he focussed on filling the tart shells with equal amounts of jam. You turned to the others in the kitchen.
"I'm making a devil's food cake." Wooyoung raised his hand.
"I'm making a quiche with salmon and leeks. We made matcha financiers, they're cooling off." Seonghwa continued.
"I'm making a plum blechkuchen (German sheet cake)." Jongho said.
"And today's cupcake/ muffin is pandan chiffon with a gula melaka (coconut sugar) center." You finished. Although Yunho has not heard of half of those things, he was still excited to see what they were.
"They sound tasty for sure." Yunho smiled. He finished filling all the tartlet shells and you bent down to check that they were all level.
"Good job." You nodded in approval, putting them close to the serving window.
"Thank you!" Yunho smiled. After that, the other 4 came in and they all go ready for the store opening. As usual, Yunho made the entire kitchen crew drinks to have while they finished up their baking. You took a 5 minute break, sipping your coffee as you brainstormed on dinner ideas for tonight.
"So we're doing ricotta stuffed french toast right? With smoked maple butter and sour cherry sauce." You asked the kitchen. The 3 boys nodded their heads.
"Ribs? We can do a gochujang, barbecue type sauce. We'll leave the ribs in brine before we leave." You suggested.
"Ooh, we got good fish this morning. What if we used it to make a crudo? Use up the yuzu fruits to make the dressing." Jongho said.
"Good idea." You nodded, writing that down.
"What about poached chicken? We can poach it in samgyetang herbs. Use the stock to make rice after that. Chicken and rice dish." Seonghwa suggested.
"Yes, some might appreciate a lighter dish." Wooyoung chimed in. You noted all that down.
"Breakfast has just begun and you're already discussing dinner?" San laughed as he came in while you were all still discussing the dishes.
"We have to be prepared, some dishes need as much time as possible. Like we've decided to do ribs tonight so that means we need to marinate them before we leave later. Give it as much time to tenderise the meat and season it." You said.
"Giving more time to marinate helps tenderise it?" San tilted his head in surprise.
"With rib meat, there's not a lot of fat and flavour. So you marinate it, it firstly helps to soften the meat with the acid content. And it gives time for the flavours and salt to penetrate." Wooyoung explained.
"Oh wow. I never knew that." San said.
"So what is good to use to marinate? From what Wooyoung said, so something salty and acidic?"
"Yeah. But there are other things you can use. Like we'll use pineapple, it has an enzyme called bromelain that tenderises meat. Salt is easy things with soy sauce." Jongho informed.
"We'll go with those flavours since we want to use a gochujang based sauce when grilling. So asian tastes." You added.
"San, we need you! Stop chatting." Yeosang called.
"I'm not chatting! I'm learning." San growled in annoyance. He gave everyone a friendly smile and wave before leaving the kitchen to go help in the front. The 4 of you got back to work, finishing up on the baked treats so you could prepare for dinner tonight and leave to rest for the afternoon.
"Last batch done and cooling." Seonghwa said, putting the last cake by the window. When the treat or cake was done outside, those working the front would come and get the refill.
"I'm going for a breather." You said, going out for 5 minutes. The 3 didn't protest to that.
"Okay, let's clean up and start preparing what we need for dinner tonight." You instructed after coming back in.
"You prepare the stuff for tonight. We'll clean." Jongho came. Seonghwa nodded, bringing the used bowls to the sink to start washing them.
"Guess it's us on prep." Wooyoung bumped his hip against yours.
"Let's get all the meats out for trimming then." You said. Wooyoung helped you bring out all the packs of ribs, putting all the meats on the prep table. There was a lot of meat to get through.
"Rock, paper, scissors. Winner makes marinade, loser preps the meat?" Wooyoung wriggled his eyebrows at you.
"You're on." Seonghwa and Jongho ignored the two of you. But soon, Wooyoung was letting out curses, an indication of who emerged victorious in the game. You smiled happily, skipping to the pantry to collect what you needed for the marinade.
"I hate removing the membrane. It's so slippery." Wooyoung whined. But nonetheless, he took the pack of meat and grabbed his knife. He removed the membrane at the back, trimmed the excess fat cap off.
