#the girl is a bit more reserved but she loves picking on her brother

[omegawizardposting]

I've mentioned once or twice that there are some stray cats at my aunt's work she's been taking care of: two females and a male. Of course, none are fixed.

Well, one of the females, a calico she very creatively calls Cali, had a litter of four a while back. After a tropical storm, two of the kittens disappeared. We hope that someone found them and took them home.

That just left the little ginger and his sister, another calico. Cali has always been friendly. She comes in the office and lounges around. It seems her kittens inherited her chill demeanor, because they've started spending most of their time in the office, right beside my aunt's desk, laying on her coat.

All this time, she's been insisting she's too old for another cat. After her old boy passed, she said she was done with pets. It hurts too much to lose them, and she's in her seventies. She's worried about something happening to her and leaving them alone.

Tonight my ma tells me, "So did your aunt tell you she's taking those two kittens?"

You cannot imagine how smug I am right now. As soon as I saw her doting on those little gremlins, I knew she'd cave. Me and her are both extreme cat people. Without a cat in our lives, we just aren't happy.

One of her coworkers wants to take the remaining eight strays, so we'll see how that pans out, but we have two new family members. I know Chester and Walter will be looking out for them.

I'll update y'all with names. I'm gonna suggest a few to her once I meet the kittens in person, because we are NOT calling the girl Cali Junior.

[venerawrites]

For Gaara, shino, sai, neji

A cutesy girly s/o but really great at fist fighting and overall has great strength and durable in any mission.

Like she can literally lift a whole man who harassed her and shit (maybe snap his spine into two 😔✌️)

author's note: can I just say how excited I am to finally get a request involving Neji? Like, my boy is super underappreciated :/ anyway, writing this one was so fun and I do hope you enjoy it! Thank you so much for requesting! <3

Gaara

Gaara liked you the first time he saw you.

You were so innocent and sweet looking, he was greatly surprised once you mentioned you were a shinobi.

Now, of course, he has met dozens of strong women who were excellent ninjas (such as Tsunade or Sakura), so it's not like he did not believe females could be good fighters.

But with your well-put outfit (that looked beautiful but highly impractical for fighting), soft skin, that looked free of any battle scars, and delicate hands, that seemed too gentle to be the hands of a warrior, he found it hard to believe you.

So during the Fourth Shinobi War, he gave a piece of his mind to the Hokage for letting you on the battlefield. You were supposed to be safe in the village, something he specifically asked his friends from the Leaf to ensure.

Naturally, he tried to keep an eye on you and protect you as much as he could during the battle...

But when he witnessed with his own two eyes the way you picked up one of the enemy's soldiers, lifted them over your head, and slammed them into the ground, thus resulting in their body being cracked in two, his jaw dropped.

And if possible, he found himself even more attracted to you!

So after the war it didn't take long for you two to develop a relationship, with him finding an excuse to travel to Konoha every two weeks before he asked you to move to Suna.

Now... Maybe a bit shocking, but both his siblings were definitely NOT fans when they first met you.

Temari thought you were too girly and shallow, and openly voiced her opinion that it is "ninja-wannabes" like you that give a bad name to female shinobi. Like how could you be a warrior if you are so into your looks?

Kankuro also shared her opinion, but his disapproval was based on his concern of how sincere you were about his brother. Like did you like him for HIM or did you just like his title?

Both quickly changed their opinion, once you managed to defeat Temari during a sparring match. Not only did you earn their respect that day, but it was also the beginning of two beautiful friendships.

Gaara, on the other hand, secretly loved the fact that instead of letting people's opinions get to you, you used their doubt to your advantage.

He is definitely the dominant half in your relationship - I imagine that no matter how strong you are, you enjoy being taken care of. Also, he is still a stronger ninja than you, so I don't really think he would be threatened by your strength in any way.

Gaara loves to treat you like a princess - he pampers you, buys you gifts, and lets you have anything you want.

I can't help but DO imagine him with someone who is very girly and feminine, maybe a little bit spoiled as well lol..

He would have great respect for you as a shinobi, but I feel he would still be worried about sending you on missions, so when he can he would try and send Kankuro with you.

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

Shino

To be honest, I don't really think he cares that much...

Like, in order to start dating in the first place, you need to know each other at least for a few years. By then he was well aware of your strength, so it was not really a surprise for him.

I think the shock element with Shino is actually falling in love with someone who is very girly and cute.

I feel he would naturally always be more attracted to tomboy-looking girls, who were quiet, reserved, and shared similar interests to him.

You were the complete opposite of that - not only your style was very feminine, but you were also loud, bubbly and were not particularly fond of anything related to insects or nature.

The fact that you were polar opposites, however, is what made you so compatible.

I imagine you would start hanging out after you were assigned a mission to retrieve some scrolls from the Hidden Stone Village.

Like I said, he would not be surprised by how strong you are, but seeing you in action during a fight would be a completely new experience for him.

He would be very impressed with your skills and would compliment them, making you blush crimson red.

I always imagined Shino as quite blunt guy, so I think he would be totally okay with sharing with you the fact that before being assigned to a mission together, he thought of you as a rather ignorant girl.

Do not get offended tho, boy just always speaks out loud his thoughts...

It would be a surprise for everyone to see you coming back from your mission hand in hand.

I feel out of all of the boys on the list, Shino would be the one who would rub his influence on you the most - after getting with him, you are more interested in joining him in his little expeditions of discovering new species rather than doing your usual Friday shopping routine.

He doesn't really like discussing work or anything relating to his missions with others, but after a drink or two on a night out, he WOULD boast about you and your abilities.

"She is both very beautiful and also an extremely skilful ninja... Of course, I feel lucky to have her, Kiba!"

His favourite thing is watching you deal with men that try to flirt with you... usually, it takes only 5 minutes, before they are laying flat on the ground. He wouldn't admit it, but he finds it rather funny.

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

Sai

LITERALLY the first thing he said to you after Naruto introduced you to each other was: "I find you very physically attractive and I would like to get to know you more."

You, usually pretty confident and self-assured individual, immediately started blushing, nervously twirling the ends of your hair.

What happened to "Hello?", "How are you?", "My name is.."??

He would compliment you a lot, about how cute you are, how he likes your style, and how you have to be the most beautiful girl in Konoha.

I totally see him as someone with 0 social awareness, so very probable to make you uncomfortable at the beginning.

When you got paired with Team 7 for a mission, he saw your true strength for the first time.

He always thought you were some type of sensory ninja or a medic... but definitely not a fighter. You were too sweet and innocent-looking to be a fighter.

Yet, here you were, punching rogue ninjas left and right, making them fly in the air from the impact.

Now, Naruto and Sakura pay you no mind - you have been training with them for years, and they know very well what are you capable of.

Sai, however, is utterly shocked and terrified.

Who were you and what happened to the sweet Y/N?

He would probably distance himself a bit, feeling scared that if he says or asks something inappropriate, you wouldn't hesitate to knock him out just like Sakura had done before.

You would have to be the one to seek him out, showing him that you are not a violent person and there is no reason for him to be scared of you.

After that, he would get back to his old ways of always complimenting you and showering you with gifts.

This guy is OBSESSED with you. Literally.

He would always make sketches of you, shyly giving them to you once they are finished.

He is also the only one who I see actively taking part in your hobbies, such as shopping, spa days or/and reading romantic books. Sai wants to get to know you as much as possible and he is not ashamed to be caught doing "girly" things with you.

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

Neji

Enemies to lovers type of story here...

While you were growing up, Neji thought that you were both very weak and annoying - probably the worst combination of traits for a person to have.

Constantly fixing your appearance and thinking more of having a cute outfit, rather than being safe, he would constantly give you side eyes and mutter degrading comments about you under his breath.

You, on the other hand, would think he was stuck up and rude, thus resulting in quite severe bickering between you two. At some point, it will get so bad, that they would have to keep your teams apart and with as little contact as possible.

For the next few years, you would have very minimal interactions with Neji (most of the time consisting of you passing each other on the street or somehow resulting in the same company during dinner).

One day you were both hanging out at Ichiraku Ramen, when a man decided to come next to you and start complimenting you. You politely accepted his first few compliments, but the more he kept going, the more uncomfortable you got.

Now Neji may dislike you, but he was raised as a gentleman and he was not about to let a lady be harassed.

He had just started walking toward you when the man tried to grab your arm and in response, you punched him so hard, that he literally flew through the wall.

Neji froze in his place, completely dumbfounded at what he had just witnessed.

You, on the other hand, just dusted your hands, fixed your hair, and joined your friends again.

He would not admit it, even way after you were already a couple, but this was the day when his opinion of you changed completely.

He started to join some of your training practices with Lee, always saying that he did not expect you to be there (he totally knew, that's the reason he was there in the first place).

He would soon start to train with you, impressed by how well you held yourself against him.

He would probably still win. Despite you being so strong, he was still the better strategist between you two.

Would totally enjoy pinning you down, forcing you to surrender though.

I imagine both of you would keep up the façade of pretending to hate each other till the tension gets too much and you just end up kissing after one of your fights.

He would totally still make fun of you for being so girly and cute looking, but now instead of mocking, it was more of a flirty teasing.

He would be very proud of you and would always watch in amazement at the way you were dealing with your enemies, but secretly, he would always be worried for you and would try to intervene in your fights and protect you.

Just like Gaara, I imagine that he would be the more dominant one in the relationship and would take his roles as your protector and provider very seriously.

His family totally loves you tbh, which would definitely boost his ego even more.

cc artwork: Joshua Raphael

[urf1lterr]

moonlight | m.yg [1]

next chapter: soon

summary: when it’s finally the week of your big sister's wedding, you’re more than excited for it to be over as responsibilities come flying your way. however, you can’t seem to stop thinking about a particular groomsman with blonde hair.

pairing: groomsman!yoongi x bridesmaid!y/n

genre: wedding!au, strangers to lovers au | awkward, fluff, angst, mature

word count: 7.4k

status: in progress

author’s note: reposting this bc i miss him. i’ve been wanting to do this for sooooo long but never had time- still don’t but oops.

Sleep is what you really needed right now, especially when you already lacked it in your daily life. But no, that wasn’t really an option right now, not when you had to wait for your sister to pick you up from the airport and get dinner afterwards. 

Realistically, you could’ve slept on the plane ride here, but you hated the seat you were in. At first, you sat in the aisle seat because it was always the fastest way to exit afterwards, but you had to give that up when a man probably in his late 50s basically ordered you to move to the middle because older people need "more" room. 

You weren’t happy, but you weren’t about to argue because of this.

All you wanted to do right now was go to your old bedroom and change into some comfy sweats and an oversized t-shirt before pulling your blankets over your head to sleep in peace. You knew it was not going to happen any time soon, but a girl can wish. 

As you finally saw your suitcases at the baggage claim area, you grabbed one, almost falling by how large and heavy it was. You cursed at yourself for overpacking, but you were staying in town for two weeks and could not risk the chance of not having enough clothes. Luckily, your other suitcase was fairly smaller.

Walking to the other side of the terminal, you saw the exit to the pick up area, immediately moving your legs faster because you couldn’t wait to get out of here. There were too many people walking slow, it surprised you how calm you’ve lasted.

Once you reached a bench in front of the area, you noticed that the weather was not that great. It was raining, which you loved- but your sister planned most of her events outside so this is probably going to make her cry for hours.

And you really don't wanna be the shoulder she cries on- she is very dramatic when she sobs.

Pulling out your phone, you noticed you received three texts. One from your sister, mom, and boss. 

[mom] 5:57pm: were you able to land safely? don’t look tired and try not to be introverted, namjoon’s mother is joining us for dinner. put on some makeup, love you!

Rolling your eyes, you shook your head. You weren’t surprised in the slightest, you knew how your mother was. She didn’t mean any harm, but she loves to impress others. By looking a bit tidy, she thinks people wouldn’t think lowly of us. However, she fails to understand that we’ve known your future brother-in-law’s family for almost six years now, you don’t believe they will call off the wedding by seeing their future daughter-in-law’s little sister bare faced. 

Plus, his mother is the sweetest. If anything, she always told you how much she loved seeing natural faces compared to the overdose of products people nowadays use in which she refers to “tiktok trends.” 

[jae] 6:01pm: the office is going to miss you! tell ur sister congrats again, and then do it again for me once she’s actually married lol. don’t you dare ask if there’s work for you to do it in the next two weeks! 

Laughing to yourself, you quickly replied with a small “thank you, i will tell her,” along with a “darn, now i cant use work as an excuse to get out of wedding duties. but if there is work needed to be done just text me.”

[violet] 6:13pm: almost there!! look out for a black suv. hope u don’t need to go home, kinda planning to go straight to dinner bc our reservation is at 7 and joonie doesn’t want to be late! he’s scared they’ll judge us, see you soon &lt;3

Of course he would think that, coming from the man who thinks texting and walking is rude- it's debatable!

That’s when you looked at the time, noticing that it was exactly 6:20pm. There was still time to make it by 7, you were sure of it.

As you were about to reply to your mom and sister, you heard the sound of tires screeching with constant honks. You looked up, noticing a very expensive-looking suv pulled near the curb, still beeping.

Was this your sister? I mean, it was black like she stated it would be.

Your question was finally answered when you noticed the passenger window being rolled down, revealing two young looking men with bright smiles eagerly waving, the driver still beeping with his other hand causing many people around to glare as they walked by.

You noticed the man with very shaggy hair, wearing what seems to be a white t-shirt, black slacks, and sneakers as he opened the door. “What’s up, y/n,” he smiled, making his way towards you.

“Taehyung? What are you doing here? I thought Violet was going to pick me up- is she in the backseat?” You questioned as he automatically went to grab your bags. “And what is this moron doing here? I thought he got his license taken away last month?”

Looking back to the SUV, you saw your cousin in the driver’s seat with what seems to be him fighting off a man with a bright yellow and green vest knocking violently on his window side. 

“You cannot park here, you’re holding up traffic!” the man yelled, causing your cousin to roll his eyes before rolling down the window maybe two inches before yelling back.

“You’re the one holding up traffic standing in the middle of the road!”

“Don’t make me call security! Park in the parking lot!” The man dragged on, hitting the side of the car repeatedly and motioning his arms to drive away at the same time. 

"Aren't you security?!" Your cousin honked before glaring at the man. “And you scratch my car, you pay for it!”

You stopped watching their little altercation as Taehyung began rolling your suitcases towards the trunk of the car, making you follow along. “She wasn’t able to come, apparently she had to go pick up some materials she ordered for the centerpieces,” he stated, setting the bags inside before closing the trunk. “And I am not sure why he is driving, I think everybody forgot he shouldn’t be and I am too lazy to do it, I was not able to take my nap today because Namjoon made me paint the photo booth all morning- it was exhausting.” 

Opening the passenger door for you, you quickly jumped in as he shut it before jumping into the seat behind you. Turning to your left, you could still see your cousin arguing with the man before Taehyung told him to drive already.

“No! I hope you have a shitty day, you asshole!” Your cousin screamed before speeding away down the street. After literally two seconds, he looked your way while smiling brightly. “I missed you!”

Giving him a dirty glance, you slap his arm. “Ow! What was that for?” He whined, rubbing his arm with his free hand.

“Jungkook, why the fuck are you driving?” you declared. “You’re not allowed”

“Says who,” he rolled his eyes.

“The state,” Taehyung says from the backseat.

Jungkook scoffs, shaking his head. “They can’t do anything, I pay my taxes.”

Groaning, you rub your forehead. “This has nothing to do with your taxes, you imbecile.”

He gives you a confused look for a quick moment before moving his eyes back on the road again. “You don’t need to use big words to attack me, y/n. This isn’t law school.”

You heard Taehyung sighing at how annoying his friend was being. To clear things up, Taehyung was actually a close friend of your side of the family through Jungkook, the two of them being inseparable since kindergarten. 

You just so happened to know him well since he always followed Jungkook everywhere he went, same vice versa, as you saw your cousin basically everyday due to only being one year apart and both your mom’s being sisters. But with Taehyung, you happened to be the same age, same with their other friend in their trilogy, Jimin. In which you were surprised he wasn’t here because Jimin loved going to dinner with them. 

“Why are you driving?”

“I got my license back,” he smiled, nodding heavily when he saw the questionable facial expression you were making. “I swear! I went to the DMV and everything. I got it back after paying like $3,000.”

Choking on your saliva after hearing how much he had to pay, you gasped, “Why so much? What exactly did you do?!”

Jungkook awkwardly moved both his hands on the steering wheel, obviously not wanting to answer your question as you heard his friend chuckling in the backseat. “Yeah, tell her Jungkook, what did you do?”

Throwing a small box of tissues he had left near the middle cup holder to Taehyung, Jungkook began his excuse. “I’m not really sure, apparently it’s illegal to drive through rain puddles,” he shrugged.

You shifted your head a bit, “that’s not illegal.”

“It is when you purposely speed through them to get people wet,” Taehyung giggled as Jungkook groaned in annoyance.

“Dude! You weren’t supposed to tell her that part!” Jungkook whined.

“That is so rude,” you pinched his arm as he tried moving away from you, knowing your first reaction to things were mostly violence. “How would you like it if someone did that to you?”

“I actually wouldn’t mind it,” he stated. “Saves me money from going to a waterpark.”

Sometimes, you wondered what goes on in that big head of your cousin. Not much common sense, that’s for sure.

“Anywho,” you spoke up, trying to change the dumb conversation you just had. “What’s the plan for tonight? I heard something about a dinner, but other than that I have idea what’s going on. No one told me anything.”

Jungkook shrugged, glancing at you a few times as he answered your question. “I know we have dinner with some of Namjoon’s friends, his mom, your parents, and then you sister’s friends. But afterwards, no clue.”

“Why are you and Taehyung going then?” 

He scoffed, looking offended. “I’ll have you know, we are very much indeed Namjoon’s friends,” he proudly said before giving in once he saw how that did nothing. Maybe acquaintances but definitely not friends. “All the groomsmen were invited.”

Ah yes, you almost forgot Jungkook, Taehyung, and Jimin were appointed groomsmen which was a big shock considering they were not close to Namjoon like that. 

But to be completely honest, your sister did have six bridesmaids while Namjoon only had three real groomsmen he wanted. So, she was able to convince Namjoon to allow the other three to take apart on their special day because they were basically like family.

And because he had no one else to call.

Although, it didn’t take much convincing, Namjoon did love the guys and they all bonded really well whenever they did interact.

“So, Jimin’s going?”

“He should be,” you heard Taehyung answer. “He couldn’t come with us to pick you up because he had to drop his little brother off at baseball practice- but I think their mom is going to pick him up once he’s done.”

You nodded, understanding the situation. To be honest, you were happy the three of them were going. It’s not like you wouldn’t know anyone tonight, maybe only a couple people, but the rest of your family never knew how to make you feel comfortable the same way the boys did.

Maybe its because you basically grew up with them and how you were all close in age, but you felt more open and less forced to act a certain way when they were by your side. 

Throughout the car ride, you had to constantly bicker with Jungkook about slowing down and to avoid potholes as it kept getting in the way of you applying concealer and powder from your seat. You especially yelled when he almost made you smash your mascara wand in your eye, causing Taehyung to hide his laughter as he scrolled through twitter. 

