#the lady who modeled the pose was super pretty :)
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tex-now · 7 months ago
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ENANENE AU LIGHTNING ROUND LETS GO
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Mermaid gfs!! Idk how exactly they fall in love but they are smitten with each other and visit whenever they can <3 they can't always see each other and they can't live together because Nene is a sea mermaid and ena is a freshwater fish, but they make it work :> maybe through some magic landed to them by a friend? (Witch Haruka anyone?) Very Very nice I love them
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Designer and her super cute customer :> Maybe ena is a famous model and she's doing a fashion shoot that requires some decorative chocolate looking props to be made, and ena finds this wonderful shop with super pretty designs- oh my God the owner is so pretty. Gay panic intensifies
I think they get closer because of nene allowing her to like. Have a say with what goes where I guess? Ena normally doesn't have any control over what she wears and what she gets to do, so nene allowing her to not only refuse certain things but also to let her have a PART in what she gets to wear touched her a lot. (Maybe... ena who never broke through her struggles with art and fully converted to posing and looking cute for social media who eventually got picked up by a modeling agency... and nene who reawakens her passion for art with her passion...maybe....)
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Hermit artist who runs into the prettiest lady while looking for some supplies. She fumbles through a conversation with said pretty lady and ends up asking to draw her. Pretty lady says yes. They kiss at some point
I think this is like in a fantasy esque au but also if ena ended up becoming like her dad; successful and miserable. She doesn't go out almost ever, only ever when she needs supplies or when her annoying roommate (fes Mizuki)drags her outside. Nene I think is a high noble, who's known for her lovely voice. Neither Ena or Nene know who the other is (ena does not bring nene into her dusty ass studio). Ena gets a commission from the Kusanagi family and is like "THE KUSANAGIS? LIKE THE FAMOUS KUSANAGIS? THOSE ONES?" And she meets nene again and they're both like "THAT WAS YOU???"
Very meet-cute, very fluff slight comedic misunderstandings
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I know nene is underwater ignore it. They're both flower nymphs who's flowerpatches bloom next to each other. Nenes flowers seem to hang from something so maybe one day she slips and falls into Ena's flower patch (she doesn't get hurt, thankfully) . Ena is initially apprehensive around her but the friendly human who takes care of both of their flowers (rui) encourages her to give Nene a chance. Nene is really shy but manages to visit Ena and strike up a conversation. Ena. Well. She falls in love like five minutes in. Gay panic once again. They get closer, nene coming down to visit Ena more and more and ena coming up to visit nene occasionally. They fall in love get married and shit this one is just really cute and wholesome, no stakes I think
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Nene is a traveling musician along with her friends, Emu, Tsukasa, and Rui. They give shows not only to the people of the towns they visit, but also to the fairies and mystical creatures who decide to sneak a peak at what they're playing. Ena is one of these mystical creatures, a fairy who was drawn in by her beautiful voice. She never goes far kest she worry her friend, Mizuki, who despite their apprehension seems to be interested in the troupe as well... maybe because of a certain flutist?
Anyway. Ena gets a bit too sloppy one day and gets caught by none other than Nene, who is actually quite kind to her, which surprises Ena, as most humans would try to catch her. They become friendly quickly, and ena has a tiny crush (as if she didnt already have one) by the end of the night (can you tell I like a certain dynamic between them.) Nene eventually has to leave, but she promises Ena that she will come back one day. Ena simply can't wait for that day to come.
I love them so fuking much can you tell
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phoenixcatch7 · 10 months ago
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Just finished bayonetta and honestly it was SO GOOD. FanTASTIC game. Final thoughts:
The final boss fights were both a million times easier than expected but they were over fast enough the hype hadn't had time to run out (and the manic pixie dream girl style bayonetta playlist I had blasting didn't hurt either XD. Hard to be irked when you've got Bling Bling firing at twice speed while you fight a giant hair tentacle lady with face missiles IN SPACE).
Also going in knowing the bayo 2 ending is so much worse because you can see how 500yrs of loptr has just eroded him into a shell of himself ToT. This weapon flailing peacock wearing ash white lunatic is so far from the righteous, devoted warrior who loved his family above all else 😭. He's still wearing his wedding ring!!! And he dotes on tiny cereza whom he never got to hold, but that's it. That's all that's left...
Bayo 2 did the sequel plot twist thing so good, because you can see so much more of loptr in him than balder. The speech rhythm, the weirdly crooning faux polite monologuing, the rippling blue of his eye and outfit despite all his magic (both in this and the next game) being gold?? Yeah!!!
The peacock feathers in his boss fight though,,,,, sooooo pretty. They moved so beautifully, it really had so much elegance and grace, even when I was chopping him up 😍
Him and Jubileus were kinda cheese though. Like, the final Jeanne boss fight was a million times harder and with so much high stakes (having to redo the missile section again). I died like THREE times, and one was because I was curious as to what would happen if I threw Jubileus into a planet (spoiler - she did not in fact take damage but instead shook herself off with an evil grin and one shotted me, boo).
The dance video was so much better than I expected! She moves so fast lmao. There's a lot of repetitive moves but she does it at such speed!! It looks like such a fun dance too lol.
And!! I unlocked the gallery and stuff!!! 100/10 it was an absolute blast to look through and listen to the music, I literally examined every single model and every single piece of concept art. Bayonetta's designs were all amazing but no one told me how feminine every SINGLE character was posed!!! Crying laughing. Everyone had their legs like a meter apart apart from balders 'rich new widow meeting the police at her door' energy.
New drinking game: go through the enemy/demon models and take a shot for every face/human skull you see. It's so creepy lol. Phenomenal character design on all fronts!
Got 10,000 halos for finishing the game and immediately spent it all on the super outfit maker thing. I deserved it!!
Also apparently I got an achievement for using 20 wicked weaves with dodge offset, which is hysterical given I still don't know how to do dodge offset. Still don't know any combos either! It's a miracle I made it this far XD.
The characters are great, even the bosses have little interactions with bayonetta (mostly her cutting them off and shooting them lmao) and the found family energy the bayo/cereza/luka trio had was off the charts, but I'm so glad they didn't go through with it like every male/female leads ever. It has a way of flattening everyone involved :/.
The final cutscene totally happened because bayonetta and Jeanne got together with rodin like 'okay the angels probably think she's actually dead. This is our only chance to do something SO funny' like Enzo and poor luka fully thought she was dead. Jeanne called her nun outfit cosplay. Rodin stole enzos cig and lectured him while he accidentally protected him from falling coffin lids XD. With the intermittent fight scenes in the credits, the dance video, the amount of unlocks I got, what a way to end the game!!
In conclusion - this was definitely a game I'm going to replay and try to 100% (maybe not platinum style, but everything else lol), and it's so obvious how much thought, effort and love was put into it. A masterpiece but also very clearly an older game (the lack of save points and a good place to practice combos, combined with the painfully long chase segments both attest to that). Something I've thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of and something I'm most definitely going to come back to for a while to come.
Kinda want to get bayo 2 now... Do you think they still sell it on cd?
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maxwell-grant · 2 years ago
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any thoughts on the game awards street fighter trailer?
Not too many but a few, the game's got a loooot of content to cover and I'll stick with mostly some character impressions
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Dee Jay! I have never been happier to see Dee Jay! ...I've never usually been happy to see Dee Jay, granted, but this redesign is really all that was needed for me to unreservedly love the dude, it does away with the biggest problem with him that was his basic and kinda-racist design (the new art style also helps a lot). It's such an upgrade in terms of his style and vibe and conveying the kickboxing DJ concept. He looks like someone I'd find at Mongaguá beach if I went down there tomorrow, drumming away and living his best life. I'm so happy for this dude.
I like that they opened the trailer with him, with a club party and him dancing along with the protagonist. LOVE the music notes on his new Super, love his new animations and that camera autograph victory pose, love the sparkles and ways they've incorporated his old moves (he's got a Sonic Boom fakeout and, as obnoxious as that's gonna be to deal with, it's a pretty brilliant choice and one that fits him superbly)
Love that the new minigames, I mean of course they brought the basketball parry, and I'm sure the car destruction's gonna be real fun as always, but I'm surprised they dug back that far and brought some things we haven't seen since Street Fighter 1.
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I think it's really remarkable that, for the trailer shown at The Game Awards of all things, they chose to focus on the return of, arguably the least popular of the New Challengers, and three new characters. Everyone assumed it was a dead giveaway that this was gonna be the Cammy trailer and the fact that it wasn't, and that people still absolutely loved it without complaints, man, what a testament to how confident these guys are in what they're doing. I have never seen a Street Fighter title be this brazen in it's new faces in the trailer period, I've never seen one where EVERY new character or return of an old character, without exception is incredibly popular and well-received.
I'm not too big on Manon? I do like her but she's probably my least favorite as of yet, feels a little more gimmicky than the others and I kinda wonder if she wasn't some SFV concept that they held off on (in fact I'm pretty sure I remember seeing some characters like her on the drafts for Kolin and Menat). She's definitely filling a much-needed niche as the agile pseudo-grappler and, those months of dance training I took for music theater definitely give me a greater appreciation for her animations and pose work.
She's been compared with Abel a lot but I kinda feel like she's a response to Shermie? Definitely with her alt costume. Capcom and SNK riff on each other all the time and I do wonder if someone in the SF6 dev team saw that KOF XV Shermie trailer a couple years back that got the biggest viewcount of all the characters and thought to themselves, hey why don't we have our own sexy French fashionista grappler lady, and that's how Manon was born.
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Oh GOD, Marisa, the standout of the trailer to me. I was hooked from the design alone but that trailer, good God, what a character. Everyone thought she'd be a grappler but no, she's just a tank, absolute beast mode woman who just bulldozes through whatever puny shit you do to repaint the pavement with your face. I get stupid looking at this character, what a glorious addition to the Giants Club of Street Fighter characters.
SHE LIFTS LIONS LIKE KITTIES, living the dream.
She might have some ties to the Illuminati characters? I’m curious if she’s gonna be a villain or anti-hero or on the “just here to fight good” alignment, I’m cool with all of these.
She’s Zangief-size and built for it and we’ve NEVER seen a female character be depicted like this in a fighting game. Every other “big girl” people point to in these games is pretty much always some fitness model with, at best, muscle definition in the arms but a typically thin stomach and torso, identically-attractive to all the other female characters but slightly more ripped.
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You never see women characters built the way Marisa is, You just don’t see muscular women depicted often (if at all) outside of either someone’s fetish or someone’s punchline. Fighting games have a marginally better track record with body type diversity than other game genres but still an incredibly, painfully limited one when it comes to women, who are given like two body types to work with and no one would be able to tell 80% of them apart in either type if they switched acessories.
I am supremely glad over the fact that this is a SF6 character just now making her debut, because if Marisa had debuted at any prior installment in the series I do not think she would have been allowed to be this way. If she was in the 2/Alpha/3 titles, there is no way she'd have been given such an unapologetically burly design, and if she was a IV/V character, she'd be most certainly some kind of awful joke they’d have to rework later.
I love that Marisa is a bruiser, that she’s got an rowdy attitude and might even be a villain, but that she’s not fucking Abigail (...I mean maybe she IS fucking Abigail, I don’t know her life, if anyone could do it it’s her but why would anyone want that tho), that she’s allowed to be so cool. I have nothing but praise for this character so far and I really wanna see how her story unfolds and also I NEED TO PLAY THIS.
I main Big Lads in fighting games and I main all the Big Lads in Street Fighter and now I need to main The Big Lass, I need to land that glorious counter of hers ASAP, I need to Sparta Kick my way through matches, this character has my playstyle written over her and I need this game to be out now damnit
I’m sure he was a nice guy and obviously not saying he was the sole cause of everything, but every step of this development process I’ve been thanking my stars that Ono quit the team, we are so unbelievably lucky
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While I was holding out some hopes that Capcom would make the final boss a woman this time around (especially with all the new characters being so great that this wouldn’t be a worrying prospect), I was also very curious for JP and I’m really excited with how he’s turned out.
He definitely feels like they took their time connecting a whole lot of separate design ideas and undercurrents into a single character to carry them. He is a rich fighting dandy, a modern equivalent to Dudley and Eagle (Eagle in particular since he was the first weapon user in the series). Some have brought up comparisons between him and Rugal Bernstein, which makes a lot of sense as a character to emulate if you’re doing a Final Boss who’s supposed to be like Bison but different, a next evolution of Bison and his power, since that’s kinda what Rugal was, the next evolution of the Fighting Game Final Boss after Bison and Geese.
Like Ed and Falke, he’s another new character who wields Psycho Power and has mysterious connections to Bison, except he doesn’t suck. He’s got a fantasy wizard vibe and his single-letter name and style seems to imply some sort of connection to G, another powerful fighting wizard dressing and behaving like authority figure, and by far the standout character of V.
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G was also said to be the Final Boss of SFV, a position I do think he was qualified for but never really fulfilled because, I don’t think he was supposed to be that entirely, I think they retroactively made him the Boss when Necalli proved to be a dud and the story mode revolved around Bison but they still needed someone who could be the V Boss for assorted reasons.
I think JP is kind of them taking that idea, of G as a Final Boss and important character in the storyline, and sort of doing it right this time around, as he also follows that theme of succession they’ve been doing with these bosses: Emperor/King (Sagat) - Dictator (Bison) - Cult Leader Messiah (Gill) - C.E.O (Seth) - President (G) - N.G.O Oligarch (JP)
He hits such an absurd amount of my aesthetic and conceptual tastes that I, almost don’t believe he’s real? He’s Bison 2 + Eagle + Rugal + G. He’s a Russian supervillain with a dapper red suit vest, gloves reminiscent of black claws, a wonderful mustache and beard combo, and he fights with a cane. He’s got a killer design I absolutely need to take a crack at cosplaying after the game is out.
He has a cat, a detail deemed important enough to go in his bio. He’s voiced by Wally Wingert and Tomokazu Sugita, two people I could watch in anything. He’s got a sick fighting style summoning portals and claws and spike energy spires and one of the most murderous supers in the game yet.
He’s Christopher Lee as a Street Fighter final boss. Can you blame me for thinking more and more that this game is made for me?
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splxt-rxller · 3 years ago
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his name is Saline
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e-munson666 · 2 years ago
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Pretty Poses Ch2
++Joesph Quinn × Model!Reader++
(Dinner with Joseph goes wonderfully, and a lot of time is spent with him, of course social media is blowing up over claims regarding Joe and Lilly*you*)
Content/Warnings ⚠️: 18+ for this series. This chapter is a lot more fluff, Somewhat language, mentions of alcohol, kissing, Joseph being super sweet again. (Again Reader is called Lilly, can easily be changed to yours. Described as brunette)
Taglist: @kellysimagines @hqtetsurou
Pt1 <<<<
🖤Lady hellfire🖤
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Dinner that night with Joseph was spectacular. He took you to a quiet little Cafe in downtown Paris, enough privacy to stay away from the public eye.
The two of you laughed and stared into each others eyes as you spoke to each other.....taking in the moment, as you drank and ate. After a few hours in the restaurant, Joseph took your hand and walked you to your building. He kissed your cheek and told you what a splened time he had with you, promising to call you soon before you walked inside. There were butterflies in your stomach as you walked upstairs, collapsing on your bed with the hugest smile on your face.
Meanwhile as Joseph walked to the town car he had called he was just as giddy as you were, head full of thoughts of you from your dinner together, he was smitten, and he wanted to make sure he got so see you again very soon.
*
That was two weeks ago, and Joseph had taken you on several other spectacular dates around the beautiful, romantic city of Paris France.
Joseph was currently on his way to your building, a little bouquet of flowers in his hands as he made his way to your door.
"Lilly, Josephs here!" Rio chimed as the door knocked. You ran out excitedly, dressed simple in some jeans shorts and tank top on for what Joe told you would be a casual day in the park. You swing the door open to see joseph standing there in a beautiful flowy striped shirt, and also wearing jeans.
He smiled widely at you as he saw you, holding the flowers out to you with a wink, "hello sweetheart, you look lovely"
"Aww thank you Joe, these are beautiful! Let me just hand these off to Rio and we can get going okay?" You smile, leaning back into the threshold of your apartment to yell for your assistant.
Rio came rather quickly, offering Joseph a brief greeting before taking the flowers from you and wishing the two of you a lovely time.
Joe holds out his hand for yours, humming when you interlocked your fingers with his.
"Are you ready for a beautiful lunch in the park near the Eiffel tower?" He asks, kissing your forehead as he walked you out of the building.
You nod excitedly and giggle as he fist pumps in the air dramatically. He returned your giggle, commenting on how cute your nose was all scrunched up when you laugh. You blush up st him as he gently kisses your lips before opening the car door for you.
As expected, your picnic lunch with Joe was beautiful, and romantic. He had a whole private area waiting for the two of you, along with a wonderful assortment of champagne and horderves. The two of your fed each other, giggled, held each other, and continued to get closer to one another as the afternoon went on.
The two of you snapped some lovely picture together on each others phones, making sure faces were concealed to keep up the mystery......or so you thought.
*
~Lillys Instagram~
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LillyxDior: could spend every day next to this man 🥰
*********
~Josephs Instagram~
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JosephQuinn: In her arms is where I want to be, always 🥰
*************
The fans picked up on your not so subtle, and nearly simultaneous Instagram posts. The time stamps, and matching emojis sent fans into a frenzy.
A HUGE number of shippers immediately made stan profiles, mass commenting under both of your pictures, gushing over the two of you.
There were also of course, the trolls and meaner fans of Joseph's who instantly despised the thought of you with him. Both Joes and your management teams suggested you both filter the amount of comments able to come in on your posts, somewhat stifling the hate influx you were getting.
It wasn't just the fans that became a worry, the gossip pages and tabloids ran with the story, calling you "The model that stole a countries heartthrob" and now paparazzi were constantly posted outside your apparent building and Joes hotel.
*
"Love are you okay, with all this craziness going on right now?" Joseph asks over the phone. It had been a few days since the Instagram fiasco first started. The two of you had been so busy meeting with your teams about how to get ahead of the rumors that you didn't get to see each other.
"Im okay Joseph, I promise you. I knew our public rendezvous would eventually catch some attention, and I'm honestly relieved it came from our pages rather than the paparazzi catching us off guard." You respond.
"Im almost done with my meeting baby, then Im gonna come pick you up okay?" Joe says, in a slightly excitable tone.
You sigh, "pick me up for what exactly Mr. Quinn?" You question, hearing his little giggle through the receiver.
"Well my sweet, I have booked us a private flight, to a little spot in Aruba, for us to hang out for a few days until we have to head back into the real world" he chuckles again, "so you might want to start packing a bag yeah?"
You gasp from shock before responding, telling him how excited you were before you both said your goodbyes so you could get your suitcase ready.
"Rio! Are you still here?!" You call out into the hall
"Always girl, whats up, I was about to head out for a daaaaattteee" Rio chirps, sauntering over to you.
"Joe is picking me up in a bit for a surprise trip to Aruba, and I need your help packing asap, is there anyway you have time?!" You blurt out quickly.
"Oh my God! Of course I can spare some time to help you! Okay girl, let's pack you some fun, flirty outfits for your Mr. Hearthrob" Rio teases, poking your side as rolled your eyes.
"Okay okay I get it, just help me get outfits together while I freshen up for the plane" you retort.
"Mmmhmmm, and while you do that I will dig out that slutty little dress and bikini I know you still have hidden away UNTOUCHED"
"OMG SHUT UP" you squeak, tossing a flip flop at your assistant.
"What! Girl I'm just saying, there's a REASON he's taking you to Aruba, away from all the prying eyes stalking you around here.....he's gonna make you guys official, you just wait" Rio snaps his fingers before locating the garment he was in search for.
You hoped Rio was right, you really really hoped thay your trip to Aruba with Joseph would change the status of your relationship together, and it made you even more excited to get going.
*
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A/N: I hope you enjoyed chapter 2!!! Comment for taglist
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miraculous-sunflower · 4 years ago
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don’t steal adrien’s phone - a fanfiction by miraculous_carnation
hi yall! this amazing piece of art isnt unfortunately done by me- it’s by the ultra charming miraculous_carnation on ao3, so be sure to check her out! i’ve gotten her permission to post this here, so dont worry! enjoy the show!
