#the way she went in with that tree hugger line i-

[cerealbishh]

"Hey. It- It's your birthday?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Guess I've been focused on other things today."

[avalonslife]

Christmas Day Magic

Ava linked her arm through Hayden’s as they headed up the driveway of Gendry’s home. It was a long drive, lined with trees that all had lanterns in them just waiting to be lit once it got dark. And the house at the end looked more like it belonged in the English countryside than the outskirts of Chicago. It was large and grand, made of buttery coloured stone and yet something about it looked homey. But maybe that was just her familiarity with it.

She heard Cameron whistle somewhere behind her when the house came into view. It was easily the biggest group they’d had going to Gendry’s for Christmas Day. She couldn’t help but smile at it. How their little family was growing. Pulling in partners and parabatais. Turning her head she smiled up at Hayden as they crunched over the snow.

As they reached the front steps she untangled herself from him, bounding up to the front door excitedly. I was a large wooden thing and currently sported a suitably sized wreath of evergreens and red berry’s. Placing her hand against the smooth surface she heard the click as it recognised her and unlocked. Turning back she took Hayden’s hand and pulled him inside, sparing a bright smile for Odette as she did.

“He’s lost the Christmas pudding,” Casper greeted them, walking into the entrance hall just as the door was closing behind them. Ava couldn’t help but laugh.

“Again?” Gwaine asked from where he was taking Andromeda’s coat. “That’s the third year in a row,” he commented. “Do you want me to pop your coats away too?” He continued, turning to Ember and Ash. Cameron joined to help him collect everyone else’s and hang them up under the stairs in a coat cupboard big enough to walk into.

“Well to be exact he can’t find the cupboard he put it in. It’s gone missing,” Casper noted, now starting to make his way up the grand staircase. “I’ve check everywhere downstairs, took me most of the bloody day yesterday. I’m off the try upstairs but I’m giving up in a hour cause I’m not missing everything for a bloody pudding. You wanna come?” This last question was directed at Clara.

“Welcome to the mad house,” Finn leaned down to whisper to Odette with a fond smile. Christmas at Gendry’s was his favourite. Homely, relaxed and more often than not just a little chaotic. The only thing missing was his parents and uncle.

“Come on, I bet there’s something hot and mulled to drink waiting for us,” Gwaine said walking back to Andromeda and then carrying on in the direction of the kitchen.

“I’ve never seen a place like this,” Taryn comment to Ash as they made their way through the house.

The kitchen was a large Victorian looking one. With a long wooden table down the middle of it, flag stone floor and a high ceiling. At the far end was a large range with Gendry stood at it stirring a giant pot of nonalcoholic mulled punch. He turned when he heard the group enter the kitchen, a beaming grin on his face. “Merry Christmas!” He said, abandoning the spoon which quickly disappeared into the dark red liquid, and hurried to greet his guests.

Ava did a little run to met him, giving him a massive hug. “Merry Christmas Gendry,” more hugs were exchanged with the ones who already knew him and then the introductions started. “This is Hayden,” Ava said gentle nudging him forward. Gendry was a hugger when it came to friends and if they were here today that’s what they were. Even if he’d never met them before. And so everyone got a hug. “And this is Odette, Andromeda, Ember, Ash, Taryn and Cameron,” Ava continued.

“Well welcome, welcome, one and all,” Gendry said, still smiling. “Who’s for punch?” He offered.

“Definitely me,” Finn said, seating himself at the large table. Gwaine went over to help pass out the cups, while Ava set to making some bucksfizz for those who wanted.

[sitych]

||Bakugou x Fem reader||

Warnings: cursing

Genre: a bit of angst fluff

||Reader has a nature based quirk similar to Ibara Shiozaki but she mainly creates different types of flowers||

(I normally don’t write for mha but I was rewatching the show and got a super fun idea and I had to write it)

“Hey kat, I was just coming to see if you wer-” was all you were able to get out before the man in front of you spoke. Well, more yelled

“JUST GET THE FUCK OUT”

Bakugo’s yelling was the only thing heard throughout the dorms. Him yelling at you when he was frustrated or angry wasn’t rare but he had never gone as far to tell you to “get the fuck out” as he put it. Your heart shattered for a moment before you reminded yourself it wasn’t you he was angry at. It was himself.

“Kat, I know your upset right now. But sitting here alone won’t make it any better.” You softly spoke leaning in the doorframe of his dorm.

He was sitting on his floor with his back propped up against his bed not even bothering to look in your direction. Going against his former remark you slowly stalked your way over to him and sitting down. Leaving about a foot between you and the blond.

“We don’t have to talk Kat, but I’m not leaving you alone” you mumbled staring off in no particular direction.

This wasn’t the first time you had witnessed him go through one of his “episodes” but ever since getting into UA they had become more frequent.

Seconds turned into minutes and finally an hour had passed with nothing but the two of you sitting in the floor of his dorm. It wasn’t a comfortable silence or anything along those lines. The air was thick with an uncomfortable tension.

“It’s my fault.” He whispered. It was barely even audible but you heard it.

Head snapping over to the blond you spoke with wide eyes. “What are you even talking about. Nothings your f-“

“I’m talking about AllMight you fucking tree hugger” he snapped. Not aggressively, but more like he was afraid to say it out loud.

“Katsuki, what happened was a freak accident. None of that could have been prevented and it most definitely was not your fault.”

He began rambling about how it he was stronger he could have stopped it and how he isn’t good enough to be a hero. And then it went silent. Dead silent. That was until you heard a small sniffle come from his direction.

Was he.. crying?

‘Holy shit holy shit holy shit. Is he crying? No he’s definitely crying. What the fuck am I supposed to do? I’ve never seen him cry before’ mentally freaking out you blurted the first thing that came to mind

“Do you remember when I first got my quirk?”

Now that definitely caught his attention.

“What the fuck does that have to do with anything?” The man besides you had spat, getting rather upset that you had brought up something seemingly so insignificant when he had finally decided to open up. But. He had finally turned his head towards you.

Ok great. That’s a start

“Do you remember or not?” You said altering your tone to be more serious instead of your previous soft one.

“Yeah, you made that stupid fucking flower on your elbow.” he stared blankly as if it was common sense.

“Do you remember what color it was?” You questioned

“A red daisy.” He scoffed remembering the odd mutation of a plant you had created.

You smiled fondly at the memory.

“I geuss I never told you how I found out about my quirk did I?”

He shook his head softly, still very confused on why the topic was brought up in the first place.

“Katsuki that flower was because of you.” You laughed shaking your head.

You had always had a weird admiration towards Bakugo. Having been friends since primary school you were the first person he had told about his quirk which only made your admiration for him grow.

——————————————————————————

Flashback bc I said so

It had been growing closer to Valentine’s Day and you were hell bent on getting Bakugo the best gift possible. You had thought about it for weeks. Until It had happened. The odd but exciting event occurred when you were sitting next to the boy while the teacher droned on about the difference between verbs and nouns. You weren’t really paying attention though, all you could think about was what to get Bakugo, when you felt a little poke on your elbow. Turning over thinking it was the blonde himself telling you to pay attention. you looked over only to be surprised at the little stem slowly growing from your elbow. Acting out of shock you immediately nudged Bakugo who looked over in annoyance. He then noticed the vine, that had already grown into a soon to be budding flower, had opened up to be a beautiful crimson red daisy. It matched his eyes perfectly. ‘Perfect’ you had thought to yourself.

——————————————————————————

Present day

Once you had finished your, extremely long, monologue about how much you admired him and all that good shit (I’m simply too lazy to write it)

“You admired me?” He mumbled in what sounded like utter disbelief

“Admire.” You corrected silently. Your embarrassment finally kicking in. “Ever since we met actually. I’ve always thought you were amazing. I’m honestly surprised you didn’t know, I follow you around practicality everywhere and your literally the reason I even came to UA kat.” you added with a smile shaking off most of the embarrassment from earlier.

He didn’t even take a second to respond, embracing you in a delicate hug as if he was afraid he’d break you.

“I love you. You know that right?” He mumbled, not moving from his place in the hug

“I know Kat. I love you too” you smiled.

A prickly feeling starting to sprout throughout your body. Shaking Bakugo from the hug you quickly scanned your body noticing the small sprouts of delicate green beginning to grow amongst your arms, head, and back. Whilst your face held a light pink Bakugo’s held a shit eating grin. And soon enough, your body was practically covered in little crimson red flowers.

“That happen often Tree hugger?” He laughed out

“Only for you, you fucking porcupine.” You giggled embracing him in yet another hug

AND THATS THE END. IM SO SORRY THAT ITS LITERAL SHIT- I LOST ALL MOTIVATION AT THE END OMFG

|| This is also not proof read so feel free to lmk about any mistakes :) ||

[remakethestars]

Being Batman’s Daughter Would Include:

Headcanons.

❝Listen, Robin. At their core, people are cowardly and self-serving. Trust no one until you know them. And even then, never completely.❞

— Bruce Wayne, “The Lesson Plan”

TRIGGER WARNING: Plant murder. Mentions of drugs/tranqs (stopping dealers), violence/physical harm, broken bones (knee cap), limb dislocation (shoulder), (Jason’s) death, smoke, waterboarding/drowning?

Headcanon masterlist.

You know how every teenager has that paradigm shift because as much as they love the people around them, they’ll never know the inner workings of your psyche? And they realize they’ll never truly be known? And it makes them feel really lonely?

Yeah, you never come to feel like that because you know Bruce digs so far into everyone around him he probably knows you better than you do.

Honestly, he probably reads your diary. At least, he reads the fake one you hide under your mattress. And the second decoy in the A.C. vent above your dresser.

If you’re as paranoid as Bruce, you probably don’t have a diary, and the aforementioned “decoys” are just to mess with him.

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War was practically your Bible growing up.

You’re torn between giving yourself the tactical advantage of being underestimated & being non-reactive, which — besides giving you the lioness role in the lion–gazelle dynamic — gives you the advantage of having time to think carefully on the repercussions before speaking.

Because, as Sun Tzu said in chapter seven, verse twenty-one, “Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.”

Seeing as Bruce and Damian both have eidetic memories, I’m guessing you do too. 

Which means you totally read the dictionary when you were young and whip our big words nobody’s heard of.

Bruce always assured you it’s okay to be scared. As a matter of fact, like he told Dick (seen in flashbacks in “The Lesson Plan”), he taught you to “Let terror embrace you. The better you know fear, the better you can use it against others.”

And we all know Bruce is the paragon of using fear against people.

Take that, Scarecrow!

(See, I chose that gif because earlier in that move, he displays a fear of bats, & in that scene, he summons them to use as a distraction and walks through them completely unperturbed. No? Okay, I’ll see myself out.)

You started into the vigilante business young, a little bulge under the back of Batman’s cape that made the rest of the Justice League in the meeting think Bruce was host to an alien parasite until your little mask-covered eyes poked up over his shoulder.

The League’s known you since you were young, so they kind of all see you as their niece. That just quadruples the amount of people who are overprotective of you.

Eventually, in your tweens, you think enough’s enough and start out on your own — being underestimated may be an advantage, but it’s getting ridiculous — and you tackle unsolved cases.

You set up various safe houses around the world for your own disposal (using the zeta tubes) and anyone who sees the inside of one in an emergency is always surprised. You don’t really understand why; what serious vigilante doesn’t have secure, state-of-the-art safe locations scattered across the planet?

Sometimes, it gets you into danger, but you always get yourself out of it. If there ever comes a time you can’t, well, you’ve got a direct link to Batman, and if communications fail, you can always yell for your Uncle Clark at the top of your lungs.

If the latter ever comes to fruition, you ask Bruce if he’s disappointed you had to call for back-up or that you called Superman instead of Batman, and he says, “It takes a strong person to admit when they’re weak, [Y/N]; if anything, I’m proud of you. Besides … you’re not the only one who yells for Uncle Clark when they get in over their head.”

Your training entailed hacking and mechanics, so you like to fix computers and sell them on the internet Hugh Jeffreys style. It started out with Macs from the dumpster behind Gotham Academy and turned into a surprising side hustle. Large portions of your profits go into either savings or funding your extracurricular activities. 

You’re using a MacBook that’s running Linux and an iPhone 4 that’s running your own program. 

At some point, your phone falls into the wrong hands, and someone asks why it has such high security. You deadpan and say, “I have three older brothers.” No further explanation required.

One such solo case led you to a ring of drug dealers working in a small town outside of Gotham. You made some tranquillizers and heavy-duty smoke bombs and busted out your shinobi-iri training.

After sliding on a mask covering the bottom half of your face that filtered out smoke, you set all of the bombs off at once in the ventilation system, filling the building and using the infrared in your domino mask to sedate everyone before the cops arrived so no one got hurt (because there would inevitably be a firefight if the cops got involved).

You never go into a situation expecting to go hand-to-hand with someone; you always have a plan to take our your targets quickly an efficiently.

One night, when you’re working on a cold case in Gotham, you stumble across some intel that Poison Ivy’s been stockpiling chemicals and is going to wipe out all human life on Earth.

Luckily for you, Bruce’s paranoia is hereditary; you just happen to carry some white kryptonite in your belt, so you won’t have to go all the way back to the cave to obtain some.

You type out a quick debrief on your wrist computer in case you end up needing to send out an S.O.S., pop on your bottom mask to filter out spores or pheromones she might send in your direction, and bust out your shinobi-iri training again.

Of course, you try the peaceful approach, explaining to Ivy that you agree with her on the tree-hugger front to build rapport (T.B.F., who doesn’t?), but it comes to physical confrontation. You kill every vine that comes your way with a quick punch from your kryptonite ring, toss an expanding polyurethane foam bomb (see Batgirl #38) at her feet, and manage to get an inhibitor collar on her.

Gordon takes her away, and by the next morning, it’s on the news.

“You took down Ivy by yourself?” Bruce asks when you come down for breakfast.

“… Yeah,” you say after a moment, expecting a tongue-lashing.

“Are you hurt?”

“No. She didn’t get a hit in. And before you ask, I had a contingency set up in case things went sideways.”

“… Good job.”

Your dad has the article framed in the batcave, which is the bat-equivalent of having your drawing on the fridge or getting a sticker back on a test.

You’re fighting a grin for the rest of the day.

It bugs you you can’t tell anyone why you’re so happy, so you visit Dick in Blüdhaven while he’s on patrol and give him a play-by-play. You even get a hair-ruffle!

Deathstroke targets you at some point. One of Batman and Nightwing’s worst villains, and he targets you because he knows they love you. You’re the smallest bat at the time, the weakest; he thinks you’ll be the easiest to take.

Boy, was he wrong.

He was trained by the League of Assassins, so you know dropping a smoke bomb’s not going to give you cover (and his mask probably has infrared). His brain processes faster than yours, so tricking him is improbable. He’s probably done enough research on you to know you favor foam bombs and has fast enough reflexes to dodge before they go off.

And he’s jammed your comms so you can’t call for backup. You’re worried he’s got kryptonite on him and will hurt Superman if you call for help.

It’s just you and him.

He has enhanced stamina, so he tries to wear you out. You maintain distance to avoid taking damage and wearing faster.

You always admired Tim for his ability to plan ahead (see, like, the entirety of the Red Robin comics). He doesn’t know how he does it; he just does. He can’t really teach you, so you just watch and learn.

You realize your fight with Slade is just a matter of managing the distance and immobilizing him, so you strike. You duck behind a pillar or grab onto a railing or something and shoot him through the thigh with your grappling gun, reeling him in. He, of course, draws his sword or a knife to cut the line, but you’re already throwing high-density expanding polyurethane bombs.

And, just like that, you’ve single-handedly taken Deathstroke.

It sends a clear message to the rest of the Gotham villains, Blüdhaven’s villains, the League of Assassins — don’t mess with the bat’s little girl. She can hold her own.

Now it’s time for you to come up with another plan to take him down; you doubt the same method will work twice, and you’ve just made a very powerful enemy.

As Wonder Woman’s said, “Do not mistake a desire to avoid violence for an inability to deal with it.” You might go into most situations with a plan to take down your opponent already in motion, but when it comes to an all-out brawl, you’re perfectly capable and don’t pull your punches.

You’re working on an unsolved case in Blüdhaven (Dick’s got enough on his plate) when you get an S.O.S. from the aforementioned along with the feed and recording from his mask. You listen to the mission briefing while you ride back to the cave and then the audio from the Young Justice mission. They got jumped by the League of Shadows in an abandoned factory, and Talia’s trying to coerce Damian into joining the League or whatever.

The usual dropping some smoke bombs and tranqing everyone isn’t going to work on thirty armed League assassins who were trained to fight blind, so you load up on polyurethane foam bombs and call Jason and Cassandra.

The three of you take out the guards outside before splitting up and taking either end of the building (Cass stays with you). You meet in the middle, in the room the team’s being held in.

You highjacked the speakers, so they’re blasting AC/DC’s “Shoot to Thrill” upon Jason’s insistence. You wanted Zayde Wølf or Alice Cooper’s “Hey, Stoopid,” but big brothers will be big brothers.

Jason pops them with rubber bullets from above to slow them down for you while Cass demolishes them and you drop foam bombs, slinging your signature custom shuriken, bonk them over the head with Tim’s staff you picked up along the way, dislocate their arms, or shatter their kneecaps. 

You and Jason get a couple slices from swords that got a little too close, but it’s nothing compared to what you’ve had before. 

When the fighting’s done and the building’s quiet, the team’s, like, “Who the heck are you guys?” 

And Dick’s, like, 😏 “They’re our siblings.” 

Speaking of siblings, you’re older than Damian, and as such, you take upon yourself the honor of teaching him all things pop-culture.

“I have a lot of amazing older siblings. I want to be a good big sister.”

First things first, you give him one of your refurbished e-waste phones and take him to Target to pick out an OtterBox or a LifeProof case or something that’ll keep it safe in the pocket of a vigilante.

Vigilantes are always coming to you when their phone’s broken anyway; you’ve got a stack of spares you’ve repaired.

Then you help him set up a Spotify account (follow me at @remakethestars 😉) and try to help him find his rhythm.

Poor child’s never had Oreos before, so you drag a pack of Double Stuffs out of the cabinet and a glass of milk and show him the best milk-dunking method you know.

You think about handing him a cookie and telling him to waterboard it until the bubbles stop coming up, but cookie-dunking is something every kid does; it’s sacred, and you don’t want him to associate it with violence.

You show him how you and Alfred feed the bats in the batcave.

And you show him Vine compilations and your favorite shows and movies and as many classics as you can, and you put up with him pointing out the inaccuracies and calling them stupid.

Every time he doesn’t get a reference, you write it down so you know what to show him later.

If anything ever happens to you, Damian finds your list and makes it his personal mission to watch/read everything on it. It makes him feel close to you.