Finally, after small loads of traffic and listening to Jungkook’s ‘go crazy, go stupid’ playlist in which consisted of old Taylor Swift and Hannah Montana songs, you made it to the restaurant. The problem was, the rain was hectic. You’re surprised Jungkook didn’t crash into a pole trying to see through his windshield wipers.

Once you parked, Jungkook sheepishly smiled. “Okay so we have a small problem- nothing serious,” he stated as you gave him a look for him to continue. “We don’t have an umbrella.”

“What-” you and Taehyung said at the same time. “I can’t show up in there all wet, it’s pouring outside!”

“-and I can’t risk getting my shirt wet, I didn’t bring a sweatshirt and I am wearing a white top- my chest will be see through if it gets wet!” Taehyung cried out. “I don’t want people violating me.”

“Calm down, drama queens,” Your cousin rolled his eyes. “Y/n, cover your face with your arms to protect your makeup- that’s the only thing you should save. Taehyung, wrap your arms over your chest, don’t you dare lift them until we are sheltered. We got this guys!”

You scoffed as he cheered you both on. At least you all will be drenched together, you thought. 

Getting ready to jump out of the car, you looked down at your outfit. You were wearing an oversized dark brown crewneck sweater, black thick leggings, and your white platform sneakers. At least you were kind of warm and didn’t have much to damage from the rain. 

Looking back at how far the restaurant was from your parking spot, you three basically had to run the side of the building to get to the front. It wouldn’t have been a problem if it was regularly raining- but as it was lashing down with some now background sounds of thunder and lightening, you knew this was going to be a bad idea. 

Jungkook gave you two a confident nod before aiming towards his door as Taehyung and you gave each other a worried look, eventually doing the same. “On the count of 3!” Jungkook yelled from his side. 

Once we were all ready, hands on the door handle, you heard Taehyung start, “1-”

“-3!” Jungkook screamed and ran out the door, hearing the door lock as he ran his distance. 

Taehyung and you looked at each other in shock before chasing after him. As you took more and more steps, you could tell that this rainstorm was probably one of the worst you have ever encountered.

But to be fair, you should have checked the forecast and remembered to bring your own umbrella. 

After what seemed like minutes, the three of you finally made it to the front of the building in which you were blessed with a roof for your protection. At this moment, you have never been happier. 

Moving your eyes to the two boys standing near you, you noticed how even though Tae’s hair was swamped, he managed to barely get his chest wet. Jungkook’s hair began curling up on the sides, but only that and his shoulders were fairly drenched. 

You tried straightening out your sweater while looking up at Taehyung. “Do I look alright?”

“Yeah, you totally don’t look like you just ran through the rain.” he nodded, even though you could feel your hair soaked. 

“Your makeup still looks intact,” Jungkook added, “but your hair- eh.”

You glared at him as he lifted his hands up in defense. He shouldn’t be talking, his hair was soaked too.

Trying to make yourselves look presentable, you didn’t notice someone rushing near you three, only when you felt a pair of arms wrapping behind you, causing you to squeal.

Moving your head to see the owner of the arms, you immediately hugged them back. “Jimin!”

“Y/n!” he giggled, but suddenly pulled away. “Ew, you’re drenched.” Nodding towards Jungkook, he quickly understood what happened. “Why didn’t you just tell me you guys were here? Jungkook, I texted you that I had an umbrella if you needed one.”

Taehyung and you turned to glare at Jungkook as he turned red and stammered, "I’m sorry, I-I didn’t see the message!”

"Hold on, man. Didn't you just dropped off your brother? It's pouring," Taehyung.

Jimin shrugged, "Do you think the MLB teams stop their games over some rain."

"In some cases, yes."

“Y/n! You’re here!” you heard that familiar voice squeal behind you, followed by a pair of arms once again hugging you. “I would totally not touch you, but I haven’t seen you in three months!”

Smiling, you held your annoying sister until you heard a cough. You let go to see your parents standing near her, your mom pushing her to the side, making your sister almost fall to the ground, before wrapping her arms around you. “Y/n! How was your flight? You never replied to my text, young lady,” she crossed her arms. Oh, how you love when your mother’s mood changes constantly.

She suddenly touched your face lightly, “Your face looks lovely! You’re hair though- uh its alright! The rain is our excuse!” she beamed.

Same old mother, but at least you knew she did not want you to take things seriously. 

You felt your dad lightly wrap an arm around you, giving you a short greeting, probably not wanting to hold up our reservation as well but not because he didn’t want to be rude, he wanted to eat already. 

Noticing no one else was outside, you sister began speaking. “Namjoon, his friends, and mom are inside sitting at the table already. I told them not to wait up on us so we don’t cause much of a disturbance inside.”

Nodding, she then began guiding everyone inside with your parents following directly behind her while Jimin, Tae, and Jungkook walked right along with you. It was a short walk inside, but you noticed that the table must have been all the way in the back, maybe in another room by how far in you all were going.

Being right, you could see that they reserved a private room which was extremely crazy- this must’ve been so expensive for a casual dinner! 

The first person you noticed was your future brother-in-law sitting at the middle of the wide circular table, a seat empty right beside him for your sister you assumed. You identified his mother pretty clearly as she sat on the other side of him.

Your parents quickly sat on the seats right next to where your sister just sat. You moved your eyes to see most of the bridesmaids, who you knew for the longest as they all either went to school or worked with her, sitting right near you parents and across from them. 

There was only one seat next to the last bridesmaid that was opened, so you assumed it was for you as it was across from your sister’s seat. Looking at the boys, you frowned, realizing you would be separated as they only had empty seats on the other side of the table where Namjoon’s mom sat. At least you could look at them from across the table.

Jimin fake pouted before they all walked to the available seats. You finally noticed the three other boys sitting beside them, only recognizing one of them, Hoseok. You were happy to be seated right next to him as you two have met many times in the past, but you couldn’t help but wonder who the other two were and why you weren’t introduced to them earlier. 

Hoseok was actually a close friend of both Namjoon and your sister, in fact, he was the one who introduced them many years ago. He was probably one of the few close male friends your sister even had who she trusted with all her heart who didn’t want to sleep with her.

You also befriended him as he was the only one who wouldn’t complain but encouraged you to hang out with them during their high school days when your sister pulled the ‘hormonal teenager who hates everybody’ phase.

“Nice to see you, y/n. Thanks for coming, I know you must be exhausted from your flight, but it means a lot that you were able to make it,” Namjoon kindly greeted you, in which you smiled in return.

“It’s okay,” you shyly reply, feeling your nerves kick in because you suck at public speaking, even when it’s with people you’ve already met. 

“Now she’s shy,” you heard your cousin stifle in a low laugh before Jimin kicked his leg, in which he groaned in pain, trying not to make any noise as he clutched his knee. 

As you gave Jungkook a dirty look, you began turning, quickly taking a look at the guests you didn’t know. One seemed to look slightly tall, or you assumed he was by how long his torso was. He was very good looking, just not your type.

But the other one was already looking at you, his eyes quickly moving away when he realized he was caught, not seeming to care though. He had very beautiful eyes and bright blonde hair, but he looked very intimidating with his blank- almost cold expression. 

“You look dashing, y/n!” You heard Namjoon’s mom exclaim, making you turn extremely red. God, you hated when people gave you compliments, especially when others were around. You did not like the attention it brought.

“Thank you” you looked down, trying your best to make your face cool down. You wish you were in the rain right now.

“I take full responsibility for her hair not looking the best,” Jungkook spoke up, making you immediately cover your face with your hands, praying he stop talking. “I forgot the umbrella.”

You heard him groan again, maybe from one of the boys kicking him for his irrelevant comments.

“I know the struggle,” You heard one of the unknown guests Namjoon had, the one who looked tall, begin. “I tripped while trying to walk in and landed on a puddle.” This caused you to giggle, happy that he was willing to embarrass himself to deflect the attention off you. “But it’s alright, luckily I had extra pants in my car.”

“Now that you mentioned that uh- fascinating information,” Namjoon awkwardly started. “Y/n, I realized you never met my other groomsmen-”

“Groomsmen? How dare you” You heard the same friend fake gasp, causing Hoseok to groan right beside you. “I am the one and only best man” 

“So, that’s Jin,” Hoseok finally spoke up, rolling his eyes at his friend who you realized probably loved the attention more than you actually knew.

“Oh, hi” you shyly waved as he gave you a cheesy smile. 

“Sorry about him, he’s a little over the top,” Namjoon sweetly mentioned to you, causing Jin to scoff. “-but in a good way!”

Just by observing their attitude towards each other, you can tell Jin was the friend who made Namjoon be more confident and open-minded enough to try new things. He seemed like the hype man of the group.

“And that’s Yoongi,” Hoseok added, pointing to the man on the left of him, the one who looked like he did not want to talk to anybody. You began to realize this Yoongi guy was more reserved than the rest, giving you a small nod as you awkwardly looked away.

“Sorry about him, he seems quiet- but he does talk! Quite a lot actually,” Jin added, causing Yoongi to nudge him. 

“Same with this one,” Violet giggled, looking your way causing you to glare at her. Way to put the spotlight on you. 

Luckily for you, your mother just knew so many topics to talk about that she carried a conversation fairly quickly right after your sister’s comment. 

You would have listened to it all the way, but to be honest, you were mentally exhausted. Work had you up till 10pm last night and with it being such a jammed pack month already, you completely forgot to pack until this morning. Having to check in two bags, you had to arrive at the airport three hours early to make it in time to depart from all the long lines. 

You don’t think anyone beside your dad and Namjoon’s mom were listening to your mom because as you looked around the table, you realized people were either making faces at their friends or just looking anywhere else but the speaker. 

That’s when you noticed Taehyung making a silly face your way, causing you to smile at him. But when you did so, you saw from the corner of your eye the restrained individual placing his eyes on you that didn’t leave until he was about to be caught again.

Yeah, you wished this dinner would be over soon.

-

"That was probably one of the best steaks I have ever digested," Namjoon smiled while wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Did he just say 'digested'?" you heard one of your sister's friend, Mina you believe, whisper to her other friend, Hani, who just shrugged.

After about an hour of awkward conversations that consisted of when Violet and Namjoon would be making babies and who would take custody if they both randomly die, dinner was finally over.

To be honest, you were glad that you were mostly not chosen to speak. That was until your mother thought it would be a brilliant idea to bring up your personality compared to your sisters, in which she made sure to mention the one time in 4th grade when you threw a tantrum and bursted into tears because you didn't want her to leave you alone on the first day of school.

Violet made sure to clarify how immature you were as a fourth grader, in which you thought if it would really be bad punching her in the face right then and there. You were sure makeup could cover the bruises.

"I should probably get going, I think your father is getting off soon from work," you heard Namjoon's mom say, slowly standing up before giving her son a warm hug.

Following the signs, everyone began standing up, getting ready to say their goodbyes. That was until your sister suddenly spoke up, becoming an announcer.

"Wait I forgot to mention, tomorrow is day 1 out of 7!" she cheered as her fiancee placed an arm on her lower back. "Don't forget to bring your shoes!"

"What's tomorrow?" You thought, but apparently out loud as everyone glanced your way, causing you to look back at Violet.

"You don't know?!" she gasped, looking back towards your mom. "Did you not tell her?" Watching as your mother softly gave her a small smile, your sister's eyes made their way back to you in disbelief. "It's our first dance rehearsal."

"Dance rehearsal?" You squinted your eyes, not believing how in the world she planned to make people learn a dance in under a week. "You do understand your wedding is in 6 days right after tomorrow, right?"

"We couldn't plan practices earlier because you and Jin don't live near here and we didn't want you both going out of your way to get here for it," Namjoon commented. "That would've been too expensive."

Realization hit you, you have to dance...in front of people.

Looking up, you tried showing a relaxed expression, but you're sure you only pulled out an uncomfortable one at the thought of having to publicly dance when you are in fact the worse dancer ever.

Truth be told, you wish you can easily agree and go with the flow, but knowing yourself the best you know you cannot pull this off. There is a reason why you dropped dance class in high school and it was because you kept making your partner's toes bleed from stepping on them so much.

But before you could speak up, or as if you were going to, your sister beat you to it. "You're doing it, no exceptions," she pointed a finger at you.

"You can be my partner!" Jimin exclaimed, wrapping an arm over your shoulder, trying to cheer you up. "I'm a great dancer."

"I beg to differ," Taehyung crossed his arms. "Have you seen these hips? Been shaking them since I was eight years-old."

"Just Dance doesn't count," Jimin hissed, making Tae scoff.

"It does when you're undefeated!"

Before the two of them could continue their bickering, your sister intervened. "None of you are dancing with her, I've already assigned partners," and right when they were going to ask who she added, "and you're not finding out until tomorrow. I don't want you trying to ask us to privately change your partners tonight so deal with it."

That definitely made them shut up before she carried on saying farewell to everybody.

You being you, you stood there stiff as everyone hugged each other. Never knowing how to really say 'bye', you often just waved. It was your thing.

You felt large arms wrap around you, causing you to gasp for air from the tight hold. "It was so nice meeting you, y/n!" You heard Jin burst out before pulling away. "Hoping we end up as partners, you seem so chill."

Certain that that was not going to happen, you sheepishly nodded. Not that you did not want him as a partner, to be fair, you probably would have chosen him as one of your top choices if it were up to you only because he seemed friendly and welcoming.

However, he was the best man.

Everybody knows the best man always gets paired with the maid of the honor, in which you believe was Naile.

Once he moved passed you to say his goodbyes with your parents, you noticed Yoongi finishing his farewells with Namjoon's mom before turning in your direction.

Shifting your eyes somewhere else in the room, you felt a weird feeling in your stomach.

For some reason, interacting with someone else who is also quiet but now intimidating made you extra nervous, fearful they might randomly lash out on you.

Just before Yoongi could at least give you a small nod, like he had done earlier, Namjoon announced that we should all be on our ways as the restaurant probably wanted us gone by now.

Running up to Jimin, you followed your friends and cousin out the door. Not noticing the pair of eyes following your every move up until you were out of sight.

Finally, now you can go home and sleep.

-

Waking up this morning was hard for you, especially when you knew how stressful it was going to be.

Maybe it was because you knew what was to come but didn't at the same time. It was safe to say you were panicking the whole drive to the small park your sister booked for the morning.

However, your sister was nothing close to nervous, in fact, she was beaming in joy throughout the car ride, constantly telling you she was excited to be a day closer to her wedding.

"Don't freak out too much about practice, okay?" Violet began as she parked the car. "None of them have experience dancing, except Hobi and maybe like Jimin and whatever Tae thinks is dancing, but other than that we all suck."

"Thanks for the pep talk, I feel so much better," you sarcastically declare before opening the door and getting out.

"I'm serious! I know you well enough to see how anxious you are about this," she argued. "But I made sure to pick an easy dance we all can learn within a few days"

You only sighed. There was nothing you could really do at this point so there was not much convincing she was doing to make you feel better. Plus, it's her day. You kind of have to do whatever she wants whether you like it or not.

Following her to a medium-sized building, you noticed how nice this park really was. There was a huge duck pond on one side with a beautiful garden all around.

Where does she find these places?

As you two opened the doors, she led you down a hallway until you were walking into a pretty large banquet room. You saw mostly everyone was here, besides Jin and Namjoon, but other than that everyone was here.

"Where's my man?" Your sister questioned, setting her bag on one of the side tables as you closely followed behind her.

"Trying to figure out where he put his dancing shoes," Hoseok stated, lying back on the chair he was sitting in. "Hi, y/n."

You softly waved, seeing that Taehyung and Yoongi were sitting right next to him. Tae was too busy playing some game on his phone to notice your presence as Yoongi just gave you a brief glimpse before going on his phone as well.

"What took you forever to get here?" Jungkook asked, pulling up a seat right next to you on one of the empty tables you sat in. You felt Jimin sit next to him, waiting for your answer.

"Violet couldn't leave the house without shaving her face," you whispered, hoping she didn't hear that or else she would come up with something 10x worse to joke about you.

"I did notice something was different about her," Jimin joked, making you all laugh.

After talking for some time as your sister kept trying to call her fiancee, you heard the slam of a door with the sounds of footsteps nearing.

It appeared that Namjoon probably found his shoes with the help of Jin as they both ran in together, breathing a little heavy as your sister put her hand on her hip.

"Ready," he smiled, trying not to provoke your sister anymore.

Knowing your sister, she was probably going to hire some dance teacher to teach you guys proper techniques. What you did not know was that this instructor was going to make you freestyle your own ending steps with your partners.

Or at least that's what the instructor mentioned after they showed up fifteen minutes late due to "traffic."

But now that they have said it, no one knew who their partners were.

"Time for the moment everyone's been waiting for," your sister stomped her feet and motioned everyone to come near her. Once we did so, she asked, "who wants to know first?"

Jungkook raised his hand quickly. "Me!"

"I think we should make this a little fun," Violet smirked. "Let's write the pair's names on paper, randomly mix them in a bowl and then draw."

Namjoon nodded, not really caring too much about how this was going to be done. He just wanted to begin lessons, already knowing that he wasn't quite the best when it came to body movements only for the world to see.

You were despising every second of this. As the clock kept on ticking, you kept thinking about who your partner would be.

It's not like anyone here was truly horrible- or so you thought.

Plus, you had a high chance of getting the three boys you loved to death. However, your sister did say Jimin and Taehyung were out of the picture, so your only hope was your cousin.

But in your opinion, you weren't familiar with Namjoon's friends. Jin seemed like a sweetheart, but maybe the close proximity of dancing with someone who was practically a stranger was getting in your head.

The main person you were worried about was Yoongi.

It's not like you completely disliked him, you never dislike anyone unless you had a reason to. It was that you didn't know him.

You didn't know Jin either, but the difference was Jin made an effort to communicate to others. Yoongi just sits there with a blank expression, making you question if he is judging or ignoring you.

It's quite intimidating, really.

And with you being extremely quiet too, well... two quiet people don't really work well- or in a situation where both have to actively dance.

"Jimin and Leia!" you heard Namjoon announce.

Damn.

"Sorry, y/n," Jimin mouthed, making you swat your hand in reassurance that you were fine. I guess he's known you for so long to understand how frightening this was for you.

But you're a big girl, you'll get through this.

"Taehyung and Yuna!" Your sister roared.

Okay, maybe not.

Finally, after Hoseok and Jin were called, your nerves were getting to you. Now was not the time to overthink, whatever happens- happens.

Jungkook wasn't making this easier as he kept waving his arms around, mouthing the words "we're definitely partners." And for a split second, you began to believe him.

Well, that was until-

"Y/n and Yoongi," Namjoon called out, making your face fall. Violet began clapping her hands while her fiancee proudly smiled.

Feeling your face turn red, you continue staring at Namjoon as he slowly tilted his head to the side for you to go to your new partner, in which you responded with continuing on your stare.

It felt like hours before you felt someone's presence beside you, causing Namjoon to fix his attention back to announcing who's Jungkook's partner was going to be.

Moving your head slightly to the right, you could make out the bright blonde hair immediately. Yoongi was sitting next to you, oh my-

"I guess we're uh- partners?" he lightly squinted his eyes before looking directly at your own.

You felt weak at the knees by this eye contact, how are you going to make it through the week?

"R-right," you began, mentally screaming at yourself for stuttering "I mean right! Yeah, how uhm..cool?"

"Not really," he sighed, making your eyes widen. Was he really not that happy by this decision? "I don't dance much"

Relief hit you by his answer, okay maybe he doesn't hate you. "Don't worry, I'm on the same boat."