Lila Rossi posed for the camera, putting on a flirty face, Adrien sitting next to her. They were at the Palace of Versailles, the place for their photoshoot. Lila hugged Adrien in a way that made him uncomfortable, running her hands across his back. The photographer, noticing Adrien’s discomfort, asked them to take a 5 minutes break.
Lila walked to where Adrien was sitting. “So, Adrien! The photos are going to look awesome, right? I mean, we look so in love!”
Adrien’s eyes opened wide when he heard her voice. “Um, Lila? I know I’ve said this a lot, but can you please stop touching me? It makes me uncomfortable, and I already have a girlfriend,” Adrien tried to explain.
Lila narrowed her eyes at his last statement. Ugh, that Maritrash. What did Adrien see in her?
“Oh of course, Adrien! I’d never want to do something that would make you feel uncomfortable,” she whispered, leaning towards his mouth. Adrien grew stiff. Luckily, the photographer called for them just in time. Lila rolled her eyes, but then put on a fake smile.
“Oh well, anyways, we better go back, Adrien! We have to finish the shoot!”
Adrien hated photoshoots with Lila. They were the worst. Luckily, it was only for another 30 minutes, because after that, he had an interview with Nadja Chamack on Face to Face.
Lila hid behind a bush, watching Adrien get up and head toward the photoshoot. Perfect. She ran over to the table and picked up his phone.
“Well, Adrien, let’s see who you really love,” she smirked.
“Welcome back to, Face to Face! This is your host, Nadja Chamack, live in Paris!” Nadja Chamack enthusiastically said while the audience clapped. “Today, we have a very important guest. He’s a model, born here in Paris, ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the son of world famous designer Gabriel Agreste, Adrien Agreste!”
2 seconds later, Adrien walked onto the stage, wearing a suit, created specially by his father, strutting in the way his father taught him when he was little. ‘Flash a flirty smile to the audience, then greet Nadja Chamack professionally’, his father’s words repeated in his mind. His father cared about his appearance and reputation, after all…
“Hello there, Nadja! How are you doing today?” Adrien politely asked. He wished he could be somewhere else,particularly running around as CHat Noir, maybe playing a game of tag with Ladybug…
“Oh, well I’m doing wonderful!” Nadja responded, snapping Adrien out of his daze. “Anyways, I’ve got a bunch of questions for you! First one, are you dating Lila Rossi, a fellow model from your father’s company? Are the rumors true?”
Adrien sighed. There were so many rumors about that going around, many of them created by Lila. She already convinced the class that they were dating, when he actually was dating Marinette.
“Sorry, Nadja, but that is incorrect. I am not dating Lila Rossi, but I am dating Marinette Dupain-Cheng, of who you may know.”
Nadja smiled at the name of her friend’s daughter. “Yes, I know Marinette, I commissioned her to create a dress for Manon for my sister’s wedding, and it came out beautiful! Everyone in the audience, go check out Marinette’s website!”
Lila Rossi was watching the Face to Face interview, fuming. She didn’t know he had an interview! How dare Adrien say that! She’d ruin his relationship with Marinette! She tapped into his phone, already knowing his password, courtesy of his father. Gabriel Agreste gave her access to all of his son’s social media accounts for safety reasons. She logged onto his Instagram account and made a new post, adding the photo of Lila kissing him on the cheek.
“So grateful for my girlfriend @lilarossi! Love you!”
She smirked. No way he was getting out of this one.
Nadja Chamack was confused. Apparently, a new post from Adrien on Instagram was posted just now, but how was it possible? Adrien was talking to her the whole time!
She coughed. “Adrien, it seems that there has been a new post on your Instagram,” Adrien looked shocked, “can we have the post on the screen?”
Adrien’s eyes grew wide as he saw the post. “Nadja, I didn’t post that! I couldn’t-”
“I know you didn’t, Adrien. You’ve been talking to me the whole time right now!”, Adrien let out a sigh of relief, “Is it possible your social media team did it?”
Adrien shook his head. “No, they don’t put out posts like that. They only put out posts that promote the brand!”
“So if it wasn’t your social media team, who was it?” Nadja said in confusion. There were several murmurs in the audience as well.
Adrien narrowed his eyes. “Well, I have a hunch. What is the post about?”
Nadja caught on with his thinking. “Oh, so you believe Lila Rossi posted this? How would she have gotten your phone?”
Adrien thought about what happened before the interview. “Well, you see, before coming here, I had a photoshoot with Lila. She probably took my phone then.”
Gabriel Agreste was watching from the safety of his home. Lila Rossi had not thought about this beforehand! She was going to ruin his plan and his brand! How dare she!
Nathalie walked in. “Sir, would you like me to delete the post and disable Adrien’s social media accounts?”
“Yes, Nathalie. Have Adrien’s social media team clean up the mess.” Gabriel sighed. The only good thing that came out of this was that he figured out his son was dating Marinette Dupain-Cheng. It was a good choice, as Marinette was exceptional.
Lila’s eyes grew wide at the revelation. She posted about herself on Adrien’s account when he was in an interview! It made her the prime suspect! Hopefully Mr. Agreste’s social media team could take the blame.
She dialed Mr. Agreste’s number. “Hello, is Mr. Agreste there?”
She was greeted with the monotone voice of Nathalie. “Excuse me, Miss Rossi, but Mr. Agreste has decided to terminate your contract on behalf of Gabriel. You will never model in his brand again. Goodbye.”
Lila gasped. How dare that dumb assistant! She was Lila Rossi! How dare Gabriel Agreste do that to her! She would ruin him!
“On top of recent events, Lila Rossi has lied about many things. She even got Marinette expelled once!” Adrien explained to Nadja, excited that he found a way to expose Lila.
Marinette was watching all of this from the comfort from her room, her mouth wide open. Well, she wasn’t super surprised, Lila would do something like this, but Adrien called her his girlfriend! Sure, they were dating, but she didn’t think he would announce it publicly!
Girl, are you watching Face to Face? Can you believe Lila lied?
Hold up, you’re dating Adrien? Why didn’t you tell me?
Girl, I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. I thought we were BFFs!
Marinette snorted at the latter. BFFs? Yeah, right. Alya literally announced to the class two weeks ago that their friendship was over and that her new best friend would be Lila. Go figure!
“Wow. As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, startling revelations about the newest Gabriel model has come through! Hold on, we have a new post from the official Gabriel Twitter account! Can we please have this on the screen?” Nadja exclaimed.
Adrien read the post, not surprised. Of course his father would try to save face. It wasn’t new. He was just happy he wouldn’t have to model with Lila anymore.
The audience and Nadja gasped when they read the post. “Wow! It looks like the Gabriel brand has officially terminated Lila Rossi’s contract!” Nadja had to act surprised because this was predictable from the fashion designer. Typical Gabriel.
“Well, folks! There was a lot of drama today, but that concludes today’s interview! I hope you come again for another episode of, Face to Face!” Nadja concluded.
Bonus Scene:
“Well, Adrien, you made a good choice with Marinette. She could take over the designing area of the company while you take over the business side. When will you marry her?”
“FATHER!”
“Well, kid, he’s not wrong. Pigtails makes pretty good bread. And oh how good it tastes with camembert! Oh my sweet gooiness!”
“Shut up, Plagg.”
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xneens · 4 years ago
Text
side to side
Warnings: swearing
Word count: 4.6k
Summary: In which you're performing your hit single in front of your fellow Avengers cast-mates and Chris can't seem to take his eyes off of you, catching the attention of a few cameras.
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"I'm here with the biggest pop-star of this generation, and she plays the very talented daughter of Tony Stark," the interviewer announced your name, smiling brightly at you as the camera panned your way. The hundreds of thousands of fans at home screaming when your face appeared. "How do you feel with all your nominations tonight?"
You smiled at the camera, giving a small wave at the people watching at home. "Honestly, I'm just glad I was even considered for these nominations. I mean, my girls Taylor, and Billie...they're amazing and I'm so happy to be put in the same category as them."
The lady grinned at you, her eyes twinkling. Or maybe it was her sparkly dress, the fabric nearly blinding you with how it shined under the lights. "If you ask me, you've got a pretty good chance at winning. I mean, your hit single—Side to Side—surpassed, like, a billion views in just a month? That's impressive."
"Well, I couldn't have done it without my fans." you replied, winking at the camera.
It was that time of the year again, where every artist, actor, and YouTuber hit the stage for the People's Choice Awards. With your crazy schedule, and the lack of sleep, you had planned to skip the award show until your friend, and co-star, Chris Evans—Captain America himself—convinced you otherwise. Even with the categories you've been nominated for had been more than a handful, but it was the begging and constant complaining from Chris that made you get off your tired ass and put it into a tight dress.
Your hit single, Side to Side, had everyone anticipated for your performance, unsure if you would be performing until the producers had put your name into the advertisement, making fans blow up Twitter. You were sure they had advertised your own song, along with your movie nominations, more than you ever had.
With nominations of Movie of the Year (Avengers: Infinity War), Action Movie of the Year (Avengers: Infinity War), Female Movie Star of the Year (Amara Stark), Female Artist of the Year, Song of the Year (Side to Side), Music Video of the Year (Into You), Beauty Influencer of the Year, and Social Celebrity of the Year, you had your hands full, which had only made your manager glow with happiness.
"Of course!" the interviewer agreed, glancing at the teleprompter filled with tiny words. "It was rumored that you wouldn't be coming, and a lot of us were upset, including me. Was that just a rumor or..."
"Actually, it's not that far off. I'm fucking—oh, shit—oh no!" you gasped, covering your mouth before anymore foul words could come out on live television. Instead of correcting you, the lady laughed, patting your arm softly. "Can't say that on tv. My bad. I, uh, with everything going on, I've been really tired, and I haven't slept in a week. I just wanted to chill, and accept my nominations at home but someone convinced me to come. So, if I say or do anything ridiculous tonight, I'm blaming him and my lack of sleep."
She nodded, clapping slowly. "I think that's fair. Is that someone, your onscreen father, RDJ?"
"He was one of the many people who unsuccessfully changed my mind, but no, it was Chris Evans. He promised me a day with his adorable dog, Dodger, and I couldn't refuse." you said, grinning at how his face had changed from hopeless to cocky as soon as he brought up Dodger.
"If I'm remembering this correctly, Chris Evans is that very handsome man you had kissed in your music video earlier this year. Into You, right? How do you feel kissing one of your co-stars outside of the movies your working on?"
"Technically, it was still acting, and I have kissed him before, so it wasn't awkward at all." you answered, glad Chris had accepted the role. Not only had it sky-rocketed the views and streams, but it made you feel better that it was his lips you were kissing and not a random model's. Yet, it didn't feel as professional as it had before when you pulled away after a take.
In scenes where you had to kiss the Boston actor, it was as professional as kicking Anthony Mackie's ass in Civil War but the kisses you shared on the set of the music video was definitely more personal. At the time, you had brushed it off as Chris being recently single, but now that you had broken up with Henry, you started questioning it again.
The interviewer nodded, squinting once more to read the words off the teleprompter before asking you another question that would certainly make the headlines. "I've been reading up on all those juicy tabloids and I've got one question that would satisfy my curiosity. Was Into You written about Henry Cavill or Tom Ellis?"
Usually, that type of question made you change the subject or altogether avoid the matter but this time, you wanted to joke about your failed engagement. "Henry, but Side to Side was written about Tom since I wanted more Grammy's considering the last album I put out won me a few. But this time, I'm gonna do it without an engagement."
The woman faked a laugh, surprised by the blunt honesty of your answer. "Um, you certainly do have a thing for British men, eh? I don't want to keep you up, but one more thing, for the fans. They've been dying to know if there's anything going on between you and Chris Evans. Any tea you wanna spill?"
"There's none to spill. We're just friends but it's always amusing scrolling through Twitter to find these edits of us." you replied, fidgeting slightly with the hem of your dress. Like usual, you had wondered if you should've worn something less extra but you had let your stylist play dress up with you for the past few months.
"Of course. Well, good luck to you, and I can't wait to see your performance." she said, giving you a little pat on the shoulders before announcing your name once again.
You got off the little platform, immediately taking Chris' awaiting hand, holding onto it as you climbed down the steps in your dangerous stilettos. Sighing, you leaned on him, trying to avoid the blinding camera flashes. "That was more exhausting than I thought it would be. You need to get me some caffeine after this is over because there's no way I'm making it to the after show without at least a few cans of Red Bull."
"So dramatic." Chris grinned, childishly sticking his tongue out as he guided you down the red carpet, stopping when told to take a picture. He let go of your hand, only to wrap it around your waist as you posed for the pictures. "Are you going to the after party?"
Posing seriously for a few seconds, you let your smile back on your face, facing the man beside you. "I was thinking about it, take a few photos, and head back home. Aren't you?"
"Actually, I was thinking we could ditch it and just hang out. You know, I did promise you some time with Dodger and you could waste a couple hours sleeping." he replied, his hand tightening ever so slightly on your waist. Flashing you a shit-eating smirk, he nudged you a little, pulling you away from the blinding flashes. "What do you say?"
You opened your mouth to answer only to be cut off by your manager, Alexandre coming out of nowhere to rip you away from Chris' arms. The latin man sighed in annoyance, glancing at his watch while giving you the look you've seen too many times before. "You're supposed to be in wardrobe right now. Get your ass backstage, and change before you miss your own performance. As for you, Mr. Evans, Megan wants your ass in a chair."
"I'll see you after." you say, getting dragged by your manager, winking at the actor before walking towards the changing area, the cameras following you until they couldn't enter the area.
Getting ready before a huge performance always calmed you down, maybe it was the smell of makeup or the feel of designer clothing made especially for you, but something about it made you feel comfortable and cozy. It was like a routine, especially with all the music videos and movies you had to film, the makeup, the hair.
They made you sit back, giving you your phone like a child while they made you even more sparkly than before, making sure you'd stand out against the flashing lights during the performance. A performance you made sure no one would ever forget. Smiling, you let your thoughts drift back to a certain super soldier as you were pampered.
"Welcome to the People's Choice Awards!"
The room darkened, the blue and pinks lights focusing on the stage as cameras all turned towards your shadow. Making sure your mic was set properly, tried to see past the darkness, to see a familiar face or two but with the headache coming on from the tight half-ponytail didn't help your case. The music started, the beat vibrating, you flipped your hair, and started.
"I've been there all night
I've been there all day (Nicki Minaj)
And boy, got me walkin' side to side (Let then hoes know)"
You rode the bike, belting out in your microphone, the attached headset limiting your movements a little. Gripping the handles, you made eye contact at the camera to your left, winking at it as you pedaled.
"I'm talkin' to ya
See you standing over there with your body
Feeling like I wanna rock with your body
And we don't gotta think 'bout nothin'
I'm comin' at ya
'Cause I know you got a bad reputation
Doesn't matter, 'cause you give me temptation
And we don't gotta think 'bout nothin'"
As you had sung, your eyes had adjusted to the bright spotlight focused on you, seeing a shadow of the one person you wanted to make you walk side to side. While you had answered the reporter's question, you hadn't been completely honest. Some of the lyrics had been written for the Bostonian; or to be more exact, your sex fantasies. With the chorus coming up, you let go of the handles, trying not to fall on your ass as you clapped your hands above your head, the claps matching the beat.
"These friends keep talkin' way too much
Say I should give you up
Can't hear them, no, 'cause I..."
Trying to be bold, you stared at him, his face in particular. The spotlight had blinded you so much that you couldn't see what his reaction was—or anyone's for that matter—but maybe it was a good thing. After all, his gaze always made you blush no matter how hard you tried not to. Pedaling faster, you threw your head back, hoping the motion would draw everyone's—Chris'—eyes on your chest.
"I've been here all night
I've been here all day
And boy, got me walkin' side to side
I've been here all night
I've been here all day
And boy, got me walkin' side to side"
With the help of a shirtless dancer, you got off your bike, taking the sheer jacket from him, and putting it on as you walked towards the front of the stage, moving your hips in to the beat of the song. Resting a hand on a shirtless dancer, you positioned yourself so you were grinding your ass against his crotch, throwing back an arm around his neck.
"Been tryna hide it
Baby, what's it gonna hurt if they don't know?
Makin' everybody think that we solo
Just as long as you know you got me
And boy, I got ya
'Cause tonight I'm making deal with the devil
And I know it's gonna get me in trouble
Just as long as you know you got me"
Sashaying to the little balance beam at the front of the stage, you made sure your hips swayed more than usual.
"These friends keep talkin' way too much
Say I should give you up
Can't hear them, no, 'cause I...
"I've been here all night
I've been here all day
And boy, got me walkin' side to side
I've been here all night
I've been here all day
And boy, got me walkin' side to side"
A few seconds after your note ended, you strike a pose on the balance beam, posing for a few more seconds while the cameras turned their attention away from you and onto the queen of rap herself: Nicki Minaj. The leather, pink bodysuit was identical to yours except for the color, her attitude fitting the badass outfit. She began to walk towards the stage, never breaking eye contact with the camera in front of her while the men pretending to work out to the choreo.
"Uh, yeah
This the new style with the fresh type of flow
Wrist icicle, ride dick bicycle
Come through yo, get you this type of blow
If you want a ménage, I got a tricycle
All these bitches' flows is my mini-me
Body smoking, so they call me Young Nicki Chimney
Rappers in they feelings 'cause they feelin' me
Uh, I-I give zero fucks and I got zero chill in me
Kissing me, copped the blue box that say Tiffany
Curry with the shot, just tell 'em to call me Stephanie
Gun pop, then I make my gum pop
I'm the queen of rap"
By the time she had finished her verse, you had caught up with the multitasking of both working out and singing, able to use your full singing capabilities for your high note. Nicki joined you on stage, hyping up the crowd while you built up for the high note, almost every camera pointed at you except for the one focused on capturing the headline-worthy expression slapped on Chris' face.
"These friends keep talkin' way too much
Say I should give em up
Can't hear them, no, 'cause I...
"I've been here all night (Been here all night, baby)
I've been here all day (Been here all night, baby)
And boy, got me walkin' side to side (Side to side)
I've been here all night (Been here all night, baby)
I've been here all day (Been here all day, baby) (Ooh, baby)
And boy, got me walkin' side to side (Side to side)"
Both you and Nicki motioned for the dancers to come towards you, curling your index finger at the sexy men. Singing the refrain, you both made them drop to their knees in front of you, as if they were kneeling at your command.
Just as the last note was sung, everyone clapped, the majority standing up, and more cheered. You noticed Chris hadn't done either, still sitting in his motionless while two camera men pointed their cameras at him. Your eyebrows furrowed, thankfully after the spotlight had shifted over to the miniature stage where the two hosts were babbling about nominations.
You were ushered off the stage along with the queen of rap herself, taking a few backstage photos before quickly returning back to your dressing room to change into your tailored dress. Your mind had wandered to why Chris hadn't applauded—not that he was obliged too, but a little something would've nice, especially with all the days put into the performance.
Taking a deep breath, you entered the big room, filled with your co-stars and other A-list celebrities. Little did you know you'd find out the reason to your question in the morning.
The loud ringtone woke you up, the sound obnoxious and borderline abuse to your ears. Beside you, Chris groaned, rolling onto his stomach, trying to muffle the sound of the call with his arm draped over his head. Putting him out his misery, you lazily reached for your phone, pressing the green button with dread, seeing the name across the screen.
"Hello—"
"You're trending on Twitter." Alexandre announced, happy with the results of the previous awards show. While it wasn't something as big as a Grammy or Oscar, judging by the amount of awards you had taken home, you became the people's favorite. "Hold on, lemme rephrase that. You and Chris are trending. Number one, world wide."
Glancing at the man sleeping beside you, you sat up, confused by the information given to you. You blamed Chris for making you stay up so late for your confusion. "Um, why? Did I accidentally have another nip slip?"
"What the hell?" Chris mumbled, rolling onto his back, his arm grazing your bare stomach. He immediately took it back, sitting up to look over your puzzled face. "What's going on?"