You build a relationship with him that’s similar to his and Dick’s, and he comes to you with things he might not be able to come to anyone else with.

Plus, since you live in the manor still and he doesn’t want Bruce to think less of him, it’s you he comes to after a nightmare.

If you know Alfred has pictures of him curled up in your side, you ask him to send them to you. Not for blackmail purposes; just to have.

You’d never use the need of comfort or the sharing of emotions against him because (A) it’s perpetuating toxic masculinity and (B) you don’t want him to think it’s wrong or confirm any of the stupid “strength” things the League of Shadows taught him.

You gave him a stuffed cat that looks like Alfred (the cat, not the butler) with some of your perfume spritzed on it. He verbalized his revulsion when you gave it to him, but on nights he has a bad dream and you’re not home, it brings him comfort.

Titus comes to get you when Damian’s upset. 

Even when he’s not with Damian, he seems to know. Pets are like that.

You’ve learned to trust Titus’s instincts. Damian thinks it’s suspicious when he’s feeling down and you just happen to call.

You never realized it until a long time later, but Ace was acting weird the day Jason came back from the dead.

And he was acting weird the day Jason came back to Gotham too. He ran to the door and began barking. Alfred swept security, but nothing seemed to be off. The whole family was on edge that day.

You were the reason Jason knew he wasn’t completely forgotten; he spotted you through a café window, and you were wearing his jacket.

Visit my headcanon masterlist.

[falcor-thee-luck-dragon]

Rough Night

Bucky Barnes x (f)werewolf reader

Summary: Your life is already so weird, thankfully Bucky loves you through it all.

Warning: fluff, reader being a sass master w/ no filter

side note: couldn’t think of any cool avenger powers and then brain went werewolf so here we are

Masterlist

If you had a dollar for every time you’d ended up in the woods with ripped clothes and no shoes, well, let’s just say you could probably afford a real nice two bedroom apartment in some real pleasantly fancy building with a great view and all. Too bad green doesn’t just rain down from the sky every time the full moon comes round to knock you back into another world of blurry confusion.

You won’t lie to yourself, being what you are is strange and not very common in the slightest, obviously. It’s even weirder that you weren’t bitten one night and turned just like that, oh no, all passed down through the bloodline of other strange relatives. So you’re gifted with the curse, forced to inevitably change into a furry beast every single full moon, so what you’re still a mostly pleasant individual.

Well luckily for you, being born with the gift does happen to have its perks which do come in handy. For instance, you’re incredibly strong, quick on your feet, and have heightened senses, plus the ability to shift on command. It’s not all bad, well......most of the time.

Honestly you truly thought life couldn’t get much stranger for you and your whole hidden secretive situation, until low and behold some random red head found your little hideaway in a remote mountain side village far off in the Himalayas.

Everything was completely fine and under control and then BAM, she showed up with some important documents and something called an Avengers initiative and well shit, guess some time spent with the real world couldn’t hurt. I mean come on, some more friends seemed like a nice idea and uh, somehow they knew who you were so too late to run and hide.

Also at the time, considering you lived like a recluse on the edge of the village and of course for good reason, but damn if the red head didn’t just hand you an open invitation for some real adventure. Who were you to say no?

Fortunately for you, all seemed to go in your favor and fantastically enough, they had a nice big strong cell for you on nights when the wolf was inevitably bound to come out. A fridge full of plentiful snacks, a training room to lay off some steam, and a big safe and secure room all your own. It was perfect. Only problem was, there happened to be a very attractive and very wary of you super soldier who undoubtedly caught your attention.

How could you not, he smelled divine, muscles for days, thick thighs that could make a girl swoon, and he just seemed like the best goddamn hugger alive. Okay listen, maybe you were touch starved and deprived of human affection but dammit if your little monster heart didn’t skip a beat every time he was near you.

And yes, the few months it took to get him to crack was just down right torturous. But with some coaxing from Steve and encouragement from Sam, the winter soldier at long last did talk to you. Turned out he thought you were scared of him all along, how hilariously ironic you thought when he told you that.

But as time progressed and you both opened up more and more, a blossoming relationship sprouted forth, eventually evolving and manifesting into a big beautiful flower called love. Cheesy yes, but you couldn’t have dreamed of anything better.

And seriously, he wasn’t freaked out about your whole hidden hush hush secretive gift that usually either goes in your favor or ends up causing you major legal trouble. The man himself, Bucky Barnes, thought you were a marvel to behold, so odd and fantastic that he couldn’t stay away even if he tried.

And for that you could love him forever, especially now after a full moon while you’re out in the middle of nowhere. Hoping that the team will send your hundred year old boyfriend out to find you in the brisk dark morning after a grand unrememberable adventure. Which would be very nice of course, considering you have not a damn clue what you’ve done.....or where you are.

Cracking your back, you stretch your hands up to the dawning sky as a tired yawn escapes you. It’s been a long night and you look like a wild woman with your hear a fluffy nest and your clothes ripped in various unrevealing places thankfully.

Your surroundings are simply trees and small scraggly bushes, green grass underneath your bare feet and a small stream flowing in the near distance. With a second to listen, you can hear a highway a couple miles away to the east, guess that’s a start.

Rubbing your eyes you set out in that direction for about twenty minutes before a blue and gold Mercedes comes into view from the side of a country back road, it stops when you guess the driver spotted you from the tree line. Keeping a wary eye on the fancy sports car, you keep walking towards it until a figure gets out and leans against the passengers side door all cool and casual, then on further inspection you realize the driver is Bucky.

Yes! My knight in shining armor is here!

Trudging through the grassy field in the dewy morning light, he watches your every move, eyes crinkling in amusement as you come to stand a couple feet in front of him. Undoubtedly looking a bit wild, and very tired as you fold your arms underneath each other, giving your dark haired lover a shy almost fangy smile.

“I know I look like a hot mess.” You mutter with a shrug, biting your lip as you dart your eyes to the fields behind him, slightly embarrassed of the current disheveled state you’re in.

Bucky smirks before pushing himself off the car and engulfing you into a big Bucky bear hug to your pleasant surprise, “Y/N I’m just glad you’re okay and nothing bad happened to you.” He mumbles into your shoulder as you press yourself closer to him, letting yourself have this wonderful moment to relax and feel at ease.

Slowly pulling back to look up at him, you smile, “Aww Buck you were worried about me?”

He returns the grin, leaning down to press his head flush against yours, “We all were, me more then anyone else of course...and maybe for the general civilians nearby.”

You laugh nervously, “Oh right, yeah. Well hey, I didn’t destroy anyone's car this time. I think I’ve made progress.”

He pauses for a brief moment indicating he’s not sure if he should tell you something and this does make you nervous before Bucky finally lets out a little laugh, “You ate a whole cow Y/N.”

Snorting in surprise you quickly pull your head from Bucky’s, “What? Did I? Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Yeah, uh I wish.” He admits with a casual reassuring squeeze to your arm, “We tracked you with Sam’s suit tech, yunno Red Wing, and uh....you seemed to be having fun.”

Mentally and just about physically cringing at yourself, you purse your lips together in slight embarrassment, “Shit. Was it gross?” You ask, making a face that causes him to chuckle.

“A little.” Adds Bucky with another casual shrug to make you feel less terrible.

“Is the farmer going to see everything, I mean shit they’re gonna be so pissed.” You worry, biting your lip anxiously as you break eye contact from him. “Why am I like this.”

“Uh, that’s not going to be a problem.” Inquires Bucky causing you to find his blue eyes once again.

Eying him up suspiciously you raise a brow, “And why’s that.....Bucky what did I do?”

Taking a breath he gives you a small apprehensive smile, “Y/N...you uh, kind of ate......everything.”

“I what?” I did not! No way, right?

Giving you a quick kiss on the cheek he smiles affectionately, “I’m going to be honest with you here it looked like a kid with a piece of cake who has no impulse control, and loves cake....like a lot.....Rodney almost puked.”

Rolling your eyes you fake glare at him, “Oh god who all watched my little horror show?”

“Mostly everyone.”

“Jesus.”

“It’s like a car crash Y/N, we don’t want to watch but we can’t look away. Sorry doll.” He confesses apprehensively, though honest and sincere knowing you do feel bad for what you do when out of it.

“No.” You say honestly, pausing for a moment, “It’s fine. Seriously Buck, I’m just relieved you guys keep taps on me while I’m out, god knows I can’t help what I do and where I go. It’s nice to have people making sure I don’t injure any innocent bystander.”

“Yeah I guess so huh...alright Y/N/N,” Chirps Bucky with a beaming grin as he attempts to shift the mood to a less dull one, “let’s get out of here, I mean unless you want to sniff around the place for awhile...it is a nice forest over there and all but I guess we can stay and I’ll let you...”

“Alright Barnes, can-it or maybe I’ll bite you.” You tease with a playful squeeze of his bicep before breaking out of his strong grasp.

“Depends on the context maybe I’d enjoy it.” Adds Bucky sarcastically, side eying you with a half smile as you move to open the car door.

Shaking your head in playful disapproval you lightly shove him aside, “Believe me you wouldn’t.”

——

The ride back to the Avengers base or headquarters or facility, who the hell knows at this point, was actually quite smooth and peaceful. Then again you fell asleep as soon as Bucky made it onto the highway, and continued to catch a much needed nap for the next hour ride home.

No one ever said you were easy alright, but let’s be real, Bucky would let you put him through anything and he’d be happy about it.

After parking and walking down the sidewalk past some early morning trainees catching a run, the two of you made it into the Avengers official HQ where all your rooms and other luxury’s are located. But of course not before walking past the facilities giant living space and huge kitchen.

Just keep looking forward, keep walking, walk faster you idiot!

“Y/N!” Shouts Sam in that stupidly peppy obnoxious early morning voice of his, no doubt gaining the attentions of Steve and Natasha who are seated at the kitchens bar talking about some mission report.

Pausing in the large doorway that’s not giving you or Bucky a whole lot of hiding space, you take a deep breath before turning to acknowledge him, “You’d think people would be sleeping considering it’s only six in the morning.”

Chuckling, Sam raises his protein shake, “Weird,” He says while giving you a knowing smirk, “we missed you during training this morning.”

Nat and Steve conceal their amusement as you simply roll your eyes, “Yeah well it was a long night.” You mutter unenthusiastically, earning the tiniest laugh from Bucky which causes you to throw him a glare. Knocking that smile right off of his handsome stubbly face.

“Well we got all these shakes here if you two love birds want one. Hate to have em go to waste.” Adds the smiling man with a nod, if he doesn’t just love seeing you looking like shit. No Sam I do not accept this invitation for you to tell me how crazy I look.

Sam means well of course, but damn he loves teasing you in front of Bucky for a fun reaction out of him. And it’s kind of working, but not on Bucky.

“It’s fine Y/N, you don’t have to have one if you don’t want to.” Calls Natasha before taking a sip from her mug. “Just ignore Sam, he’s been annoying since the gym.”

Before Sam’s even able to speak you quickly narrow your eyes at him, holding up a finger before making hasty steps across the room. Stopping right in front of him, “Give it.” You deadpan.

Brows raised in surprise he glances from a confused Bucky, then back to you again, “Listen I only made so much, Y/N this is my breakfast okay you can’t just...”

Ignoring his rushed rambling you pull out the whole glass blender full of protein shake before taking a step back as the whole room goes quiet, then never breaking eye contact you heartily drink up the whole entirety of its cold contents without missing a beat. Yeah, definitely needed that.

After you’re finished you lick your lips in satisfaction, taking a step closer towards a speechless Sam as you set the blender back in its place. Giving him a satisfied smirk before walking back over to Bucky where you tug on his jacket to follow you down the hall and away from everyone else.

Sometimes you can’t help but be a little dramatic.

——

Laying sprawled out on yours and Bucky’s giant mattress, you stare up at the ceiling as he folds your clean and freshly scented laundry, your mind swirling with thoughts of what duties you have to be apart of today. Blah, work.

Sighing gently you glance at Bucky to see if he heard you, not getting anything from him you sigh again with more grandeur this time. Nothing. Rolling your eyes you suck in a deep breath before practically soft yelling out your exhale like the dramatic little beast you are.

Glancing over to Bucky, you watch as he turns around to put some of your pants away in a drawer. Okay then, that’s how it’s gonna be. Quickly sitting up, you smirk a devilish grin before silently reaching over to pick up a small pillow, once in hand you don’t think twice before launching it at full speed directly headed for the back of his head.

But before your decently soft projectile can smack his precious flowing locks does a metal arm swiftly reach up to catch it mid flight. Oh, shit. Bucky’s head turns to you, brow raised at you before tucking the pillow underneath his arm, and going back to his usual domestic duties for the day.

Okay, killer of fun Mr. James Buchanan Barnes.

Frustrated from lack of a reaction out of him, you stand up on the bed like a warrior about to give a great battle cry. Eyeing his cute butt up for a moment, you smirk once again before launching a sneak attack pillow right for his head. It sails magnificently across the room before a metal hand stops it in its place. 

Well, shit.

This time he gives you a proper look, full of mischief and a new profound playfulness that sends an excited thrill throughout your entire being. As fast as one of Thor’s lightening bolts does the pillow soar in your direction, but conveniently for you he’s forgotten just how quick you can really be. This is just what you wanted.

Dodging to the left you watch in almost slow motion as the fluffy cloth just misses your face, instead opting to smack against the back wall with a loud thud. Snapping your attention back to Bucky he narrows his blue eyes at you suspiciously while you let out an admittedly scary villainous chuckle.

Let’s party my love.

He hands you a smirk right before shifting his body to the right, arm cocked back and thrust forward just as quickly, launching his second pillow attack without an ounce of mercy. You see it coming a mile away and as graceful as a dancer do you flip off the bed, landing perfectly on the carpeted floor just as the pillow smacks hard against the door. Thwack!

Slowly standing, eyeing him up like a lioness to her prey, you give him a satisfied smile, “Missed.” You tease.

Letting out a breathy laugh, Bucky takes a cautious step in your direction as he tests the waters, “Y/N what are you doing?”

“Getting your attention you ass.”

Chuckling he takes another step forward, “Was I ignoring you?” Duh, that’s why I, oh wait he’s playing you.

“Well you certainly weren’t doing anything interesting.” You sass as he steps again closer, this time about an arms length away.

The corners of his eyes crinkle in amusement, “Okay that’s fair, but was the pillow really necessary?” He asks, though his tone is still humorous.

Not falling for his alluring charm you tilt your head to the side, a knowing smile breaking out across your face as he tries to register what your true intentions are. “Yes, and so is this.” You quip before dropping to the floor for a side sweep of his legs, in an instant he’s on the ground and looking wide eyed up at you.

God he looks beautiful. No, focus.

“Y/N!” He whines breathlessly, brows furrowed as he holds himself up by his elbows, “Now you’re gonna get it!”

Taking a quick step back you snort, “Oh really now?”

And he’s fallen for the plan.

“Yes, and when I get you, you won’t be laughing anymore.” He grumbles, trying to keep himself from laughing as well.

“Alright then hot stuff try and bring me down.” You snap back playfully as he rises to his feet, “First one pinned has to run with Sam later, and we both know how much fun he is to run with.”

Bringing his arms up into a defensive position he readies himself for an attack, “Yeah, I’d rather not be his jogging buddy today. I mean it is raining outside, but I know you’d look real nice after a wet run.” Teases Bucky with a smirk.

“Touché you smartass.” His lips twitch into a grin as you ready your own stance. “Now let’s dance.”

[blindedguilt]

“Mistah! Mistah!” Small hands reach to grab at Leonard’s sleeve and tug in a small panic. “I need up! Up! Now! It’s important! Please!” The young boy was certainly concerned enough to warrant alarm, and when lifted, he would proceed to throw his arms around Leonard’s neck in a hug. Ah! Seems like Benedict took after his mom in being a sneaky hugger!!

Leaves rustled gently through the trees which lined the valley that Leonard walked, much too distracted between the sound of the river and the sound of flattening grass under his own thick boots to notice those quick, light steps bounding up to him until he had felt the tug on his sleeve — Almost immediately, Leonard felt his heart sink. Benedict… Such a sweet thing that child was. It stung his heart that his mother so willingly entrusted such innocence in the hands of someone so... Filthy. Was it her trust in him that he could — would do no harm to this child, for all that it was worth, that made her allow him near him so? Or was it only her own type of blindness that she went knowingly or unknowingly unaware of what disgusting feelings and self-contempt rose in him every time that child came near? ... He knew that it wasn’t the child’s fault that they were a reminder. Just as it was with his brothers, just as it was with Seere, that and the one need to see them safe was why he continued to struggle. And the urgency in which he spoke...

“Calm yourself; Please, Benedict... What is the issue here?” ... He felt, hoped that it wouldn’t be that bad. With the rising feeling of shame already held heavy in his heart, Leonard knelt down-  ... And as he felt those arms suddenly wrap around him, was it surprise or pain that crossed his face in that moment...? “......” Not wanting to immediately leave and ruin the kind-intended gesture, the poor hermit could only hold his breath for the following few seconds before finally pulling away and standing back up. A brief memory of Riversal at that age flashed through his mind, and he wondered if his brothers spirits were looking at him in the same disgust he felt in his own chest right there. 

“… You are like your mother… A very kind-hearted young boy.” This was hell. “…Please return to her.”  Why did he have to relive this? … Though his back started to turn, the touch still lingering around his neck feeling like a chokehold which threatened to strangle Leonard, he had stopped after no more than two steps — He didn’t want to spend anymore time with him  than necessary...  …But they were so far from the camp. No.  His jaw clenched in indecision. What if something were to happen to him on his way back? If he turned his back for too long…  Something dropped — Or perhaps the guilt came back — As Leonard gathered his will and turned back around to wrap his hands around the young boy’s waist, lifting young Benedict over his shoulder in his walk back to the camp. “… Do not worry. I shall bring you back to your mother.” Despite the words of comfort spoken to the young boy, however, Leonard’s mind could only echo between suppressions of filth and harsh mental rebuke towards himself and the sin which tormented him. The thought of that hell he had lived in with his brothers, the cycle repeating itself, weighed heavy among those thoughts — It made his stomach churn.

[staticscreenwriting]

The loneliest time of the year || Part one

Part 1 of 4

Summary: With a broken heart and the fear of having failed as a father, Frankie returns to his parents house for Christmas. What is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year feels quite lonely. Though when an old friend shows up unexpectedly with her young son in tow, Frankie’s Christmas seems to gain a little more happiness. Can they help each other fight the ghosts of their pasts and overcome their fears ? A/N: This is part of my 12 days of Christmas / Advent special. Every sunday leading up to Christmas you will get another part. That’s 4 parts in total. Likes, reblogs, comments are all much appreciated. 

