#the worst part is that the day we move out i leave for a cruise which should be fun but instead its just another thing to be stressed about

[asundine]

X

[cinnabunhwa]

i just recently read your ateez fic and i loved it! i saw that you were ok with writing for the boyz, so is it ok for me to request a sangyeon one? this recent comeback has got me on a chokehold i’m afraid and he’s not even my bias to begin with lol ;_; but if you could write a summery fic for him i would be thrilled! <3

Say All I Want Is You

pairing: sangyeon x gn!reader

genre: fluff, childhood friends to lovers

summary: you're on summer break from university and decided to go home. reunited with your brother jacob and his best friend sangyeon, you make some plans to go to the beach. you grew up with the two of them and have so many memories together, could one day change that?

warnings: slight suggestiveness (reader checks out sangyeon), use of "little one" as a term of endearment

words: 1.849k

masterlist | taglist

tags: @kflixnet

“Aaaand that’s the last of it,” Sangyeon huffed, placing down the heavy bags you brought home.

“Why are you acting like you carried the sun?” You laughed, playfully smacking his arm.

He fell to the floor with a thud and wailed dramatically, “MY ARM IS FALLING OFF WOE IS ME WHATEVER WILL I DOOOoo OW-“

“Can your arm maybe fall off when you’re not in the middle of the doorway? It’s seriously too hot for this.” Jacob asked, nudging Sangyeon with his leg while he stepped over him.

Grinning, Sangyeon flew to his feet and he and Jacob began bickering as they usually did. Giggling to yourself you brought your bags the rest of the way in, placing them down in your childhood room. It was your last summer break before you graduated with your degree and you decided to spend this one back at home since you were thinking about applying to jobs in other cities. Other people suggested doing internships, but you had been doing them since you began your undergraduate studies. One summer to yourself before another major life change wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

Looking around the room there was evidence of the three of you hanging out. It was always Sangyeon, the boy who lived across the street, Jacob, and you, Jacob’s younger sibling. No matter where they went, you were sure to follow. As you walked through your childhood room you couldn’t help but be amazed at how many memories had been laid out by your parents before they went on their cruise. So many years of the dumbest things: mainly you all getting into trouble.

“Ah! I never thought I’d see that mud picture again,” Sangyeon said, startling you.

“Sorry,” Jacob smiled sympathetically, “I could only take so much of his jokes.”

Sangyeon offered you a wink and you caught on.

“Well that’s not the only thing you mmFH-“ your brother’s hand was over your mouth silencing you immediately, but it was too late.

“Whaaat is that what happened with that one-“ Sangyeon laughed before Jacob was covering his mouth next.

“Whoa Cobie I don’t know if I’m the right person for this move,” Sangyeon joked after removing Jacob’s hand from his mouth.

During their playfight Jacob had accidentally covered Sangyeon’s mouth as his back hit the wall. Rolling his eyes, Jacob removed his hand.

“Love you guys, but I really need to unpack and I don’t want to be part of,” you gestured to them, “whatever is happening here.”

“Alright, alright,” ruffling your hair, Jacob nodded at the door and began to leave your room.

“We still on for tomorrow?” Sangyeon asked.

“What’s happening tomorrow?” You questioned, never one to be left out of their plans even if you had literally just gotten back.

“We’re going paddle boarding! I was going to ask if you wanted to come with at dinner,” Jacob replied.

Nodding, you gave them a thumbs up before turning back to your bags full of clothes. As they left you couldn’t help but smile to yourself. This is going to be a great summer.

--

You wake to sounds of rummaging coming from across the hall. Looking at the time, it was 9am and the paddle boarding trip wasn’t until 11 so there was no reason for the rummaging to be so frantic. Sleepily you walked over to Jacob’s room, knocking loud enough for him to hear.

“Everything ok in there?”

A thud hits the door before Jacob appears before you in his work clothes grimacing.

“That’s a weird paddle board suit but I’ll give you a C for the effort,” you mused.

“The boss called me in today,” Jacob said, pushing past you to put his shoes on, “she said that we had a meeting that needed everyone present but forgot to tell me when approving the day off.”

You crossed your arms at this news; your brother’s boss was known for doing this often (at least that’s what Sangyeon told you). He hadn’t been able to hang out much and he requested in advance that he had this day off to spend with you since you were finally in town again, but unfortunately it was a meeting with the upper bosses. Definitely one that couldn’t be missed.

“So what am I supposed to tell Sangyeon?” You frowned, it was only your second day back and you were already going to be the bearer of less than optimal news.

“Tell him I’m so sorry and that Angela forgot that today had an important meeting I couldn’t miss,” he said while ruffling your bedhead.

Swatting at him you gestured towards the front door, “go on, being late is the last thing you’d need after all that.”

“I’ll make it up to you two, I swear,” Jacob said, and you believed him. Jacob always did his best to keep his word and was someone that you knew you could always rely on in troubling times.

Your eyes followed his car out of the driveway, sighing a bit before they landed on a figure who was walking your way. Sangyeon scratched his head as he watched the car pull off before crossing the street to get to you.

“Please don’t tell me-“ he started.

“Angela forgot about an important meeting and he had to go,” you reiterated, frowning slightly. “He said he’d make it up to us, so maybe we should wait for him before we-“

“No way, we should definitely still go,” Sangyeon said, “I already got all my paddle boarding things out and it’s been forever since I’ve seen you..”

He whispered the last part, but it had caught your ear. You had always been fond of Sangyeon. He had been a constant in your life for so long, and the way he was pouting as he looked at you just made you want to wipe it off his face.

“Okay,” you smiled, “but I get the red board.”

“Fiiiiine,” he said with a smile.

“And ice cream”

“Okay now you’re pushing it,” he joked, shoving you with his shoulder.

--

As you both headed to the beach, the topics were overflowing. What you’ve been up to, what your friends were like, if there were any clubs you’d joined other than the ones you were already part of. It struck you as a bit odd since you thought he would have known the answers to these questions but you tell him anyway. He just really enjoys seeing the sparkle in your eyes when you talk about the things you like and he wished, no, hoped that you talked about him like that when your friends talk about home.

Growing up across the street from you was one of the best and worst things that happened to him. One of the best because he never had to look far if he ever missed you, but one of the worst because he fell for his best friend’s sibling and they had no idea. But Jacob wasn’t blind, and he could definitely see the way Sangyeon would quietly care for you when you weren’t paying attention. Adding food to your plate when you would serve everyone else, always making sure you got the comfy seats when the three of you would hang out, suggesting places he knew you’d love because it’s like he had a list in his brain, but most of all he could see the way he hung onto your words, even when he was trying to hide it. Sangyeon always made sure that you felt heard, and that your opinion had weight. Jacob wasn’t sure if you noticed it and didn’t say anything for his sake, but he felt that maybe this meeting was a blessing in disguise.

--

“YA,” you shouted, blocking the wave created by Sangyeon’s paddle with your hands.

Smirking, he began to paddle away, seated comfortably with his legs hanging on either side of the board. You were laying belly down, and he had argued that today was a day for paddle boarding, not for surfing, but you couldn’t be bothered to move. But Sangyeon knew just how to rile you up. He paddled himself in slow circles around you, “accidentally” splashing you with the full force of his paddle, but “I’m just trying to paddleboard here!”

You glared at him, “oh yeah? We should try it standing up. Last one standing has to buy the ice cream.”