You shrugged, putting your phone on speaker so Alexandre could explain. Your manager chuckled, knowing you had stayed the night with Chris. He was just waiting for the day you'd finally have the guts to speak about the growing sexual tension. "Okay, Alex, explain."
"As much as I would love to go into full detail, I have other stuff to do so, I'm going to give you the basics. Chris' reaction to your performance went viral, people are shipping the both of you, and there's been thousands of memes made." Alexandre replied, a smile evident in his voice. "Anyways, I have to go. Got some interviews to schedule. Have fun getting your way out of this, Chris."
Your phone screen went back to the home screen, a picture of your family dog, Buster, smiling widely. Looking at Chris, you saw his eyes widened, his hands coming to rest of his face in embarrassment as he fell back onto the bed with a bounce, his head nearly hitting the headboard. "Oh, fuck."
"Are you going to show me what your face looked like or do I have to scroll through Twitter until I find it? Oh! Maybe they edited it in my performance." you thought out load, tapping on the YouTube app. You hadn't trusted yourself enough to log into your official account, knowing you'd probably make a mistake so you opted for having a secondary account where you could watch cat videos without the anxiety of posting something stupid.
Chris' hand snatched your phone away, tucking it in his pocket, the sweats he had slept in was somehow wrinkled, and his shirt damp from the warmth. "You wanna get some food? I'll cook some bacon but you'll have to make the pancakes 'cause the last time—"
"I wanna see your reaction." you whined, reaching across his stomach for your phone. Chris turned his body away from you, shielding the phone from your reach. "Chris!"
He waved your attempt away, rolling off the bed, his feet hitting the floor before you could fall back on the mattress.You poured, getting on all fours, crawling towards the edge. Chris took a step back, brows furrowing. "It's not important. Let's get you some food."
"Fine." you mumbled, an idea making you light up. Rolling off the bed, you glanced at his phone on the nightstand, exposed and easy to take. With quick reflexes, you grabbed his phone, rolling back on the bed until you reached the other side, making it impossible for him to reach for his phone back.
"Hey!" the Bostonian shouted, launching himself on the bed in attempt to get his phone back. He made a noise as you rushed out of your room, locking yourself in the nearby bathroom, laughing evilly when he threw himself at the door. He yelled out your name, his fist banging on the door. "I'm serious! Don't!"
Ignoring his begging, you opened his phone with your thumbprint. How ironic how much he didn't want you to look at his phone when he was the one who insisted you have the password to it. His arguments became louder as you opened up his Twitter, immediately heading to the trending section, seeing both your names at the number one spot.
"Damn, I look hot." you joked out loud, making Chris silent for a second before pleading for you not to continue. You smirked, scrolling through the tweets, trying to find his reaction. "Jesus Christ, what the hell happened to you? Did you fall on your face or something?"
Chris groaned, banging his head on the door in defeat as he heard your almost inaudible gasp, that quickly turned into little giggles. If he wasn't so embarrassed, he would've broken the door down to hold you in his arms. "Oh, no."
Bursting out into hard laughter, you fell into the large bathtub, hitting your head on the wall but you couldn't care less. The expression on his face during your performance had been borderline comical, the wide eyes, the jaw hanging open, the open hand resting on his chin while his eyes stayed strained on you the whole time, never wavering from your body, the sexy choreography making his jeans tight.
Cackling like the Wicked Witch of the West, tears ran down your cheeks, your stomach cramping from the maniacal laughter. Lifting yourself up from the tub, you stumbled to the door, your loud laugh ringing out towards the whole house. You let Chris in the bathroom, his phone quickly taken from your hand but it was too late. The blush on his cheeks wasn't going away anytime soon. You leaned against him, your head resting on his chest, while you panted out a question. "Why did you look like you were trying to attract flies in your mouth?"
Chris groaned again, covering his eyes with a hand while the other rested on your back. "You're not going to let me live this down, are you?"
"Oh, God, no." you giggled, wiping the tears away, beginning to calm down. Glancing up at him, you noticed everything above the shoulders was gleaming red, the embarrassment too unbearable for him. "Chris, you looked exactly like the first time we were forced to share a bed together."
"Yeah, you have that affect on me."
"You gonna tell me why you looked so ... shocked? Or do I have to search through Twitter and go with whatever fan theory makes the most sense?" you asked, unable to keep the smug grin off your face. Chris closed his eyes, wishing he hadn't made you come to the awards show in the first place. You raised an eyebrow, fingers itching towards his phone. "You know I'll do it, Evans."
The man raised his hands, taking them off of you as he paced around the bathroom, deciding if this embarrassing moment was the right time to finally confess. "It's just, you know, the dance was so ... sexual and hot that I probably wasn't the only one looking at you like that. You can't exactly blame me for being shocked, watching the girl I'm in love with—"
Chris stopped as you be watched the colors drain out of your face, immediately freezing when he realized what he had said. Both of you stared at each other, eyes wide, not moving a muscle, barely blinking; the atmosphere so tense neither of you were breathing, waiting for the other to talk. But neither of you wanted to go first, terrified.
It wasn't until you started to feel dizzy that you realized you hadn't been breathing, letting out a huge breath, trying to relax while Chris did the same, his hands shaking, a nervous tick he got whenever he was anxious. You got the courage to speak first.
"What?"
It was better than nothing.
Chris was so nervous he nearly ran out of the room. There wasn't some kind of handbook or script he could read, helping him tell one of his best friends how head over heels he was for her. So, he said what his brain was stewing. "What?"
"What—what?" you replied, unsure if he even said the L word, so lightheaded by the sudden confession.
The actor stilled, eyes widening even further, while his eyebrows shot up his forehead. "What?"
"What?"
"What?"
"Say what one more time, Evans, and I will make nothing but mac and cheese for the rest of your stay." you threatened softly, getting tired of not having an answer to your one-worded question.
Chris took a deep breath, hands trembling as he clasped them together, hoping to find the right words, hoping his inner thoughts would come out clear, giving you the answer you asked for. "I'm sorry. What do you want me to say?"
"What you were saying before. You know, before you looked like you saw a ghost and almost stopped breathing. I think that would be a good start." you replied, backing up to take a seat on the plush chair. Chris mirrored your actions, putting down the lid to the toilet before sitting down.
"This isn't the way I wanted you to find out." Chris whispered, his blue eyes trained on the emotions that flashed on your face. Your uncertainty of the situation didn't help his anxiety.
"Okay, um, were you going to tell me in the first place?" you asked, playing with the hem of your shirt—it had been a borrowed Patriots shirt from him. Looking back, you realized all the little things he'd done hadn't been because his platonic love for you. "Or were you just going to keep letting it be this way?"
Fidgeting with his hands, Chris peered through his eyelashes, seeing the hurt flash across your face before you quickly composed it. "Scott was hyping me up, trying to convince me to tell you before you got into another relationship. Do you know the real reason I broke up with Jenny? It hurt like hell when you announced you were engaged. Fuck, I couldn't even pretend to be happy because you were going to have the life I wanted with you, with someone who wasn't me. It was selfish and I got really mad at myself for being a dick."
"But—"
"And then the horrible, horrible relief I felt when you called off the engagement." Chris continued, his heart clenching. "Truth to be told, that was the day I found out I was in love with you, breaking things off with Jenny. Of course, I wanted to wait until you moved on, hoping to be the friend you went to but with my schedule, that was impossible. So, you seemed out comfort in Henry fucking Cavill."
"You're in love with me?" you whispered, hoping this wasn't some kind of cruel dream. If it was, you wouldn't mind staying.
The actor nodded, waiting for you to call him names and rush out. "Yes. You can leave or slap me or whatever you want to do but I love you."
You got up, running a hand through your hair. "Okay."
Chris' heart sank, wishing for any other kind of reaction, wishing you'd do something. Taking a deep breath, he got up. "Is this a goodbye?"
Frowning, you walked up to him, taking his face between with your hands, pressing your lips softly to his. You could feel his heart beat, the little organ beating so hard. You pulled away before he could recover from his shock, before he could kiss you back.
"Hello."
581 notes · View notes
alovevigilante · 3 years ago
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We were at the pool today. My ma took a few of the worst pics of me, as of late. I hate posing for photos. I look at them, and judge myself harshly. I looked nothing like I look here, when I have control of the camera. I don’t show you my extra, I got going on all around all over here, on me. The quarantine…. Let’s just say I ate my way through it… and it kinda snuck up on me and hit me like a ton of bricks when I couldn’t put on my old jeans comfortably without the additional muffin top, because I favored my spandex instead of them. (See next post for details…)
I was trying to figure out how to change my negative thought process about how I see myself physically. How do I look at ass photos of myself, without judging myself harshly? I’m asking. Seriously. It’s not a rhetorical question. Well, maybe I can start by not calling a picture of me, ass.
The other day I thought I’d try to find something to love about the things on my body I don’t. And I thought I’d try my hand at writing a love letter 💌 to my cellulite and extra lbs. but I can’t just say nice things and lie. I have to be completely honest, and choose things I can say that I will believe. That’s a tall order. How do I change the way I perceive this situation when ever since I can remember it’s been a really tough thing for me to appreciate? And if I lie, I’ll know about it. And I won’t buy into it, and I’ll feel worse. So, this is a great exercise for me, without busting my ass any more than I physically already have today. Ok?! Ok! So join me, won’t you? Here goes:
Dear cellulitis and other extra lbs on me,
Hello darlings…
Ok, I’m already in trouble, as I am not fond of cellulite or extra pounds, so they are not darlings to me. But saying, “hello assholes” isn’t nice to me either. What do you do, when you have things you can’t immediately control, about yourself that you don’t appreciate? Can you appreciate them? How do you focus on fixing what you deem as a problem without getting lost in “the problem”?
My, this is a conundrum… well, I did what I could do for today. What the hell else do I want from myself?! I can’t change it overnight! Jeez! Come onnnn, me! Give me a break! I went on a walk with my son, I did the brutal but eventually effective “Tracy Anderson” murder mat tape, which I could define better. I will call it, “yay tough for now but easier later sooooo good for me probably will not be able to walk or move for a week afterward but god bless here’s hoping I will feel less pain eventually and work out the lactic acidosis well Tracy may be wee, but she’s fiercely strong for a small woman, but that’s her job, she ducking MADE it her job, and she’s successful. Why don’t i make it my job too?! Cause I’m not built like her, and being a fitness expert isn’t me. Why don’t i get a job?! I can’t figure out what to go back to. Why aren’t I a success too?! I don’t have a good answer for that. And why doesn’t she have rolls like me when she sits down I sometimes have to tuck my belly into the elastic of my underwear when I decide to wear it. yes! I do that, harsh judges of me both internally and then subsequently externally! Do I got a problem with extreme honesty about myself?! Huh?! Huh?! Yeah! Yeahhhhh that’s what I THOUGHT (holy crap)” tape. And I did think that. So, I can choose to once again, think differently, and more positively.
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Seriously… she looks amazing! Tracy is a woman whose exercise videos are great, and are challenging for me to do on the daily because I’m out of practice. So Tracy Anderson isn’t the issue. The issue is me. The issue is what and how I feel about myself. I went on the treadmill after I saw this photo…. Inspired action, yes. But what was the inspiration? Fear of rejection or self love? A little mixed bag, I think.
So, because I feel the way I do, I am also avoiding grains and sugar like a mother that I am. And I’m drinking so much water that I’m spending 20 out of the 24 hours, peeing! What more can I do?! Well, maybe I can give myself a ducking break in the meantime. Maybe, I can do something else and not think about my bigger arms, stomach and thighs. Breaking from that train of thought will allow me a brain vacation away from judging my extra pounds and cellulite, and from hurting my own feelings. Maybe, in the meantime, I can appreciate my new boobs, which grew a whole cup size with the weight gain. Yay boobies!!!!
Well, that’s one way to look at it. Another, is not to look at it for awhile. Maybe I can go listen to music, or dance, or learn how to play the accordion or buy up all the tickets to a blue grass concert and give them away for free like some super cool people do. Whatever I decide, I’m going to choose to do something that is actually good for me, that I can enjoy and appreciate while I change for my more desired results! I can decide to think better about myself, so I can make choices, that will lead to better options to aid in my happiness down the line.
Now, I was just reminded by myself, that my ass is bigger too. That is a subjective thing whether it’s good or bad, but since we’re trying to make better thought choices let’s say, like Martha Stewart says hopefully about her ass, that it’s “a good thing”. Since my boobies are now huge, I’m now balanced. Bigger boobies, bigger culi too. Stands to reason. Ok! Great! I’ll start my letter again…
Dear extra on me that I once didn’t appreciate,
Guess what?! I like my bigger boobies! You’re still pretty perky. Also, to my culo, yes, you are bigger, but now we can wear tighter clothing with a greater effect! Yes! We are more pronounced in our lady regions…. Nice! And I’m actively toning the rest nicey nice like to match the other parts I enjoy, so, that’s cool too! Healthy me? Yes please! Ok! Great!
Hugs n kisses,
Me
See?! I’m going to figure out how to get right with me now if it kills me! No. We don’t want it to kill, we just want to be happier, right ladies who judge their bodies on the regular like me?! Don’t let this happen to you! Choose to find something about you to appreciate, and bolster the crap out of that until you notice that you’re happier. The rest will fall into place. But don’t let it fall too far down, otherwise you’ll need a bra, and I’ve given up bras for quarantine. And I’m not mad about it. There are positives to everything. Yes. And if you deem a photo of yourself ass that people take of you, don’t look. That’s one way to lose the weight. You can also make healthier choices, which includes thinking kinder thoughts about the things that you aren’t wild about in your life, or not wild about in you. 🙈🤷‍♀️😉🤣💕
Appendices: Openness to experience, is one factors of the 5 factor model, aka the 5 main personality traits in psychology. And there are 6 facets of openness (see below). I enjoy stretching my brain, and stretching my own blocks to honesty about myself, and my own personal blocks to love. Thank you, for coming with me on my journey to becoming more open about myself only. 😊
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(The pie charts above and below are not mine. The openness chart below does not represent me. It’s only meant as an example of the 6 facets of openness to experience that I enjoy experimenting with on myself in a rudimentary way in my life.)
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P.P. S. For those of you like me interested in learning more about how your brain structures affect your personality and how your experiences affect it as well, check out this article about how the 2 are linked. Cool stuff! It won’t let me cut and paste from safari or add the link, but the article is called, “brain structures correspond to different facets of personality” from psypost.org.)
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mejomonster · 2 years ago
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Imma be real being bi is intrinsically tied to how I am experiencing the yakuza games and I have No Fucking idea how this feels for straight women or men to play
As a bisexual I feel like it's so self indulgent (either on purpose or accident) and so like I'm having a great fucking time! I go on a date with my lesbian Bestie! I help her with girl trouble, I go on a date with goromi! Goromi kicks my ass! I go on a date with some other hostesses and just hear life stories. Majimas tits are out nonstop and it's glorious. Another hot man just ripped off his shirt and now I'm drowning in eyecandy. Oh there's an erotic photo taking minigame? Well I'm gay. Oh kiryus an erotic photo model? Well I'm gay and I get to make him pose like a tiger. Phenomenal. Oh earth mama loves us, well i love her. Oh nishiki was our dear bro whom I the player loved and now has deep pain? Well I'm in love with the villain. Oh yuki our childhood to adult friend went in hiding, stole 10 billion from the yakuza and a corrupt politician and is about to destroy it? I'm in love with her. Oh we have adopted a child now, and a puppy, wooh.
Like I'm obviously not referring to the drama angst city tragedy portion of the story which appeals to all audiences I think fairly similarly as some action suspense sad drama thriller. But like the other parts like. You are best friends with some host guy hotties. You save his life. You run a cabaret club and think of them as family. I'm guessing maybe ur supposed to crush on Said cabaret girls but you also play dress up with them and make them look super Cool. Now ur befriending them. Oh your head girl definitely has a crush on the cabaret owner lady u work for. Head girl may be bi. Join the club babe it's me and majima and we are having a phenomenal time.
Like? If you're straight I gotta imagine half of this self indulgent shit is?? What bizarre or something? If ur a straight guy then there's just SO much eyecandy. Yakuza pretty much codes who's good ish or not by how hot a man they are, with only a few exceptions. Ryuji Goda is a man u wanna RIDE and ur telling me a straight man sees him and isn't overwhelmed with facing how HOT ur new enemy is? Then there's daigo the typical hot guy of 2006, Again Majima who's just walking nonstop eyecandy flirting with you the player character. Stripping for you even. There's even a hottie for various ages, Kazes energy alone was angling for Attitude and ripping off his shirt, Nishitani is a Lot but part of its magnetism even Majima got charmed by and wanted to copy. If u like men it is a nonstop fest of hotties. Then if you're a straight girl? While like I said there's a parade of hot men, there's also a Lot of cute girls. While kiryu is fairly non romance centric which I find really nice (saying you can go out on a date with a friend without being in a relationship, the entire cabaret minigame with him tending to involve befriending and getting slice of life stories more than anything else, his adamance to reject any romantic proposal generally in sidestories) you're still hanging out with a ton of cute girls. Even if you ignore the cabaret minigames completely (which I like the girls life story plots so :/ you'd have to skip those and the fun dress up games) then there's still the erotic video and photo places which just throw boobs at you to no tomorrow. And some of that's not optional if you wanna do certain sidestories (tho tbh a lot of its funny in a detached way when ur feeling like kiryu and going ??? What do you mean an anteater can eat a human that can't be true?!).
Just like. As a bi person I'm like ah yes gratuitous fanservice everywhere all over the place. But if ur straight wtf is it even like? I Assume it's like... 50 percent fanservice and then 50 percent just kinda pushing thru the sexy bits absolutely not aimed at u. You'd think tje sexy men would be easier to ignore but I cannot overstate how much ALL the main cast is generally hot men, and if u want full enjoyment of the game u let urself pick up on the homoerotic overtones shoveled on there as well as just fully appreciating they made someone as pretty as Tachibana, and just like. Fuck. The way one of the goals is digging into masculinity and how it's defined and questioning it and what it means to who, means even fuckers like Sagawa you're forced to realize what majima may admire about him, Kaze you're forced to admire what kiryu acknowledged as admirable of him to be so tenacious. That odas horrific but kiryu still grew emotionally close to him. That Tachibana was loved as dearly in kiryus way, as makoto was cared about by majima. That the way kiryu loves nishiki and yuki is deep and life long for him. That the way majima cares about his cabaret girl family is likely similar to how he feels about his valued underlings now. That kazamas a fucking monster but he also had a kind of love for all his kids that happened imperfectly but affected everything. How daigos feelings of his dad, of his rivals, affect him now and all of tojo clan. How ryuji used to care so deep for barely friends so his upfront brutality has to have a fucking motive. How even rhe cops I could care less for, the writing itself is trying to dig into who they love, what drives them, what defines every fucking man on screen (and sayama who's in a way parallel to kiryu, nishiki, yuki, and a lot of the orphan with murdered parents the games like to parallel). This game is SO driven by what men love and care for and their feelings, it's the center of the more dramatic heavy story portion. That like idk if you're trying so hard to only interpret it in the least caring way with the shallower of relationships, you're missing so much.
In short like I know majority audiences are probs straight and so these games manage to appeal anyway. Just like being bi and playing it is like nonstop nice story and/or fanservice without much break. And its odd to me that like that amount of indulgence is my experience but who knows for who else. (Then there's also the matter of I don't think it's intentionally made to appeal so much so that's luck almost but also another topic entirely)
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phoenix-manga · 4 years ago
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The Real Idols at VDC
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Everyone was excited for the VDC, people who work in the media gathered at the purple stage venue to get a shot of two of the most popular models in Twisted Wonderland. The blonde -haired young man known for his beautiful yet professional attitude, Vil Schoenheit, and the black-haired boy with an adorable face that was rising in the ranks, Neige Leblanche.
The VDC was a one in a million for fans of both males, they were waiting to see what they will bring to the stage. The media only focused on those two, leaving the other participants in the shadows.
But maybe that’s a good thing, this way NRC and RSA will get the shock of their lives when certain students from an academy far off in the mountains would come and steal the spotlight from both of them.
