#thank god for winter break yay

[fullmooneverynite]

artemy !!!! wait !!!!!! no !!!!! don’t cry, my big, beautiful diabetic bear !!!!!! I’ll take care of you…please don’t cry…your tits ! they are…..so big…….

[1-800-hwahui]

match of the season

member — college student radio host!junhui x f student!reader genre  —  smut, fluff, humor word count — 7.3k warnings — virgin!jun, shy clueless jun, fr that man does not know a single thing but it's endearing in a silly way, top!reader bot!jun (but no real dom/sub dynamics, more like reader leads until jun figures out how to take over), unprotected sex, jun big cock agenda, VOICE KINK (listen. you all knew it was coming), so much dirty talk, lots of consent bc it is very sexy, riding, little bit of dry humping?, mentions of an iud/birth control, jun is implied taller than reader (maybe size kink but only if you take it that way), jeonghan cameo and he's a menace, lots of fluff at the end (but also kinda throughout), please lmk if i missed any warnings! notes — this is a nsfw sequel to a sfw fic on my main writing blog @junekissed called sounds of the season, which is part of my series of winter-themed fics! if you haven't already, i would highly recommend reading that before reading this, since the stories are pretty closely connected. thanks to @onlymingyus for reading over this for me <3 i hope you all enjoy this as much as you enjoyed the first part. also like i said in part 1 i have no idea how radio works so if it doesn't make sense just roll with it lmao

you’re just putting the last finishing touches on your final paper when your phone buzzes. you glance down, grinning when you see junhui’s name on the screen.

unable to hide the butterflies in your stomach, you press a button to accept the call. “hi, junnie.”

“oh! hi,” his voice plays through your speaker with a giggle. “hey, i like that. ‘junnie’. do you want a nickname? but your name is so pretty, i don’t wanna change it–”

“whatever you want is fine,” you say, trying to hold back a smile. god, he’s cute.

“okay. i’ll think about it. oh, wait, yeah!” he says suddenly, as if he’s just remembered why he’s calling. “jeonghan left town early this week so it’s just me in the studio today, and it’s our last show of the semester. so anyway, do you wanna come over?” he stops, stumbling over his words. “well, not like, come over come over, i mean, we can just hang out, i–”

“give me half an hour,” you laugh, endeared by his eagerness.

“yay!” he cheers, and you shake your head with a smile.

half an hour later, a text pops up on jun’s phone, alerting him that you’re waiting outside the building. he leaps out of his chair, an excited grin on his face as he flings open the door and dashes downstairs to let you in.

he’s out of breath by the time he reaches the communications lab door, leaning on the push bar to let you in. “sorry, forgot they locked it already,” he pants.

“it’s fine,” you giggle. “so… everyone else is gone?”

he nods. “yeah, mr. choi said as long as i don’t mess with anything he’ll let me close by myself, so they all left early for break.”

you smile and hold out your hand for him to take, and he beams, hastily grabbing your hand and lacing his fingers with yours.

he leads you up the stairs to the sound booth, squeezing your hand the whole way.

it’s your second time being in the school’s recording studio, but the feeling is still new and exciting. you definitely understand now what jun meant when he said being around all the equipment is a lot of fun.

once inside, he shuts the heavy door with a click, locking the door and flipping on the “on air” light. not that anyone could get in anyway, but it’s a habit he doesn’t want to accidentally get out of before he comes back next semester.

he slides in front of the computer for a second, queueing another song so he has more time to grab what he’s designated as “your chair”; the comfiest one in the studio, according to him.

he pulls it over next to his chair and pats the cushion for you to sit. you giggle and plop down on the seat, scooching closer to him once he’s sat in his own chair.

he raises his eyebrows at you with a grin, then clears his throat and moves closer to the microphone as the song ends to do his job.

ever since you accidentally admitted to him that you like the way his voice sounds, he’s teased you about it—or at least, attempted to tease you about it. he's too sweet for his own good, so even when he tries to poke fun at you it comes out like a compliment.

he presses the red button and begins to talk. “that was one of the classics, ‘a holly jolly christmas’ by burl ives. coming up next, another favorite, ‘the christmas song’ by michael bublé, and more great songs on your favorite program: 111.7fm’s sounds of the season.”

he lets go of the button and sits back in his chair, spinning it around to face you as the slow music starts softly playing. “hi,” he says shyly. “did you like that?”

you smile. it’s a little bit of an odd question, but you’ve started to understand his awkwardness; he just needs a little encouragement. “i always like it. you’re really good at this.”

“i like it a lot,” he grins back, bouncing his head in excitement. “can i kiss you now?”

you laugh at his enthusiasm but nod, leaning forward to press your lips to his. he sighs into your mouth, his hands falling naturally to your waist. for supposedly not going out much, jun is really, really good at kissing, you’ve quickly learned over the last few days. how he got so good at it, you may never know, but the feeling of him pressed against you is too perfect to waste time questioning why.

despite being surrounded by the cold, metal recording equipment, the sound of michael bublé’s crooning voice and the gentle warmth of junhui’s lips makes the studio feel like the coziest place on earth.

his hands tug at your waist and you slide easily out of your chair and onto his lap, sitting sideways across his legs, never breaking the kiss.

he pulls away for a second, his cheeks dusted with pink. “let me… put the playlist on,” he says, his voice a little breathier than usual. 

you hum in confusion, attention still focused on the curve of his lips and the little noises he makes when he’s kissing you. “what playlist?”

he laughs. “for the show. so we can keep doing… this, and not have to worry.”

“wait, so you mean, not all of it is live?”

he shakes his head. “almost all of it is, but there’s a backup playlist in case we get busy and can’t sit around pressing buttons for the whole hour. i used it a couple weeks ago when i had to finish my chem paper.”

he spins the chair around, facing you both in front of the computer screen and tapping a few buttons on the keyboard. he turns a dial on the soundboard and the background music in the studio gets lower, so quiet you need to strain to hear it.

he hums, and your attention turns away from the machinery and back to his eager smile.

“can i kiss you again?” he asks softly.

you giggle and put your hands around his neck. “you don’t have to ask every time.”

so he’s pushing his lips on yours again, kissing you like you’re the most delicate thing in the world.

and that’s when you feel it. the butterflies deep in your stomach that make you want to do things no person should be doing in a school building.

he pulls away for a second to catch his breath. “you’re so pretty,” he says dreamily, and you hate the way it immediately sends shivers down your spine, landing directly at your core. 

you hold back a whimper and shift the way you’re sitting, moving so each leg is on either side of his legs, straddling his lap.

he pushes his mouth against yours, hands gently kneading your hips. your fingers dance beneath the bottom of his shirt, fingernails gliding over the warm, soft skin of his stomach and feeling his abs contract at your touch.

“wait,” he whimpers, and you pull back immediately, taking your hands off of him and putting them on your thighs.

“do you want me to stop?” you ask quietly. shit, you hope you haven’t completely ruined this by going too fast.

“no!” he nearly shouts, looking panicked, then clears his throat. “no,” he repeats. “i don’t want you to stop. i’m, just…” he trails off, avoiding your gaze.

“you can tell me, junnie,” you say gingerly, wanting him to be comfortable.

“i know,” he whines. “i’m… embarrassed,” he says, voice small.

“i’m not going to laugh at you,” you say softly.

“i’m not– i haven’t–” he freezes. you give him a small smile that you hope looks encouraging, and it must be, because he sighs and starts again. “i’m a… virgin,” he says, barely above a whisper.

“oh! that’s all?” you ask, taking his hand and threading your fingers in between his. he looks up at you, trying (and failing) to hide the surprise in his expression. “you don’t need to be embarrassed. everybody has a first time.”

you pause, not wanting to force him into doing this if he really isn’t ready. you don’t care, you have plenty of ways of getting yourself off if he wants to wait longer. because you are willing to wait. “we don’t have to now, junnie,” you say. “i’ll wait as long as you want me to.”

“i want to now,” he says quickly, shaking his head. “i just… don’t know what to do,” he mumbles.

“that’s fine,” you whisper, bringing your other hand up to his face and kissing his cheek tenderly. “we’ll go slow, and you tell me what you want.”

he hesitates, then tentatively places his hands on your waist, still holding your hands. “i want to kiss you again.”

you smile. “i can do that.”

and you lean back in, pressing your lips to his. gently at first, until he grips your waist a little harder and starts kissing you a little deeper. you let him get used to it, allowing him to set the pace he wants.

testing the waters, you push down on his lap a little, starting to grind lightly on his crotch. he whimpers and tugs at your hips to help you, beginning to fall into a steady rhythm. 

you stay like this for a while, leisurely making out on his lap, for longer than you normally would with someone else. but this isn’t someone else, this is junhui, and you’re more than content going as slow as he wants. plus, all this is just making you wetter and wetter as time goes on, riling you up the more you think about what’s to come later.

you can feel him getting harder underneath you, and you moan into him, eagerly but patiently waiting for him. his hands climb up your back, hooking around your shoulders and pulling you almost completely flush with his chest.

he pulls away after a minute, lips red and puffy from the contact and breathing hard. “don’t– you need a c-condom, when… so you, don’t get pregnant?” he stutters out, struggling to get the words out and to stop from bucking his hips against you.

“i have an iud, it’s alright,” you say, also panting for breath.

“okay.” he exhales and leans back, letting go of your hips.

you look at him in confusion at his sudden pause. “why…?”

he stares at you. “uh, don’t you have to go put it in? or did you do that before you got here?”

you snort. “my iud? no, it’s in all the time. it doesn’t come out.” 

“oh,” he says, his cheeks flushing pink. “sorry, i didn’t know–”

“it’s okay, junnie. don’t apologize,” you say, trying your hardest to hold back a laugh. poor sweet, oblivious junhui. you’re not laughing at him, you’re laughing at how adorably clueless he is. you find yourself hoping you might be the one to help him understand these things, if he wants you to.

“have you… before?” he asks shyly, avoiding your eyes again.

you pause, knowing he’s already embarrassed and trying to answer him as gently as possible. “yes,” you say finally, and his face droops a little at your response. “but that doesn’t mean anything. it’s my first time with you, too, so we’re learning about each other. that’s all it is. so just… don’t think about it, okay? the only thing i’m thinking about right now is you.”

his cheeks are a deep shade of pink, but he nods. you take his hands carefully and put them at the hem of your shirt, guiding him to pull it up and over your head. you unclasp your bra and turn around to toss it over to your chair.

“now your turn,” you say gently, looking up at his eyes, which are still focused on your boobs.

“ju-un,” you murmur in a sing-song voice, and his eyes snap back to your face. “do you want to keep going?” 

“yeah,” he chokes out. “i mean– yes. yes, please.”

you coo at his manners, moving off of his lap to wiggle your pants down your legs. his eyes are completely transfixed on your body, admiring every inch of you that he can see.

“do you want to now?” you ask, and he nods rapidly. he stands up and throws his shirt off, and his pants are quick to follow until he’s sitting back in his chair in only his boxers. the lines of his stomach seem even more defined in the low light of the studio, and you so desperately want to run your hands up and down his torso, and feel every inch of him, but– one thing at a time.

you slide your panties off and go back to your position straddling his lap. “is this okay?” you ask again.

“mhm,” he hums lowly, and you feel it deep in your abdomen, walls clenching around nothing at the sound.

his eyes dart around your face, and you reach up to run your fingers through his hair, tucking it gently behind his ear. “are you ready?” you ask softly.

his eyes widen, and he springs into action, his hands flying to your waist again. “oh! okay, yes, yes, um…”

you try not to giggle at his enthusiasm. you trail your hand carefully down to the waistband of his shorts, slipping the tip of your finger inside the elastic. “you have to take this off, junnie,” you whisper.

“mm, okay,” he whines, and you lift up a little so he can slide them down without standing up. he kicks them off and you sit back down, looking down to see what you’re working with. now that he’s fully hard, you can see that he’s… big, much bigger than you expected from a man this shy.

but who are you to judge, so you adjust on his lap, sitting up to reach below you and take his cock in your hand, positioning it at your entrance. he whimpers at the contact as you slowly drag his tip through your folds, spreading your wetness around. 

“you just sit here and let me do all the work, baby, okay?” you hum, gripping his shoulder with your other hand. “let me make you feel good, hm?”

he lets out a garbled noise in response, barely comprehending your words at how engrossed he is with the way you’re holding his cock so delicately, waiting to push it inside and finally feel you.

“junnie, need you to use your words, honey,” you say gently, moving the hand on his shoulder to lightly cup his jaw, lifting his chin so his gaze lands on your face. “you have to tell me if you don’t like something or you wanna do something different, okay?

“i wanna do you,” he says, staring blankly into your eyes, and that’s when you know he’s already gone.

you giggle. “i know, baby. you’re going to. but you have to talk to me.”

“‘cause you like my voice.”

you resist the urge to cringe, still embarrassed that that’s the thing he remembers about you. “yes, i do, but no, that's not why. you need to tell me if you want to stop, at any time, and we’ll stop, okay?”

hearing your tone get serious, he seems to snap out of it a little. “okay,” he whimpers. “can i…?”

he trails off, and you shake your head. you know he’s shy, but you can’t let him off the hook every single time, or else he’ll never learn. “can you what, honey? use your words.”

by now the tips of his ears have turned red, and he’s beginning to lose control, his hips starting to grind against you involuntarily. “can i… fuck you?” he rasps.

“of course you can,” you coo, slipping your hand behind his neck and kissing him gently. “good job, baby.”

he mewls at the praise, and you finally start to sink down on his cock. it burns at first with how girthy he is, but soon the stretch feels good, and you have to fight to keep yourself upright on his lap, soft whimpers escaping your lips.

he groans, throwing his head back against the back of his chair, his grip on your waist tightening. it takes some time, but you finally sit all the way down on his lap, legs splayed on either side of his hips.

immediately he thrusts up into you hard, and you yelp, pushing on his shoulders to get him to stop. “wait!” you pant, squeezing your eyes shut in pain. “just… wait a second first.”

“s-sorry,” he whines, his adam’s apple bobbing with each labored breath.

“s’okay,” you breathe, beginning to adjust to the feeling of his thick cock throbbing inside you. “you’re… big, gotta– gotta give me a second, oh my god.”

he hums absently, clearly pleased with your response, but he manages to stop moving for a little bit.

you sit still on top of him, your muscles gradually beginning to relax as you get used to the feeling.

he sighs, his hands sliding up your back, caressing your skin beneath his fingertips.  “feels so good, just wanna… fuck, just wanna be inside you forever.”

you would be surprised at the sudden lewdness of his words, if you weren’t so focused on the way the tone of his voice has abruptly dropped an octave. he’s starting to get more comfortable, you can tell, and you won’t lie: it’s dangerous for you.

“can– are you okay now?” he asks, eyes focused back on your face again.

“mhm,” you manage, letting out a short exhale. you start to wind your hips in circles, bouncing slowly on his lap as his hands roam your body, touching every inch of you as if he’s trying to memorize every last curve.

it’s a gentle pace; although much too slow for you, you’re hoping it’s just right for junhui to start out with. you’re not used to being on top, so you’re doing your best to keep up, but your thigh is starting to cramp from the position you’ve been sitting in and having to do the work yourself.

he must notice your discomfort, because his hands fall back down to their place at your waist, kneading your skin as he lifts his hips against you in rhythm.

“can i take over?” he mumbles, voice breathy. “please, let me, please.”

“yes, please,” you sigh, your head falling forward to rest on his chest. his skin is burning hot beneath your cheek, and you exhale, closing your eyes from exhaustion.

as soon as you relax and stop moving your hips, his own start moving immediately, your surprised cry punctuated by hard thrusts up into you, over and over again.

you’re still trying to figure out where the hell he got all this stamina from when he starts murmuring in your ear, sweet, dirty whispers as he pounds into you from below.

“you’re so… beautiful, oh my god,” he says in the low voice you’re still struggling to get used to hearing come out of his mouth. “you’re so good, wanna have you like this forever, please–”

“jun, ke–keep talking, please,” you whimper, squeezing your eyes shut in pleasure.

“you like my voice, but you sound so pretty right now,” he groans. “you should hear yourself. wanna hear you cry and make you feel so good, wanna hear you– god, wanna fuck you like this all day and never stop.”

you let out a moan, his words going straight through you. the rumble in his chest as he speaks reverberates against your head. 

the combination of his brutal pace along with the innocently filthy words from his mouth brings you right up to the edge, and you feel the knot in your abdomen tightening.

you shift a little, moving up so you can wrap your arms around his neck, hiding your face in the crook of his neck.

his hips falter for half a second at the contact, but he recovers quickly, wrapping his long arms around you and pressing you flush against his chest, jerking you up and down on his cock with fervor.

“you’re so pretty, you’re so beautiful, you’re so perfect,” he babbles, somehow remembering to keep talking you through everything. “love you so much– fuck, thank you, you’re so amazing, you’re so–”

you almost miss the four-letter word that slips out in between his praises, but it rings through your ears, nestling itself in your heart. you decide to ignore it for now, too focused on chasing your rapidly approaching high, but you promise yourself you’ll talk to him after this is all over and figure out what this is between you two.

you whine, breath catching in your throat as your own words tumble out of you in a constant stream. “keep going, jun, please– keep going, so close, please, junnie please, need you–”

“are you gonna cum? you’re so perfect, please cum for me, please, baby, lemme hear you.”

“fuck, yes!” and with that you’re catapulting over the edge with a sob, clenching around his cock as your orgasm slams into you.

he keeps thrusting into you, not once stuttering as he fucks you through your high, content to keep going and going and going until–

“jun,” you call out weakly, head swirling as you try to sit up. “jun. jun, you can s-slow down.”

his hips begin to stop, slowing down until he’s gently rocking you back and forth on his lap. “did you cum already?” he asks in surprise. like a dork.

you choke out a laugh, head lolling as your arms loosen around his neck. “yeah. yeah, i did.”

“oh.”

if you weren’t so exhausted already, you would burst out laughing. “you’ll figure it out,” you wheeze, hoping it sounds reassuring. 

he starts to move his arms to let go of you, still wrapped around your torso, but you whine and he freezes.

“just… stay here first,” you say, letting your eyes fall shut for a second.

“why?”

you sigh. “because it’s nice.”

“oh,” he says again. he settles back into the chair, holding you on his lap, arms wrapped around you, just sitting quietly.

after a few more seconds of peace you pull yourself upright, pushing your hands against his chest.

“ …what now?” he asks quietly, eyes finding your face.

“you didn’t cum yet, right?” you say. he hums out a no. “then we keep going.”

he yelps in surprise when you start to lift yourself off his lap, his still-hard cock slipping out of you, now soaked in your juices. “don’t we have to wait for you?”

you fight the urge to slap your hand over your forehead. “i can cum more than once, honey. we don’t need to wait,” you say with the straightest face you can muster.

he nods, taking in this clearly unheard of information.

“do you want me to suck you off?” you ask, bringing his attention back to you.

“wh-what?” he stutters, face turning red, clearly not expecting it.

you take in a deep breath. “where do you want to finish?” you try instead, thinking it might help him decide.

“where will you let me?” he replies, wide eyes searching yours as if it’s a trick question designed to make him fail and you’re hiding the answer somewhere in your tender gaze.

“wherever you want, junnie.”

he pauses, like he’s making sure you aren’t lying to him. “can–” he clears his throat and starts again, more sure of himself. “i have an, um… idea.”

“mhm,” you breathe, watching him expectantly.

“do you think i could, maybe… stand up? and, have– you, over the…” he trails off, gesturing to the empty table beside you and hoping you’ll understand what he’s trying to say.

“you want to bend me over and fuck me on the table?” you translate for him, blinking.

instantly his cheeks flare, the shyness returning. “well, i… i. no, um, uh–”

“you can say yes, junnie. it’s hot.”

“you think so?” he squeaks in shock.

you giggle. “yes. you can do whatever you want to, just ask me first.”

his face breaks out into a wide grin. “okay. will you please, um, follow me?” he asks, holding out his arm like a waiter leading you to a table at a restaurant. if he wasn’t so damn cute you definitely would’ve smacked him by now.

you finally move off of his lap and step away, giving him room to move from his chair. you’d forgotten how big he is until he stands up, towering over you, and it sends an involuntary shiver down your spine. he turns and starts walking away, expecting you to follow him.

you laugh and grab his arm, pulling him back. when he looks at you in curiosity, you take his large hands and place them on your waist, motioning for him to guide you.

his mouth falls into an ‘o’ and he follows your lead, pushing you by your hips over to the table.

he stands behind you, caging you in against the table with his tall frame but otherwise not doing anything. you glance over your shoulder at him, nodding in approval.

his hands leave your waist and ever so gently press on your lower back to tilt you over. you comply, letting him move you how he wants.

“is that good?” he asks softly.

“it’s great,” you say, wiggling your ass playfully. “good job asking.”

he hums, so low it’s more like a growl, and it sends another shiver down your spine. at this angle you can feel his dick pressed against your ass, hard and throbbing.

he grinds against you, dragging his cock up and down your hole. you know he’s not doing it intentionally to tease you—you’re not even sure if he’s capable of that—but it does plenty to rile you up.

“junnie, please?” you gasp out, writhing your hips in search of friction, anything. his grip tightens on you, stilling your movements.

“what do i do?” he whispers.