You were not giving up on the ice cream.

“If you think you can handle it, let’s go little one,” he said, overconfident and underestimating the power of ice cream.

Sitting up on your board, you slowly get to your feet. It’s a bit shaky considering while you were in school you didn’t have time to surf much less paddleboard, but you find a way. After being firmly planted and balanced, you looked up to acknowledge your childhood friend but what you saw nearly made you fall over and lose immediately. Out of his own sheer determination to win, Sangyeon removed his swim shirt, and began to stand. You shook your head, determined to focus on balancing and definitely not your best friend who looked like he did nothing but work out seven days a week and probably twice a day some days.

“Oh? Don’t mind me, it was just getting hot out here under all this sun,” he grinned, watching you attempt to school your expression.

You snapped your head down to your paddle and after a few seconds of deliberation began to paddle toward him.

“Yknow I knew you missed me but, wait no you can’t that’s-“

You jumped directly on him, his body breaking the water followed by yours. Instead of holding on, you kicked your legs in order to reach the surface faster. You were laughing so hard your lungs hurt. The incredulous look on his face paired with seeing his larger form try so hard to use his little paddle to get away was too much for you to handle. You held onto his board and laid your head on it, trying to catch your breath before he surfaced. You always felt like a kid around him. He brought out a piece of you that allowed your inner child to shine and be happy. You knew in life you would always have your brother, but along with him, you would always have your Sangyeon. The waves shifted, and you felt two arms cage your form.

“That was SUCH a cheap move,” he whispered, his breath fanning your ear. He wasn’t touching you, but the proximity was making your head spin. He rested his chin on your left shoulder, feigning a pout.

Drawing in a shaky breath to steady yourself, you turned to face him.

“There weren’t any rules, so I guess you’re buying ice cream,” you teased, sticking your tongue out at him just like when you were kids.

He chuckled lowly, absolutely able to see that he was affecting you just as much as you affected him.

“On one condition”

“Depends”

“It’s a date”

a/n: WHEW this was brewing in my brain all week but I wasn't able to get to my laptop much. i made sangyeon a bit goofier here but i feel like his cute goofy side does shine when he's with less people or even just that one person he's got his eye on ;) i hope i did him some justice 💗 thank you so much for loving the ateez fic, i hope u have a wonderful day ^^

--

creds: divider 1, divider 2

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[postcards-to-home]

Letting Go: 2023

‘Have you taken a look at your old posts?” Yes, sort of, thats kind of what brought me to dig that password out again to make a post. “Well read them again. They’re pretty…inspirational actually. Truly. Just please do it.”

Shape of You/ Ed Sheeran

Fitting 9 people deep into a 5 seater Toyota Fitz at 2 am was not how I anticipated starting the year off. Riding the center console with all the windows rolled up I wondered out loud who the hell was sober enough to drive this thing back to the Aruba Beach Club? Last I recalled we had closed Ricardo's down after slamming over 100 beers in 3 hours, with a unanimous cry from the bartenders, ``You guys broke the record of the most beers ever consumed in one shift.``We’d managed to hit downtown, with chaos tailing closely behind us until open signs flickered off. Someplace between the Ritz and Hilton we huddled on the beach forming a semi circle around a fat Dutchmaster with our fingers cupping the flame of a single lighter. The waves trickled below the pier we stood on as we watched the boats pass between Venezuela and our tiny island of Aruba. Leave it to D-rock to get weed immediately after passing through customs. As a gang of cousins, It was a first for us to all be together overseas. There was peace between us all as we star gazed, except for Tyler filming himself in the background talking about "getting his bag" and "visiting the red-light district". Good Ole Frank shoved us into the clown car half dead at 3 am managing to hit every speed bump he could until we crash landed at the ABC hotel. Jason never made it out of bed the next day and Frank managed to be at the pool by 9. I understand entirely how we are family after that joy ride.

Im Good (Blue) // David Guetta & Bebe Rexha

Trips with family are always special and I wish I could have had that same feeling I had cruising down the Aruban highway at 3am as I did in Las Vegas this year for my Bachelorette party. While It didn’t pan out that way that I had pictured in my mind, those that made the journey sure did make me smile. The trip itself panned out so far in the other direction I actually wondered if anyone would give a shit about that one time I had 3 vodka cranberries on a vintage casino tour where I took pictures of the retro shag rugs with cowboys on them and fell asleep by 10pm sharp. It was the same trip in which I got to dress up like a bedazzled flamingo and had all my besties shower me with love, something I can't be thankful enough for. They had the ball literally dropped on their heads and they managed to keep moving forward with my happiness as the focus. It wouldn't have been a "Nicole" Trip if I didn't make a fool of myself at least once. I realized after I got off the elevator that my underwear were in fact tucked into the outside of my shirt with the worst part being I was 100% sober. Despite no one winning thousands of dollars or managing to buy a lap dance we did trek through the desert in a hot pink jeep and that was the highlight of the entire trip.After that, we flew home, we threw out anything that had to do with those that hurt us intentionally and we let that shit go.

When I grow up // The pussycat Dolls

Fast Car// Luke Combs

The year snowballed, and if I may, I’d like to address the elephant in the room. I’ll save everyone the details but I hope this is the last year of my life I have to experience the sudden violent interjection of a fentanyl overdose once again and the familiar destruction it brings. I hope those reading never have to live with seeing your family crowded around the kitchen window sobbing as you see your uncle bent over, dead on the sofa from a coke overdose.Upsetting and startling to read? Yes, but at least he wasn't found crumpled in a ball on the bathroom floor like his son was.  It was of no surprise to receive the news, still tragic no less. It's the one time in my life I wish my intuition was wrong. My mom reminded me I’d called it,emphasizing the need to never tell her in advance when my spidey senses tell me things are going to go south with someone. I had no memory of telling cousin Robert this in January but he wasted no time reminding everyone I knew this would happen before it happened. Jay and I spoke to the officer at the scene on a first name basis hearing “This is the 9th one this week.” It clicked there standing in the rain that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, something I said to Tommy at 9 years old. He was pretty pissed to hear that back then as a 15 year old delinquent. Yet here I am breathing and his ashes are now somewhere in the Moab desert, Schaghticoke, with bitch face and gram down at the cemetery in Cohoes . It was bad enough we buried aunt Ona next to Gram on Thursday but having to go back on Friday to bury Jr in the adjacent plot the following day was just simply too much for us. Maybe we all should have taken those free narcans Grandma Debbie was giving out two Decembers ago that she got from the county jail. But I'll let that thought go.

Way of the Truine God// Tyler Childs

There came a point in the year where pounding the pavement felt like second nature. Work, farm, picking, shows, repeat.Toggling google maps and driving down back country roads into no mans land had me thinking I was pioneering my own adventure.But then standing outside some abandoned house, freezing in line with #27 stuffed in my back pocket I would wonder , is this even fucking worth it? Somewhere close by a  grouchy bastard cranked a heater next to me mumbling about the cast iron pan he wants at the sale. “Cheap thrills” Id giggle sifting through some dead person's Attic knee deep in a mouse house. I drove chaotically through the tri-county region slinging antiques, singing reggaeton of all things at the top of my lungs, driving down 787 doing 90 in a 65mph. We  trucked car loads of plants to antique shows this year all thanks to Dad, Jay mom and Toni. Success is easy when you have a mini squad of family cheering you on the sidelines, willingly sacrificing Saturday mornings to unload trailers at 7am. I was living the dream and my heart would explode on the good days. On the bad days I’d doubt myself but maybe it was willpower, or just simply my spirit throttling my vessel screaming “ You’ve got this,” but It all worked out the way either way.I let my doubt go.