"Did you bring your boning knife?" Wooyoung asked. You nodded over to your knife wrap.
"I'm going to need it for frenching (cleaning the excess meat, fat and sinew off the bones for cleaner look)." He said.
"Knock yourself out." You giggled, making Wooyoung roll his eyes, continuing to grumble. You made a big batch of marinade, mixing all the ingredients in together.
"Thank you for your hard work this morning." Yunho came in for a short breather.
"How's the crowd?" You asked.
"It's good, actually. We're selling things at a steady pace. I think we're starting to have repeating customers too, I recognise some faces." Yunho smiled blissfully.
"What are you doing?" Yunho came over, full of curiosity.
"I'm making a marinade for the pork ribs. So Woo is preparing the ribs and we'll let them soak for as long as we can before we grill them for dinner. Get as much flavour in them as possible. Then we brush on a gochujang sort of barbecue sauce at the end. We'll serve it with white kimchi and roast potatoes." You informed.
"As someone who loves meat, that sound really good. White kimchi sounds like it will go together really well." Yunho said, nearly drooling as he imagined the dish.
"We'll see if the customers like more Western based dishes." You shrugged and he nodded in agreement.
"What's in the marinade?"
"Soy sauce, pineapple juice, pear juice, onions, sesame oil, peppercorns, salt and garlic. We're going for something similar to a bulgogi or galbi marinade." You explained to him.
"Done." Wooyoung groaned, throwing his head back tiredly. You chuckled and put the ribs into the tubs.
"I'll pour the marinades in." You used a measuring cup to divide the marinade into the tubs.
"Let me help with that." Yunho took one of the tubs after Wooyoung closed the lids, bringing it into the walk in to leave it there to marinate. Jongho helped bring the other tubs in too. After that, you put all your aprons in your little cubbies.
"See you later!" Yunho waved with smile. You all waved back, bowing your heads as you walked to Wooyoung's car to head home to rest for the next few hours.
"They just left?" Mingi poked his head in. Yunho nodded, taking his mug to drink his coffee.
"Grab me some chocolate sauce while you're there? Everyone seems to be craving mochas today." He asked.
"Sure. Anything else you need?" Yunho raised an eyebrow. Mingi shook his head and Yunho went to grab what the baristas needed for the front.
"You're very good looking." Some girls giggled as Yunho keyed in their order and received their money.
"Thank you. You can head to the end for your order pick up." Yunho smiled kindly, gesturing to the end of the counter. Mingi and Hongjoong watched on, both facepalming at how Yunho replied so normally. He was too kind to anyone that he met, not one to turn others away or reject their flirting.
Or maybe he just never noticed it when others flirted with him. Girls would usually get frustrated that Yunho wouldn't flirt back, just respond with a kind smile and a wave.
"What are we going to do with you?" Mingi clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"What?" Yunho asked, confused by his best friend's words.
"You're too friendly, Yunho ah." Hongjoong chuckled, patting the taller on the shoulder before heading to the back kitchen. Yunho still didn't understand what his friends were saying.
"Can I have your Instagram?" One of the girls giggled as they waited for their drink that San was making.
"Sorry, girls. Company policy, we can't give that info out." Mingi came to save Yunho, slinging an arm around his shoulder. The girls either pouted or frowned at Mingi's words, taking their drinks from San and leaving the cafe. Mingi chuckled and let out a soft sigh.
"What company policy are you talking about? I'm the owner and I didn't even know we had any policy." Yunho raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.
"Trust me, buddy. You'll thank me later." Mingi patted Yunho's shoulders and walked back to the barista area to help San.
Instead of going home to rest, you went to the shops with Jongho to pick up some extra things that you might need for dinenr tonight like ginseng chicken soup herbs and worcesteshire sauce.
"Oh wow, key limes." Jongho said, picking one up to inspect. You looked over in interest.
"What a rarity... And they're not expensive. Shall we make key lime pie?" You turned to meet his eyes. Jongho nodded.
"Key lime syrup for drinks." His eyes sparkled excitedly. The both of you bought a few punnets, putting it into the trolley and continuing on your way.