“put it in,” you whisper back, unable to stop the giggle that slips out. he whines in annoyance, so you stop, giving him real advice this time. “just go slow. you can do it, baby.”

you angle your ass up, hoping to give him better access to your dripping hole. he’s already been inside you once, so surely he can find it again… right?

your expectations are clearly too high, because suddenly you feel his tip pressing in between your ass cheeks, and he’s—

you yelp, and he freezes, his hands flying off of you. you reach behind and stick your index finger into your pussy, using the rest of your fingers to spread your folds apart so he can see. “this one, baby.” at least he was going slow, like you said.

“oh! sorry, i’m so sorry,” he mumbles, and even without looking you already know he’s redder than a tomato. 

“jun. don’t apologize. it’s okay,” you say softly. you move your hand away from your pussy and reach it out to him, craning your neck to see him. you wave your fingers at him, and he takes your hand, automatically twining his fingers with yours. it makes you smile. “just go for it, honey.”

“okay,” he breathes, and he starts slowly pushing into you again (the right one this time).

tiny gasps fall from your lips as you feel him fill you up again, stuffing you with his cock, inch by careful inch. once he bottoms out you exhale, letting out the breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding in.

when you don’t feel any more movement, you realize he’s stopped, waiting. you almost whine at how cute and considerate he is, but instead you just squeeze his hand. “baby, you can move.”

“okay,” he says again, and pulls out carefully before slowly pushing back in.

you moan as he starts to increase his pace, rapidly pumping into you as his hips smack against your ass. you arch your back a little, trying to angle him in deeper. each powerful thrust pushes you against the table, your hip bones hitting the edge in a way that’ll definitely leave bruises. but you can’t bring yourself to care when junhui’s thick cock is thrusting into you like his life depends on it. 

still holding onto his hand, you slip your other hand down to run your fingers over your clit, rubbing small circles. you can feel the pressure in your abdomen growing, and—

“fuck, you’re so tight,” jun groans, voice thick with need, and he begins pushing into you even harder than before, something you didn’t even think could be possible. you whine and move your hand from your clit back to the edge of the table to stop yourself from ramming into it.

he notices your elbow bent at an awkward angle to protect yourself, so he lets go of your hand and snakes around your stomach to pull you back so you’re standing upright, both his arms wrapped securely around your body. “feels so good… god, wish i had done this sooner, you’re so amazing, so perfect, for me.”

you whimper at his words, unintentionally clenching around him. “jun,” you cry out softly.

“fuck, baby, say my name again– please, like that, baby, please say it, again,” he begs you, fingers pressing into your skin that you’re sure will leave you covered in little oval-shaped bruises by the time he’s done.

“jun! please, i’m so close, jun,” you moan, repeating his name over and over again like a mantra, getting closer and closer to your release with each syllable.

“i’m cl-close too, baby, please… you’re so good, fuck! you’re so good.”

the constant praise is almost too much, and with one more sharp thrust you’re coming undone on his cock for the second time. your legs wobble as you struggle to stay standing, your hands coming up to hang on to junhui’s strong arms wrapped around you for support.

he whines loudly, and you know he must be getting close, too. “can i– can i cum on your back?” he pants out, still gripping you tightly. as much as he really, really wants to cum inside you, he figures it might be messier than cumming on you. and besides, he doesn’t want to get too greedy; it is only his first, after all.

“yes! yes please, yes, jun,” you manage, still wading through the aftershocks of your orgasm.

a little harder than he intends, he’s shoving you roughly down onto the table again, pulling his dick out of you to jerk himself over you.

“junnie, please,” you whimper out weakly, and the sweet sounding words on your lips have him choking back a sob as he cums, thick spurts of white painting your lower back.

he keeps moving his hand on his cock until he’s completely finished, panting heavily. by the time he’s done you’re both sticky with sweat, breathing like you’ve just run a marathon.

you let out a long sigh, feeling exhausted but satisfied. silence settles over the studio, the music long stopped, but you can’t tell if it’s a good silence or a bad silence.

you realize you’d closed your eyes while jun was cumming, and when you don’t feel his touch anymore, you slowly pry them open again, wondering where he went. 

you prop your head up in your hands and look behind you to see jun hastily pulling on his boxers and jeans. 

your jaw drops in horror. you’d thought, with his inexperience, he wouldn’t be like all the other guys who fuck and then take off, but apparently, you thought wrong.

“jun!”

his head whips around as he pulls his zipper up, eyes wide like a deer in headlights.

“are you seriously gonna just leave?”

his mouth falls open. “no! of course not! i was just putting my pants back on.”

your expression softens. “oh,” you say quietly, face flushing at having jumped to conclusions so quickly. “sorry.”

“why would i wanna leave after this?” he frowns, looking genuinely appalled at the mere idea that someone might do that. “you’re still here.”

“i thought, since–” you start, then pause. discussion for another time. “nevermind, it’s not important. but why were you putting your pants on like you were gonna leave?”

you’re the one feeling embarrassed, but it’s junhui that turns red and starts stuttering. “well, i– um, i didn’t want you to… see…”

you laugh and put your head back in your arms. when you don’t say anything, he calls out your name nervously, and you look back over at him.

“junnie, your dick was just in me. twice. i don’t care what it looks like.”

“okay,” he says shyly, but his fingers still fumble with the button of his jeans.

you sigh once he finishes adjusting his pants. whatever makes him more comfortable, you suppose. “jun, can you… help me clean up now, please?” you ask timidly.

he glances over at you, looking like he’s about to ask why you need help, but then he sees you still bent awkwardly over the table and his cum still covering your back, and his eyes widen. “oh! shit, yeah– yes, i’m so sorry, i will–” he stammers, almost tripping over his backpack in his hurry to go get a tissue from the box by the door.

you sigh, more exhausted than mad, knowing you can’t really fault him. he comes back over a second later, gripping a wadded-up handful of tissues.

he drops them on your back and begins wiping at your skin, gingerly cleaning you off. when he’s satisfied with his work, he balls up the tissues and tosses them into the small can by the door.

“oh!” he says, realizing. “i think we have antibacterial wipes in here too, do you want me to use one of those? er, wait, i don’t know if they’re safe for skin…”

with your back (mostly) clean again, you stand up, wincing at the ache in your hips. “it’s fine, don’t worry about it. i’ll shower when i get home.”

you limp over to your chair, picking up your clothes and sitting down to start getting dressed again.

when jun finishes pulling his shirt over his head and looks over at you he gasps, seeing the bruises across your hips and tummy. “holy shit! did i do that?” he asks, looking horrified, and you look down to check.

“oh. yeah, that and the table,” you shrug, hooking your bra behind your back.

“i’m sorry,” he says, voice quivering, and he genuinely looks like he’s about to cry until you convince him you’re alright and he didn’t do anything wrong.

“it’s not supposed to hurt, though, i thought,” he frowns. “i don’t want to hurt you. i lo– um, like you,” he says, “why would i want to hurt you?” he catches himself quickly, but you heard what he started to say. you decide now isn’t the best moment for you to bring it up, so you leave it alone.

“sometimes people like it when it hurts. sometimes people like it not to hurt. everybody’s different,” you tell him instead.

he nods, thinking. “i… liked this,” he says finally.

you smile, finishing putting the last of your clothes back on. “good, i’m glad. you’re supposed to enjoy it.”

“did… you like it?” he asks tentatively.

“yes, i did like it,” you giggle, and he beams, clearly proud of himself. and he should be. obviously it wasn’t the most perfect of your life, but when is it ever? it was close enough to perfect that it might as well be.

“you live on campus, right? so i don’t need to walk you to your car?” he asks, grabbing his jacket that somehow fell on the floor and tossing it onto his chair as he starts to shut everything down in the studio.

you sigh. damn, you’d forgot about this part. sure, a couple hours ago you could walk just fine to the communications building on the complete opposite side of campus, but you hadn’t planned on getting railed within an inch of your life so you hadn’t exactly thought to bring your car. “yeah, but i… it’s on the south end, and i probably won’t be able to walk very far,” you mumble, avoiding his gaze. “i’ll take the shuttle.”

he frowns. “i’m not gonna let you take the bus. i can give you a ride.”

“you don’t need to, jun.”

“yes, i do,” he says assertively, and it startles you enough to meet his eyes. you haven’t ever heard his voice that firm, and when you look up his expression is as equally determined as his tone. not that you’d ever admit it to him, but it is kind of… hot.

you decide not to argue with him, knowing you won’t be able to change his mind anyway. you nod an ‘okay’, and his face instantly brightens to the awkward, nerdy jun you’re used to, beaming like he did when you first agreed to another date, back in the café what feels like ages ago.

“are you doing anything tonight?” you ask, watching him shut down the equipment and turn all the knobs and dials to an off position.

“no. i mean, i was gonna catch up on my show, but then, i didn’t expect for… this, to happen, so…” he shrugs. “i don’t know.”

“do you wanna come over? i… i mean, not to do anything. just… wanna be with you.” your voice comes out smaller than you intend it to, but jun still hears you loud and clear.

“yeah,” he grins. “yeah, that would be really cool.”

he pauses, looking like he wants to ask you something but not sure if he should. “can i give you a hug?” he says finally.

you smile. only junhui would ask for something as small and sweet as a hug after having sex. “yes, please.”

he crosses the room in two strides, barely giving you time to process before he’s squeezing you in his arms. you sigh and automatically melt into his arms, inhaling the perfumey scent of his cologne lingering on his wrinkled clothes.

it feels… good, being cared about.

he finishes shutting everything down quickly and grabs his things, swinging his backpack over his shoulder as he flips off the lights and closes the door behind you, making sure it’s locked before heading down the stairs.

you hate the way your legs tremble going down the steps, cursing him for being so good at his first time, because who the hell is that good their first time? already at the bottom of the stairs, jun looks back to see where you are and why you aren’t beside him, and, seeing you gripping onto the side railing for support, he dashes back up the steps two at a time to grab your arm and help you.

“you weren’t kidding when you said you couldn’t walk,” he giggles, holding the door open for you, and oh my god you want to hit him. “does that always happen? i thought people always just made that up to sound cool.”

“yes, i wasn’t kidding, and no, it doesn’t always,” you mutter, face heating in embarrassment. “depends on the person and how rough it is.”

his smile widens, the implied meaning of your words sinking in. “so what you’re saying is, my di–”

“junnie, if you finish that sentence, i swear to god i will never have sex with you ever again.”

he giggles, but he shuts his mouth, helping you the rest of the way to his car in silence. this time you know for sure, it’s a good silence.

his car is nicer than you’d expect a man’s car to be: clean and fairly organized, and there’s no half-eaten fast food in the backseat. he swings open the door for you and tries to help you sit down, but you swat his hand away.

he jogs around to the driver side door and slides into the seat, slamming it shut behind him. he buckles up, then grabs a candy cane from the pile in the cupholder and holds it out to you. “candy cane?”

“i’m… good,” you laugh, forcing yourself not to make a joke about having better things to suck on. why does he even have those in his car?

the ride to your apartment complex is pleasant. as expected from the radio man himself, as soon as the key is in the ignition, he turns the radio on, humming along to every song. you find yourself spending most of the drive staring at him, studying the tiny features in his cheeks when he smiles and the way his adam’s apple bobs when he hums.

after a shower, clean pajamas, and a raid of your refrigerator for snacks and something to drink, you’re snuggled up on the couch with jun, catching up on the show he wanted to watch. it’s the middle of some random season and you have no idea what’s going on, but you don’t care. just being here with him is more than enough for you, and you’re glad he’s enjoying being here, too.

“do you have a voice kink?” he asks suddenly at one of the commercials.

you nearly choke on your gatorade. “i– well, i mean… i didn’t used to, but…” you sputter out, your cheeks burning in embarrassment. “where did you even hear that?”

“jeonghan said you might.”

you scoff. you still haven’t met junhui’s broadcasting partner yet, but you already have some choice words in mind for him when you do finally get to have the pleasure of meeting him. “well, tell him to keep his thoughts to himself,” you say, taking another smaller sip and avoiding his grin.

“so is that a yes?”

you roll your eyes and ignore him, which might as well be a yes, but you choose not to admit it. you know you definitely need to talk to him about… everything, but he seems so happy right now, you don’t want to risk ruining the evening.

but luckily for you, he brings it up himself at the next commercial break.

“how long do i have to wait until i can ask you to be my girlfriend?” he says, muting the tv and looking over at you.

you laugh. “were we not… already?” you ask. “we’ve been on, like, four dates. usually that part happens before you have sex.”

he looks a little disappointed, for some reason. not exactly the reaction you’d expect when someone tells you they want to keep seeing you. “oh. um, well…” he starts, scratching at the back of his neck. “i planned it all out, i was gonna do this big thing and ask you. i thought i was supposed to. i meant to do it earlier, but…” he trails off, cheeks turning pink.

your expression softens. “you… can ask me now,” you say, putting your hand on his thigh.

“okay.” he clears his throat, sitting up straighter on the couch. “will you be my girlfriend?”

you try not to laugh at how serious he is, knowing he’s really, really trying. “yes, of course,” you reply, trying to match his seriousness.

“is that okay? that i didn’t do it right?” he asks nervously, fiddling with the hem of the blanket covering your laps.

you smile and bring your hand up to his cheek, pulling him towards you to give him a quick kiss. “you did it perfect, junnie.”

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[cowgurrrl]

I Wish I Was

Pairing: Joel Miller x fem!reader

Author’s note: yay for creative energy coming back!!

Summary: Murphy’s Law dictates… [3.1k]

Warnings: art talk, discussions of a deceased parent, probably incorrect blueprint talk, a cliff hanger 😈

Temperatures rarely dip below the thirties in Central Texas. It's not impossible, as evidenced by the below-freezing temperatures ravaging much of the South in the final days before returning to school, but it's still rare. Nobody really knows what to do when there's the threat of the roads icing over, so they just decide to shut most things down, including your bar. You feigned disappointment when your manager called to tell you when, in reality, you were digging through your box of acrylic paints to find the one shade that's been calling your name. With the sudden free time, you get to work on your half-finished canvases and listen to the same record repeatedly in the hopes that your brain will zone out enough for you to make something good. 

It could be The Mamas and The Papas record spinning or the dark blue winter light shining through your blinds, but you actually like the piece of art unfolding on your canvas. It's undeniably different, a little more vibrant and a little more abstract, but it feels good— sustainable, at the very least. You feel less self-conscious about them and even snap pictures to show them off to Andie. You've finished three other canvases and sent in images of them to a local art collective that takes gallery submissions twice a year, and they've moved you on to the next part of the acceptance process. It's not a definite yes, but it's not an immediate no. You haven't told Joel about the submission or anything, really. You've just holed yourself up in your apartment to paint and sporadically respond to his texts with lots of apologies typed with yellow or purple fingertips.

He knows you're not ignoring him, and you know he's a busy guy. He has better things to do than sit around and wait for you to text him back, but you feel bad about not being as present as you were before. "It's all part of the process, I promise," you said. "Then, when I get my own gallery, you can hear all about it while you fix up my classroom." He reminded you that "pride goeth before the fall" but didn't doubt or pressure you to break your flow. The only thing he consistently texts you about is making sure you're drinking water, stretching your wrists, and, at least, looking at a vegetable during your long sessions. Otherwise, he leaves you alone to work. Everyone else, including the stack of looming emails in your inbox, gets deliberately ignored so you can live in your bubble for just a little longer before school drags you back into session. 

That's why you jumped and furrowed your eyebrows at your ringing phone when his contact photo appeared unexpectedly, breaking you out of your concentration. You wipe your hands on your old pair of too-big jeans (universally known as your work pants because they're covered in different colored hand prints) and swipe to answer him before the silly picture of him with one of your scarves on his head can go away. You hear him shuffling around when you put it on speaker and almost hang up, thinking it's a butt dial before you finally hear his voice.

"Hello?" He greets.

"Hey, what's up?" 

"Did I leave my jacket there?" He asks. You let out a relieved sigh that it's nothing too dramatic, but the lingering panic his phone call caused sits in the back of your head as you glance down at said jacket. You adjust the palette in your hand, suddenly hyper-aware of the wet paint and thanking whatever God is out there for not getting any on his clothes. You can't imagine things would go over well with the guys if he suddenly showed up to job sites with pink paint on the sleeve of his jacket.

"No..." you say, extending the vowel, and he chuckles. 

"Do me a favor. See if there's a ring of keys in the front pocket?" He says. You gently put the palette on your coffee table and wipe your hands again to ensure there's no wet paint on them before digging into both front pockets and feeling the keys in his left pocket. You pull them out and find the set of keys with a baseball keychain and a keychain with a picture of him and the girls on it. 

"I've got 'em," you say. "The Astros? Really?"

"D'you mind bringin' 'em to the office? I forgot I needed 'em." He ignores your jab, and you look down at your outfit. Clad in your work pants, a sports bra, Joel's Carhartt jacket, and your unwashed hair in a clip, you are not prepared to leave the house today, let alone go see Joel.

"Um..." 

"Somethin' wrong?" He asks, and you wince. What are you gonna say? Sorry, I know you have to do your job and all, but I look and feel like shit, so I can't bring your keys to you? He's already seen you in disarray from the school day, but that was a cuter, more socially acceptable version of disarray. This version gives credence to the messy, mentally ill artist stereotype Freud introduced however many years ago. 

"No, nothing's wrong. I just..." you sigh and rub your face. "I wasn't expecting to see you today. I kinda look crazy." 

"That's it?" He asks, and you can hear the smile in his voice. "Baby, I don't care how you look. You could show up in a potato sack, and I wouldn't care." 

"Well, lucky for you, I don't own a potato sack, but I'm pretty sure that would look better than this."

"If it makes you feel better, the office is empty."

"Then, why are you in? It's fucking freezing."

"I needed to make sure the pipes didn't freeze over, and I left some blueprints here," he says. "I can grab 'em from you and just come back to the office."

"No, I don't want you driving more than you have to," you say, already stretching out your stiff legs. Your knees creak in protest, and fatigue seeps into your bones. God, how long have you been sitting here? "Just don't say I didn't warn you."

"I think it'll take a lot more than some messy clothes to scare me off, darlin'," he says, and you roll your eyes at his charm. With a quick goodbye, you throw on a clean enough sweater and leggings. You debate running a brush through your hair before remembering what he said about the empty office and decide you don't have the energy. If he really doesn't care what you look like, then you're not going to stress about it. 

You're a little worried about driving in the weather, even you aren't immune to Southern weather panic, but the roadways are mostly clear, and things aren't expected to get really bad until later on. Still, you drive slowly and white-knuckle the wheel against strong, frigid winds. By the time you get to Joel's office, the sky is more grey than blue, and radio announcers warn you that there might be flurries within the next forty-eight hours. You doubt they'll stick to the ground and amount to nothing more than some black ice, inconveniencing everyone in the state, but still. You leave the relative warmth of your car and walk as fast as you can into the building, clutching Joel's jacket close to your body and sending a wave of his smell over you. 

The office itself is small, with a couple of desks here and there, mostly for meeting with clients and explaining building plans. A coffee pot and water cooler sit in the corner next to the receptionist's desk, which is currently empty. It's eerily quiet in the space except for the sound of the heat rumbling somewhere in the walls, and you almost wonder if Joel left without telling you when you hear grumbling and the tell-tale sound of his boots against the tile. He doesn't notice you at first. Instead, he scowls at a paper like it owes him money and mutters under his breath. Whatever is annoying him is wiped away the second he sees you there. 

"Hey, baby," he lights up as he walks over to you and kisses you, abandoning the paper on one of the desks so he can hold you close. He tastes like coffee and the beeswax chapstick Ellie got him for Christmas. You didn't realize how much you missed him until now, and you smile against his lips. "You got my keys?" He asks as he turns to walk into his office, grabbing your hand and bringing you with him. He lets go of you to close the door behind him, and you dig the keys out of your pocket and toss them at him. He catches them in mid-air easily and walks over to the filing cabinet.

"You intentionally leave your keys with me, or is this just a happy accident?" You ask, and he smirks. 

"Maybe I just wanted to see you again."

"Sneaky," you say as you walk around his space while he searches for the correct blueprint. 

It's a relatively normal office with eggshell walls and bad fluorescent lighting, but once you step behind his desk, you get a good idea of the man who works here. His desk is old and made of some type of wood he probably knows more about than you do. It's filled with little knick-knacks and things that get him through the day: family pictures, a painted gecko from Terlingua, stress balls, and a desk calendar with his all-caps handwriting. There are even some drawings done by Ellie pinned on the corkboard behind his chair, her skill visibly improving as she gets older. 

One particular picture on his desk catches your eye. It's older than the rest, and it takes you a minute to recognize Joel's eyes in the greying man. Joel, Tommy, and their dad smile at the camera with identical grins. Tommy can't be older than ten while Joel towers over them both, his broad shoulders taking up lots of space. You pick it up to look at it closer and Joel doesn't stop you. Instead, he comes up behind you and wraps his arms around your waist, resting his chin on your shoulder. 

"'S this your dad?" you ask, and he nods. "You guys look a lot alike." 

"You think?" He asks like he doesn't see it, and you look at him. You take a second or two to let your eyes trace his features and compare them to his dad's before nodding.