Just Breathe// Pearl Jam

I understood the meaning of family even more when Jimmy and I were sipping Vodka sodas at the Saratoga Civic Center watching Marissa cross the stage for her high school graduation. Somewhere in between slow sipping and clapping Jen lost her large $1 Mcdonalds diet coke all over the venue floor.Poppy with no hearing aids stood by with judgment in his eyes while I took “Obituary” pictures. He wondered out loud "What the hell is going on," but his voice was lost in the crowd and he couldn't give damn.

Just like we did 7 summers ago, we took that first ride out to college for move in day except this time it was Marissa's turn.We dropped  Marissa off at college just two weeks shy of Jay and I’s wedding wondering what would transpire in the two weeks before her return. We conspired how her first term would go over chili and chicken tenders at the only bar in town. I heard alot of bitching about leaving a purse behind a dumpster and “I need a fucking smoke.” between gram and pops. With a black coffee and fresh pack of reservation grade cigs, poppy and I hit the road home from SUNY Morrisville. Believe it or not pops spent the entire two hours chatting about the past in a way I never knew he was capable of. I'll never see him the same way again, and i'm content with it. We started out with “ I dont believe in god so when I'm gone just do whatever makes you guys feel good,” and ended with “ I’m glad we got to talk to Nicole, I really liked it. I still don't believe in God but I believe you speak to my mom in your dreams and I can’t explain that.” It was an entire short novel of everything I ever wanted to know explained all at once leaving me with sentiments of peace.

Drive//Alan Jackson

The pivot towards happily ever after did not commence until walking back up the aisle to catch a drink in my hand.  What a magical day we had. Chalking the day up in my mind I anticipated something far less significant than what had actually happened, simply put, a beautiful day. A day that was talked about with anxiety and ten tons of stress for nearly two years straight, amassing to a single day of blissful drinking surrounded by LOVE and all our favorite people. It felt like our own movie premier, except it was the start our "New life". We had a crowd of family stare at us with tears of laughter in their eyes as we shared our first dance to Hootie and the Blow fish’s “Only wanna be with you." If you're wondering it was totally the wrong choice, last minute and we weren't nearly drunk enough to hide how mortified we were swinging each other round and round. Endless bouts of laughter rang throughout the entire night helping to deflect the thought that some of my favorite people in the world weren’t able to be in attendance that day. Despite the potential for rain as my dad predicted, the day was nothing but sunshine and bliss. A few people cried over their ex’s in the corner that I never saw while one guy went fishing in the pond catching a small mouth bass. Shortly after that he managed to drop an entire keg on his head leaving an egg sized welt on his forehead perfectly positioned for his headlamp to rest on. It all came to an end with everyone barefoot, slurring words in the barn at 2 am, muddy from drunkenly falling down the hill that the barn sat upon. With ruined dresses, we ran out of water and woke the next day with black feet and nothing but giggles. 

Galaxy// Quavo

Controversial to popular opinion, honeymoons are not easy breezy lemon squeezy and probably shouldn't be taken immediately after your wedding day unless you're prepared to melt from exhaustion prior to landing someplace thousands of miles from home. I will admit it was pretty cool to ride in a cop car through Newark airport while also being personally escorted through TSA all thanks to Josh. After that Jay and I tumbled fast, hitting EU soil with peak levels of bitchiness letting Mallorca test my zen before even getting there. European mannerisms are something we are still coming to terms with and my Spanish is still B2 at best despite Laura’s constant push for me to do more and be better. "Nico, you can do this, it will be easy, you know this." No one told me it was Catalonian Spanish..

If it weren't for Jason driving on 3 hours of sleep and a Xanax I'm not sure we would have survived the first 8 hours on the island (Ok I would have made it but it wouldn't have been an endless laugh).There is no other person on this earth I could imagine driving a fiat with into a plaza full of people..No one else I could picture driving down a one lane country rode with singing Quavos “Fuel Up” and crashing into a rock wall,forcing me to get out of the car and wave down a local for support. It would have been pretty awesome if a camera crew appeared to remind us of that moment of defeat when I bitchly slammed the car door in jays face, saying “STFU ill fix this,” while he sat defeated from the days series of unfortunate events. That tire was the only thing preventing us from entering an air-conditioned unit and I wasn't going to let my man melt away. Senior Tony came to the rescue after I waved him down through barbed fencing, letting me into his gated home to ask in Spanish for support along with his wifi password. All that to find out the parking break was jammed and our rental house had timed AC of 1 hour a day from 3-4am. 

Still,there's no person other than Jay i’d rather crash our vespa with in deadstop traffic just moments before returning the rental. Jay and I are what romcoms are made from. We lived it, we survived and we laughed the entire ride down the one lane mountain rode in one piece. We trash talked the guy with "Love” tattooed on his neck that told jay to never ride a vespa again because he's never been so scared in his life to watch a man ride one like jay.Jay's also the guy I can always count on to make friends with the black girls with the speaker and meet random townies at the bar with. His energy is truly unmatched. Bless his heart for picking me, his one beer queer that pees in dirt parking lots at 10pm on our honeymoon to live with the rest of his life.

6PM en Mallorca/ Eladio Carrion

There would be days where I was simply vibrating with the need to do it all at once and then some on an empty stomach and a few energy drinks. Healthy wasn't on my radar so I suffered the consequences. It shouldn't have been shocking to learn I was diagnosed with HSP (Highly sensitive person) but to be simply put, it felt like someone gave me the answer I’d been looking for my whole life. Jokingly, I now had an excuse for my hangry episodes, dramatic mood drops and inability to tolerate social outings for longer than 2.5 hours before committing an Irish goodbye home to charge my social battery. Swan would say “Hey Nicole, hows your HSP these days,” like an asshole and we’d all laugh at the thought of me actually having a real life crisis and not something I exaggerated. With this revelation I was mildly pissed because it meant Taylor was sort of right in saying I was autistic all those years ago. While she was sneaking cookies in her sock drawer, feeding her 8 month pregnant belly on the o there side of our shared wall, she screamed at me I was autistic because I didn’t care for loud noises or her shitty attitude. On the spectrum or not, I'll let that go too.

Seasons change and things wound down. It's January as I write this with my health intact along with everything else in my mental portfolio. I've stopped hearing from my manager “ Nicole Im worried about your mental health, maybe you should take time off.”  and instead I'm hearing from those around me “Congratulations" and "you should feel so proud." I am proud actually, its a new feeling. I learnt a lot of lessons this year but ultimately it boils down to one simple message that applies to every facet of our existence: Light & Love. Thats it.

As long as youre striving to be as close to light and love as possible, whatever that is for you, then it will all work out in the end. And It really has. My whole life feels lighter just knowing as long as I gravitate towards genuine love and goodness, all good things will follow and come back.

  "The whole universe is always about love and when it isnt about love its about the absence of love."

Thanks for reading,

NRCM

*Want to read my old posts? Curious what about the past, or just simply nosey? Click "Past Work" on the left to read all my old shit.