"Namjoon knows I don't do any of this," Yoongi cringed to himself. Does he mean dancing? "I'm sure your sister knows you aren't great either, they should have just partnered us up with someone who wasn't going to make us look humiliating."

Ouch, that stung.

You shut your mouth, not sure what to reply. You understood his point, but at the same time you didn't. It was beginning to become clear now that maybe he wasn't happy with this setup.

"Are we ready to begin?" you heard the instructor exclaim, causing you to look past Yoongi in which you were grateful this small conversation would have to be cut. "Please come forward and spread out, only your partners should be near you!"

Rubbing your fingers, you slowly followed after Yoongi who took the lead towards the middle of the spaced out "dance floor," or the only area in this room that did not have folding tables. The two of you ended up on the side while the others placed themselves throughout the middle and front of the teacher.

After listening to him ramble on about the needed chemistry between partners and showing how our hands must be placed on his practice dummy, who was Namjoon- which Violet did not like, it was time for everyone else to follow.

"Remember, the men are the leads! Take your lady's hand with your left and place your right on her hip! I want to feel the sexual tension from here!"

"Or a comfortable tension," Namjoon interfered.

Looking up at Yoongi, you saw him dully take his left hand out to grab your right one. By his lack of emotion, it triggered you to malfunction and embarrass the hell out of yourself.

He could feel how stiff your body was once he grabbed your hand, beginning to place his right hand behind on your mid back.

"Closer!" the instructor popped out of nowhere, causing you to flinch and almost trip over Yoongi's shoes. Yes, you just stepped on his shoes- he probably hates you now. "Hand on hip! You'll get the rhythm faster."

"No thanks, I'd rather not," Yoongi plainly stated, but was pushed inches away from your face when the instructor pushed you both forward.

You tried your best to look anywhere then at him, but it was incredibly hard. You did catch him throwing out a few glances a few times, but he would always divert his attention somewhere else when he noticed how uncomfortable you reacted to it.

"Do y-you think we should do what they are doing?" You asked, referring to steps that were just given to follow. Everybody else were figuring out the new footwork, but your partner just stood there as if he wanted to die already.

He simply just ignored you, only looking at what Jungkook and his partner were doing. In which, your cousin was swinging the poor girl around while she tried to slow him down in fear.

God, you wish this was over already.

-

"So...how did you like it?!" Violet questioned, sitting down on the bed in your old bedroom while you hid under the blankets. "It was fun, huh?"

"You call that fun?" You groaned, sitting up. "I want a new partner."

"What? No way! Yoongi will be hurt you wanted to switch."

"How if he was the one who questioned why we weren't switched in the first place?"

Violet gasped, "He said that?"

Nodding, you wiped some hair away from your face. "He also refused to put his hand on my hip. Is my body too gross for him or what?"

It did hurt your feelings he wouldn't listen to the basic suggestions, but if he didn't want to then there was nothing you could do.

"Maybe it was a respect thing- like to make sure he wasn't crossing any boundaries?"

Thinking about it for a second, she could be right.

"We just don't mix well, he would just ignore me any time I asked questions or spoke up," You sighed. "Please change my partner-"

"-I can't, we already began rehearsals," She cut you off.

"But we only learned basic steps! I can dance with a whole other human being and get it down with them! Please, please-"

"-no-"

"I can tell he despises every minute of this," You whine. "He's not into it and I'm just holding him back! You already know how scary this is to throw myself out there for this dance, at least let me be with someone who seems comfortable with me. It'll make me less anxious."

Your sister gave you a look, taking her time to think hard about this. She wanted you to feel fully comfortable, but it would be so unfair to switch partners the next day after announcing them.

"You know I want you to feel at your best, but the decision has been made and I-"

"If you let me switch I'll clean your room for a year," You rambled.

She rolled her eyes, "nice try, you don't even live nearby!"

"I'll send you money to buy your favorite meals twice a month!"

Violet gave you a stern look. "Y/n, no means no. I-"

"I'll say a speech at your wedding!"

That made her shut up.

This shocked you too because you avoided this topic from the start when she told you she was engaged. You hated talking, better yet- talking in front of people? No way, impossible to do!

"You would never, you can't even order your food without stuttering."

She didn't have to come at you like that..

"I promise!" you begged, jumping in front of her as she rolled her eyes.

Hearing her sigh, you felt weight being lifted off your shoulder. "Fine! You can have Hoseok, he's a quick learner anyway."

Almost making your sister fall off the bed as you tackled her in a hug, you cheered. "Thank you! Thank you! Tha-"

"Shut up already," she scrunched her face, pushing you off harshly. "I'm only doing this because you seem to feel really uncomfortable being near him and my sister instincts are going off."

You nodded quickly, trying to be on your best behavior so she doesn't change her mind.

"It kind of sucks though," she shrugged. "Namjoon and I thought you would be the perfect fit, you two are so alike"

"Being antisocial doesn't automatically mean we'll hit it off."

"Sorry, wouldn't know what that's like," she smiled and stood up from your bed. "I'm gonna go check on mom and the centerpieces, you should text Hobi a heads up for this week."

Once she left the room, you pulled out your phone to text him. You hope you weren't being a total bitch for doing this, but you doubt Yoongi would get offended.

He was the one who suggested it.

[muffinpink02]

Bronze Is Better Then Gold Part 3

part 2 here

Warning - gun violence, some sexual harassment language

“Where would you like to go?” Lucy looked over at Ona.

“It’s your birthday, we can go wherever you like.”

Lucy sat back in her seat thinking. “There’s a restaurant not far from here that I’ve wanted to go, it’s Spanish Tapas.”

“Perfect, I love it already.” Ona smiled.

“Okay, but only if you’re sure. I don’t mind if you don’t want to.”

Ona rolled her eyes. “What? Come on. Don’t be stupid. Of course I want to go. It’s your birthday, we have to celebrate.” Ona said it like it was the most obvious thing to do.

Lucy nodded her head and smiled. She put her keys in the ignition and drove them to the restaurant.

The girls were seated in a booth, Spanish music played throughout. Ona started to dance as she looked around the restaurant “I like it here.” She smiled as she wiggled in her seat.

Lucy couldn’t help but smile, she loved how free Ona was, she seemed to always be happy, never taking herself too seriously.

They ordered their food, sharing a jug of sangria. Lucy only having two glasses as she was driving.

“Your mum is sweet.” Ona smiled at Lucy.

The older brunette nodded, smiling. “Yeah she is. Sorry I know she can be a lot. She doesn’t know when to be quiet sometimes.”

It was clearly obvious what Lucy’s mum had said, Ona heard her. Lucy heard her. And it sounded like Lucy had been talking about the Spaniard quite a bit to her mum. The younger girl wanted to tease Lucy, or maybe even question her on it, but she had seen in the car just how embarrassed she had gotten. Even now she was trying to avoid her eyes, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

But, did Ona feel completely giddy at the thought of Lucy talking about her to her mum? Yes!

In all honesty Ona wouldn’t even know how to go about that kind of conversation. Their flirting was something the younger girl wondered about constantly. She wondered if it was just Lucy’s personality, maybe she was just a flirt? Maybe it wasn’t anything serious and Ona was just fantasising it all?

But Ona had seen the way Lucy looked at her, how she acted around her. She had heard the small teasing from the girls in the office. But if Lucy wasn’t going to say anything neither was Ona. Yeah, she was brave enough to take down criminals and drug lords, but to ask Lucy if she had any feelings towards her? No. That’s something she couldn’t do and clearly neither could Lucy.

She also didn’t want to ruin the friendship, she really got on with Lucy, she didn’t want it ever be weird between them just because she opened her mouth about how she felt. She had noticed Lucy wasn’t great with her feelings, she was a lot more reserved than Ona. Lucy was also kind of her superior, well kind of. They had the same title but Lucy had a lot more experience and years under her belt.

Ona scooped up some food bringing it to her lips. “Mums are just that way.” Ona chuckled lightly.

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Yeah.”

“So when did you learn Spanish?” Ona asked, deciding on changing the subject.

“I lived in Barcelona for a year when I was 22, so I taught myself Spanish.”

Ona raised her eyebrows and smiled. “That’s impressive, most brits don’t want to learn the language.”

“Well, I’m half Portuguese. So I picked it up a bit easier.”

“Ahh, I see. What did you think of Barcelona?”

Lucy sat back. “Beautiful. Such an amazing city. I loved the people, they’re so calm. Going to the beach everyday didn’t hurt.”

Ona smiled. “What made you move there?”

“I went travelling, Barcelona was fifth on my list but I ended up staying for a girl.” She took a sip of her drink.

“Ohh she’s a romantic.” Ona wiggled her eyebrows.

Lucy chuckled. “I wouldn’t say that, but I try.” She shrugged her shoulders, playfully smiling at Ona.

“Do you have any siblings?” Ona asked.

“Yeah, I have an older brother and a younger sister. My brothers got a little girl, Rudy. She’s crazy.” Lucy smiled to herself.

“Oh you’re the middle child? That explains a lot.” The younger girl laughed at her own joke.

Lucy laughed. “It’s not our fault we get left behind and have to fend for ourselves.” Lucy chuckled. “Do you have any siblings?” Lucy asked.

“I have an older brother. He speaks to me sometimes but not so much, I think my mum and dad don’t like him talking to me.”

“I’m sorry, Ona.”

“I’m used to it now. I have some good friends, some from Barcelona that live in London. So it’s not so bad. I also have new friends.” She lifted her glass towards Lucy, taking a sip.

Both girls couldn’t help but feel like they was on a date of such. Yes, it was for Lucy’s birthday, it was spontaneous (only because of her mum) but it was just them, them and that invisible rope pulling them closer. It felt like another boundary of their relationship had been pushed, from the car trips, the late night texting, the constant flirting. Another layer had been added to the mix, and neither girl knew what to do with it.

The evening was relaxed and chilled, both girls finding out more about the other. Ona even said the food reminded her of a restaurant back home. They spent hours just talking, their food was long gone, other tables had long left. It was only until the staff started to make a point of clearing the tables around them that they decided to leave.

“Looks like they want us gone.” Lucy laughed.

Ona huffed, not wanting to leave. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Let me just get the bill.” Lucy looked for a waiter.

“I’ve paid. It’s your birthday. You don’t pay.”

“What? Ona no. God you’re sneaky. When did you do that?”

“When I went to the bathroom.” Ona started to get up, clearly not caring about the older brunettes protests.

“Thank you. You really shouldn’t have.” Lucy smiled shyly.

“It’s no problem.” Ona smiled back.

Lucy couldn’t help but feel a sense of pure happiness but also a weird feeling of sadness. She was starting to get big feelings for the small girl next to her. In the space of a month Ona had made her remember what it was like to be happy, she was like a breath of fresh air, something Lucy needed. Their constant flirting was hard to read but it was so natural, she was just worried, worried it might not be as mutual as she wanted.

She pulled up outside Ona’s building, in her usual spot.

The words were on the tip of her tongue, Ona had played them back in her head countless times. ‘Do you want to come up?’ It was six easy words, but she couldn’t form them. You didn’t have to be a genius to realise Lucy and Ona liked each other but for some reason they were the thickos that didn’t see it. If you were in there company for more then five minutes it was obvious.

Both of the girls wanted the same thing, but know one had the guts to take it that step further. Ona wanted to be brave but she was unsure. As much as she thought Lucy liked her, she still had some doubt.

“So, I’ll see you tomorrow?” She winced at her own words.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it, haven’t done anything for my birthday in a while. Should be fun.” Lucy smiled at the younger girl.

“So am I. Will be nice to go out and have a night out, I’m glad I get to celebrate your birthday with you. This was nice.”

Lucy smiled softly at the brunette. Her beautiful brown eyes looking back at her. It was like she could feel Ona wanted to say something.

“Yeah, it was. Thank you again.”

Once again both the girls wanted to just lean in and kiss the other, wanting so badly to feel her lips.

Ona slid out the passenger side. Lucy didn’t leave until she saw the front door close behind her. Her shoulders slumped as she sighed.

————-

Lucy took one last look at herself in the mirror before she headed out. She had decided to go for a simple look but still enough to look like she actually tried to make an effort.

She had on brown cargo trousers and a cropped white vest, showing off her abs of course. She wore a pair of brown and white trainers, finishing her hair off in a neat bun.

👮🚓👮 group chat

Demi - be there in 5

Jill - me and Mary are at the table

Lauren H - on way will see you in a bit

Lucy was running a little late, but only by ten minutes or so, it was her birthday she could be late if she wanted.

Her Uber pulled up outside, she took one last look at herself and made her to her ride.

From the group chat it seemed everyone was there.

She thanked the driver and made her way inside, she could hear the girls before she could see them. She went upstairs to a sea of faces, everyone had turned up, but there was one face that stuck out the most.

Ona. And she looked good. 

She had her hair down, falling over her shoulders. Lucy had never seen it down before, she had worn it in a bun since the day she started. Her hair had caramel waves blended with her her dark hair, it made her face even brighter.

The Spaniard wore loose jeans, with and oversized pink shirt, wearing a black lace vest underneath, slightly revealing her chest. Lucy couldn’t keep her eyes off the girl. She tried to make a bee line for Ona, but before she could she felt an arm around her shoulder.

“There she is!” Millie’s voice boomed in Lucy’s ear. She put a shot glass under Lucy’s nose, the smell of liquorish hitting her nostrils.

“Come on, drink it. Don’t make me force you.”

Lucy laughed, she took the glass and swallowed the bitter substance, Wincing slightly from the burn trickling down her throat. Millie whooped, patting her on the back.

“Thats it. They’ll be more of that later.” The blonde walked off, pushing another shot glass under Lauren J’s nose.

The brunette laughed at her friend’s antics, shaking her head. She turned to look back at her destination, finding a pair of eyes on her. Ona was smiling brightly at her, she felt her eyes moving up and down her body, stopping on her stomach, clearly enjoying the view.

She walked to the table where Ona, Jordan and Demi sat. Demi caught where Ona’s eyes had landed.

“About time. We thought you’d never make it!” Demi said.

“You can’t be on time to your own party Demi, come on.” Lucy smirked.

“Come on then, what you drinking?” Jordan stood up grabbing Lucy behind her neck.

“Rum and coke please.”

“Have they been nice to you Ona? You can tell me, I’ll have them filing reports all week.”

“Oi, we’re always nice!” Demi shouted before she was being dragged by Jordan to help with drinks.

“You look nice.” Ona smiled shyly at Lucy.

Lucy felt her cheeks blush. “Thank you, so do you.”

—————

Once everyone had gotten a few drinks down them, they headed over to the karaoke bar. Of course Millie and Rachel went first, singing their hearts out to Tina Turner - Proud Mary.

Everyone whooped and clapped as they walked off the stage.

“Right come on birthday girl, it’s your turn.” Millie handed the mic over to Lucy.

“What? No, I’m even not even close to drunk enough.”

“Don’t be daft. Here take it.” Millie pushed the mic into Lucy’s hand.

Demi and Jordan laughed at Lucy’s face, clearly not happy.

“Come on sour puss.” Jordan laughed.

“Ona will do it with you! You can do a duet. Come on!” Demi joined in then.

Lucy looked over at Ona, who was currently having her ear chewed off by Mary.

“Ona! Come. Lucy’s needs you.” Jordan shouted.

Lucy wanted to slap Jordan for phrasing her words like that but she couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face when Ona nearly got whiplash with how quick she turned her head.

“Me? For what?” She smiled.

“I don’t think I can say that out loud.” Jordan whispered so only Lucy could hear. She got a slap to the head, and a Lucy death glare.

The shorter brunette walked over, her abs on full show now. Lucy couldn’t stop her eyes from gazing over her skin. The Spaniard caught her eyes, smirking knowingly.

“What is it you need?” Her accent was stronger now that she had a few drinks, a cheeky smile plastered her face.

“Lucy wants you to duet with her.” Jordan smiled from ear to ear.

“Fancy it?” Lucy raised her eyes brows.

“Sí. What are we singing?”

——-

“We can ride it together, ah-ah making love with each other, ah-ah.” Lucy and Ona sang the words together. 🎵

Neither girl could hold a note to save their life’s but they didn’t care, they couldn’t hold back the smiles as they sang. Ona could just about keep up, making up the words as she went, Lucy’s northern accent was thick, making the whole situation 10 times funnier. The group was cheering them on, whooping and clapping, Jordan of course was filming the whole thing.

The song ended, Ona grabbed Lucy’s hand in hers and bowed, both taking glances at the other, laughing at themselves. The group cheered and whistled.

More drinks were consumed, Lucy could feel it but she wasn’t completely drunk, just happy and a little more talkative. She was in the middle of Jill and Demi, arguing about something unimportant, her attention left the conversation a while ago. She had been watching the Spaniard, she was laughing at something Lauren H said. She couldn’t help but smile at hearing her laugh, her laugh was beautiful, it was so high compared to her normal lower voice. A voice Lucy couldn’t help but find herself thinking about constantly.

Ona seemed to be the life of the party, but Lucy wasn’t shocked at that. Ona was a people person, the girls gravitated towards her, she was warm and charismatic, fun and free. Things Lucy loved-liked….liked about her.

“What do you think, Lucy?”

Lucy was pulled from her thoughts. “What?”

Jill and Demi looked at where Lucy was looking, then back at each other.

“You’ve got it bad.” Jill laughed.

“At least you don’t have to watch them throughout the day. The flirting is relentless. It’s crazy how two people can be so obvious that they want each other and not do anything about it.” Demi scoffed.

Lucy scrunched up her face. “Shut up. We don’t flirt. She doesn’t even like me like that.”

Demi rolled her eyes. “Give over. You know she does.”

Yeah, sometimes Lucy maybe wondered if Ona liked her, but that then she would tell herself it was nothing serious. Yeah they did flirt, Ona definitely liked to flirt, and Lucy really enjoyed it, but maybe that’s all it was? Just a bit of office flirting. Lucy didn’t want to assume, and be completely embarrassed when Ona didn’t know what she was talking about, if for some crazy reason Lucy would ask.

They were also partners, she didn’t want to make it awkward. Ona was really good at her job, she had picked everything up quickly and even spotted things Lucy had missed on the case they were working on.

So no, Lucy would play dumb to it. Yeah Demi, Jordan and Jill knew she liked Ona but there was nothing else to it. She just fancied her. No one knew her real feelings towards Ona and that’s exactly how she wanted it to stay.

“Whatever, anyways our tables booked for 10. We better get going.” Lucy quickly changed the subject, downing the rest of her drink.

“Alright, I’ll stop teasing.” Demi nudged Lucy’s arm. Downing her own drink. She then loudly cleared her throat.

“Right guys! Drink your drinks, we’re heading to the Pink Lady. We’re leaving in 5 minutes!”

———————-

Lucy sat at the table drink in hand, she was speaking to Chloe about women’s football. Most of the girls were up dancing or at the bar ordering more drinks. To Lucy’s surprise she was actually having a good time, not that she didn’t think she would, but she wasn’t one to celebrate her birthday, she didn’t like anyone to fuss over her. But tonight had been nice, everyone came out to celebrate and it seemed like everyone was having a good time of their own.

She glanced over at the dance floor, she could see a couple of the girls dancing but her eyes were scanning for a certain someone.

Until she saw her with Jill, carrying over a tray of shots, Jordan following with two bottles of what looked like champagne.