"Yeah. Same eyes," you say as you look back down. "And smile." He hums happily at that. Joel's face hasn't changed much now that he's a grown man. If anything, he looks more like his dad, with the grey at the temples and the beard framing his face. You see bits of their father in Tommy, too, but you assume he probably looks more like their mother. "How old were you in this?"

"Mm, fifteen? Maybe sixteen." Right before his dad died, you think. You wonder if he's thinking the same thing or reliving the day over again. Before the clutches of grief can sink you both, you smile to yourself and hold the picture a little closer.

"I would've been obsessed with you if we'd gone to high school together." 

"Really?" He asks incredulously, and you giggle at the thought. 

"Oh, for sure. Look at you!" You point to his little broody half-smile as if it's evidence. "Those eyes, that hair, the attitude. I mean, c'mon, Joel!" He laughs at your praise and takes the photo out of your hands.

"Alright, alright, that's enough objectification for teenage Joel." 

"I'm not objectifying you! I'm just stating the obvious." 

"Mhm," he hums, and you laugh. You continue walking around and looking at his things as he frowns at the blueprint he trekked through the cold to get. "Shit." He mumbles, reaches for a pencil, and scribbles something on the plans. 

"What's wrong?" You ask, perching yourself on the edge of his desk and leaning over to look at the intricate design. It looks like a big house with lots of elaborate details written on the margins. It's a big build. No wonder he needed to get this copy.  

"This client decided they wanted a bigger kitchen, but I don't know how to do that without eatin' into another room and changin' the whole plan," he sighs. "We're supposed to be back on the site once this storm blows over, and I gotta have an idea of how we're gonna do this by then." 

"Can't you just tell them no?" You ask, and he chuckles.

"Can’t you just tell your principal no?

"Point taken," you say. "What about pushing it into the backyard a little? Then you could use this area over here to make a sunroom or something," you suggest, gesturing to the weird leftover space that would make the house look wonky. His eyebrows knit together as he thinks.

"Then what should I do here?" He asks. Together, you go back and forth, discussing dimensions, perspectives, and measurements. You never realized how similar these designs are to art. They have to have more of a purpose and fit specific parameters, but other than that, they have the same idea: create something out of nothing. It's cool to see Joel in his own element, doing mental math and estimates that would take you ages to do and writing down his findings as you figure them out together. He's not just good at math, he's good at sketching the new designs. 

Almost seamlessly, he flips through the floor plans and layouts, adding a window there or changing the flow of a room with a singular erasure. He adds the perfect depth to see the idea clearly without crowding the space and making it seem too busy, allowing the clients to picture their furniture in the home. When you bring up an idea, he's quick to rotate the plans upside down to imagine how it would look and if it would impact the building process, his brain running through every possible solution and flipping it without even thinking. Ellie does the same thing when she gets stuck on a drawing. You see where she gets her skill from, even if he'll never admit it. 

For someone who has always struggled with math, you enjoy the balance between math, engineering, and art in the plans, but you like working with Joel the most. It's nice to feel like you're helping instead of distracting him. You're not sure how long you worked together, reconfiguring things this way and that, before you finally reached a viable solution, but you know that Joel has the biggest smile on his face when he looks away from the blueprints. 

"You mighta missed a callin', my dear." He says, and you laugh, shaking your head.

"My college algebra professor might disagree, but I do think this is interesting." 

"Well, if you ever want a job..." he trails off as he rolls the blueprints back up and secures it with a rubber band. You smirk and tug at his belt loops to bring him closer to where you're sitting on his desk. 

"You just want me to get more tattoos." You accuse, and he chuckles as he tosses the prints somewhere behind you, his hands coming up to frame your face. 

"I'm just sayin', Miller Contracting don't have a policy against it like the school district does."

"Mm, what about dating? That might get a little dicey." 

"Is sleepin' with your boss better or worse than sleepin' with a student's parent?" He asks, and you laugh. 

"They're probably in the same realm of bad."

"Then, we've got nothin' to lose." He says as he leans down to kiss you. You open your legs just enough for him to step in between your knees and get as close as he can. He's trimmed his beard since the last time you saw him, but the stubble still scratches deliciously against your skin, making you sigh. He breaks away enough to tip you back onto his desk, narrowly missing his clutter, and you giggle when he kisses your neck.

"How long have you been plannin' this one?" you ask, your years in Texas showing through in your breathless voice. He smiles as he meets your eyes. 

"I dunno what you're talkin' bout."

"Oh, so getting me alone and on top of your desk was just a coincidence?"

"Happy accident." He muses, sliding his hands up your shirt as he gets lower and lower. Your hands play with his hair, occasionally tugging on the strands just to hear the sound he makes. You would've been happy to do that all day if your phone ringing through the suddenly too-warm air of his office didn't interrupt. Joel groans and drops his head to your sternum, his hands pausing their journey up your body as you wiggle your phone out of your back pocket. Your heart drops the second you recognize the phone number.

"Who is it?" Joel asks like he's reading your mind. You sit up slowly, and he takes his hands off you without malice or frustration. You're stuck staring at the number until it disappears off your screen and goes to voicemail. 

"Um... someone from work. I should probably call them back." You say, unsure of yourself as the words fall from your mouth. Joel looks confused but doesn't push. 

"Oh. Right, yeah. School starts back up on Monday, right?" 

"Yeah, she probably just wants to talk about lesson plans or something," you say, standing from your spot on the desk. The air has changed between you, and suddenly, things feel clunky and awkward. This is the worst possible timing. "Can I call you later?"

"Yeah, of course. I'll walk you out." He says sheepishly. You don't say anything as he opens the doors for you and gives you a quick kiss and a reminder to text him when you get home. You just nod and immediately speed walk to your car even though you're not that cold. Joel watches you pull out from your parking spot and leave the strip mall, waving before you can turn out of sight. 

You wait until you're five minutes down the road before you dial the number back as if Joel would be able to hear the crackly voice through your speaker if you were any closer. Your heart beats fast in your chest, and your palms are sweaty on the wheel as the phone rings. When the dial tone finally ends, and your call is answered, the anxiety is replaced with frustration.

"What’s up?" You ask through gritted teeth, and you hear her take a breath.

"We need to talk about Ellie’s dad."

TAGLIST: @abbyhaslongshorts @kiwiharrykiwi @sumsworldz @myloveistoolittle @anavatazes @marantha @cosmoscoffeee @shyminnie07 @beezusvreeland @eddiemunsonsbedroom @harriedandharassed @doodlebob-mp3 @ignorethisplz2004 @buckyispunk @d1lf-loverrr @vee-bees-blog @moel-jiller @anoverwhelmingdin @casssiopeia @maried01 @acupofhollie

[leclerc-s]

fruitcake

series masterlist

NOVEMBER 8, 2023

liked by isabellaperez, penelopetrevino, pierregasly and others

maejonesverstappen made smthn special for you guys for the holidays 🤍 ‘fruitcake’ out 11/17!

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isabellaperez will there be new songs i can traumatize jos with?

maxjonesverstappen1 i can’t believe it’s right before winter break…

↳ isabellaperez CHRISTMAS MUSIC IS ALL YEAR LONG YOU GRINCH!

danieljonesricciardo i am worried.

↳ daphnejonesricciardo i am also worried

estebanocon i still can't look max in the eyes. do not traumatize me again.

user83 CHRISTMAS EP! YES!

user10 watching these guys panic that mae is going to pull another nonsense/a nonsense christmas on them is so fucking funny to me.

user72 any christmas song by the jones sisters is a certified chrismash.

↳ user02 real. i listen to christmas tree farm everyday after thanksgiving

↳ user41 who gives a fuck about thanksgiving?

↳ user02 I DO! IT'S A HOLIDAY TOO! PEOPLE LOVE TO FORGET ABOUT IT.

↳ user41 not everyone lives in the states.

↳ user02 i meant in the states.

landonorris i beg. please do not traumatize us further.

↳ maejonesverstappen no promises 😊

↳ arthur_leclerc think of the children! like olliebearman

↳ olliebearman okay that's rude. i am not a child!

↳ maxjonesverstappen1 you couldn't even drink in vegas. you are a child!

george russell please tell me we are safe from another nonsense christmas.

mae jones-verstappen maybe. maybe not.

esteban ocon i don't think i can take another one.

lewis hamilton i know i can't take another one. i will leave the group chat for real if it happens again.

mae jones-verstappen when i do it's a problem but when penny released mayores no one had a problem.

penelope trevino that was back in 2017! and i didn't know anyone but carlos! let it go! and i also wasn't dating anyone at the time.

carlos sainz that's not true. you were with what's his face. the one who cheated? penelope trevino we don't talk about that dickhead.

natalia ruiz is that the guy carlos said he was glad cheated on you?

daphne jones-ricciardo what?

lando norris dad said what to mom?

penelope trevino in his defense, we hated each other then. when he got cheated on, i told him he deserved it.

isabella perez how the hell are you two even together if you hated each other?

penelope trevino same reason you're with oscar. he taught me how to love again. dulce perez huh. that's cute. when's the wedding?

natalia ruiz i bet carlos and penelope are going to end up married before me.

alex albon she's practically screaming at charles to propose already.

natalia ruiz he's too naïve to get the hint.

logan sargeant have some faith in him nat. maybe he's just scared?

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

liked by maxjonesverstappen1, baileywinters, dulceperez and others

maejonesverstappen fruitcake is officially out now ♡ just sayin i never seen santa klaus and mae jones-verstappen in the same room

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rowantodd someone's watching too much vampire diaries again.

↳ maejonesverstappen THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH VAMPIRE DIARIES!

↳ maxjonesverstappen she's forcing me to have a marathon.

↳ maejonesverstappen boy the couch surely looks comfortable for you tonight.

↳ maxjonesverstappen i meant, yay, we're having a vampire diaries marathon!

↳ maejonesverstappen that's better 😊

user53 came into this expecting a cindy lou who to be a happy song. HOW COULD I BE SO WRONG?

user20 this is officially my go to christmas album

pierregasly THIS IS A GOOD DAY! NO DICK REFERENCES ABOUT MAX!

↳ alex_albon WAR IS OVER! I REPEAT WAR IS OVER!

georgerussel63 i can sleep peacefully now!

↳ isabellaperez i know you ass isn't talking, i caught you singing a nonsense christmas the other day.

↳ georgerussell63 yes, but i tend to block out that the song is about max

danieljonesricciardo oh thank god. no more dick jokes.

↳ maejonesverstappen you guys are just haters. you all enjoyed the song before you knew who it was about.

↳ estebanocon it's a good song yes. but it's about max. i did not need to know those things about your life.

↳ maejonesverstappen it would be a shame if there were a christmas nonsense mv.

↳ pierregasly is that just an excuse to leak your sex tape?

↳ maejonesverstappen wouldn't you just love to see that? (it doesn't exist btw)

↳ user47 nah, that's unhinged mae.

isabella perez max blink twice if you need help

max jones-verstappen i am fine. i do not need help. i love the vampire diaries. mae jones-verstappen he's fine. he's being dramatic.

max jones-verstappen THE SHOW IS UNREALISTIC! HOW AM I MEANT TO WATCH IT?

daniel jones-ricciardo it's a show about vampires max, it's not supposed to be realistic!

isabella perez hey, does giuseppe salvatore remind anyone of someone?

natalia ruiz eh, i see him more as a john winchester. max jones-verstappen who the hell are you two talking about? isabella perez NO ONE! natalia ruiz NO ONE!

daniel jones-ricciardo i hate that i understand exactly what they're talking about.

charles leclerc what does it mean?

isabella perez sorry charlie, if you know you know. arthur leclerc unfortunately i understand this

mae jones-verstappen YOU PEOPLE WILL APPRECIATE THE VAMPIRE DIARIES UNIVERSE AND YOU WILL LIKE IT!

penelope trevino they're talking about supernatural mae, not tvd.

mae jones-verstappen i know but i'm making a point here penelope.

mae jones-verstappen i have to go, i have a needy 14 year-old demanding attention.

max jones-verstappen he's doing this shit on purpose. he's stealing my wife's attention from me.

charles leclerc this is what you get for allowing him to live with you until the new year.

max jones-verstappen mama jones deserved a break from the demon. she is living her best life on vacation right now daniel jones-ricciardo she deserve it after raising two wonderful daughters, a demon spawn, and surviving through a divorce.

natalia ruiz stan momma jones and pascale leclerc.

isabella perez AND MY MAMI AND SOPHIE! zoya torres AND NAT! MOTHER IS MOTHERING EVERYONE!

oscar piastri correct me if i'm wrong but isn't rhys doing press for his show soon?

max jones-verstappen he is but that doesn't mean i'm enjoying having him around for the time being.

daniel jones-ricciardo he says that now but he literally bought the kid so many christmas presents max jones-verstappen he's growing on me, sort of like mold.

daphne jones-ricciardo i'm telling him you said that.

max jones-verstappen DON'T YOU DARE DAPHNE!

DECEMBER 7, 2023

liked by maxjonesverstappen1, daphnejonesricciardo, charles_leclerc and others

maejonesverstappen santa doesn't know you like i do music video featuring a very special guest. go watch it to find out!

view all comments

charles_leclerc i better not be watching the video just to see max's face.

↳ charles_leclerc i spoke too soon.

user61 THIS WHOLE VIDEO WAS SO FUCKING CUTE?? THEY ARE THE IT COUPLE OF RED BULL!

↳ maejonesverstappen unfortunately that title belongs to geri and salty spice, but thank you for that!

↳ user61 OH MY GOD!

rowantodd wish my relationship was as cute as this video

↳ pierregasly do i mean nothing to you? i'm trying!

↳ user01 PICK UP THE SLACK TRIPOD!

isabellaperez you win this time jones-verstappen but i will find something new to terrorize jos with trust me.

↳ rhysjones you looking for a partner?

↳ isabellaperez LET'S GO! WELCOME TO THE TERRORIZE JOS CLUB BABY JONES!

↳ maxjonesverstappen oh no. this is why i randomly shivered.

↳ danieljonesricciardo oh no. the world is about to end.

↳ user52 the one thing they didn't want happening happened. i pray for them.

user95 stop this video is so cute. me and who when?

user80 this video just called me single in about 100 different ways.

penelopetrevino this is so cute, pick up the slack carlos.

↳ carlossainz55 is it your job to make us look bad maxjverstappen1?

↳ maxjonesverstappen i am the superior s/o and i have to prove it.

↳ danieljonesricciardo back the fuck up that role belongs to me jones-verstappen. i was here first.

↳ maxjonesverstappen you wouldn't even know your wife if it weren't for me meeting mae.

↳ danieljonesricciardo you don't know that! i'm still superior.

↳ rhysjones you both suck. fernandoalo_oficial would've been a better brother-in-law.

↳ maxjonesverstappen wow, you're the worst.

↳ danieljonesricciardo i'm hurt little stink.

natalia ruiz wow. i wish i was married or engaged.

george russell she's screaming again charles!

isabella perez WHY HAVE I BEEN KEPT AWAY FROM BABY JONES?!

daphne jones-ricciardo for the fact that you and rhys cannot be trusted to be left alone for more than 2 minutes.

mae jones-verstappen because you're both idiots who cannot be left alone.

max jones-verstappen I AM NOT AN IDIOT MAE! AND TELL YOUR HUSBAND TO STOP GLARING AT ME!

mae jones-verstappen YOU STOLE HIS PHONE?

max jones-verstappen added one person

rhys jones I GAVE IT BACK!

rhys jones i get why they call him mad max now.

ollie bearman at least i'm not the youngest one here anymore.

rhys jones renamed the group chat to motorsports biggest headaches

rhys jones changed the group chat icon

rhys jones simply because you are the biggest headaches in motorsports

sebastian vettel finally someone who gets it.

rhys jones OH MY GOD! SOMEBODY SEDATE ME!

max jones-verstappen with pleasure. rhys jones SCREW YOU SID! IT'S SEBASTIAN FUCKING VETTEL! max jones-verstappen calm down timon.

fernando alonso how can you be related to him and somehow he's still not your biggest fan?

rhys jones AND THAT'S FERNANDO ALONSO! MISTER, I RELATE TO YOUR WAR CRIMES! I'M A WAR CRIMINAL TOO! daniel jones-ricciardo once again, it's a character you play. rhys jones SHUT UP BIG STINK!

lewis hamilton oh god, this is great.

rhys jones JUSTICE FOR ABU DHABI 2021 SIR HAMILTON! YOU WERE ROBBED! max jones-verstappen you literally congratulated me after i won. rhys jones DETAILS ARE NOT IMPORTANT

george russell i love this kid

daniel jones-ricciardo you won't be saying that in about 20 minutes when he explains every single piece of lore in percy jackson. he's got serious issues.

isabella perez but he is percy jackson. cut him some slack dude.

rhys jones SHE GETS IT!

taglist: @burningcupcakefire @arkhammaid @sunflower-golden-vol6 @applopie @lorarri @mypage-myfandoms @bb-swift @thewannabewriter @you-bleed-just-toknowyouarealive @stopeatread @hobiismyhopeu @lilsiz @alessioayla @niniluvsainz @au-ghosttype @cowboylikemets1989 @justtprachisblog @rmeddar123 @nichmeddar @landonorizzz @unluckyyoshi @Mimolovescookies @brekkers-whore @natcha888 @camdensreg @mycenterfold @dear-fifi @prongsvault @kaa212 @anxxiousaries @julesbabey1 @julesbabey @georgeparisole @Smnthnclj

strikethrough means i couldn't tag you

¡leclerc-s speaks! love that these guys are scared of mae pulling another nonsense christmas on them. my attempt at covering the actor (i don't know his name) from the santa doesn't know you like do music video is atrocious but it's the thought that count. we need to use our imagination for the sake of the plot. rhys is my precious little baby and i will do anything to protect him.

¡disclaimer! this is in no way making assumptions about the people involved in this story, this is all fake. it is a fanfiction please don't take any of what is said seriously. this is all for entertainment purposes and as a creative outlet for me. enjoy!

[xo-lesserafim]

FALLING FOR YOUR SMILE AND EYES.

EPISODE 9. SNAFU

a/n: Episode 9 yay! I feel kinda bas because I like fast past stories but this is kinda slow. But i promise once we reach a certain point it begin to accelerate. Anyways Enjoy<3

Bold: Korean

Italics: Over the phone.

Both: Korean and over the phone

Divider by @benkeibear

Back to masterlist

“Hey, Andrea!” Yuri said.

“Yea?”

“I was wondering if I could have a sleepover at your house.”

“Yea! But um, why?”

“Okay, I told my mom I was gay, so I moved in with Kitty, but I decided I wanted to have a sleepover with you!”

“Oh, my.”

“But at least I said it. I mean, I feel scared, excited.”

“I’m sure Jenny eonnie is okay with it.”

“All right, see you after school?” Yuri asked.

“For sure.” I said as we headed our ways.

After school I met up with Yuri.

“My chauffeur will pick us up in a bit.” I said as the car came.

We got into the car and put our seatbelts on.

As we made it to the house, I gave Yuri a tour.

“Wow, your house is huge!” Yuri said.

“It’s not my house, I’m just lucky enough to stay here.” I said.

I showed her the last room, the room where I design and make clothes.

“Wow, do you make clothes here?”

“Yea. Oh! Let me show you what I’m working on.” I said running to a mannequin.

“the mannequin have the following pictures on.”

“Did you make all of that?” She asked.

“No, just gloves and dress. I bought the pearl items.”

“I’m just amazed on how it looks!”

“Do you want some food?” I said.

“Sure.”

(You can imagine the things you guys do for the night)

“If you’ve done well all semester, you should have no issues with the final,” Professor Lee said.

“It is fair. Hard, but fair.”

“Yes,”

“What if you have not done well all semester?” Kitty asked.

Thank God she asked that. I had a B+ in Korean Lit but I need that A-.

But all my other grades are fine.

“Probable doom.” Professor Lee said.

“But, I’m not unreasonable, Any student of mine who choose to participate in the end-of-term talent show,will get a ten-point-boost to your lowest grade.”

Eunice and another girl said some stuff.

“No, you must perform a traditional Korean art form with dignity.”

“Andrea,” Yuri said.

“My mom made me take fan dance lessons forever. I can teach you.”

“Really? Thank you so much!” I said.

She on to tell Kitty the same thing.

After school, Yuri gave Kitty and I fan dance lessons.

“So, the idea of this is the fans, the Hanbok we wear, the choreography, the music all come together to create the image of butterflies and flowers in spring.” Yuri said.

“Okay.” I said.

“It’s gorgeous,” Kitty said.

As she was teaching us, I got it first try.

“Here, it’s like this Kitty.” Yuri said.

“Open, close.”

Kitty looked weird, but I decided to ignore it.

After practice, Kitty ran after me.

“Andrea!”

“What?”

“Why have you been ignoring me?”

“You sound like Min ho on the camping trip.”

“So? We want to know why you’ve been ignoring us?”

“I can say, but I don’t want to.”

“Andrea, you’re gonna have to. I mean you’re gonna have to live with me for winter break.”

“And if I’m not?”

“You’re not coming home from winter break?”

“Yea, I told dad already.”

“Seriously! Min ho and I have been trying to talk to you, but you’ve been ignoring us…”

“I have to go, my chauffeur is here.”

As it was time for talent show, there were a few acts before us, so we watched from backstage.

After the acts, it was our turn.

We all got on stage, and waited for the music.

During the dance, Kitty fell on this box thing, and sparks came flying out.