[additional note: I am German. Sometimes I get the tense wrong or make mistakes. I am useless when it comes to punctuation. Go easy on me, please.]

Christmas time is the most depressing time of the year. Seriously, you can look that up. There’s a bunch of statistics about it and essays using long fancy words.

It’s a time that makes you so acutely aware of how lonely you actually are. And then you’re left to reflect on all the reasons why and that’s just fucking depressing. 

Frankie maneuvers his car along the streets of his hometown, a light dusting of snow covers the ground and the trees to his left and right have long sharp icicles hanging from their branches like the sharp teeth of an imaginary monster that lives under your bed. 

He passes by the old movie theatre, the 7/11, the diner where he got his first kiss, the red brick building that was once a printing house but has been turned into a Starbucks for some reason, and the public library that he used to volunteer at when he was in high school. There are ghosts in all the windows looking back at him. Ghosts of the boy he used to be and the memories he thought long forgotten.

This wasn’t the plan. He’s not supposed to be here. Or maybe he is. Maybe this is exactly what he deserves. To come crawling back home to mom and dad because the future he had tried so hard to build for himself came crumbling down on him in a matter of moments. And all of it is entirely his own fucking fault. If only he wasn’t such a damn mess.

“I'll have a blue Christmas without you

I'll be so blue just thinking about you.”

“Ah fuck off, Elvis!”

He turns off the radio and is left with just the quiet and his thoughts until the little blue house at the end of a cul-de-sac comes into view. This house has seen many versions of Frankie. Highs and lows. He wonders if he even knows the person he is anymore. 

Across the street sits a park and then another little house, this is one red and the shutters are white and the paint is chipping. It used to sit empty for a while but there’s a car in the driveway and light coming from inside. Maybe he was wrong, maybe he isn’t the only one that changed, maybe the town did a little bit of changing too. 

His mom is a hugger, always has been. Still is. At least that hasn’t changed. She has him wrapped in a warm big hug as soon as he gets out of the car. She smells the same way she did when he was a little boy. Like lavender and fresh cotton and warmth. His mom, Frankie thinks, has the ability to talk faster than anyone else he knows. Even faster than Pope when he’s drunk. She bombards him with information about various distant relatives and has him caught up on the last several years of their lives before his dad even manages to get to the door. 

His dad looks older than the last time Frankie has seen him, but not in a fragile way. Age doesn’t make his dad look sickly or weak, it just makes him look wise. He’s got lines etched into the skin around his lips, from all the laughter and the smiles. Every adventure, every memory, it’s all there in his face and Frankie admires that so much. With every day passing he himself just looks sadder and more worn out. 

“Darling, let him come inside. It’s freezing out here.”

Ever since he was little, Frankie knew that what his parents have was special. There was so much love in the way they talked with each other. It exuded from every word. From every look. They were a package deal. One could simply not be without the other. It’s something he knew most of his family members were envious of. Hell, he himself was envious of it. 

“Hey Pops, good to see you.”

His dad wraps him in a hug as he steps into the warm house. His dad isn’t a hugger, he’s more stoic and calm but that doesn’t make him any less loving. There was never a day in his life, that Frankie ever doubted his father’s love for him. It’s just that he’s not the most physically affectionate guy, and that’s fine. When he does give out hugs, they are the best.

“Did the Murphy’s house get sold then?” Frankie questions, motioning over his shoulder towards the little red house. The couple who lived there, Margaret and Edwin, were lovely. They were the kind of old people that others just adore. Always a smile on their faces, always greeting you with the most infectious of good moods. They were already old when Frankie was a kid, but they were the kind of people you’d expect to live forever. Though death doesn’t care for any of that and eventually it came for them too. The house went to their only son, a man that always intrigued Frankie. Michael was a photographer and always on the road looking for a new adventure. He was his parents' age but there was a youth about him that made him look much younger. He always seemed like more of a friend or older brother to his daughter than a father. 

His daughter. (Y/N) and Frankie weren’t friends. Not really. For that, they didn’t spend nearly enough time with each other. But whenever she would come around and spend the summers at her grandparents' place, Frankie and her would gravitate towards each other. There was an undeniable attraction, a magnetic pull. She always had the most exciting stories and for a teenage boy, there was nothing more exciting than a pretty girl with adventure in her veins.

He hasn’t seen her for a long time though, eventually, she went off to college and he joined the military. She came around less and less and then when first Edwin and then Margaret died, the house stayed quiet and lonely. Last time he saw (Y/N) was when he randomly ran into her at a bar but even that must’ve been at least 10, maybe 12 years ago.

“Oh no. Their son, Michael, do you remember him?”

“Sure.”

“He had a bad accident. Can’t work no more, needs a lot of help. You know what he was like, always on the road never really having a place he called home. Other than this house. So him and his daughter are back here. Do you remember her?“

“ (Y/N), yeah.”

“She’s moved back too. Gave up her entire life to help her father. Poor thing now works at the diner waiting tables for a living all the while taking care of Michael and her young son.”

“She has a kid?”

A sting of pain runs through his heart. Big brown eyes stare up at him in his mind, eyes that look so much like his. Eyes he couldn’t wait to see sparkling from joy on Christmas morning. Eyes he ain’t allowed to look into anytime soon.

“Yes, a little boy. Leo, he’s 7 years old. So well behaved and smart. Such a lovely little boy.”

A warm mug of coffee is thrust into Frankie’s hand as his father guides him to sit down on the big couch in the living room that’s been there ever since he was a kid. 

“We invited them to come around for Christmas Eve dinner which reminds me that I still need to get a present for the boy.”

“Darling, it’s December 5th we still got time.”

Despite his heart laying in shambles by his feet, being around his parents sends a warmth through Frankie. It’s so familiar and comforting to be here. Maybe this isn’t all bad. Maybe this is exactly what he needs. 

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me: One sweet reunion.

Frankie sits on his old bed in his old room. There are fewer posters there and the wall that used to be painted a dark blue is now a soft peach color. The old dark wood furniture has been replaced by white cupboards and two beds, both white too. An adult-sized bed for him and a toddler bed for Rosie. Little butterfly decals decorate the walls and soft pink curtains hang before the window. This is more Rosie’s room that’s his now, only she isn’t here to see it. 

A knock on the door shakes him from his daydream. Voices echo through the halls and up the stairs. Voices he doesn’t recognize but by the tone in his mother’s words, he can tell they’re friendly faces.

“So we thought maybe we could borrow your car.”

Frankie sees her before she sees him. Had he not knows she was in town, maybe he wouldn’t have recognized her. (Y/N) looks older. Not old. Just more mature. She must be in her 30s now. Grown into her body. A mother.

“Of course dear, Frankie can help you get the tree if you want. We still need one ourselves anyway. Two birds one stone.”

“Frankie is home?” 

(Y/N)’s voice shines with a glimmer of hope. 

“I am.”

A smile spreads on her face, and that one he recognizes so well. It’s equal parts mischievous and warm. Familiar and comforting. Sassy and soft. 

“Oh man, it’s so good to see you. It’s been some time, huh ?”

“Sure has,” he replies and the two of them share a quick hug. She’s cold from the air outside and smells like winter and snow. Her hair is hidden beneath a beanie and her fingers are kept warm by some fluffy blue mittens. She’s adorable. So fucking adorable.

“So, you want help getting your Christmas tree?” Frankie asks as she pulls away, missing the softness she brought.

“Well actually I was just asking to use your dad’s car but since you’re here, would you mind helping out ?”

“ Course not! We need a tree anyway and I’ll have you know, I’m great at finding the best Christmas trees.”

“That so?”

“Sure is.”

Another big smile spreads on (Y/N)’s lips. “Okay cool. Let me know when you’re ready. Leo and I are free all day.”

“That’s right, you have a kid now.”

There’s an infinite sense of pride that washes over her face. He knows the feeling, sees it in his own mother when she talks about him. Feels it in his heart when he thinks of Rosie.

“Frankie has a baby too, little girl.”

His mother means well. Doesn’t matter though, the mention of her still sends a pant of pain through him. Right to his heart and then it spreads slowly but surely to the rest of his body. Like an ice pick melting slowly.

“You do? Oh, I can’t wait to meet her.”

His heart breaks. Shatters. Crumbles. 

“She’s uh — she’s with her mom for Christmas.” And pretty much any other day too.

“Huh, well I guess you’ll just have to tell me all about her then. “ 

He appreciates this. Her not asking but just taking the situation for what it is. Questions ask for answers he can’t give, doesn’t want to give.

“I can do that.”

“Okay great. Let me bother you no longer, just come knock on our door when you’re ready. You know where I live.”

With a wave and a smile, she makes her exit and steps back into the cold. Snow now falling in big white flakes from the skies, like big bubbles of soap. Like star fragments.

“She’s such a nice young woman, I wish life was a bit more gentle on her. “ his mom spoke up from beside Frankie. 

“Yeah. Yeah, me too mom. Me too.”

When he steps out of the house a few hours later, the ground is already covered in a thick coat of fluffy snow. His boots leave deep prints in the pristine white blanket. 

Across the street, he can hear a melody of laughter flowing through the air before two figures jump out from behind the house, wrapped in warm clothes, throwing snowballs at each other.

“Mom you’re cheating!” The young boy, Leo calls out, laughter ringing along with his words.

“No way! Nu-uh.”

“Yu-uh! “

The exchange puts a smile on Frankie’s face. It reminds him of his own childhood. When the world didn’t feel like it was working against him. When it was kind. When things were easy. When he was happy.

Realizing neither of the two has spotted him yet, Frankie squats down and gathers some snow in his glove covered hands. In a swift motion, he pulls his arm back and throws the snow in (Y/N)’s direction hitting her right in between her shoulders. 

“Hey!”

There’s a second where anger and confusion reign over her face and then she realizes it’s Frankie who threw the snowball and it melts into warmth and mischief.

“I’ll get you back for that, dude. “

“That a threat?”

“Nah, it’s a promise.”

The boy regards them with careful curiosity. 

“Leo, come here. This is my friend Frankie.”

To be quite honest, Frankie hadn’t really considered himself a friend of (Y/N) but to hear her introduce him as such felt real nice. He had friends, good friends, brothers even. Pope and the Millers knew him like the knee themselves but this was different. This was home.

“Frankie, this is my son Leo.”

The boy is all (Y/N). Same smile, same eyes. Like a copy and paste.

“Hey, Leo, nice to meet you.”

The boy gives him a shy wave. “Hi.”

“You guys ready to get some Christmas trees?” Frankie asked, looking from (Y/N) to Leo and back to her. The excitement on their faces makes him feel a little giddy. 

Back when he was a kid, buying a tree was one of his favorite things to do during Christmas season. His dad always used to wake him up real early so they could be one of the first people at the Christmas tree sale. They’d stay for hours looking for the perfect tree. Now perfect didn’t mean it had to be actually immaculate. Perfect meant perfect for them. Sometimes they’d decide to find the fastest one or the one with the biggest hole. One time they found one with a bird's nest still inside. 

Those were the good times and Frankie, knowing now how harsh life can be, will never take them for granted.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Two perfectly imperfect Christmas trees.

“Too big.”

“Too small.”

“I can literally count the branches on one hand.”

(Y/N), Frankie realizes as they look at what feels like the 12 millionth tree, is very particular when it comes to her Christmas trees. 

“Mom, can we just pick one? They’re all good!” Leo chimes up as his mother dismisses yet another tree for being too skinny.

“I just want it to be perfect. When I was a little girl my dad and I were always traveling and when we’d come to my grandparents for Christmas they’d have this big beautiful tree every year. I want my dad to have that again.”

There’s more there, he can tell. By the way, her voice shakes slightly and the determination and chaos raging in her eyes. Frankie has yet to find out what exactly happened to her dad, what kind of accident he got in. But it’s not really a conversation starter now, is it?

Leo’s eyes meet Frankie's, a clear message traveling between them. A silent understanding. 

“Look (Y/N) how about we let you roam this place in peace until you’ve found the perfect tree and Leo and I go see if we can find one for my parents? “

Leo nods his head in enthusiastic approval. A smile playing on his lips that is so strikingly similar to the one Frankie has seen so many times on the boy's mother.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, two of us are gonna find a perfectly imperfect tree for my folks and you go find the tree of your dreams. Just call if you need us, okay?”

She takes a breath, lets out a sigh. “Okay sounds good. Leo?”

“Sounds good to me too, mom.”

“Okay. Well, you boys have fun then.”

As she rounds the corner in search of the tree straight from a Christmas fairytale, Frankie turns to Leo who regards him with a guarded kindness.

“Thank you. “

“ For what? “ Frankie asks and raises his eyebrow in confusion.

“ For not making fun of my mommy. She’s so worried about grandpa, sometimes she goes a bit crazy.” 

“ Nah she’s not crazy. She just wants to make everyone happy. Why would I make fun of her? Did someone make fun of her? “ 

It sends a flash of anger through him, the idea that someone might ridicule her for caring too much. If anything it’s what makes her so endearing. The world could do with more people like her. People who care. Deeply. 

“ She talked to my daddy on the phone yesterday. I think he made fun of her. She cried. “ 

“ That’s — that’s not nice.” 

Leo shrugs his shoulders in a way that seems casual but weary. As if he’s so used to it. Geez, the kid is 7. This isn’t something he should be used to.

“ Dad is not a nice person. Mama always says he’s busy and that he wants to see me but I don’t think that’s right. I think mama just doesn’t want me to be sad. I think daddy doesn’t really want to see me. Don’t think he loves me. But that’s okay mama loves me so much that’s enough. “

Leo’s words sent small cracks to Frankie’s heart and it’s quite hard not to let it crumble entirely. He’s never known what it feels like to be unloved by those that are meant to love you most. His parents adored him, still do. Even when he doesn’t deserve it. He can’t even begin to understand how much that must hurt. How devastating it must be, especially to a 7-year-old. 

And yet Leo looks so — at peace. Like it bothers him sure, but it’s no big deal really.

Because he is loved either way. By (Y/N).

“ You’re a cool kid, you know that? “ Frankie asks and pats the young boy’s back in a friendly manner.

“ Mom says so. “ 

“ Well, she’s completely right. You really are. Now, you wanna help me find a tree? “ 

Leo nods enthusiastically.

“ Okay cool, but I’ll have to tell you how it works. “ 

“ We don’t just look for one we like?”

“ Oh no, you see the Morales family has a very specific tradition. Each year my dad and I go looking for a special tree. “ 

“ A special one? “ 

“ Mmmh. We always think of something special and then try to find a tree that fits that special thing. One time we tried to find the tallest tree on the lot or the widest or the skinniest. “

“ So what are we looking for this year? “

“ How abouuut … we look for one that has two tops? “ 

A giggle falls from Leo’s lips. “ That’s silly, that’s not a thing. “ 

“ Sure it is. You wanna go look for it? “ 

“ Yeah.”

There are big trees and small ones. Ones in shades of greens and some that look almost blue. There are fat ones with lots of branches and skinny ones that look like they’ve seen better days. None of them have two peaks though — until … 

“ Frankie, look !” 

His small, glove-covered hand is outstretched, pointing towards a tree before him. It’s a big tree, wide too. It’s blueish green color shines through the white haze of the winter's day. 

And true to Leo’s words, the stem of the tree goes halfway up before it diverges into two different branches. Two tops.

“ That one’s perfect! “

“ He’s special! “ 

“ He is special. Good job, kid. “ 

The two share a high 5 as a laugh sounds from behind them.

“ I see you boys are getting along well. “ (Y/N) says as she approaches the two of them, placing a kiss on her son’s head as she reaches him.

“ We found a special tree, mom.”

“ Did you? Well so did I, it’s perfect. “ 

Her eyes wander towards Frankie’s and for a second it’s only the two of them there, veiled in shared understanding, a silent thank you. 

“ I’m glad you found your tree, (Y/N). “ 

“ I’m glad you two had fun. Now hooow about we get those trees home and set up? “ 

“ Can we have hot cocoa at home, momma? “ 

“ Duh. Of course. You can’t decorate a Christmas tree without a good hot cup of cocoa.” 

The softness in her voice, the pure adoration she holds for this boy, it makes Frankie think back to Leo’s words about his father and about (Y/N). About how she loves him enough for the both of them. And he can see it, clear as day. Her love for Leo. 

Those two, he thinks, don’t need anyone. Especially not someone who doesn’t treat them with the love and respect they deserve. Those two are their own warmth, their own little universe. And it’s enough. It’s plenty. Everyone who’s allowed to be a part of their little world should be grateful because it’s a good world. It’s gentle and kind. 

“ Alright you two, let’s get those trees home. “ Frankie pipes up and for a moment he is part of their little universe too. And it’s wonderful. He doesn’t wanna let go of this feeling. How anyone ever could is entirely beyond him.

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Three mugs of cocoa.

Bobby Helms’ voice echoes through the room accompanied by the soothing crack of a vinyl record. It’s an old one, one (Y/N) has found in a box of her grandparent’s stuff. Jingle Bell rock fills the air with a sense of excitement and wonder only a good old Christmas song can bring.

There are 3 cups of cocoa on the table, one of them in a Star Wars mug. It all feels warm and cozy. Homey. And for the first time since he’s back, Frankie doesn’t feel out of place. He doesn’t feel like a stranger watching through the window into someone else's life. Someone familiar. Someone he once knew. Someone he once was.

Right now he feels like he’s right where he’s meant to be. With friends who chose him. A family that lets him into their lives and willingly shares a piece of their kindness and warmth and magic with him. Not because they are bound to him by blood, by shared trauma. Just because they like him, as he is.

(Y/N) and Frankie sit on the old leather couch that’s been there in this same living room for so many years. One that has seen different versions of (Y/N). Some of him too.

In the corner of the room, across from the big window leading out into a snowy dreamland, stands a perfect Christmas tree. (Y/N)’s perfect tree. It’s decked out in lights and ornaments and tinsel. Leo hops around the tree, adding yet more ornaments here and more tinsel there, a big smile on his face the entire time.

And as she watches her son relish in the pure unfiltered joy only a child really knows, (Y/N) smiles too. Because sometimes this is what it means to be happy, seeing your loved ones smiling. 

“ Thank you, Frankie. “ she says, eyes still locked on her son. 

“ For what? “ 

It’s the second time that day that he is being thanked and for what? For being there? Really he hasn’t done much. This is what friends do, isn’t it? What they should do. Help each other out. Be there for one another. 