[itsnotyouitslyme]

The Travel

BLUF: Rotating ankles each way 15 times every 30 minutes and then doing feet raises and curls 15 times helps with swelling. Cruise control is a game changer. To visit my family involves a 400 mile drive, I drive because I have a ridiculous dog named Chloe who I bring everywhere with me.

We have arrived safe and sound ahead of the winter storm and the deep freeze.

Enough about the ending, let's talk about the preparation that goes into traveling when chronically ill.

Since this was Christmas it added a few more steps like shopping, wrapping, and extra packing of my car. I started buying gifts after Thanksgiving and this year I opted for gift bags instead of wrapping. It was a lot easier and I didn't have to sit on the floor in weird positions, getting up and down. (I did this fine last year mind you.) I would gift bag gifts in 10-15 minute increments and then have to sit down to rest. Last year, I made personalized resin ornaments and a friend's kid hung it up on the tree this year with a smile on his face. To which I said to my friend "eff you and your kids" and then I got to making some resin ornaments last minute this year. I hadn't touched resin since around April because my hands hurt from holding anything too long but because her kid enjoyed it so much (and let's be honest I LOVE creating and giving personalized gifts) it inspired me to try this year. I was able to complete about 16 of them, not too elaborate but a step up from last year I think (I skilled up :)). Sometimes you just need the proper motivation to overcome your fear (that I wouldn't be able to do the resin ornaments so why bother trying). I deeply adore her and her family and am thankful they inspired me to do my resin ornaments.

There's also the preparation for packing up my house for me and my dog. I like to come back to a clean house after traveling. Since I've gotten sick, my definition of "clean" has changed drastically. Prior to getting sick, I was cleaning my whole town home and changing my sheets once a week. Now, I clean parts of my home weekly and rotate them with the following week. I change my bed every 2 weeks or so (It's a king bed and takes about 30-40 minutes for me...that's A LOT of time to be standing and moving around so I dread doing it). I have cut down changing my duvet cover every time since I use a top sheet.

PSA: If you don't use a top sheet you are doing the devil's work.

(I'm not religious please take that as the joke it's intended as)

ANYWAY

So this entire preparation phase has been happening since like December 3rd? Some days I couldn't do anything and others I was able to do a bit more. Once you become chronically ill spontaneity really leaves your life. You have to carefully plan every aspect of your life and then prioritize when you have less energy or more pain, like me not changing my duvet cover each time anymore. Sometimes, things just have to be scarified so that can cook yourself dinner that night or take a shower. There are only so many spoons you have each day and some days you start out with less than you thought you would.

The drive itself wasn't bad, I just left at a different time than normal because of the winter storm that was coming in. For the first time I was drowsy while driving, I have emergency energy drinks for such occasions (Yes, yes I know...no caffeine but desperate times). I was able to get past that point and started jamming out to music. At one point I did have my left foot up on my dash and it worked out well for the swelling LOL. Chloe slept most of the ride as usual. I did hit traffic in NJ and through NYC (I usually avoid most of this driving early in the morning or late at night.) The stop and go traffic was not good on my right foot and ankle, that's where the worst of my swelling happens.

I ended up making it safe and sound but the journey was definitely not as easy as it used to be. I'm hoping to find some decent compression leggings this week and that should help out with daily activities, plus the driving.

What did help was rotating my ankles each way about 15 times periodically (every 30 minutes or so) and then raise my feet up and curl them under 15 times. I think this helped with the swelling, I still had some when I got to my dad's but it wasn't too bad.

I only had 32 oz of water prior to and during the drive (I did have an energy drink as well) so that I wouldn't have make any additional stops and I believe that really didn't help. I'm back to 64 oz already today at 2pET so we are getting better. I'm off to have a little nappy with Chloe. I had a few revelations while on the drive and will be blogging more about those later.

[sirthisisa-wendys]

hi. can i request something angsty i absolutely love your angst works! so being in a long term relationship with mr ran haitani that's kind of already having fallouts. then reader cheated and confesses to ran about it but he still kind of didn't expect reader would do something like that. thank you very much! pls ignore if you want <3

This hurt to write. But it hurt so damn good.

King of Sorrow: Ran Haitani x Fem!Reader

wc: 1.6k

tw: A N G S T

masterlist

song recommendation:

Things had been going downhill for a while.

Ran noticed the way you stayed out late, the way you no longer cuddled him in bed at night, the way your eyes wandered when you two were at the club...

But he never says anything.

You two had been together since he had become part of Bonten - and that was five years ago. FIve years of bliss, love, and happiness.

But that all started to fall apart last month.

He can't recall what he did - if anything. Ran tried his best to show you that he loved you, even when he was away. But lately, it'd been met with a half-hearted "thanks" or "I love you, too". Ran knew you weren't saying it because it was inherently true. You were saying it because you felt obligated to.

But he didn't feel obligated.

No, he's convinced he loves you, even if you're falling out of love with him. It's a hard thought for him to grasp, but he does somehow - that you might just have fallen out of love with him.

So he ups his gestures of love in an attempt to stave off the routine. This week, he's taken you on a trip to Italy. No meetings, no calls, nothing that has to do with work. It's just you and him on a cruise ship, sailing from port to port.

"This is amazing," he beams, cutting into the steak with gusto. "I've never had steak like this before."

"It's Wagyu," you mention, looking more somber in the dim lighting of the restaurant than when you both entered. Come to think of it, the moment you stepped onto the boat, you seemed downcast, even more so than when you were at home. You couldn't even look Ran in the eye anymore, and even though he'd made love to you the previous night, it seemed like that didn't have any effect on how you felt today. Usually, you'd be excited and full of life, but...

"Babe," Ran whispers, putting his fork down. "What's wrong?" Your bottom lip quivers and Ran stiffens. No, he thinks. Don't cry. But he also wants to get to the bottom of things, so he continues cautiously. "Things have been really strange for some time now, and I brought you here so maybe we could fix whatever's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong," you lie, wiping your eyes quickly. "Everything's fine."

"No," Ran tuts. "It's not. My love, you've been distant. I'm worried about us." He reaches across the table and touches your hand, and gesture he hasn't tried in a long time. "I'm worried about you." You snatch your hand away, standing and throwing your napkin over your barely touched food.

"It's fine, Ran," you snap, then walk away from the table quickly, rubbing at your eyes furiously as you leave the ship's dining room. Ran sighs, motioning for the waiter as he cuts his losses with the dinner.

"Just send the bill to the room, please."

Ran finds you in your shared suite, sitting in the chair facing the balcony with your head in your hands. You're sobbing, and for a moment, he replays the interaction between the two of you before approaching, holding your purse in one hand.

"Love," he begins, kneeling beside the chair and placing your purse in the other seat beside him. "I need you to talk to me."

"I just..." you start but break off, tears flowing down your fingers. "It's not your fault." You reveal your reddened face, eyes rimmed with smeared mascara. "I didn't mean to..."

"Whatever it is, it's fine," Ran whispers, taking your wet hands in his. "It'll be okay. Just tell me what's wrong." His heart is aching to know why you're so heartbroken, but you inhale shakily, then exhale before opening your eyes.

"Ran, I want to start off by apologizing." Ran shakes his head, his violet eyes unsure, but you stop him, squeezing his hands once. "Just listen to me all the way through, okay?"