“Kitty,” I said running up to here.

There was a small fire on her Hanbok and I tried to make it go away.

Then, Min ho came running up with his jacket.

“Kitty! Are you okay?” He said.

“Um, excuse me.” I said running off.

I changed quickly, gave Yuri the hanbok, and ran off to a random coffee shop.

I order an iced latte and some food they had.

I feel bad for just running off like that, but I think Min ho could solve the problem.

After I got my food, I called my chauffeur and went home.

Gosh, tonight sucked.

PREV EPISODE MASTERLIST NEXT EPISODE

TAGLIST: @chaewon-slays @cherrriesss @lysira340

Copyrights © 2023 xo-lesserafim. All rights reserved. I do not own XO, Kitty , Netflix does. do not copy, translate, or repost anything without my permission.

[aldi-spice]

Ngl I don't know how to feel about winds of anthos. I have so many thoughts about the game after finishing the main story line (dont have the kid yet but it's incubating).

Long post after the break.

I've seen a lot of praise for the game and I get it, I really liked the game in the beginning too, could hardly put it down, but after finishing the main story it's kinda lacking (which makes sense, I mean I finished the game, it's gonna be out of content at some point). But after a few days of reflection on the game I've decided it's just not that great? Am I missing something?

Like, I get it, I like the open world exploration, I felt so claustrophobic in pioneers of olive town and even the wonderful life remake, but once you've seen it all that's it, the land is barren too which makes it feels so boring and it's not interesting to look at either. One thing that pissed me off a lot was the fucking mountains that are so hard to navigate, but I think that's really just a me problem.

Then there are the characters and honestly o can't even tell them apart at this point, they are all (most of them) default nice with no personality, especially the bachelorettes, I always feel like fictional women lack personality in general. The only character (apart from doc) who stood out was Nickolai and only because he's autistic (blunt and not very nice). And don't get me started on the design, Arnold with the "one two buckle my shoe" and Ella looking like a pokemon trainer when she's supposed to be an artist from a swiss inspired town from what I can tell. She just doesn't look like she belongs in the town and I don't know if it's further explain through her flower events but she doesn't seem to hate living here or hate the town so I don't understand why she has to stand out so much.

Speaking of flower events, those were boring as well. I can hardly remember what even happened in them, all I remember was being a little disappointed when I realized all the 6 music notes events (the one after you start dating) are all the same, you go to a secluded location, look over the town and chat. That's it, for all of the 3 guys I started dating (again, I don't know if it's different with the other marriage candidates but I doubt it).

I felt like the pace was off too, I don't know when you're supposed to finish the main story line, I finished in winter of the first year I think, it was very early on and I only played for 30ish hours and finished the game. I found the tasks so tedious I wanted to get them over with asap, I was so done with the characters being like "thanks for getting us this ore, now onto your next mission, get this other ore, kay, thanks, byeee" maybe because the main quest was under the request tab with all the other requests but it didn't feel special enough. I also hated having to sift through this long list of requests that never seemed to get shorter since every morning, there would be mail of some villager needing something. It was just so annoying, I just wanted to clear my requests once and start anew but the game really didnt want me to I guess.

As I was saying earlier, I finished the game in winter of year one (or spring year two I don't remember). Great, now what? I'm still not married because I couldn't advance my relationship with Westley until I fixed the harvest goddess spring, so I worked on that (and Nickolai and Arnold). I saw what I needed for the house upgrade and did that, yay bigger house. Checked the guide (God bless FOGU) to see why I didn't have a double bed/two beds and I need another upgrade??? That's 250,000 gold not counting the pain of getting high quality lumber boards and square, having to resort to buying them with added another (approximately) 60,000. I grinded by fishing and finally got married in summer. I have to wait a season to realize I'm pregnant. I have to wait another season to give birth. Then, another season for the bitch to crawl and then, a season later, it's able to walk and even talk. Right now, I have to wait for another year for the baby to start being useful to me (by which I mean it can talk and explore the farm). I'm already bored by having to maintain the farm, I wake up and water the cows or whatever, I usually go to bed at 8 or 9 am because I wanna get this over with at this point.

(I just realized you can't use your camera indoors, how will I take cute baby pics of the fucker? I wanted my whole camera roll full of blurry baby pics.)

Am I playing the game wrong? Why am I not enjoying the game the way others seem to enjoy it? It's tedious for me now, maybe I just need a break from farming.

I feel like you need to be a very specific person to fully enjoy this game, and it ain't me. I miss animal parade.

[cutesmokes]

‘Come back down to earth, kay?’  

Summary: After the incident revolving around the boy on the roof, Nene couldn't stop her mind from spiraling. It's winter break now and even after the bathroom ghost promised that she would have her answers, she couldn't help but worry. (Un)fortunately for her, Hanako knows her more than she could even begin to imagine.    

Author’s note: HOHOHO!!!!!!! Surprise @duckymcdoorknob ! I'll be your secret santa this year~! Thank you so much to @hypahticklish for hosting @squealing-santa this year. Good GOD this is a long one. It's been a while since I've written anything but wow I've really had fun not only writing this but having the excuse to finally rewatch this anime~! Happy holidays my dear/p I hope you enjoy this little story about our favorite bathroom ghost~! (its just a tad edgy in the beginning and at the end lol. Yay for overthinking/j) 

Cw: very brief mention of murd3r/ some overthinking

Word count: 1526

Who was he; that boy on the rooftop, why did he look almost identical to the ghost in the bathroom? Hanako looked so.. Scared, maybe? What was that look in his eye- all his courage and confidence That  practically drained from him as was what the stranger said true? Did he really… murder someone?   

Nene cringed as she swept the bathroom floor, the coarse bristles of the broom licking over the floor, the soft sound the only thing audible in the empty school. The world outside was gray and cold, clouds blanketed the dull sky, threatening snow. School had let out early and Yashido stood shivering with a cold that only anxiety could bring. Before she had actually dared to challenge the legend of the Seventh wonder of her school, she would have been home by now; lounging in something cute, the soft twilight cooling the night as she babied her beloved hamster, but now she was here- spending most of her freetime in the girl’s bathroom. 

 She sighed to herself, smiling slightly as she let the broom rest against one of the walls before dusting herself off. She found that, within the last few months, she hasn't minded her chores so much anymore. Sure, she still felt obligated to somehow repay Hanako for all the times he's saved her- it was almost embarrassing how extensive the list was. She always seemed to get herself into trouble but Hanako was always there to save her. It almost made her feel.. Special. She shook her head, denying even the slightest possibility that she could like the ghost more than just a friend. The last time she let herself believe that, it ended in more hurt feelings as she cried into his arms. She really was silly. 

When she looked up, bright gold eyes met her amber ones. with a high pitched scream, she jumped back, almost tripping over herself as she turned back to the ghost boy, who was not trying very hard to hold back amused snickers.

“UGH!! You startled me!” she shouted with an aggravated stomp of her foot. Hanako hung upside down, floating almost weightlessly in front of her as he chuckled. 

“Oh come on, Yashiro, you've been so jumpy lately! What's going on in that head of yours, hum~?” he asked playfully, tapping his pointer finger against her forehead. She turned away from him, going to pick up the broom to return it back to the closet, Hanako not far behind. 

“Its nothing- I've just been in my own world is all.” She muttered nervously, smiling with a dismissive wave of her hand as she walked away from the closet. Once she got home, she could think things over, or, better yet, distract herself from all this bust HAnako wouldn’t have it. He knew her better than just about anyone, probably thanks to the bond they shared due to the mermaid’s scale. Still hovering over her shoulder, his fingers rapidly poked over her cheek and down her arm. Annoyed, Nene swatted at his hands,

“Hanako! Knock it off!”                     

“Not till you tell me what’s wrong~!” he said in a sing-song manner, chasing after her like a child. Seeing the stairs that led to the roof’s exit, Nene ran like her life depended on it. Hanako had gotten so mad last time and she did not want to risk repeating that. Her shoes clicked noisily against the cold wooden steps as she made it to the roof, not without clumsily tripping over the last step and falling through the unlocked door however. As soon as she tumbled out onto the rooftop, the cold wind nipped at her skin, making her shiver- she really wasn't dressed to be out in the cold, she didn't even have her coat! None of that mattered as the apparition appeared in the doorway, his silhouette darkened by the dim lights leading to the stairwell. Nene watched in silent terror as Hanako walked towards her, smiling as he always did, hands hiding behind his back. The poor girl found herself closing her eyes, maybe if she just closed her eyes hed go away- 

Cold fingers cupped her cheek, gently turning it upwards. When her eyes fluttered open again, she found the apparition’s enticing eyes dangerously close to hers again. She felt her heart flutter, making her turn away. Darn him. Hanako just continued smiling as his hands freed her face, only to intertwine with hers, making her squeak. 

“Now now, it's just me~! Friends talk, remember~?” he coos, but Yashiro just turned away again. The boy huffs, pooting just a little.

“You used to make me laugh, ya know. You're so easy to annoy~!” he paused for a moment, thinking- had he ever heard her laugh? He couldn't remember… he smirked slightly, subtly reaching to experimentally squeeze her side. 

Almost immediately, her legs kick out in reaction to the electric shocks that shoot up her nervous system. Nene attempts to roll away from the tingling sensation but finds herself trapped, slumped in a wedge made by the walls of the safety rails that lined the roof with the mischievous ghost above of her. She tried to make herself look angry, but with her cheeks already warming, she knew it would be useless to play anything off.

“Hanako!? What was THAT!?” 

The boy just scooted closer to her side, scooping her up slightly so that they now lay against each other, side by side. 

“Oh! Just checking if you were ticklish or not.” he said casually, his words light, almost sounding excited.

“See- my twin and I used to have battles all the time- it was really fun!” he seemed sad, remembering things Nene couldn't even begin to imagine. Just as quickly as it came, however, the sadness in his tone was replaced with the bouncy, perky tone returned. A hand rose into view , fingers wiggling slightly before he continued.

“Seems to me like you could use a good laugh, Yashiro~” was all he said before fingers quickly began spidering across her stomach. Almost immediately, Yashiro bursts into panicked giggles, kicking and thrashing the best she could. 

“haha-HAnako! Y-hohou you big jerk! Stahahp!” 

“Hum… let me think… nah~! You have to tell me why you were sulking again.” he taunted, fingers bouncing across the top of her leg before rapidly squeezing over her knee. The response was a high, girly squeal, before Nene sank down farther to the ground. She shook her head, not only as a way to decline his little “Deal” but as a desperate attempt to decrease the feeling of delicate fingers across her knees. She knew she couldn't go on like this much longer, but she was feeling suborn. She tried shaking her hand free of hanako’s grasp but the ghost was strong, his fingers traveled down underneath her knee, fingers tenderly clawing at the skin that hid beneath her black tights. 

Her growing laughter turned silent due to the sudden change and intensity. She tried to sit up, but only tumbled into the 7th wonder’s lap as her bright, squealing laughter returned. Chuckling along with her, hanako finally released her hand, only to grab onto the school girl’s hips, squeezing in a new found rhythm. Yashiro’s feet stomped on the cement, her dainty hands latching onto Hanako’s wrists as she called out between squeals.

“OKAYHAHA-!! Okahahay- please! Stahahap!!”  

Fingers scamper up her ribs, jumping up to her shoulder and gently feathering into the crook of her neck before they remove themselves completely. The girl’s hands cup over her chest as she tries to take deep breaths in between her giggles, eyes closing as she grounds herself. Before long, Nene was able to sit up, whipping a tear of mirth from her eye with Hanako waiting, watching with that smug look on his face. Nene took one last breath before beginning to voice the concerns that had been bothering her for weeks. The longer she rambled, the faster she talked, her hands waving around as a way to accentuate her words. It was only when she seemed to start repeating herself was when the bathroom ghost interjected, gently grabbing her hands with his own. Yashiro gasped slightly as she is pulled out of her rant before meeting Hanako’s gaze.

“Hey. it's really cool you wanna know everything about me. No one’s really done that before, and.. I'm glad its you- but you have to be patient, okay? I promise I will tell you everything you want to know when I'm ready, but for now, just come back down to earth, ‘kay? I've missed you.”  

Despite the chill from not only the wind, but from hanako’s hands as well, she could feel a warmth deep within her chest, growing across her cheeks as she blushed softly. Nene became lost in Hanako’s honey-like stare; soft and sweet, feeling tears well up from how touching his words were. He was right. He may have been a tease, but he never broke a promise.. Her smile became more determined as she nodded. She really did trust him, despite all his secrets. 

Neither of them noticed that it had begun to snow..                                        

[kart0]

Little update !

Heyyy everyone !!!! Just wanted to write lol

So last update I told you I was going to my psych appt but she fucking cancelled it ? And then I rescheduled and then she just fucking bailed on me and didn't even show up to her own clinic ? Anyways I got very very upset and angry bc apparently she was TRAVELLING TO FUCKIGN NEW YORK ????????????? y'all...istg I must be a fucking saint to tolerate shit like this. Maybe I'm too passive...I didn't even allow myself to get mad and tell her but anyways. I guess I just am too used to sucking things up.

Ok so she told me to lower my dosage, and now I'm like ? Hm, I don't think so. And I might have done something really stupid ?

And I do not recommend anyone to do this PLEASE DON'T, TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR ! Erhm.... I might have stopped taking my meds ? For like. A month now ?

It kinda just happened honestly... I didn't have money to buy them, and then I started to forget taking them everyday, and then I guess I just. Idk I just stopped taking them ? And I only did that because I felt ok ? Not too bad, not too good, normal actually. And I know this is such a stupid part of me but I don't really think the meds were working anyways ? And since I dont feel bad, I guess I just. Do not care ?

I don't know ? I haven't been very anxious, I haven't been depressed, my mania ended a few days ago, I feel, normal. And ok. Idk ? When I got depressed it felt really debilitating but then I suddenly became maniac and it was over very suddenly and now I feel better. The only thing tho is now my sleep schedule is FUCKED. But idk ? Nothing else tbh ?

And I do not advise anyone to do this, I am making sure to say it as many times as it takes !!!!! Please ! I am saying dumb things I am not a doctor I have not studied medicine I have no idea what's going on !!! But I do know my body, and I can tell how I feel. And for now, I feel ok.

I am currently tabling at this anime convention and it's been taking my time for many weeks now, preparing merch and stuff, and now it's finally happening and ? It's very.... Idk ? Idk ? Idk idk I forgot the word (I'm not a native English speaker btw) it's when something goes below your expectation ? The event pretty much flopped, the tables were expensive, and I didn't sell too much. Idk ? Today's the last day (thank GOD, I forgot how much of a hassle and a pain and how tiring it is) so let's see how this will go.

I am so excited for my winter break tho !!!!! Can't wait to just play games and draw fun stuff and rot. Yay ! Soon.....

Also ! Haikyuu movie is finally here in Brazil !!!!!!! YAS !!! I AM SO SO SO HYPED AND EXCITED ! I haven't gotten tickets yet ofc cuz I'm busy but soon...soon my dear...

And ? It think I might have a little infatuation with this guy on my class. He is very, and I mean, VERY, handsome, and pretty, he's so good looking, I'm embarrassed to interact with him, and I get all awkward and shy. I just forget how to behave normally ? And I try so FUCKING hard to act normal (more than usual since..I act like this all the time. It's the tism) anyways and I found out he's not actually dating anyone ? Last year I knew he had a gf (she's in my class too) and I swore they were still together, but just were very low profile. Turns out no they broke up. Ugh I just. And he makes silly jokes of me and just, acting like an annoying little shit (he's the youngest sibling) and keeps saying I'm bald and stuff like that (just cuz...I dyed my hair blond ? Idk what his thought process is) anyways so like. I can't even tell if he likes me as a person ? He also keeps saying fuck yourself constantly to me . Like. Uhm ? Idk ? I am very intimidated by him but I can't tell if it's because he's the most beautiful person I've ever seen or if it's cuz of these "jokes". At first I thought it was very mean, and I tend to take things vry literally so I tried my best to not interact with him because i didn't want him to keep saying mean things, and didn't want to ruin even more my reputation or what he thought about me, but then I realized he jokes like this with everyone ? Which, honestly, is very very stupid. Hes a little stupid. I think it's because he's a man.

Anyways, I'm just so confused. I'm trying not to think too much about it because I tend to over project and my mind spirals and I start imagining scenarios and I might get confused and convince myself I have feelings that I might not really have ? Idk... I know I'm a romantic for sure so like. I tend to imagine too much idk idk idk so I keep trying to rationalize and think straight. Like, we don't even get along that well ? I think ? I don't even know if we're even friends ? I know he knows prettier people than me. I'm not very good looking. I'm not very nice too. I'm not good at anything really, and I don't have a very good personality. I am just not good. I have a friend and she's so sweet, and her nickname is "jesus". Cuz she's just nice and hardworking, and she always tries her best. And... I won't lie. I really really like her, and I can tell you all these things are true about her. And...it makes a little. Envious. I wish people thought about me that way I wished I was naturally good, and not having to try my best and work to be normal every single day. I wished people would see how much I'm trying. I really really am trying. But it's just not a natural thing to me, I guess. I always, constantly have this feeling, that I'm always performing. Someone is always watching me. And I always have to be my best and try hard and I just. I force myself to be nicer, more considerate, more careful, more thoughtful. Because these things just don't come up to me naturally. I am not good. Sorry for the rant.

Ugh. I think I just am forcing myself to feel something, y'know ? I've always dreamed about falling in love. I don't think I've ever did. Nor will ever do. I am pretty sure I'm aroace anyways.

Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. Why are boys so stupid.

I just hope things don't turn out the way it did before, with my ex best friend. To sum up, he had feelings, I THOUGHT I had feelings too, but I just really really liked him, as a friend. As a best friend, in fact. So I ended up things and we just. Don't talk or hang out anymore. Which made me pretty upset, and made me think I might had actual feelings. Turned out I was just fucking lonely and miserable, and he was my ONE ONLY friend. Now that I've been hanging around with my uni colleagues, I don't feel that alone anymore. I made more friends ! Yay !

Also ! Happy pride month ! Happy to say that it's been some months since I came out as gender fluid, and I am so proud and never been better and as confident ( with my physical appearance) as I was before !

Ugh anyways, thanks for listening to me. As always, I will try to work on myself and become a better person every day. Thank u all !

Oh ! Ps: I've been slowly eating more ! I might fail sometimes but I've been making sure to at least go to bed with a full stomach. So I won't wake up dying and feeling miserable and in pain. So this is an improvement I believe !

[berryunho]

adsfakerjg HELLO HELLO !!! mightychondria is back omg these past 2 weeks have been slaughtering me ALIVE and its not over yet like at the beginning i was like "hm what if i drop out" BUT NOW ITS NOT A JOKE ANYMORE

omg yes i need a masters degree too but you know i think ive had enough undergrad to last me a lifetime this is TOO much and its only oct???

wowow youre actually so talented i cant imagine learning/being able to speak all those languages. like. im already challenged in english and any other language is just a trainwreck

how did you do on your chem exam??? i bet you slayed it no doubt in my mind

u know i feel like as long as you can profit off of smth youve gotta charge like pls why am i paying for entry and extra on top of that to store my coat 😭

OMG I LOVE breaking bad. i watched it over the winter break when i was crocheting a sweater and it still hits such a good show. did you end up dyeing your hair? i might go to a party with my friend for halloween. maybe we'll twin?

i only have 1 day of classes this week bc thanksgiving was yesterday and thank god labs are CANCELLED like my sanity is going down the drain bc of them 😭

also this is so random but im seeing this guy and he is SO SWEET i thought chivalry was dead until i met him like ugh i feel so lucky esp bc my last relationship was so toxic its like dang i really got lucky meeting you huh 😭😭😭

BUT aside from that i hope youre having a good start to your week!

-mightychondria

OMG HIII

lol ive been wondering about you !! but KLJGFDLKFGJ i totally get it shit starts getting REAL this time of year and it is not funny ksljf;lasdjk

fr sometimes ill be sitting in lecture or doing homework or whatever and i remember i have to do this for 4.5 more years and i just. BRUH. and i chose this. LKJFDLKDJF:LK but also sometimes i get the realization that like im literally gonna be a scientist and this is my training and im like. oh shit. wait. LMAOJFKDJF

omg that first chem exam i got a B on which. honestly slayed. and ive had another one since then and i got an A on that one so slay pt 2. KLFJ:DLKSJF i consider anything above failing a win for me when it comes to ochem so that A had me Screaming LOL have you had any chem exams yet ??

breaking bad literally slaps so hard LKFJDLSDK i watched it for the first time in august and the last season....... like what was that ..... AKLDFLASKJ i tip my hats to the writers bc literally wtf has to be wrong w you to write that story. like i respect it heavily. but still. LMAOO im watching better call saul now and im on season 2 but ... idk its not as gripping to me lol but omg you can crochet ... ive wanted to learn for a long time but i dont wanna buy a bunch of yarn and then give up LOL

YAAAYY thanksgiving !! im glad you're getting a break !!! hehe and ... omg ... a romantic interest ... YAY! hehe i hope everything stays going good w him!! its literally so hard to find a good man aklakjfdl;k im happy for you :]] do keep me posted hehe

but ty!! my week went quite well !! i have a really bad cough (no covid though heh) and basically have no voice which was awkard af during my korean oral exam today LKFJS:LFDJKL: but i still got full points hehe AND idk if you like hockey but im obsessed lol and my team's season started yesterday and i went to the game !! which was super fun even though we lost lol i love my hockey boys sm ... LKFJDLSKJF

ANYWAYS i hope your week ended up well and you enjoyed your break!! :]] have a good weekend !!