"Hwa said he needed more stock bags." You grabbed two packets off the shelf. After getting what you needed, you and Jongho went to get a coffee at the coffee stand near the markets then drove to your home. You both decided to spend the remaining time napping at your house rather than splitting up.
When Jongho came to wake you up, you were not pleased to be woken up. All the tiredness of your broken sleep schedule was hitting you all at once, which was not ideal.
"Don't be grumpy." Jongho chuckled as he drove. You hid further into your hoodie.
"Hwa hyung's gonna send you home and won't let you do dinner service, you know?" Jongho reminded. You pouted, you didn't want to be sent home.
"Here." Jongho held out the coffee he poured into a travel mug for you.
"Thanks." You mumbled and took the tumbler to take a sip. When Jongho pulled up to park, you let out a childish whine.
"Come on." Jongho got out and went to open the passenger door for you. You grumbled as you stepped out, you were really just so tired and sleep deprived that you didn't want to be working.
You and Jongho were first to arrived. You went to get your apron, tying it around your waist and tucking two tea towels into your apron string. Then you put your precision tongs and tasting spoon into the pockets in front.
"Let's start." You said to Jongho. He nodded and stood with you, prepping what you needed to start.
"We should get the poaching liquid for the chicken going first. I want as much of the herbal flavour to get in because we need that liquid for the rice later." You informed.
"Okay, I'll prepare the herbs first?" He asked.
"No, help me butcher the chickens. I want to serve them in halves." You said. Jongho nodded and went to prepare his station.
"I'll prep the herbs." You went to get the samgyetang herbs that you bought earlier, brushing off any debris that you saw, throwing it into the pot with some stock.
"Hey." Seonghwa and Wooyoung came in. You were focused at your own counter. Wooyoung pointed at your back, signalling to Jongho.
Jongho put his hands together, tucking it under his ear to show that you were sleeping before this. Wooyoung and Seonghwa nodded their heads, understanding him. They went to put their things in their cubbies and got their aprons. Wooyoung didn't dare approach you yet but Seonghwa was daring enough.
"Hey, darling." Seonghwa came up to you.
"Park, I'm holding a knife. If you're going to ask me to go home now and sleep, I'm not responsible for what I do with said knife." You said, continuing to cut the garlic.
"Carry on." He patted your head and backed away. The only time you called him 'Park' was when you were grumpy.
"I'll get started on the ribs." Wooyoung raised his hand, going into the walk in.
"Hwa, start on the appetisers. Jong, when you're done, prep what we'll need for the rose carbonara. I'll do the desserts after I put the chickens in for poaching." You instructed.
"Okay." They all replied and got to doing their tasks.
When Yunho, Mingi, Hongjoong, Yeosang and San came in for the dinner shift, they too felt the coldness in the room. Yunho could practically see the rain cloud above your head. Wooyoung shook his head, using his hand to do a neck slice action.
"Go." Yunho whispered, ushering the other boys out to the front to get ready for dinner service.
"Don't worry, (y/n). I'll be at the pass tonight." They heard Wooyoung offer from the kitchen window. Tonight was supposed to be your turn at the window.
"We need an extra pair of hands. San." You poked your head out briefly. San raised his hand and jogged to the kitchen quickly.
Yunho pouted, he had hoped he was the first one you call to help in the kitchen. He could do just as well as San.
"Let's get the silverware out." Mingi said. Hongjoong brought his maitre d stand to the front, making sure his iPad with all the reservations was on and working.
"Work phone?" Hongjoong asked. Yunho took it from the charger behind the counter and handed it over. The shorter put it in his pocket.
"(y/n) a little sleep deprived now and like a little kid, she can get grumpy when she needs sleep. So just... steer clear. Don't try to send her home or anything, she already threatened Seonghwa. It's scary." Jongho advised to those that were outside, having come out to get a mug of juice from the bar fridge.
"I'm stepping out real quick to get something. If I'm not back in time, Hongjoong hyung, open for me?" Yunho said.
"Do you need something?" Yeosang asked.
"Kind of...? I'll be as fast as I can. Just manage it for the time being." Yunho said and ran out the front door of the restaurant, leaving his dumbfounded friends there.