"Done," he affirms, shoulders relaxing now that you're finally telling him what's wrong.

"A month ago... I went to Takada's bachelorette party, right?"

"Mmm-hmm." He remembers that night. You looked so stunning in your tight mini-dress and pinned-up hair. He thought about railing you over the side of the banister before you left and was a little disappointed that you came home around eight in the morning instead of that same night.

"I..." You shakily inhale again, shaking your head rapidly. "I got so drunk. I don't know what was wrong with me, I..." You sniff, then remove your hands from Ran's, wiping at a stray tear. "I ended up sleeping with someone. I don't know who they are, I don't know where they came from. But I just remember waking up in the bed, naked, and seeing him there."

Ran stares at you, face empty, still not fully processing what you've said. He is still for a while as the cogs in his mind turn around and around and around and around and around and then

stop.

His mouth dries up, and his violet eyes look away from you, at the wallpaper, at the mirror, at the corner of the room, at the ceiling.

"I've felt so guilty since then," you mumble. "I couldn't tell you because I felt so ashamed, I--"

Ran stands, letting out a soft "oh", wavering a little on his feet. He blinks a few times, still not looking at you, then cocks his head to the left, like he's hearing something. But he's just processing. His mind flits from one day to the next, trying to pinpoint any signs, any clues... How could he have been so stupid?

No, you couldn't have cheated. It was a mistake. You'd gotten undressed, the man was drunk and also fell asleep in your bed... No, you couldn't do that. Not to him. Not to Ran Haitani.

But your guilt is written all over your face.

"Oh," Ran mutters again, jaw clenching. His breaths come quick like he'd been running for hours, and he can barely think as he sees red cloud his vision. He can't understand what he's doing when he breaks the table in the conjoined living room, or swipes the vases onto the floor, shattering them and depositing the flowers among them. He can't think about anything as you shout for him to stop, trying to reach him past his haze of red, but he's too far gone.

And the thing that frightens you the most is that he isn't yelling or screaming.

He's quiet.

He's not cursing at you, he's just destroying anything that looks whole, tossing it to the ground and rendering it unusable. You slide down against the wall, tears coursing down your cheeks again as he huffs, standing in the middle of the wreckage, gasping for air.

And then, the clearest thought Ran's had in almost an hour comes to him.

"Let me get you your own room."

"Ran," you plead, stumbling over your feet to get to him as he marches over to the phone. "Ran, please."

"Hello? I need a new suite for Mrs. Haitani. Do you have one available?"

"Ran!" you beg, pulling at his sleeve, but he doesn't move from the phone, gripping the receiver as the person on the other line tries to find an open room for you. You try to reach the button that will hang up the call, reaching past Ran's frame in earnest. He's blocking it, but there's just enough room for your pointer finger to tap the button, ending the call.

Ran doesn't even move. The phone is still up to his ear as if the call is still going on, but no voice is on the other line.

Fat tears roll down from his eyes, and he's frozen there, standing with the phone in his hands as if he were paused in time. But he lets the phone slip from his grasp, walking like a zombie over to the chair by the balcony, and sliding into it slowly.

And he doesn't get up, staring out at the sea with an empty, forlorn look.

"Ran," you whisper, crouching next to him. He doesn't answer, tears running freely down his face. "Ran..." Again, there's no answer, so you hang your head next to his leg, touching his thigh with your right hand. He doesn't move, even when you get up to prepare for bed, the door leading to the carnage of his temper still open.

He doesn't move from that chair all night, and you don't sleep, staring at him as his tears dry. You even succumb to sleep for a brief moment, waking to see him still in that same chair, still trying to think.

But eventually, he moves, walking into the bathroom and staying in there for a while. You wait patiently for him, sitting on the edge of the bed as he emerges, wiping his face with a towel before he inhales sharply.

"As soon as they dock this ship at the next port, we're heading home. Couples counseling or a divorce, it's your choice." You look down at your hands, nodding. You understand the need to cut the trip short. It's for the best.

When you arrive back home two days later, Ran immediately grabs a new bag of things, loading it up with clothing and toiletries, choosing to take residence at Rindou's home instead of sleeping in the same bed as you.

And that hurt the worst, his cold violet eyes not even glancing over at you as he left the master bedroom without any words.

[80s4life]

Not What I Had Planned

Word Count: 1,294

Status: Requested!

Fandom: Stand By Me 1986

A/N: This was an idea I had gotten from someone on Wattpad who had requested it on that platform.

Relationship: Ace Merrill x GenderNeutral!Reader (soon baby x Ace x GN!Reader)

Summary: As Ace was on his way home from a day out with the boys, he was caught by surprise as an unexpected bundle of joy was found on the side of the road.  In those very few seconds, his life flips, but is it for the best or the worst?

Warnings: language, more fluff, some angst (Ace gets in his feels)

Masterlist  Stand By Me Masterlist Part Two

{Not my gif, credits to @spinmidnight​}

Pulling out from the alley behind the diner, Ace stops at the stop sign right beside it, intending on making his way home.  As he turns the corner, making a left, he settles in his seat, now driving down the long, winding dirt road he usually takes with the boys when they’re racing.  The sun was starting to set and the cool summer air was a blissful calm to Ace.  Instead of speeding down the road, he decides to take it easy, enjoying the scenery, not really wanting to go home yet.

As he continues on the little cruise, he sees a road he’s never noticed before, branching off from the main road yet leading him to the same destination.  Deciding to take it, he makes a slight right, now continuing on the hilly detour.  Not so long after he made his way onto the road did he stop at another stop sign, seeing a bundle of blankets beside it. Intending on passing the mound of blankets, Ace soon stops altogether as he hears a slight cry.  Confused, he slows his car to a stop and listens closely.  

After hearing yet another quiet cry, Ace puts his blinkers on, parks the car, and makes his way around the front to get a better look.  Moving some of the blankets aside, Ace is shocked to find a small, infant baby huddled beneath the covers, crying and lonely.  For a second, all he could do is stare, wondering how or why the baby was there in the first place.

Looking around, he looks for any sign of the parents or caretakers of the child, quitting soon after he realizes there’s no sign of anyone actually looking for the kid. Whoever did this had obviously done it on purpose, having left a bottle, toy, and a small package of formula. Pacing now, Ace contemplates whether or not he should leave the baby there.  Deciding against his better judgement though, he scoops the baby into his arms, and snags the materials left beside it.

Throwing the things in the back, he moves to strap the baby into the passenger seat, soon failing as the baby flops and flounders around, unable to safely sit in the seat. Annoyed, Ace almost screams at the kid, but overall knows there’s nothing it had done wrong besides being completely helpless. Instead, Ace scoops the baby up once more, taking one of the blankets and wrapping around the baby.  

Going back to the drivers seat, he secures the baby against his chest with his left arm, driving to Y/N one-handed, deciding to not go home now. It’s not like he’s usually there anyway. Y/N’s house they owned on their own money had become Ace’s refuge.  Their shared paradise.  And that’s where he felt comfortable most.  That’s why he’s going there.

Knocking on the door to Y/N’s small log cabin, Ace stands nervously, bouncing on foot to foot, not exactly knowing what he’s going to say or do or how Y/N was going to react. He didn’t have time to overthink it, unfortunately for him, as the person in question opens the door with a bright smile that always made Ace weak.  The smile soon falters though as Y/N catches glimpse at what is being held tightly to Ace’s chest.