“Who’s ready for Tequila!” Ona shouted.

Lucy and Chloe cheered.

“Come on then! Don’t even try to say no Lucy. You’re having a shot.” Jill stated.

“I wasn’t going to argue!” Lucy chuckled, picking up herself a shot.

“Good.” Jill and the rest of the girls licked the back of their hands, shaking a small bit of salt on their skin.

Before Lucy could say anything else Ona’s hands was on her neck, moving any strands of hair from her skin. She tried not to think to much of it, maybe she was more touchy when she had a drink in her, she knew the Spanish were touchy people. Until Ona’s face was suddenly close to Lucy’s.

“llest?” She husked out.

That’s when Lucy felt her tongue on her neck, slowly gliding up her skin.

Her eyes closed at the sensation of Ona’s tongue on her neck. Before her brain could make her mouth talk she felt the small grains of salt stick to her neck and suddenly Ona’s mouth was back on her skin. She glided her tongue quickly, pressing a small kiss at the end and then her lips were gone. She watched as Ona drank her shot, her face scrunched from the burning liquid, then the lime was in between her lips.

Lucy’s brain wasn’t waking up, she knew what just happened but she couldn’t believe that it did. Ona caught her eyes, smiling playfully at her.

“Fuck! That was hot Ona! I didn’t know we were doing it the sexy way.” Chloe laughed out loud.

“Is this not the right way? Don’t you do it this way? Me and my friends do it this way.” Panic set in on the Spaniards face.

“No, I mean you can, but by Lucy’s face I don’t think she knew.” Chloe really laughed then. She nudged Lucy’s shoulder.

“I don’t think she has any complaints.” Jill then laughed.

Lucy chuckled softly, she breathed out loud, looking over at Ona, who genuinely looked worried.

“Scott’s right, I have no complaints.” Lucy finally got her mouth working.

Ona felt her cheeks burn, she did it this way with her friends all the time. Of course she  didn’t glide her tongue as purposeful as she did with her friends, and yeah she never left a soft kiss at the end but still, that’s just what they did. She didn’t have time to be embarrassed though as Jordan spoke up.

“It’s only right if Lucy does it back to Ona, bad luck and all that.” She chimed in.

Lucy felt herself freeze up again. Ona wasn’t going to say ye-

“That’s fine with me.” Ona smiled confidently at Lucy, clearly her nerves had left her.

Lucy didn’t have time to think, Ona sat closer to her revealing her neck. It was probably the drink that pushed her but also the fact that there was no way she was going to turn this down.

She pushed the younger brunettes hair back from her neck, letting her fingers just barely touch her skin. She could see Ona breathing a little harder, she opened her mouth and glided her tongue slowly up Ona’s neck.  Onas eyes closed from the sensation of Lucy’s tongue on her, slightly making her head swoon. Lucy dropped a small amount of salt on the wet patch she left, but instead of licking she sucked gently on Ona’s neck, she heard Ona gasp from the touch. She even heard a wolf whistle behind her, more than likely Jordan.

Lucy let her tongue roam over her skin, loving the small whimper only she could hear, fall from Ona’s mouth. She pulled back and just like Ona she left a quick kiss on her skin.

Ona’s brain was in over drive, her mind felt cloudy, all she could think about was Lucy’s mouth. She had to restrain herself from grabbing Lucy’s face and showing her exactly what she wanted to do to her.

“That was hot!” Chloe shouted. “We have to get another round. If that’s how your friends party. I want party with them, Ona.” Everyone laughed and agreed.

Lucy sat back, proud of herself, she could see Ona was lost for words, she could see the lust in her eyes. She smiled smugly to herself. Maybe, just this once, she had to thank Jordan for opening her mouth.

“Let’s dance!” Demi shouted grabbing both Lucy’s and Ona’s hands. Ona looked over at Lucy a bashful smile appeared on the shorter girls face as they were dragged to the dance floor. The group danced together, they laughed as Jill did the robot, even Lauren H pulled out the worm. Though Lucy’s and Ona’s eye kept meeting, even when they wasn’t right next to each other they could feel each other. As the music kept going the girls kept dancing, the two brunettes finally finding themselves face to face.

The club had gotten busier now, there was less space to dance with more bodies on the dance floor. So when Lucy and Ona were only a couple of centimetres from each other there was no surprise. Lucy couldn’t keep her eyes off the shorter girl, her hips moved so easily with the music. She watched her tight stomach roll to the beat, her long hair flowing down her back. She had to make sure she wasn’t drooling. Ona smiled knowingly up at the girl, she could see the way Lucy was looking at her, she clearly couldn’t hide it now with the drink in her system.

Ona being the braver one of the two moved a little closer to her, she felt cheeky enough to throw her hand over Lucy’s shoulder. Lucy felt her stomach flutter, the alcohol in her system giving her the Dutch courage to pull Ona in by her waist. Her hand landing on her exposed soft skin that was on show, her fingers tickling against her back. She heard Ona make the smallest of gasps, as she was pulled, the older girl had to hold back her own groan.

Ona crept her hand up the back of Lucy’s neck, making sure her fingers were light but enough to give the girl visible chills. Lucy bit her lip from the touch, she had to bite her lip to keep her moan in. She quickly looked down at the floor, trying to ignore the way her body was reacting, but Ona had already noticed, her beautiful brown eyes twinkled with mischief.

Ona pulled Lucy down gently so she could talk to her, closer than she needed to, not that Lucy was complaining. “Why so shy?” She asked.

Lucy shock her head and chuckled. “I’m not shy. Was I shy earlier?”

Ona let out a deep chuckle. “No. You wasn’t.  I liked how you moved your tongue. Maybe we should do another round. But I don’t really need the tequila to do that.” Her lips grazed Lucy’s ear. The older girl closed her eyes and exhaled, trying to calm down the heat that ran through her body.

Ona lent in again. “Would you like that?” Her lips caught the side of Lucy’s mouth, dangerously close to her lips. Ona knew she was being extra flirty, she took the opportunity of the alcohol and the already heated moment they shared earlier to push Lucy. She wanted to see how brave Lucy could be. She wanted to see if all of the flirting was nothing, if maybe she put herself out there just a little more Lucy would reciprocate.

Lucy stared at the Spaniard, the strength it took her to not grab Ona by the hand, drag her the nearest bathroom stall and fuck her till she screamed her name over, and over again was unreal. Those brown eyes were full of lust, it reminded her of when she straddled her in training practice. Another time she wanted to tear the Spaniards clothes off. Her hand was still on her hip, she didn’t realise she was squeezing it until she felt Ona put her hand on hers, stepping impossibly closer. Her face was so close to hers she could feel her breath on her chin.

It wasn’t until the music changed from sexy and slow to fast pop, that Lucy took a step back, putting some space between them. She didn’t miss the way Ona’s face visibly dropped from her movement, her hands dropping from her side. She regretted it instantly when she saw the hurt in her eyes. The thing is she didn’t know what she was doing, her body moved without thinking, she wanted nothing more then to kiss Ona, she wanted to have their bodies pressed against each other. But she was also scared, nervous even. She just needed a to think, she needed air, she needed Ona, but she didn’t know how.

“Erm, I-I’m just going to get a drink, do you want one?” Lucy stumbled.

“No, I’m good thanks.” Ona’s smile never reached her eyes.

Lucy nodded, her lips sucked between her teeth, she grabbed Jordan on the way to the bar, needing her friend.

Jordan grabbed the back of her friend’s neck. Smiling playfully. “Saw someone getting cosy.”

“I fucked it, I got scared. I-I don’t know what do to Jords. I really like her. I just don’t know if it’s a good idea. I don’t want to get close to her then lose her. I couldn’t even look out for Soph-“

Joran stopped her before she could say anymore. “Don’t do that. You got to stop blaming yourself Luce. Please. We were all there. What happened to Sophie wasn’t your fault.”

Lucy looked at Jordan her hazel eyes bore into hers. She squeezed the back of her neck again.

“I haven’t seen you as happy as you are in a long time Lucy, and I think that’s because Ona has brought back that spark in you. Dont loose something because of ‘what if’. Because you’ll be asking that question for the rest of your life.”

Lucy nodded. “Yeah. I know you’re right, I just see Sophie in her Jords, she was free like her.” She smiled sadly.

“I know. I see it too. She was a good one. And so is Ona. I know Sophie would have already forced you into making a move with Ona.” Both girls laughed, Jordan stroked a tear from her eye.

“Yeah, she would have.” Lucy sniffled. “Thank you Jords. I’ll talk to her.”

“Good, now let’s get some drinks.”

“Hey, Jords!” Leah from HR was suddenly next to the girls, her arms open towards Jordan. “You made it!” Jordan happily hugged the blonde back.

“Yeah, sorry we’re a bit late.” Leah said.

A familiar Scottish accent was thrown in the mix. “Hey girls, hope you don’t mind. Leah dragged me along.” Jen waved at Lucy and Jordan. “Happy birthday, Lucy!”

“Ahh thanks, the more the merrier.” Lucy smiled.

“We have a table up over there, what do you want to drink?” Jordan asked.

Leah and Jen looked over at the table, spotting some of the girls from work, Jen spotted one individual in particular. “Ona’s here? Mate she is unreal!.”

Lucy felt her body stiffen up. Her smile dropping. Leah laughed. “Glad I ‘dragged’ you here now?”

Jen hadn’t taken her eyes off the petite brunette, she smiled. “So, so glad. Right, I’m going to put in some work.” She winked at the group. “Leah, can you get me a beer please.”   

“Yeah no worries, have fu- oh she’s gone.” Leah laughed. “I bet money she’ll be going home with her tonight. I’ve seen that girl charm the pants off of nun before.”

Lucy watched as the Scottish girl walked towards the table, she made a bee line straight for the Spaniard. She felt her stomach tighten up, an uncomfortable heat swept over her body, as jealousy pricked at her brain. She watched Jen talk to the younger girl, sitting down next to her, she couldn’t help but think Ona looked a bit too happy to see her.

Jordan eyed up her friend, watching as Jen spoke to Ona. She nudged Lucy as Leah paid for her drinks. “Oi, don’t be stupid. She likes you Luce.”

Lucy didn’t look at her friend, she bit the inside of her cheek. She didn’t want to watch the interaction but she couldn’t take her eyes off them. She had no actual right to be annoyed, her and Ona wasn’t together, they wasn’t seeing each other, but… it hurt.

“I’m fine. She’s not my girlfriend.” Lucy shrugged as she drank her beer. Clearly not fine.

As the night went on the group got drunker, everyone was having a good time, except Lucy. She wanted so badly to not let it affect her, but she couldn’t help it. Especially as Jen hadn’t left Ona’s side, she had chewed the girls ear off for half an hour now. Lucy watched as Ona laughed at something Jen said, she could see Jen was getting physically closer to the younger girl, making Lucy’s blood boil.

Jordan tried to distract her, tried to make her laugh, but it was no use, Lucy had gone down a rabbit hole. A hole of anger, sadness and jealousy, and she couldn’t stop herself. She liked Ona, a lot of course she didn’t want to see her being flirted with, and Leah’s words didn’t help.

Ona had lost the mood to dance after Lucy had left her on the dance floor, so she decided to take herself away, feeling a little stupid. She sat at the table scrolling through hers and Lucy’s texts for the 100th time, she wanted to see if she was reading the whole situation wrong. But she saw what she had always seen, flirty texts, ‘good morning’ texts. They even sent each other pictures of their dinners each evening. She was surprised to see Jen when she approached her at the table.

“Hey Ona. Nice to see you here. You’re looking nice.” Jen smiled at the younger girl, her eyes roaming over her body.

Ona liked Jen, as a friend. Dont get her wrong, she was definitely her type but she but she wasn’t the brunette she was after.

“Hey Jen, it’s nice to see you. Ahh thank you, I try when I have to. You look nice also.”

“We both know you don’t have to ‘try’ to look good Ona.” Jen smiled playfully. She sat down next to her. “Why you not dancing?”

Ona ignored the compliment with a polite smile. She knew Jen liked her, she made it very obvious, she flirted with her any chance she could, again, not that Ona hated it, she just had her eyes for another.

“Ohh I just got a little tired.” Ona said.

“I can keep ya company then.” Jen smiled from ear to ear.

The Scott shamelessly flirted with the Spaniard, Ona even found her self blushing at certain points, she had to admit Jen was charismatic, and very attractive. She nearly made her stop thinking about the weird and embarrassing interaction she had with Lucy. Nearly.

Ona was confused, Lucy gave her all the signs of liking someone, they flirted constantly, they did things some couples don’t even do. They had a close relationship, and it was more close than just friends. Was she going about this the wrong way? Maybe Lucy was scared? Or was Ona just delusional? It even made her wonder if Jen liked her or she was just being delusional on that too.

Even though Jen was flirting till the cows came home, she had really good chat. She actually had a lot in common with the girl and the conversation was nice, though she couldn’t stop thinking about Lucy. She hadn’t actually seen her for a while, she thought she must be on the dance floor with the girls, where she wanted to be. Maybe she needed to be straight up with Lucy, just ask her, ask her what’s this is, tell her she likes her. Tell her she’s the first and last thing she thinks about everyday, when she wakes up and goes to sleep. Tell her how much she wants to be with her, emotionally and physically.

Fuck it.

Thankfully some of the girls came over, making Jen say hello to them. Giving Ona a chance to leave without being too rude. Ona stood up. “I’m going to the bathroom, then to dance. I’ll see you around.” She smiled at Jen.

“Yeah, no worries, I’ll see you in a bit.” Jen smiled at Ona but not without glazing her eyes at her tight stomach. Even Ona had to admit her cheeks flushed pink at the look. Though her skin still burned from Lucy’s mouth on her neck, she could still feel her talented tongue on her skin, making Ona’s knees buckle.

She smiled and made her way to the toilets hoping to find Lucy. She wasn’t sure if it was the drink in her system or Jen flirting with her, that kicked the fire inside her, but she was glad it was burning.

She swung the the toilets doors open, but they were empty, she even called out for Lucy, but no one called back. She didn’t see her in the crowd or on the dance floor. She made her way to the bar, but still no sign, she worried that she might have left. She decided to go to the spot where she saw most of the girls dancing. She spotted Demi, who also spotted her, she pulled her in to the group.

“Ona!” Demi shouted excitedly.

“Demi! Have you seen Lucy? She shouted.

Demi nodded. “She’s looking for you, but she said she’d come back, wait here for her!”

Ona felt her stomach dip, Lucy was looking  for her? She wondered why. Maybe to apologise and tell her she likes her? Or maybe to tell her she had made things weird and that she’s going to get a new partner at work. She hoped it was the first one.

“Okay.” She nodded and smiled at Demi. Demi grabbed her hands and twirled the petite girl into the middle of the group. The girls cheered and whooped once they saw Ona. She laughed and danced with her friends, trying to forget the weird feeling in her stomach.

Like Ona, Lucy had been looking for the shorter brunette. One minute she was watching her with Jen, the next she was gone. Something has stirred inside her, seeing her with Jen gave her a kick up the arse. She wanted to talk to Ona, she needed to tell her how she felt, tell her why she was so hesitant, explain why she pulls away. Frustratingly she had been 10 steps behind Ona when she was looking for her.

After no luck finding the girl, she made her way to the bar to grab a drink. When she got her drink she looked over the short balcony, down on the dance floor. She looked over the sea of people dancing and having fun. And that’s when finally spotted the Spaniard in the middle of their group, she couldn’t stop the smile that took over her face as she watched the younger girl dance. She began to make her to way to her. Ready to talk.

Ona was lost in the music, she swayed her hips, her eyes closed, letting her body do what it did best. She was already drunk at this point, like everyone else around her. She was a natural when it came to moving her body, her hips looked as if they had no bones, she was able to move them like a snake, moving her waist to her own accord.

Thats when she felt the strong familiar body behind her, she could feel the soft touch of breast so she knew it was a woman. She could smell that familiar perfume that Lucy always wore. She felt the butterflies in her stomach flutter, maybe Lucy was feeling braver. She smiled as she backed her hips into the woman, feeling her strong firm body against her own. Strong hands roamed up her body, short nails gently scratched at Ona’s exposed skin. Making the shorter girl gasp at the touch.

Ona was still wrapped up in her drunk ignorant bliss she didn’t want to say anything, she didn’t want to frighten Lucy again, incase she pulled away, incase it got too real. She laced her fingers into the hands on her body bringing them to her hips, letting the girl guide her backwards into her core. Her eyes were still closed, as she felt lips come close to her ear.

“Aye, I knew you was playing hard to get.”

Ona froze, her eyes opening wide. She turned to see Jen looking down at her, a very pleased smirk on her face.

Lucy had to push past the crowd to get to the group of girls, she felt excited to get to Ona, finally feeling brave enough to tell her how she felt. Tell Ona what the she means to her. Even if they hadn’t known each other very long, she was feeling things for her. She had since the day she set eyes on her beautiful face.

But that all came crashing down when she saw Ona dancing with Jen.

She watched as Jen ran her hands all over the petite brunettes body. The feeling that took over Lucy’s body was cold, it felt like her blood had just turned to ice. It made Lucy feel physically sick, the anger that followed was overwhelming. Lucy had gone through many hard times in her life, felt many different emotions of hurt and pain, but this one felt personal, this one hurt in the bottom of her gut, as if Ona put a knife through her heart.

She couldn’t stand there and watch anymore, she disappeared into the crowd.

Ona moved away instantly putting as much space between herself and Jen as she could. “Jen? W-what? I thought y-you was Lu-,”

“What’s wrong hen? Don’t act shy now.” Jen didn’t mean to read the situation wrong, but she pulled Ona against her front, bringing her closer to her face.

“No. I’m sorry. I-I didn’t know…I thought you was someone else.” She forced a laugh, not wanting to make the situation too serious.

Jen looked a little stung but she didn’t take it to heart. “No worries. I’m sorry, I didn’t meant to make you uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t. Sorry. I just didn’t think.”

Jen nodded, she smiled sheepishly at the younger girl. Leaving her with the rest of her friends.

Ona pushed her hair back out of her face, she let out a puff of air. She looked around the room, hoping to see Lucy. But little did she know Lucy had seen her.

The older brunette was in an Uber home, she didn’t say a word to anyone, she was lost in anger, anger for Jen, anger for Ona, well, it was more hurt. Not that she had the right to feel anything against the girl. She wasn’t her girlfriend, she wasn’t seeing her, she had never made it apparent to Ona that she wanted nothing more than the flirting. Ona had literally tried to give her an olive brunch but she didn’t take it. She was simply too late, and that was her own fault.

👮 🚓 👮 Group chat

Lucy - hey girls, sorry had to leave was feeling really sick, home now, thanks for a good night

The brunette didn’t look at her phone again after that. She took a long hot shower, letting herself get lost in her own misery. She was shocked to feel hot tears roll down her face, but she would blame it on the alcohol. She took herself to bed, wishing she’d never gone out tonight.

——————-

When Ona read Lucy’s message she was confused, Lucy didn’t seem sick when she was with her. She was fine until… until Ona put a move on her. Was it her fault? She couldn’t help but think she left because of her, maybe she made her uncomfortable? She texted the brunette straight away but got no reply.

01.02am Ona - hey, are you okay? Call me xx

The next day she still had no reply, but she tried again.