A young lady with dark blue hair, tied in side ponytail with a feathered-crown, wearing a red, blue and yellow uniform was walking to the venue for rehearsals alongside another girl with short pinkish hair, she wore a ribbon with a crown on her head and wore a teal and dark green uniform. From around them, she kept hearing people gushing about who was going to win between Neige and Vil. With a frustrated sigh she looks at the colosseum with a look of mild annoyance.
Evonie: NRC and RSA really sure do love hogging the spotlight… I can barely remember the names of the other schools competing!
But I guess that’s just the reality of media… even though our school is a pro at these contests, people didn’t even mention DCA at all…
Allison: You sure are getting pumped up for the championship, aren’t yah Ev? Chill out, it’s not like it’s any different from our usual idol concerts at campus
It was an attempt at cooling down her dark-haired companion but it just made her more determined. As a student who was known for singing and dancing, it was expected for them to be kind of miffed if the people forget their school. But in Evonie’s case, being someone who held a seat as a top idol in DCA might have been a good reason.
The two reach the venue and shows a staff their stage pass, Allison can faintly hear the music from the person currently rehearsing. Everyone backstage was busy hyping themselves up for the competition, the sight alone sparks the Evonie’s competitive spirit.
She’ll make sure that the audience will know who the stage truly belongs to. When the person’s performance ended, a staff called their school, signaling that it was their turn to go on stage. Allison follows Evonie as they go towards the open stage onto an eager crowd.
Announcer: Next performer from Diamond Crown Academy, please enter the stage
Student A: Diamond Crown Academy?... That’s the all-girls school, right?
Student B: I know that school! That school is famous for the idol competitions on and off campus!
Student C: My sister was obsessed with one of the students of that school!
Student D: How could you not know DCA? They had a joint school festival for RSA and NRC! I was there!
The crowd was filled with murmurs and eventually they reached the ears of the NRC team. The first years held confused looks while their seniors were used to the murmuring around them, as if it was normal. From the looks of it, they seem to recognize one of the girls, Vil and Rook that is. Epel piped up and asked Rook what was the fuss all about.
Rook: DCA is an all-girls academy, although not as famous as RSA and NRC, they have an excellent reputation. The one thing that they’re famous for is their idol competitions… and it looks like we will be able to witness a spectacular show
I especially can’t wait to see how princess de pommes and lapin fougueux perform~ Her gaze carries an eternal fire, beaute!
Deuce: I haven’t heard of DCA… this is my first time hearing about them
Jamil: You freshmen only know about NRC and RSA… of course you wouldn’t know about that school…
Kalim: We know someone from that school! She’s a prin-
Jamil: You’re gonna start babbling, so shut it…
Ace: Are they really that good? Seems too good to be true, no one has said anything about DCA until now
Vil: Such uncultured potatoes, you don’t understand the standards of that academy… A variety of educational fields as well as the idol training is the hot topic amongst the girls back in Pyroxene. Although we are focused on taking down RSA’s representative, don’t underestimate them either
And the reason why we haven’t heard anything is because the audience was too busy talking about the battle between NRC and RSA, but there have been mentions of DCA in magicam.
Ace: I-Is that so?...
Rook: You’ll understand once you find out for yourself!
Vil isn’t one to give empty praises, they now know that DCA is something to consider. The first years decided to look to the stage, they will see what Vil meant when the students of DCA don’t joke around when it comes to contests like the VDC.
Announcer: Representative of Diamond Crown Academy will be performing an original song… Eternally Flickering Flame, please begin rehearsal!
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The music started off with a loud blast of rock followed by a gothic symphony that captured everyone’s attention, Evonie sings the first lyrics with a loud yet harmonic tune, her movements are graceful with a hint of aggression.
When it was Allison’s turn to sing, she sang with so much energy and her dance, although not as graceful, was very cheerful and all over the place that made some of the people watching tap to the rhythm.
At the two of them were synchronized in their dance and their voices, although were a contrast, created a pleasing harmony. The first years were watching with wide-eyes, no wonder Vil said that they were not to be underestimated. They thought back to their strict training during the past weeks and they wondered how hard these girls trained to be able to give this performance.
It was already hard to sing and dance, but putting magic into the mix? That’s a new level of intensity.
Epel: I… can’t look away!
Deuce: They’re casting magic?! Usually, its at the end of the performance, but here they’re using it throughout the song!
Rook: You are yet to see the main event, mon ami~
At the climax of the song, Evonie and Allison’s rings glowed red and light blue as an orb of light went up the sky and a burst of magic created an illusion of a gloomy forest with black rabbits and flying bats around a silhouette of a crescent moon.
When a chime of a clock was heard, the illusion shatters the moon and it dissolves into the scenery to turn the dark colors of the forest into a red background of crystals and gemstones with black thorns growing from the ground.
They finish the song with a pose with the illusion around them creating an outstanding finish.
The crowd didn’t expect the use of magic to create effects, but it was mesmerizing to look at, all eyes were on them, faces in awe and mouths agape. When their performance ended and the illusion faded, a loud applause fills the venue as students cheered.
TV Staff: That performance gave me goosebumps!
Audience: Seems like DCA is going all out today, huh?
I thought the other performances were good but damn, DCA goes all out!
They’d win for sure!
Neige and Vil will be performing too, but I can’t help but admire DCA’s performance!
Evonie felt proud for some of the comments she hears as her and Allison exit the stage. As soon as every participant was done with rehearsals, the two decided to head to the food booth for a light snack before the performance. Evonie was quietly assessing the choices and thinking deeply on which would be better to eat and won’t make her feel like throwing up when she performs, while Allison was chewing on a chocolate bar.
Evonie was unaware of a small presence behind her until something grabbed her hand, she was startled by the sudden touch and looked to her side only to see one of the dwarves from the rehearsals. “Toby” was what his name was, looking at her with his goofy grin and asymmetric, purple hair.
Toby: Miss Evonie! Timmy is a huge fan of yours, and so am I! The flashy magic you put on stage was super cool!”
Timmy: T-Toby! Don’t rush at her like th-that! And why’d you have to tell her that I’m a fan?! So, embarrassing!!!!
Evonie was frozen, not in fear but in restraint. The dwarves were so cute and she was tempted to pick them up and hold them close to her like a plush. But that would be rude because they’re college students and they are NOT children even if they look like one. Allison was snickering and greeted the dwarves too.
Allison: Aww, Ev, you got a fan!
Evonie: I-I… uhh!
Toby still held her hand and was looking up at her with his doe eyes, it took almost all of her self-restraint to act professional with the dwarf.
Evonie: I-it’s an honor that you like my performances, I am thankful!
Toby: I’ve seen you in that one play about the six queens too! You looked so pretty! Do you wanna come with us to see our other friends? Dominic and the others saw your work too, oh but Gran is not into idols that much…
Timmy: T-Toby! We shouldn’t impose on her and besides, w-we need to stick together! M-Miss Evonie, it was nice meeting you but we need to leave!
Timmy grabs ahold of Toby who was pouting along the way as the two scampered off into the crowd, leaving Evonie behind. Evonie takes a deep breath while Allison looks at the crowd before facing her.
Allison: I don’t see any of my fans… boohoo, quit stealing all my potential fan members!
Evonie: If you had been taking the time to actually participate in SOME venues then you might have had one…
Allison: It isn’t my fault most of the performances they want is girly!
While they were bickering, they don’t notice a grim fight against an overblotted dorm leader was taking place in the colosseum.
[END]
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blackhakumen · 3 years ago
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Mini Fanfic #846: Family Beach Time (Super Smash Bros Ultimate)
6:56 p.m. at the Smash Beach......
Daisy: (Starts Giggling While Going Through Pictures on her Phone)
Luigi: (Turns to Daisy While Chuckling Lightly) What got you laughing, dear?
Daisy: The pictures Yoshi and I took of you a few minutes ago. (Shows Luigi Each Picture Taken of him and his Poses While Giggling Some More) You look so cute and silly in all them, Weegie~ I love it!~
Yoshi: (Chuckles Lightly While Looking at the Pictures as Well) Tell me about it. (Turns to Luigi) You ever thought about being a model someday, dad?
Luigi: Oh gosh no! I don't think I could last a minute standing on the runway with multiple camera lights flashing towards me. I'm sure your mother could fit the role better than I could though. She is the most beautiful lady in my eyes after all. (Winks at Daisy)
Daisy: (Blushes While Hugging Luigi Lovingly) Awww~ You're too kind, sweetie~ Buuuuuut unfortunately for you guys, I'm not a big fan of the whole modeling business myself. It's a million times more stressful than being a princess.
Yoshi: You know, now that you mentioned it....(Turns to Daisy) What's Sarasaland looks like?
Luigi: Yeah. I don't think I've ever been to that kingdom before. Is it similar to the Mushroom Kingdom.
Daisy: (Shrugs) Eh. Not exactly. It's kinda looks like this beach. Except with more sand......and less water.
Yoshi: Soooo.... Basically, it's a desert.
Daisy: Pretty much. It feels more like an empire now that I think about it.
Yoshi: Is it true that Uncle Mario traveled there long time ago?
Daisy: (Happily Nodded) Yep! Your uncle went there to save me from some creepy alien dude name Tatanga.
Luigi: (Raised an Eyebrow in Confusion) Why did an alien from space tried to kidnap you in first place?
Daisy: I.....have no idea honestly. Probably have something to do with charms. (Starts Rolling her Eyes) I was in that dumb phase during that time.....
Yoshi: What phase?
Daisy: The phase where I believed that beauty, wealth, and royalty is the only thing that matters in life. And that everyone else that isn't those things are lower than dirt.....
Yoshi: Yeesh......
Luigi: That.....sounds pretty harsh, dear.
Daisy: ('Sighs Heavily') I knoooow.....I hate it so much ever since. That's all the more reason why became who I am now. And it's all thanks to you guys.
Luigi: You really think we made an impact on you?
Daisy: (Smiles Brightly) Hell yeah I do, babe!~ (Pulls Luigi and Yoshi into a Loving Group Hug) You two, Mario, Peach, and everyone else in our nutty family made me realize that there's a lot more to life than worrying about some boring royal status and that I should embrace who I once was and proud of it. You guys are so important to me and I will NEVER take our bond together for granted. (Gives Luigi a Kiss on the Cheek) I love you~ (Kiss Yoshi on the Cheek as Well) And I love you too~
Yoshi: (Yawns a Little While Smiling Softly) We love you too, mom.
Luigi: Yeah....(Yawn a Little While Smiling as Well) Now and forever more.
Daisy: (Giggles Softly) Awwww~ Are my two favorite boys getting sleepy already?~
Yoshi: (Chuckles Lightly) Probably. The sunset here looks so peaceful.....('Yawn') That I think is starting to put us to sleep at any moment.
Luigi: ('Yawn') Don't know about you guys, but I think that might be a sign for us to go back home now.
Daisy: (Nodded in Agreement) Indefinitely. I try carrying you two if you want.
Yoshi: (Starts Getting Up From the Towel Him and his Parents Were Sitting At) Nah. I'm good. (Begins to Stretch a Little) I think I can walk home with you guys just fine.
Luigi: A slow walk home could be ni-CEEEEEEE!~ (Sudden Gets Picked Up and Carried in a Bridal Form by Daisy)
Daisy: Gotcha, 'hon!~
Luigi: (Chuckles Lightly) Daisy!~ What are you doing?~
Daisy: Carrying you~
Luigi: Why? I can walk too!.....I think.
Daisy: (Rolls her Eyes Playfully) I know you can, Weeg. I just wanna make sure you don't suddenly fall asleep on the road. Plus, you've carried me back home when we were at the beach last year. (Smirks Playfully at her Man) Now it's my turn~ (Starts Kissing Luigi's Face)
Luigi: (Giggles Ticklishly by Daisy's Kisses) Daisyyyy!~ Come on!~ Not in front of our son!!~
Yoshi: (Starts Snickering at his Parents) You guys are a bunch of dorks.
Luigi: (Immediately Pouts at Yoshi Along With Daisy) Hey! We're YOUR dorks thank you very much!
Daisy: Yeah!! We're the biggest dorks in your entire life! So you better get used you it, young man!!
Yoshi: (Chuckles Lightly) Please. I already have.
Happy Labor Day!
@keyenuta
@caleb13frede
@26shann
@ma-lemons
@albion-93
@luigifan00001
@cyber-wildcat
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lobster-tales · 3 years ago
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Dancing
Day 14 of @marichatmay. This fic is available here on AO3. 
Summary: Chat Noir crashes a wedding and waltzes with the girl serving cake. Also this is a song fic: the tune is If My Heart Was a House by Owl City
Chat Noir had escaped hundreds of times, just never from a wedding.
Stealth missions taught him how to weave through the crowd, away from the dancefloor. Behind him, a little girl’s voice called his name. Originally, he had promised Manon one dance, but that was seven songs ago, and he had finally managed to break free.
Chat Noir fled into the sculpture garden and ducked behind the hedges, skirting around the Musee Rodin. The building was small in comparison to some of the other art museums in Paris. Because of this, the wedding was hosted instead on the structure’s south lawn.
He arrived at the silent north facade of the building and pulled on one of the doors, ecstatic to find it unlocked. He slipped inside the museum, slumping against the door as he caught his breath.
While the outside of the museum was alight, the inside was still and moody, sculptures and paintings lining the walls. The noise from the party was audible but muffled, echoing strangely off the tile. Kinda creepy, he thought, rising to his feet. The eyes of the statues seemed to all be looking at him.
Chat Noir moved past the artworks, casting each one a wary look. He turned to enter the next room and froze.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng stood there with her back to him. Chat Noir saw her at the cake table earlier, serving the pastries from her parents bakery. When did she leave the party? he wondered. Come to think of it, she’s the only one here who didn’t ask for a picture with me.
She faced a bronze statue of a man, his muscled arm raised to push back his cropped hair, the other hand suspended beside him. Seizing the opportunity, Chat Noir crept forward. He reached out and gently tapped her shoulder.
“AH!” Marinette whipped around, grabbing his wrist, her other hand raised to punch him. She tensed, staring into Chat Noir’s green eyes. “Chat Noir?”
“Good reflexes, princess.”
She scoffed and released him. “Well, you shouldn’t sneak up on people like that! One of these days you could end up with a black eye.”
“I’ve had worse,” he shrugged, standing beside her. He placed his thumb and index finger on his chin, considering the statue. “I see you’re a fan of the male physique,” he said coyly, referring to the sculpture’s nudity.
Just as he hoped, her face flushed pink. “No!” She looked away, embarrassed. “I’m just a fan of… art.”
“Riiiiight, art.” Chat Noir moved in front of the sculpture, turning to Marinette and mimicking the statue’s pose. “Alas,” he said dramatically. “I sold all my clothes to pay the barber, and now he’s cut my hair too short.”
She fought back a laugh, her giggles echoing in the empty room. “Stop that!” she said, swiping at him.
Chat Noir broke character with a smile. “You know, I missed you at the reception.”
Anger flickered across her eyes, disappearing before he could wonder what it meant. “Seems I was the only one.”
“Eh, I’m used to fans.” The sentiment was true: his secret identity, Adrien Agreste, was a model. But no one could know that, he realized, and said quickly, “Y-you know, being a superhero and all.”
“Yes, it must be so hard for you,” she mused. “Everyone fawning over you wherever you go.”
“Well, not everyone. My lady doesn’t.”
“Good for her,” Marinette said with a smirk. “One less person to stroke your ego.”
And neither do you, he thought, but brushed the idea away. “I’m a man of the people. If the citizens of Paris want to snap a few pictures with their favorite superhero, who am I to say no?”
“I’ve been meaning to ask, are you crashing the wedding or were you actually invited?”
“I just happened upon it,” he said, feigning nonchalance. “I tried to stay hidden, but Manon found me out.”
“... So you saw when I..?”
“Showed up late?” He grinned. “Hard to miss.” He remembered Marinette dashing through the party, skidding to a stop in front of Nadja and her new wife. Marinette had apologized profusely, but the brides only responded with reassuring smiles. Anyone that was acquainted with Marinette knew her tardiness was unavoidable. Even Chat Noir had come to expect it from her.
“It wasn’t my fault!” Marinette faced him, her fists clenched.
He raised his hands. “No need to get defensive, princess. Manon was the only one who got upset.” Chat Noir chuckled. “She really wanted that cake.”
Marinette pressed her lips together to hide a smile. “I know. She’s been asking about it for days.”
“Seeing as it’s from your parents' bakery, I don’t blame her.” He watched as she turned away. “So are you a guest or are you working?”
Marinette drifted into a different room. “Both. Neither. When Nadja ordered the cake, I offered to serve it.”
“That’s nice of you,” he said, following.
“Well, she is my best customer.”
“Right, the babysitting.” Chat Noir paused at a sculpture of a centaur. “Manon’s a sweet kid. At least, when she’s not hungry.”
Marinette chuckled. “Let me guess; she’s still looking for you?”
“How did you know?” Chat Noir peered out the window. Manon had returned to the dancefloor, laughing as she danced with her new stepmother. “Actually, it looks like she gave up. Guess we’re both wrong.”
“Guess so.” Marinette stopped to stare at a painting. The light from the party wafted in, illuminating her in a soft glow. Chat Noir felt a flutter in his heart just looking at her, but forced the feeling away. He was in love with Ladybug, and besides, his duty as a superhero meant no dating.
Still, she looked so beautiful. He noticed now that Marinette was not wearing her usual jacket and pants. Her dress was a soft pink, with short puffed sleeves and a bow in the center of her chest. The waist clung to her, fabric spilling out around her thighs. She looked like a fairytale. Or a wedding guest, he thought dumbly.
“I like your dress,” he said.
She kept her eyes on the painting, but smiled shyly. “Thanks. I made it.”
Of course she did. Classic Marinette, overflowing with talent. “You did a good job.”
“Thanks,” she said again.
They admired the sculptures in silence, until she asked, “Doesn’t your… costume thingie have a timer or something?”
He looked at the ring on his hand. I still have time. “Yeah, but the battle today was pretty easy. By the time I got there, Ladybug had already done most of the work. I didn’t even use my cataclysm.”
Marinette searched his face. “That’s good.”
“Right? She’s pretty incredible.” He sighed dreamily. “Milady always has a plan; she’s a master strategist. Not to mention she’s beautiful and daring and kind and-” Chat Noir caught her looking at him with a funny expression. “What?”
“Nothing,” she said, averting her gaze. “You’re just… sweet.”
His shoulders slumped. “I know what you’re thinking. I’m a hopeless romantic. Someone as amazing as Ladybug could never be with someone like me.”
They entered the next room. In the center stood a marble statue with an embracing couple. The man’s hand rested on her hip while her arm linked around his neck, both seated and leaning into each other. Marinette and Chat Noir stared at the statue, enraptured.
“Maybe… it’s not you,” Marinette said quietly. “Maybe it’s just that… love is hard.”
“Yeah,” Chat Noir murmured. “Maybe.”
They exchanged glances, then looked away quickly. In this room, the party music came through clearer. A beat pounded as the crowd whooped outside.
Marinette cleared her throat. “I should probably get back to the party.”
“Oh yeah? Gotta go bust a move on the dancefloor?” He did the robot poorly, and she laughed.
“As if! I’ve got two left feet.”
“What a coincidence,” he quipped. “I’ve got two right ones.”
She rolled her eyes. “Sure you do.” Marinette took a step towards the door. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to plant myself on the edge and do my best wallflower impression.”
“You’re really not going to dance?”
The sincerity in his voice shocked her, and she stopped to consider him. “So everyone can watch me fall on my face? No thanks.”
“Oh come on,” he groaned. “You know how many songs I danced to? And my partner was three feet shorter than me!”
“You got yourself into that mess,” she giggled.
Chat Noir extended his hand towards her. “What if I ask nicely?”
Marinette glared at him. “Still not happening.”
“Please? Just one song.” He smirked. “No one can see you in here, princess.”
She pressed her lips together. Chat Noir did have a point, and the song was upbeat. Marinette decided she could suffer a few moments of awkward shuffling for her friend.