“What did you do?” is the only question they ask, looking Ace in the eyes questionably.

“Well I- I- I- It’s a long story babe,” he stutters out, “Can I come in please?”

Sighing, Y/N gives him one of their special looks, the one where they act annoyed but truly aren’t, and quite frankly, very amused at that. Ace sits on the couch, giving Y/N the whole rundown on what had happened, how the baby was left, and what led him to Y/N’s doorstep in the first place. 

Y/N simply smiles adoringly at Ace though, completely lost in their own mind. The whole time since Ace had walked in, he had kept the baby tightly in his arms, as if any second, the baby could be taken away from him.  He was the perfect father figure, and Y/N couldn’t help but fall even more in love with Ace at the moment.

“So what are you planning to do with the baby?” Y/N asks softly, knowing the idea of a child in Ace’s care was one of his biggest fears and a very touchy topic.

“I don’t know, probably just put it back where I found it. You know how I feel about kids, and I ain’t turnin’ into my father.  It’s better this way.  And I know you’re about to lecture me about this, but this decision is final,” Ace answers gruffly, getting into a defensive mode, as if the world was against him.

Y/N doesn’t answer, instead lightly takes the baby from Ace’s arms, going to change it upstairs, away from Ace’s eyesight. It gave him time to cool down. Y/N, being extra careful, changes the baby with the little materials Ace had picked up from beside the baby on the street, soon discovering it’s a baby girl. Someone left a baby girl behind. 

Going back to the living room, Y/N watches Ace, taking in his posture. The way he stares at the floor with such guilt. Silently taking their seat beside him once more, Y/N gives his hand a squeeze, lightly taking his cheek in their hand, tilting Ace’s head lightly in order for him to meet their eyes.

“Baby, you are not your father. And, listen to me. I can see the look in your eyes, I know you don’t want to dump that baby back there just as someone else had. Your better than that. That makes you twice the man your father is.  You are a strong, kind, generous, determined, stubborn, and protective man. Your my man. And I know you’ll be an amazing father.  I understand if you don’t want to keep the baby, but she’s not going anywhere until I find her somewhere where someone will take proper care,” Y/N speaks in a hushed, caring tone, one they use when they calm Ace’s panic attacks or outbursts.

Ace sniffles a little as some tears threaten to fall, “Did you say ‘she’? As in a little girl? Why...” he whispers in disbelief. Y/N simply hugs him, kissing him on the head. “We’re keeping her,” he says firmly, sitting straight almost simultaneously.

“Babe, if you don’t want this, we don’t need to do it right now-” 

“No! I want this! I want you, I want the baby, I want us. You’re right, I’m not my father, and I’m sure as hell not gonna pussy outta this right now. I never back down from a challenge, and this is a challenge I’m proud to tackle with you.  We can be a beautiful family, you and me. And now with her too,” Ace cuts them off sternly.

After taking a breath, Ace calms himself, giving Y/N a chaste kiss to the lips before finishing with an ‘I love you.’ Taking Ace by the hand, Y/N leads him up the stairs where the little girl is found sleeping peacefully on their shared bed. The couple, now holding each other, stare adoringly at the little bundle of joy. 

“This was not what I had planned,” Ace says after some time.

“I know baby, I know,” Y/N answers in just barely a whisper.  

Little did they know that this little girl would’ve brought the couple even closer together, their bond strengthening through the years to come. Their little girl being their pride and joy, the family they never thought of, soon becoming the best thing that’s ever happened to them.

[dameronology]

to all the pilots i've loved before {poe dameron} - 3/4

part three: better half of a whole

summary: you’re in love with poe dameron. it’s both the most complicated and most simple thing in the galaxy - and it’s all shoved into a shoe-box under your bed, in the form of a thousand love letters. here’s to hoping he never finds them. (series masterlist)

warnings: language, mentions of injury

i'm so sorry this took me so long to write!! i got writer's block and then i was horribly busy with a thousand others things and sadly, i cannot prioritise fan fiction over real life duties. and i would know, because i've tried

enjoy!!

- jazz

Poe didn't sleep for...well, it was probably days. Felt like years.

Dear trouble,

Every time he closed his eyes, your face would flash into his mind. The sound of your laugh echoing amongst the cries of war; the feel of your soft hands tracing the remains of battle scars and wounds. What if the hug you gave him before you left was the last? What if your slightly pained laughter at the shitty joke he'd made in the jungle the night before was all he had left? He cherished every memory he had of you but he loved you more.

I know you hate when I call you that, but it feels pretty accurate - because you do cause trouble, normally with me but more recently FOR me. Anyways, I never considered myself to be much of a letter writer, but then I saw yours and...fuck.

Love. What a funny fucking word, right? Said so easily, but meant so much. Something that felt so hard to find, but even more difficult to hold onto. His parents had found it and they'd kept it for so long, and he'd always wanted the same - nothing less, nothing more. Just the kind of unwavering, undying love that can survive a war and be happy with the domesticity that followed. The only difference between Poe and his parents was that they'd been fearless with every aspect of their lives, not withholding their ability to express feelings. Perhaps that's where he fell short. Shara had taught him a lot of things but she'd been lost before he taught her how to pull his head out his ass and just...say things how they were.

What am I even supposed to say? I love you too would be a start, because I obviously I do. I've always wanted to say it but I never wanted to risk what we had in case you secretly hated me, and now I'm going to live out the rest of my days regretting it.

The first that Poe managed to finally get some rest was four days after Leia had broken the news of your disappearance. He'd fallen asleep in his quarters, curled up into Finn's side and clutching a t-shirt of his that he'd left in your room - you'd borrowed it a few months ago, and it still smelt of you. It was a mixture of your everyday body fragrance and a little of engine oil. BB-8 was snoozing quietly in the corner and for the first time in days, Poe's jaw and shoulders weren't tense and clenched.

The little robot did stir, however, when he got a comms system message from Leia. He was awake immediately, cruising across the room and crashing straight into the nearest human he could find - and it was at that point that Finn regretted leaving his leg dangling off the side of the bed. He jumped awake, brown eyes finding the droid peering up at him.

You're not just my best friend. You're my partner in crime, my soulmate and you know that twin flame bullshit that Rey always go on about? You're probably that too because we're both flaming hot. You're the better half of this whole. You and me.

"Poe is sleeping, buddy," he quietly said.

"There's a message from the general," BB-8 beeped back.

Poe suddenly woke up at that - it could have been any message, and certainly not one about you, but something in his gut told him otherwise. If it hadn't have been, Leia would have left it til morning, or not even bothered him at all in his current state.

"What?" the pilot asked. "What is it?"

"They're back, in the med-"

Poe didn't give him a chance to say anything else, because he was already up and out the door - jacket unzipped, boots half unlaced, hair sticking up in a thousand different directions.

And even though he hadn't slept for days, he was running for his dear fucking life. The medical bay was right on the other side of the base and he didn't care. You were there - in what state, he didn't know - and that was all that mattered. He was just wanted to be with you, beside you, and he never planned on leaving.

If I see you again, I'm not gonna hide it anymore. I love you and you deserve to know that. I'm gonna give you the fucking world, I promise.

Poe skidded around the corner, stopping his tracks when he saw you across the room. You looked tired - far past it, in fact - and his entire body tensed when he saw the bruises on your arm and up your neck. Still, he took comfort in the fact that he knew you put up a good fight. You'd sparred together enough times and given him enough bruises to last a life time.