9.18am  Ona - good morning, I hope you’re feeling better. If you need me to get you anything I can xx

But as Lucy was radio silent Ona became worried thinking the worst.

12.46pm - Ona 1 Missed call

13.08pm Lucy - sorry, not been on my phone, feeling better, thanks, will see you Tuesday x

Ona stared at her phone, that dreaded sinking feeling washed over her, she felt her eyes prickle with the heat of her emotions racing through her. The thoughts had swirled around in her head all weekend, she had a weird nervous feeling. She had ruined it.

Tuesday morning rolled around, and Ona nearly called in sick, she didn’t want to face Lucy. She debated to text the older brunette to not worry about picking her up, that she was running late, but she didn’t want to make it weirder than it was. So she waited like she normally did for Lucy, sitting on the wall outside her flat, she worried Lucy might not have come, until she spotted her car pulling up. She had brought them both a coffee, like she did every start and end of the week.

Ona exhaled a deep breath as she got in Lucy’s car. “Good morning. Here’s your coffee.”

“Thank you.” Lucy smiled, though it wasn’t her normal smile, Ona could see that straight away. Come to think of it, her eyes looked red and sore. Had she been crying? Or maybe it was where she was unwell.

“Are you okay Lucy? You see-“ Lucy cut her off.

“I’m fine. Just tired. Did you have a good time the other night?” Lucy kept her face forward.

Ona felt the coldness from her straight away, it made her body ridged. She looked at the older girl, she could feel something was off but she didn’t want to push Lucy, she clearly didn’t want to talk. “Yeah, it was good. But you were missed.”

A soft, but sad smile appeared on Lucy’s lips. “Yeah, wasn’t great timing.”

Ona nodded, they sat mostly in silence as Lucy drove them to work. Ona encouraged the odd conversation but the older brunette didn’t give her much. By lunch even Jordan and Demi noticed the difference in the brunette. They gave the younger brunette questioning looks, but she shrugged, not knowing what to do.

By 4pm Jordan had enough, she watched Lucy go to the kitchen and followed her in. “Oi, what’s going on? What’s wrong?”

Lucy was putting the kettle on. “Nothing. Why?”

Jordan rolled her eyes. “Come off it. There’s clearly something wrong. Is it with you and Ona?”

Lucy’s shoulders dropped. “I saw her dancing with Jen the other night.”

Jordan looked at her friend. “That’s why you left? You wasn’t sick?”

Lucy shook her head. “No. I just lost it Jordan. Jen was all over her, and I know I don’t have any reason to be annoyed. B-but I just…ergh I don’t know.”

Jordan gently grabbed Lucy by the back of her neck. “I’m sorry Luce. But I don’t think it would have been anything serious though. She clearly likes you. She might have just been a bit drunk. You know, the Spanish are very free spirited. It might not mean anything to her.”

The kettle came to a boil. Lucy let out a long sigh, she pinched her nose in frustration.

“Yeah, I’m overreacting, I know, but it did hurt to see it. I don’t know how to be with her. I’m trying to be normal but I can’t.”

Jordan nodded, listening to her.

“I guess I’m just hurt. It’s my own fault. I shouldn’t have let her get so close to me.”

Jordan rolled her eyes. “No. Don’t be stupid. I told you don’t do this. Talk to the girl Lucy. You can’t just go cold turkey on her for no reason. It’s not fair.”

Lucy stared at the mug, she knew Jordan was right, but she also wanted to protect herself. I mean it’s natural. If you like someone and they don’t like you, you have to pull away. Right?

Lucy knew she would have to put a stop to the flirting, the constant texts every evening, the lunch outings. Stop thinking about what it would be like to kiss Ona’s soft looking lips. Stop wondering what it would be like to hold her in the morning while they made each other come again and again, Ona screaming her name.

Yeah, she had to stop. She had to for her own sake. She didn’t want to fall any harder for someone that she had no chance with, Ona clearly didn’t feel the same. Like Jordan said, the Spanish are open people, she probably doesn’t see anything other than just being friends with Lucy. And the realisation hurt.

“Yeah.” The brunette huffed out, she grabbed a second mug and started to make herself and Ona a tea. A ‘sorry’ tea if you will.

“God, you are hard headed. Talk to the girl. Also make me a cup.” Jordan said it as she patted Lucy on the back. The brunette shook her head at her best friend, the smallest of smiles touching her lips.

——————-

After her chat with Jordan, Lucy tried to be normal with Ona, but it was a lot harder than she thought it would be. She was fighting between so many feelings towards the girl. She still liked her, but when she felt those emotions she tried to squash any kind of feelings down, no matter how hard it was. She could tell the younger girl was trying her best to not let it affect her and tried to not make it awkward, but Lucy was as stubborn as they came. She wanted to be with her but sometimes she couldn’t even look at her. It was hard to process her feelings, she didn’t know how to handle herself.

The next month was awful for Ona, Lucy had been completely off with her, she hardly spoke to her, and when she did it was mostly about the case or something to do with work. Ona tried to text Lucy like they normally would but the older brunette hardly replied, and if she did it was a day late or a reply that you couldn’t really respond to. So the texts stopped. Things just wasn’t the same for Lucy and Ona, they slipped into an awkward situation. The older brunette constantly turned down Ona’s lunch invites, she spent most of her lunches at the gym or alone. It got to the point where Ona stopped going to and from work with Lucy, riding the bus instead. That hurt Lucy but she knew it was for the best.

Ona had asked if she was okay, she asked if she had did something to upset her, but Lucy would repeat herself and say nothing was wrong. It was more than frustrating for Ona, Lucy clearly had a problem with her and she didn’t know why.

The second week after the ‘dancing incident’ Ona had been tossing and turning in her sleep, she needed to know if she had made Lucy feel uncomfortable that night. It was when Lucy dropped her off one evening that she plucked the courage to say something.

“Lucy, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.” Ona said it with tears threatening to spill over. Lucy looked over at the younger girl confused.

“I really am sorry if I said the wrong thing or touched you in a way you didn’t like. I would never want to make you feel uncomfortable, it’s the absolute last thing I would want. So I am really sorry. I know you’ve been off with me and if this is the reason I sincerely apologies. I will no longer be like this with you, the flirty things I do, I will stop. I’m really sorry.”

Lucy was lost, she didn’t know what the Spaniard was talking about, what did she do to make her uncomfortable? Her heart broke seeing Ona like this, she felt bad, she knew she was being off with the girl, but it was what she needed to do.

“I’m a little lost.” Lucy confessed.

Ona looked at her hard, like she normally did, she searched the girls face. Her voice was shakey. “When we were dancing. I said some inappropriate things to you. I regret it, I shouldn’t have. And I’m sorry.”

It hit Lucy then, Ona thought she was upset because of that, because of how she reacted after their dancing.

“Oh, no that’s not- You didn’t make me feel uncomfortable at all. I just have a lot on, this case is not going the way I thought it would.”

Liar.

Ona slowly nodded. She had done what she could, if Lucy was going to carry on this way, that was on her, even if it did break the you girls heart. She had clearly pushed Lucy too far.

“Okay, good night Lucy.”

Half an hour later Lucy received a text from Ona that she didn’t need to pick her up in the morning.

And that’s how they carried on for a month, basically strangers. ————-

“Do you think he’s been tipped off?” Ona sat next to Lucy in the under cover police car as they sat at the traffic lights. After another long day of not finding the criminal.

They had been informed Slims had been spotted, and for a week they had been patrolling the area. Since the raid he had been laying low, they had tried to get information from his brother Bugz, but he hadn’t spoken in his interrogation interview, choosing to repeatedly say ‘not guilty’. He wasn’t giving any information and no names, he was keeping quiet for his brother, ready to take all the heat for him. Though it didn’t matter, they had enough evidence for that both of them, they just needed to arrest him.

They had called it a day, having been out for 10 hours, it had been frustrating to say the least. They needed to get their hands on him, he was the boss and brains behind the operation, if they got him then they got everyone.

And just like that, their luck turned around.

“Lucy. There he is.” Ona had spotted him standing outside a building. The older brunette spotted him straight away, but he also spotted them, and he didn’t wait around, he began to sprint.

“Shit. We’re going to loose him.”

“No we’re not.” Ona didn’t think twice, she jumped out of the car, her eyes dead set on the man.

“Ona, no!” Lucy shouted. Dread instantly filled her, Ona was already gone. She lifted her walkie talkie. “We have eyes on Slims, we need officers, no noise, no lights. We’ve spotted him on the high street going up Stock Street.”

Alex came in immediately. “Got that loud and clear, we’re 10 minutes away.”

Lucy messily parked the car and grabbed her hand gun. She had already lost sight of Ona and Slims, panic set in. This wasn’t the way they had planned this.

Ona was hot on Slims heels, she may not have been the strongest or tallest person on the squad, but my god she was fast. She chased him down the high street, she could feel her heart racing, she knew she couldn’t let him get away. He ran across the busy high street, not caring about moving cars or people. Cars honked and tyres screeched as he ran infront of them. Ona was a lot more agile, racing around the obstacles without blinking.

Lucy heard the commotion on the street, following the noise as fast she could, she could hear Alex talking over the radio to the other police officers.

Ona chased Slims to a bridge, deep water rushing underneath them. He turned around, they was only 2 meters apart but Ona could see the evil in his eyes, he looked furious. But he also noticed Ona was alone, and no gun in sight.

“If I’d know it was just you I would have taken us somewhere a little more private.” He winked at her, smirking as he moved closer to her. He lunged quickly at Ona, but she was quicker, she grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm. He yelped out in pain and pushed them backwards to the short bridge wall. Ona was leaning dangerously close over the bridge. She used all her strength to push them forward, having to let go of his wrist.

“Oh she’s strong, I like it when she puts up a fight. Always makes it more fun when she’s crying on her back.”

“Just like your brother cried when I put him in his back?” Ona spat back.

He snarled at her. “You fucking bitch.” He pounced at her again, but his face met Ona’s elbow, breaking his nose instantly. He screamed in pain. “You little cunt!”

“Ona!” Lucy shouted at the end of the bridge but she wish she hadn’t. Ona looked over distracted, when she felt a painful grip in her hair, yanking her harshly to her knees.

Lucy pulled her gun out in a speed she didn’t think was possible, she had her finger on the trigger ready to put a bullet in between his eyes.

“Let her go.” Lucy said with gritted teeth. “You’ve got nowhere else to go, don’t make it worse.”

Slim looked around, yanking Ona by her hair, he pulled her back up to her feet, making her yelp in pain. “Hmm crying for it already?” He whispered in her ear.

Ona tried to move, but he only gripped her tighter making her wince. She gritted her teeth, trying not to make any noise, knowing it only gave him some sick satisfaction.

Lucy took slow steps forward, wanting to get a better aim on him. “Just let her go.”

“Come any closer and she’s coming over with me.” He shifted himself and Ona closer to the edge of the bridge, making sure to put Ona in front of him as he eyed the gun pointing at him.

Lucy could feel the colour leave her face, she didn’t have a clear enough shot without a chance of hitting Ona. She looked at the younger girl, her face was in pain, her big brown eyes looking at Lucy, that’s when she saw her mouthing something, but she couldn’t make it out.

Ona rocked her head backwards, cracking Slims nose once more. He pulled her hair even harder, but had moved slightly away from her, giving Lucy just a little more space. She had her aim, her finger pulled the trigger.

Ona flinched, she heard the gun, the sound of the shot striking her ear drums, she looked at Lucy, her face was unreadable. She saw blood on the floor. Her knees felt weak. The grip in her hair had gone. Thats when she heard the cry from Slims, he backed away from her, holding his shoulder where Lucy had buried her bullet.

Police cars drove in at the end of the bridge, Alex and the team jumping out. Slims looked between them and the water beneath, and without thinking he jumped into the rushing water, disappearing into the deep black depths.

Ona looked over the bridge, trying to look for the criminal, closing her eyes in frustration when she couldn’t find him. “No! Merda!”

Lucy ran over to Ona, grabbing her by the arms. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” She felt relief wash over her.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. But he’s gone. I messed up.” Ona looked at the floor, not able to look at Lucy.

“Do you think I care about that? I’m just glad you’re okay Ona, you scared me. I didn’t kno-“ Lucy was cut off by Alex.

“Bronze we have officers following the river.”

“Good, get the K9 team out aswell.”

“Already on their way.” Alex confirmed.

“Good, thank you Greenwood. Keep me updated.”

Alex nodded, she gave Ona a gentle squeeze on her arm. “Glad you’re okay.” Before she ran back to the team shouting orders.

Ona looked back at Lucy. “I’m sorry I ran off. I know I shouldn’t have. It was stupid off me, I just didn’t want to loose him.”

“Don’t worry Ona, let’s get you home. I’m sure your head should get looked at, you really did a number on his face.” Lucy looked at her proudly, it was the first time she had really smiled at the girl since their friendship became strained.

Ona gave her a small smile. She felt her heart racing but she blamed it on the situation. Not the way Lucy was looking at her.

[postwarlevi]

Happy Christmas/Merry Birthday III

Content: 2.3k words. A second sequel (part I, part II) of dad Levi's birthday and Christmas in one.

A/n: Why do I rush each of these out?! I hope you love it and the idea for Levi's present!

It's warm and cozy in the house. Outside there are piles of newly fallen snow overnight.

You yawn as you wake up and stretch, opening your eyes with a smile. It's the best sleep you've gotten in nights.

"Morning." You hear the mumble of your husband who has been awake waiting for you. He reaches over to hold you in his arm.

"Morning Levi. Merry Birthday." You snuggle into his chest for a few minutes.

In your mind you know you should be up and out of bed already. It's daylight and your little ones must be ready for you.

"Eveything is fine." Levi tells you, knowing your thoughts.

Your ten year old daughter is up, it is Christmas morning after all. She's watching her six month old baby brother in his swingset while having some oatmeal, after helping her father feed the baby.

"Did you sleep okay?" You ask, kissing Levi's cheek and stroking his arm, taking his word for it that all is well.

"I did, love." He leans in to kiss your forehead. He came back to bed just a few minutes before.

Yesterday, an old injury of Levi's acted up quite a bit. He limped around some before you got him into a warm bath.

He felt bad about not being able to help around the house much, and on Christmas eve, but you told him not to worry. He always takes good care of you and your children, you are happy to be there when he needs you.

Plus your daughter is a big help. She adores her baby brother as much as you do and would do anything to assist, especially when she knows her father isn't feeling well.

It put a big smile on her face earlier in the day when she saw he was feeling better today.

"Come on, let's go see our babies." You finally say after a bit of cuddling time.

You and Levi get up and put on our robes and go out to the living room.

Your daughter who just finished her oatmeal comes over to hug you. "Happy Christmas mama."

"Happy Christmas my sweet girl." You kiss her head and hug her.

"Merry birthday daddy." She goes over to hug Levi again and they sit on the couch together as you go see your bright eyed baby boy.

"Hello my little prince!" You light up at seeing him and he makes happy babbling noises at you.

Picking him up you join your family on the couch.

You bounce the baby on your knee while your daughter plays peek-a-boo with him. Levi smiles at the sight and reaches out to stroke your hair.

"I'm so happy you're feeling better." You tell him.

"Thanks to you I am. Thank you." He gives you an adoring look reserved just for you.

You've gotten used to what to do to help him through when his leg pains start in again. Of course you all wish it wouldn't happen, but it's more bearable for him with you there.

After some sweet silent looks pass between you, you turn to your daughter.

"Sorry I'm a bit late today. What do you want to do this morning?"

"Uncle Jean and Connie are coming over to take me sledding later! Can we bake some cookies for them?" She asks, looking between you and Levi.

"Well of course! Come on!" You grin and stand up with the baby.

Levi pulls his swing into the kitchen, a safe distance from any appliances, and you put him back in so you can keep an eye on him while you bake.

Last night the boys called to see if it would be okay to come over. A few hours in the early afternoon wouldn't interrupt family time, and they themselves are considered your extended family.

You'd already started exchanging a few presents Christmas eve, and would finish the rest in the evening, while also dedicating some of the day to Levi for his birthday.

You put on your "world's best cook" apron you unwrapped last night while Levi puts on a chefs hat, both presents from your daughter. She giggles and claps at seeing you wear the things.

"Daddy, it's your birthday, what type of cookies should we make?" She asks him, pulling out pans and spatulas.

"Hmm, those almond cookies we made recently were pretty good." He knows everyone likes those.

"Yes! And we have all the ingredients." You smile and together begin baking.

Soon you're all humming along to holiday music on the radio and laughing. Somehow the baby sleeps through most of it, once in a while giggling along with you.

With everyone helping you're able to make a second type of cookie, and you insist on an apple pie recipe that you found in an old magazine you got at a thrift store.

You see Levi's eyes light up. Apples are his favorite fruit.

"It is your birthday after all." You give him a kiss as you pass by to get more ingredients.

Levi stands back a moment, taking in the scene of his wife and little girl dancing around the kitchen, with his sleeping baby boy being rocked by the swing set in the corner. Somehow he's still the luckiest man alive.

"Daddy! We need another bowl!" Your daughter calls to him, snapping him back with a blind.

"Yes my little reindeer, coming right up." He is glad the pains of yesterday are gone and he is able to participate in the fun.

Just as the new cookies are coming out of the oven there's a knock on the door.

"Yay!" Your daughter tears off the oven mitts and heads to the door.

"Ouch!" Levi grabs a hot apple cookie for himself before anyone else can get to it, burning his fingers slightly, tossing it back and fourth from hand to hand.

"See who it is first!" You yell out to your daughter. "Levi!" You turn to him next, getting a plate for him.

"Sorry. Thanks." He says a little sheepishly.

Your baby boy is up now making a fuss from the commotion.

Levi washes his hands and picks him up while you finish laying out the goodies on the counter, smirking at your husband as he uses his free hand to pop the apple cookie into his mouth.

You go into the living room to find three new faces.

Jean and Connie are laying out presents they brought for everyone as Sasha is hugging your daughter.

"You've grown!" She says to her.

The trio then turn to greet you.

"Hey all." You smile at them, thanking them for the gifts, and let them know before they head out there's cookies in the kitchen.

"Awesome!" Connie cheers and goes over to greet Levi and the baby before going to get some goods.

Jean does the same, but Sasha comes over to tickle the baby a little bit, making him giggle. She has been a great babysitter since your daughter was little.

"Go get some before those bums eat them all" Levi tells her, knowing she really wants some sweets.

She doesn't need to be asked twice and now you're all back in the kitchen eating cookies.

"These are delicious!"

"Thanks for sharing!"

The younger trio may cause a ruckus at times, but really are a big help when you need a bit.

"Come on princess, ready to go sledding?" Jean asks your daughter who lights up.

"Go on, we'll put your brother to bed first then be out." Levi tells her, and she and the guys head out.

"Can I help?" Sasha asks you. She has lots of little siblings and will babysit for you again soon.

"Sure." You thank her and head up to put your little boy down for a nap. Making sure he's comfy you take the baby monitor and go out into the front yard.

You find the instant camera that you got for Christmas last year and take photos of all the fun.

There's sledding and snowman building and a small snowball fight leaving everyone laughing.

"Thanks for coming over guys. What else do you have planned?" You ask as you head back inside after a while.

"We have a few other places to go. But of course we had to stop here!" Sasha says happily.

Before they go everyone asks to see the baby again and you wake him from his nap. He's slept enough that he's not too fussy and is content being passed around for a few minutes.