When Yunho came back, he came through the back. He put what he needed in his cupboard before coming out of the small room.
"Woah." He almost crashed into you. You raised an eyebrow, looking up at him.
"Aren't you supposed to be out there?" You asked, nodding over to the front of the restaurant. Yunho gulped, suddenly feeling like a child that was caught by his parent.
"I needed to get something so Hongjoong hyung opened up for me." Yunho said. You nodded and went into the get something front your bag. Yunho's eyes followed you until you stopped.
"Need something?" You stared back at him, questioningly.
"N-No! I'm going out." Yunho quickly bowed his head and ran away to support his friends with waiting tables. You slightly frowned in confusion but grabbed what you needed before going back to the kitchen as dinner service was starting.
Thankfully for you, dinner service went by quickly. The customers liked the menu and the food. When it was near closing, your kitchen crew took turns to prepare the dessert and to eat their dinner.
"Why don't you finish up dessert and go home? We'll clean up." Wooyoung offered.
"I'm fine." You rolled your eyes, flipping the french toast in the pan.
"Can I get a coffee, please? Two shots, on the rocks." You turned to Jongho. He nodded and ate another bite, exiting the kitchen to go out and make you a coffee.
"Service." You put yours and Wooyoung's plate at the window. Yeosang came over and took it to serve.
"Here you go." Jongho handed you the cup. You took a sip and exited the back door.
"Last few tables. Is (y/n) outside?" Yunho asked. Seonghwa nodded. Yunho went to the locker room and grabbed something, slipping out the back door. Seonghwa, Wooyoung and Jongho tried but couldn't get a glimpse at what Yunho was carrying. They shrugged and returned to what they were doing.
"(y/n)?" Yunho looked around. He saw you sitting on the curb, cup of coffee beside you as you pressed your cheek on your folded arms. Your eyes were closed as you snoozed.
"Did you need something?" You asked with your eyes closed, making Yunho jump in surprise.
"Ummm, I have something for you." Yunho said shyly. Your eyes fluttered open as you stared at him.
"Sit." You scooted, patting the space beside you. He gladly sat down. You took a sip of your coffee first, raising an eyebrow at Yunho, waiting for him to say something.
"Something to brighten your day... Or, at this time, I guess it's night. To give you energy." Yunho grinned, taking the paper bag.
"Which is?" You were not expecting him to take a sunflower bouquet out for you.
"Oh and this. I don't know how to make donuts so I figured buying one that I know is good will be better than me trying to make one on my own." Yunho said, holding out the box of 3 donuts. You stared at the two items.
"Sunflowers bring light and energy... I just thought... I don't know..." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. You melted a little, this was completely unexpected.
"Thank you, Yunho. I'm really fine, don't worry." You didn't know what came over you as you reached out to pat his head gratefully.
~
Series masterlist
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comicaurora · 1 year ago
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Out of curiosity, how far ahead are you on the comic? I mean, you must have it all planned and written out, but I imagine that you are drawing the future of Aurora even while we're reading it.
So is Arc 2 already illustrated and ready for upload while you're on like Arc 5 or something? I'm by no means undermining your need for a break; I'm shocked that you've been uploading continuously for over 4 years at this point. I'm just interested to know how long it takes a person to make something this great. And also if you change any details in the final edit?
Basically: what's the workflow like?
Also I think you low-key inspired me to pick up painting as a hobby. I'm ready to pour so much money into creating things that I know I'll hate. :)
God, arc 5? That's a very generous assessment of how fast I can draw!
Typically, when the comic is updating regularly, I keep a buffer of 10 to 20 completed pages. Right now, in the interest of taking a break, the buffer is 0 completed pages.
Chapter 1 of Arc 2 is completely storyboarded, meaning it's sketched out, the dialog is all mostly finalized barring last-minute rephrasements, etc. It can be read in its current form, it just looks unpretty. In fact, just for fun, here's a sneak peek!
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In the next month I'll go through and finalize as many pages from this chapter as possible - which means locking down the panel borders, fleshing out the backgrounds, lining, shading, coloring, polish, etc. - which will be the process of building up a new buffer for when the comic starts back up again in January. During that time, I'll also be storyboarding Chapter 2 and as much of the following parts as I can manage.