Marinette took his hand wordlessly, preparing herself for a weak shimmy. Just as she stepped towards him, the song changed. The beat disappeared, replaced by a smooth piano melody.
“Nope!” Marinette leaned away, but Chat Noir pulled her close to him. She was surprised at how gentle yet forceful he was, but convinced herself that his quiet strength was part of the super suit.
“Oh no, you don’t,” he grinned, guiding her right hand to his left shoulder. This close, he caught a whiff of her perfume. He stared at her for a moment, caught off guard by the floral scents. The smell reminded him of rose petals.
She shot him a quizzical look, jerking him from his stupor. “S-sorry, just… follow my lead,” he said.
Marinette stiffened as he placed his hand on her waist. Her mind raced as she thought of an excuse. “Th- this song is so slow, though. We won’t be able to dance to it.”
“It’s not slow. It’s just in 6/8 time,” he explained.
Her blank stare reminded him that he was wearing a mask. “Th-that is, it’s um…” Oh, whatever. “It’s not 1… 2… 1… 2… It’s actually, 1 (2 3) 2 (2 3). There’s smaller beats in between, and a full measure has 6 total.”
Marinette’s confusion fell away to awe. “Chat Noir, a musician.”
“Among other things,” he said, taking the chance to wink. “I’m a man of many talents, princess.”
She rolled her eyes again. “So how are we supposed to dance to it?”
“It’s a waltz. Here,” he said, backing away to look down at her feet. “Take a step back with your left foot. Now take your right and step to the side, so your feet are shoulder width apart. Next, bring your left foot next to the right.”
Marinette obeyed clumsily as he continued, “This is a box step waltz, so you’re basically making two triangles, and the triangles make a square. You’re going to repeat the motion, but backwards. So step forward with your right foot, left to the side - shoulder width apart - and…”
She instinctively brought her right foot to meet her left and he said, “Yes, just like that!”
Spurred on by his enthusiasm, Marinette tried again, alone. She stumbled a few times, stepping with the wrong foot. At one point, her legs crossed and she began to fall, but Chat Noir caught her. He helped her stand, taking her hand in his and placing the other on her waist once again. “Here, it’ll help if I lead you.”
They began to dance, slowly at first. Chat Noir was patient with her, guiding her feet with his own as he whispered, “1, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3...” Just as they established a steady rhythm, the song faded.
“Oh,” Marinette said, disappointment leaking into her tone. “I guess it’s over.”
Her sadness struck him, and he asked, “Wanna do another? Now that you’ve got the hang of it?”
She nodded shyly in response, positioning her hands once more.
The next song started with a low synth sound, no tempo discernible yet. The artist’s voice broke through, accompanied by the crisp beat of a hi-hat cymbal.
“You’re the sky that I fell through And I remember the view, whenever I’m holding you”
The song was faster than the last, but Chat Noir and Marinette adapted quickly. His muttered counts fell away, though his mouth still shaped the numbers with each step. Marinette watched his concentration, relaxing in his arms. She had never seen Chat Noir so focused on anything, and the change was welcome.
“The sun hung from a string Looking down on the world As it warms over everything
Chills run down my spine”
He twirled her spontaneously. Marinette gasped and fell to the side, but he helped her recover by pulling her close again.
“As our fingers entwine”
Chat Noir placed his gloved fingers between her bare ones.
“And your sighs harmonize with mine”
Within seconds, they fell back into the rhythm.
“Unmistakably I can still feel your heart Beat fast when you dance with me”
Marinette felt her pulse racing. She pretended it was just from the dancing, the fast movement.
"We got older and I should've known (Do you feel alive?) That I feel colder when I walk alone (Oh, but you'll survive)”
“Here,” he said softly. “Let’s try this.”
“So I may as well ditch my dismay”
Chat Noir pulled away and crossed his right wrist with hers, tucking his other hand behind his back. Their feet slowed from the fast triplet, circling each other on the two main beats.
“Bomb’s away”
As the artist drew out the last word, Chat Noir nodded at her. They switched, crossing left wrists and circling each other the opposite way.
“Bomb’s away”
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
“No,” she lied with a smirk.
He smiled and said, “Big steps now.” Wordlessly, they fell into the waltz again as the chorus started. This time, Marinette stepped farther back with her left foot, then right. Chat Noir turned her to the right as she brought her feet together. She then moved her right foot forward, the left passing, then she turned her body once more to bring them beside each other.
“Circle me and the needle moves gracefully Back and forth If my heart was a compass, you'd be north”
They continued to move in a square around the marble statue. Marinette knew she should be stumbling, falling all over herself. For some reason, though, her steps were confident. Chat Noir kept her steady and secure.
“Risk it all, 'cause I'll catch you if you fall Wherever you go If my heart was a house, you'd be home”
As the chorus receded, they fell into a small box step again, one that saw them through the second verse. Marinette laughed breathlessly, her eyes shining. “Sorry, I’m getting dizzy.”
“Me too,” Chat Noir said with a grin.
“It makes me smile because you said it best I would clearly feel blessed If the sun rose up from the west"
Marinette felt too comfortable in the silence, and invited conversation by asking, “Where did you learn to dance?”
“It was actually part of the hero curriculum.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Oh, so there’s a curriculum?”
“Of course.” A playful flicker crossed his eyes. “My lady got higher grades than me in every class, except ballroom dancing.”
“I see. Even so, I must be a pretty clumsy dance partner compared to Ladybug.” Marinette chuckled.
Chat Noir fell silent, his expression suddenly very serious as the verse ended.
“Flower-bomb perfume All my clothes smell like you 'Cause your favorite shade is navy blue”
For the next part of the song, Marinette held tight with one hand and outstretched the other. She turned into him as Chat Noir took her other hand, twirling her in his arms.
“I walk slowly when I'm on my own”
Within the closeness, he said, “You’re not clumsy, Marinette.”
“(Do you feel alive?)”
She tensed as she repeated the motion, pulling away from him, then returning to spin beside him.
“Yeah, but frankly, I still feel alone”
This time, he held her in his arms for a longer moment. “In fact, you’re the best dance partner I’ve ever had.”
"(Oh, but you'll survive)"
She managed a gulp as they waltzed the small box step once more. Marinette looked away, not wanting to meet his soft gaze.
“So I may as well ditch my dismay”
They crossed wrists again and glided around each other.
“Bombs away”
When she moved to switch wrists, Chat Noir instead reached his hand around her waist. Marinette jumped slightly, her hand going to his neck on impulse. They held each other close as they circled once more.
“Bombs away”
They positioned themselves for the waltz as the chorus started to build. Just as the drums intensified, the sound fell away into a mellow synth. Both of them froze, relaxing when the artist sang once more. They grinned sheepishly at each other. Chat Noir’s cat-like eyes were luminescent in the darkened room. Marinette’s reflected the glow of the party lights outside.
“Circle me and the needle moves gracefully"
Both became acutely aware of his hand on her waist. He shifted his grip, the motion sending a shiver up Marinette’s spine. Her lips parted slightly, and Chat Noir wondered if they had always been that pink.
"Back and forth, if my heart was a compass you’d be north."
Marinette stiffened in preparation to dance, snapping Chat Noir out of his reverie. As the music crashed into passion again, they resumed their waltz around the room. There was no hesitation in their movement, nothing awkward or uncoordinated. The sculpture of the lovers sat at the center of their path, marble lips pressed against each other. The statue’s intimacy paled in comparison to their dance.
“Risk it all, 'cause I'll catch you if you fall Wherever you go If my heart was a house you’d be home”
The dancers broke from the routine at the same moment. They became a series of twirls and spins, Marinette’s dress flaring out with the movement. Chat Noir never looked away from her, and when she finished her final twirl, he placed his right hand on her waist and reached under her knee with the left. The light pressure of his fingers asked silently, and Marinette granted his request by lifting her knee to his grasp, her arm secured around his shoulder.
“If my heart was a house you’d be home”
He held her as they spun, their faces centimeters apart. Slowly, he set her down, and they resumed their waltz as the song played out it’s final notes. Sensing the end, Chat Noir placed both hands on her waist. Marinette let herself be dipped, stretching out one hand gracefully.
When she stood, they held each other’s hands, breathless. The song transitioned into an upbeat anthem, the wedding guests cheering from outside the museum. Despite the noise, Chat Noir and Marinette heard nothing, only the pounding of their hearts. Well that, and…
Beep beep beep!
Chat Noir winced, glancing at the ring on his hand.
“You’re going to transform soon,” Marinette said. She spoke with an unnerving certainty, but Chat Noir had no time to reflect on it.
“Yes.” He stared at her. Her back was to the window, the light illuminating the fabric of her dress. Chat Noir committed the sight to memory, before lifting her hand in his own and pressing his lips to her knuckles. “Merci, princesse.”
With that, he retreated to the shadows, slipped through the door, and melted into the night.
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electrickoushi · 4 years ago
Text
bakugo and todoroki’s super secret santa mission
a/n: happy holidays everyone. this was a fic I wrote for one of my friends for xmas. enjoy reading! 
pairing: bakugo katsuki x todoroki shoto tags: fluff, pre-relationship, swearing (a normal amount for bakugo), tdbk in love! wc: 7.8k
Class 1-A's Secret Santa poses a large problem for Bakugo Katsuki. It’s such a large problem that he has to ask for stupid IcyHot's help in finding a present. In return, he helps Todoroki with his present search (and perhaps catches feelings in the process, but shh, we don't talk about that).
The mall was so crowded that Bakugo was having an awful time finding Todoroki. At this time of year, he easily blended in with the horrible, glittery candy cane decorations.
Bakugo found him standing near the children’s play structure. He looked like a lost puppy, spinning around in search of the familiar blonde spikes and scowl. He squinted his eyes at Bakugo and waved. A small smile spread on Todoroki’s face at the sight of his friend.
Bakugo rolled his eyes at his behavior but walked towards him. They were supposed to meet at the other play structure that was on the opposite side of the mall. Todoroki must have gotten them mixed up again.
“There you are. I’ve been texting you,” Bakugo yelled once he was in yelling distance.
Todoroki looked down at his phone in his left hand as if he forgot it was there. So that’s what the vibrations were? He just assumed it was Midoriya sending him pictures of his new video game.
34 texts and 3 missed calls.
Oops, my bad. “Didn’t we say to meet near the children’s play area?” Todoroki asked, blinking in confusion as he frowned and stood up. He put his phone in the pocket of his blue coat and unwound his scarf from his neck.  
“Yeah, the one on the South side,” Bakugo sighed in annoyance. “It doesn’t matter though, just help me so I can get out of here.”
“Okay, help me with Kirishima first. I’m not sure what to get him.”
“I know, and I don’t know what to get ‘Miss I can literally create whatever the fuck I want.’ We’ve been over this. Lucky for you, I have an idea for Kirishima.”
Bakugo grabbed Todoroki’s arm and dragged him along, making sure to not lose him in the crowd of frantic shoppers. If he had to waste another twenty minutes looking for the candy cane boy, it may just end with the building in flames.
They headed in the direction that Bakugo came from. He specifically asked for them to meet at the South side play structure since it was near the store he wanted to show Todoroki, but that plan clearly didn’t work out. So they made a short trek to the opposite side of the mall.
It would have been fine if Todoroki didn’t look at the windows of every single shop they passed.
He was infatuated with almost every product displayed in the windows. It didn’t matter whether it was a speaker, a t-shirt, or a toy—he wanted it all. He could probably afford it all too, with that black credit card he carried that belonged to his father.
Bakugo eventually dropped his arm. They were out of the most congested parts of the mall. They should be fine.
Yet in a few minutes, when Bakugo turned around to check if his classmate was following him, he saw nothing but empty air.
It was a few minutes before Bakugo found the tall boy surrounded by little midgets.
“Come on Icyhot, we don’t have time for this,” Bakugo scoffed, finding him in a Build-A-Bear.  
Todoroki turned around to see Bakugo behind him, arms crossed and seething.
“But I want one. They’re so cute and soft. Look.” Its head drooped forward as Todoroki held the unstuffed bear out to show his friend.
Bakugo thought it was kind of ugly. It looked really scratchy too. Out of all the finished models sitting on their shelves, Todoroki somehow managed to pick the most hideous one.
The entire idea of Build-A-Bear was kind of disturbing to him. You paid money to take what is essentially a corpse of a toy, pump some white stuffing into it, and then put a little mass-produced heart in it. Then you would wash it, with air? And give it clothing? Weren’t stuffed animals loved because you could pretend they were alive? How were you supposed to think it was alive when you literally stuffed its guts and organs back into its skin? In conclusion, Build-A-Bear was ruining the imaginations and childhoods of its customers.
Bakugo glowered at Todoroki until he dejectedly threw the unstuffed bear back into the bin and followed him out of the store. Bakugo was right; they didn’t have time for this. This shopping trip was meant to find presents for Kirishima and Momo.
“Just go pull an old one out of storage at your house or something. I’m sure you have a million,” said Bakugo as they walked to the store Bakugo wanted to go in all along.
“Oh, I’ve never had one. Did you?” Todoroki asked, Bakugo dropping his arm once he realized.
Fuck, how could he have forgotten again? Childhood was always a touchy subject for his classmate, he knew that. He didn’t mean to make such a careless comment. “Yeah, I, uh, just assumed every kid had one at some point. Sorry,” he mumbled.
Silence fell between them as they finally made it to the shop that hopefully held Kirishima’s present.
“Here,” Bakugo pointed to a pair of shoes in the window. “He would probably want these.”
“Those are ugly though,” Todoroki bluntly pointed out. They were a white pair of chunky Fila shoes.
Did you see the stuffed animal you were holding? “I agree, but anything is a step up from those red crocs he wears all the time,” sighed Bakugo.
He went into the relatively empty store and found a pair of the same shoes in a size 10, then shoved them into Todoroki’s arms. “There you go. Go buy them.”
Todoroki turned around and walked towards the counter.
A girl stood at the counter, clearly bored with her minimum wage job. When she looked up and noticed him, she immediately put on her best smile and fiddled with her hair. She made a weird face once she noticed his scar but wiped off the frown after a few seconds. “Are you ready to checkout?” she chirped.
Her voice was awful. Nasally and partially responsible for Bakugo’s oncoming headache. “Fucking ridiculous,” Bakugo scoffed under his breath. “He shouldn’t get special treatment because he’s pretty. Everything in the world should be based solely on firepower.”
Todoroki replied, “Yes I am.” Completely oblivious.
Bakugo could not understand how someone could be so dense. He was one of the top students in the class, probably the entire school. He always made good snap decisions when under pressure. He was a good fighter, with or without his quirk. He was powerful and smart and strong. So how could he not notice when someone was clearly trying to flirt with him?
Bakugo crossed his arms and pretended to be intensely looking at some shoe displayed on the shelf. He glanced over every so often to make sure that Todoroki wasn’t about to get swindled out of everything he owned. He wouldn't put it past the poor, innocent boy.
Todoroki smiled at her, thanking her for her help, and Bakugo actually felt the girl’s soul ascend.
He walked over to the register and tried his best not to glare at the pair. She was really getting on his nerves.
Shit, he forgot about the budget limit they set.
Todoroki pulled out the credit card from his wallet and handed it to the salesgirl who was rambling about some deal that was going on as she punched something on her screen. He stared at her blankly, zoning out and probably thinking about the next soba dish he could have if Bakugo had to guess.
Bakugo pushed Todoroki’s warm hand away, almost slapping the card out of it, and the girl visibly scowled at him. Wow, lady, don’t try so hard to hide your disdain. He glared at her.
“Bakugo, what’s wrong?”
“I forgot to look at their price.” He turned to the salesgirl who was clearly annoyed. Good, maybe she would finally take a hint. “We can’t buy these.” He grabbed Todoroki’s free hand and tried to pull him away, but Todoroki stood there.
“Wait, but Kirishima will like these. It’s fine, I will just get them customized if they don’t fit the budget requirements that were set.” He handed the card to the girl who immediately sent a bright smile his way despite her eyes being fixed on Bakugo. She was plotting ways to murder him, he could tell. It was the same look plastered on his face for the majority of the day.
Bakugo cursed out Todoroki’s back but let the purchase continue. It wasn’t his money that was being spent, so who cared. Todoroki egregiously disrespecting the budget was somehow so on-brand for him.
She checked them out and handed them the box with a receipt. “Bye! Good luck with your shopping,” she said to Todoroki, completely ignoring Bakugo.
Todoroki pulled away from the blonde’s hand to put his card away and grab the shoe box. Bakugo flinched, dropping his hand. He forgot that he took it to drag the taller boy out in the first place.
Once they were out of the store, Bakugo snatched the receipt from Todoroki. He was appalled at the price. “11,500 yen? Are you serious? They said to keep it around 2,000.”
“It’s fine. They probably won’t be able to tell,” Todoroki said in his usual serious tone.
Bakugo stood and stared, surprised at the boy’s ignorant thinking. Uraraka would pass away if she was here right now. “Are you joking?”
Todoroki frowned, “No, are you joking?”
“No, I’m not. I don’t care though. It’s your money.” Bakugo went to throw the receipt away when he saw handwritten numbers at the bottom.
She didn’t.
Bakugo studied it more closely.
She did.
“Todoroki, how the fuck do you get all these people falling in love with you? You literally just stand there and trip over your words and smile. It may be endearing sometimes, but that still doesn’t explain anything.”
Todoroki cocked his head and peered over the blonde’s shoulder. “What did she write?”
“It’s her phone number, dumbass.” He balled up the paper and threw it in the nearest trash can.
“Hey, what if I wanted that?” Todoroki stared down at the crumpled paper.
“Why would you ever want to talk to someone like her?”
“No, I meant the receipt.”
Un-fucking-believable. Bakugo walked away from headache reason number two and towards the mall map. If Half-and-Half couldn’t keep up with him, then it was his problem. It was too tiring, corralling the boy. He had been here for at least an hour by now, and he hadn’t even gotten his gift for Ponytail.
Someone’s hand brushed his side and he recoiled at the touch. He turned his head to find the red and white-haired boy standing beside him. When the hell did he get behind him?
Mint permeated the air around them as Todoroki stood near his friend. His soft, even breathing brushed against Bakugo’s ear as he searched for the perfect place. A pleasant sense of peacefulness washed over the blonde as he felt the heat of his classmate’s left side gently radiate off him.
Todoroki pressed his long finger against the virtual map. “There’s a customization store over here it looks like.”
Todoroki’s words pulled Bakugo out of his daze. He must have been getting tired or bored, waiting for the other boy to make up his mind. “Fine, we’ll go there.” Only because it was close. “But then we are getting Momo’s present and leaving.”
They worked their way to the customization store that was conveniently close by.
The interior decor was not awful and there was no one trying to flirt with Todoroki, so this was considered a good place in Bakugo’s book. Todoroki seemed almost overwhelmed with the bright colors and loud bass that vibrated through the floor. His eyes wandered around, taking in the funky colors bathed in the low lighting.
Bakugo seized the box of shoes from Todoroki’s arms. He would have to do it or they would get nowhere.
“Hey, can we get these customized?” he shouted over the music, marching up to the counter.
The man spun around. “Sure, dude, what do you want on ‘em?” Oh no, not a skater guy.
Skater guys were right below annoying sales girls on Bakugo’s list of “Things I hate but must tolerate occasionally.”
“Todoroki, come here. What do you want to put on them?” Bakugo glanced back to see if his classmate actually listened. The blonde was surprised to find the other’s face only a few inches away from his.
Bakugo shifted to the right to make room at the counter. Todoroki stared down at the shoes then up at the man who was waiting patiently for their answer. “I’m not sure,” he finally said.
“You insisted that they be customized but you didn’t even know what you wanted on them?” scoffed Bakugo. He was this close to leaving and finding Momo’s present on his own.
Todoroki shrugged, looking back and forth between the blonde and the friendly cashier.
“It’s all good, bro. Have a look around with your... friend here.” He nodded towards Bakugo who was currently muttering every insult he could think of at the red and white-haired boy. “We’re open until ten, you have all the time in the world.”