There was a slight oof as someone crashed into the back of Poe (Finn's subtle way of announcing his arrival). He placed a hand on his shoulder, shoving him forward slightly. It was clear that Poe was in a state of shock - at your loss, at your declaration, and even more at your return - because the last few days had changed everything.

Everything he'd ever wanted was about to come to fruition. No pressure.

"Go to them," Finn murmured.

With that, Poe took a few steps forward - you met him half away across the room, chests colliding with enough force to knock down an ATAT. He wound his arms you, pulling you towards him with one hand tangled in your hair and the other holding your back. He clung to you, tears in his eyes and entire body shaking, almost as though he was using the feeling of you to act as a reminder that this wasn't a dream. You were here. You were back. Perhaps a little worst for wear, but alive and standing all the same.

I don't know how I'll say it. Am I meant to just blurt it out? I've never said it to anyone before, so...what the fuck am I meant to do? Normally, I'd come to you for advice on this sort of this but that feels a bit counter intuitive.

"Hey, Poe," you gently murmured.

"Hey, trouble," he let out a shaky laugh, pulling back from the hug to clutch your face in his hands. "You're alive. You're here-"

"- yeah, I'm here," you grinned.

"What happened?" he pushed. "If I ever find those First Order bastards, I swear it's on site."

"They were trying to shoot us out the sky, so we had to lay low on a random moon for a few days, but the residents of said moon were not very friendly and - you know what? It doesn't matter," you leant into his touch, relishing the feeling of his hands against your skin. "I'm here and that's what's important."

"I was so scared," Poe admitted. "And they had me search your room for back up plans and-"

You froze.

"You...you searched my room?" you stuttered. "What did you find?"

The main thing is, I AM gonna tell you. I promise. Just...please come back.

Love, Poe

Poe's eyes widened - maybe now wasn't the best time to break the news. You were bleeding from your head and hadn't slept for days. To spring it on you before you were even cleaned up felt a bit unfair. His worst fears had been avoided, so he didn't mind waiting just a little longer.

"Nothing," he forced a smile. "C'mon, I'll clean you up."

Taking your hand in his, Poe lead you towards one of the beds. He was hardly a medical expert, but he'd been through enough cuts and scrapes to have a basic understanding of stitches. And luckily, your injuries didn't look too bad. It was more just the fact you had them in the first place that hurt him.

What if he'd gone on the mission with you? Or convinced you to stay? Fuck, he would have gone in your place if he knew what was going to happen. The last few days had been the worst of his life and he almost felt responsible for what had happened to you. Your pain was his pain, and he felt it in every fibre of his being.

But, of all things, at least he knew what love was now - and if you had never have gone MIA, he never would have gone looking in your room, and he never would have found those letters. It felt like a bit of a dick move to call them a blessing in disguise but his mother had always taught him the value of looking for silver linings. The last week had been one giant thunderstorm. There had been no breaks in the rain, or sun peaking through the clouds. It had just been darkness and thunder, but it was all beginning to clear now.

What was it that Shara had said when Poe was a kid? Things have a funny way of working out. This was all a testament to that, and also to the fact that she always seemed to be right.

Poe's hands moved gently as he stitched up the cut on your forehead. They were still steady as they moved, brown eyes occasionally moving down to meet yours. He always smiled when they did.

"There we go," he said. "That shouldn't scar, but if it does, it would make you look like a bad-ass, so..."

You chuckled slightly. "Thanks, Dameron."

"You don't have to thank me," he quietly murmured, running a thumb over your cheek. "I'm just glad you're back."

"Right," you grinned. "What did you do whilst I was gone?"

Cried. Read those letters. Cried some more. Wrote a letter myself, then cried on that too.

"I just...I caught up some on some reading," he forced a smile. "C'mon, let's go to my quarters. I have some bactaspray there for those bruises."

Poe took your hand in his again and helped you up off of the bed - you seemed okay to walk, but he didn't let go. He needed to feel you, to know that you were there. He was worried you might float away into the galaxy and disappear all over again if he didn't cling onto you.

And for you, the feeling of his warm hands against yours was a welcome relief after a long few days. You were trying to push the pain and the incoming nightmares to the back of your head, and it was much easier when Poe was beside you. You already knew that he was going to make you sleep beside him that night. Being on the same wavelength so often was a great feeling.

Poe hadn't thought about tidying his room - why would he? He'd been so preoccupied with you, and finding you, that he'd barely considered the idea. Besides, it wasn't like you were going to care about the shoes by his door, or the letters on his desk, or the unfolded laund-

- fuck.

The letters.

Your box of letters, which was sat on his desk, which was right by the door.

By the time he'd even registered that they were there, you were already half way into the room. In a somewhat half-arsed attempt to shove them back in the box and toss them to the side, Poe dove forward and knocked them into an open draw, slamming it shut.

When he turned around and saw your wide eyes, it was clear he was a little too late. You'd already seen them.

taglist: tags: @neverlandlibrarian @asphyzzz @dream-alittlebiggerdarling @ubri812 @taina-eny @dessinemoiunehistoire @fangirl-316 @princessxkenobi @brandyllyn

[sorry-i-ship-drarry]

Bath with me

Prompt- Washing the others body | fluff | implied smut | Draco had a terrible day and harry makes up for it |

" oh Honey, good you're home. We are kind of short on groceries so we need to shop- why do you like you can kill me right now ?" Harry raised his head to look at Draco entering carrying his side bag and look exhausted.

" I - can - kill - Someone right now" Draco frustratingly grabbed onto the air, growling

" okay- well I have a knife, I don't think it will work but I'm sure we can work with that. You kill, I will dispose the body- not Funny. Alright. I'm almost done, sit down, and we'll talk alright "

Groaning Draco sat down in the kitchen stool, slamming his head softly over the table. Glimpsing at draco, Harry sighed pouring the pasta immediately into the pan and covering the lid.

" I'm done " Harry announced taking off his apron and keeping it over the counter

" when were you going to tell me that I have been temporarily suspended from apparating ?" Draco looked up at harry, his chin against the table.

" what- I thought you knew. The letter came in like a day ago, it was right over your coffee table. It said it's just a temporary thing with random people because of certain case they're working on " Harry explained

" well- as my husband- you are supposed to inform me such thing " Draco rolled his eyes

" well I thought you must've read it- you know what nevermind, just tell me what's got your knickers in twist?" Harry sat down in front of him and passed him a bottle of water. Draco huffed out air, raising his head and finally started with his rant.

" so it's a normal day, I get free from work, I decided to apparate and Just as I apparate, I'm pulled into the ministry and they start explaining me everything and obviously because you didn't tell me about the disapparation temporal ban, I fought with them until they showed me the damn letter and I ultimately lost the argument and you know how much I hate losing but then I thought let's be like my gentlemen husband so I walk off the ministry, then I finally thought let's take a damn car from the ministry but then I get to know that my damn gentlemen of a husband has denied using his ministry car privileges to donate the money to the orphan- when the hell were you going to tell me ?"