I have the next several chapters and sub-arcs planned out in loose timelines - event A happens at location B leading to consequences C and D, stuff like that. Chapter 2, being the closest, is a little more fleshed-out, with a more detailed bullet-pointed timeline and various character ideas I've had that might or might not make it into the final version.
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What exactly the chapter breakdown is going to look like is a little more complicated. Initially I'd planned for Chapter 1 to be low-stakes downtime and Chapter 2 to quickly kick off the high-octane adventure again, but when I started bullet-pointing out the stuff I wanted to do in Chapter 2, I ended up with a big pile of slower-paced character moments I thought were well worth exploring, so the runtimes might stretch a little.
Translating those brainstormed notes into storyboards and dialog is what I would classify as the "writing" part of this process. It happens at an erratic pace largely determined by the whims of whatever muse decides to get me in a headlock that day; sometimes I go weeks with no storyboarding progress, sometimes I hammer out fifteen pages in one day.
It's kinda like weaving, to me. The soon-to-be-arriving parts of the story are the most finalized, the most densely woven. A little ways beyond that, things get looser - some patterns may be locked down, but the actual work that'll hold it together hasn't been done yet. And in the far-flung future arcs, it's just the basic bones of the story and a pile of the threads I've planned to use. I know the shape of it, but in order for it to be fun and engaging for me to make it, I need to give myself room to be creative when I'm putting the whole thing together.
I actually have a file called the "Toolbox" that contains every random character or subplot idea I've had, and sometimes when I'm debating where to go with a chunk of story, I'll crack it open and scan through to see if anything jumps out begging to be used. Lotta fun stuff in there that may or may not ever see the light of day. Dropping stuff in the Toolbox is one of the most fun and freeing parts of the process for me!
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heareriissmau · 4 months ago
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❧ ❝pseudo alliance❞
mha kacchako!smau
disclaimer: if you don't like kacchako step away. this smau is only for fun. also this is gonna be filled with a lot of curses or expletives because bakugo.
genre: comedy, romance, slow burn, crack, tooth-rotting fluff summary: After the big war of today's generation, the popularity of Class 2A skyrocketed even before their debut as Pro-Heroes. Which comes with a price. The most popular students in class are getting way too much attention to the extent of being stalked. So, the students brainstormed ideas on how put a halt on these harrassments. Or; Class 2A opts for Bakugo and Uraraka to fake date to get rid of each other's strange fans. ship: Bakugo Katsuki x Uraraka Ochako (My Hero Academia)
**paragraphs are present for this part. **
word count: 1,720
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katsuki semi-slams the cluster of books on the table. not loud enough to be glared at by the librarian for the second time, but loud enough to express his vexation over his project partner's tardiness. it has been well over 5 minutes, where the hell is she?
he pushes his phone away with a grunt, opening one of the books to start studying. twenty minutes already passed. he's never one to waste time.
thinking about this had him pissed off again.
"she's in charge of collecting homework today." the two-toned boy sitting across katsuki reminded, not sparing a single glance at the latter. "just saying. in case you forgot."
katsuki huffed through his nose. "of course i knew that." he did not. he did forget, so he mentally forgave his cheeky partner for not showing up at the designated time. doesn't change the fact that ochako didn't bother give him a heads up before she left!
"guess it's fine she isn't here yet," the raven-head sitting beside shoto spoke and rested a palm over her chin, observing the blond. katsuki noticed neither of them mentioned ochako's name on purpose. kyoka continued, leaning a little closer to whisper, "not much onlookers today."
she made a good point. it's rare on occasion to see the library be not filled to the brim with curious students openly watching them like hawks. it was a curse to be popular.
"aren't you a girl, too?"
"probably not."
katsuki raised his eyebrow at kyoka for the dumb response, which the raven-head shrugged at in deadpan.
it's 'cause kyoka is taken.
guess fangirls knew to respect a relationship, even if one hasn't been established yet. this left a shudder down the blond's spine. the word 'dating' has been haunting him recently. let's think about something else.
why isn't uraraka ochako here yet?
katsuki has already had the one page he's been reading over and over memorized while waiting. he could've started by himself but she borrowed his laptop to work on her part of the report. this was getting nowhere. he checked the time on his phone. 5:45 pm.