“Thank you, sir,” Todoroki said. He turned around, clutching the box of shoes to his chest and looking around at the various options offered in the store. It seemed like he was having trouble concentrating.
Bakugo whipped around again, “Can you turn the music down?”
The man nodded and adjusted the volume so that it was at a normal level. Todoroki sent Bakugo a grateful look.
“Sorry, little dude, business is slow around here so I gotta pass the time somehow.” He stepped out from behind the counter. “There are some common designs over on that wall. Colors are right next to them and fonts next to those. Prices are over here by the register. If you have any questions, just ask me.”
This man had the patience of a saint, Bakugo decided. If he was faced to help the clueless idiot that possessed Todoroki on a daily basis, he would have burnt down the place in an instant.
Todoroki smiled. “Thank you, sir!” He strode toward the colors and surveyed his options.
“Bakugo, what do you think about this?” he asked, looking up. Hair fell in his eyes. He squeezed them shut and shook his head to clear it out of the way. He blinked a few times before staring widely at his friend again, grey and blue eyes shining.
Bakugo blinked away his thoughts and walked over to where Todoroki was standing and pointing to a color. It was a deep red that was slightly darker than Shitty Hair’s shitty hair.
“If you match it with black, like his hero costume, but you also put some white on it, I think it’ll look really cool. I think I will also put ‘Red Riot’ on it. What do you think?” He looked at Bakugo for confirmation.
Bakugo couldn’t help but smile as he pictured his friend’s reaction. “Yeah, he’ll eat that shit up for sure.”
Todoroki nodded and went to survey the different fonts. They were displayed on a small tablet that was connected to the large flat screen hanging above them. He scrolled through hundreds of fonts, double-tapping them to place a star next to his favorites.
“I like this one. Or, wait, this one is nice. This one is sort of manly though.” Once again, Todoroki was overwhelmed with choices and in need of some guidance.
Bakugo nudged the boy over so he could have complete control over the tablet. “What about this one?”
Todoroki tilted his head up to see a font he must have missed: big block letters that looked like they were aggressively painted with bold strokes. He smiled the same brilliant smile that he flashed at the salesgirl and skater man. “I think it’s perfect.”
The pair returned to the counter and to the whistling man who was sorting t-shirts into their respective piles. He noticed they were coming back over, so he quickly folded the last shirt before turning around to face the register.
“Okay, sir, I think we have finally decided.” Todoroki recited the codes back to the man as he punched them into the tablet.
“Very cool choices, give me a few seconds for a rough sketch that you can review before OK-ing it.” He grabbed a stylus from a tin nestled in the corner and started to draw random lines. At least, they looked pretty random to the two. They were shocked at the final design.
With slight direction and input from the boys, the man had created the coolest design either of them had ever seen. They told him about the gears on Kirishima’s costume and he incorporated them on the sides of the wording. He also added flecks of white like Todoroki had previously suggested to Bakugo before when they were picking out colors, as well as other patterns and highlights.
The man tilted the tablet towards the students. “Do you like it? If not, I have another idea.”
“Wow, yeah, that’s amazing,” Bakugo uttered.
Todoroki was just as shell-shocked as the former. “That’s perfect. Thank you so much.” He handed the credit card to the man.
“I just need to warn you that it’s not cheap. It’s about 8,000 yen for that design.” He expected the boy to retract his card, but he kept his arm sticking out.
“Oh, that’s fine. Thanks, I appreciate it.”
The artist took the card from him and looked at the name on the back: Enji Todoroki. So that’s where all this money came from.
He swiped the card and handed it back to the boy, along with the receipt. “If you leave the shoes here, then you can collect them in about a week. Just call ahead and we will get them ready for easy pickup.”
Todoroki frowned. “Oh, I thought you were going to do it right now since you were so fast with the sketch.”
Bakugo rolled his eyes at the ignorant behavior, but the man just laughed. “That’s flattering if you think I could do that all on the shoe itself, but we send them, along with this sketch, to a professional place.”
Todoroki nodded in understanding and placed the shoes on the counter. “Okay, thank you. I will call you in a week.”
“No problem, see you then.” He wished them luck on the rest of their shopping as they left the store. Maybe Skater Guy wasn’t so bad, Bakugo thought, he was a really talented artist and didn’t even snap at Todoroki once.
They were met with loud holiday music and warm air once they entered the main part of the mall and walked toward the directory. The onslaught of frenetic shoppers barrelled past without a second thought and would have dragged Todoroki away if not for Bakugo grabbing onto his arm at the last second.
“Fucking finally. Now what the hell do I buy?” sighed Bakugo as he scanned the section labeled “Women’s Clothing.” If all else failed, he would just buy her a scarf or something.
Bakugo never wanted to be a part of the gift exchange in the first place. It took days of Deku hounding him, Kirishima begging him, and Sero straight-up bullying him to get him to put his name in the hat.
He knew he shouldn’t have succumbed to the peer pressure when Iida came to his desk and told him that he would have to give a gift to Momo. The Yaoyorozu Momo, Quirk: Creation; aka, she could create literally anything she wanted to, so why the fuck did Bakugo have to buy her something?
Unfortunately for him, Momo was really looking forward to the Secret Santa. She couldn’t help but gush about it to her girlfriend Jirou, who would do anything to make sure Momo had a wonderful Christmas, even if that meant harassing a certain spiky blonde gremlin.
Bakugo wasn’t scared of her, no, not at all. Just like how he was not somewhat fearful of Sero, the only person Bakugo had ever met who was immune to his snarky comments and mean words.
After pressuring Iida enough to force him to reveal Momo’s gift-giver, Jirou came over and threatened Bakugo, hissing and engaging in an arguing match with him. It ended with Bakugo promising that he would give her a nice gift. Deku was amazed at Jirou’s success.
That’s how he ended up here, at the mall, with the one and only infuriating Todoroki Shoto by his side.
“I don’t know,” Todoroki frowned, scanning the directory to find a suitable store.
“You, what?” Bakugo must have heard him wrong. He must have heard him wrong because if not, then what was he even doing here?
“I don’t know what to get Momo.”
“Are you fucking serious? I literally agreed to meet you here because you said you could help me. I just hauled my ass around this stupid mall trying to help you get a good gift, and in return, you tell me you don’t know what to get her? I cannot believe-”
Todoroki turned and walked away. He learned that’s what you are supposed to do from Midoriya’s guide he passed out to the class named Dealing with Bakugo Katsuki 101. There was a section that Midoriya entitled “Feral Bakugo.” This must have been what he meant.
Method #1: Just walk away.
Bakugo chased after him. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Half-and-Half Bastard? Don’t walk away from me when I’m fucking talking to you, you son of a-”
Mothers covered their children’s ears and glared at the blonde because of his open profanity. People walked around him, wanting to avoid the shit that was inevitable about to go down.
Todoroki sighed. He would have to move on to method two. He turned around and stared at Bakugo with a blank look on his face.
Method #2: Stare at him to make him uncomfortable or confused.
“Okay, what the shit? You’re kind of creeping me out.” Bakugo stopped growling and being an overall barbarian in public. Mission: accomplished.
Todoroki was about to speak when something caught his eye in the display case behind him. He walked past Bakugo to see what was sparkling.
Bakugo turned around as the boy ignored him. “What the hell are you looking at now?” he snarled, still angry that Todoroki was ignoring him.
Todoroki pressed his face up to the glass, close enough that his breath fogged the display case. “Do you think Momo will like these?”
Cute glass figurines sat on a bed of cotton strewn about to look like fake snow. Glitter was sprinkled along the shelf and vinyl clings of snowflakes were stuck to the window. Wooden carvings rested near the glass characters, along with other useless knick-knacks and baubles. Bakugo found the whole display tacky, but Todoroki seemed to be enchanted by it.
“Let’s look at them more closely.” Todoroki grabbed Bakugo’s hand and pulled him into the store, seeming to forget about his so-called “feral behavior” three seconds ago.  
The store had the exact opposite vibe as the customization one. It looked to be a novelty gift store. It was totally decked out in Christmas decorations, with lights hanging everywhere and Christmas music blaring loudly.
Todoroki immediately found the glass figurines in a box. He handed it to Bakugo for closer inspection, cold hand briefly brushing against the warmer one.
“She can just make these herself. They’re just pure glass anyway.”
“Sure she can, but it’s the thought that counts. Also, I don’t think she would ever think to make them.” Momo would never use her quirk in such a self-indulgent way. The only time she ever manifested items was when it was for others.
He had a point. “You’re right,” Bakugo conceded, flipping the box over to see the price. 5,500 yen, ouch. “But it’s still over the price range.”  
“She won’t know though.”
Once again, he had a point. Momo had never been good at guessing the price of an object, probably because she never had to pay attention to it. Unlike Kirishima who would be able to tell just how expensive his customized shoes were, Momo might not even think to consider the price.
At the end of the day, Bakugo had to admit that Todoroki was pretty good at this gift-giving thing, but he wouldn't be caught dead ever saying that aloud.
Bakugo agreed to buy the figures, satisfying the other boy. The cashier easily rang up the figurines and they were out of the store in ten minutes.
Now that both presents had been bought, Bakugo was in a much better mood. The anxiety that came with the possibility of Jirou murdering him in his sleep dissipated once he finally purchased the gift.
“Why did your present take so much longer?” Bakugo teased.
Todoroki shrugged. “I’m not sure. They usually say it’s harder to shop for girls, right?”
Todoroki clearly did not understand the jab.
Bakugo cleared his throat. “Right. Anyways, are you ready to go? I have to go buy a present for my mom, but you can leave. I won’t keep you hostage.”
“Oh, alright. Goodbye.” Todoroki nodded once, turned on his heel, and walked away.
Bakugo watched him walk away before sighing to himself. Now came was the hard part. What would Todoroki Shoto want for a Christmas present?
-
Todoroki walked towards the exit, peeking over his shoulder every couple of minutes to see if the blonde boy had left. Once Bakugo had walked away from the gift store, Todoroki turned around and weaved his way back through the crowd.
While Bakugo was scrutinizing the glass figures, Todoroki saw a small potted cactus he thought the blonde would really like. It didn’t require too much attention and was very prickly; Bakugo was one of these two things. It was only a small present, and despite the number of times that he tried to deny it, Bakugo was indeed Todoroki’s friend.
He double-checked his surroundings to make sure Bakugo had truly left before walking into the store.
“Back again, honey?” The old woman who helped check out Bakugo was still sitting at the counter.
“Yes, I am buying a present for my friend.”
She smiled and went back to looking at her magazine.
Todoroki turned around to find the succulent, which was actually a Christmas cactus. How fitting. He picked it up and inspected it similarly to how Bakugo inspected Momo’s present. Looking at it, it didn’t strike him in the same way as it did earlier. Bakugo wouldn’t hate it, but he wouldn't love it either. After a few months, he would just think it was a nuisance and kill it.
He set it back down and looked around the store again. Now that he didn’t have to be secretive about what he was doing, it was much easier to clearly check out all the products. Still, nothing was standing out to him as a great gift, so he waved goodbye to the nice lady and went on his way in search of the perfect present for Bakugo Katsuki.
-
Bakugo had no clue where to even start.
Clothes were always the go-to present, so he might as well start there. Maybe some great idea would strike him from above while he wandered aimlessly.
He ended up in a punk-goth-emo type section. “How the fuck did I…”
Skulls and chains in a sea of black surrounded him as he tried to find an escape. This must be where his mother bought his clothes as a child.
He found the small hallway that he must have walked through to get to this terrifyingly bleak place. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes to find a half-red half-white haired boy standing about thirty feet away.
I thought he was the only one who looked like that. Unless… Todoroki Shoto has fanboys? It wasn’t completely out of the question. A lot of 1-A students garnered fans ever since the Sports Festival.
The possible fanboy turned his head.
Oh shit, never mind that was literally Todoroki.
Bakugo didn’t want to turn around and get lost in the endless maze of black again, but he couldn’t stay in this brightly lit hallway.
Instead, he darted down the hallway as fast as humanly possible and dove behind a clothing rack. It rattled softly, but Todoroki didn’t notice. Bakugo released a sigh. He clearly wasn’t going to find anything worthwhile here, so he made it his main priority to get the hell out of here before he was spotted.
Every few seconds, he bolted from rack to rack, making sure that Mr. Candy Cane never saw him. Todoroki never seemed to notice as he went around the store picking out clothes and feeling different materials.
God bless Bakugo’s amazing espionage skills, or he would’ve had a large problem on his hands if he had to explain why he was shopping for his mother in the goth section.
-
Todoroki was still having no luck.
Nothing caught his eye in the ginormous clothing store. A few times, a metal rack would shake and Todoroki would go check the mysterious noise out. The first time it happened, he considered it a sign from the gift-giving gods that purposely lured him over. That was until he discovered it was filled with tasteless vests and button-ups that no one should ever wear, not even as a form of punishment.
He knew Bakugo would not have the patience for any puzzles. He also doubted Bakugo would appreciate the simplicity of children’s toys, so he was out of ideas.
Todorki flitted around the entire mall, going from store to store as he combed through the thousands of gifts. The last few stores were a shoe store, a bookstore, and a jewelry store.
If nothing else worked, Todoroki would just buy him a book. He was pretty sure Bakugo liked reading, and lots of books existed, which meant his odds of getting a book that his friend hadn’t read before were pretty good.
He left that as his last resort and instead entered the jewelry store. Thousands of sparkling crystals blinded him and he almost walked right out. But no, he would press on until he found the perfect gift.
He knew Bakugo wouldn’t like anything too sparkly. His brazen personality was more than enough to gather people’s attention.
Eventually, Todoroki found himself in a section filled with bracelets and rings that weren’t outfitted with diamonds. They were mostly leather or solid metal.
He sifted through the suggestions, spinning the little carousels around when an orange bead caught his eye. He pulled it off the hook. It was a simple bracelet with metallic black and orange beads. The colors reminded Todoroki of Bakugo’s hero costume.
He slipped it on his own wrist and found that it was slightly elastic. It wouldn’t fall off, but it wouldn’t get stuck, meaning it would be perfect to wear during class or meals or combat training. Todoroki wholeheartedly believed Bakugo would appreciate the versatility.
He took it off and went over to the nearest register. There was one person in front of him, so he just got in line and looked at his phone.
Despite Todoroki sending no responses to Midoriya, he still texted him with screenshots of his game. There were over a hundred messages now. He must have been very excited.
The man working at the counter called “next,” so Todoroki put his phone back in his pocket, making a mental note to look at them later.
He gave the bracelet to the man, and the man scanned it and placed it in a fancy silver box lined with black velvet. He grabbed a small plastic bag and slipped the box in, along with a receipt. He wished Todoroki a nice day and the boy replied with a small “thank you” before grabbing the bag and walking out of the store.
He peered down at the box. It was the first present he had ever bought by himself, and he was strangely proud.
He was almost at the exit when he looked up to find Bakugo in front of him with a startled look on his face.
Bakugo spoke first. “I thought you left.” He eyed the taller boy with curiosity.
Todoroki’s eyes widened once he realized the situation. Bakugo couldn’t know he bought him a surprise gift. It wouldn't be a surprise then.
“Oh, um well, I planned to. But then I, uh, I saw this store, and I was like my cat would really like this…” he trailed off.
“Your cat?”
“Y-yeah, you know. My cat, uh, he likes to, to wear fancy jewelry sometimes. You know, like, to dress up for fun.”
Rich people were so fucking weird. “What are you saying-”
Todoroki scratched his head and nervously laughed. “Okay, bye!” He flew out of the store clutching the small bag.
-
There was no way he was buying something for his cat.
No fucking way.
He must have been buying something for his mother or his sister. He couldn’t understand why Todoroki would be so flustered over something like that but to each their own.
He looked around the store. It was his last-ditch effort to find something that suited Todoroki. His classmate had quite the eye for stupid, useless things, and jewelry seemed to fit the description well enough.
A young woman came up to him. “Hello, sir, do you need help finding something?”
Not another saleswoman, please no. He couldn’t take any more. At least this one had a normal voice and a non-murderous look in her eye.
The humidity in the building had messed up his hair and all their hustling had made him start to sweat. He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans, just itching to blow something up. He must have looked terribly disheveled because the woman asked if he was okay.
He wanted to snap at her until he remembered that a place like this demanded civility. Very unfortunate. Instead, he tried answering her in the most docile way possible. Maybe she would actually be of some use. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m just having difficulty in finding a present.”
“Understandable! I can help you if you would like?” The saleswoman's happy, airy tone returned once he assured her that he was okay.
“Oh, actually yes. Yes please, thank you. Do you have anything a teenage boy would like? Something cool, but still elegant in a way?”
“Oh, do you have a boyfriend you are shopping for?” she inquired, leading him to a specific area of the store.
“What? No!” he snapped.
A blush may or may not have graced his cheeks when he thought about Todoroki opening his present.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that. We have a collection over here though if you would be interested.” She could tell he was lying, either to her or himself. No straight, teenage male would be found dead in a jewelry store buying a present for his male friend. The red cheeks were also a dead giveaway.
“Yes, sorry. It’s just been a tiring day.” Bakugo didn’t mean to bark at the lady who was just trying to help him; it was just second nature at this point.
“I’m sure it has. Gift shopping can be hard, but that’s why I’m here.”
They made small talk while she showed off many different pieces. Various features and product advantages flew over his head as he tried to picture each bracelet on Todoroki’s wrist. He eventually settled on a leather cuff with a large metal adornment.
“If you want to fill that metal box with an engravement, that’s included if you buy it.”
Todoroki would definitely like this. His gut told him so, and it was never wrong.
“Okay, cool. I’ll get it engraved.”
They walked over to the engraving station in the corner of the shop. The woman unclasped the bracelet, placing the cuff flat on the table, and turned towards Bakugo. “What would you like it to say?”
“Oh, can I have a second?”
The woman nodded and smiled, but her eyes anxiously traveled from customer to customer.
The holiday season was always a great time for her paycheck, but she couldn’t really keep up with commissions if she was stuck helping the same customer. Children like him usually bought the first thing they saw, which is why she started with the most expensive items first. The fact that he took so long only further convinced her that he was shopping for a special someone.
Bakugo crossed his arms. He can’t fuck it up now. He’s spent hours in this dreadful building to find the perfect gift. Now it was in his grasp, and he could make it even more perfect if he thought of the right thing to write on it.
“You can always engrave it later, but I would recommend something like-”
“I got it! Put Katsuki on it in Kanji.”
The lady smiled at the blonde, ready for this exchange to be over so she could go help someone else. “Is that his name?”
“No, it’s mine.”
The woman gave him a strange look. “Sir, do you really-”
“You heard me, lady,” he growled. He was about to explode, literally and metaphorically. It had been hours since he last felt something explode beneath him, and he just wanted to feel the satisfying recoil when he used his quirk.
She scowled at him but did what he said. At the end of the day, he was just another customer that would fill her pockets.
She quickly rang him up and placed it in a box. Bakugo was slightly shocked at the price, but he couldn’t back out now. Also, it was engraved so there was no returning it. Also, he was very confident that Todoroki would really like it.
Bakugo walked out of the store after muttering thanks. His energy and wallet were exhausted and he was ready to go home.
He headed towards the exit when another store caught his eye.
One more stop couldn’t hurt.
-
Everyone was gathered in the common room on the first floor of their dorm building. The Christmas tree’s lights illuminated the room and all of the students were curled up near the fireplace. They had enjoyed a large dinner beforehand, munching on cookies and sipping on milk afterward.
Todoroki and Bakugo ended up sitting next to each other on the floor as they eagerly waited for Kirishima and Momo to open their presents.
Kirishima’s name was called next, and he searched for his package. Todoroki had wrapped it with red wrapping paper covered in cartoon ornaments and tied a large gold bow on top.
Kirishima grabbed the box and crawled back to his seat next to Denki. He shook it loudly and held his ear up to it. Denki rolled his eyes and told him just to open it. Kirishima elbowed the blonde before tearing open the paper. He lifted the lid to find the shoes Todoroki had customized for him.
“Holy shit! These are the coolest things I’ve ever seen!” He pulled them out of the tissue they were nestled in and held them up for the rest of the class to see. Everyone oohed and ahhed, stunned to see the fantastic gift.