[toppersjeep]

Andrew Garfield-[Baby]

[Summary- Andrew X Reader kinda based off a dream I had were you are engaged to Andrew, you work as a teacher. he picks you up from work and you tell him you are expecting a baby]

Your POV

“Alright class I will see you in two remember to do your reading” I said they all sighed. “I’m kidding guys enjoy the week off” I said. “Yay thank you miss L/N” one said. They left. But my favorite student stayed behind.

“So when are you getting married” she asked. “Oh I’m not sure but I’m very excited” I said. “It’s so cool that Spider-Man is your boyfriend” she said. “He’s amazing” I said she laughed. “Well have a good winter break” she said smiling. “You too” I said.

I grabbed my coat and bags and shut my door. I then walked out to find Andrew waiting by our car.

“Many people come up to you today” I said. “Eh a few love but you are the most important one” he said hugging me. “I have a week off I’m so ready” I said. “It’s gonna be nice to have you home” Andrew said. “Oh I uh have to tell you something” I said.

“What’s up” Andrew said. “On the way home I’m cold” I said getting in the car. “Oh alright” he said shutting my door. We took the longer way home. But got stuck in traffic as usual. “What why are you looking at me like that” I said looking over at him.

“Just admiring you plus you are definitely glowing right now” Andrew said I blushed. “Oh am I” I said. “You are stunning” Andrew said kissing my cheek. “Why thank you sir” I said doing a fake British accent. “That was good so since we are stuck in traffic what was it” Andrew said.

“Oh… that” I said. “What is it bad did you decide to become an actress I’ll support it” Andrew said. “No no I love my job” I said. “Hmmmm you want a new car” Andrew said. “No you definitely won’t guess” I said.

“Alright lay it on me” Andrew said holding my hand. “Well I’m pregnant Andrew” I said. He just looked at me and smiled. “YOUR PREGNANT OH MY GOD WAIT” Andrew said smiling. “Yes” I said. “So I’m gonna be a Dad this is amazing love I could just hug you now” Andrew said.

“Stop I’m gonna start crying” I said. “I’m gonna be a Dad this is so cool I can’t wait” Andrew said. “Yes you are” I said.

We finally got home I set my bag on the counter. Andrew came up behind me and hugged me kissing my cheek.

“My baby is having our baby I am so happy” Andrew said I smiled. “We are having a baby I was so excited to tell you” I said. I turned around and he picked me up. “I love you both so much” Andrew said. “Wanna see the ultrasound pics” I said. “Yes” Andrew said setting me down.

I pulled them out of my bag and handed them to him. We sat on the couch and looked at them.

“Oh my look at the little baby feet” Andrew said. “The hands too” I said pointing to it. “It’s waving at you that’s so cool” Andrew said. “I thought that too” I said. “So tiny and precious” Andrew said.

“It’s crazy we made that” I said. “About time I was waiting for it to happen” Andrew said. “I’m happy it did” I said. “Can’t wait to meet our little boy or girl” Andrew said.

Part 2??

[cocosstories]

Bucky Barnes One Shot

hi can you make a bucky x pregnant reader where she gets kidnapped and than tortured and injected with the super soldier serum in front of bucky, you can imagine everything else, why she got kidnapped, by who, how is bucky gonna react, how is gonna end. can’t wait!

Yay so I have a request for Bucky. The reader is a medic for the avengers. Her and Bucky have been friends with benefits for more than a year now. Tony throws a party and one drink leads to another and they hooked up. Then she gets pregnant.

You had been recruited to join the Avengers after a chance encounter with Black Widow.

She had been injured pretty badly on a mission and you just happened to be near the scene and jumped into action, using your extensive medical knowledge to patch her up quickly while making sure neither of you got hit from the battle that was still happening.

When everything was said and done, Tony offered you a job as the Avengers official field medic and you jumped at the chance. 

You hit it off with the team almost immediately and soon it was like you had always been there. 

One particular Avenger you had become close to was Bucky. 

Many people had noticed the two of you shamelessly flirting and knew it was just a matter of time before thing escalated to more than friendship. 

One night you and Bucky were working out on opposite sides of the training room, both unable to keep your eyes off the other.

You caught a glimpse of the fire burning in his eyes and couldn't help yourself, you walked over and kissed him.

After the initial first kiss, he took control of the situation and this began your friends with benefits arrangement.

You had decided to keep it a secret from the team for the time being and Bucky fully agreed. 

It was a few months into your arrangement when Tony decided to throw a party after another successful mission. 

You spent most of the night with Natasha and Wanda who you had become very close with but felt Bucky's eyes on you the whole night. 

"I thought I would never get you alone, doll."

He says with slurred words as the two of you find yourself in his bedroom as the party dies down. 

"Well, here I am Sargent Barnes. What are you going to do?"

You ask, a smirk on your face.

With that, Bucky takes you to the bed and the two of you spend the night entangled together. 

Weeks later and you were on yet another mission feeling like death.

"Y/N, are you sure you're alright? You don't look so good."

Steve says, pointing out the green tint to your face coupled with the sweat on your brow.

"I'm fine. Just a bug or som-"

Before you can even finish your sentence, you lean over and vomit in the seat next to you, getting the attention of the rest of the team. 

"You are not alright. When we get back to the compound we are getting you checked out."

Natasha says, worry on her face. 

You reluctantly agree and true to her word, Nat immediately takes you to the compound infirmary once the jet lands. 

"Bucky, can we talk?"

It was a few hours later and you were finally feeling better.

You head down to Bucky's room and knock on the open door.

"Of course, doll. How are you feeling?"

He asks, getting up and walking over to you. 

"I'm alright. Dr. Cho gave me something for the nausea."

You reply with a small smile.

"Did she figure out why you were so sick?"

You nod. 

"Bucky, I'm pregnant."

His eyes go wide as he takes in your confession before a huge smile crosses his face. 

"We're having a baby?"

He asks quietly.

"Are you alright with that?"

Bucky reaches out for your hand.

"Doll, that is the best news I have ever heard."

Tears form in his eyes as he speaks and you realize that he never thought he would ever have a family again and your baby was a second chance for him.

"I love you, Y/N."

He finally admits the feeling s he had been hiding for so long, no longer having a reason to keep them to himself. 

"I love you too Bucky."

You say, matching tears form in your eyes just as he kisses you.

"I guess we have to tell everyone now, huh?"

He chuckles and you nod.

"Yeah, but I think everyone will be alright with it."

As you had expected, the team was extremely happy and excited for you and Bucky.

The weeks flew by and before you knew it, you were over halfway through your pregnancy.

You and Bucky were going strong and had even started talking about the possibility of marriage in the future. 

Life was good and you couldn't be happier. 

One day, the team was on a mission, leaving you alone in the compound.

Late afternoon and you were craving something that you could only get from the store and decide to head out for a nice walk to get it.

As you take in the scenery, everything suddenly goes black and you crumple to the ground.

You wake up hours later, strapped to a table with Hydra agents around you.

"Ah, you're awake. Good."

"What are you doing? Let me go!"

You try and fight the straps holding you down.

"Now, now, just relax. We don't want to hurt you but you are carrying a child of the Winter Soldier and that child belongs to us."

The agent lightly touches you stomach as he speaks.

"You are not going to take my baby! Bucky and the Avengers will find me and save us!"

You scream, trashing against the hold again.

Meanwhile at the compound, the team had come home to find you gone and Bucky went into immediate panic mode. 

Everyone went off in separate directions, looking for any sign as to what could have happened. 

"Mr. Stark, I found blood."

Vision calls over the coms.

"Is it hers?"

Bucky asks frantically.

"I have analyzed it and yes, it belongs to Y/N. It seems she was ambushed and taken."

The team meets back at the compound as Steve and Sam do their best to calm Bucky.

"She is hurt! What if the baby is hurt! What if they kill her? I can't lose them Steve!"

Bucky cries as everyone watches helplessly.

"Barnes, we will find her. We will bring her and your child home."

Tony says, placing a hand on Bucky's shoulder.

"It has to be Hydra. Who else would want a pregnant medic?"

Natasha says, doing her best to keep her own emotions in check.

"But why would they want her?"

Rhodey asks.

"Because she is carrying my child. The Winter Soldier's child."

Bucky replies, pure hatred in his eyes as everyone else realizes what he means. 

"Where do you think the would take her, Buck?"

"Where I was kept. Siberia."

Bucky gets up without another word and walks to the jet, the rest of the team following behind him.

The flight to Siberia was a quiet one, the whole team focused on getting to you as quickly as possible.

"Bucky, you need to keep your cool. Your only focus should be finding Y/N and getting her and your child put of there. Do you understand?"

Steve says just as the jet lands and Bucky nods. 

You are in and out of consciousness with what seems like dozens of needles going into your arm when Bucky finally finds you.

"Doll, oh god what the hell are they doing to you?"

He says as he begins carefully pulling the needles out of your arms.

"Bu-bucky?"

You breathe out, your vision blurred from the trauma. 

"Yeah, its me. I'm going to get you out of here. Just try and stay awake for me."

He says, breaking the straps holding you down and then helping you to your feet.

"Do you have her?"

Steve calls out.

"I've got her. She's barely conscious."

Bucky replies, picking you up and carrying you. 

He carefully gets you through the fighting Avengers and Hyrda agents and back to the jet. 

"What the hell did they do to her?"

Natasha asks once the team was back on the jet and you were headed home.

"I think they were trying to give her the serum. Or a version of it at least."

Bucky says.

"Trying? They didn't do it?"

"Looks like they didn't have time before we showed up."

As soon as the jet had landed, you were taken to the infirmary, every test possible performed to make sure you and the baby were both ok.

"They're alright?"

Bucky asks Dr. Cho when she comes to tell him he can see you.

"Both perfectly healthy. You saved them. You saved your family, Sargent Barnes."

She smiles and leaves him alone with you.

"Tell daddy thank you, baby girl."

You smile, taking Bucky's hand and placing it on your belly where your baby was kicking.

"Baby girl?"

He asks once he realizes what you had said.

"Yes, we are having a girl and she says thank you for saving her."

You nod, laughing a bit as the baby kicks under Bucky's hand.

"I will always do everything I possibly can to save you and protect you."

Bucky leans down and says to the baby, kissing your belly lightly before looking up to you.

"And you too."

He smiles and kisses you, so thankful to have both of his girls home and safe.

[icypantherwrites]

Icy's Christmas Cheer Fic List

Not quite feeling cheerful about much these days for me personally, but for those that are looking I've compiled a few fanfictions that sort of fit the Christmas (winter?) theme (although fair warning, still some tear jerkers in here) of family and fluff and cheer and will hopefully get you in the Christmas spirit :)

Happy holidays and happy reading! If you read and enjoy a fic it would mean a lot if you left a comment on the fic. Thank you! ♥

The Magic of Snow

Summary: Team Voltron takes a leisure day on a snowy planet where Lance finally gets to participate in the one winter activity he’s always dreamed of: sledding. It’s an afternoon of racing and laughter and fun with his friends.

Until it isn’t.

My comments: A legit winter holiday event themed fic in the list so we're starting off with the big guns ;) Despite the foreboding last sentence of the summary there, this fic is a big pile of fluff and snow and always makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

Brightest Day of Your Darkest Hour

Summary: (Alternate Universe) Pop wasn’t… he couldn’t be… Keith refused to believe it no matter what they told him, what reality said. It wasn’t true. Pop wasn’t d—

But there was no denying that his life was changing around him and not for the better. He was being uprooted from all he had ever known and placed into the foster system hours away from home, from Pop, from… from everything.

Well, that had been the original plan. A Galaxy Garrison cadet named Lance who Keith had just met days before had a different idea… and it was one that would forever change both of their lives.

My comments: Okay, before you go wtf Icy, listen. This story is in that tearjerker warning up top and it's going to make most of y'all cry because it is tragic. But the story starts off with Keith and Pop's Christmas and then there's lovely scenes of Christmas time traditions with Lance's family when Keith joins them. I do recommend though for the full feel good Christmas fic to wrap up at the end of chapter six (there's a note there too of the same) as after that the fic moves into more angsty territory.

If the World Should Freeze

Summary: Up ahead Hunk realized Lance was no longer running beside him and came to a skidding halt himself. His heart leapt into his throat as he turned and caught sight of Lance standing stock-still, arm wound back with a snowball against the charging creature. Oh God. "Lance!" he screamed, already turning around and going back for his bravely stupid best friend. "Lance!" Hunk's stomach bottomed out. He wasn't going to make it./ Hunk and Lance are stranded in an icy wasteland but the cold is quickly becoming the least of their problems. Enter hungry, giant creature with sharp teeth and sharper antlers. Yeah. They're in trouble.

My comments: Hear me out: this fic has snow. And ice. And if you squint really hard it's almost like there's iceskating in one scene AND a snowball fight in another. And there's a cuddle pile at the end so... check?

The Chill of Loneliness

Summary: Lance couldn’t be more thrilled. A special mission that only he and the Blue Lion could undertake due to the insanely cold temperatures and a way to further their slowly growing bond? Sign him up! But when the mission goes sideways Lance finds himself all alone with no hope of backup, slowly freezing to death and he can’t find his way back to Blue. He had hoped to prove himself on this mission but… but it looks like all he’s going to do is die instead.

My comment: Just gonna piggyback off the snow + ice + dangerous animals theme from up above and say yay winter! Happy ending, of course, so indulge in this little angst fest beforehand ♥

A Broken Arm For a Broken Soul

Summary: Shiro is breaking. Pidge can see it: the exhaustion, the pain, and the growing, splintering cracks. And while Pidge doesn’t know how to fix broken people she does know how to fix broken things. And Shiro’s prosthetic arm the Galra forced upon him is a broken thing. She doesn’t know how much it will help, but… but maybe, if she can fix that then Shiro won’t be quite so broken anymore.

My comments: Am I stretching a tad? I'm stretching a tad. But this fic is technically Gift Giving and it has a warm and sweet ending (so long as you don't read the alternate ending on my Patreon ;)) so it fits like a glove! Or, er, a new prosthetic?

Ginger and Lilac Tea

Summary: Keith is used to being the outsider. He’s used to not belonging anywhere. That doesn’t make it any easier when he’s excluded — intentionally or not — and it’s hitting even harder with his newfound Galran heritage that he’s not like them and no matter what he does, no matter how much he wants to belong, that he’ll never fit in. And it’s time he finally learns to accept that.

But before that happens… Coran has something to say.

My comments: Technically the holiday featured here is Mother's Day but it still involves both gift giving and some warm family moments, as well as that awful feeling of being on the outside which I know can crop up around the holidays. Hopefully this fic brings you a little cheer and warmth like a nice cup of tea ♥

When the World Stops (But Somehow Still Keeps Turning)

Summary: Veronica’s baby brother was dead. An accident, the Garrison told her, of Lance’s own making. As her family mourns and slowly begins to move on Veronica isn’t quite so wiling. Something isn’t right. The Garrison she has always served loyally is hiding something, perhaps even their own blood-stained, murderous hands. Veronica is going to get to the bottom of it and she’ll see justice served.

Or; a re-telling of seasons one through seven through the eyes of Veronica Esposito reflecting on her youngest brother.

My comments: It's not really a Christmas fic (but there are Christmas scenes!!!) but a fic about family and loss and then grieving and healing together. And it does have a happy ending (AKA the one thing canon got right xD)

Koala Hugs

Summary: They’d been told that the guest houses were supposed to keep them safe from the deadly low temperatures of the planet. And while for Pidge that is indeed the case, she learns it’s not so for Lance as she’s awoken by a projection of pure terror from the Blue Lion, who can sense her Paladin dying. And now as Pidge hurries to Lance’s guest house and finds him so so cold and still, she can only hope she’s not too late.

My comments: Once more we're rocking out to this 'cold' and 'cuddle' theme and hey, I'm here for it. Let the cuddles and koala hugs commence ♥

Sleep Well, My Son

Summary: A tiny accident becomes literal when Lance is turned into a child with no recollection from his older self. Coran has hopes the effects will be relatively short-term, but in the meantime he has a scared child that needs both reassurance and care. And while Coran might not have had the chance to be a father… he feels like one now.

My comments: It's warm, soft and fluffy with parental!Coran. Christmas-themed or not, it'll give you warm fuzzies.

Cold Hands, Warm Hearts

Summary: Lance went still beneath Shiro's ministrations. No more shivers, no trembles. Just still. Deathly still. "No," Shiro gasped. "No no no." Shaking hands desperately sought a pulse on the frigid skin. His breath hitched. He couldn't find one. / Lance falls into a frozen lake saving a child and now he's the one in need of saving. Shiro is determined to do just that.

My comments: Did someone ask for more ice skating turned swimming in freezing water? Did I hear a yes? :D :D :D There's even some snowmen building in here before, you know, potential hypothermia and drowning in an icy lake kick off, but it ends with frozen burritos and cuddles so I'll call it a win.

A Name By Any Other

Summary: To avoid another one of Shiro's exhausting training scenarios, the Paladins settle on a bonding activity and opt to talk about their names. What they thought would be a light-hearted topic turns deeply personal when they realize that no name is as simple as it appears. For behind every name there is a story just waiting to be told.

My comments: A soft fanfiction all about friends coming together as family? I'll take a dozen, please.

Bedridden

Summary: Allura is miserably sick with the flu. Fortunately, her team is there to make it a little more bearable.

My comments: A tiny mini fluffy sick!fic because let's face it, those darn colds love to pop up around the holidays. Just some light, feel good fluff for everyone's favorite space princess.

With Love, 

Summary: (7 + 1 Ficlets) The seven times Lance handmakes heartwarming gifts for the members of Voltron and the time they make him one.

My comments: An entire ficlet series of heartwarming gift giving? Screams Christmas spirit to me!

Glow-In-The-Dark-Stars 

Summary: Think of a happy childhood memory, Coran told the Paladins, to use in the mindmeld sequencing and team bonding exercise. They do. But none had expected their memories to be so vivid, so lifelike. And Keith had never, ever, expected to hear Pop’s voice again.

My notes: A full-on family fic that makes my heart warm and my eyes very, very wet. This one is particularly special to me as I posted it in honor of my Bubba (grandma) who passed unexpectedly this past January. Hold your loved ones close and give them an extra hug when you see them.

The Orange Grind (SERIES)

Summary: Coffee Shop AU series where Coran is the owner of The Orange Grind and Keith is the runaway foster kid he finds picking through food in his dumpster.

My comments: Coran pops up quite a bit on this list and I am 100% okay with that. He makes me feel safe and warm, just like he does for Keith in this series. This series is near and dear to my heart and very, very personal for me. I hope you enjoy it too.

[itsadamcole]

christmas with benefits

fem!reader x ‘hangman’ adam page

reader and 'Hangman' Adam Page made a deal a few years ago; that if they were single at Christmastime then they would hook up. Christmas with benefits is what they called it, but this year, it's a little different ...

word count: 2.5k+

warnings: smut (friends with benefits, kinda), kinda fluffy, idrk what else :)

— day 25 ... we did it, and i will be going on a short break after this is posted (it’ll probably be around 11 pm est when y’all see this bc i was really late when i began to write this). i hope you enjoyed these christmas / holiday / winter themed imagines bc i enjoyed writing them —

masterlist || request an imagine here

~ 18+ content below - read at your own risk ~

You sit in your bed in your room back in your parents' house in Virginia. You've texted your best friend, the Hangman Adam Page, to come over since he's not that far away.

It's late, almost midnight on Christmas Eve going into Christmas Day. You sit in your Christmas pajamas as you wait. Your parents have gone to sleep so you just wait for the usual "I'm here" text from Adam so you can go open the front door for him.

This has been a thing every Christmas since yours and Adam's Ring of Honor days. Five years ago, five Christmases ago, both you and Adam agreed that if you were both single during the holidays then you'd casually just hook up. No strings attached, no feelings attached. Christmas with benefits is what Adam first called it, and you couldn't help but agree.

Every year, you'd either meet him at his childhood home, he'd meet you at your childhood home, or you'd meet at a motel.

You don't know how it even got to this point. Five years of hooking up on Christmas. Only one Christmas was missed because Adam was technically seeing a woman and didn't want to do the Christmas with benefits that year, which was fine with you.

The led lights that hang around your room are set to a light blue color and you play with the remote as you wait for your phone to go off.

Just before midnight, at 11:48, your phone starts ringing and Adam's contact pops up. You answer.

"Hey," you say. "Almost here?"

Adam says, "Just turned down your street. I hope you don't mind, and I wanted to give you a heads up, but I brought you a present. I don't know the next time we'll see each other so I wanted to make sure that you got it."

You smile and leave your room, walking downstairs. "Yeah, that's fine," you say. "I have something for you too."

It's been a while since you've seen Adam. He works with AEW and you work with WWE. Your schedules just don't allow you to see him except for a few times a year. Especially since you're NXT women's champion right now.

"Yay," Adam says. "I'll see you in a few."

You say your goodbyes and you wait at the door, watching for Adam's car.