"if you need her so bad, why don't you go look for her?"
he absolutely did not like the teasing tone underneath kyoka's voice and it didn't help that he found her smiling at him like a damn cheshire cat. she's definitely mina's friend.
the twitch on katsuki's eye was beyond his control. "she ain't lost." he checked the messages on his phone for good measure, earning a snicker from the girl.
"it seems to me you're worried about her," shoto finally spoke again while taking his time writing notes for his report. "the way your leg has been bouncing up and down under the table the last several minutes is annoying, bakugo."
katsuki didn't even realize his anxiety was showing. wait, anxiety? who's anxious?! god-
fine.
he considers ochako a friend now, maybe. a friendship orchestrated by a frog every lunch break. whatever. sure. it's harmless to admit he's worried about her whereabouts and it's not weird just because she's a girl.
girls are so fucking weird.
"she could be terrorized by that kid that likes her, for all i know," katsuki blurted out of nowhere.
"so you are worried about her?" kyoka questioned.
"whatever you wanna call it." katsuki was tired.
"how sweet. hope you get worried about me, too." katsuki considered shoving a book in shoto's mouth.
"anyway, if it helps," kyoka's earlobe jack slithers back up to its original length and twirls it around at the blond like a pointer finger casting a spell at him. "there's a familiar giggle i heard in the hallway. that should be her."
as if on reflex, katsuki stood up from his seat, catching the attention of both his classmates. he blinked.
"i'mma go piss."
"gross."
"sure. of course, you are."
he nodded at no one, "be right back," and exits the library. he paid no mind to the stares bored onto his back by those two. they already know where he's actually headed anyway.
shoving both his hands in his pockets, katsuki walked down the halls and roamed his eyes discreetly around the long corridor. also completely passed the restrooms as he did. he'll go later. from a few feet away, he finally found the very girl he's wondered where the hell has been all this time, talking with a dude.
jesus, could you tell her to get a room? katsuki rolled his eyes before turning around about to leave her there until ochako saw him. her cheery, jolly expression then immediately turned sour. she widened her eyes at him, brows furrowed, lips pursed tightly. katsuki thought she looked like she was about to let out a fat shit while the dude with her was turned away, trying to find something from his backpack.
wait.
wait.
ochako's expression now looked like she was about to cry while letting out a fat shit. he pieced it together. right in front of her was the same dude trying to get into her pants even after getting rejected over and over. from the looks of it, she could be signalling katsuki to offer her help.
now, what was he supposed to do???
he scratched his head and watched as ochako still made a crying face at him. flailing an arm to get him to come until she quickly snapped out of it, back to her fake smile when her stalker turned to her again and gave her unwanted undivided attention. katsuki was very tired.
"oi, cheeks."
he finally approached. the stalker turned to the direction of the voice and flinched at the sight of the very bakugo katsuki looming behind him. that's right, get scared. "i've been waiting for an hour for you and this is where you've been?"
that wasn't a lie. though an hour was an exaggeration, but nevertheless the sense of relief painted on ochako's face was absolutely priceless. what have they been talking about for her to react like this from getting found?
"sorry, bakugo-kun! a bunch of stuff happened so," the brunette sheepishly responded and slid away from the other kid. she stood right next to katsuki like a little cat that got sprayed with water.
she turned back to the first year, presenting her usual chirpy self, "anyway, asahi-kun! what were you saying?" as if she actually cared about what he said at this point.
the kid, apparently called asahi, had his mouth agape. his eyes shifted back-and-forth from ochako to katsuki. must have been confused by the combination. "i was about to ask if you're free to go to an exhibit with me this friday?!" the ahashi kid held out the tickets to her face.
ochako made this strange apologetic look as she said, "oh, i'm sorry. we're workin' on our assignment. i'm sure you'll find somebody else to hang out with!"
oof.
wow, she's had it, huh?
that is not something ochako would usually say.
the look of confusion rather than dejected sadness that resulted on the azashitty's face was katsuki's answer. he must've been incredibly egotistic to only be confused ochako had rejected him. "then what about another day? are you free-"
alright. katsuki got the gist of it.