“ For playing along with my crazy antics. I know it’s just a tree but I just want this Christmas to be — to be good. For me and for Leo and for my dad. We haven’t had the best year and I just want to make this perfect for us. Or as perfect as possible. Thanks for not letting me see how annoying I was back at the tree sale. “

Frankie shakes his head dismissively. “ You weren’t being annoying. I get it, don’t worry. Leo, he uh — he said something similar to me earlier. Said his dad made fun of you? Made you cry. “ 

(Y/N) lets out a scoff, curls her lips in an unamused smirk. “ Derek’s a — “ her eyes trail towards her son who pays the two adults no mind “ — he’s such a dick. Always has been. But he was suave and he had a motorcycle and I just kind of fell for his bad-boy charms. He’s unreliable though and a goddamn child. When I told him about Leo he bailed on us. Sometimes he tries to be a dad, whenever he gets one of his moods and feels like he needs to turn his life around. Those don’t last very long though. He sends birthday gifts and Christmas presents and he calls every once in a while but — well his interest in Leo isn’t all that big. “ 

“ What an asshole. Why’d he make you cry? “ 

“ Ugh, it wasn’t really any particular thing, just an amalgamation of so many. He was making me feel stupid because of the tree thing. He was being dismissive of my feelings. He didn’t want to talk to Leo. It was just his entire mood that day that once again made me realize why I ended things with him in the first place. And it isn’t fair. It really isn’t. That I have to work twice as hard to be a good parent because I have to fill both roles and he gets off scot-free. Not even a guilty conscience. How am I ever gonna be able to play both roles and play them well? How can I do that? I feel like I am failing already. “ 

“ Are you kidding me? “ Frankie says and softly nudges her shoulder with his “ You’re a great mother. You’re fun, you’re loving. What else could Leo want? (Y/N) you are doing an incredible job, trust me. Little mistakes you make that might seem big to you, they really don’t matter to Leo. Not now and especially not in the long run. He’s gonna remember the good times. The snowball fights and the hot cocoa and the tree decorating. Those are the little moments that will become memories. “ 

“ You think so ? “ 

“ I know so. It’s what I remember about my childhood. And it’s uh — it’s what Leo told me. He said that his dad might not be around but that it doesn’t matter because you love him twice as much. Said that’s plenty enough. The boy loves you. You’re a wonderful mom. “

He forbids his mind from going to that dark corner where he’s banished all his own fears. Those that whisper to him in quiet moments. About how his shortcomings, his mistakes, his faults, how all of that will stain his relationship with Rosie. His ability to be a good father. 

Lord knows he wishes his daughter was here now. Maybe not in this exact moment, a toddler really ain’t much help when setting up a tree. But here. In his arms. With him. During Christmas time. He fears that she never will be. That the times he gets to see her will become few and far between. That he will one day only be a distant memory to her because he ain’t ever given the chance to make any good ones with her.

His heart aches from how much he misses his little girl at that moment. But he has to remind himself not to wallow in it. Because once he goes there, lets himself fall into this big black hole of grief and of missing and of fear, there’s no coming back.

So he looks back at the people around him, at their soft smiles and the Christmas lights reflected in their eyes. Shining with happiness. Shining with joy.

And as the snow falls softly outside, he tries to focus on the warmth in this room. The warmth from the fire and from the hearts so soft and so filled with love. 

Because he’d rather get lost in a beautiful dream than the sad reality of his fears. 

[beybladebladerboy999]

Dia means sun btw.

Lord Diavolo angst.

Maybe OOC LuLu, I just love soft, messy LuLu.

He regrets ever picking you for the exchange program. Because of you his life is ruined. He never planned to share Lucifer with anybody romantically.

Then one day he asked to talk. He confessed he was in love.

With you.

Diavolo cried himself to sleep that night. As he remembered his friends smiling face. Of course he congratulated him and gave him advice while Barbatos prepared a special blend of tea.

He always thought he'd have Lucifer body and soul forever.

He should have never let you come here. You have the brothers in shambles, bowing to your every command.

You have all of them wrapped around your little finger and you don't even realize it. Out of all seven you had to pick Lucifer.

He was always supposed to be his Lucifer. His fallen Morning Star with eyes that shone like fire. Skin as pale as snow, with hair as black and shiny as ink. His Lucifer only belonged to him in name only. He was so beautiful, he deserved better than to be your plaything. Lucifer deserved a Queen's status, he belonged on the throne working with Diavolo side by side.

You see this needed to be revised immediately, that's why he killed you. It was to easy really, wait until you got back to the human world, slip some poison into your water systems, and make sure his Lucy was busy with work all day and night.

Why don't I take your D.D.D Lucifer, it will just distract you. The faster you finish your work the faster you can talk to MC. I'm sure she misses you.

He had to be discrete, if lucifer found out all his love would vanish, so not even you could know your killer. He sent you letter often and texted you, played the nice guy, the supportive friend. Now you were far away in the Celestial realm, forbidden from dating the Morning Star based on your angel status. Of course secretly delivered by Barbatos to Micheal.

Then I gave him my brightest smile and shoved more paperwork into his arms, the arms that should be wrapped around him.

He saved Lilith, he gave him work, a place for him and his brothers to stay. Lucifer should be his, and now he will be, now that your out of the way. Watching from the Celestial realm as your boyfriend cries into his shoulder. His hair loose and his school uniform buttons undone, Diavolo could fell his heart beating.

You were gone, Lucifer was his once more.

The cost well the boys will get over it soon enough, they don't even know who killed you. After all you were a good friend to everyone, his tears were real.

He really would miss you, but you crossed the line when you took Lucifer from him. Maybe he'll come and visit you when Lucifer is wearing his ring. When its safe for his heart to never fell that way about you again.

Diavolo hugged his friend and soothed his heaving sobs.

You see Lucifer loves me , he doesn't hide anything from me. Look at him falling apart on my shoulder, the all mighty Morning Star, reduced to tears and a shadow of himself.

"Diavolo" he whispered

"Yes my Lovely?"

" Does Barb know who killed her?"

He sounded cool, and broken. He sounded like a man who just had his heart shattered.

"An unfortunate accident. Her poison garden had a broken pipe, the poison seeped into the ground into her drinking supply." He sounded mournful as he spoke.

" You know how found she was with her deadly garden Lucifer, that's why she got on with Satan so well, always hungry for information."

Lucifer chocked back a sob.

He told you your obsession would kill you one day, and now look at you. Stuck under his Father's thumb in the blinding white of his old home. At least he could rely on Simeon to keep you safe.

For the first time in his millennia old life Lucifer regretted his fall.

At his back Diavolo smiled, finally mine he thought, finally finally mine.

"This is where you live dearest?" he said. Looking at you in wonder. A small cottage greeted him with flowers blooming around metal gates. A green house in the backyard, filled to brimming with toxic and deadly plants.

he stared at you as you put on little green leather gloves and pointed at every plant, the poison it obtained and what it could do it a humans system. You showed him leaf patterns and squeezed a pokeberry and watched the seeds spill out, showing him the poison as red as blood inside.

"Isn't it wonderful" you asked. You gazed into his eyes, yours were filled with an almost child like wonder as you gazed around your garden. For once you had almost rivaled your boyfriend in Pride. He could practically see the peacock feathers sprouting from your back.

" I just want you to look upon the true irony of your current situation." She smiles as Lucifer plucks a Manchieel apple from the tree and bit down.

"I love you Lucifer" Then she looked up at me threw her long beautiful lashes. I felt the blush  creep up my cheeks as my hand rose to meet my chest.

"I love you to MC"

I kissed her then, her lips were full and warm and she was alive. We kissed by the dying sunset, I pulled her flush aganist my chest and she wrapped her arms around my neck.

I remember the feeling of utter happiness as I help her aganist me. It was like a tight spring loaded in my heart.

I love you MC, I will always love you.

Lucifer's tears slowly drew to a close as Diavolo hugger him closer. You were always so  reckless, always attracted to things that could kill you whether it be plants or your choice of boyfriend. You never had a sense of self preservation, its how you two originally gotten closer.

After he realized Mammon was a horrible human babysitter he slowly faded into the role. Then after your true heritae was revealed, he couldn't stop himself from falling in love with you.

Ha look where that got him. Youe dead and his heart is shattered on the ground.

Even after all those pacts you still went to Celestial, even though your a desecandt of the angel my Father wanted elimanited.

Maybe this is a new tourment from my Father after all, he took away Lilith, and now you.

My darling little MC.

Lucifer was sure his heart would never be put back together again.

He missed your warm touches. Your random notes on his mountains of paperwork, little encouragments and silly heart on sticky notes.

He saved them all.

You come in with snacks or drinks in the dead of night just to remind him to eat.

"How could you possibly love  a demon, I'm a failure. A fallen angel." He looked downcast.

You confessed your love fo rthe first time that night. Heart shapped pancakes, on his desk after a particularly long meeting. At the time his first thought was "Beel didn't see these, how odd."

" I love you in spite of that. Lucifer you work hard, you sacrificed your  freedom for your family. You work like a slave to because of it. Your so strong. You saved your brother from the dungeon, and bore the burden of greif all these years." YOu looked at him admiration and a touch of saddness.

"'I love you because no matter what you come to face, you better yourself with it." his pride swelled, he took in your flushed face, your sparkling eyes, and your soft hair. He loved you for so long. He pulled you close and kissed away your tears.

Then you fed each other pancakes.

He didn't do any work that night.

The brothers made you a memorial behdn the House of Lamentation. Filled to the brim with roses spelled healthy, and pictures upon pictures from your Devilgram account. Soft teddy bears and the controller you used most when playing with Levi, a tube of your lipstick you accidentally left behind.

Lucifer went their that night, he sat in frount of you and cried himself to sleep. It was almost like losing Lilith all over again.

You were the one to comfort him when you felt like this. When he lost the battle of the darkness inside his heart, but you were gone, and nobody else dared approach him. He felt your absence in the very core of his being, he missed your hands grazing his horns or preening his wings.

" Their like clouds! So fluffy!"

" They were made from clouds dearest" He smiled at you and pulled you onto his lap."

" I miss you MC, my dearest one." A few tears dropped onto your tombstone. He rested his head agaist your picture.

" Lucifer" a soft voice whispered, hiding in the shadows.

"Simeon" Lucifer looked up and saw his friend under the tree. He looked forlorn and...was that dread?

" We need to talk... I have  a message from....her"

Lucifer sat up and gracefully walkes towards him. His uniform is covered in mud and he was an indent from your memorial but, he still looked prideful. Even if he didn't feel anything at all.

Simeon looked at him in a pitiful manner.

" She loves you Lucifer, and it wasn't an accident. She said she saw Barbatos, and the cop who was investagating, he was a demon who tried to eat her once. When she was with Satan at the library.

She says he lended over and checked her pulse after she drank the water. He said he was sorry, on all accounts."

Lucifer couldn't speak, he was falling once more in a pit of rage and despair.

" Are you sure?" disbelief coated his voice as he looked upon his best friend and companion.

" She's a mess about it, Barb came over and-" Simeon shuddered. "She's being peppered with questions about everythibg from Micheal, she saw a few of her deceased pets and started crying, she won't leave them be" he chuckled slightly.

Lucifer felt a stab of betrayal, but he also felt a sense of purpose.

"Thank you Simeon" he said cooly, buttoning up his unofrm, tying his belt, fixing his medals."Give MC my love from now until the end of eternity." Lucifer walked cooly back to your memorial. He touched your smiling face and took out his D.D.D.

The Demon Brothers (6) New (7)

Lucifer- Family meeting in the dining room, Five minutes

He shut off his phone and walked back into the house.

" Your so strong Lucifer."

"Your so beautiful"

" You'll always be my angel."

" I love you, and I'll always love you."

Lucifer stared at his brothers' gathered in he dining hall. He tuned out their questions and held up his hand.

He stood up the chair moving soundlessely on the carpet.

He placed his hand over the R.A.D badge, then he ripped it off. The stitches popping and metals clanging on the table.

He threw it to the floor.

"Who here wants to start a rebellion."

Yay my first aganst! So who wins that's up to you! Comment please I love reading them.

This is my girlfriend's story and I wanted to post it here and she let me so go check it out on wattpad

@sparkleshinegreen

[crispycrimebrulee]

🎄25 Days of HXH: Day 2: Leorio x Chestnuts🎄

The scent of myrrh and peppermint filled the house as you lit some candles, the gentle glow of the small flame giving a homey feeling to the dimly lit room. Walking over to the Christmas tree, you fixed some ornaments and tinsel that’d fallen off. Outside, the world looked precious and innocent, like a child on Christmas Eve, soft and full of joy waiting for gifts and Christmas day. Silken snow in small hills outside, a golden glow resting on them from overhead lamps in the streets. The lampposts were adorned with wreaths and lights, and nearby fences decorated with string lights as well. The entire neighborhood looked elegant; houses were decorated with lights outlining their houses and windows, faint golden and white glows lining a perfect frame into living rooms with Christmas trees, picturesque depictions of a classic Christmas, the entire street resembling a postcard of a small Christmas town in the Alps, perhaps. The neighborhood was quiet, registering a feeling that, despite having no true word, wrapped you with a feeling of nostalgia and calm, your heart creating a soothing rhythm within your chest, rendering your thoughts to reminisce of Christmas’ long since passed, and making your heart flutter thinking about Christmas’ yet to come. The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole

Taglist: @to-move-on-means-to-grow @lifescreams27 @twistedsmth @some-weeb-chick @dukinaxael @errorpeachy @demon-hugger @my-child-gaara @absolute-flaming-trash @yep-seeyalaterbranflakes

It was relatively late, 8pm, and the sky was dark and void, except for a few clouds, adding gray streaks to the sky above. Leorio was working a late night, yet you had a tendency to stay up for him, despite his objections to you staying up so late waiting for him. Sure, he’d voiced his genuine thoughts, finding it cute that you waited for him, but truly he was concerned about how much you were sleeping, and that it was very much okay if you went to bed when he was out late. You always declined, finding it to be no trouble waiting for him. He always brought something back for you, being a cookie, a small cake, a treat, a book or even a story when he couldn’t find anything physical. You always accepted whatever he brought for you, melting at the thought of him thinking of you throughout the day, to which when you confronted him about it, he blushed bright red and muttered something about how, of course he thinks of you, he loves you quite a lot. 

Strolling to the living room window, you leaned on the window sill, watching the occasional car pass by, the lights fading in and out. You almost missed Leorio’s car pulling into the driveway and you jumped up and ran to the front door, opening it without care for the cold, causing the candles in the back to dance from the small gust of wind. You waved to him, beaming ear to ear as he shuffled through some snow, making his way over to you. 

Seeing you with the door wide open, Leorio’s face was washed with concern.

“Jeez y/n close the door! You’re gonna get sick!” walking a little faster towards you in hopes that the door will be shut.

You could only giggle as you pulled him inside and shut the door, hugging him before he had a chance to set down his briefcase. He hugged you in return, letting his cheek rest against your head. You felt his heart flutter as you buried your face in his shoulder and sigh with content. 

“Miss me?” Leorio poked your side, hearing the taunting in his tone, making you look up at him, unafraid to hide it. You nodded, and he blushed, looking away from you, but not before placing a soft kiss on the top of your head. 

Pulling away from the hug, he set his briefcase down and walked over to the fireplace, looking at the pile of dry wood and shifted them around a bit with the fire poker. You watched him, occasionally glancing at him. He rarely uses the fireplace, always mentioning how it’s risky and if he falls asleep, it could be a hazard. 

“Hey y/n could you light the fire?” Leorio called out, walking towards the kitchen, pulling a small bag from his jacket pocket.

Humming a noise of acknowledgement you went on to find the lighter and fire starter, feeling slightly jilted about not having received a late night gift from Leorio. You had to shift some logs around so they fit nicely, and then you light the fire, slowly watching it come to life. The room had a soft orange glow, the scent of a good, cozy fire mixing with the scent of the candles, making you feel a bit drowsy. 

Leorio muttering about roasting things was what brought you out of your sleepy stance, piquing your interest, causing you to waddle over to him, peeking over his shoulder at the little bag on the counter. In his hand was a sizable bag of chestnuts and in the other hand, his phone, instructions on how to roast chestnuts in a fireplace written on the screen. Was...this the late night gift? 

Clearing your throat, Leorio turned to you, handing you a chestnut. You turned it this way and that, tapped it on the counter and shook it, hearing something inside.

“Uhh...how do I eat this…” muttering as you shake it again.

“Well we roast it first...that’s what google says.” Leorio answers, turning towards you, “I wanted to roast them with you...thought they’d make an interesting gift.”

You laughed a little, rolling the chestnut in your palm. He wanted to roast chestnuts with you, over the fireplace. As late night gifts go, this was the most interesting by far. Nothing short of classically Christmas-y either, seeing as multiple songs mention roasting chestnuts over an open fire. 

Grabbing tinfoil, you made a small bowl and poured the chestnuts in it, careful to close it with a small air pocket. Leorio looked at you, then at the tinfoil bowl, then back at you.

“How’d you know to do that?” poking at the bowl, rustling the chestnuts.

You shrugged, figuring there was no other way to roast them in the fireplace, seeing as it was relatively small, and using a frying pan or skillet would be dangerous. 

Walking over to the now impressive fire, you (somewhat haphazardly, seeing as you had no intention of sticking your hand in the flames) tossed the tinfoil ball in, and properly fixed it with the fire poker. 

Sitting down on the couch, you swung your legs up and nuzzled into the corner, patting the spot next to you for Leorio to join you. Of course, he obliged, slipping an arm around you as he watched the fire, the flames hazily reflecting in his eyes. You nestled yourself into the crook of his shoulder, making yourself comfortable on him. 

Eyes glued to the fireplace, the only thing that would break the silence was the fire crackling away, the occasional pop and spark of the flames bringing you out of your thoughts.

“Hmm...anything interesting happened today?” you asked, glancing at Leorio. 

Leorio sat there, thinking for a minute.

“A kid came in with an action figure stuck up his nose. And the same lady keeps coming in for flu shots. I’ve seen her 3 times the past 3 weeks…” Leorio pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperation written all over his face.

“Is that a problem?” looking up at him. Of course, multiple shots is indeed an issue, but you’d indulge him a little bit.

“Of course it’s an issue! You can’t keep taking shots like that! You only need the one once a year! Your body isn’t meant for the same shot in 3 weeks time, 3 times!” Leorio was waving his free hand about, clearly bothered by this lady’s actions.

“Maybe she’s coming to see you~” you sang, poking his ribs.

Leorio looked at you, flustered and incredulous.

“No way…” looking away from you, although you could see him considering this revelation silently.

“I mean, it’s hard to ignore such a cute doctor. I’d come to the doctors more often if it were you!” poking his ribs again, grinning.

“Ah hey cut it out, that’s...no…” Leorio was apple red at this rate, looking at everything but you.

Compliments always seemed to fluster him, and he never knew how to respond to them, and you took full advantage of being able to turn your boyfriend into a mushy mess with simple words and genuine compliments in his favor. 