This is something you've always looked forward to. It's something about being close to someone who cares for you and who you care for deeply. If it wasn't for the no feelings attached rule then you would have told him how you felt a long time ago.

Adam's car pulls up out from and you open the front door. The cool air hits you and you shiver a bit. You watch him get out of the car in his cowboy Christmas pajamas. He has a bag and a wrapped box.

Another part of your deal is that after the hookup then it's Christmas movies and snacks. Adam has snacks. That's what you assume is in the bag.

He walks up to your front door and smiles when he sees you. "Hi," he says. "I thought that maybe we can open presents before we, um, you know."

You smile and nod, moving aside so he can walk inside. You close and lock the door behind Adam as he walks upstairs to your bedroom. You closely follow him.

Adam sets the bag and the box down on your bed and you sit on the bed. You grab Adam's present off the bedside table under the lamp before you crisscross your legs and look up at him.

He sits in front of you, mirroring your position. He holds out his present and you take it. "Go ahead," he says. "I'm excited to see your reaction."

You giggle and begin to unwrap the gift. You open the box, which is actually kind of big.

Inside the box is an AEW merch shirt, one of the bandannas that Adam's worn during his entrances, and a necklace that you've wanted forever. It has your birthstone inside of a heart.

"Adam," you gasp. "I've been wanting this necklace forever."

He laughs and says, "I know. I figured it was time to buy it for you. Also, I dare you to wear the AEW shirt to work one day."

You laugh and say, "Stop trying to get me fired."

Adam helps you put the necklace on as he says, "Tony Khan already has told me he wants you on the roster so if Vince McMahon fires you then just come to AEW."

His fingers linger on the back of your neck by the necklace clasp a little longer than they probably should. You look back at Adam and say, "We'll see." You smile. "Anyway, it's time for your present. Open the little envelope after you open your gift."

You hold out the medium-sized box and Adam takes it. He unwraps it and opens the box.

Inside the box you gave Adam is a cowboy hat that has the AEW logo on it, one of your merch shirts, and a little silver bracelet with "cowboy shit", which is Adam's thing, and "ice queen", which is your thing, engraved on it.

You're known as NXT's resident "ice queen" because of your cold heart and rude personality. It's your gimmick. You love it, and it sounds kinda cool.

Adam smiles and opens the tiny envelope. You watch as his eyes widen and he says, "I know you didn't give me a yearlong pass to come to any WWE show."

"Of course I did," you say. "Front row, off-camera for the most part. I know we haven't seen much of each other because of conflicting schedules but maybe if you have some free time and are in the same area then you can use this pass to go in and out of the arena. It's completely free so you don't have to waste several hundred dollars just to see me for twenty minutes."

Adam's tried to come to WWE shows, but tickets were always sold out or not where he wanted them because it was always so last minute. You had the idea of the pass a few weeks ago, talked to management, and got it in time for Christmas.

He says, "You are literally the best person on this Earth."

You giggle and say, "That works for literally any WWE event. A Takeover, a regular NXT live show, or even Wrestlemania."

"Thank you, Y/N," Adam says, putting everything back in the box. "Seriously."

You do the same and say, "It's the least I can do. Maybe we'll see each other more than three or four times a year."

Adam looks at you and smiles. "I'll have to use that pass all the time," he says. "I need to see you more than three or four times a year."

You put your gift from Adam on your bedside table and say, "I agree."

He says, "So, about this Christmas with benefits thing."

"I wanted to talk to you about that," you admit.

While you waited for Adam, you decided to tell him how you feel. Screw the no feelings attached rule.

Adam looks at you confused and says, "Okay. What's on that pretty little mind of yours?"

Your face gets flustered a bit as you say, "We agreed that there would be no feelings attached and no strings attached, and we've done well at that for the past few years."

"But?" Adam asks. He knows what's about to happen.

Nervously, you say, "But recently I've been thinking of you as more than my best friend. I just want more out of this besides sex. You already treat me so well, and we've known each other for years, so I thought that maybe we could try to be more than just friends."

He stares at you as you talk. He can't believe this. You've been doing such a good job at hiding this that he had no idea, and he's not mad about it. He can finally tell you how he's been feeling about you.

In one swift movement, Adam cups your face and pulls you toward him. Your lips crash to Adam's and you gasp. You gasp softly but kiss him back.

The kiss lasts for a few moments before you pull back and ask, "What was that for? You've never kissed me except for when we're, you know."

Adam pushes your hair behind your ear as he says, "I thought that I could start kissing you when we're not having sex."

A smile forms on your lips and your face gets a little flustered. "I would, uh, like that," you stammer. "Can we still have our usual Christmas sex?"

He laughs and says, "That was never out of the equation, Y/N."

You giggle and lean in, kissing Adam again. He kisses you back and you crawl onto his lap, straddling his waist. Your hands slide into his curly hair and his hands slide up the back of your pajama top.

Sighs leave your lips when his hands touch your skin. You smile against his lips and push Adam onto his back.

Slowly, you begin to undress Adam underneath you. You kiss Adam's bare chest once his shirt is off. You do leave a couple of marks on his chest.

"The first chance you get, you mark me up," Adam says, looking down at you. You trail your fingers over the marks and down to the waistband of his Christmas pajama pants.

You look up at Adam with your eyes before you say, "You're mine now. I hope."

Nerves rise up within you as Adam says, "I am. I'm yours."

"Thank God," you sigh as Adam smiles.

You pull off Adam's pajama pants right before Adam rolls and lays on top of you.

He stares down at you and attacks your neck with kisses. You sigh and let out a soft moan. Adam's hands roam your body as he kisses your neck.

You pull off your top, leaving your upper body exposed. Adam's eyes are on your body and you bite your lip softly, watching him. After a moment, he leans down and presses kisses to your bare stomach. You sigh softly.

Adam hooks his fingers into your pajama pants waistband and pulls them off your body. He slips his fingers into your panties and runs his fingers through your folds. You gasp and your back arches off the bed.

After a few seconds of this, Adam pulls off your panties. You look down at Adam and find that he's looking up at you with his eyes. Your tongue swipes across your bottom lip as Adam slips a finger into you, moving it shallowly and slowly. You create a little 'O' with your mouth and a moan escapes.

"Baby, you have to be quiet," Adam reminds you. "Your parents are just down the hall."

You giggle and say, "Oops."

He laughs and speeds up his fingers as he begins to play with your clit with his tongue. "Adam," you sigh. "God, don't stop."

Adam smirks and adds a second finger. Your fingers are back in his curly blond hair. He edges you closer and closer to an orgasm. Your back arches off the bed a few times before Adam pins your hips to the mattress.

You feel your walls begin to clench around Adam's fingers, and he realizes this too. "You gonna come, baby?" he asks. You nod eagerly.

"Please," you whine, needing to release.

He nods and says, "Come for me."

So you do. All over Adam's fingers. You softly moan his name as you release. He sucks his fingers clean before coming up to your lips and kissing you. You moan into his mouth as you kiss him back.

While he's distracted with kissing you, you roll so you're straddling Adam's waist. Your lips are still on his.

Adam pulls back from the kiss and asks, "Where did this all of a sudden come from?"

"I wanted to try something new," you say, kissing Adam's jaw and neck. He sighs beneth you.

You slip your hand down to the bulge in his boxer shorts. You rub him gently and he makes a soft growl sound. "Y/N," he says with a soft moan. "Be nice."

In a split second, you decide to be a little tease. You grind down against his bulge and say, "You won't do anything."

He stares up at you as your finally pull off his boxers. You take his erect member and pump him a few times. You line him up with your entrance and he asks, "Are you still taking the pills?"

"I got an implant to make it easier on myself," you admit. "I kept forgetting to take the pills."

Adam laughs and you smile. Adam's laughs turn into soft sighs as you lower yourself onto him, his length slowly beginning to fill you. You throw your head back as you wait a second before you move. Your hands are on his chest to keep your balance as you begin to move.

Both of you let soft sighs leave your lips. Adam's thumb finds it's way to your clit as you move your hips. You moan softly as you move your hips faster. Adam's other hand is on your waist, helping you move.

He sits up a bit, propping himself up on one arm. His thumb is still rubbing your clit. You wrap your arms around his neck and your fingers are in his hair. His lips are on your collarbone.

His lips make their way up to your jaw. He says softly, "Keep going. You're making me feel so good."

Adam’s praises give you the confidence to move faster. His tip hits your g-spot and you gasp.

You lean down and kiss Adam softly as you move.

Your walls clench around Adam’s length. He moans into the kiss softly as you both reach an orgasm.

His name falls from your lips as you release around him and he releases his seed into you. You both fall into the bed beside each other.

The kissing doesn’t stop. You messily makeout with Adam as you both catch your breath. Your hands both roam each other’s bodies as your lips move messily against each other.

Adam is the first to pull away from the messy kiss. You look at him and he says, “So, we’re together now?”

“Take me out on a date first and we’ll see,” you tease.

He laughs and kisses you one more time before he pulls you into his arms. You bury your face into his neck and smile against his skin before dozing off a few moments later. Adam soon follows you and dozes off too.

[alicemitch09writes]

the babysitter

pairing: reader x peter parker

summary: Babysitting the little Stark is an adventure, of some sorts. Well, being a (adopted) Stark is an adventure in itself. However, nobody told Peter Parker about the Stark babysitter.

author’s notes: I love Morgan Stark. I would die for her. Kill for her. MURDER even, just to keep her safe. Also, I love how easy we can just make her and Peter come together because they’re Stark’s kids (one biological, one is a sort of surrogate). Also, this idea is a common trope but eh, what’s not to love about it? Had to tweak it a bit by making reader two years older. And yay, I finally got to finish this before its initial release date (which is on Valentine's haha sorry yes am cliche like that sue me).

also available on ao3.

disclaimer: i own NOTHING but the plot.

"Ah, shit."

"Shit!"

You froze, quickly turning on your heel to find a mass of brown hair and big brown doe-like eyes, filled with innocence and mischief all at once.

"Morgan! What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," she replied easily, tilting her head to the side. "Mommy said she has something to say to you."

"Oh, really now?" releasing a breath - not really shaky but something sort of relief, frustration, and a little bit of nervousness, you kneel to her level, tucking strands of hair behind her ear. "How long have you been looking for me?"

"A few minutes. Maybe 30."

With a smile, you get up. "Well, best not keep her waiting!"

Morgan giggles, seeing through you. She was always too sharp for her age.

You smile with her, a painful tug at your heart when you see the twinkle in her eye - an all too familiar twinkle.

Swallowing the dread, you plaster a quick smile and get to your feet. "Come on now, munchkin!"

She willingly lets you take her in your arms, walking along the compound down to Mrs. Stark's office.

Your relationship with the infamous CEO of Stark Industries was that you’re her cousin's daughter, making her your aunt-in-law. And in the absence of said cousin - your father, as he lived far off or on the other side of the planet, and after some unfortunate events, you were under Pepper's care. 

Well, at least for the last 8 years of your life.

And since then, you could always remember how uptight, stern, and organized she was. It came with her job apparently. As was being stressed 24/7 because she had been dealing with the one and only Iron Man, Tony Stark.

Pepper had a great way of dealing with things, keeping some things to a T, and to keep a cool head with it all. Also, she was adamant about keeping you from Tony, away from the epitome of a machine of a man that he was. Oh, many were the nights where you were a witness to just how frustrating the man was, to how much Pepper had to keep herself from breaking down. You were not very fond of him – to say the least, you kinda hated him.

But upon meeting the man, later on, you found that he wasn't all that bad. In fact, he reminded you a lot of your father - workaholic to an extreme, and a bit of a softie. Just big on his ego.

As an added bonus, he completely won you over for being the guy for Pepper after deciding that you weren’t some runt after all.

After the events of Ultron, Tony decided to take you in and take you as if you were his own, treating you like his little assistant. (As he wasn't comfortable with having kids just yet.) You were pretty young, Pepper had that argument too and was fairly backed by Happy, but Tony was all, ‘then best start them young!’ and all went his way, one way or another. You were a smart cookie, at least that’s what Tony said, Pepper added that, and Rhodey – who still didn’t want to force something on to someone so young. And thus, your life with the Stark-Potts couple would never be the same - for better or for worse.

After the Accords, however, things were different. Much different. Both Tony and Pepper were never the same even way before that, but the former looked like a hollow of a man he once was.

As much as Pepper had more rights over you, she didn't want to be unfair and cut you off from Tony completely, and thus, let you do as you please. Honestly, it hurt having to go back and forth between the two, seeing two of the strongest people in your life thread on thin ice. Try as you might, you even attempted to get the two together only to end up with nothing. Happy was there, at least, to make you sane and moving. Rhodey, who still scares you, keeps you in check and on your toes.

However, things managed.

Then a lot of things happened: Tony and Pepper finally patched things up, finally got married - you were Pepper's maid of honor, you were whisked to some Ivy League thanks to Pepper and Tony’s recommendations, Tony suddenly was whisked away to the stars to save the universe, some war FRIDAY relayed in Wakanda, and then half the population turning to dust. A week later, Tony came back - with new friends from different galaxies, you all moved far away – far away from the Avengers, Tony insisted you to help Pepper to keep you busy, Morgan was born, you finished university, and were working on a master’s degree.

And then...Tony-

God, just the thought of him - what he did - still chokes you up. It hurt to hear from Pepper what had happened, to see her – the strongest iron lady you know and love – break into a million pieces, crumbling to the ground and disregarding every rule about grace and poise. Tony. He was like a father to you, the best and worst one you could ever ask for.

After his passing, you made it a point to keep his legacy alive, to ensure that it was protected at all cost - Morgan. 

You loved the littlest Stark with all your heart, like the little sister you wished you had. Ever since she was born, already, you vowed to keep her from anything.

She was Tony's legacy.

Well, one of many...

There was that kid from Tennessee, Harley Keener, whom you had the chance and pleasure to be acquainted with.

And then there was-

"Who're you?" a voice asked behind you, breathlessly, curiously.

Turning on your heel, you found a guy - brown hair, pale skin, average height, fit in build, looked like he was around your age - walking in, looking like he had run a marathon.

Scrunching your nose, not really like the way he was trying to piece who you were, you fixed him a questioning look. "I'm-"

"(NAME)!" a bubbly voice called behind you, causing the two of you to turn.

Eyes widening, they then relax, you then sagged in relief and all but ran towards the little girl, taking her in your arms.

"There you are! Where've you been, you?" you ask, tucking strands of hair away from her face.

Giggling mirthlessly, eyes twinkling with mischief, she replied. "Nowhere~"

You rolled your eyes at that, playfully. Her grin grows, eyes crinkling when her lips lift, exposing dimples.

Looking over your shoulder, you nearly forgot the guy behind you, hoisting Morgan up.

"Oh, I'm (Name)," you tell him. "but I think you got that already."

The younger teen looks from the brunette in your arms to you, the cogs in his head whirring. "Are you...?"

"Nope, I'm just a babysitter." Quick to dismiss his question, you shake your head lightly. "An on call at that."

"Ah," was the only thing he could say, not sure what to say next.

"Peter!" the girl in your arms says, a smile still in check.

"Morgan, hey." he walks up, about two feet away.

It was your turn to look between him and the brunette in your arms, fixing an inquisitive look as to the cogs in your head begin to turn - two and two adding up. You did hear things from Pepper, Happy, and Tony. 

Like a light bulb moment, you pointed at him. "You're the Spider-Man, aren't you?"

First, he sputters, face morphing into a look of surprise, shock, and embarrassment which ends with his face flushing to the tips of his ears.

Little did he know that you knew long before his cover had been blown.

"Don't worry. Happy's not really that good at keeping a secret." You assure him. At that, Morgan chuckles. You chuckle with her, sharing a knowing look as you bump your noses together. "Well, more like, he's slipping."

"Or getting old!" Morgan chirps.

You share a laugh, again. This time, Peter joins in.

"Anyway, is there something or anything you needed?" you asked, remembering his sudden appearance, adjusting your hold on Morgan, who now was resting her head on the crook of your neck.

"Oh...I, uh, I was just..." he fumbles, fidgeting with his fingers as you stand there, patiently waiting for him to finish his sentence. "...um, I was told to come over...?"

Puzzled, your brows narrowed together. "By who?"

"Me." A voice booms, you all turn, staring at a dark-skinned man donning familiar colors. A taller man stands by him, almost like a shadow.

In the years under Tony and Pepper’s tutelage, months spent and having unlimited access to nearly everything that is related to the Avengers, you found yourself in contact with the new Captain America and his trusty companion, the Winter Soldier.

At first, it was quite intimidating. They were intimidating. But soon, you found yourself warming up to them. They were like brothers, you adored them so much.

Suddenly, the room felt like there was purpose as the two men strode in, and you felt even smaller in their presence.

Just as you motioned to leave, Morgan pipes up, “Sam! Bucky!”

Over time, Peter became a familiar face in the compound.

Aside from helping clean up the mess that Quentin Beck and his lackeys did to the poor boy, he was also heralding in for his part with the new Avengers - Sam Wilson, now bestowed with the mantle of Captain America, with the infamous Winter Soldier, Sgt. James Barnes, as his right hand, much to the displeasure of many governments.

Then again, who were they to decide what's best for this world when they knew nothing of the battles these brave men fought for? Who were they to decide who carries the mantle? It's not theirs, government-issued or not.

Also, in the past years of their hiding, and fighting off Zeemo, they've proven themselves countless times and earned the hearts of many. Whether they like it or not, they were the best choice to serve and defend the innocent.

For Peter Parker, physically 18 years old, filling in his spot for the team was huge.

He was in leagues with a whole bunch of other heroes – Hulk, Dr. Bruce Banner; War Machine, James Rhodes; Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff; Dr. Strange, Dr. Stephen Strange; Ant-Man, Scott Lang; Wasp, Hope Van Dymme; and off the grid were the Asgardians of the Galaxy, and Carvol Danvers, Captain Marvel. Just to name a few. Sure enough, there would be more heroes coming in, it’s only a matter of time after all.

It was a big world - universe, rather.

Eventually, the kid also grew on you, for many reasons. But in those many reasons, it also felt kind of weird - you werethree years older than him. Physically speaking.

He would have been 23, just three years older than you, had he not been snapped away. Or blipped away. 

Yawning, you leaned back, stretching your arms overhead. Peeking back at your laptop, to your dismay you found that was still 10 in the morning, there was still a lot of work to do!

Groaning, you made sure to drag on said groan as you massaged the back of your neck. There were a bunch of emails to check, some invitations to decline, and one Thaddeus Ross to bitch about-

“Coffee?”

At the sound of the voice, you looked up and were met with soft brown eyes belonging to one Peter Parker.

“Peter, hey!” reaching for the cup, you wrap both hands around it, relishing in its rich aroma. “You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Having to face your laptop for hours' end, glancing up just barely with how slow your morning was, it really was. Taking a sip, you let the beverage warm your system and kick in, shoulders sagging. “and a savior.”

The corners of his mouth lift, eyes shining a bit, awkwardly shifting foot to foot. “W-Well, I know how much you work. And how much you love your coffee" he does, strangely enough, to note that you loved it black in the wee hours of the day with a bit of cocoa nibs.

"That I do, Petey, that I do."

He watches you take another sip, your eyes momentarily meeting your laptop screen before looking away quickly - nope! Here's your coffee break, take it.

"I see, uh, that you've been busy."

Sighing, you lean against your seat. "Kinda. Sorta. But, yes."

A little while after you first met, you made sure to properly introduce yourself to the lad, keeping in mind that he was an Avenger and that he'd see more of you now that you worked for Stark Industries, and the Avengers.

"Even though you should be…” he glanced away, words failing him.

“I should be…?” you picked up on the end tail of his sentence.

Gulping, his gaze suddenly drops, looking around helplessly. You sat there, worried, taking sips time to time.

It might be his sixth sense – aptly dubbed as his Spider-senses, but he seemed to know exactly how much you loved your coffee. That, or he was really observant.

“Peter, are you okay- “

“Writing!” he suddenly bursts out. “You like writing, right?”

His eyes land on the books on the side of your desk, and a framed article you had written years back for TIME magazine.

Following his gaze, causing you to turn in your seat, you can’t help the soft expression on your face. “Ah, that.”

Using the heel of your foot, rolling forward, you reached for the frame then rested your still warm drink between your thighs fingers smoothing the corners. “Funny story, Tony made me write it. Pepper gave me the idea.” The article was basically about questioning Thaddeus Ross and the Accords and if it was really pro-government and pro-hero at the same time. “Mind you, at the time, things had just been rocky with the whole mess of the Avengers, Tony and Pepper were not in good term. Writing this had been the closest I got them to speak again, because of how I had written it and its effects.” Memories of Pepper giving snide remarks at people who talked shit to you, rebutting gracefully, and Tony, wisecracking any troll who messed with you online. Those were fun times. Messy, but fun times. As you spoke, Peter quieted down, eyes never leaving you as you spoke. Looking at the article one last time, you set it back on your desk before picking your drink and taking a sip. “So, yeah. I do. Love writing, I mean. “

“And haven’t you thought of doing that instead?”

Noting his implication with a hum, you continued. “Instead of handling hero-related antics, right?”