You open up the gifts from them, both your children getting more spoiled, and a couple things included for you and Levi.

"Here, for you." You give each of them a little something too, and a couple cookies for the road.

You say your goodbyes soon after and are back down to just the members of the household and make something for lunch and put on a movie while eating. You let Levi pick.

"How about we watch a home movie?" He suggests, and you and your daughter think that's a very good idea.

You spend the rest of the afternoon cuddled on the couch, watching scenes of your and Levi's wedding, some of your daughters birthdays, and a trip to a national park.

In between you put your son back down for another quick nap to stay on schedule and finish the rest of the gift giving before dinner.

"Oh! The slippers I wanted!" You laugh at the furry cushioned slippers in bright yellow.

"It was the only color in your size." Levi says, kissing your cheek.

"I love them." You hug him as your daughter opens up a new puzzle.

A few more rounds reveal books for everyone and some homemade accessories your daughter made at school.

One last present has Levi's name on it.

"For your birthday." As is custom, he gets the last gift of the night.

"I don't know what else I could need or that you could give me." He says, taking the thin box.

You turn to him and your daughter sits at his feet.

"It couldn't possibly be…" He trails off, and you laugh and shake your head.

"No, no more upcoming children. That was last years present." Not to say there wouldn't be another one in the future.

Levi unwraps it and looks at it a moment.

"It's not quite as personal as a few others, but it's… well, I hope you like it." You look at your daughter who is grinning. She knows her daddy will love it.

"It's a… comic book." He realizes this but can't seem to grasp it.

The hero, is him. Somehow you have put an animated Levi on the cover of a comic book.

He flips through the pages, that have him having his own superhero identity, fighting crime, saving the day, and coming home to his family. You. You're all in this book. Even your son. Every detail down to Levi's missing fingers from his accident years earlier.

"It's our way of saying, you're our hero. Everyday, sweetheart." You say, brushing his hair back as he quietly flips through it all.

"You're a superhero dad!" You daughter says, laying her head on his knee.

"I'm… I'm your…" He's speechless. It almost would seem like a silly gift, that you would give a teenage boy, not a husband and father of two with an injury that acts up sometimes.

"Thank you." He says quietly, sounding a little emotional.

Levi loves it. He loves that you're all in it. That he can save the day, come to the rescue, and live out his days with his family.

"The suit's a little corny." He jokes, making you and your daughter laugh and hug him.

He puts the book down and hugs you back.

"I'll, I'll need an updated one in a few years." He tells you, voice a little shaky. One for when the kids are a little older.

This is how you really view him. Even though you tell him, for some reason, this finally makes it sink in. He's your hero.

You settle back in and look over the book together. It warms all your hearts. Especially the parts that you're all together.

You don't realize the time until you hear your son babbling on the baby monitor.

You put all the gifts aside and stand up. Hugging Levi you kiss his cheek. "Merry birthday, my love." You head up to get your son.

Your daughter leans on her fathers arm as they walk into the kitchen.

"You really like it, daddy?" She asks him.

"I do. I really do." He kisses her head.

"Daddy, I was thinking. I know right now isn't a good time, cause a baby is a lot of work…" She trails off with her thought.

"They are. What are you thinking of?" Levi asks her.

"Next year, maybe if we both ask, mama will let us have a dog." She looks up at him.

He chuckles and looks down at her.

Yes, babies are a lot of work, so now isn't the right time. His daughter is a smart one. She also has very good ideas.

"That could be something I could get behind." They share a knowing smile, just as you come into the kitchen.

"Ready to eat, my loves?" You ask with your son on your hip, feeling like maybe you missed something, but adoring the moments Levi gets to share with your daughter.

"Yes, let's eat!" They both exclaim, helping around the kitchen.

The plan for next year is put out of their minds. There is a lot of time for that. Tonight, you are all a happy family, another successful Christmas day and birthday. With many more to come.

[writingsofwesteros]

https://www.tumblr.com/writingsofwesteros/759057113522847744/which-characters-are-the-most-likely-to-develop-an

Imagine Daemon technically going off the deep end a little.

He just saw the dragonseed girl maybe a few times

But already he’s nearly certain she’s related to him

Who knows if that’s true…. Or if he just likes thinking it is. She could just be Lyseni. Sent for accidentally. But yet he brings her with him. The girl is quite confused. Happy she has as much food as she could want and a place to sleep. But…. Confused.

She doesn’t know as she sleeps, Daemon strokes his cock above her

Soon he might snap and just start fucking her because…. Why should he not?

When he does, he might be telling her they could be related while he’s inside her. Asking her how it feels to have her father (or uncle’s) cock inside her

-

Also I see Aemond in a situation like this MAYBE

Imagine if, for comfort, when Aemond visited the brothel, he instead finds a new silver haired girl. He pays extra to reserve her. And develops an obsession bordering on delusion. That she must be his sister.

He holds her tight while he takes her first, which he went through so much trouble to buy. As things in his life become more stressful, he returns more and more often. Taking her over and over. Becoming more deluded. Sometimes he calls himself Aegon the conqueror and says she’s his Rhaenys.

He should feel guilty. Oh he should. But while he’s inside this poor girl, sloppily thrusting his stress away, he begs her to call him brother. He cums hard when she obliges and says she enjoys having her brother’s cock fit so perfectly in her. He’ll lie with her often and just keep it inside. When Storm’s end goes wrong, he’s back with her. His body on top of hers. As he feels the world closing in around him, he makes her swear she’ll always love her brother

The hottest !!

Why are these boys such the same coin 🥺

Daemon just picking a dragonseed and taking her...poor thing just follows for the food and bed that Mysaria had once done so.

all she can do is take what the Prince gives her bit she can't deny the pleasure he gives her as she clings to his body.

<<<<

Aemond losing himself; living an illusion with her as she wraps herself around his body and protection. His fat cock twitching inside her creamy pussy each time she whispers brother.

[starfall-spirit]

Read on Ao3

Summary: Feyre takes some time to talk to one of her more reserved students, unveiling an adorable. yet heartbreaking Christmas wish.

OR

Rhys' little sister gets him a girlfriend.

“Three, two—” The bell above the studio door chimed and Ressina swept out from behind the front counter to greet the first arrivals for the evening class. A rambunctious pair of boys, ages eight and five. “Hello, my lovelies, I’ve missed you!”

Ressina was wonderful with the kids and had a particular fondness for greeting the younger classes and getting them settled. Turning away, Feyre finished setting out the paint and water before sitting down to start a few designs in pencil for the children to paint over. Elves, gingerbread men, angels, and snowmen. She’d need to draw a few more once the little ones had picked out what they wanted to draw, but it was good to get a little extra done before the place turned into a madhouse. 

It didn’t take long for all ten students to arrive, crowding into the studio and stripping out of their winter coats before sitting down at the table. The parents—and brother, in little Avyanna’s case—were left to line the walls, conversing among themselves. “What’s that, Ms. Feyre?”

She smiled. Avy was the meekest voice of the group, a bit wary of the children around her, though she’d seen her laughing with a few of the other girls on occasion and she seemed to be making better social progress with each class. “We’ll be painting ornaments today. You get to pick your favorite design and paint it whatever colors you want. Then Miss Ressina and I will dry it here and give you some pretty ribbon when you come back next week so you can hang it on your tree for your family to enjoy.”

Her eyes widened, lighting up with excitement. “I’d like an angel. Please.”

Feyre gave her another warm smile. “I’ll set this in your spot. Go grab an apron so you don’t stain that pretty shirt.”

“I appreciate the foresight you ladies have for that.” 

Feyre jumped, turning to face the new speaker. At least after two months of classes she could keep from blushing like a fool around him. “Sorry. I didn't notice you Mr. Axton—”

“I think we’ve attended enough lessons to justify you calling me Rhys. I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need to head outside for a moment to make a call, if that’s alright?” 

“Of course. We’re all set here if you need to step out. She’ll be fine.”

“Excellent. Pardon me.” Ruffling his sister’s hair, he stepped back out into the cold, pressing the phone to his ear, a scowl on his face the next time he spoke.

“Do you like my brother?” Avy asked the next time she circled back to their group. A bit startled by the subject, she hesitated to answer. “He likes you, you know.” The statement was out of the blue, an absent thought as she started to paint the angel wings as precisely as any six year old could. “He doesn’t talk about it, but he watches you while we’re here. I think it would make him happy if you went on a date. Happier than he is now, at least.” She had a solemn look about her, her shoulders curving in slightly. “That’s all I want this Christmas. For him to do something that makes him happy.”

While the other children around them were distracted with each other and their art, the parents in hearing range had been following the one sided conversation and were either looking on with amusement at Feyre’s awkwardness or pity for the girl’s homelife. She couldn’t imagine it was easy, going into the holidays just months after losing their parents to a fatal highway crash. 

And how does one tell an elementary-schooler you can’t make people happy by dropping them into a spontaneous date with a stranger. “Sweetheart, I think you and your brother are going to have an amazing Christmas together, especially if you’re with those uncles you keep telling me about.”

“Just wait til he gets back. You’ll see.”

~~~~~

Even smudged with paint and charcoal, the shop owner was gorgeous. Gorgeous and amazing with his sister, which did nothing to help how distracted he was today, trying and failing to tune into the nonsense his uncle was spewing in his ear. “Your parents are dead, Rhysand. If you don’t get a move on—”

“Tell me again, Kier, how I should run this business more like my father. I’m dying for a reason to kick you off the board for good.” Silence. “You’d do well to remember who this company was bequeathed to.”

“Of course, Rhysand,” he ground out. “I didn’t mean to overstep.”

“Then don’t. Get me the contract I requested. I’ll review it in the morning.” 

He shoved his phone back in his pocket, rolling his neck as he calmed himself. If there was one thing he prided himself on it was not letting this shitstorm bleed into his time with his little sister. She was still too young to understand the truth behind a lot that had happened in their life. A mercy and curse, as he was left to question how long he could live with himself, telling her their parents’ car crash was a highway accident.

It was the right call for now, but as her guardian, he still felt like shit. He looked back through the window, spotting Avy in the middle of the table, quiet and reserved among her peers. It was a work in progress, breaking the six-year-old of their father’s rigid teachings, but he had seen glimpses of the rowdy kid she could be once she realized it wouldn’t get her in trouble. 

He pushed back into the art studio, removing his jacket and taking the empty seat beside Avyanna. “How’s it going, Avy?”

“Good. Ms. Feyre’s been helping me. She did the pencil part, see,” she showed him, tracing her finger over the cartoonish pencil marks that outlined the angel design Avy had chosen. She frowned, setting her paintbrush on her paper towel. “Was that Uncle Keir again? You didn’t look happy outside.”

“Ah, I fixed what needed to be fixed. No trouble in sight. What are you painting?”

She was quiet for a moment, likely trying to determine if he was hiding something that should be her business. “An ornament. Miss Ressina has some pretty ribbon we can hang them with so I can take it home and put it on the tree.”

“That sounds like an excellent plan, Avy.”

“How are we doing over here?” Feyre asked the cluster of children, immediately receiving overlapping progress reports on various snowmen, angels, elves, and gingerbread men. 

His sister was still as a statue, looking almost guilty as her instructor checked the paint and water cups around the table. Both of them were doing an excellent job of refusing to make eye contact with him, and Rhys found himself missing the fleeting-yet-bright smile the art teacher normally gifted him once or twice a lesson. 

Avy was far too well-behaved to have made any trouble for the two women leading the weekly lessons and Feyre seemed naturally at ease with parents and students alike. Whatever had shifted would need to be addressed, but it could wait until they weren’t dealing with eavesdroppers. 

“You don’t have to hover, you know,” his sister said, a bit of snark rising in companionship to that guilt. “I can paint on my own.”

Rhys frowned, but respected her request, walking back around the table to stand on the opposite wall. “What am I missing here?” he muttered. 

A father to his right chuckled. “Other than your sister telling Feyre you have a crush on her loud enough for the room to hear, nothing much.”

“Oh, is that all?” His eyes slid back to Feyre. Though she had likely brushed off the prospect of a date with him, something had been said that was weighing her down and it didn’t seem to lift for the rest of the lesson. He honestly didn’t care what the other guardians thought about him staying after they had all shuffled out. “Avy, put on your coat and wait by the door for me, okay?”

“Are you  asking Ms. Feyre on a date?”

“Avyanna, door.” She scampered away and he let out a long sigh, earning a chuckle from Ressina. “Sorry.”

She shook her head. “Feyre, come out here for a moment.”

“Yeah, what’s… up. Hi, Mr.—” He clicked his tongue softly. Feyre sighed in surrender. “Rhys, what can I do for you?”

Ressina was courteous enough to take up whatever was left in the back, leaving Feyre and Rhys with only a six year old for company. “This evening, it came to my attention that my sister made some insinuations that caused you discomfort.”

Her eyes widened in panic. “No!” Blushing, she cleared her throat, stating more calmly, “No, it wasn’t uncomfortable. I just didn’t want to get her hopes up. I didn’t think there was much substance behind…”

“A six-year-old’s second-hand love proclamations?”

She bit her lip. “Something like that. She just… She said it was her Christmas wish for you to be happy. I didn’t want her thinking a good holiday season hinged on romance.”

He swallowed. Did he really come off as someone so miserable Avy said this was her Christmas wish? The business demands were putting him through the wringer, but he thought he was better at wearing a mask. “I appreciate that. All the same though, if you weren’t currently seeing someone… more accurately, if you were interested in going out… Are you free on Saturday?”

Feyre chewed her lip. “Are you asking me because you want to ask me, or just to appease a six-year-old, because I won’t be part of something that—”

He waived his hand in a motion ment to cut off her concern. “If I didn’t have feelings for you I would have nipped this in the bud and left the studio as soon as her ornament was set to dry. I like you, Feyre. So what do you say?”

“Saturday. Can you pick me up from here?”

~~~~~

Taglist: @lulling-night-sky // @edgyellie // @shallyne // @the-lonelybarricade // @darling-archeron // @goddess-aelin // @the-lost-changeling // @faeriequeensuriel // @pandavelaris // @s-uppertime // @elentiya-whitethorn // @acotar-fanns // @jealousveronya // @acourtofwips // @reverie-tales // @gwynkyrie // @corcracrow // @thelovelymadone // @rosanna-writer

[catsofcalifornia]

Quincy and Wincey from Ohlone Humane Society in Fremont, California

Click here for more information about adoption and other ways to help!

Click here for a link to Ohlone Humane Society's main website.

Meet Quincy! Have you ever gone fishing? Well, you can with Quincy! This funny little cat is reserved and shy at first, but you can get him to play with his favorite string toy. He loves to hold on to the string toy for dear life so you can pull him along a bit until he loses grip or catches on to your scheme of fishing. Quincy is a bit nervous about being picked up, but likes being held as he gets to know you. He much prefers to be body rubbed while relaxed laying down and will let you know with his big loud purrs. He also accepts big smooches on his head. Quincy is bonded with his litter sister Wincey and will cuddle with, groom, and enjoy sharing the same Churu treat with his sister. She provides him with comfort and he provides her with confidence. Both Wincey and Quincy and litter trained and use a Litter Robot.

Meet Wincey! This little girl is the runt of her litter, a little shy at first, but has such a unique look and cute personality. Her eyes are usually a bit closed like she’s always sleepy and she has a funny personality to match! Out of all of her siblings, she loves to nap the most. She even seems a bit lazy when playing with toys. She likes to crawl to where you have the string toy and stretch her little paws out to try and reach the toy without disturbing her perfectly positioned napping posture! She is still of course a kitten, so eventually kitten energy builds up and she will burst out and run around to rustle and tussle with her big brother Quincy whom she is bonded with. She loves to be petted when she’s napping and this itty-bitty girl will let out the smallest itty-bitty purr. But when you hear it, you’ll know she’s happy. Wincey is very food motivated so she’ll come toward you if you have Churu or Temptations or some dehydrated chicken treats. Both Wincey and Quincy are litter trained and use the Robot Litter.

[ddwcaph-game]

This is the stats screen for Kathryn “Katie” Emmerson, my MC for the story. She is the oldest twin, but she is more soft-spoken. Her younger twin brother Landon was always one to wear his emotions directly on his sleeve and take charge of the situation, while she is one to observe before acting. She is a lefty and loves to write, and tends to get lost in her thoughts and daydream often. She is a bookworm and introverted, while her brother is more athletic and social. *Very* much opposites. Katie struggles with her self-image a lot, doubts herself and her abilities. She is one of the top students in the class, but she believe it to be because she works hard, not because of any real talent or intelligence.

While Landon is irresponsible and carefree, she studies and keeps herself on the straight and narrow. After all, *someone* had to fill in the shoes Maggie left unfilled, and their father Arthur… well, who knows where he is? So she kind of had to grow up a bit faster as a result.

I have the headcanon that Katie’s *not* close to her mother Maggie while her twin is, hence him throwing away the locket picture. It hurt Landon more, hence not wanting to keep it. She has lost hope of her mother returning, but she tries to give her brother hope by trying to be more optimistic in front of him about it. Now if Landon can sense that… no idea :O

Rosie, her best friend, does make life a bit more gentle, though– when Katie has a bad day, she knows just who to go to for a hug. Always more willing to listen than to speak, the two tend to balance each other well, with Katie being the more quiet one and Rosie being more outgoing.

In terms of confrontation, Katie acts with words/smarts. So when confronted with B, she cut straight to the point on the matter. She loves learning new things, but in a more innocent way than Lily, I suppose– not as intense of an investigator, but curious of the world just to learn everything about it. (If this is too much, let me know! I got a bit inspired xD)

Hello, thank you for consulting Roselyna’s Matchmaking Service! Rosie had to finish her homework first, so sorry for the late response!

And nope, I don’t think it’s too much. But anyway, here are our Top 3 picks!

1. Well, I can’t *not* choose Roselyna as the top candidate now, can I? 😛 It’s true that Rosie’s more outgoing, but she’s also a great listener for when Katie has to vent, and they’d be able to relate/help with each other’s insecurities. Rosie also admires the much smarter students since she wants to be a teacher, so with Katie believing it’s a result of her hardwork, I think they’d be a good influence for each other. Bonus points too for also being a Daddy’s girl, hehe.

2. Wayne’s probably the second best candidate. Not just by virtue of being Rosie’s bestfriend, but also because Wayne also had a lot of experience with Rosie, back when she was much more reserved. She might not be fond of his troublemaker nature, but she’d probably appreciate his natural curiosity. And he’d know just the thing to cheer Katie up (and uplift her insecurities) with his playful teasing. Would she follow Wayne when he runs away in the Chapter 6 preview? Because I can see that being the scene where they can truly open up to each other.

3. We didn’t have a clear choice for number three, but we’ll go with JM. Being one of the top students means she’ll naturally be interacting with JM quite a bit, so I can see that being the starting spark of their relationship, especially with JM always looking out for her. JM would never make the first move (especially with school being his top priority), but he’d always be there if she needs someone to talk to, and I can see them having a late night conversation where everything just clicks with neither of them realizing it.

[writing-whump]

If it doesn't hurt

Anneliese finds Ryan sick behind the gym. Warning for emeto.

----

Ryan Adler was driving her insane and actively so.