“Maybe I have some competition now hmm?” poking him again, laughing all the while.

“Absolutely not!” he yelled, finally looking at you, “other people really...can’t compete with you…” trailing off again, the statement causing him to blush furiously and look away once more. 

Beaming, you pressed a kiss to his temple, making him huff lightly and quickly give you one in return. 

Completely distracted with Leorio’s antics and your own, you'd forgotten about the chestnuts roasting away, until you could smell them, sweet notes filling the air, but with a hint of...slightly burnt?

Practically flying out of your seat, you took a log mover and managed to take the chestnuts out of the fire, setting them down on a metal plate that held extra firewood. Running off to the kitchen to get a fork, you came back moments later, prying the tinfoil open to reveal slightly over roasted nuts, but still probably edible. Leorio came by you seconds later only to poke at the still hot chestnuts in the makeshift bowl. 

A few minutes later, they were cool enough to be peeled and eaten, but still warm enough for them to be enjoyable. Taking a few, you retreated to the couch in your original spot, and handed some to Leorio who inspected them before struggling to peel them, making him grumble in frustration. Peeling yours, you handed it to him and removed the one he was struggling with, and peeled that one too. Nibbling at it, it was soft, and incredibly sweet, but not in the sickening sense. It was sweeter than most nuts you’ve had, and softer as well. A little content hum left you as you enjoyed yours, and Leorio seemed quite happy as well. 

Spending the rest of the evening with Leorio, curled up on the couch indulging in a classic Christmas treat. Inside, warm and cozy with only soft conversation and comments, and the hiss of the fire to keep the silence at bay. Not that the silence was bad, per se. The silence was quaint, pulling together that serene feeling at the start of a perfect Christmas season. 

[kpopisthereasonihavenolife]

Favorite Human

BTS

Jeon Jungkook/Reader [F]

Genre: Hybrid AU, Childhood Friends,  Fluff

Words: 3.1k

sum. Jungkook was the adopted hybrid pup of the new family who had just moved into the second unit of the duplex your family lived in. The moment they brought him home as a kid, he was attached to you and you to him.  Growing up, you thought he’d change, but even as highschoolers, he’s still as attached as ever. 

a/n: Really, just a blurb that got way longer than I indented it to (this was supposed to be a drabble mmk) of Dog Hyrbid Kook being adorable bc @kpopgirlbtssvt​ forced my hand (this isn’t proofread, oops)

“Y/n! come out here and meet the new neighbors!” You perked your head up from your small, plastic desk that you sat out, a plethora of crayons littered across it with scribbles of colors that absolutely didn’t stay in the lines of the coloring book picture you were busy filling in. Your hair pulled back- courtesy of your father and his love of hairdressing- as you sat in your favorite, yellow t-shirt and blue overalls.  

Hopping up, you ran outside to your mother.  The springtime was the perfect time to keep the front door open and open the window of the storm door, and that’s exactly what your mother did was she was out satisfying her green thumb for gardening. Pushing open the storm door latch that you could just barely reach, you pushed the door open and ran to your mother down the few steps of your porch. 

Your family lived in one half of the two-unit duplex in the middle of the city. 

You had often complained that you had no kids to play within the neighborhood unless you went to the park- which was too far to go to daily.  You were a bit of a tomboy, always climbing trees, getting down in the dirt and even fascinated with bugs of some kind. It was hard to connect with other little girls sometimes and the boys would tease you, so you often pouted as you scribbled at your desk or was out in the garden with your mother. 

Finally, at your mother’s side, you clung to her long skirt she wore, burying your face into it with a giggle before you looked around her leg when she pets your head.  You looked at the middle-aged couple in front of you.  Two women stood there as they interlocked their fingers, and smiled down at the adorable 5-year-old that was you, decked out in yellow and denim. 

“Y/n, this is Sheryl and Lidia. They’re going to be our new neighbors starting today.” Your mother told you as she pats your back, encouraging you to let go and face them properly.  “What do you say to them?” 

You shyly opened your mouth, hands still clutched in your mother’s skirt fabric. 

“It’s nice to meet you,” you all but whispered as the three women all giggled at your wavering, shy voice. 

One woman came and knelt close to you as you tried your best to make eye contact with her.  She was very pretty- not as pretty as your mom, but a close second you decided.  Tanned skin and big brown eyes with hair more frizzier than yours when you roughly towel-dried it. 

“My name is Sheryl, it’s nice to meet you Y/n.” You only nodded back before she was looking over her shoulder to the moving van in the driveway.  “Jungkook! Come over here and say hello!” She called.  

You watched as the van door slid open and a little boy jumped out.  Placing his sneaker covered feet on the pavement, he kicked forward until he ran face-first into Sheryl’s back. Pushing his face into her back and giggling lightly- he seemed no older than you.  Just a small little kid.  

“Jungkook,” Sheryl called, making the young boy pop his head up and peek around his first mother’s shoulder. You lightly gasped in a fit of silent awe when you saw the small, triangular dog ears perked upon his head. You had hybrid kids at your school, but they were all kept in separate classes from you and your peers, something you whined about but you wanted a hybrid friend really bad.

His face dusted in rose as he saw a little girl staring at him.  

“This is Y/n, she’s going to be living next to us, so you’ve got to be nice and friendly to her.  Okay?”  Jungkook nodded as he looked at you.  He was always shy around girls, not comfortable around them enough.  When he was adopted by his mothers’, it took him over a week to open start acting like their son.  They treated him like any other son- hybrid or not.  

Eventually, the women migrated inside so your mother could introduce the two ladies to your father.  You were awkwardly stood in the front yard with Jungkook as he looked at his toes and kicked at nothing, fiddling with his thumbs. You watched his small, black tall sway slightly back and forth as his ears dropped to a curl.  

“Sooo,” you started, startling the poor pup as he jumped.  “What kind of dog are you?” You asked, trying to remember what your mother taught you about being polite and asking things delicately. 

“I-I’m a Kelpie,” he mumbled.  Your eyes lit up, delighted he even replied to you. 

“What do you do for fun? Do you like playing outside?” You asked carefully.  If he didn’t, you wouldn’t push the issue.  You really wanted to play though and what better play partner than your new little boy neighbor? 

“Yeah,” he whispered, “I like to play tag a lot.”  

“Then, lets play!” Your voice spiked to a shout.  You quickly covered your mouth with your palm when you watched Jungkook jump and back away from you slightly.  “Sorry,” you apologized.  “We don’t have to.” Your voice lowered in dejections, figuring you came on too strong like you normally did.  You watched as Jungkook slowly came closer to you and grabbed a hold of your overalls at the side.  

He was looking at his feet, face red as his ears folded in anxiety and his tail swished. 

“You’re it,” he told you before you laughed and the chase was on. 

“Y/n! Can you do me a favor!” You heard your mother call from the bottom floor of the duplex you’ve lived in your entire 18-year life.  Pushing up from your desk and gleefully abandoning the physics textbook you had been studying before, you called back. 

“Coming!” Running down the stairs, staring at your feet the whole way to avoid any chance of falling down them, you rounded the corning and waltzed into the kitchen.  Passing your father in the living room on the way.  Your mother was busy cooking away at dinner, a pot a pasta boiling and chicken baking in the oven to crumb covered perfection. “What’s up?” 

“I think I forgot something over at Lidia’s the other day.  Some seasoning when we were making that new chicken parmesan dish; I cannot find it for the life of me.  Would you run over and see if she’s got it?” You nodded. 

“Sure thing. I’ll be like 5 minutes,” you told her.  Heading to the front door, you slipped on a pair of slippers with dog ears on them before you left.  Walking down and around the yard to the unit front door directly next to yours.  

Knocking, the door opened to show Lidia herself.  More aged than all those years ago, but still rocking for her age.  You lightly waved to her. 

“Hello, Y/n.  What can I do for you?” She asked. 

“Mom said she may have left some seasoning her the other day.  She asked me to see if you still had it.  She’s cooking up a storm and you know how picky she is when it comes to seasoning,” you chuckled.  

“Oh, darling I know.  Sheryl and I never get tired of teasing her.  Come on in, I’ll go check my cabinets.” She invited you in as you stepped through the door and inside.  “Jungkook is up in his room if you want to say hello,” she offered.  

You didn’t say no.  Jungkook was your longest-standing friend- dare you say your best friend.  Although you’ve both grown up and are in your last year of high school, some things haven’t changed.  You still had a problem with connecting to some people, but the opposite was in his case.  He couldn’t be more of a people magnet if he tried.  Ever the smooth talker and with his charisma and unfair good looks, his popularity skyrocketed after middle school. 

Bounding up the stairs, you weren’t even able to knock on his door when it swung open revealing the bubbly boy himself.  

“Y/n!” He sang as he flung into your chest, koala latching himself onto you.  That was also something that hadn’t changed.  When he would get comfortable with someone, all personal space boundaries vanished.  He literally didn’t understand personal space- but you didn’t particularly mind.  

He always smelt so nice and he was warm when he hugged you. Not to mention, he was just the best damn hugger. The small crush you had on him definitely didn’t help matters.  Though, you never let it get to your head.  He was cuddly by nature, being spoiled by his mothers and his K9 instincts telling him that people weren’t the enemy unless they did something just plain awful. 

He pushed his nose into your neck before he pulled away from you, smiling as he held one of your hands. 

“What’re you doing here?” He asked. 

“Mom forgot something here the other day, so I’m picking it up.  I figured I should say hi while I’m here since someone doesn’t have time to visit me anymore.” You teased. He’s been wrapped up in the choir club recently.  They have a competition coming up soon and he’s been practicing for it nearly every day with his instructor. He pouted. “I’m joking!” You laughed. 

“You know I miss you.  I tell you every day,” he told you with a pout.  It was true.  He’d literally facetime you everyday whining that he was too busy to see you.  It was a sentiment you appreciated and you assumed he did with all his close friends.  His best friend in the art club always whined that Jungkook called you more than him, a complaint you didn’t really believe. 

“Y/n!” You heard Lidia call.  “I found that seasoning dear!” 

“Alright, I’m coming!” You called back before looking at the now pathetic looking Jungkook who stood in a slouched pout.  You reached up and scratched at his ears that he had grown into so well.  His tail swishing behind him. “Don’t pout.  You’ll see me tomorrow at school.” 

“But you take the bus to school! I get there so early in comparison.” 

“That’s a you problem,” you laughed as you pulled your hand away from him and started back down the stairs, waving him off.  Taking the seasoning and thanking the woman, you returned home.  

The next morning you sat at the bus stop, headphones plugged into your ears as you waited.  Someone plopped down beside you- nothing unusual- before they yanked one of your earbuds out.  Ready to bit the head off of whoever dared, you stopped yourself before you started. Beside you sat Jungkook- the same Jungkook who absolutely hated the bus. 

“Good morning!” He sang. “I wanted to go to school with you today.” He chirped as he yawned and put his head on your shoulder.  You just rolled your eyes as you continued scrolling on your phone.  

When the bus came and you loaded onto it, Jungkook plopped himself down next to you and replaced his head back on your shoulder, even slinging his arm over your lap to keep you closer to him as the bus jostled you both around. Dozing off and on, he watched as you read something other another on your phone screen. 

“Hey,” he whispered lightly you barely heard it.  You hummed at him. “You’re going to come to the competition this weekend, right? For choir?” 

“Well, that depends,” you put your phone down, patting at the hand that sat in your lap.  “Do you want me to, Pup?” He giggled lightly, the older than thou nickname of his youth only you were allowed to call him making him giddy. He nodded against your shoulder, snuggling into it more- not giving two flying acorns at who may be scoffing at his display of public affection for his favorite human. 

“Yeah, I do.” 

“Then, I’ll be there.” 

The school day went as it always did as you hung around Jungkook and his group of 6 other guy pals. All strange, all different and all equally as crazy as him.  The most ‘normal’ boy being a self-proclaimed genius who couldn’t spell out the word ‘necessary’ without having an aneurysm because of the unnecessarily large number of s’s needed. 

They were good guys at least.  You were happy Jungkook had people to really connect to and he always made sure you were always included- so you never felt left out. You currently sat on a bench in the halls during lunch as Hoseok, one of his friends, sat on the floor with a thermos of water at his side.  Talking about how the dance recital he had coming up in a month was wearing him out. 

You let out a small ‘oof’ when Jungkook had appeared from seemingly nowhere and threw himself across your lap and the bench.  His back on your legs as he stared up at you as you popped a piece of the sandwich you ate into your mouth. 

“Can you get off me?” You asked. 

“Jungkook, you know you’re not a lap dog, right?” Hoseok asked from the floor with a hint of amusement in his voice. Jungkook just looked offended at Hoseok as he curled into you, wrapping his arms around your midsection. 

“Jungkook!” You whined as he held you with an iron grip.  Working out being his second favorite hobby besides singing.  “Go cling to Hoseok instead!” 

“He won’t cuddle us,” Hoseok told you.  You stopped your micro-shoves on his shoulders as you started talking to the dancer again.  Jungkook cuddling deeper into your stomach. “Well, I guess I could say he does, but he certainly does whine a lot.  No one quite satisfies the affection-craving dog like you do, girly.” He broke out into a fit of laughs before speaking again. “One time, he kept whining because he wanted to cuddle you, but you were in gym, so Jimin tried to help but Jungkook just growled at him.” 

“Jungkook!” You scolded as he just whined. 

“I don’t wanna hug anyone else anymore!” He complained. “Only you,” he solidified. You just sighed, letting him once again get away with his childish needs as he practically napped on your lap the entire lunchtime. 

It was then like that day after day.  Even when he was at his competition, dressed in his black slacks and white dress shirt, his hair neatly parted and brushed, he hugged you.  He’d lean on your back as he hugged your waist or push his cheek on your shoulder when he had a chance to sit down beside you. 

As you sat among the audience of the people listening to the choir, you had to keep your heart from beating out of your chest because you swore he stared at you the entire time. 

The evening after the competition, he practically begged you to stay over at his house. You gave in pretty quickly and Jungkook worshiped your mom for letting you. Normally, you’d just put down a sleeping bag on the floor, but tonight Jungkook was adamant you sleep beside him. 

“I- I don’t think we have to,” you weakly battled.  

“No.  You smell nice, you’re warm and you’re my favorite so you need to sleep next to me so I can sleep well.” 

You flailed around, unable to take all the heart papulations he probably wasn’t aware he was causing.  In the end- as per usual- he got his way as he clung to you at midnight when you both settled down for bed. 

Laying behind you, he held you around your waist and pushed his face into your hair.  Slipping his leg between yours and pulling you as close to his chest as possible. He cracked his closed eyes open not long after the two of you had gotten comfortable. 

“You don't mind me holding you, do you?” 

“Now you’re worried about your clinginess?” You chuckled. 

“Well, it’s just-” he cut himself off with a whine as he pushed his nose down into your neck.  “It’s complicated,” he told you. 

“Complicated how? Not like you haven’t hugged me before.” 

“It’s just different now.” 

“No?” You questioned.  You tapped at his arms, telling him to loosen them as you twisted around to face him.  His face was lowered as he looked a tad sad. “Hey,” you whispered, caressing his cheek, “what’s wrong, Pup?” 

“You’re my favorite human,” he told you.  You’d heard him tell you that before. You nodded at him.  

“I know,” you told him softly. 

“No, I mean-” he shut his eyes as he pushed his face into his pillow. He groaned into it.  “Y/n?” He asked when he lifted his face back up. “S-someone told me that you liked, Hoseok.  Is that... true?” 

You pulled away from him, shock painted on your face. 

“Who told you that?!” 

“W-well, you’ve been spending a lot of time with him recently!” Jungkook seemed panicked like he was trying to cover something up. 

“He’s been asking advice on how to ask out this girl in my Korean class who happens to be my deskmate,” you told him with a light laugh. “I, in no way, like Hoseok like that.  He’s a swell guy, but I’d probably never date him.” Jungkook relaxed as he smiled. 

“So, you don’t like him?” 

“No,” you answered with a smile. “What a silly thing to be anxious about.” You pet at his head as he shut his eyes.  

“It’s not silly,” he told you. “Not when I thought I’d have to compete with my friend for you. I was stressed, okay?” 

“Huh?” Your brain seemed to have shut off.  “What does Hoseok have to do with me? And compete?” 

“You’re my favorite human,” he told you again. “The one human I wanna hug and hold and I wanna kiss you too.  I wanna hold your hand and walk around in public.  I want to talk about the future with your mom and win over your dad.  I want you to stay my favorite human forever, and I want you to think of me as your favorite hybrid.” He snuggled into your chest, hiding his burning face.  “I really like you, Y/n.” 

You froze for a moment, making the dog’s stomach turn.  He eased in instant relaxation when you pet at the back of his head and scratched his ears. He took in your scent he loved so much as you just pet him. 

“You were right, it wasn’t silly. Sorry for calling it that,” you told him as he just shook his head. “I really like you too, Jungkook. Honestly, I’m shocked Jimin didn’t spill his gut when I told him about my crush on you.” You laughed lightly, making the dog-boy hold you closer.  “Let’s just sleep for now, and we can talk about all this in the morning.” He nodded silently.  

Before falling asleep, he smiled when he felt you kiss the top of his head, his tail wagging across the mattress. 

[thetravelerwrites]

Monster Match #21: Astomi

The Traveler's Masterlist

For @moonlightreetops: Appearance: Mortal Woman, Pfp is me(straight brown hair, almond hazel eyes), short, scared, with sevral tattoos. Personality: INFJ, Cancer, loud, protective, generous, and I have a snort laugh; definitely a hugger. Therapist friend and proud. I believe I was born cursed to always be polite and kind to everyone. I'm not naive to the trouble I can get into this way but I still cant help myself. Oh! And I cry with every movie and sad commercial. It's annoying.

Hobbies: Hosting D&D, Collecting macabre things, Responsible Social Distancing. Likes: Roadtrips, Pretending I'm more fond of the outdoors than I actually am, Forest Paintings, My Nerd Family, Opposoms. Dislikes: Heights, Bugs, Cooking, Cockroaches (listed separately from bugs because I will panic cry)

Ideal Partner: Someone whose more grounded than I am but at the same time is understanding of my struggles and won't berate me for them. And preferably a monster who wont leer in my windows. (Still have fears of that from my childhood monsters) NSFW & SFW welcomed. My orientation is Pan. So you are free to throw whatever you like at me.

You’ve been matched with an Astomi!

Originating in Greek and Roman mythology, Astomies, also known as the Gangines, are an ancient legendary race of people who had no need to eat or drink anything at all. They survived by smelling apples and flowers. Megasthenes, a historian and Asian Indian ethnographer, located them at the mouth of the river Ganges. They are described as being hairy and having no mouth. When traveling, they would carry roots, flowers and apples to smell. They could die by smelling a strong, unpleasant smell.