Instantly, his face flushed, expression mixing up as he jumbled on his words. “N-Not that what you’re doing is wrong or anything! I-It’s just…you can-“

“Relax Peter!” You laugh, hand raised to calm him. “I know what you mean. It’s just that,” pushing yourself back, you swayed a bit in your seat “this is my job now, something I’ve been doing for a while and one I enjoy. Stressful as it is, it’s still fun. At the very least, I’m still writing. Plus, I get to be with you guys! So, that works, right?”

“Yeah, yeah,” breathing returning to normal, he nods, replying breathlessly. “yeah, yeah, yeah. T-That’s true.”

Tilting your head, seeing that he wasn’t fully satisfied with your answer, you humor him. “Given the chance, I would’vebeen in the writing field. Who knows? Writing as some underground slob, some hermit, or rise amongst the ranks of those high-profiled writers, or for TIME...”

Smiling wistfully, you were just about to take a sip again when it dawned to you. “Oh, what are you doing here, anyway? Do you have a meeting with Pepper?”

“Miss Potts- oh. Oh, no!”

“Did you wanna see Morgan then?”

“No, no!” he was getting more panicked, which was worrying. Putting down your coffee, you brought both hands to your desk and pulled yourself in, the desk separating you and Peter. He was muttering something under his breath, something you didn’t catch.

“Petey?” ducking your head, for a closer look at him, getting a closer inspection of how hazel brown his eyes actually are.

“U-Uh…” he gulps under your gaze. "...um..."

“Hey, (Name), I need your help with someth-“a new voice pipes in.

The two of you turn, (E/c) eyes widen at the new visitor, instantly, you were on your feet and running towards him.

“Harley!” engulfing him in a hug, you laugh mirthlessly at his presence. “Oh, my god you’re here! How are you? What are you doing here?”

Dang, you forgot just how tall he was!

“Uh, I’m supposed to work on my grant with Miss Potts,” he says, almost carefully staring from you to the lad behind him.

“Ah, yes,” you nodded, snapping a finger and pointing at him in realization. “that was today. Unfortunately, Pepper’s busy with something. Fortunately,” you tilted to your side, hands clasped in front of you then pointing index fingers at him. “Ican lend you a hand.”

Harley smiles at this, especially at your dorky dramatics, you grin back toothily.

Then you remembered that you weren’t alone.

“Oh! Where are my manners? Peter, this is Harley Keener, one of Tony’s boys.”

“You make it sound like I'm a booty call.” Harley grumbled beside you, making you snort and elbow him playfully.

“Well, Tony has a way of calling people and it rubs off pretty easily when you’re around him a lot.”

The taller lad rolls his eyes – playfully, used to your language and overall attitude as a reminiscent of one Tony Stark. Peter, who was still standing there, looks dumbfounded between the two of you, unsure what to do before you called on him.

“Sorry Peter, but I have to attend to Harley. Guess I’ll see you around?”

“U-Uh, sure…yeah.”

Hooking your arm around Harley’s you both walked out, but not before grabbing your still warm coffee from your desk. “Thanks again for this, Petey, bye!”

“He seems nice,” Harley comments, once the two of you get to the elevator.

“Yeah, he is.” You nod, sipping your coffee. “Now tell me, any updates on that crush of yours?”

At this, Harley’s face burns as the elevator doors open.

As Pepper’s assistant, you were basically tasked to help make Pepper’s job easier. As PR, at the same time, you were tasked with dealing with the Avengers’ publicity and ensuring that they look good and handling whatever the media throws their way. Because you were practically raised by Pepper, and the one and only Tony Stark/Iron Man, schooling the media was child’s play to you. Plus, it was really fun dealing with famous people who weren’t super-powered.

Still, as much as you enjoyed your job, you especially loved the quirks that came with it. One of the obvious being that you get to hang with the Avengers. Half of them – who were Tony’s faction during the Civil War bullshit, you grew up with, and the rest just grew on you later.

It was a Friday when you found yourself swinging by the training grounds, looking for Bucky or Wanda with a bag of cheeseburgers to share with and some papers. However, the floor seemed to be empty. Just as you were about to call for F.R.I.D.A.Y. (the AI), you found yourself slipping on some liquid, falling backward with your arms flailing in the air, smacking a nearby tray holding a pitcher and glass.

Faster than you could react, a blur was by your side, a firm grip on your shoulder, and with his free hand, easily caught the tray, the pitcher, the glass, and its contents. All before you could even blink.

“W-Woah…” you breathed, feeling your heart beating wildly against your chest. That could’ve been one nasty accident where you could’ve been wet, hurt, or both!

“(N-Name)! Are you alright?” asked your savior, making you blink at him.

It was Peter.

“Peter…” you said, almost to yourself.

Effortlessly, he set the tray aside, his hand still on around your shoulder, making you feel his strong arm around you.

“I-I’m sorry about that, must’ve tried to do some physics trick but ended up failing and all…” he replied, looking at the water on the ground.

“Ah,” you responded, getting the idea. Surprisingly, with a crinkling sound, you were still gripping unto the cheeseburgers and the papers- no, wait, they’re gone.

Turning your head around, you searched for those papers – which probably should be on the ground from the way you threw them up from the slip.

“Here,” Peter suddenly appears in front of you. Upside down.

“Woah, this is cool,” you remarked all wide-eyed, taking the papers from him, watching him bend over the ceiling to drop to the ground. “Seeing your abilities up close and personal.”

“I-I have other abilities, too!”

“Yeah, I know. You have superhuman strength, enhanced agility, and a super brain.” You list off, heading to the counter to drop the cheeseburgers and papers Pepper assigned you to send around. "No, wait, Happy mentioned it was something else..." scrunching your face, you ransacked your brain for it. "Er, what was it...oh! Peter tingle, right?"

He nearly tripped on his feet but caught himself instantly. "Spider senses! It's called 'Spider Senses'!"

"Ah, is that what it's called?"

That makes Peter sigh, almost frustratingly – like he was to throw a tantrum then and there. He really is a child, you thought.

“I’m teasing you, Pete.” You laugh, leaning against the counter, watching him seemingly deflate, ears slightly red. “But, if you don’t mind me asking," folding your arms behind you, you carefully approach him "can you just break it down to me just how your Spider Senses work?”

Caught off guard by your question, Peter puffs his cheeks. “Um, err…” he shuffles, scratching the back of his neck as words fail him.

Circling, you hop on the counter behind you, patiently waiting on him.

Seeing just how genuinely interested you seemed to be with his powers, it excited him a bit. You weren’t being pushy about it either. In fact, he’s seen you quite a handful of times, and you were always sure to be nice and welcoming, treating him Peter first, Spider-Man second. There were only about a few people who were genuinely interested in how his abilities worked really, one of them was Ned, then there was Mr. Stark, then there was Sam, and then Bucky. And then, you.

“So, um…I’ve got these senses.” You nod encouragingly. “And, uh, they help me be keenly aware of my surroundings and help me react.”

“Meaning, you have times ten the reflexes?”

“…kinda?”

Recalling the almost incident earlier, it was amazing to know just how quick he responded before the inevitable. “That’s cool. I didn’t know spiders could do that.”

“Y-Yeah…” he could only reply, noting how pleased you were with his explanation, how your beating calmed him-

“If this were a comic book, then what you have would probably be the most overpowered ability of all. Still, thanks for telling and trusting me.”

Clearing his throat, he slowly approached you. “So, uh, what brings you here?”

“What, I can’t be here?”

“N-No- th-that’s not-“

Really, he was so cute with the stuttering and all.

“Are you always this awkward around people? Or just girls?”

You really reminded him of Tony Stark with your charm and quips.

“You’re kinda difficult to approach, I guess?”

“Oh, so, I’m a science problem now?”

Peter’s mouth gaped at that, at a loss what to say next. Which in turn, caused you to laugh, head pulled back.

“You’re cute, Peter Parker.” Hopping off the counter, you reached out to pinch his cheek before turning back to fetch the paper bags. “I brought burgers for Bucky and Wanda, sadly, they’re not here, wanna eat them?”

Ever since the spider bite, life for Peter Parker was never the same. And it was probably a given to those who wielded great power, and now, he was one of them.

However, he would never imagine that because of that very spider bite, he’d be in leagues with people he’s admired for a while – the Avengers.

His life would forever change the moment Tony Stark sat in his apartment living room, chatting casually with his aunt, interrogated, and basically recruited him to his faction. Unofficially, that had marked his joining the Avengers.

But it was the Battle with Thanos months later that he was officially an Avenger, which later resulted in him dusting away for five years, then he came back for another fight for his life and the universe, they won but at the cost of Earth’s mightiest heroes. Months following after that were spent in constant fear and mourning that he tried to fight with his teenage life.

Funny thing was, just when he thought life was going his way, there’d always be something to nope him out of it. Mysterio, for one, hijacking his Europe trip and revealing his identity to the world.

For a while, his life was sure to spiral out of control and he’d be torn from his life. Nope.

Because he was an Avenger, not only was he backed by his colleagues, the government – what good half of it anyway, S.H I.E.L.D. and good civilians who were recipients of the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man’s kindness, the fear of his civilian life was protected and secured.

He just never expected that with becoming an Avenger, he’d have the chance to go places, experience new and exciting things, still be himself whilst growing up-

"Alright, little munchkin, open up!"

-and then there was meeting you, (Y/N) (L/N).

By blood, you were Pepper Potts-Stark’s niece-in-law, but by paper, you were practically her daughter/sister, more so as her trusty assistant.

Physically, you were three years his senior. Had the Snap not happened; however, he’d have been three years older than you. Still, he towers over you despite being the ‘littlest guy’ – as Sam would put it.

Using his heightened hearing, he followed after until the voices were closer, and he was standing by the doorway to the kitchen where you were.

You weren’t alone though. No, sitting by the counter, happily watching and smiling at you was little Morgan Stark.

It's a first for him to see you like this - in more casual, comfortable clothes, especially in shorts where he can see your legs. He had to pull himself out of it as he remembered that Morgan was there, singing some song as you sang with her.

It was a Disney song, he realized, from that one movie.

While the two of you were having a mini-concert, the smell of something being cooked filled the kitchen.

“Pasta,” he thought to himself, aloud.

“Peter!” the littlest Stark called from the counter, struggling to hop down, before you helped her down, tiny legs barreling towards him.

Anticipating her approach, he knelt to catch her in his arms, twirling as he entered the kitchen – the smell growing stronger.

“H-Hey, (Y/N),” he says to you, standing straighter.

Offering a smile, you turned back to check on the pasta sauce you were making. “Hey Peter,”

Unsure of what to say next, he lets Morgan play with his hair before coming up with a reply. “F-Fancy seeing you here,” he said lamely.

“Is that a bad thing?”

Realizing his mistake, he nearly drops Morgan, sputtering words. “T-That’s not- No! U-Um,” you were calmly stirring the pot, body turned to him, letting him know that you were listening. “I-I…It’s just, I’m not used to seeing you so casual…I guess?”

“Ah,”

Seriously, why was he so lame?

“It’s my day-off.” You say simply, switching the fire off. “And I make sure to use up my time keeping sane with the help of the world’s most adorable little girl, isn’t that right, Morgan?”

"Working too much is evil!"

"Sometimes I wonder where and how you learn these things," you mumble laughingly, head shaking. "must be a Stark thing."

He laughs with you in agreement. Morgan was scaringly too smart for her own good, clearly from her Stark genes.

"Most definitely a Stark thing," he agrees with you, laughing, eyes glued on your form as you hunt around the kitchen for something. "Need some help?"

"Ah, yeah." Pointing at the pot of sauce, you say. "Can you be a dear and bring that to that table over there?" with the same hand, you bring it back to the small dining table behind you, where plates and utensils sat. "Oh, and be sure to use mittens," you add, producing two kitschy kitchen mittens - one that was an embroidered goldfish, of some sort. "I'm not sure just how strong you are, but you can't be that strong against heat against metal."

"Ha ha, a science joke, I see." he says, taking the handle with both hands.

"It's not rocket science, silly." Holding a bowl full of pasta, you hastily grab a pair of tongs, before the two of you were walking towards the dining room. "Okay, there we go. Oh, just put it right here, Petey." you point at the empty coaster next to the pasta bowl, where he carefully lays it down. "Great, thanks!"

Hands on your hips, you admire your work, clasping both hands together before rubbing. "Okay, lunch is set! Now, where's my little Morgan?"

It was almost too cliché and overused at this point, but nobody that deny that charity galas were almost always a selling point to earn the trust of the most esteemed, high-profile, and probably the snootiest people in the world- all of which, were Tony's words that he had told you years back.

You hated these kinds of events, but again, they sold off to the rich and the famous. And they were a great way to rub elbows with just about anybody.

Never leaving Pepper's side, the both of you welcomed in guests after guests, receiving warm regards from ambassadors, warding off leering looks from power-hungry businessmen, laughing with nobles and socialites, and being graced by esteemed guests. Honestly, you had to give it to Tony and Pepper for bearing with these lot, just being in the same room with them and inhaling their pricey perfumes made you feel ten times older.

When all was said and done, you rushed towards where the Avengers were - all of which were dressed to the nines, all looking like literal gods in a sea of mortals.

Laughingly, half of them seem to enjoy the festivities, some looked bored to death (but came for the chance of exposure), some looked uncomfortable, and mostly seem to just enjoy parading themselves.

It was easy to spot Peter Parker among them, being - as Sam put it - the littlest guy because the rest of the women were in heels.

Meeting your gaze, he lifts his hand into a tiny wave. Giggling, you winked and gave him a peace sign, before turning to a waiter offering drinks. Taking a flute from his tray, you were unaware of the boy's eyes locked on you as you clung to Pepper's side, wearing a polite smile that illuminated your face and the dress you were wearing.

It's just...You look pretty in that dress. Like, really pretty. Maybe prettier than usual

Well, you were always pretty to him whatever you wore - may it be office wear, casual wear, even a bean bag, but tonight, that dress made you look mature, exquisite, and divine. The makeup on your face highlighted some of your features quite well - not too much, but enough to really emphasize your cheeks, your lips, your eyes. And your hair was in a simple style but enhanced your look. Overall, again, you looked really pretty.

Too engrossed in his stare, he nearly jumped in place when Shang Chi came into his field of vision, smirking knowingly down at the young boy.

"That's an intense stare you got there, wanna go talk to her?" the newest Avenger asked, golden eyes alight with life.

"U-Uh...?" he sputtered, feeling the blood rush to his face, just as he saw your face light up - if possible, it made the whole place shine brighter - when Morgan ran up to you. Her dress was a poofier and lighter version of yours.

"No worries, little brother," whispered the man, smirk still in place as he watched you nuzzle Morgan's nose with yours. "I'm not telling."

Okay, he felt screwed.

With all the glitz and glamour that filled and surrounded the life of one Tony Stark, it takes a certain amount of temperament and training to turn one so thick-skinned and fluent in the art of socializing from the regular folk to the nouveu riche to the beau-monde. Despite careful years of watching, observing, absorbing, and taking things into action, the results were the same: it was pretty exhausting.

You didn’t know how Tony did it, nor do you want to know. I mean, there were years of alcohol and therapy. Not to mention, his hands just itching to tinker.

Pepper fared in the best way she could. Seriously, she was the personification of the phrase, ‘grace under pressure’.

Well, maybe until she has someone she can finally rip apart.

Having excused yourself from the scene, you desperately needed to be away from all the glitzy fanfare – too much of it might actually render you insane.

You find yourself in what seems to be a lounge area. There were plants, paintings, some comfortable sofas. Music could be heard from the gala nearby, but here it came as a gentle thrum and hum.

“How’s the party going?” someone asked.

You whipped your head around, searching, finding an old man sitting by one of the sofas.

Putting on a smile – tired, but polite, you say. “Well, it’s still going,” he laughs at that. “Starks’ legacy continues to fill the night. Hopefully, it’ll end well for business and pleasure.”

He laughs again, a gentle, hearty laugh. “Well, that’s a relief. And quite the expectation.”

“Well,” you didn’t mean to sigh so heavily, brows raised slightly. “it is what it is.”

Nodding at the older man, you were just about to find a balcony only to stop in your footsteps.

Slowly, very slowly, you looked back to the lone soul sitting by the sofa – sharply dressed, small, frail, but his posture said otherwise, as did his smile.

And his eyes.

Suddenly, you realized why that old man with astoundingly baby blue eyes with a kind smile looked familiar. You were careful in your approach, as to not bring any attention. "Mr. Rogers?"

Familiarity radiated off his features as he took you in, the same familiar smile on his face. "Hi, (Name),"

"Hi..." you said back in awe, unsure what to do, or say.

"Wow, you're so big now." Baby blue eyes take you in, so warm and threatening to swallow you whole. "And you used to be the littlest thing."

Memories flash of a younger you meeting the famed war hero, Tony by your side. His dashingly, boyishly handsome face. Walks around the compound or the park with his gentle hands in yours. Warm hugs after a bad day at school. The sad look in his eyes when he left the compound. Regret, guilt, and sadness during Tony's burial-

"Come sit by me," he invites, patting the spot next to him.

That seemed to snap you back to your current time, forcing your legs to move. One step becomes two, then three, until you were next to him, (e/c) eyes not leaving his now small and frail form. A far cry from the hulking teddy bear of a man you're used to.

Gentle music from the gala filled in the silence, which just dragged on.

Steve smiled, simply smiling by the silence, blissfully knowing your state of confusion by his presence. But he was content, to say the least, to share the silence with you.

This man, Steve Rogers to many, known as Captain America to all, but to you – and a select few, he was more than that.

In spite of what happened – Ultron, Sokovia, their Civil War, Thanos, this man meant a lot to you, had a special place in your heart that rivalled only to Tony Stark.

"You know,” you said slowly. “Pepper never blamed you...after everything that had happened."

Turning to you, his eyes widened slightly. "Did she now?"

You nod, earrings dangling with you. "It was inevitable, ever since Tony was kidnapped and Iron Man happened. Since the moment those two fell in love, and the Avengers came to be." Breaking into a short laugh, you added. “Maybe even before you and I joined in the mix.”

"Did you blame me?" he asked you, suddenly, his baby blue eyes, though faded with age still held so much emotion. 

That question would've been easier to answer then - after months of seeing Pepper and Tony's relationship in turmoil, Pepper in tears, Tony's PTSD, Rhodey's injury, Happy's added stress, the death of the closest thing to a father you'll ever have - but now, all things considered, and with Tony's annoying way of rubbing off you, you knew your answer now.

"No. I don't think I could." You reply, smiling softly at him. "Plus, you remember his speech, right? 'Part of the journey is the end'? Somewhere, deep inside his clusterfuck of a brain, he knew that his death was something he feared very much yet knew would put things into perspective."

"You are Tony's girl alright,"

You scoff, ducking shyly, comforted by his words. "Adopted, maybe."

Lifting your head, it felt like you were young again, meeting Steve Rogers for the first time. Except this time, there was no Tony by your side, but you took comfort in knowing that the phantom comforting chill running down your spine was him.

Steve smiled, one that reached his eyes.

"It's so good to see you again, (Name)."

"Me, too." Eyes misting as you broke into a huge grin, it really felt like you were a kid again.

And it that moment, he couldn't help but feel the same.

"Would you care to indulge this man with a dance?"

"I would love to."

(E/c) eyes wandered about to all the couples that had gathered on the dance floor, humming to the beat of the music – jazz, was it? Maybe something gypsy-like? Do they even allow those kinds of music to be played? Soft jazz, maybe.

The music was gentle, soothing, fitting for the event. It was enough to make your heart settle, after a long, engaging, and rather exciting night.

And It was probably far from over.

From where you stood, the second floor balcony that overlooked the whole area, a rather grand view as though you were some lord. But no, you just needed a breather, to slow down the night that was far from over.

Behind you, someone cleared their throat, rather loudly to catch your attention.

Looking over your shoulder, you find that it was Peter. "Y-You...uh, you look really nice, (Name).”

Lips quirked up, you reply. "Thank you, Peter. This is all Pepper. And, well, Maria." After much thought, fingers smoothing over the fabric of your dress, you added, with a pained smile. "And Morgan. Wanda. Sam. Bucky." You tick their name one by one with your fingers.

"Mr. Wilson and Mr. Barnes?" he was stood next to you now.

"They convinced me to come, after much protest. Morgan picked my dress, really."

"You sound so out of place." His brown eyes search yours. To be at the receiving end of those eyes of his, such big, kind, and warm eyes, made you feel all sorts of funny.

"Oh, trust me, I am. This isn't my scene, y'see, also because I don't really go to these kinds of events. I'm more used to being behind the scenes, working back, or doing my homework while everyone partied." A certain memory roused from the back of your brain, making you chuckle sadly. Having sensed this, thanks to this spider senses, Peter looked up. "Tony," shucks, the mention of his name still hurts. "he would annoy the hell outta me, Pepper, too," she chuckled, almost garbled by the emotions thick in her throat. "but both never forced me if I didn't want to. Sometimes, they'd finish up extra early and bring home junk food to keep me company." Finishing with a sigh, she looked out the dancing couples before her eyes landed on a familiar strawberry blonde woman effortlessly elegant in her own right, ethereal under this light, but ever so heartbreakingly lonely and painful to look at.

Peter followed your gaze, swallowing thickly at that.

"Sorry you had to hear that sob story," you says, in an attempt to lighten the mood, quirking into an easy expression.

Downstairs, the music peaks up, a new song being played.

"Well, to make up for it, do you want to take your mind off it with a dance?"