She knew finding access to the boxing club at the campus would be hard. There were no girls, so there was no way Anneliese wouldn't feel like a disruptive element at the gym, even if she just sat there with her laptop open. She switched between reading homework texts and taking notes about their behaviour and the atmosphere, trying to seem as unobtrusive as possible. There was no way to observe the boys without them changing their behaviour because of her intrusion, so she had to take that into account. They all agreed to her presence and were informed of the research she was doing by Lucian, so at least the moral part of the deal was covered.

There were different phases to the gym, with some people on morning and evening workouts, some that just came for a bit of intense punching training or that waited their turn for a little sparring match after a thorough warm up.

She quickly learned that 3 minute long rounds of jumping combined with punches was a whole body strenuous workout that left the boys sweating and breathing hard. She didn't understand how they managed more after that.

She had days reserved for the observation, but since she didn't really know anyone else outside her friendly but distant fellow exchange student of a roommate, she spent most of her breaks and gaps between classes in the gym too. It was a nice place with a view at the well cut campus grass, it was nicely cold in the downstairs sutteren, and nicely sunny in the upstairs part with the bar with drinks and shakes and a nice set of tables. She clicked her way there in peace with good wifi, occasional coffee or sandwich. Better than at the library, where she couldn't eat or drink and had to ask for permission to go see her bag. As cool and intellectual looking as the library was, Anneliese liked to have all her stuff in reach. 

Lately she liked the gym, despite its stuffy air, smell of sweat and haggard breathing of its occupants, because she didn't feel so lonely there. Her room gave her desire privacy, but the silence and emptiness after living her last 24 years with her parents and brother, felt hollow and overwhelming. She wasn't sure she would dress or eat anything proper, if she had no one to see that day. Time run out with mindless scrolling or repeated rewatches of the same movies, when you had a sad spell and no one to check on you. 

Penn was nice. She was lovely, flexible, easy to get along with, but she spend most of her time at the atelier, studied at the library and visited her distant uncle through the weekends. Getting anything out of Penn despite her friendliness was a challenege. Anneliese's roommate never initiated any conversation, didn't share how her day was. She answered sweetly and to the point, when asked, as if afraid any word more would be one word too much. Anneliese wanted to share more. She wanted to discuss the campus life, exchange impressions about Zurich and the differences between their university town, wanted to interrogate her on her creation process of her drawings. And she had many things of her own to share, like what interesting article they discussed at class or what she was reading for an assignment or which one of the fascinating topics for a presentation to pick. That's the trouble when you love what you study - there are hardly any people who can stand your passion. After trying a few times with Penn, Anneliese felt like she was forcing her enthusiasm on her and felt like a drag herself and the effort slowly fizzled out. 

It was frustrating and sad and Anneliese felt like it was her fault. She was a tutor for the last year and a half and she held little input lectures for students that helped with academic writing - she had enough responsibility and training with other students to not fear crowds or talking publicly or leading groups. 

But she couldn't make her roommate talk.

So she went and headed to the gym this evening instead too. Penn might be home sooner today or she might not, but Anneliese wasn't going to sit there and beat herself up over not talking.

The gym was pretty deserted at half 8. Only the permanent members were around - the four Annenelise saw so many times already she was recognising them, despite her terrible memory for faces. (She wished it was some kind of explainable affliction. How can someone be so bad at recognising faces? You changed your hair or wore a hat and you could as well be a new person to her). 

There was Lucian, the most memorable. He was the unofficial captain of the club, the oldest, with the most praxis. And the most mature in a way, since he wasn't particularly friendly, but answered her questions thoroughly, with actual thinking involved. He had hard to miss white blond hair reaching to his chin and such glassy emerald green eyes, you felt like shards were prickling your eyes when looking into them.

Then there was Julian, easy going and friendly, with brown hair always in a loose ponytail. Anneliese was so glad for him having the same haircut each day. Since the fateful call in the park, he became memorable to her for a whole different reason. He felt safe and approachable and he always smiled warmly when he saw her, which was sometimes the only nice interaction her whole lonely campus day.

There was the sulky Coleson, who trained since early childhood in boxing and was meticulous and incredibly graceful, when he moved. But he always looked like something angered him deeply, whenever she saw him; though Julian insisted that was his neutral expression and not something personal against her.

And the last was Ryan. Wild blond curls and dark amber eyed Ryan, who might as well had fire in his eyes and always took up the whole room with his presence. He interacted with her, oh yes he did, in the most mean way. Openly questioning the purpose of her research methods ("You just sit around there all day"), the purpose of the study ("Explorative deductive research? So you don't even know what you want to find out? How lame!") and her study field in general ("Ethnographic what? Cultural studies? What's that even good for? Must be the most useless of all useless humanity faculties."). Yep, he was driving her insane. And not just at the gym. Whenever he saw her at uni, he would start all over with his mocking questions. She didn't even get to talk about her research field specialty - the process oriented approach to writing or that she had consultations with students about their BA and MA thesis weekly. 

She was pretty proud of her expertise, that she could help others with what she knew about writing, and she was excited about what her faculty offered her. Not memorising facts, but actual critical thinking, lots of reading and then discussing said reading. Dream come true.

Explain that to economy students. The core group at the gym had different specialisations, but it was mostly business, accounting, business law or connected to informatics. 

She was sipping her freshly brewed mint tea, trying to fit with the background as the occupants slowly left one after another. Lucian was still in the back office. Somehow the gym didn't have a coach, just him locking the place up and writing down attendance. She wondered whether he was paid for it. Maybe that could be a good thing to ask him about next time. Not sport related activity connected to the club: how were such tasks organised? By whom? If the club members themselves organised themselves and the university simply offered them space and opportunity to do so, how did the person in charge emerge? This could lead back to the group dynamics question, and how abilities are connected to respect and that lead back to treatment and unsaid hierarchies in the club...

She wrote down her notes, finally getting into a flow with her observations. The room was entirely quiet. You knew the club was empty when you could suddenly hear the clock ticking in the cafeteria, without outcries, running feat or arguing. Boys, left unchecked, were incredibly loud creatures. She really should stop thinking of them as such alien beings...

A sudden loud retch interrupted her thoughts. That sound was so unexpected and unfitting to the relaxed atmosphere of the sunset light. Maybe she just imagined it?

But then another sounded. A guttural loud throaty retch. She jumped on her chair, looking back to the direction of Lucian's office, which was alight, but he wasn't there. 

Curious thing was that the sound didn't come from the bathroom on the left. It came from somewhere outside.

Anneliese packed her things in nervous jitter and then cautiously walked out the gym and circled the small cubic building. Normally you would head to the left to the campus, but the retches came from the right, which only led to a dead end with the garden stopping with a high fence.

With her heart thumping loudly in her ears she made the last turn to gasp at the sight.

Ryan was bent in half, hands on his knees, throwing up loudly like a moose. His whole body was shaking, sweat glistening on his neck and he looked a sick green of white in the warm end of spring air.

"Uhmm...can I help you?" Was the first thing that came to mind. She didn't like him, but he looked positively distressed.

He coughed, then spit onto the ground and raised his head. "Do I fucking look like some confused tourist at info point? No-uuurp-way." His tone dripped with sarcasm, his dark amber eyes burning her alive.

"What's wrong with you? Can I get you something?"

He shook his head and an amused smile played on his lips despite the spit hanging of it. "Just go home, Anneliese. Do what any normal person would do, when they hear someone hurl."

"Did your friends leave you here?"

His brows furrowed angrily in offense. "I have pretty good friends, thanks."

"You didn't tell them, did you? Should I call Juls...?"

"No fucking way. Just stay out of it. I don't need any help from you." It would sound a lot more threatening if he didn't keep swallowing convulsively and if she didn't see his hand shake as he dried his mouth off on his sleeve. "Call 'Juls'. Now when did you two move to the nickname area? Pfff."

That was the last drop. She was so done playing it nice with this guy. "What the hell is your problem, huh?" She put her hands on her hips, shaking her professional polite attitude she wore to win people over at this new place. "All I did was freaking offer help to you. But you have to act like an idiot about it. Whenever you see me, you just make fun of me, question me or treat me like I'm useless and bothering you. What the hell did I do to you that you despise me so much, Ryan?"

He blinked at her and stared for a few seconds, dazed. "Huh. That's the first time you said my name. Only took a month."

It was her turn to blink. "What do you-"

His body chose that moment to get involved. Ryan shuddered, and then heaved, but nothing but bile came up. He still leaned all forward, chest spasming. A small whimper escaped him.

Anneliese moved on instinct, giving up on asking or being manageable or trying to guess whatever the correct reaction to this situation would be. She moved forward, her hand shooting to his back, trying to smooth the tensed muscles. His back was soaked with sweat.

"You are okay. Relax. It's alright," she murmured.

"Uuurp. The hell. So is this what a guy must do to get your attention?" He asked through a burp. The playful tone didn't match the state of his body at all.

"I don't understand. You have been mean to me since the beginning." She kept rubbing his back, since he didn't say anything to stop her.

"I wasn't mean. I was trying to make conversation. Make you talk. Get angry. Explain things. Stand up for yourself. But all you did was ignore me, turn a cold shoulder or run away. Like I wasn't even-urrrrp-even worth the effort."

"That's kindergarten logic. The boy who is mean to you just likes you."

"So what if it is? Kindergarten is for children. Children know the best. They are their purest human selves before society gets their claws into them with expectations. You won't insult me with that." He straighned back up and burped loudly.

She watched him like a hawk. He was so shaky and sweaty, but he didn't seem bothered at all. Like he could just ignore his symptoms or as if they weren't distressing him.

"I'm starting to think it's very hard to insult you." She kept her hand on his back, feeling him shiver.

"See? I'm not stupid, just cause I like sports or whatever you seem to think. We aren't aggressive apes beating out excess testerone out of each other. And you come to study us, like we are a damn weird experiment you aren't sure is tolerated at university." He kept a hand on his stomach from the side, leaning sideways a little. Must have been hurting still. She pushed her shoulder into his, trying to steady him. He was way higher than her, he could flop her over easily.

"I'm not studying you like objects or animals. It's called participatory observation, because I want to understand your attitudes, group dynamics, and interactions. It's foreign to me because of my background and my personal knowledge bubble as a researcher, not because I think less of you." She felt his weight as he leaned into the contact between their shoulders. But he held himself in check not to unbalance her.

She wasn't even sure why she blabbed on, but his bleary eyes focused on her.

"Pche. You are good at hiding it, but you think yourself way higher than everyone around." 

"I don't-"

"Hi, it's fine. I do that too. You are a challenge and you work hard and love what you do, so it's hard to impress you." He snickered. "Am I managing?" 

"This is ridiculous." She stepped away from him then as if burned, suddenly feeling self-conscious. How did she dare to touch him so casually out of the blue? He didn't seem to mind at all. 

"Why do you think conflict with someone means connection? That's so weird." She huffed.

"Are you social scientists allowed to say that? I thought the world "normal" and "weird" were all but taboo so you don't force others into stereotypes..." he teased.

"Alright I get it. Did you look this stuff up? You are way too prepared."

"Oh, I'm not. But if I knew getting sick was a way to get your attention..." He burped again, loudly, not even trying to stifle it. 

"What's wrong with you anyway?" She was suspecting he was trying to distract her.

He was silent for a moment, looking into the distance, taking slow measured breaths. "Just exhaustion. Don't worry, you won't catch anything from me."

"That was not- exhaustion?" Did he push himself too much in training? That was horrible and...surprisingly insecure from someone so full of himself.

"I missed almost an entire year. Have to catch up fast or they will leave me behind, when real matches start."  There was seriousness to his voice that was new to the conversation. 

She stared at him for a while, thinking of a polite answers and then scratching them all and wrinkling her nose. "Can't you do it more gradually? Getting sick seems a bit extreme."

He massages his chest with one hand. "If it doesn't hurt, then it isn't working."

She rolled her eyes. 

He grinned. "This is way more fun, when you say what you mean." 

[strnza]

BELLUCCI  FAM  LORE  PT.  1342382  ☀️

carlo  bellucci  (eliza’s  uncle)  was  the  younger  of  anthony  bellucci’s  (eliza’s  grandfather  and  legal  guardian)  two  sons.  anthony’s  wife  died  while  his  sons  were  still  young  -  arguably,  this  miserably  affected  the  rotten  egg  that  is  eliza’s  father  for  the  worse.  carlo  left  sicily  for  america  after  he  turned  eighteen  -  eliza’s  father  abandoned  home  and  his  father  +  brother  long  before  that.  (for  a  little  reminder:  anthony  swooped  in  and  adopted  eliza  from  her  shitty,  abusive,  neglectful  parents  before  she  turned  four  years  old.  thus,  she  was  raised  in  sicily  by  her  grandfather.)

valentina  is  a  born  and  raised  american-italian  jersey  girl.  she  and  carlo  met  in  their  first  year  of  college.  they  tell  their  kids  that  they  were  inseparable,  and,  while  that  is  the  truth  -  they  were  on  and  off  for  a  few  years  until  they  finally  got  hitched  and  never  looked  back.  everything  that  they  do  is  built  on  an  infallible  foundation  of  love.

val  and  carlo  had  seven  kids  -  danny  is  the  eldest,  then  carlo,  then  adelina.

it’s  no  mistake  or  fluke  that  the  carlo  and  val's  children  have  the  biggest,  kindest  hearts  of  anyone  you  could  hope  to  meet  -  the  family  has  overcome  hardship  in  stride.  carlo  firsthand  watched  his  own  brother  be  torn  apart  by  their  mother’s  death  and  chose  to  be  better  than  that  +  impress  that  morality  upon  his  kids:  in  the  bellucci  house,  val  and  carlo  taught  kindness  and  empathy  above  all.  this  was  completely  intentional  and  unmissable  in  their  upbringings.

danny  is  the  picture-perfect  portrait  of  ‘don’t  judge  a  book  by  it’s  cover’  -  he  portrays  every  stereotype  of  ‘jock  with  a  heart  of  gold’  and  ‘overprotective  big  brother’.  he  was  the  one  in  high  school  who  was  star  quarterback  of  the  football  team  and  beating  up  kids  who  bullied  the  outcasts.  he  and  eliza  are  grossly  similar:  their  hearts  are  too  big  for  their  bodies.  they’d  do  anything  and  then  some  for  the  people  they  love,  namely  their  family.  eliza’s  impulsivity  is  the  only  thing  that  separates  her  and  danny  -  where  she  is  impulsive,  he’s  a  bit  more  reserved.  (he  has  to  be  in  order  to  level  her  out.)  if  anything,  he  was  more  impulsive  before  eliza’s  arrival  -  he  reworked  his  own  impulsivity  in  order  to  protect  those  around  him.

after  high  school,  danny  pursued  being  a  volunteer  firefighter  before  deciding  to  continue  on  to  college.  he  received  his  bachelor’s  degree  in  human  services,  received  proper  grief  counseling  certification  and  devoted  himself  to  that  craft.  his  parents  couldn’t  be  any  prouder.

for  all  intents  and  purposes,  eliza  is  the  little  sister  /  daughter  of  the  american  bellucci  clan  that  no  one  ever  expected.  the  american  belluccis  did  come  to  visit  anthony  and  eliza  in  sicily  a  few  times  over  the  years  -  as  often  as  they  could.  eliza  did  have  a  relationship  with  her  cousins,  though,  being  an  ocean  away  from  one  another  at  a  young  age  didn’t  allow  for  the  closeness  that  they’d  have  once  she  came  to  the  usa.

carlo  was  the  one  to  pick  eliza  up  from  the  airport  when  she  left  sicily.  she  was  a  fish  completely  out  of  water,  still  a  kid,  sent  from  the  only  home  she’d  ever  known  to  a  country  she  knew  nothing  about  in  order  to  pursue  her  dream  of  music.  carlo,  val  and  all  eliza’s  cousins  welcomed  her  with  open  arms  when  she  needed  it  most.  her  aunt  and  uncle  became  her  adoptive  mother  and  father,  and  all  her  cousins  as  her  siblings.  it  took  years  to  get  comfortable  again  with  a  family  that  she  never  could’ve  imagined  having,  but  they’re  now  completely  inseparable.

danny  and  eliza  are  the  closest  of  all  the  cousins  /  siblings.  he’s  been  by  her  side  since  the  moment  she  got  to  new  jersey.  he  is  the  only  person  she  calls  when  she’s  in  trouble,  he’s  the  only  person  she  trusts  implicitly,  and  the  same  can  be  said  vice  versa.  there  is  no  danny  without  eliza,  and  there  is  no  eliza  without  danny.

[meximango]

Day 20 - Duel - Cahsi + Alisaie - G

Summary: Two red mages have a friendly spar

“I challenge you, Cahsi–to a duel!”

The teen had come bounding up to her just as she set her backpack down on the table. “Wh–now? Alisaie, I just got back from a long day of channeling my aether into injured folks. As you know. I was with your brother.” 

Cahsi didn’t heal often, preferring and excelling at an offensive role instead, but she didn’t want to get rusty at it–so she’d spent the better part of a day playing the part with Alphinaud. Even after getting rid of the threat to Tuliyollal, there were still plenty of people who needed aid with their wounds. They’d both left when they felt their mana reserves fizzing out faster and faster between bouts of applying lucid dreaming and ethers. “Does that mean you forfeit? Afraid you might lose?” The cheeky grin wasn’t quite genuine. The poor girl was betting on Cahsi’s competitive nature getting the best of her and prodding her into complying. Alisaie would hate to win by default. “Hey now, I didn’t say that… But I’ve always known you to be a chivalrous young lady. Doesn’t this seem a bit underhanded, asking me when I’m exhausted? It wouldn’t be a fair fight!” “I do feel a bit guilty about that, but it’s just a friendly spar, Cahsi. The stakes are low.” “You know I love a spar between friends, but if you’re itching for a fight, I could probably find some quests for you to take on, or there’s always Arya. She’s more at your level, so a spar between you two could benefit you both. Also, she probably misses you. It’s been a while.” Alisaie's face reddened a bit at that, whether from guilt or something else, Cahsi didn’t know. 

“Mor Dhona is a bit far… I’ll visit her soon, but I want to duel you. Right now, if you’re amicable to the request. Besides, a one-on-one fight with you is never fair. I would have to gather at least a light party of our compatriots to even the odds. This is my best chance.” Cahsi chuckled. It was probably true, but all of the former scions were incredibly competent, when it came down to it. After everything they’ve been through, she really couldn’t ask for a group of people better at what they do. She’d trust any of them with her life any day. Cahsi didn’t run through everything alone, she had her companions to help her where it mattered. “You’re selling yourself short, Ali. You really don’t have to wait until I’m low on aether to ask for a duel. I’ll do it anytime–yes, even now. You’ve done amazing things I couldn’t have even dreamed of doing when I was your age. I’m pretty sure I was just  cleaning tables at the Drowning Wench at that point. Hadn’t even picked up an arcanist’s tome yet!” Alisaie flushed again, this time at the praise. She was so hard on herself, Cahsi would need to remind her more often how fantastic she was. 

“You’re right… I want to challenge you as a true test of my skills, to one day overcome you when we’re both at the top of our game. But I never beat you at anything!” “Not true. You are quite the little diplomat, often more tactful than me, though we both lack patience. And you could beat me at navigation skills or cooking any day, trust me.” “Well. I never beat you at anything I care about, then.” That had earned her a smile, at least. 