"are we done here?"
his voice exploded from the patience that has been lost since he left the library, startling the kid in the process. "she said no, didn't she? the hell are you still yapping for? you really think over-insisting would get her to say yes? you made out of fucking gold or something?"
"don't be too loud, bakugo-kun."
"wh- w- what's it to you?! m- mind your own business!" he looked like he was about to pee on the spot. a wimp, after all.
"'mind my own business,' he says," katsuki scoffed, maintaining eye contact with the first year. indimidation works so why not use more of it. "what if i told you it is my business? i'm the one she's hanging out with this friday anyway." it's for their project but he can be smug about that too.
ochako badly wanted to roll her eyes to the back of her head, but she didn't. "let's just go to the library." she tried to avoid the whole debacle and go back but katsuki held her in place. he wrapped an arm around her neck.
this felt ominous.
"y- you? okay? what's that supposed to mean?" the kid seemed to be bothered at the sudden skinship. ochako and katsuki were always seen together, in the same group of friends. to add, ochako has always been the clingy type of friend. she's found to be linking arms with, holding hands with, resting her head against her closest friends from class but never with katsuki. the very dude that disliked skinship, a complete opposite of ochako.
so, what's going on right now could very well be a nightmare fuel.
ochako sighed. "well, he isn't wrong.
"we're partners fo-"
"we're dating."
there was silence.
the partners made eye contact. one just as surprised as the other. ochako stared right at him with crazy eyes. katsuki guessed she must've been losing it inside.
"WHAT?" but not as much as the kid before them.
the blond decided to stand his ground, breaking eye contact with the girl in his arm. "yeah," his voice cracked.
"uraraka-senpai!" the kid shifted his attention to the poor internally spiraling ochako. he just doesn't stop, doesn't he? "since when? why haven't you told me anything?! all this time i've just been stupidly chasing over someone that's taken?!"
ochako's eyebrows furrowed at the demand for an explanation. as well as the absurdity of this conversation. especially from a literal extra. "i think we're done here, asahi-kun. i would like for you to stop bothering me anymore, or i will actually call faculty on you."
ochako unhooked katsuki's arm dangling around her and held his hand, pulling him to the library with her. they walked silently, or not considering the incoherent shouts coming from a certain student.
just now did katsuki realize what he had done.
"holy fucking shit."
ochako stopped to give him a blank stare.
"... my bad."
"remember this is your fault."
"fine."
both students decided it was best to not proceed with their previous objective back at the library.
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⸻ part 10: patience wasn't the key
prev part ✩ main post ✩ next part
heights alliance secrets:
denki cried on priv, asking kyoka to unblock him. he apologized.
kyoka was eavesdropping. shoto, too.
toru sent ochako one-word messages frantically that it amounted to over 50 messages notified on ochako's end.
katsuki was then given another reason to save ochako's number.
oh and they went to the courtyard because acads comes first. also, ochako needed some time to chill before coming back to the dorms and be met with interrogation.
reply if you wanna be in my taglist! ⚝
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blakbonnet · 5 months ago
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[graphic by @ofmdlovelyletters]
AUTHOR OF THE WEEK @xoxoemynn
I've loved featuring some of the most incredible artists in the fandom for the AOTWs, and thanks to Connie's (@spirker) big brain, this week is dedicated to some of the most beloved fandom authors. I hope everyone will go and check out their fics, maybe discover some new works or give extra love to older beloved fics. There will be 3 authors featured this weekend, please give it up 🥁 for the first one: Emy who we all love.
When I think of an author whose writing feels like a warm, lovingly prepared bowl of soup by someone who wants you to eat and eat well: I think of Em's fics. It's impossible to imagine this fandom without her - not just her words but everything she is and does for her friends. I also strongarmed her into answering a few questions for me (kidding, she was very gracious, I kept harassing her to send the answers over 😌 I have no shame):
What's your writing process like? Do you start with the beginning or the end? Do you write in order or as the scenes come to you?