“Your gift giver must have been Momo or Todoroki!” Mina noted as she wrote that down on her notes. She was trying to figure out who everyone’s Secret Santa was with Uraraka’s help.
“It doesn’t matter who it was, they’re so awesome. Thank you!” He grinned his little shark smile and stuffed them back into the box.
Todoroki side-eyed Bakugo and discreetly high fived him.
A few more people opened presents until Momo’s turn came around. Mina got hot pink roller skates, Shouji got a six-armed knit sweater, and Sato got a few new kitchen knives.
Momo grabbed her box, a smallish one wrapped in pink wrapping paper with baby pink stripes on it. Thankfully, she did not shake it like Kirishima or Bakugo would have to riot.
She gently tore the wrapping paper off and opened the brown box. The brown paper crinkled as she pulled the wrapped figurines out. Untying the strings, the paper opened to reveal three crystal animals that sparkled in the multicolored light.
“Thank you, whoever! They are very pretty,” she smiled at the whole room. Jirou curled into her girlfriend’s side, flipping the figurines over in her hand to look at them.
Uraraka muttered to Mina, “I have no clue…” Mina reluctantly placed a question mark next to Momo’s name.
Bakugo smirked to himself. There was no way in hell he would let himself be discovered.
-
The rest of the class opened their presents, and overall, everyone was very happy. People munched on desserts, drank hot cocoa, and talked and laughed with each other. Per Kirishima’s request, Bakugo had even power napped before the event so he wouldn’t have to leave early.
By the time midnight rolled around, almost everyone was gone. Almost everyone, meaning everyone except Todoroki and Bakugo.
Bakugo had brought the bracelet with him and hid it in his sweatshirt the entire night. No opportunity had presented itself, but then again, no one would just give you an opportunity. You just had to steal it for yourself.
Bakugo watched Todoroki’s figure as he fluffed all the pillows and folded the blankets.
The blonde almost spoke several times but hesitated each time. No, he was not chickening out. It just wasn’t the right time.
“Um, Bakugo,” Todoroki started. “I got you a present. I saw it and thought of you.”
Bakugo turned around to find a box that looked strikingly similar to the one in his pocket. He untied the ribbon and opened the lid. A bracelet with orange and black beads.
“It reminded me of your hero costume. The black and orange,” Todoroki admitted, abashed.
Bakugo slipped it on. It was very nice, stretchy, and easy to take on and off. He looked up at his classmate.
Todoroki’s heterochromatic eyes stared into his eyes, trying to gauge the blonde boy’s reaction.
Fuck, was he always this pretty? Bakugo wondered, his heart possibly skipping a beat.
“Bakugo?” Todoroki cocked his head to the left, white hair falling in his eyes.
Bakugo was suddenly very aware of how close the other boy had gotten.
“Yeah?” he breathed out, distracted by the mint scent that surrounded the two of them.
“Do you like it?” Todoroki shifted closer, inspecting the bracelet and how it looked on the blonde’s wrist. He picked up the smaller boy’s arm and turned it over in his hands, watching the light bounce off the wooden beads.
“Oh, yeah I do. I do,” Bakugo managed to stutter out. The alternating warm and cold touch sent jolts up his arm and through his body.
Todoroki smiled, dropping his arm to look at Bakugo who had a light blush on his cheeks. It was very cute according to Todoroki.
Bakugo had to sympathize with the salesgirl now. It really was a killer smile that he possessed.
Oh right, he almost forgot. He got too swept up in… everything. “I have a gift for you too. For helping me with Momo’s present and stuff.”
He tore his eyes away from the boy to go find the box he hid in his coat earlier. The bow got slightly crushed, so he tried fixing it as best as he could before turning it around to hand it to Todoroki.
He unwrapped the bow and pulled out a leather cuff with some sort of engraving. “Oh, wow, Bakugo, this is really nice.” He turned it over to read the engraving. “Wait, why does it say your name?”
“Kacchan, you did not just give Todoroki a bracelet with your name on it.”
Bakugo’s face went red at the sudden intrusion. “Shut the fuck up, Deku,” he growled. “Why are you even here?”
“Oh, I was trying to find Aizawa to give him this sweater for his cat. Also, I had colored pencils and a coloring book for Eri, but I couldn’t find them. I thought they might have come here but I guess not. I will take my leave now, so have fun you two!” He hopped off the couch and disappeared around the corner.
Todoroki and Bakugo stared at his retreating figure.
Todoroki poked the blonde. “So why is your name on it?”
“So you’ll always remember who gave it to you!”
“Oh.” Todoroki didn’t know how to feel about that. On one hand, it was kind of cute. On the other hand, it really just wasn’t.
Bakugo’s heart fell at the lackluster answer. “If you don’t like it, I can just take it back or something.” He definitely could not take it back.
“No, I love it.” He slipped it on his wrist and admired it.
Todoroki could stare at the bracelet all day and Bakugo could stare at him all day, but there was something else Bakugo wanted to give. “Uh, Todoroki, I also got you something else.”
Todoroki looked up with inquisitive eyes, folding his hands in his lap.
Bakugo stood up and grabbed Todoroki’s present that he had hidden under a pillow all night.
“I remember you said you never had one as a kid, and it seemed like you really wanted it.” He threw the teddy bear into the other boy’s arms while he trudged back over to their spot in the middle of the room near the fire.
Todoroki easily caught it and looked down to find the teddy bear he wanted from Build-A-Bear that day they went shopping together. He hugged it to his chest and found that it was soft. (It really wasn’t.)
Bakugo melted a bit at the sight as he smiled fondly at the boy. He was so innocent sometimes.
“Thank you,” he whispered, looking up at Bakugo.
“You’re welcome,” Bakugo whispered back.
All of a sudden a paper plane hit Bakugo on the side of his head, shattering the sweet atmosphere.
He growled and looked around for the culprit, but no one was there. Dammit. Grabbing the paper in his hand, he angrily snapped it open to find a message written in very familiar handwriting on it.
“Just kiss already <3”
Deku was about to get a fucking mouthful.
-
"And that is how you fly a paper airplane, Eri!” Midoriya smiled at the little girl.
He watched his friends around the corner, Bakugo growling over the paper airplane and Todoroki trying to read what it said while he held his new stuffed animal to his chest.
They would be just fine. More than fine. They would be happy. And that’s all Midoriya could ever ask for.
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thecaptainhelm · 4 years ago
Text
Aesthetically Pleasing
Super excited, so without further delay, here is my day one. Also heads, my writing style is doing that weird evo thing so if the tone is weird, that’s why. And the minimal editing, that too. ;D
Day 1: Inspiration
@daminette-december2019-2020
Damian walked through the streets of Paris at a sedate pace with the bare essentials, in no particular hurry as he made his way to the address written in his sketchbook. He hasn’t been to France much, not since his days with the Shadows, and even then he only stayed in this particular city for the rare surveillance mission. 
It’s different somehow, he mused. Father had taken him and the rest of the family for a ‘pleasure jaunt’, while he touched base with the European branch of the Justice League. For the sake of a cover story, he publicized it as family vacation and encouraged everyone to take a few days to themselves before they made fools of themselves for the local and international media houses. Not something he was looking forward to, so he would make the most of these next few days.
Soon, he found himself at the entrance of a secluded park, the metal plaque translating to Solitude’s Grace in english. It was relatively new and was constructed to convert an old parking lot into a small and intimate park, at least when compared to others in the city. Plentiful flora, Edwardian columns and street lamps providing him with a sense of being stuck in time, a romanticized feeling.
He made his way in, taking a deep breath as he did so. With the way the park was constructed, it’s distance from the busy tourist sites, and the muffling effect of the surrounding hedge fence, the park is quiet and comforting. He sets out on a stone path, occasionally passing by others who seem to find the same relief he does in being alone. He sighs this time, heading further in to find a place to sit. If there’s one disadvantage to this place, it’s that everyone wants a seat to themselves, and he didn’t feel like sitting next to someone on the off chance of them trying to make conversation.
As he goes, the overcast sky breaks somewhat and opens over an occupied stone bench, revealing a girl who appears to be around his age. In that moment, were he a different kind of man, he would have called a sight like this a chance from fate. As he got closer, he saw that she was cute, quite pretty in fact. Her legs were clad in washed out skinny jeans, white polka dotted converse and a white vest to tie it all together. Her hair was pulled into twin tails over her shoulders, shining like silk in her temporary spotlight. The sudden light reflected off of her pale skin and emphasized her silhouette with a divine halo.
However, what truly captivated him was her presence. She exuded a relaxed and casual atmosphere, flipping through a small sketchbook, occasionally jotting something down tongue stuck out of a focused grin. In that instant he saw the scene before him as a moment of indulgence, a moment to enjoy a hobby and unwind in nature.
A familiar feeling spread through his chest as he observed her, fingers twitching. He knew what this feeling was, he knew it very well, little as it happened. 
He watched her lean onto her palms, seeing the relaxed curve of her spine as she tilted her head up to look up at the gap of sunlight as it moved over to him, and then her eyes, a stunning blue that widened slightly as she caught sight of him. He saw the way they brightened, and knew that she felt as he did, too. He changed direction and made his way to the mysterious beauty.
His breath stuttered in his chest as she stood to make her way to him as well. With every move she made he found her all the more beautiful.
The tilt of her smile, the roving of her eyes up and down his form, the sunlight providing a fading halo as she moved toward him--
“Salut,” he said at the same time she said, “Hello.”
“Oh, désolée,” she stammered over his own, “My apologies, I’ve--”
They both fell into silence before she abruptly started laughing, and heavens, if he thought that she was pretty before then seeing her so expressive was like waking up to dream.
“Amazing,” he murmured to himself, and patiently waited for her to regain control.
“I’m sorry,” she said in english, her accent pronounced. “I’ve been speaking to tourists all day for the past few weeks. I’ve formed an unfortunate habit.”
“There’s no need for apologies, I believe. Also, if I may say, I think the lady speaks beautifully.” He bowed with an arm across the waist.
“My name is Damian. This may seem brusque, but I have a request to make of you, should you deign to hear me out.” Her eyebrow quirked at his polite speech but it didn’t last as she looked at him more seriously.
She observed him for a moment, a brief period that seemed to stretch on for minutes as her eyes pierced through his.
“Well, as long as it’s reasonable. And,” she paused, gazing intensely at his...shoulders?
“And, if you grant one of mine.” She grinned brightly and clasped her fist in her palm. 
“My name is Marinette. Enchanté, Damian.”
He nodded and nodded back to her bench. She nodded in return and soon they sat facing each other.
“I’ll be honest, this is a little weird, you think? At least, if you’re thinking what I’m thinking.” Marinette started, fidgeting as she spoke.
“Then I believe great minds think alike, Marinette. This is rather forward of me, but I would like you to pose for me.” He held up his sketchbook and opened it to a few of his drawings of people, animals and landscapes. She looked at them all with an appreciative gaze that had him inwardly preening.
“In that case, may I have your measurements in turn, as well as some quick poses?” Damian’s face went carefully blank and he stood up to make a quick escape. She jumped a bit at his sudden movement, and appeared confused before her eyes widened as she interpreted his reaction to her last sentence.
“Wait, wait, not in a gross way, I didn’t mean it like that, I’m so sorry!” She squawked as she flailed her arms in a panic, a blush overtaking her face. Idly, he wondered if she was trying to take flight with all the flapping she was doing.
Still, he could admit when he jumped to conclusions. Well, actually he made the rare exception now and again, but she didn’t have to know that.
He looked her in the face and after a tense silence, raised a single brow as though to say, “Well?”
“Designer! I’m a designer, I make clothes, graphic art, and accessories! I’m not trying to harass you I swear and I’m so sorry that I even made you think that way and I’m so sorry I made you get up to run as if you were in danger, but it’s not if, you really thought you were in danger of being with a weird sexual harasser and--” her face was starting to get to an alarming shade of red.
“Stop,” he snapped and her mouth clicked shut. He nearly sighed as out loud as he saw how she almost bit her tongue in her hurry. His frustration quickly faded as he saw her retreat into herself, quickly becoming distracted.
It’s truly artfully done, he thought, I would think she was posing on purpose if I didn’t know any better.
He would make a few changes to her posture and fix the lighting, but other than that he would take her as is in a heartbeat. Everything about her was urging him to commit her form to paper, an immortalized vision frozen in time.
“I, um,” she sighed, gaze averted. “That happens more than I like unfortunately. I, it’s, um,” she sighed again.
“I also would like to apologize for jumping to conclusions. Propositions tend to come my way, unwarranted, so I was quick to assume,” he said stiffly.
“Can we move on, please. I don’t, uh, know the specifics of your proposal anyway.”
“Of course,” he said curtly. “I only use my drawings as a personal form of enjoyment, and rarely show it to others beyond close personal friends and family. As well as ensuring that your image is safe and protected, I would also like to pay you to be my model, even if it’s only for a few hours at most.”
Marinette nodded slowly and he committed the change of shading to her features as she moved to memory along with her thoughtful expression.
“I don’t have a problem with that, but would you mind if I do your measurements after, sitting still for a long time makes me feel sluggish and I don’t like to walk around trying to wake myself up in public spaces.”
“Not at all,” he assured. “If that’s the case, I wouldn’t mind you taking your sketches first, switching out would be more beneficial to you at the end.”
“Why, that does sound nice, but it might just make me feel bad,” she said teasingly. Seeing his confused frown, she giggled.
“I can tell just by looking at you that you’re practically dying to get me posing for you,” she grinned at him, eyes sparkling.
“Tch, since you insist,” he said without trying to fight her on it because she was right. During their entire exchange he’d been drinking in her every detail like depraved loon.
“If you would gather your things, in that case? I don’t know how much longer I can wait until I get my hands on you.” Hearing this, she blushed and began to stutter.
“Oh, uh, yeah, gazebo by lake, middle park of, um,” she quickly looked down as she grabbed her jacket and backpack.
Without any lingering qualms, he leaned over her to look at her face more closely.
“Yes, that’s exactly the face I want to see,” he rasped with dark eyes.
“Ok, I’m ready! Let me lead the way, native and what not!” She laughed nervously as she hurried to the center of the park.
Damian grunted and slung his satchel over his shoulder and easily matched her stride.
He became preoccupied thinking of ways to shift and coordinate her body to the scenery, which is why it felt like no time at all when they reached the gazebo.
It was a brown, humbly crafted structure that matched the atmosphere of the park, with its rose hedges wrapping around the fencing and lacquered benches and railings. He and Marinette walked up the steps together and soon he was pulling out his sketchbook and turning toward his model in a hurry.
“If I may?” He held out his hands and waited for her approval. Marinette set her things down next to his and took a deep breath before whispering a soft okay.
He slowly approached her lightly grasped her shoulders, gently pressing down and her body folded to sit on the bench behind her. He let go, trailing his hand to her wrist and bending her down, down, down, until she was leaning over an empty space bracketed by her forearm. He backed away slightly, turning her head to gaze at the invisible person beneath her. Finally, he lightly pulled her lower lip into a subtle opening as if she were helpless to give in and close the final distance for a kiss. He traced her cheek and that blush from before rose, a new sight in the different lighting and he memorized it.
Done with her head and torso, he told her that he was going to touch her legs, and she gave the ok again. Carefully, he curled both legs in the same direction, spreading them somewhat and planting one foot down as though it was going to push her up and let the other loosely rest at a comfortable angle.
Stepping back he saw the image he desired, but somehow better. The sky had turned a pale bluish gray that gave Marinette, posed as she was, a fragile halo.
He grasped his sketchbook and began.
An hour later, on his fourth sketch and her third and final pose, it started to rain.
Marinette, leaning against the bench with her head tilted a bit over its edge, gasped as the cold water pelted her face out of nowhere.
Damian cursed, rushing to grab their things and move them to the center of the floor and the rain began in earnest.
He’s kneeling as he puts them down, so when his new model leans over him to grab at her backpack, he looks up on instinct and gets a face full of a wet jamila.
Marinette is only somewhat wet from the pouring rain, but the sky is still bright with that bluish gray from earlier and provides a backdrop of faint light to reflect off the few raindrops that are trailing from her bangs, dripping off her dark, fluttering eyelashes to roll down freckled cheeks in a mimicry of tears that leaves him ensorcelled.
“I have a towel in my bag, could you…?” She makes a vague gesture for him to move and Damian is distantly aware that his expression is akin to that of a slack jawed moron. He rose up to his full height, and he feels that he can’t help his next words.
“Sincerely, you become lovelier and lovelier the more I look at you,” he reverently intoned as he stared into her eyes, watching with rapt attention as her own stare focused on him.
“It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one feeling this way,” she said. “From the moment I saw you I couldn’t help but memorize the way you looked then, underneath a circle of dappled sunlight.” She licked her lips, blue eyes darkening to a silvery hue.
“I really,” her eyes begin to run a trail from shoulder to shoulder, down his chest and stopping at his waist.
“I really liked your posture when you bowed earlier,” she said in a breathless whisper.
“Is that so?” He matched her tone, watching her appraise him.
“With the proper shirt, I could really emphasize that, give you a mandarin collar and make the cuffs round themselves out, three holes, one for the cufflinks and the other two to anchor the embroidery. A pale grey with geometric patterns to call attention to the rigidity of your stance and will allow for others to make note of your impeccable discipline.”
“Thank you,” he said and found that he meant it. “For agreeing to this, I mean. Today has been so…”
“Magical?” She guessed.
“Fulfilling.” He watched as a small rain droplet trickled down her cheek and brought his hand up to wipe it away.
“I never thought a day like this would happen,” he continued. “To think I met my muse an ocean away from home.”
“Muse? Me?” Marinette said in wonder. There was that blush again, delicately framing her freckles in a pink hue that spread all the way up to her ears.
“Indeed,” he said. “ After all, no other person has inspired me as swiftly as you did.”
“Likewise, Damian.” 
They stood there together under the gazebo until the rain settled completely. They parted in opposite directions, longing but reassured with the knowledge that they wouldn’t be separated for long.
In the space between them, lightning flashed above and thunder rolled quietly in the distance.
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queenmylovely · 5 years ago
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Wedding Party III
Summary: Ben hardy x fem!reader. The night before the wedding is for the bachelorette party and the bachelorette party only, right? 
Word Count: 2.9k
Warnings: cussing, building tension, flirty texting, spoiler alert: heavy make-out section (very light smut, no underwear is removed, pretty much just descriptive grinding lol) 
A/N: Part 3 to part 3 of the celebration! Thank you so much again to everyone who follows me, including the people that have since I hit 500, cause it’s been quite a minute. This one’s a little shorter, but it gets the job done I think. Make sure to catch reader’s Freudian slip lol. Yell at me if you must. Any feedback is super appreciated but especially replies, messages, and asks are super helpful for my writing ‘cause I get to hear what you think!
Part I, Part II, Part IV, Mini i, Mini ii, Masterlist
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(dorky cutie, gif by @catspawzz-yeahyeahyeahthedrummer​) 
💖💖💖
How you were up at 3:00am the night before your best friend’s rehearsal dinner and subsequent bachelorette party was beyond you. Well, it wasn’t really beyond you because you knew why. It was that damn Ben. You and he had been texting since that first game night and some nights it lasted until one of you fell asleep in the very early morning, phone in hand.
It stayed… mostly friendly, but every so often it ventured towards flirtation, which you thoroughly appreciated. But then the morning would come and one of you would inevitably make the switch back to just friendly. All in person interactions followed the same type of pattern. A couple more game nights as each other’s partners, dinner parties sitting across from each other and sharing looks and laughs, and brunches with free flowing mimosas and bloody mary’s that turned you both into tipsy, touchy flirts were enough to make both of you desperately want a quick fuck in a wedding reception bathroom (or anyplace and anytime sooner), and maybe more too.
In any sort of wedding related event, the two of you were paired up, and usually by the happy couple themselves. It was some sort of sweet torture that the two of you were walking together. You both greatly enjoyed spending so much time together, talking, flirting, whatever, but the damn rules were always on the edge of your minds.