That made you jump, turning to the younger boy, who was red in the face but had that look of determination in his boyishly handsome face.

You had to chuckle at that, heartily. "Wow, you're good. But okay."

Bucky didn't like it - that little punk was crushing on (Name). Bad.

Thing was, she was pretty oblivious to this. Bucky didn’t like that either. As much as she was Stark's girl, when it comes to things concerning her, it just passed off like the wind. Or maybe water. No, oxygen. Point is, she'd never know unless it was pointed out.

“If you look any harder, the kid’s head might combust.” A voice says next to him, belonging to a familiar blonde – Sharon Carter.

The Winter Soldier made a noise in his throat, eyes cold. "I don't like the way that kid's looking at her,"

"Make you think of Becca, Buck?" Steve asks, humor in his tone.

“Shut up, punk.”

“Well,” Sam appears, elbows on the railing, faint smile quirking his lips. “they are kinda cute.”

Well, fine, they are kinda cute together.

“Good luck trying to tell her that, though.”

But he won’t say it out loud.

[coffeestainsandcashmere]

Let No Man Steal Your Thyme - (older Dramione), Part Three

Wow! Thank you so much for your feedback and apparent enthusiasm for the previous parts, and for your excitement to see more in the future! I never imagined it’d get any traction, but I’m staggered and touched to see that people are enjoying it!

Here’s part three for you, as promised. I had written twice as much as this (around 7k in total) for part three, but I split it up into two. Part Four will go up tomorrow after I’ve given it another once-over. It’s tooth-rottingly adorable really. There’s pizza involved. And a little delving into the past.

Content warnings for part three: unexpected run-in with Ron, passing mention of past alcohol abuse (Ron), and general prejudices against Slytherins. Again, this isn’t supposed to be a Ron-bashing story, but relationships do break down when fundamental beliefs don’t align. If I seem harsh on Ron, I don’t really mean to be. Hermione also isn’t perfect or unbiased, but she has perhaps slightly more reason to be upset with him than he does with her. It will all be explained in a later part, I promise, but it has been hinted at already in the previous two parts.

Part One | Part Two

___

Friday found her lingering awkwardly in the Ministry’s echoing Atrium, waiting for Theo to come out of his last meeting of the day, up on level five. The problem with being the former Minister for Magic - and one so famously young - was that quite literally everyone knew who she was. So far, in the ten minutes she’d been standing there, a seemingly ceaseless line of twittering assistants and employees had come cringing up to her to ask if she needed anything.  

She’d just sent the latest one packing with a tight-lipped ‘no, thank you. I’m just waiting for a friend,’ when someone cleared their throat behind her, and a familiar voice made her heart clench and her breath come short for half a moment.

“’Mione? What are you doing here?”

“Hi, Ron,” she sighed, even before she turned to face him.  

In the decade or so since their divorce, he’d actually done pretty well for himself. Gone was the lingering paunch that had crept in towards the tail end of his quidditch career, and now he looked… well, quite frankly, he looked really good. He reminded her of Charlie Weasley a little, with floppy, roguish hair and a surprisingly lean figure once more. Becoming the coach of an internationally-recognised quidditch team suited him, clearly. That, and a happier, second marriage with Lavender, she supposed.  

“How are you?” she asked, trying not to sound too stiff and failing abysmally.  

“Good,” he said, rocking back on his heels for a moment with his hands shoved into his pockets. “What, uh, what brings you here then? Miss the place too much?” he asked with a little snort of laughter.

“Hardly, Ron,” she said with perhaps a little too much feeling. “No, I’m waiting for Theo.”

At the mention of Theo’s name, Ron’s eyes darkened. “Why?” he blurted.  

“Why? Because he’s my friend, Ronald,” she said. “And what are you doing here? Come to blag your way out of another ‘drunk and disorderly in possession of a broomstick’, hmm?”  

She knew even as she said it that her snide comment was uncalled for, and that she was being disproportionately petty, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. Something about his lingering, bone-deep resentment of the people with whom she chose to associate these days just brought out the worst in her even now. She wasn’t proud of it. In her defence though, how many times had he tried to use the whole ‘The Minister for Magic is my wife’ ploy to get out of scrapes like that in the past?

Ron’s freckled face flushed at that. “I’m clean and sober now, Hermione,” he said. “Have been for the past five years, which you’d know if you ever came to any of Harry’s dinners. We used to be the ‘Golden Trio’ for fuck’s sake…”

Very quietly, and with what she thought was a remarkable degree of renewed self-control, Hermione said, “Excuse me for not wanting to intrude on your happy family, Ron. I am pleased to hear that though. That’s no small achievement. Congratulations.”

“But you’d still rather go scuttling off with the Slytherins instead of having dinner with me and Harry?” he said, eyes flashing.  

There it was. There was the comment — the little dig at her choices — that she’d been waiting for ever since she’d mentioned Theo’s name. 

“I hear that you and that lot are pretty tight now. Even dragged Neville into it.”

Her already-simmering outrage crept a degree or two hotter beneath the surface, and Hermione blinked rapidly. “‘Dragged’ Neville? Is that what you call his perfectly healthy and happy relationship with Pansy?”

“He wouldn’t have had anything to do with her if it wasn’t for you and Nott meddling. He’d have settled down with Hannah instead of leaving her for some Slytherin trust-fund bitch. You know she’s still heartbroken about it?”

Her eyebrows rose. That wasn’t how it had happened at all, though she knew Hannah was still upset, and she’d just opened her mouth to say so when she felt the prickle of other people’s eyes on them.

“I’m not discussing this, Ron, and I’m certainly not starting something here in the Ministry Atrium, for God’s sake,” she said, turning away. Her ears were starting to ring as her magic crackled inside her and she took a long, steadying inhale to try and calm down. People were indeed starting to stare, and she thought she glimpsed Gabriella Guile lurking near the sandwich shop with one of Rita Skeeter’s bloody ‘Quick-Quotes Quills’ hovering at the ready. “Please, Ron.”

He stepped in close and snarled, “Well, at least some of us still remember where our loyalties lie.”

Hermione saw red at that and spun back round to face him, eyes flashing and hair expanding like a Devil’s Snare. “Loyalty?” she spat. “You — you of all people — want to lecture me about loyalty?!”

Clearly he hadn’t followed that thought through to its conclusion before opening his mouth. He turned beetroot red and took half a step back, hands up defensively. “Look, Mione, I’m sorry. I didn’t come over to start another fight. It’s not like I expected to see you here - you don’t even work here anymore, and it’s not like we hang out or anything. How was I to know?” He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “I’m meeting Harry when he gets off work and we’re going for a drink at the Leaky. Let’s... Lets just forget it, ok?”

A hand landing gently but firmly between her shoulders made her jump and she whipped round to find Theo standing behind her, looming over her from his six-foot-something height. “Alright, love?” he asked in a steady baritone without taking his eyes off Ron.  

“Ready to go,” she said tartly. “Say hi to Harry for me, Ron.”

And with that, they left the Ministry by floo for Theo’s.  

As she stepped out of the swirling green flames of the fancy, Mayfair town-house’s marble fireplace only a moment or so behind him, she found Daniel rising from the sofa to greet Theo with a kiss, and once Theo had moved off through the house to hang up his cloak, he opened his arms to hug her warmly.

Dan, always a pleasure,” she said. “How are you?”  

The unexpected meeting with Ron left her oddly rattled. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen him at all in the decade since the divorce - his little sister was her own best friend, and she’d met Bill Weasley on more than one occasion during her time at the Ministry, but still, to see him doing so well for himself and to see him so happy should have made her pleased. After all the years of shared friendship that she genuinely cherished, she should have been happy for him.  

Instead it galled and made her uncharacteristically bitter to know that he had everything he wanted now and he still couldn’t resist trying to rubbish the few things she had left of value in her life. Theo and Daniel were among her closest friends, and to her surprise, the rest of the Slytherins had adopted her into their little group without question.  

“Let’s start a bit early, shall we?” Theo chimed as he re-entered the living room with three champagne flutes and a bottle of something French and no doubt eye-wateringly expensive floating in front of him. Since that left his hands free, he began undoing his cuff links as he walked. “The others should be here soon enough anyway, and I just closed a deal with the Ministère des Affaires Magiques de la France that I’ve been trying to hash out all year. Yay me.”

His flawless French accent made Hermione smile. Everything just seemed so easy and natural to Theo; it might have enviable if he weren’t such an affable sweetheart to go with it.  

“Yay you,” Daniel chuckled, eyes glittering with affection as Theo handed Hermione a very full glass. “To my brilliant husband.”

Two hours later, amid the happy murmur of conversation that now filled the gorgeous, airy ground floor, Hermione looked up as the floo whooshed and Draco Malfoy stepped out. She’d begun to think he wasn’t going to show, and when she caught sight of him, a weight unexpectedly lifted from her chest. Something, at least, was going right today.

He had a heavy, black cloak around his shoulders and a bundle of brown paper parcels under one arm, printed with the logos of various Diagon Alley shops, though it was well past most of their closing times. She wondered where he’d been in the meantime, but didn’t want to pry.  

Whether out of surprise or curiosity, the chatter in the living room sputtered out a little at his arrival before Pansy rose to her feet and flung her arms around his neck. “Draco, darling!” she laughed as she air-kissed his winter-pink cheeks and hissed melodramatically in his ear — loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear —, “I’m so glad you came; Blaise owes me ten galleons. He said you wouldn’t come.”

Draco twitched his lips fondly into something that was almost a smirk and unclasped his cloak as she stepped away from him. He folded it up neatly atop the parcels beside the now-still fireplace and shot her a look. “Glad to know how much my company is worth these days, Pans,” he drawled.  

As he straightened, Hermione actually sank her teeth into her lower lip at the way his bespoke charcoal grey suit fitted him, accentuating his long, lean figure, with narrow hips and broad shoulders. He looked every bit the successful businessman while she was slouching around in the jeans and mauve hoodie she’d thrown on in the back room after closing the bookshop for the day. No wonder Pansy had given her an affectionately pitying grimace when she’d greeted her earlier.  

Theo rose gracefully from his seat beside her on the sofa to join Draco and Pansy by the hearth, and he hugged Draco fondly, murmuring something in his ear. The two were almost a match in height, though where Theo’s hair was a warm, copper-streaked, chocolate brown and his skin a tanned, freckled olive, Draco’s hair and skin were almost as colourless as the marble fireplace behind him.  

When Draco drew back this time, he spotted Hermione over Theo’s shoulder. He offered her a slow incline of his head, and allowed a clinking tumbler of whisky and ice to be pressed into his hand by Theo.  

Hermione wasn’t really sure quite what she’d been expecting from Draco when she’d invited him to join Theo’s usual Friday night drinks. Whatever it had been though, it wasn’t the thoughtful, considerate conversationalist she now found engaging Neville in detailed discussion about the disadvantages of farming dittany commercially. For some reason, Draco’s icy exterior and apparently reclusive behaviour had made her think he might be socially awkward, but apparently one can’t train the upper-class manners out of someone once it’s been bred into their bloodline for umpteen generations, even after a dusty decade of disuse. Further to her surprise, he actually seemed genuinely interested in what Neville had to say about the difference in potency between rare, wild-harvested dittany and the farmed stuff.  

Meanwhile, she just sat on the sofa with Neville on her left and Theo on her right, and only half-listened to the talk around her, not participating at all.  

Despite everyone’s obvious enjoyment of the gathering, Hermione found herself unable to muster any of her usual social enthusiasm, and remained in pretty subdued silence. After a while, Neville politely excused himself to find Pansy, with an earnest promise to follow up on something or other for Malfoy, and his seat was not reoccupied.  

In the lull, Malfoy took the opportunity to lean across the space from his armchair to the sofa and murmur, “Everything alright, Granger?”  

From beside her, Theo looked round and slung his arm causally over her shoulders and squeezed. “Hermione had a small run in with her ex-husband in the middle of the Ministry Atrium.”

Draco’s eyes flashed and his lip curled minutely.

“Nothing dramatic, but the prick had the nerve to insinuate that Slytherins make for poor company. Luckily, dear Hermione reminded him that we’re not all still twelve years old...”

She managed a smile at that. “Don’t let me rain on your party, Theo, but I think... I think I will head home now.”

“Feel free to floo,” he breezed, waving the hand that had been around her shoulders with a flash of the gold signet ring on his little finger, “But obviously I’d much rather you stay and drink yourself into a giggling stupor again... It’s been far too long since that happened.”

“You drink yourself into a giggling stupor every Friday, Theo. I’m sure you can manage to do it again on my behalf tonight. I’d love to stay, but it’s all getting a bit... loud now anyway...” she said vaguely. “I think I’ll walk home.”

Theo just nodded and gave her an affectionate little wink that would have looked corny on anyone half as charming. “Take care of yourself, sweetheart. Say hello to whatever your book-du-jour is for me. Will it be Emily or Charlotte this time?”

Draco frowned in confusion and she laughed a little. “Charlotte.”  

Still cleanly nonplussed, Malfoy looked from Theo to Hermione before Theo grinned at him. “Brontë,” he said conspiratorially. “Muggle author.” He looked back to Hermione and said, “Means it’s an evening with dear Jane Eyre then. Haven’t you read that a hundred times?”

“More, probably,” she chuckled, standing. “Goodnight, Draco. I’m glad you came. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

He nodded, looking slightly winded for some reason, and offered nothing else.  

After saying goodbye to a few people, and finding that Pansy had somehow managed to drape herself successfully across Neville’s lap despite the fact that he was sitting on a bar stool of all things, Hermione headed for the front door and slipped out into the night alone.  

With her coat still over the crook of one arm despite the biting wind, she made her way from Theo’s cushy house out into wider Muggle London, and from there she began to meander.  

Just as she crossed the boundary into Hyde Park, she heard running feet and someone calling her name. To her surprise, she turned and found Malfoy loping along the pavement after her.

Halting, she waited for him to catch up and looked curiously up at him. His pale cheeks were flushed pink again from the bout of light exercise, his breath billowed white, and his hair seemed to glow like burnished silver in the harsh light of the street lamps. It was hard to doubt the rumours of him being part Veela in moments like that.  

“What is it, Malfoy?” she asked when he didn’t articulate the reason for his hasty journey. “Did I forget something?”

“No, I —“ he faltered and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. The motion ruffled his hair into something altogether softer and more attractive. He cut it much shorter at the sides now but left the top longer, and it had an attractive wave to it that had once been oiled out of existence in his earlier years at Hogwarts. “I thought — ach, this was a stupid idea.”

“What do you mean? What was a stupid idea?”

“I thought I’d come after you and see if you were alright. You looked fucking miserable back there, Granger.”

“You taught your son foundation spellwork with that mouth, Malfoy?” she countered, slightly staggered by his apparent thoughtfulness. This was not the Malfoy she remembered at all, and it was gratifying to find that her experience of him over lunch had not been a one-off.

He smirked and the effect was disarming in a way it never had been at Hogwarts. “I do try not to swear around him, but if he’s learnt something uncouth, I couldn’t promise it didn’t come from me. Or Theo. Actually it’s more likely to have come from Theo.”

She laughed suddenly. “Your little mandrake,” she sighed.

Something odd passed across his face and he stuffed his hands into his jacket pocket. “Salazar’s balls,” he cursed. “It’s colder out here than I thought.”

Wandlessly, she murmured a spell to extend the radius of her own extant warming charm to surround them both. “Better?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “Left my cloak and stuff back at Theo’s.”

Hermione smiled and gestured with the arm holding her coat. “I’d offer you mine, but I’m not sure even you could pull off a Muggle women’s rain mac that’s several sizes too small for you.”

“Oh I don’t know,” he said. “I think I could transfigure it into something… workable.”

“You sound just like Theo and Dan and Pansy,” she groaned. “They’re always threatening to take me shopping. I’m terrified to let them loose on my wardrobe. I’m afraid I’ll never see another pair of comfy jeans again!”

“Don’t listen to them. The way you dress is just fine,” he said easily. “Besides, you give that lot an inch and they’ll take a mile. You should always stand your ground, especially against Pansy…”

“Well, I’ve got Nev on my side too,” she said. “Though even I have to admit that she’s had a positive effect on his wardrobe. Maybe I should let her take me shopping after all... I probably couldn’t afford the places she shops though,” she laughed, then looked up to find an odd light in Malfoy’s grey eyes. “You really came haring through London after me just to check I was alright?”

“And walk you home if you’d like,” he added. “But I’ll leave you in peace if I’m imposing. Heavens know you’ve had one pushy bloke to deal with already today...”

“The last thing I think of you right now is ‘pushy’, Malfoy. I think you’re very kind to come after me.”

He looked away at that and a private smile graced his lips. Bloody hell though; where some people’s looks seemed to have been watered down with age, Malfoy’s features had been honed and refined by time into something akin to a masterpiece, with high, sharp cheekbones and a slim, and clearly very fit and healthy, figure. It made her stomach swoop and ache again in a way she hadn’t felt in years. It also made her feel a little self-conscious of the softer curves she was carrying around her hips, arms, and lower stomach these days. Hefting books around kept her strong, but a largely sedentary life in the bookshop wasn’t doing wonders for her once-svelte figure, it had to be said.  

He nudged his elbow out a few inches and she smiled, taking the offer and sliding her fingers into the crook of his arm.  

They set off and walked slowly, aimlessly, along the walkways of Hyde Park, and for a long time neither of them spoke. A cyclist shot past them at one point, and Malfoy watched him disappear into the distance with an inquisitive frown, as if trying to figure out how it could possibly function. He never said anything though, and they carried on, warmed by Hermione’s spell and encased in an oddly amicable silence.  

It was Malfoy who broke the silence at last. “You find this strange, Granger?” he asked, glancing down at her.  

Her breath caught as she stared up into those full-moon eyes of his; bright and silver and so god-damned intense. Gone was the pinched look of fear and insecurity lingering in the corners. Gone was the cruel, steely glint. The lines of his face were still hard and severe, and he carried a hefty frown most of the time, and that trademark pointy chin was still there, but he really had grown up, inside and out, and it showed.  

“Strange?” she croaked. “What, you and me walking arm in arm through Hyde Park at seven in the evening?”

“Mmm,” he nodded.  

“A little,” she admitted as she looked ahead up the path. “A little.”

.

Part Four

___

As before, if you like where it’s going and want to see more, do let me know! I will post it on Tumblr as I write it, and once it’s all complete, I’ll plop it onto AO3 in one go. That way keeps the pressure off a bit, I think? Anyway, let me know if you’re enjoying it, and why, either by reblogging this or sending me an ask

writing masterlist | Ao3

[3raaaachachacha]

Hello my beautiful loves,

How are you doing? I truly hope you are doing well! Admin 🦋 I hope things are going well for you and that you start feeling better. Mental health is as important as physical health and we need to take care of it and take it more seriously. I hope and wish that you get out of your slump as quick as possible and that things get back to normal. Admin 🌶, I'm so happy that you had fun on your trip, you have amazing friends that care so much about you! I'm so happy that you were able to finally relax and hopefully distress a bit, and it's great that you realised that you need a change. Realising that you need a change is the first (and a lot of the times the hardest) step to actually making a change, so I'm very proud of you and I hope everything goes well!

Things have been going okay for me, I have a lot of studying but I get around 10 days off between Christmas and new year's, which means that I can rest for a couple of days before I have to start studying for my exams again. It just feels so weird that Christmas is almost here and that we have around two weeks left of 2021. Time does fly by so fast!

I read your 12 days of Christmas works and I've got to say that I'm loving them, they are amazing as always! Especially the taehyun one, oh my god, I have been thinking about it ever since I read it. You guys are so talented, I always love reading your works!

I feel like this message is short compared to the others that I've sent you before, but I don't have a lot of things to say. As always eat well and rest well as well as drink a lot of water. Make sure you take care and stay safe, my sweethearts, and I cant wait to hear from you soon! Have an amazing day or night!

Love,

-Warmth anon❤💫

~ hello love !! i’m doing alright, i’ve been insanely busy with work, so i’m a bit exhausted lately. i’ve been doing better with staying positive, but usually around winter time, i get down more, which is unfortunate. it doesn’t help that most of my friends are moved away now. i will still continue to be happy and work on being better !! make sure to take a nice rest for yourself then get back to studying, you’ll do great. i can’t believe christmas is almost here either, it doesn't feel like 2022 is almost here lol. yay thank you, i’m so glad you love the taehyun blurb !! i worked really hard on that one and really loved the way it came out. i think it’s one of my favs from 12 days of christmas tbh !! you’re always so sweet checking in on us, we always appreciate it and you. please stay healthy, eat well, sleep well, and take care of yourself too !! ~

- Admin 🦋

~ hi honey!! thank you so much, it was a much needed small holiday, i really do believe if i didn’t go, i would have exploded. i’m so thankful for my friend for planning the trip too. it was definitely hard to realize and it took some time, but we got there in the end. make sure you take some much needed rest and give yourself a bit of a break, especially when you get back to studying again, take it in small portions. i’m proud of how far and well you’ve done so far! i really can’t believe that it’s christmas next week, it feels so insane and the year has flown by despite the bumps along the way. i’m glad to hear you are enjoying the 12 days so far, make sure to read the rest of them as they come out. thank you for all your love and support, it means the world. make sure you are also taking care of yourself! ~

- Admin 🌶️