“Oh, then what about flips! You always do more than me during battle. Show-off.” “Please, your style is just as dramatic and full of flair. You compensate with pirouettes and moves that shine as brightly as you–literally. You are not allowed to limit break anymore, you’re going to blind us all at this rate–” “Says the girl who is always doing it before me, first chance you get! Greedy.” Cahsi shoved Alisaie’s shoulder playfully. She didn’t really mind, but the teen was one to talk! She started making her way back outside, with Alisaie following close behind as expected. “Not my fault you wait on it too long.”

Cahsi shrugged, then pulled out her rapier and magic crystal. “I’ll try to be quicker next time, then. Now, would you care to do this out here in the training grounds or find a clearing? I’m not sure how far you planned on going with your moves.”

“We probably won’t be too destructive, what with your mana levels. I was thinking this could be more of a physical fight, after all. You’re right, I shouldn’t take advantage of your low magical reserves. But your muscles are perfectly intact, so have at you!” Alisaie went and grabbed two wooden training swords (close enough to a rapier), threw one at Cahsi who naturally caught it without issue, and changed her stance. She bent her knees and made a ‘come hither’ motion.

“You’re on, sister!” And with that, Cahsi gave her friend no more time to prepare herself before she lunged forward with her weapon.

Normally, one or two people on the outside of their track would be keeping track of the score, but they hadn’t bothered to find anyone to act as referee. They hadn’t agreed on normal rules, but they never sparred any other way, so the head was off limit, but a tap to any other part of the body with their fake sword counted as a point. The first to ten points was the winner of that round, and they generally did the best two out of three as the overall winner.

Both red mages excelled at offensive moves rather than defense and parrying, so it tended to turn into a race of who could move faster, harder, more unpredictably to get a jump on the other. They could spin and flip out of the way here and there, but mostly they jumped forward and stabbed at each other wildly (and lightly! Though there might be some bruising later).

In lieu of a ref, they counted out loud: “That’s one for C!”

“Yeah, well that brings it up to three for A!”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I just coun–oof!”

“Two for C.”

“I was still right about my score.”

“Yeah, but you let yourself be distracted. Eyes open and light on your feet, girl!”

“Still winning here, aren’t I?”

“Not for long~” Cahsi sang out.

It went on for a few minutes before the first round was won by Alisaie, ten to nine.

“You better not be going easy on me!”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. You got that last point before me fair and square.”

Cahsi knew it would just make Alisaie angry if she didn’t bother trying, so Cahsi was putting effort in, but she was distracted. Despite not doing any physical work today, the spellwork made her more sluggish overall, and she had forgotten to eat or drink today (and normally Alphinaud would have been on her ass about it to make sure she was being healthy, but while they separated to take their lunch breaks at separate food stands, Cahsi had run into Thancred and spent the entire time talking to him instead), so she was beginning to feel faint. She’d powered through far worse, though, and her pride wouldn’t allow her to end this early.

Round two nearly ended much the same, but Cahsi gathered a burst of strength and speed to let it end in her favor. The score was tied. “Last round declares the winner. Think you’ve got this, Ali?”

“You bet I do! I will gracefully sweep victory from your hands on this day, I can feel it!”

“I look forward to it.”

About halfway through their final round, Cahsi stumbled as she became dizzy. Her partner must have noticed, because she stopped mid-lunge to check in with her, concern drawing her brows together slightly. “You good there?”

In lieu of a verbal response, Cahsi gave a slightly shaky thumb’s up, but her stomach betrayed her, taking the chance to growl loudly enough, it could startle a beast into fleeing. The elezen in front of her widened her eyes. “We can grab dinner after this, if you’d like? Loser pays?”

“Sure.” The lackluster response from Cahsi made Alisaie’s eyebrows pinch together in worry.

“I don’t think I’ve heard such a loud grumble from you in quite a while. Didn’t my brother feed you? He’s the one who dragged you along with him on his job, it was the least he could do.”

“Eh. Don’t get mad at him, It’s not his responsibility. I got caught up in other things during our breaks. I’ll make sure to eat plenty after this to make up for it.”

“I’ll hold you to that! Are you even good to finish? You look a little pale. I don’t want you keeling over in my moment of triumph, that wouldn’t feel very satisfying.”

Cahsi waved her off, took a few deep breaths and shook her hands to get some feeling back into them. She flashed her a winning hero’s smile. “Thank you for your concern, but I’m perfectly fine to continue, see? The sooner we finish this, the sooner you can buy me some tacos.”

It was convincing enough apparently, because Alisaie sighed and relented. “Fine. Here goes our final few points. May the best warrior win!”

Despite the disadvantages, Cahsi still managed to pull through. She could have gotten away with letting the other win, especially with how she’d given the other a little scare about her low blood sugar, but Cahsi didn’t want to just give away a free victory. It was for the sake of not only her pride, but Alisaie’s as well. The girl would accept nothing less than a win on her own. She got better and better each day and trained hard, so Cahsi knew it wouldn’t be that long before she’d be able to match her, and from there, surpass her.

“I’m proud of you, that was a really good match!”

“I still lost…”

“It was very close, to be fair.”

“You weren’t even at your best!”

“Lies, I’m always at my best.”

“I am literally half-carrying you right now because you almost fell over during your victory lap.”

Cahsi laughed sheepishly. “Well, you should take that as a sign of your skill. You really tired me out!”

Alisaie sighed. “I’ll get you one day, Cahsi.”

“You’ve already got me, look!”

The hand around her waist tightened a bit, and the teen’s face predictably got red. Cahsi suspected the kid crush never fully went away, so she’d have to stop teasing her or let her down easy if a confession ever came (partially why she wanted to get her to visit Arya again. She knew the sparks would fly between them if they just spent a bit more time together!).

“Save your energy, we have a lot of stairs to go before getting to the restaurant.”

[kisaamisa]

ᝰ.ᐟ✮⋆˙𝙉𝙀𝙋𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙃𝙀

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𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: in which a heartbroken boy and a lovesick girl find each other in high school. will she be able to cure his wounds or make them deeper?

a/n ⋆ there is two parts to this bitch because I can't fit all my photos in one post. 🤬🤬

CHAPTER 1 ; HE'S WHAT? ✮

“Uhh, right!”

Baki was rapidly flipping through his notebook after the girl had asked what the project would be about.

“It's supposed to be about some…book?”

“And how long do we have to complete it?”

….

Baki sat there with a confused face. What is it? Why are we completing-

“The project Hanma.”

OH.

“I think we have a week or two to complete it..”

'How the hell did I already embarrass myself in front of her. We haven't been sitting next to each other for more than 5 minutes. Damn Baki, you’re pathetic.'

“Anyways, I'll give you my phone number. Don't text me until I text first or my sister will get on me about having a boyfriend.”

“That doesn't sound too bad.”

“Huh?”

'Shit.'

“Nothing!”

[Name] now squinted and raised her eyebrows, clear suspicion showing and making itself visible on her face.

“Okay if you say so..”

The pair sat in awkward silence and refused to make any eye contact until [name] brought up the fact that they should at least try and get a headstart before meeting again to get all of it finished.

“I'll see you soon! Bye!”

[Name] waved to her new found friend before running off to go start walking home.

Baki stood there with his thoughts clouded. She was so pretty, so nice, so funny. He wanted her as a girlfriend but he didn't want to say anything. He was going through a break up for goodness sake! He at least had to wait a bit or it would seem as if he didn't value his and Kozue's relationship.

“Yeah! Do you wanna go out to that coffee shop later on, Ko?”

Speak of the devil.

“I don't know, I'm a bit tired but I'll text you later whether I'm going or not, okay?”

Baki wanted to desperately walk over to Kozue and apologize for everything and get back together with her, in fact, he was about to until an aggravating and grating voice yelled after him.

One that irritated him just by hearing it.

“HEY BAKI! YOUR BROTHERS FROM OTHER MOTHERS ARE TO PICK YOU UP FROM SCWHOOL!”

The way Katsumi had said those words were in a way that was babyish, practically mocking Baku for being the youngest.

Baki immediately snapped away from his thoughts and realized that he was starting to stare at Kozue. He immediately looked away and sped walked to his friends.

He muttered a slight “I hate you so much you fucking burnt sperm cell” and somehow, Restu heard and started lecturing him about giving respect and how to calm his anger down to at least respect the ones he loves.

Baki couldn't wait until he got home, he was already tired of school.

a/n ⋆ i ate some really good pizza so shout out to pizza hut because I wouldn't have posted anything without it 💗

all right reserved © please do not copy any of my works!

[rhodeybugg]

My MD AU shipkids: A slightly more detailed list.

N x V :

Crumbles/Crumbs [formerly Castiel] -

N and V's eldest son. Disassemblers, like Workers, start their lives in the egg-pod state, and eventually "hatch" after a few weeks of external incubation, where they age and grow similarly to humans. Crumbs looks like V, but has the sweet and goofy personality of his father.

Biscuit, their daughter, was born a few months after her brother hatched. Much to Uzi's disapproval, V was already carrying Biscuit's core while she was nesting with Crumbs and waiting for him to hatch. Biscuit is a perfect mesh of both of her parent's appearances, but tends to act more like her mother.

Uzi x Thad:

Basil - Uzi and Thad's oldest son. He looks exactly like Thad and it scares his dad sometimes. Major mama's boy. Despite having half of his coding and personality from Uzi, he's surprisingly calm. While hatching, Basil refused to leave his shell and wouldn't move until Uzi held him.

Soto - Secondborn. There's a two-year age gap between Basil and Soto. Soto, similarly to Basil, looks like Thad [minus the eyes], but has a bit more of his mother's temper. Soto is the only offspring of Uzi and Thad to display leftover traits of the solver [he's got teeny tiny wings.]

Beretta + Sear - The twins were Uzi and Thad's last attempt to have a daughter [who Thad promised Uzi could name after a gun.] Unfortunately for Uzi, Thad and Lizzy both have a higher chance of producing twin cores. Sear was an oops. Beretta is a carbon copy of Uzi, right down to her love of making clueboards. [Thad is scared. He should be.] Sear managed to get a mixture of both of her parent's appearances, but is more shy and quiet than Beretta. Sear is usually attached to Thad's hip, she's a daddy's girl.

Basil, Beretta and Sear all got the purification strand of the solver via Thad.

Doll x Lizzy:

Suriva + Valentina - Twins, the only two children Doll and Lizzy ever wanted. Suriva is mute [she can speak, she just doesnt want to], and communicates with a little roach keybug that she has adopted. Valentina is essentially a clone of Lizzy with Doll's looks, right down to Lizzy's fashion sense. Suriva is the opposite, looking like Lizzy, but being the quiet and reserved sister. Suriva can and will kill you.

Suriva is a solver carrier, passed down by Doll. Valentina was spared and got the purification strand of the solver via Lizzy

Darren x Rebecca x Emily:

Hollyn -

After Sam was killed during the Cabin Fever field trip, Rebecca and Darren added her to their relationship, knowing that she needed someone to love and lean on after losing her partner. The three share a genuine bond, and Darren loves his girlfriends.

With this, Hollyn is a physical mesh of all three of her parents. Since Rebecca's core was damaged by Uzi, she lost the ability to carry a droneling core, meaning Emily carried the three's child. Hollyn is a booknerd, but got Rebecca's sass, and Darren's...well, being darren. She and Valentina meet up on tuesdays to geek out over books they found from the old human library.

Zara x Tessa:

Carmine -

After taking out the cause of the Elliot Family's curse, Carmine was created thanks to the miracle of JcJenson and their science experiments. Zara and Tessa each gave a sample of their DNA, and once a stable egg was created, Zara aggreed to be the one to carry her. She's got Tessa's auburn hair and Zara's freckles, and loves everything about drones just like her parents. Tessa and Zara agreed that her middle name was to be "Louise" as a nod to her grandmother.

Reese: A leftover droneling from an abandoned company project, Reese was set to be disassembled, but was saved by Tessa. He was raised alongside Carmine, and while he knows he's a different species than his sister, they may as well both be human. Reese was given the middle name "James", similarly to his sister, as a respect to his grandfather.

Carmine picked up drone habits from Reese, such as attempting to sleep upside-down on their bunk beds, and Reese had to learn the hard way that he can't constantly eat human food like Carmine [it makes his tummy hurt :(]

J x Sive:

Ren - The eldest and only daughter of the two.

After being reunited with her long-lost girlfriend, J and Sive rekindled their relationship on copper-9, and came together to have a child.

J was the one that carried Ren, and it was the first time anyone had ever seen J be soft and loving.

Ren looks soft and sweet like Sive, but is just as militant and demanding as J. She looks up to both of her mothers, but is usually trailing behind and attached to J's hip. [She wont admit it, but she likes getting approval and snuggles from both of her moms.]

[bookwyrminspiration]

do you have any novellas you'd recommend? I've been in an awful reading slump

I must confess, I don't read many novellas, but! My dad does, and he frequently recommends them to me (we have fairly similar taste), so I can pad the list with some of those.

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists by Gideon Defoe; there's multiple, and they're these ridiculous short tales of these ridiculous pirates doing. ridiculous things. They made a movie out of the first one. the pirate captain worries he's not entertaining his crew, and on a heist they encounter Charles Darwin, who is training a monkey to be a man and he promises to help him show off this magnificent feat to his snobby superiors and help his rescue his brother from Oxford. Suffice to say things go funky. this is a story that embraces its ridiculousness beautifully

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto; a bittersweet exploration of grief and healing. there's no huge drama, just a girl healing from the loss of her grandmother who finds someone who knew her late grandmother, and finds healing in time and new connections. and in sharing grief with new family. there's also a short story within banana at the end called Moonlight, which also discusses grief. one of my favorites :)

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone; you've likely heard of this one before. an epistolary novel of letters between two enemy soldiers in an infinite war across space and time. one fights for a machine-based side, the other for a garden/nature-based. they travel up and down time, ensuring pieces of the future are correctly in place for themselves and sabotaging each other. but more and more...they find themselves valuing these at-first taunting letters. and there are consequences to that

The Ice Dragon by George RR Martin; this one's meant for a younger audience, but I'm quite fond of it. a little girl was born with the cold inside her, and when the ice dragon visits during winter, she can safely touch it and all the other cold creatures without melting them like other kids. but war is coming, and she has to grow. and as much as she loves this dragon as cold as her, survival means sacrifices.

Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones; an. intriguing story about a kid living on the reservation who sees his dead dad's presence come back to visit--but there's something...off happening. and his little brother's seizure and condition are getting worse, and it turns out there's no escaping the past. this one leaves a bit of unsettling contemplation in my experience--and this author has also written a bunch of other things if it turns out to be to your liking

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark; this is one I haven't read myself, but it's apparently an alternate history in Egypt of detectives trying to solve why this tram car is haunted--and trying to fix it. i intend to read it one day, just haven't yet

Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard; another one I haven't read about a princess sent away as a hostage when she was younger, but who has now returned and now faces an old love (I think? it's a little fuzzy. i believe it's also queer, but I wouldn't want to advertise it on that alone).

American Hippo by Sarah Gailey; recommended by my partner, is comprised of 2 novellas. I don't know much except that it's an alternate world where America did, indeed, bring hippos over to serve as a main meat source. however they are very viscous, and that causes problems, which I believe the main characters are trying to help solve...? they're spoken very fondly about it with me :)

I could likely come up with more if needed, but these are a solid few to get you going--if you want to read any of them. There is, of course, no pressure if none of these work for you! I think, personally, the first two are my top picks from this list; I've used them to get out of slumps myself. I wish you luck!!

[kawaii-sugarii]

Sugar Rush - Next Gen

Incoming: my Next Gen kiddos!

Note: This is going to be a long one, because there's a total of 9 kids to talk about, and only now I'm developing their personalities.

Anyway, I hope that it's all worth it, so...

Here we go!

↓

Starting off with the trio of Von Schweetz kids. Vanellope and Gloyd's chaos loving children.

• Gabrielle Von Schweetz is the eldest daughter of the Von Schweetz family. She's cheeky and mischiuevous, though at the same time sweet and caring towards her friends, especially her siblings, and quite a capable leader. Always up for tricks and pranks, her preference being to do this with style. She's also very sassy, and likes to say snarky comments on occasions.

• Ven Orangeboar Von Schweetz is the middle child, and only son of the Von Schweetz family. A cunning yet laid-back boy who absolutely can't say "no" to an offer of pulling a prank. He inherits his mother's glitch, which helps him anytime he's up for mishief, since as some say, his glitch gives him a speed boost and jump boost. He also has a habit of sticking his tongue out a lot.

• Valerie Von Schweetz is the youngest daughter of the Von Schweetz family. She's in a way the opposite of her siblings, being more quiet and reserved, often seen fidgeting with her long ponytail, but she does sometimes join in on her siblings' chaos. She also inherits her mother's glitch, but unlike Ven, hers is weaker, and only occurs when she expresses extreme emotions.

Next comes a duet of Malarkey kids. Children of the sporty duet, Minty and Swizzle.

• Kentroy Malarkey is the eldest son of the Malarkey family. He's a smart and stubborn kid, and at the same time cool-headed and daring. He likes performing acrobatics and reading a good book, and also enjoys sarcastic humor. He usually knows how to keep a cool head, but there are times when he can get a bit hot-headed. Interestingly, he was the result of unplanned pregnancy, though was fortunately loved from when he was born.

• Zinnia Malarkey is the youngest daughter of the Malarkey family. Often referred to as "Zinn", she's as energetic and bubbly as a little girl can get, in addition to being a sporty daredevil with a lot of adrenaline. Always upbeat and bouncy, she strikes to bring out the good in everyone, even if some of the people she meets are the worst of the worst. She's more trusting than her brother, which makes her rather naive despite her intelligence.

Now for the girl with a 'tude, making it clear that she's Taffyta and Rancis' child.

• Abby Fluggerbutter is the only daughter of the Fluggerbutter family. She's quite a friendly and tomboyish girl, and although she's trying to be different from her parents and doesn't want to become like them, she still retains their loud and cocky attitude. She likes to style her hair and try on new accessories, but in terms of outfits, no matter what the others tell her, she'll always pick comfy hoodies, especially if they're oversized.

Up next, the ever mysterious girl, as well as Adorabeezle's ever mysterious child.

• Eclaire Winterpop is, as far as people know, the only daughter of the Winterpop family. She's a quiet girl, much like her mother, but unlike her, she's less athletic and more lady-like, enoying spending a quiet time with nature, and sometimes play with animals, too. She is shrouded in mysteries, some of which she's aware of. She sometimes wonders about who her father is, though her mother doesn't talk much about him.

Almost there! Now comes the demi-boy, and Sticky and Nougetsia's adopted child.

• Alucard Fruitpunch is the only son of the Wipplesnit family. He's bubbly and relaxed, and incredibly easy-going. He's also an air-head with a creative and imaginative mind, liking to come up with new ideas whenever they can and want. Despite their easy-going nature, Alucard can get nervous rather easily, bumbling over his own words whenever he feels uneasy.

And last but not least, the first OC x Canon kid revealed. Torvald and Cinnaren's tomboy child.

• Toffifee Batterbutter is the only daughter of the Batterbutter family. On one hand, she's a sweet and energetic girl with a smile bright as the sun. On the other hand, she's a brash and boisterous girl with a voice loud as a hawk. She's rather impulsie, and is quick to take action in any situation, sometimes answering with her fists. Very adventurous and playful, always aims for the top, and more often than not refuses to quit.

Aaaaand that's all of them!

(Phew, that took a while.)