Not that either of you knew the other was aware of the rules as well. Ben had the tiniest inkling that you might be, but he didn’t want to risk bringing it up in case you didn’t because he would’ve been a little embarrassed. You were completely clueless and were more focused on not breaking the rules than figuring out if Ben had any idea about it, because boy was it getting hard not to break them.
Anyway, it was 3:00am and you were struggling to keep your eyes open, but Ben’s texts always came right when they were about to close.
Ben: So what r u guys doing for Luce’s party?
Y/N: umm i think that’s a secret
Ben: A secret? I already told u what we’re doing 😤
Y/N: that’s on you bud
Ben: Rude
Ben: Whatever it is try not to get too drunk so I don't have to deal with u complaining of a hangover at the wedding
Y/N: says the guy who shows up to most of the brunches hungover or half drunk from the night before. besides, it’ll be hard to get drunk when i don’t have my personal drink maker there
Ben: Ah ur dependent on me now? No one else does it quite like me?
Y/N: that’s right, hardy. no one else keeps me filled up the way you do, it’s why i keep you around
Y/N: *my cup
Ben: It’s not the stimulating conversation or my charming good looks?
Y/N: those help, but no it’s your usefulness as a personal bartender
Ben: If I’m ur personal bartender, where are my tips?
Y/N: i’ll settle up after the wedding
Ben: Looking forward to it
_____
About 16 hours and a rehearsal and rehearsal dinner later, the wedding party was splitting into two groups for the respective bachelor and bachelorette parties.
You saw the boys gathered by one of the tables where the rehearsal dinner had been. Lucy and Rami were talking so everyone was taking a minute before it was time to leave. From where you were you could see Joe and Sami talking in hushed tones and counting what looked like a few hundred dollars in bills ranging from ones to twenties.
Catching Ben’s eye as he was scowling at you, you couldn’t help but laugh. Since he had told you that they were going on a chartered boat that had been set up for poker, you knew exactly what the money was for. Ben walked quickly over to you, crossing his arms and giving you a look once he got there.
When he didn’t say anything you asked, “Can I help you?”
“You haven’t told anyone have you?” Ben asked, still frowning. The little crease between his eyebrows and the slight pout of his lips made it hard to remember to answer his question.
“Of— of course not, I’m not gonna risk ruining the surprise for Rami,” you said, placing your hand on his still crossed forearm before smirking and saying, “Unlike you.”
Ben’s frown deepened for a second and you worried if you had been too mean, but then he just started laughing. You joined in and both of you took a step closer without realizing.
“Shut up,” Ben said, still chuckling.
You looked up at him with a challenge in your eyes and replied, “Make me.”
Ben suppressed a groan and looked down at you, biting his lip. There were a few seconds of heated silence and you felt yourself moving closer to Ben as he was doing the same.
“Y/N, we’re ready to head out, are you?” Emma called from where she and the rest of the bridesmaids were.
Ben cleared his throat and you turned around to tell her yeah. Then you turned back to Ben, putting your hand on his arm again, “See you tomorrow, then.”
“Have fun, be safe,” he told you.
“You too, don’t go falling off the boat,” you said with a smile that he returned.
Then he leaned down and kissed your cheek quickly, saying bye as he stepped back and you waved before turning around and following the group out the door.
_____
The bachelorette party was set up at your apartment because it was bigger than Emma’s and so that it could maintain the surprise for Lucy. It had required a bit of thinking for you and Emma to figure out what to do because Lucy didn’t want to go to a stripclub or anything of the like. Plus, since she was having the party the night before her wedding, she didn’t want a wicked hangover. She also wanted her mom, aunt, and young cousin to come, so it had to be something that they could participate in too.
Everyone went inside, seeing the multiple tables set up in the living room, wondering aloud what the plan was. It was only a couple minutes before there was a knock on the door. Just outside, there were two women wearing aprons that you let in with a smile.
Emma stood up to introduce them, “Everyone, this is Katy and Jay, they’ll be teaching us how to make cocktails tonight!”
Everyone exclaimed happily, and you were glad to see Lucy smiling brightly in excitement. You went to the kitchen and wheeled out a bar cart that had all of the equipment, alcohol, and mixers that would be needed. There were enough tables for everyone to be in pairs, and you were paired with Lucy so that Emma could be with her cousin, May.
One from each pair grabbed one of each of the items that Katy and Jay said to grab. The group included one pregnant bridesmaid, one who just didn’t drink, and the fourteen year old May, so your instructors had planned drinks that would still be good without alcohol.
The class ended up being a lot of fun; they taught different types of martinis, spritzes, mojitos, and G&T’s, so that by the time they were all made and everyone that was drinking tried them all, it was enough to be more than a little tipsy.
Jay and Katy took their leave after many thanks and promises of more cocktail parties in the future. Then you announced the next part of the evening.
“It-- it is now time for a fashion ex-- extara--vangza!” you exclaimed, stumbling over the long word and causing everyone to crack up with you.
Then Emma came out of your room, pulling, along with the help of her mom and aunt, two giant racks of clothes that you and she had spent the past few weeks collecting at different thrift and second-hand stores. You had gotten old wedding dresses, prom dresses, funky patterned shirts, bohemian skirts, oversized blazers with giant shoulder pads, sparkly bralettes, and everything in between.
Seeing the clothes, Lucy jumped up and ran over, immediately looking through them and soon there was a little crowd around the racks.
Emma tried to shout over everyone, “We have seven minutes to create an entire outfit and then we will have our fashion show! Don’t worry, this is only the first of many!”
The whole affair was full of laughs, shouts of excitement, and a couple quick arguments over who got what. Then the runway had to be prepared, which meant turning on the color changing LED lights you had and turning on a playlist of Beyoncé, ABBA, Rihanna, Adele, Lizzo, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, and Queen, though only the upbeat songs.
Everyone did their best struts down the runway and then posed strikingly at the end, channeling their inner model. The crowd said their oohs and ahhs and clapped for each one. You and Emma took turns modelling and being a photographer each round so that all of the outfits were captured during their walk.
After about five rounds, the fashion show devolved into a dance party where everyone was laughing and singing along with the songs.
Around midnight, you lost Lucy’s mom, her aunt, and May to tiredness. And once the first group had left, it wasn’t long before others started leaving as well. By 12:30am, the only ones left were Lucy and Emma, to help clean up. But you both tried to make Lucy sit and relax since she was the bride and shouldn’t have to clean up after her own party. She refused and helped anyway, hanging up the clothes that had gotten left on the couches and floor. Though a lot of them ended up in a large tote bag she found in your room that she planned to take home with her.
Once all the trash was thrown away, the dishwasher was running, and the last stray glittery shirt was hung up, you ushered Emma and Lucy out the door with hugs, kisses, and reminders to get a good night’s sleep.
You flopped on your couch, tired out but also somehow wired with energy and you debated over watching one episode of TV or just going to sleep. You were reaching to grab the remote to turn off the music when there was a knock at the door.
Rolling your eyes and smiling on the way, you unlocked it and threw it open, the question, “What, did you realize you left one of the pairs of cute trousers behind?” halfway out of your mouth before you realized that it wasn’t Lucy and Emma.
“Ben,” you said in surprise. Probably the last person you were expecting at this moment was Ben, but there he was, in dark jeans and a plain white t-shirt that fit him too well to leave anything to your imagination, his hair a little messy like he had been running his hands through it and his cheeks flushed pink due to what you could only assume was alcohol.
You opened the door wider and let him in, after you remembered to stop just staring at him and trying to imagine what he’d look like with those clothes off.
Ben smiled at you sweetly and said hi. Then he looked you up and down and a brief look of confusion crossed his face.
You looked down at yourself and realized that you were still wearing one of the sequin bralettes, a black mesh t-shirt underneath that, a high waisted neon purple skater skirt, and a houndstooth yellow and pink blazer with shoulder pads. Chuckling at yourself, you explained, “Oh, we had a fashion show.”
As the two of you walked into your living room, Ben nodded in understanding.
“Sit. How was the boat? Who won big in poker?” you asked as you sat on your feet, kneeling. You asked a little more enthusiastically than usual, but you were still kinda tipsy.
“Boat was good. Ummm I think maybe Rami won, yeah, he has a good poker face, he’s a good actor. Has an Oscar, you know,” Ben rambled, and you nodded with a smile as you thought that he must be kinda tipsy himself. Then he turned so he was facing you more and closed his eyes, shaking his head, “But we didn’t even play poker for long.”
“No?” you asked, leaning closer to him.
“No,” he said, opening his eyes slowly and smiling, “We did karaoke instead.”
“That sounds fun,” you whispered, looking down to his hand that was very close to yours. If you had been sober, you would’ve just looked, but you weren’t, so you grabbed it in yours and started playing with his fingers.
“Mmmm,” Ben hummed and you wondered whether it was in agreement to your statement or because he enjoyed what you were doing.
“What did you sing?” you asked curiously.
Ben flipped your hands so that he was the one doing the playing as he responded, “Me and Joe did a duet of ‘Greased Lightnin’’ from Grease. He was Danny and I was Kenickie.”
“Kenickie was always my favorite,” you commented, looking up from your hands to his eyes.
Ben looked up to your eyes as well, leaning in and asking, “Really?”
You moved closer too, and as you nodded, you felt his breath on your lips yet again.
This time, there were no interruptions and you closed the last few inches together, your lips finally meeting. The first kiss was soft, but the next one was a little more urgent, and the next even more so. Before you knew it, you were parting your mouth for Ben’s tongue and he was teasing along your lower lip, daring you to follow into his mouth.
You moaned as Ben’s hands came to your waist and he helped you straddle his lap. Your hands went to his chest and down to his stomach, feeling the taught muscles that you had seen through his shirt. Ben pushed your blazer off your shoulders and then one of his hands moved to tangle in your hair and the other slid lower and underneath your skirt to your ass
Breaking the kiss, you instead moved to placing kisses along his jaw then down his neck, scraping your teeth lightly on his pulse point and making Ben shudder. He moved his hands back to your waist and pushed down, at the same time grinding his hips up into you from below. You gasped and moaned, feeling his hardness pressing against you through only your underwear.
Kissing back up to his mouth, you bit his lower lip, getting a groan and another grind of his hips in return. Your hands slid up his torso and then to his hair, tugging it lightly and Ben continued to help you move with him as he moaned. Each pass of his hard cock on your clothed pussy made you a little more desperate for more and you whined whenever he grazed your clit.
When you tilted your head back in pleasure, Ben took the opportunity to move to your neck, kissing down the column of your throat before starting a search for your sweet spot. He found it quickly, and started sucking, but as good as it felt, you had to stop him.
“Ben, no marks, the wedding.”
Just that simple sentence knocked the sense back into both of you and you each leaned back, your hands all moving to your own sides.
“We can’t do this,” you said in unison, and then looked at each other in confusion.
“Wait--” you started.
“What--” Ben said at the same time.
“Why can’t we?” you asked him, a few thoughts falling into place as you remembered that initial conversation when Lucy had singled out Ben.
“Well, I’m just not supposed to-- I mean, I probably shouldn’t say…” he trailed off awkwardly and you got off his lap quickly, pacing in front of the couch as you came to a conclusion.
“Did Lucy tell you not to sleep with me?” you asked, turning to Ben quickly.
“No, well yes, well kind of. I guess it’s fine. Rami told me not to sleep with anyone from the wedding party, he didn’t single out you. But I assumed that Lucy felt the same way,” Ben said sheepishly, a blush covering his cheeks.
“Don’t be embarrassed, Lucy told me not to sleep with anyone either. Except she did single you out. She excused that it was because we’re walking together, but it’s probably because we’re both sluts. Nice to know I’ve got an ally out here,” you said wryly but when you looked over at Ben he just looked very confused. You quickly added, “That wasn’t meant as an insult.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m just surprised that they would go to such lengths. And I’m a little mad,” he commented.
You nodded and flopped back down on the couch next to him, “Yeah, me too, but I can see their point.”
Both of you sighed and then laughed.
“And we probably shouldn’t do anything tonight?” you asked, wanting his agreement, because you were close to just saying fuck it and doing something anyway.
“Yeah, we probably shouldn’t tonight,” he said, facing you and you could see that there was still a healthy amount of desire in his eyes. “But I make no promises for the reception.”
💖💖💖
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virtual-toast · 4 years ago
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Scream Queens VH1 recap - Season 1 Episode 2
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Michelle, Sarah, Kylah, and Jessica come back from the grand ballroom and the rest of the girls are shocked and/or pissed that Jo-Anne went home instead of Kylah. Lindsay says “This house will mourn the loss of Jo-Anne” and Sarah, in tears, calls her “such a sensational actress”, which are both super melodramatic reactions, you knew Jo-Anne for three days, but okay. Meanwhile Kylah has no idea why everyone is upset that she’s still there haha.
The following day sees Kylah declaring the house has been divided into the “queen bitches” (herself, Michelle, Lina, and Angela) and the “more homely girls” (Marissa, Lindsay, and Sarah). I’m assuming she’s put Tanedra and Jessica in the latter category too but she doesn’t mention them specifically. The bitchy girls talk shit about the other girls behind their backs, specifically about how they think Sarah didn’t deserve to win the previous episode, that she’s ugly and annoying, etc.
The girls meet up with Shawnee who tells them they have 15 minutes to dress themselves up and impress a casting director (Kelly Wagner, who seems pretty cool tbh) with the winner getting a guaranteed callback. While getting ready, Michelle and Angela mention that if the winner is not one of the bitchy girls, the competition must be rigged. An awful lot of confidence for week 2, lol.
The girls go back into the room with Shawnee and meet Kelly. They take turns doing a sort of one on one interview / audition, which I’m gonna summarise in dot points because they each get a small amount of screen time:
Lindsay talks about being a child actor and Kelly says that means she probably actually has a harder job than someone just starting out. Lindsay is wearing a weird sort of frilly top and skirt with polka dots but it somehow doesn’t really work for her shape, and Kelly mentions it as well as Shawnee straight up calling her frumpy. True, but also, rude.
Lina goes up and immediately shakes Kelly’s hand. She doesn’t even get a word out before Kelly is like “yeah no, don’t shake casting directors’ hands, personal space / germs” etc.
Kylah talks about playing Price is Right with her brother which Kelly says is a bad choice because she’s automatically associating herself with being a model rather than an actress. Kylah proceeds to mention that she wants to “get ugly, get dirty, like Halle Berry did in Monster.” cringe
Marissa gets up and starts off on this huge spiel about how horror films are like modern Greek tragedies and everyone is just staring at her like GIRL WHAT.
Michelle introduces herself and Kelly asks if she primarily does theatre because of her big personality. Michelle proceeds to brag about being Miss Teen Texas.
Jessica is wearing a smart-casual outfit of jeans and a simple white top with her trademark giant hoop earrings. Kelly comments on her look being unique. Jessica is kinda speaking like a cute little girl who doesn’t want to let the evil out??
Angela mentions how she thinks she has the stereotypical horror “look”. Her outfit isn’t relevant but I have to mention it anyway - it honestly looks like she cut the top off a blue evening gown to wear as a shirt?? and then just jeans. Like idk.
Sarah introduces herself and Kelly immediately comments on her unique nasally voice.
Tanedra tells Kelly that she has no formal training. Kelly says “And you think you can beat out all these girls?” and Tanedra’s like YES. Fuck yeah get it girl.
So Kelly goes ahead and gives her overall impressions - Kylah has no personality, Angela has the best horror look, Lindsay looks like the best friend rather than the leading lady, Marissa is the one she didn’t remember, and she liked Jessica’s personal style. Ultimately she gives Jessica the guaranteed callback, and also sends Lindsay and Marissa for makeovers which Michelle finds hilarious.
The girls go back into the house and Kylah proceeds to have a tantrum about not winning, stating that if the casting director was a man the results would have been different. But get this, she DOES NOT CHANGE EXPRESSION THE ENTIRE TIME. Even when she’s yelling “I’M ABOUT TO CRY” she literally just has this blank look on her face like is she actually made of wax?? Meanwhile Lindsay and Marissa have their makeovers, Lindsay gets a cool short reverse A-line bob cut and looks really badass, while Marissa gets her hair dyed jet black and cut in choppy layers. It looks fine but you can tell by her face Marissa is not happy.
The girls go to Homa’s class and since the week is all about first impressions, they have to do freeze frame shots of particular expressions, I guess so they can see what they actually look like vs. what they think they look like or something. Most of the girls do pretty well, Tanedra kills it again, Marissa bombs, and Kylah once again LITERALLY DOES NOT CHANGE EXPRESSION. What the fuck.
Back at the house the girls are all gushing over Lindsay and Marissa’s makeovers, Michelle voices her jealousy despite earlier thinking it was hilarious, and Angela is mad that she’s no longer the only one with her “look”, even though she and Marissa don’t look the same at all, the only similarity is the colour of their hair?? Marissa goes and has a cry about her hair because she’s now lost all her confidence and honestly it’s actually kinda sad / hard to watch.
The next day they find one of the rooms in the house has been filled with creepy dolls and of course one of them is actually a person that jumps out and scares them because omg what a funny prank haha. The “doll” tells them their director’s challenge is a photoshoot which many of the girls are stoked about. They’re basically given generic horror themes and have to shoot the poster. Dot points again!
Lina gets “Tie Die” and her costume is literally a length of rope that’s wrapped around her. She immediately cracks the shits and goes into full blown diva mode, complaining about her costume, how apparently difficult her theme is compared to other girls, telling the makeup and hair people how to do their jobs, etc. Whaaaaat, Lina is a bitch?? This is brand new information!! Unfortunately she still does a really good job with the photoshoot.
Lindsay gets “Blinded By the Fright” and her costume is a hospital gown and white contact lenses, which she has difficulty putting in but is EXTREMELY polite about it with the makeup lady (a nice juxtaposition to Lina’s bitch fest). Lindsay also does really well in the photoshoot.
Kylah gets “Thin Skin” which she comments sounds like a porno, lmao. Her costume is literally just black liquid latex painted all over her body and the other girls are fucking FROTHING with jealously. Kylah proceeds to completely bomb the challenge, giving absolutely no emotion and James literally has no idea how to direct her.
Michelle gets “Don’t Go in the Water” and is basically just wearing a bikini, but then James dumps a bottle of cold water all over her. She does really well in the photoshoot.
Sarah gets “Blood Skate”, her costume is just a bloody ice skating outfit, and she does okay.
Tanedra gets “Prom Scream”, she is wearing a bloody prom dress, and she does really well.
Jessica gets “The Butcher’s Girl” and she’s literally wearing a hat, gloves, no shirt, just an apron and shorts? And there’s blood? This one confuses me. She does okay.
Angela gets “Monster’s Wedding” which some of the other girls (correctly) complain is SUPER easy - she’s literally in a wedding dress posing with a bloody hand prop. She does fine but I mean all she has to do is stand there and smile??
Marissa gets “Mummy Maker” and she’s wrapped in what I assume are bandages but it looks like toilet paper? She’s pretty covered, including the bottom half of her face, and she’s supposed to be seductive but honestly it kinda just feels like an awkward interpretive dance??
The next day back at the house, Marissa vents to the other girls about her insecurity with her new hair. Like I know it’s just hair but it’s kinda sad, they completely changed her look which obviously fucks with her confidence. The girls get their photoshoot posters and everyone is stoked except Marissa (rightfully) and Lindsay, who basically has an anxiety attack and hates hers even though everyone is telling her how great it is. Whoo boy I relate to Lindsay so hard. Jessica reads the list which summons Marissa, Kylah, Lindsay, and Lina to the grand ballroom. They all think they’re at the bottom except Lina, who of course thinks she’s top shit.
In the grand ballroom, Lina gets pulled forward and despite doing well in the challenge, the judges straight up read her for being a bitch, which is hella satisfying let me tell you. Lindsay gets pulled forward and the judges tell her that she did an awesome job and that she needs to go easier on herself, before awarding her the week’s leading lady. Marissa and Kylah are predictably the bottom two, Marissa gets told she’s overthinking everything and Kylah just that she’s completely emotionless. Kylah gets the axe and Marissa lives another week.
Stay tuned for Season 1 Episode 3!
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