There was a forest reserve near your home that you frequented to draw and paint. There was a section of it that was strangely green all year round, and you weren’t sure why. None of the trees were evergreens, so the hidden grove should have lost leaves and turned grey like all the greenery around it in the winter, but it never did. You never went into it, and you never saw anyone near it. It was just an oddity no one knew anything about. Lots of people said it was haunted.

The more logical minded people claimed there was a hot spring somewhere in the grove that kept the trees green, but that it was toxic to people, which is why no one ever went there. Though, that didn’t make sense to you. If it was toxic, why were there flowers and birds? The wildlife seemed unaffected by whatever odd supposed toxin existed in the grove.

It had struck your interest more than once, but you never went in. You loved ghost stories, but you weren’t necessarily keen on being in one. And the threat of a toxin was enough to keep you from venturing in.

Though, one day, as you were wandering close, you heard a mournful whimpering, as if someone were in pain. Your worry about ghosts and toxins flew out of your mind as you ran into the grove, looking for whatever was making the sound.

“Hello?” You called. “Is someone there? Are you okay?”

“Please!” They called. “Can you help me?”

“Yes,” You said, pushing past the thick foliage. “Just hold on, I’m coming. Keep talking to me so I can find you! What’s your name? How old are you?”

“Geras!” They said, coughing. “I’m ninety-eight seasons!”

“Seasons?” What was ninety-eight divided by four? “So you’re twenty-four?”

“I suppose,” They said. “But we don’t measure time that way.”

“We?”

“The people of the grove,” They said. “My family and I.”

“Wait,” You said, untangling yourself from a tree. “People live in here? I thought there was a toxin in the air that killed people.”

“What?” They actually laughed, which turned into a hacking cough. “No, of course not.”

“What about the ghosts, then? Are they real?” You asked with a laugh, but you were met with silence. “Geras? Geras! Keep talking.”

“Hurry, please,” Geras said, their voice hoarse. “Please.”

“Almost there,” You said. You finally managed to fight your way through heavy branches and dense underbrush and into what looked like an apple orchard. There were all sorts of apple trees there, and in between a copse of heritage apples was a person laid between the rows, unmoving.

“Geras?” You called. You couldn’t see much of them beyond the long brown hair all over. You could only tell that they were tall and gangly.

Next to them was a bag that stank to high heaven. At first you thought it could be poisons, but you looked inside and found a litany of gross hunting sprays: skunk essence, liquid ass, insect repellents, deer musk, and the like. The odor was so strong that it made you gag.

“Is this the problem?” You asked, breathing through your shirt. They nodded weakly. You weren’t surprised. It made you feel woozy, too. “I’ll get rid of it and come back to check on you, okay?”

“Yes, please,” They gasped.

You fought your way back out of the grove into the dead winter forest, back to the hiking trail to find a trash receptacle. It took nearly thirty minutes to find one, and another twenty to return to the grove. By the time you got back, Geras was not there. Worried, you followed the row up to a house.

The house was… old. Very old. So old that you couldn’t even determine what style or era it was from. It was tall and square, made of rough brick and thatched roof. There seemed to be no windows, but the entire front wall was open and had a rolled up flap that closed that side from the elements.

From the open side, you could see people moving around, hurried, almost frenzied, and you called out to them.

“Hey!” You said. “I’m looking for Geras! He… or she.. or they passed out from some garbage that got thrown in here. Are they okay?”

They all stopped and turned to stare at you from the shadow, and it was then you realized that there was no lights or electricity. There wasn’t even a power pole or lines anywhere nearby.

“Are you the one who helped Geras?” One of them asked. They had a feminine sounding voice.

“Yes,” You said. “Are they okay?”

“She’s not well,” The speaker said. “I am her mother, Foteini.” The woman came down and out of the shadows, and you took a step backward.

She was covered from head to toe in fur, except for her face, which was hairless, but possessed no mouth. Her eyes and nose were very large, however, and her silvering hair was long behind her.

“What are you?” You asked, your voice a little shaky.

“The people of the grove,” She said, her voice not coming from any sort of mouth, but rather from all around her. It wasn’t like telepathy; you could actually hear a voice in your ears, but it seemed to emanate from all over her. “Do not be frightened. We are gentle people.”

There were three other people there in that stepped out of the darkened interior, a black haired creature like Foteini and two much smaller ones the same color as the mother, likely children. They clung to the legs of the taller, black furred creature, seemingly frightened of you.

“Will Geras be okay?” You asked haltingly.

“I don’t know,” The mother said. “She inhaled much of the fumes from those poisons.”

“Is there something I can do to help?” You asked.

“You’ve already done her a great service,” Foteini said. “We would not have been able to help her, if we had found her, and if she had laid there longer, she’d likely have died.”

“Why?” You asked. “That stuff stank, sure, but it wasn’t technically poisonous. Not inhaling it, anyway.”

“We live on the aromas of nature,” Foteini explained. “Flowers, trees, fruit. Those sustain us. Pungent, unpleasant smells, like that poison you disposed of, are toxic and potentially fatal to us.”

“Oh,” You said, daunted. “Is there something that could help speed her recovery?”

Foteini thought. “Roses. They are among the most fragrant things that exist in nature, but we haven’t been able to grow them here in many years. Could you find some?”

“Yeah. Yeah! I… I’ll be back!” You said, and dashed back out of the grove before they could stop you.

You got out of the forest, dropped off your painting stuff at home, and went to a plant nursery.

“Do you have any rose plants?” You asked the clerk.

“Well, yes,” The clerk said. “But it’s too late in the year to plant them. If you want to grow from seeds, though, you can plant those now. I can sell you some seeds and give you a guide.”

That’s too long, you thought to yourself. Geras needed the roses now. “You know, I’ll take it, but I’m in a hurry.”

“Uh… alright.”

The clerk packed up the seeds of several types of roses and a guide for each, and as soon as you had them, you sprinted to a flower shop. You purchased a large bouquet of the finest, freshest, most aromatic red roses, and while it took a chunk out of your bank account, you didn’t want to run the risk of buying some that were less than perfect in fear that they wouldn’t work.

It was nearing sundown when you returned to the grove, and Foteini seemed surprised to see you.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d return,” She said. “Humans tend to stay away from this place.”

“I brought the roses,” You said, gasping for breath. “And some seeds to plant.”

“This is… most generous of you,” Foteini said. “Please, come inside. Night is approaching and you don’t want to be in the forest after dark. There are far less benign creatures out there than us.”

You shivered and followed her inside.

Geras was lying on a pallet in a far room, her breathing labored and raspy. Foteini began to lay out the flowers around Geras’s head, arranging the flowers around Geras’s head in a circle.

“Breathe deep,” Foteini said soothingly, rubbing Geras’s chest like a mother would for a sick child.

Geras made an effort to take a deep breath, but it sounded pained. However, after two or three tries, her breathing eased and eventually, after about an hour of tense waiting, she was able to breath without struggle. Foteini relaxed, and so did you.

“You should sleep here tonight,” Foteini said. “And eat as many apples as you want. We owe you a great debt.”

“I’m just glad I could help,” You said.

You fell asleep almost immediately after eating, having been exhausted by all the running. When you awoke, there was a new bushel of apples sitting next to you, and next to that was Geras, watching you sleep.

“Oh,” You said, sitting up and rubbing your eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m much better now,” She said, smiling with her large green eyes. “Thank you for everything.”

“Of course,” You said with a self-conscious laugh. “You gave me a scare.”

“I’m sorry,” She said. “I know humans aren’t used to us.”

“No, I mean almost dying like that,” You corrected her. “I mean, I was a little startled, I’ll admit, but you guys seem nice.”

“You’re nice, too,” She said, continuing to smile.

“Thanks,” You said, starting to blush under the weight of her stare. “I, uh… I should get back, I have to go to work later today.”

“Of course,” Geras said, standing in a fluid movement and holding out a hand to help you to your feet. “Though… I hope… you’ll come back to visit?” She held out one of the roses for you to take.

You smiled at her, your hands still clasped. “I would like that very much.”

To get your own Monster Match, buy me a Kofi!

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Thanks for reading!

My Masterlist

The Exophilia Creator’s Masterlist

[lilacharry]

A/N: Hi, I wrote this when I was fifteen (and idealistic and innocent) and the concept was cute so I wanted to rewrite it, and see how differently it would end up...

It had been an off day. Y/N had woken up to find her lock screen read 3:43, and was surprised at how long she had stayed asleep. Harry had tiptoed out of their bed early that morning. He had a few early meetings and hadn’t wanted to wake his sleeping girlfriend at his side. He knew how hard it would be for her to fall back asleep once she woke from her original slumber. Nevertheless, Y/N peeked one eye open in time to see him attempting to slip out their bedroom door. She had let out a whine, to which Harry had let out a laugh.

“Where’s my goodbye kissy?” Y/N cried out as Harry’s features appeared in the dim light of the sunrise streaming through their pulled curtains.

“Didn’t want to wake you,” Harry mumbled as he made his way towards their bed where Y/N laid, her face buried within their covers. The two had always agreed on a cold room and many blankets.

“But I love you,” Y/N pouted as her arms poked through the covers so she could make grabby hands at Harry’s approaching body.

“Love you, too, but can never go back to sleep when I wake you just to say bye,” Harry smiled as he sat at the edge of the bed, his hand going to caress her cheek.

“Don’t mind,” Y/N had mumbled as she smiled into his palm before taking his hand in her own two hands and kissing the lines on the inside of his hands, “want me to make you something before you head out?”

“No, love; thank you,” Harry voiced as she held his hand to her chest, “m’late, as it is.”

“Mm,” Y/N had pouted once more, “why don’t you get some coffee round the corner?”

“M’tryna cut back,” Harry sighed as he peered down at Y/N’s soft features.

“Right,” Y/N frowned, “well, tell you what.”

“Hm?” Harry smiled as he watched Y/N hoist herself up to her elbows.

“I will make you some masala and Grandma’s hush puppies for dinner, and if you bring home some ice cream, we can put it on top of some zucchini bread,” Y/N wiggled her brows at Harry.

“Don’t you have dinner with Lexi tonight?” Harry wondered aloud.

“Yes, but we haven’t spent very much time together lately,” Y/N frowned once more as she went to nose at Harry’s hand, “miss you something terrible.”

Harry laughed out at her Southern impression and wondered what he would do if he could no longer hear it any more. He hoped the day would never come.

“Only if you’re sure,” Harry shrugged, “don’t want you to cancel plans on my account.”

“Well, I want to,” Y/N sat up all the way, this time, wrapping her arms around his neck, “unless you have other plans.”

“Yeah, was gonna have a hot date with this one lady I met at spin class,” Harry wrinkled his nose at Y/N, earning a gasp.

“What do you mean? What lady?” Y/N laughed with surprise.

“You can’t be serious,” Harry grinned as his hands went to hold either side of Y/N’s face.

“What?” Y/N furrowed her brow.

“Silly girl,” Harry laughed before planting a kiss on Y/N’s sweet mouth, “we met at a spin class.”

“Oh, yeah. It was so long ago, you see,” Y/N’s laughs were muffled as Harry continued to pepper kisses all over her face.

Unlike usual, Y/N was able to go back to sleep after Harry had left her that morning. She had been searching for her Grandmother’s recipe for hush puppies saved away on her phone when her eyes suddenly felt heavy with sleep. It hadn’t been long before she dozed off, sure her body would not rest for too much longer.

It hadn’t been too long after she had waken up where she had decided on folding some clothing she and Harry had neglected for a week straight on the little sofa they had across their bed. One thing had led to another, and soon enough she found herself on her bathroom floor, scrubbing away at the tiles she and Harry had disagreed on when they had the house built. It was when she stood from the floor when she caught sight of herself in the bathroom mirror. She shuddered at the rags she had hung upon her body much earlier. She knew Harry had seen her at her very worst, and would often join her in sloppy clothing in said occasions, but she wanted to change out of her clothes before sitting down to eat. Luckily, her hush puppies still had some time to cook and the masala just had to be mixed. She was quick about her shower and had been working on blow drying her hair when she noticed how spotty the mirror had been afterwards. She was going to curl her hair and put more effort into her look than simply Harry’s old tee shirt and her hip hugger undies, but she couldn’t stand having cleaned basically the entire house just to have a dirty mirror. She figured Harry could handle a natural look from her as she hopped up, onto the counter to spritz and clean the mirror. Had it been in their old flat, she would have finished in no time. However, in this newer house, their bathroom mirror basically took up an entire wall’s width and somebody had to have their high ceilings, so it took her almost triple the time.

She had been halfway through with her task when Minnie (named after Minnie Riperton), their two year old cocker spaniel, began to cry out from her bed just outside the bathroom door.

“What is it, Miss Minnie? Is it daddy?” Y/N called out over the Billie Holiday track that had just started. Y/N watched in the mirror as her little cocker spaniel came rushing in, barking as she stared at something behind her.

"Oui,” came Harry’s response as came waltzing into the bathroom, a smug little grin tugging at the corners of his mouth as he shamelessly gazed at the spot where Y/N’s thigh ended and curved into one of his many favorites of Y/N’s assets.

“Excuse me, sir, may I help you find something?” Y/N laughed at Harry in the mirror, her hands settling on her hips.

“How can I not look? It’s just out there waiting to be groped,” Harry widened his eyes.

“Keep those hands to yourself, at least while I’m so high off the floor,” Y/N peered down from her spot stood on top of their bathroom counter.

“Cleaning for the cleaners to come tomorrow, again?” Harry’s knowing grin deepened.

“You do it, too,” Y/N rolled her eyes as she continued to wipe at the mirror.

“Not to this extent, I don’t think,” Harry crossed his arms as he leaned against the doorframe, “this song, again?”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Y/N scoffed at Harry in the mirror, “it’s good, wholesome music, Harry.”

“No, s’just this song in particular... You listen to it a lot,” Harry trailed as his sight dropped down to Y/N’s wiggling bum.

“It puts me in a good mood! And not that much,” Y/N droned.

“You wanna bet?” Harry raised his brows at Y/N.

“Okay,” Y/N furrowed her brows as she went to sit on the edge of the counter, “what do you have in mind?”

“How about... if I can recite the song, I get to squeeze it whenever I want for the rest of the night,” Harry stood to his full height.

“You squeeze too hard,” Y/N pouted.

“Soft squeezes, then,” Harry compromised.

“Okay,” Y/N agreed, doubtful Harry would be able to, “and if you can’t?”

Harry laughed before singing over Billie Holiday’s smooth vocals. Harry’s voice was perfectly pitched as he approached Y/N. He continued to sing as he neared her before grabbing a hold of her hips and hoisting her down to stand before him. One of his hands remained at her waist as the other went to hold her hand before swaying around their bathroom, Minnie barking at their feet, thinking she deserved to participate in this strange ritual.

“Under a tree, there’ll be pennies from heaven... for you and me,” Harry finished, leaning forward to dip a laughing Y/N.

“Okay! Okay! So, I listen to it a lot,” Y/N rolled her eyes as Harry pulled her back up to stand before him, “s’not a crime.”

“Never said it was,” Harry shook his head before his hands snaked around to land on the area he had been ogling, “actually quite like the song.”

“Harry Styles!” Y/N widened her eyes as Harry’s hands went to grab the inside of her thighs, signaling for her to wrap her legs around his torso as he hoisted her up.

“What?” He innocently shook his head.

“Was this all a rouse to cop a feel?” Y/N gaped at Harry’s delighted features.

“Absolutely not,” Harry furrowed his brows and shook his head as Y/N’s hands went to push back his hair, his hands spreading over her bottom, “maybe.”

[storytimefromthecreed]

How It Should Have Happened

(2)

Snow kicked up, blinding him for a moment. Bringing his blade up, Darim fought the larger man, and cursed under his breath. On his back, the man held the advantage, so Darim had to use his wits. Circling their blades so that the attacker’s stabbed into the icy ground beside his ear, Darim plunged his sword into the man’s stomach. The foe’s eyes went wide, with shock or pain he didn’t care, and Darim rolled his body off him. Groaning, he readying himself for the two rushing him. Formulating how best to attack, a muscially familiar sound made him freeze, and he was elated to see arrows protruding from the bodies. Now safe, he turned around.

“Working on your aim, have you?” Darim turned over his shoulder, cleaning his blade before storing it.

Grinning down at him, she placed the bow on her back and stuck out a hand. “Someone had to save you.”

“Must it always be you?” Darim took her hand, and she helped him up the snowback. Dusting the snow from his arms and pants, he placed his hands on her shoulders and took her in. “Has it been so long? A proper Assassin stands before me now.”

“You’d be unlucky if I weren’t.” She teased before growing serious. “Masyaf is in trouble.” (Y/N) pulled him into a hug and Darim brushed the snow from her. Removing her bow, she handed it to him. “Better with you, don’t you think?”

“Only because mine was ruined.” Placing an imaginary arrow, he drew back and practiced his aim. Handing him an arrow marked with a goose feather, a batch he’d given her for her birthday, Darim’s expert fingers placed them. Gently, yet so strongly, he drew back and shot a nearby tree. A heavenly twang filled the air, and Darim appeared happy.

“Amazing shot.”

“It veered a bit to the left, don’t you think?” Darim pouted, looking down at her. (Y/N) shook her head, and walked away. “(Y/N)? (Y/N)?”

Seeing Altair and Maria again delighted her to the point of tears, but she dared not let them fall. Well, in front of Altair at least. Maria took her into her arms as Darim told them of her saving him and she told them what was happening at home. Altair thanked her and held her hand awkwardly, he was never much of a hugger. Once the Mongol threat was ended, they rushed home.

“It was wonderful.” She was telling Darim, recounting the sights and sounds of Assassins training in Masyaf. Longing filled her for her home.

“It will be good to be back.” Darim confessed, keeping his voice low and looking up to his parents in front of them. Riding slowly side by side, Altair and Maria kept their heads bent low in conversation. Is that how her and Darim looked? The thought made her cheeks hot suddenly, and she pulled away to cool herself. Why had that thought affected her like that? Darim hadn’t noticed. “Travelling opens my mind to all the possibilty the world has to offer, so I should be happy.”

“Should?” Darim turned sheepish, and she leaned in. “I won’t tell Altair, I promise.” They giggled like school children until Darim finally groaned and confessed.

“I’d rather stay at Maysaf.”

Her brows rose, as did her interest. “Why?”

Darim shrugged, “I... I don’t know.” He grew silent, unlike himself, and (Y/N) tried to comfort him.

“What would you do at Masyaf?” She pressed, swatting his hand on the reins to get his attention. It worked, and his grey blue eyes twinkled at her. “Don’t tell me I’m meant to call you Master in a few years.”