First comes the idea, which usually presents itself as “haha, wouldn’t it be funny/weird/wild if XYZ… wait a minute. I think I might be serious about that.” Once I’m pretty confident I’m actually going to write the story, I make a channel for it in the private Discord I created to keep myself organized. I’ll start jotting ideas down — doesn’t have to be in any particular order, just tone, beats I want to hit, any particular detail that’s pushing its way to the surface that’s demanding the story be told, and also grab any links, images, music, whatever, and stash them away for inspo later. I almost always have to create an outline for myself, even if it’s just a few bullet points, because otherwise I tend to just sit there spinning my wheels. If it’s a longer story, I’ll create a pretty fleshed out outline, and may also supplement it with an emotions matrix to keep track of the characters’ evolving mindset throughout the story. Tragically, I’m very much someone who needs to write in order. I’ve tried skipping around before, but inevitably I start feeling the tension of “well, how can I possibly write Scene 10 if I don’t know exactly what happened in Scene 5?” But if there are some scenes that feel more vivid to me in the brainstorming phase, I may write a few sentences just so I don’t lose that energy.
One Ed/Stede headcanon that's very dear to you and you love to explore it when you write.
I don’t know if I have one specific one. I generally treat them as my all you can eat buffet and like to play with different ones all the time, depending on my mood. But I’d say my “tell,” if you will, is taking some kind of ridiculous concept (being horny for clocks, running a sleepaway camp for singles, tooth fairies) and sussing out the Big Emotions, which often do circle around learning to be vulnerable in front of the one you love.
Whose voice is easier to write - Ed or Stede? Why?
When I first started writing OFMD fic after S1, I would have said Ed. There was something about that vulnerability and raw heartbreak that I found really accessible, perhaps because I was finally coming out of the fog of my own recent traumatic breakup. But as I spent more time writing and in the characters’ heads, I realized it’s actually Stede. I see a lot of myself in him, and have discovered getting his voice right is a rather cyclical process: the more I understand him, the more I understand myself, and the more I understand myself, the more I understand him.
Your personal favourite thing you've written that you'd like more people to read
I’m going to cheat and list two. The first is The Merry Strays of Lighthouse Sanctuary, which is my heart story. It’s not the first thing I wrote for this fandom, but it feels like it. I wanted to write a fic with a setting that felt to all the characters the way so many of us felt about the show itself �� a place of hope, where everyone is loved and accepted and celebrated for exactly who they are. The second, which is definitely a harder sell due to the subject matter, is All Of These Lines Across My Face, which is the most personal thing I’ve ever written that I think has taken on a new, more meta meaning since the cancellation. Love is eternal; it changes everything it touches for the better. Ed and Stede’s world was forever changed because they loved each other; our world was forever changed because we loved OFMD.
What is the one word that you think you use a lot?
Exquisite. But it’s NOT MY FAULT. They ARE exquisite!!! What am I supposed to do, just call them pretty? They are EXQUISITE!
Do you have a beta reader? Have they made you a better writer?
YES! My beloved Hugo (@monksofthescrew/offsammich), who I’ve been working with since Merry Strays. I used to say I’d only use a beta if there was something I was particularly worried about in the story, but honestly Hugo makes everything I write SO much better that I don’t consider a story complete until her eyes are on it. Brainstorming the initial idea, helping me get unstuck in writing, pushing me to look at a scene from a different perspective, fixing all my verb tenses… truly could not do it without her.
Why OFMD?🥹
I found OFMD at a very transitional point in my life, when I finally started to feel healed from a few big traumatic events but didn’t know what to do now that I’d emerged from the fog. I experienced some panic that I had wasted too much time and the world had moved on without me while I was still struggling. OFMD showed me that it’s never too late, that you can always have a second (or third, or 300th) chance, that you deserve to be loved for exactly who you are, and, most importantly, that there’s always hope. It was like someone gently took my hand and said “I don’t care what your brain/society is telling you, there is a beautiful future in store for you, and you deserve all that it brings you.” These days it’s rare to find something with a message like that, that’s equal parts fierce and earnest. It’s something beautiful and precious, and I’ll be holding onto it forever. ❤️
Please head over to @ofmdlovelyletters and send your love for Emy and all your favourite authors (and authors of the week 😈 watch that blog for some special letters coming your way)
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