Darim half laughed, half groaned. “I think I’d like to train novices.” The confession turned his cheeks pink, and he could feel it. One of the downfalls he’d inherited from his mother. He looked to (Y/N), bracing himself for the shocked or shamed look in her eyes. Instead, he found contemplation.

“You’d make a terrific teacher.”

“You think so?” She nodded. “Thank you, (Y/N).” His heart felt like how clouds looked, why was that? “Besides, I’ll probably be calling you Mentor first.” His heart fluttered even more at her red face. The way her eyes would widen before squinting, unsure if he was teasing or not (and he meant to keep her guessing), before finally scrunching her nose at him and rolling her eyes to look away.

Looking back, that’s when Darim figured out he was in love with her.

That light feeling accompanied them the entire journey until Masyaf’s village surrounded them. Then, reality weighed down. Maria looked back at them, and (Y/N) broke away from the group. Darim’s eyes never left hers until she abandoned her horse at the well and dropped into the shadows. It was time to put their plan to work.

Three days it took for her to understand the schedule of Masyaf, and by the fourth night, under the cover of darkness, she snuck into the living quarters and searched for the family. Finding the quiver of goose feathers at the door, she’d found the house and knocked five times. The door barely opened before she was pulled inside.

It took a few minutes before her eyes adjusted to the darkness, but she recognized that raspy voice. “Were you followed?”

“No, Mentor.” She never witted him. Besides, they hadn’t the time for it.

Altair nodded, then released her. Darim gave his father a look that he missed, but his mother didn’t. Breaking the silence, she took (Y/N)’s hands. “Are you ok?”

“Sneaking into Masyaf was easier than it should have been, but more from poor training and lots of alcohol rather than luck or falling into a trap.”

“We can’t say that.” Altair cut it. “We can not fully know anything.”

“While gathering information, I’ve learned this, Mentor. Abbas has a counsel-”

Maria growled, “We’ve met.”

“The Assassins have turned from a symbol of peace to corruption, and,” Her fingers twitched with excitement, like the possibilty would tear her apart. Upon hearing it, it took all her control to supress her emotions and stick to the plan. Getting ahead of herself would risk the lives of more people she loved, and lose their advantage. “Malik is alive.”

“We’ve heard that too.” Altair muttered, and took a seat on the bed. Turning to listen to her information, he picked and pried apart everything she had learned. It wasn’t out of rudeness, she knew, he was trying to get the whole picture.

“Abbas flaunts the information that Malik is in prison, though he said the charges were murder.” Darim brushed against her side. The house was very small. It felt strange with his parents laying close enough to hear them, but with no other option, they remained as they were. To be fair, she didn’t mind it.

“Whose?”

“Sef’s.” (Y/N)’s breath caught, and Darim gave a hard chuckle. “Our reaction too. Of course we knew you’d gotten the family out before Abbas could get to them, so he was lying, but the part that we really had to act on, was your death.”

“My death?”

Darim nodded, his mouth a straight line. “Apparently, Malik wanted complete control of the Brotherhood and felt that you and my brother were the only ones standing in his way. Abbas tried to avenge you.”

(Y/N) felt horror drip into her bones. The fall of the Brotherhood was on her head. “How? Why did they think I died?” Hadn’t anyone seen her running out of Masyaf?

“A body was found. Too decomposed to identify. Had your brooch.” Sef! Her eyes widened. He told her to trust him.

“Your brother can explain that when he gets back.” (Y/N) said.

“Though we could use the help, I’m not sure it’s right to have Sef leave his family to fight. No matter how much he’d want to.”

“Trust me, I agree.” The thought of those girls having to grow up without a father disturbed her. “That’s why I told him I’d contact him when Masyaf was safe.”

Darim nodded, “Good.” Soft snoring from the bed made them smile, and Darim yawned. “Sorry.” He turned away, and she stretched.

“I’ll take first watch?”

“Couldn’t ask you to.” But his eyes were heavy with sleep, so much so that he could barely open them fully. Even though he said this, he sat on the ground and leaned his head against the wall. (Y/N) took a seat beside him. How long had it been since she’d rested? Being dead afforded her the luxury of working even farther beneath the radar that they’d hoped and now would give her time to rest. Her thoughts turned to Malik. It had been months since she’d seen him, and guilt weighed heavy in her heart. She should’ve saved him first. “He wouldn’t have wanted that.” Darim whispered, and she snapped back to the small room. With a shaky breath, his hand inched for hers before suddenly taking it. (Y/N) could hear that he’d held his breath, and she turned to see him watching her. Waiting for a reaction to what he’d just done.

Giving his hand a squeeze, she leaned against him and intertwined their fingers. Darim relaxed, releasing his pent up breath, and watching their hands with a satisfied smile. He’d never given any of his precious bows that look.

Running his thumb over her wrist and the back of her hand softly, delicately, Darim continued, “Killing Malik would never give Abbas the loyality of the Brotherhood, Malik knew that. It was the right thing going to Sef and then getting my father.”

“I should’ve fought harder. Snuck back into Masyaf and found him sooner.”

“Then Sef would be dead.” She blinked. She hadn’t thought of that. “(Y/N), you chose the only clear path there was at the time, and you chose well. Sef and his family are safe, Malik is alive, and we have Assassins on our side. The road to getting here might have been difficult, but trust yourself. You did what anyone,” Darim dropped his voice, knowing the respect she held for Altair, “what even my own father would’ve done.”

“You think so?” (Y/N) asked softly, their noses almost touching. Electricity sparked between them. Darim nodded, and she relaxed. “I still feel guilty. How do you think he’s been this whole time? I shouldn’t have left.”

Casting her eyes down, she focused on his hood. The spot were he held throwing knives was empty. “If you hadn’t, where would we be?” Her eyes flickered up to his. “It’s ok to feel what you’re feeling, but you have to look away from the past. It’s already happened. If there’s something you wish to change, then you must look to the future.”

She wasn’t sure how it happened or who had leaned in the remaining distance, probably her, but she remembered being entraced by Darim and then feeling a  bolt as their fingers parted and their lips met. He cupped her cheek, gently lifting her up to him, and her fingers tangled his curls.

Altair’s snoring grew loud, and they broke apart, laughing silently. “I suppose, given the present company...” She took Darim’s hand and they secured one another again. Nodding, Darim kissed it. “That will have to suffice.”

“For now.” Darim smiled, and she yawned. “You require sleep as much as I do.”

“You haven’t slept the longest.” Her eyes were heavy, and Darim angled his shoulder so that she found her head resting on it. He was warm, and his robes soft. Nuzzling her face into his shoulder, she got comfortable.

“Trust me.” Darim kissed her forehead. He’d waited for long to kiss her, he felt that now started, he was unable to stop. “I’ve never been more awake.”

[theofficefantasyfootball]

WEEK 2 - Wrap Up

Love Hurts!

Well guys.  This week in our league the #1 and #2 draft picks went down.  Saquon Barkley is out for the season and McCaffrey is out 4-6 weeks (which really means 8 weeks)  And even then we all know he won’t really be the same CMC - he’s damaged goods.  Guys like Scott and Brett are probably in a real sad place right now.  Dealing with the loss of their most beloved players and also dealing with a loss for the week.  It’s a lot to take in so if you have time to reach out and let them know you are thinking of them I know that they will appreciate it.  Hang in there guys - there are only 11 more week until playoffs and I believe you will be able to find great replacements for these players that consistently put up 20-30 points each week!

BOOMER SOONER vs TREE HUGGER

I didn’t think we would be here, I really didn’t.  I am just being honest.  Stu Jones is 2-0.  He took down Scott Krippayne (Tree Huggers)  this week - who as mentioned above lost Barkley early in the game and also was without Kittle this week.  Rough, rough, rough. 

Stu sat Edelman, Fournette and Goff but it didn’t matter -  because he was still able to put up 114 points to give him the win. 

Listen, it’s early...and this week proved to all of us that you never know what is around the corner for your star players and you have to accept that.  But, Stu being undefeated has given me some pause - I mean, can he keep it up when he faces the FUNK GUY in week 3?  Scott, I am sure you don’t care about 1 stupid loss...plus your Seahawks took care of business - you will be fine right?   There’s always a silver lining - remember that!

LONG LEFT BALLERS vs FUNK GUY

Wow!  What a...battle these two had...huh!?!?!  Talk about a disappointing day for Bebo to put up 139.44 points and lose?  Right?  Yikes!  Dana, who earlier this week was texting me that his team sucks - managed to put up nearly 170 points to take down Bebo and become the champion of this match up.  Just a rock hard win for Dana.  Highlights?  You want highlights?  Sure - how about Aaron Jones with 46, Mahomes with 31, Mike Evans with 21 and Jonnu Smith with 20.  Pretty damn good.  Bebo, sorry man...that’s a tough loss.   All you can do is make adjustments, keep working it and move on from this rough start.  Bebo moved to 0-2 and Dana to 1-1.  Great win Dana.

MR. AWESOME vs TuPADRE

Everyone knows that Andy and Gabe are the best of friends so fantasy footaball is not really a competition thing between the two of them.  I know in my heart that is the case, especially with Gabe recovering in the hospital still - but I have to admit that I have been secretly hoping that Gabe will pull out a few wins these first few weeks just so when he is able to re-engage he isn’t totally out  for the season.  But, TuPadre - just like Brett Rutledge last week - went a head and took advantage of the match up and grabbed a win. 

In all seriousness - I want to let everyone know that Gabe continues to improve.  It is going to be a long process but we are all hoping he will return fully and remind us all why he is named Mr. Awesome. 

Gully moves to 1-1...Gabe to 0-2 but I feel a win coming on when he faces the Moose in week 3.

U SUCK vs TRADE WITH ME

What a crazy wonderful surprise to beat Brett Rutledge in week 2!  I have to be honest - knowing that I was going up against Tom Brady, (I was sure would be out to prove something after losing in week 1), CMC, Kelce and kind of expecting Adrian Peterson to get more than he actually did...I thought it was going to be a blood bath.  Especially after Elliott and Dak started out with a pair of fumbles to send me into negative digits right away...but it all worked out in the end.  I had a good Dallas Cowboys offensive attack as they spent the entire game trying to come back from the dead and a few 58 yard kicks from Butker and that’s all it really took!  Thanks Brett for not ruining my Sunday and allowing me to get a win!  Sorry about CMC.  He was solid and even played through the hurt for me last week but it just must not be your year.  At least you have a lot of RB’s on your bench to rotate in!

LANAKILA vs BACKDOOR BANDITS

Ole Kyle had a little hiccup this week in his quest to win another championship.  I guess what I am trying to say as nice as I can is that the backdoor bandits took one up the ass.  He lost. 

Kyle has been playing a lot of golf lately....he is even building a small compound on a swanky golf course in Little Rock.  This gif reminded me of him this week....so close to pulling it off and then just like that - it’s all over. 

Lanakila needed a win.  Sure, we can all say things like, “it’s a long season” or “it’s early, so much can happen” but no one wants to be without a win.  And Cliff is now 1-1 and primed to keep moving up.  Both of these guys escaped the week without any major injuries or players out for the season...so expect them both to keep competitive in the next few weeks.

MOOSE ON THE LOOSE vs HOWARD

If there is anything i know about the Moose it’s how he loves to have his games come down to Monday Night.  He LOVES the excitement.   And heading into this one - Rob was up 5 points and all left to play were Josh Jacobs (Moose) and Jared Cook  (Howard). 

Overall the game was a good one - with the Saints taking an early lead and the Raiders coming back to tie at the half.  Then in the 3rd quarter the Raiders took a big lead.  Rob held the lead but every now and then the Moose would be in position to take over the lead...like Jacobs trying 3 times on the 1 and not getting in...stuff like that. 

With 5 min left the Moose was still down 3.62 points.  When they Raiders got the ball back - they were just trying to kill clock so they were running it with Jacobs.  Mitch was desperately texting me “FEED HIM!!!” but after the possession leading into the two kin warning he was still down 1.92 and they were now handing off to Booker and Richard.  I just envision Mitch going crazy!  Why not Jacobs he was probably saying....

I heard nothing from Rob.  He’s a 3 time champion...he knows what he’s doing...steady, solid...sure of himself. 

As the clock worked it’s way to 1:07 the Raiders lined up for a field goal to try and close out the game - from 54 yards - it was good!  No way the Raiders need to take the field again - so Josh Jacobs night is over...and so is the Moose.

Good win Howard.  Man you are good at this fantasy football thing!

SURVIVOR

Everyone moves on...couple of close games with the Titans and the Chiefs but everyone that was still alive - will get another chance in week 3.

HIGH POINT WINNER

So, this weeks high point winner is Dana Cappillino with 169.38 points.  A few of you made female option suggestions for the High Point Image Prize and Dana suggested ju Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman).  I am not going to constantly go with suggestions but I looked over his suggestion and from my research it looks like Gal is an athlete after all so she does qualify.  I do take this seriously and will not allow non-athletic women into the club.  Congrats Dana.  $20 win...and Gal Gadot

[cchellacat]

Working On It

Love All The Marvel Ships Challenge 

Day 5 ~ Kissing

Exactly no one in the Tower was surprised at how well Darcy and Bucky Barnes bonded once he and Steve moved back to New York.

Darcy’s bubbly personality coupled with her insatiable drive to fix people had her stalking the former Winter Soldier within hours of him stepping foot in the Tower.  She was dogged in her determination to welcome him.

Under her constant assault of charm, light flirting and encouragement to join the larger group for dinner and movie nights, Bucky slowly came out of his shell.

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

The first time she kissed him was in the heat of the moment.  She’d been running form Sam after he discovered she’d replaced all his coffee with de-caff.  She’d burst into the gym, breathless and giggling wildly when she came across her new friend.

“Hide me, quick, or Sam is gonna string me up.”

Bucky had flicked his eyes towards the vault box and lifted the top, revealing the cavity within.

Darcy wasted no time in running over and trying to climb in, but being short had its disadvantages.  Before she could complain Bucky had lifted her up, princess style before lowering her in with a wink and replacing the top.

A few minutes later Sam had come huffing into the gym.

“Barnes, you seen Lewis?”

“Not since yesterday, why?  You need her for something?”

“Yeah, something.” Sam muttered angrily before leaving.

Darcy held back the cackle that was threatening to burst.  The top lifted and Darcy spring up like a jack-in-the-box, flinging her arms around his neck in a victory hug.

“My hero!”

He pulled her out and placed her down again but before he let go of her she placed a smacking kiss on his cheek.

“Thanks, big guy, gotta go…  don’t forget, Saturday at 7, dinner and a movie.”

She was gone before he could do more than lift a hand to where she had pressed her lips.

Bucky stares in consternation at the door, wondering what the hell just happened.

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

Steve’s not stupid, he’s seen the change in his friend ever since Miss Darcy Lewis had steamrollered into their lives.  The girl is hell on wheels and doesn’t seem to take no for an answer.

There had been the Welcome Back cupcakes with silver frosting and red star sprinkles, Steve had nearly choked when she’d thrust the plate into Bucky’s hands, fully expecting him to react badly, but instead he had frowned at the girls hand, a tiny crinkle appearing in the corner of his eyes as he took in the silver pained nails, her middle finger’s adorned with a bright red star on each.  Steve wasn’t sure what it was that Bucky found funny about it, but he had.

Then there had been the Harry Potter movie marathon she’d insisted they sit through.  She’d provided pop corn and chips and beer and had proceeded to talk the whole way through, her feet propped up in Bucky’s lap like they belonged there as she explained everything she felt was culturally relevant.  She ignored Steve’s attempts to indicate that she was invading Bucky’s space and, when about an hour into the first movie Bucky had grabbed her ankles to keep her still he’d thought the worst.   Instead Bucky had just pulled her closer until her calves were over his lap and he’d slung an arm round her to support her back.  Darcy had just snuggled right in and continued her ramble while Steve gaped from the armchair.

It had taken a few months for it to sink in with Steve that Darcy treated Bucky the same was she did everyone, with irreverent respect, tongue in cheek humour and tactile affection.  She was a hugger, she cooked for people, she always had a way of cheering everyone up, even on the worst days.  Other than Pepper, Darcy was the only one allowed into Tony’s lab without a security override.  Bruce positively beamed as she chattered to him over breakfast tea and even Natasha let the girl drag her off shopping or to the spa.  He’d thought at first that the art supplies that kept showing up in his apartment were from Tony or Natasha, but no, Darcy Lewis had somehow figured out his favourite brands and needs and provided them without expectation of thanks.

Bucky seemed to get the full experience though, she brought him shopping and encouraged him to buy things that made him feel good.  She brought a pile of books after Bucky had casually mentioned his love for science fiction.  And every Saturday night she made him dinner and played the big band music Bucky had loved back in the 40’s.

That’s what he walks in on, the music’s blaring loud enough that neither of them hears him come in and he stands still and watches the couple before him.  It’s like he’s suddenly back in those crowded dance halls in Brooklyn.  It’s like seeing a ghost he’s thought long dead.   Bucky is grinning at her as she laughs, spinning out on the floor and letting him swing her through the air with shrieks of delight.

He doesn’t stay, but backs out of the room slowly, feeling as though he’s seem something he shouldn’t have.  Before he can close the door, the music stops and the two clutch each other breathlessly, Darcy leaning into him, Bucky’s hands on her waist.  He watched as his friend presses his lips into her hair-line bestowing a kiss, and thanks her for the dance.  The radiant smile she returns to Bucky hits Steve like lightening.

As Steve walks away he ponders exactly what it is he’s feeling, but honestly it’s a jumble of emotions that all lead back to one fact.   Where Steve had failed to find his old friend inside the damaged shell of the winter soldier, Darcy Lewis had succeeded.  She’d brought him back, slowly but surely.  Instead of the jealousy and resentment he knows is itching in the back of his brain he focuses on the gratitude instead.  He can see where it’s headed, this thing between them and he resolves then that he’ll do whatever it takes to make sure they get their chance at happiness.  Bucky deserves nothing less from his friend.  Steve will protect Darcy Lewis till the day he dies because he knows, if something happens to her, Bucky will retreat and allow the soldier back.

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

The first time he does more than press a kiss into her hair, it’s not because anything monumental happens.  It’s a day like any other, Darcy has handed out packets to all the Avengers with the briefings for the press conference later that day and she is rushing around the common kitchen making sure everyone has had breakfast as she tops up her coffee and fixes one for Bucky since he’s only just come in.  When she brings him the coffee and places it on the table in front of him he turns his head and gives her cheek a quick peck in silent thanks, she squeezes his shoulder briefly before leaving, calling out to remind everyone they’re due in the lobby at four.

Darcy keeps her smile fixed firmly in place until she reaches the elevator and the door close and then she allows herself a moment to freak out a little.  He’d just kissed her, right in front of everyone and yeah, okay, he’s been pressing tiny kisses into her hair for a month now when they danced or snuggled on the couch and she hadn’t taken it as anything other than brotherly, but that…. That was… well it was something else entirely.  It had felt like a sleepy morning hello, the sort of kiss you gave your other half after months of living together, like a part of your daily routine that needed no explanation, but they were just friends, right?  Except friends didn’t have lunch every day and spend evenings watching Netflix together while cuddling on the couch….  Christ on a cracker, has she been dating him and never even noticed?  Did he think they were dating?  Were they?

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

Christmas was only a week away and the Tower was hung with holly and mistletoe, trees were festooned with ribbons and tinsel and Darcy was about ready to cry with the preparations for the Christmas Eve ball.   All she wanted was to go home and sleep for a week.  Instead she was stuck counting chairs, ordering the place cards for the dinner and finding a seating arrangement that wouldn’t lead to a political nightmare.

She was just about to leave the common room and head to her apartment when a voice stopped her.

“Darcy, I’ve been looking for you, Doll.”

“Hey Bucky, what’s up?”

She was standing in the hall just outside the kitchen when he caught up with her.

Before he said a word, he looked above her and raised an eye brow.   She tilted her head and smirked.  There was a bunch of mistletoe hanging right over where she stood.

They both unconsciously moved a little closer.

Unbidden, her thoughts all went right there.  He was so close she could smell him, the intoxicating scent sandalwood and gun oil making her dizzy.  Although they spent a frequent amount of time together and he had kissed her cheek a few weeks ago, she still hadn’t managed to figure out a way to make a move on him.  Now, overhead was the perfect way to settle the question once and for all.

“Huh, I guess I’m just gonna be stuck here till someone kisses me.”   Her teeth catch her lower lip and she looks up at him with big blue eyes, willing the universe to please, just please listen to her just this once.

Bucky thinks if he doesn’t make a move now, they’ll still be where they are this time next year.

“Could be a while, everyone’s out right now.”  He drawls mischievously.  

“Yes, they are.”  The smile on her face widens as he draws closer.   He’s got this look in his eyes, like he thinks she might back out, but that is so far from the truth as to be laughable.

Darcy hooks her fingers through his belt loops and tugs him even closer, till there’s hardly a space between them at all.  He mirrors her earlier expression, that bottom lip of his held down by his teeth like he’s stopping himself form saying something particularly filthy and a thrill runs up her spine

Slender fingers walk a path up his chest, and he catches her waist in one hand, their bodies now pressed together hip to chest and Darcy feels the hitch in her breath at the warmth of him.  His other hand runs through her hair, tugging the locks back from her face before his thumb traces a line down her neck.

There’s a moment in that silence between them, before they kiss that feels like the universe paused for just a second and it makes her head swim.

Pressing up on her toes, her belly fills with butterflies.  His eyes darken and the hand on her moves smoothly around till it’s splayed against her back, keeping her steady.

At first, it’s just a light brush of lips, both of them figuring out how this will work.  It grows stronger and deepens, heat rushes through her blood as she hooks her arms round his neck and sinks her fingers into his hair.

The little moan he makes draws a smile to her lips and he traces the seam of her mouth with his tongue, begging entrance.  Now it’s her that moans, as he teases into her mouth, all hot and wet and tasting like coffee and cherries.  Nothing could have prepared her for the sudden zing of fire rushing through her core, the insistent need that ached for far more than a simple kiss.  He felt it too she knew, if the way he intensified the assault on her mouth was anything to go by.  Then she was drowning in him, sparks dancing over her skin where he touched her, his hands seeming to be everywhere at once.  For those blessed minutes the only thing that existed for her was him, the firmness of his chest, the soft sweetness of his lips and the strength of his arms holding her up.  Lightheaded they finally broke away from each other, surety and excitement in every short breath.

“Do I need to hang mistletoe everywhere to get you to kiss me like that again?”  She asks him with a grin.

The soft smile he gave her turned to full blown laughter and he picks her up, spinning her around as she yelps in surprise.

“Don’t need nothing except you, Doll.”

NEXT

@captain-rogers-beard

[rizzizzsins-blog]

From the Ashes, Ch 8

Wanna read this on Archive? Click here.

 The shopping trip was a success. Asher rediscovered his love of cyberpunk, and he looked like an extra out of      Akira    . After he and Cinn had lunch at the food court, much to Edge’s dismay, everyone piled into Edge’s Jaguar, and they were off.

 “You both have such nice cars,” Asher marveled a bit.

 “Don’t compare my brother’s hunk of junk to my marvel of nature!” Edge frowned a little.

 “Listen ‘ere, that Pontiac took me an entire year to restore. I’d like to see ya try it,” Cinn smirked.

 “That’s not fair! You know I’m not a tinkerer like you!” Edge protested.

 “Then quit throwin’ shade at my baby. She’s perfect the way she is, save fer a little dust from this one,” he nudged Asher with his elbow.

 “Oh, sorry,” Asher apologized; Cinn shook his head. “I’m just jokin’, princey. It’ll be alright. ‘S a memory, that’s for sure.”

 A memory, huh…

 “This may be a bit of a drive, so feel free to fall asleep,” Edge remarked, adjusting his mirrors a bit before driving off.

 “You got it, bro.”

 “I’m not talking to you! I need your help with the directions! The place doesn’t appear on my map apps, since it’s technically a closed business.”

 “Yeah, alright. Make a left, then stay on 64 for about 10 miles.”

 Asher slowly sunk into the Jaguar’s leather seats. He hadn’t realized how tired he was. The shopping trip had left him completely drained.

     Asher was in the community garden; the sun was slowly coming up. Dew dotted all of the leaves, and the tulips were lazily opening, one petal at a time.  

     It was around the time to harvest the dandelions. Apparently humans treated them as pest plants, but they were quite a good food source, so his glen grew them. It was best to pick half while they were flowering and half afterwards.  

     As he reached out to them, they shrank away. Asher moved his hand closer, and the plants leaned further away. Frustrated, he reached out and snagged an apple off a tree. As he was about to put it in his mouth, he felt something wet and sticky in his palm.  

     The apple was decomposing rapidly in his hand, until it melted into a viscous, black sludge. Asher turned to see where he’d walked; the grass was dead in every area where he’d stepped.  

     “Samara! You’re ruining everything!” His mother shouted, her hands in her hair.  

     “Mom! I’m sorry! I----” The rot spread faster and faster, crawling up his mother’s roots.  

     “You ruin everything, Samara. Everything.” Her flesh rots, and her teeth fall out one by one.  

 Asher screamed himself awake.

 “JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!” Edge pulled over hard, turning off the ignition. “WHAT’S HAPPENING?” His eyelights glowed intensely, and the magic of battle brewed in the air.

 “I’m sorry, mom… sorry….” Asher mumbled. He was awake. It was over.

 “I shoulda fuckin’ warned him about the nightmares, Boss. It was my fault.”

 “No, I could have done so as well.”

 Asher shook his head. “Don’t worry… I can’t remember the last good dream I had. They’ve just never been that bad.”

 “Yeah… our dad never talks about his. Makes sense, though, since he doesn’t fuckin’ talk about anythin’.”

 “Hmph, it is frustrating. I can tell that it’s bothering him. He has the same microexpressions as I do when I’m upset. But he just shoves it all down and acts like an asshole. That’s going to blow up in his face some day.. I hope I’m not around for that,” Edge sighed.

 “So… we almost there? Sorry for scaring you.”

 Edge restarted the car, and they were off. They were pretty out of the city; the interstate was mottled with wildflowers and tall grass. Large houses with acres of property made up most of the landscape.

 “Yes, just one more turn off this exit and it’s the first place on the left.” They rounded the hill next to the exit and…

 Jesus Christ. The house was an absolute horrorshow. It looked like the kind of place that a church would run a haunted house in to raise money for charity. How it hadn’t been condemned or demolished was beyond Asher. The shutters were slowly sliding off their windows. Some windows were missing panes altogether, covered by plywood instead. The parking lot was full of luxury cars and retrofitted antique vehicles.

 “This is… a little worse than I expected, Edge.”

 “I know it looks a bit haunted on the outside, but that’s simply because they don’t feel like fixing it. The inside is a lot nicer,” The captain assured him as they pulled into the lot.

 He checked his phone. Goddamn it, a whole bunch of them had dipped out of lunch. Including Vanilla.

 Fuming, Edge smiled at Asher. “Excuse me for one moment, Asher.”

 “Easy, bro.”

 “NO! THEY SAID THEY WERE COMING! WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE TAKING RESPONSIBILITY?”

 Edge basically slammed his fingers into the keypad as he dialed someone Asher didn’t know.

 “VANILLA! WHAT THE FUCK GIVES?!”

 “What can I say? Not interested.” Looks like Edge hit the speaker button in his hurry.

 “YOU COULD APOLOGIZE!”

 “I’m not the one doing something wrong. You’re introducing some decomposing rando into a house of already half-functional skeletons. And now the queen wants to throw in that psycho? Count me the fuck out.”

 “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THAT PSYCHO.” Edge’s eyelights went out.

 “Oh, you haven’t heard? He just got released from prison, and that’s what Fafriel wants to do with him. You should probably make peace with your old man before he’s wiped off the face of the earth.”

 “RIGHT. AS IF YOUR FATHER IS GOING TO LEAVE HIS HOME JUST BECAUSE OF TWO NEW PEOPLE. NOT EVERYONE THROWS IN THE TOWEL WHENEVER THEY FACE ANY LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY, SANS.”

 The line went quiet.

 “If I have to drag my dad out of that building by force, I will. I’m not losin’ him after just getting him back.”

 “OH, YOU’RE GONNA DRAG HIM OUT? HE’LL JUST TELEPORT BACK. OUR FATHERS ARE EVEN BETTER AT TAKING ON CHALLENGES THAN YOU ARE AT RUNNING AWAY FROM THEM. GOOD DAY, SANS,” Edge hung up with a wicked grin.

 “Who was that?” Asher asked, wrinkling his nose.

 “Vanilla. Cinn’s Tale Kingdom counterpart. We’ve both been on the Surface for the same amount of time and he hasn’t evolved or matured one bit in that time. I for one, am proud of all the progress my brother has made. Vanilla and Honey just seem to go backwards, frankly. I feel sorry for Papaya and Azure.”

 “There’s no need to feel sorry for me, Edge! Sans is just going through a rough patch!” A skeleton in a suit jacket, leather elbow patches and plaid orange dress pants put his hand on Edge’s shoulder.

 “NYAAAGH! DON’T DO THAT, PAPY!”

 “See? You don’t like it when you’re talked about      behind your back    , do you?” the other chuckled. “Don’t worry! I would have dragged Sans by the ear here if I had to. Brother, come out of the car!”

 A dark blue-eyed skeleton skulked out of his brother’s Ferrari.

 “Coming.”

 “Hello, little dryad! My name is Papaya Aster, Esquire. It is truly an honor to meet you!” He seemed so excited he could barely contain himself, pulling out a fidget spinner to burn off the extra energy.

 “Go on, Papaya. It doesn’t hurt to ask,” Edge clapped him on the back.

 “A-ARE YOU A HUGGER? E-excuse me, I tend to be a little too clingy sometimes!” Papaya smiled apologetically.

 “Oh? Sure. Haven’t been hugged too often, but I like trying new things, hahaha.”

 Papaya scooped Asher up and spun him around, before setting him down carefully, making sure he landed properly.

 “Jeez. Can’t say I’ve ever been hugged with quite so much enthusiasm. Thank you, Papaya.”

 “It’s no issue! If you’re ever wanting a hug, I am always ready to give!”

 “Yeah, and that’s just the issue,” his brother muttered. That must be Vanilla.

 “Nice to meet you,” Asher smiled, offering a hand.

 Vanilla takes it. The others seemed to have expected something to happen, since they were all cringing. But nothing happened.

 “Nilla’s the name. I’m one of your landlords, I guess.”

 “Right,” Asher swallowed.

 “Is anyone else planning on showing up?” Edge sighed, pinching his nasal bridge.

 “I believe Azure is coming in. Honey’s… a little impaired at the moment.”

 “You can say      drunk    , Papy,” Edge spat.

 “I don’t want to make a bad impression!” Papyrus responded. They weren’t upset, not with each other, at least.

 “Considering the unpleasantness that was the phone call with your brother, I think that we can drop all pretenses.”

 A car braked hard in the parking lot. A pair of heels stuck out of the door, as well as… a riding crop?

 “ESPRESSO! CORTADO! GET OUT OF THE CAR, THE TENANT IS ALREADY HERE!” He shouted, a curt rasp in his voice.Two thumbs up popped out of the windows, before two long, yellow eyed skeletons stepped out of the car. The one yelling stepped out last, needing assistance from one of his brothers to get down from their enormous Lexus GX.

 The smaller seemed to be in charge, the other two trailing behind him. One of them was hunched as he walked, his hoodie dipping just a little over his eyes. Headphones sat squarely on his shoulders. The other was much dressed like his brother, walking straight, in a rather futuristic black trench.

 “ESPRESSO! PICK UP THE SLACK! WE ONLY HAVE A LIMITED AMOUNT OF TIME TO ASSESS THE TENANT BEFORE YOUR THERAPY SESSION!”

 The hunched one nodded, running a little to catch up with his brothers.

 The two militant ones squinted at Asher hard.

 “CORTADO. HIS STATS.”

 Wait, Asher’s stats?! What the hell did they need those for? Were they about to fight him or something?

 “Illegible. Nothing but VOID-garbled gibberish, Captain.”

 “THEN GIVE ME AN ESTIMATE!”

 “Uh… do I need to do something here?” Asher asked Edge.

 “No. This is just… their routine. Riesling, do you intend on wasting all of lunch staring at our tenant, or will you introduce yourself like a normal person?”

 “THIS IS PERFECTLY NORMAL! CORTADO, I GROW IMPATIENT.”

 “DEF 50. ATK 30. HP 30/30. Soul of Justice.”

 “PATHETIC! A COMPLETE AND UTTER WEAKLING! GOOD. YOU ARE OF NO THREAT TO OUR FATHER AND MAY PROCEED.”

 “Al...right?” Asher wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or insulted. Maybe a little bit of both. He wasn’t a complete weakling, right?

 “WE MUST WAIT FOR THE LONE COMMANDER, AS WELL AS OUR COUSIN AND HIS PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A COMPANY,” Riesling sighed.

 “You know Scamp and Sliv are always late. Let’s just go inside and get this over with,” Nilla sighed deeper. Cinn gritted his teeth.

 “You’se guys go on ahead. I’m gonna need a moment.”

 “Fine,” Edge nodded. “Asher, would you mind staying for a moment with my brother? I would like to make sure our fathers aren’t doing anything abnormally dangerous, and set up a bit, before you enter.”

 “Alright, sounds good.”

 Everyone except Cinn and Asher went into the house. The door practically screeched whenever it was open and shut.

 Cinn pulled out a cigar and sat on the hood of the Jaguar. “Y’ want one?”

 “I can’t smoke. It’s really bad for plants. Even though I’m more rot than plant, I still don’t want to risk it,” Asher declined.

 “Suit yaself.” He snapped his fingers and the tip of the cigar lit up. So he knew a little fire magic…

 “.... So that was… a lot. Are you all related? Or what’s the story?”

 “We’re all counterparts. It gets kinda messy. Our names started out as nicknames, but eventually we had ‘em all legally changed. Got sick of gettin’ ‘calls for Sans and Papyrus’. How was we supposed to know which pair people wanted?!” He chuckled a bit.

 “But, yeah… I’m sorry yer havin’ to go through all this. I’d hoped this would be a little easier than you livin’ on yer own, but all I’ve done is complicate the shit outta your life. This one’s on me, princey.”

 Asher shook his head.

 “You know, it’s at least been different. I got so used to my routines with Theo that I kind of forgot what life was like outside of that. Sure, not everything’s fun, and certainly not Vanilla, but it’s been different, and in that sense, refreshing. It helps me keep my mind off… this,” he smiled, gesturing to his broken body.

 “Yeah. That’s what velcro shoes an’ jackets are for. Ya look right outta Blade Runner.”

 Asher’s smile grew a little bigger. “I have mixed feelings about that film, but the aesthetic is top notch.”

 “Yeah…” Cinn drew in a big puff, before blowing it out in the shape of a heart. “Hehehe, I still got it.”

 “Can you blow it out your eyes?” Asher had to ask.

 “Hell no! Shit burns like a motherfucker. Who showed ya that?” Cinn shuddered.

 “Me. Nyeh heh, didn’t mean to set the bar too high for ya, shorty,” Scamp popped in and noogied Cinn mid inhale, giving him a coughing fit and stealing his cigar.

 “You sack of fuckin’ shit, you planned that!” Cinn growled. Asher could kind of tell they were playing around.

 “Brother. Please. We arrived with a duty, and we must perform it.”

 “DON’T TREAT IT LIKE A DUTY, TREAT IT LIKE AN ADVENTURE! WE GET TO MEET A NEW FRIEND! HOPEFULLY CRIMSON WON’T INSULT THEM SO MUCH THAT THEY LEAVE CRYING THIS TIME!” It was odd. The two voices sounded like they were from the same person, yet one of them was heavy and flat, and the other was bouncing off the walls. Eventually, Asher was able to see the two skeletons talking. They had showed up in a sporty motorbike and sidecar, removing their helmets before coming to say hello.

 “Nyeh heh, you Blue’s      side    piece now?” Scamp joked with the quieter one. The two motorcyclists looked almost inverted. The quieter one with muted purple eyelights robotically shook Asher’s hand, before the bright-eyed one grabbed Asher’s other hand and shook it vigorously.

 “HELLO! I DON’T BELIEVE WE’VE MET! MY NAME IS AZURE ASTER, AND THIS IS MY FRIEND, SLIVOVITZ ASTER!”

 “Yeah, here’s my big bro. Well, big metaphorically.”

 “Hardee har har. Because I’m short. Very original, brother,” Slivovitz sighed. “I would at least like to supervise Edge making the food, even if he will no longer let me assist.”

 “MAYBE IF WE’RE LUCKY WE CAN SNEAK MAKING A FEW SIDE DISHES. COME ON, SLIV!” Azure grabbed Sliv’s hand and basically Naruto ran to the door.

 “Well, princey, whatcha see is whatcha get. You still wanna go in that house?” Cinn checked. “Y’ can say no. I’d fuckin’ say no.”

 Asher shook his head. “I’m ready. I want to give this a try.”

 Without realizing it, Asher took Cinn’s hand, and they walked inside. It was lunchtime.