" well I thought- I think I told you-"

" doesn't matter. So I thought let's travel the damn muggle way, so I take the bus-"

" oh jeez-"

" yes jeez, well I've never travelled like that before, I didn't assume it to be that bad but boy oh boy, I had to sit beside a fucking stinky man who I am assuming was smoking drugs right beside. And it's not even the worst part, I can't get out of the seat because a huge man blocks my entrance and that man didn't feel a damn thing even when I punched him to move away. So I was stuck and you wanna know the worst part, one fucking hour, I was stuck for one fucking hour until I get off the damn station five miles away from here and it's not even that, I'm walking home thinking about how it's probably the shittiest day I've had until a car with some fucking teenagers threw some damn fucking milkshake all over me- this was the worst possible fucking day ever " Draco almost sobbed in frustration.

" oh dear " harry immediately gets up and hugs Draco, kissing the top of his head " I had no idea. Why didn't you just flooed ?"

" I- that didn't fucking came in my mind- Harry " Draco whined

" shush- it's alright.. you forgot honey, you were already dealing with a hard day. Merlin,you know what, let's not sulk. I'll go and draw a bath for you, how does that sound ? " Harry asks raising Draco's face by his chin.

Draco almost weeps but nods not leaving Harry yet.

" honey- you gotta let go of me if you want me to draw that bath. I also need to stir the pasta " Harry interjected after several minutes of Draco not leaving him. He groaned and finally let go off harry.

" just go get ready for a Bath alright " Harry said as he immediately turned off the stove. Nodding Draco walks into the bedroom and harry practically ran to the bathroom to prepare his bath.

When almost done with drawing a bath, Harry walks out, and waiting outside the door for Draco to come who did, finally after undressing with just a bathrobe on.

Draco had just entered the bathroom when he calls out to harry

" aren't you going to join ?"

" no- you know I just had one "

" fine- I come home from a stressful day hoping my husband would have a nice bath-"

" Merlin, get in, I'm joining " and with a grin Draco went inside. Harry shook his head smiling to himself about his melodramatic husband, but then he knew he loved him even after everything..

And so harry finally did join Draco into the bathtub, with Draco's back pressed against his chest, enjoying the warm bath. Harry took the shampoo in his hand, and softly rubbing Draco's scalp, who moaned in pleasure.

" love, I really am sorry for how terrible your day was " Harry kissed his neck from behind, his hands roaming Draco's, Washing him.

" it's not your fault " Draco responded turning slightly to only face Harry.

" but I should've told you about the letter and the ministry car thing-"

" it's alright Harry, I didn't check my coffee table, my fault and I know exactly why you don't use the ministry affiliated car- I'm your husband Harry, of course I understand everything you do, even if you don't tell me any of it "

Harry looked at Draco with a new found appreciation for his adorable husband who was probably the most understanding man to walk upon earth.

" how did I land up with you ?" Harry smiled, wrapping his hands loosely around Draco's, pressing soft kisses all over his neck.

" the real question is how did I land up with such an amazing husband ?" Draco gave Harry a genuine smile turning around so he straddled him " I feel like I don't appreciate you enough. I mean in front of you I look like a complete prat..all I do is create drama while you look after the house, take care of the bills and most importantly, take care of me everyday"

" Draco- you take care of me and you do things- like every Sunday you bring me a new breakfast in bed, you do my clothes shopping and always get the right size, you praise me every night and never force me to do anything. And I know you are disappointed with my job, you never tell me on it, I know you want me to take a safer job, I know you do but you let me make my own decisions. And you've taken care of me so much when I had terrible days. You're too good for me Draco, but I think we both think we are too good for each other and that's what makes us so perfect for each other " Harry smiled lightly brushing Draco's cheek with his thumb

" how do you know exactly what to say at the right moment " Draco smiled at harry before leaning down to kiss him over the lips..

" you taste like wine " Draco teased

" well I did try which wine should we have for dinner, since you know you had shit day " Harry mumbled against Draco's lip, his eyes stills closed.

" god- you are just perfect " Draco mumbled before deepening the kiss, his body pressed against that of Harry's, his hands lost in the brunettes hair.

" you are perfect Draco- fuck I love you" Harry breathed, his hands roaming over the back of Draco pulling him closer, Deepening the kiss.

And they made out until the water ran cold and harry picked Draco bridal style and walked them to the room, helping him get dressed and finally having dinner with the finest me in the entire Britain he could find to settle down with.

Request open | masterlist available for all prompts | I'm really sorry for being inconsistent with these posts somedays. I've have had a few very hectic days and someday's I can't just put up with writing, so I need those days off. I apologize for this.

Day 33- cruise to alberobello | Day 35- every inch of you

[lostinthewiind]

3AM in the City

Tetsurō Kuroo - Haikyuu

Synopsis: after high school, you don’t see Kuroo as much as you used to, and not nearly as much as you would like. The only exception is when he calls you up at 3AM to go for a drive—an offer you never turn down; and tonight’s events are exactly why you don’t. 

Rating: PG

Warnings: some kissing, nothing you haven’t seen in the movies before kids. A little angsty if you squint?

As far as you knew, it was just another Friday night you would be spending at home alone, which you didn’t mind in the slightest. As much as you enjoyed going out just as much as the next person, you still knew how to appreciate a quiet night in by yourself.

Scrolling through your phone, the bright, white light illuminating your face in the otherwise pitch black room, you glanced up at the corner of the small device in your hands and took noticed of the time. 3AM. 

Letting out a yawn, almost as if in response to realizing just how late it was, you shifted in bed a little, trying to decide if you should try to get some sleep or keep mindlessly prowling social media for a little while longer.

Before you could make up your mind, however, a notification for an incoming phone call took over your entire screen, startling you a little more than you would like to admit. A small smile toyed at the corners of your mouth as you read the caller ID and answered the call.

“Hello?” You pressed the phone to your ear and sighed, body ready to climb out of bed. You already knew why he was calling . . . it was the only reason he called anymore.

“Hey.” His voice was smooth and casual over the phone, indicating that he hadn’t just woken up, meaning he hadn’t slept at all yet; which wasn’t exactly uncharacteristic of Kuroo. “Did I wake you?”

You shook your head instinctively, even though he couldn’t see it. “No,” you answered. “Just lying in bed.”

There was a short pause before he spoke again. “Wanna go for a drive?”

You had already known before you answered the phone that you would be saying yes to his proposition, but instead of responding right away, you hummed softly, pretending to think about it—pretending you weren’t as eager to see him as you actually were.

“Sure.” You swung your legs over the side of your bed and started searching for some clothes in the dark, unwilling to turn on the bright overhead light and ruin the late-night trance that you enjoyed so much. 

“Meet you in ten,” he said before hanging up. 

“Yeah,” you sighed, even though he was no longer on the other line. Thankfully, you knew this was just the way that Kuroo was—he was just bad at talking over the phone—but you still wished he sounded even a little excited to see you after so long.

Pulling on the same outfit you had been wearing that day, purely because they were sitting at the end of your bed and had been easy to find, you tucked your phone into your pocket and fixed yourself up a little before heading out the door. 

Like always, you waited at the street corner for Kuroo to drive up and pick you up. When he arrived almost exactly ten minutes after he had ended the phone call, you jumped into the passenger’s seat of the incredibly expensive and lavish car he drove. That vehicle was his pride and joy and sometimes you were honestly surprised he even let you inside of it considering how little he seemed to care about you lately.

Before you could even get your seat belt on, he was speeding away from the curb and heading out of your neighbourhood. Glancing over at the man you used to consider your best friend, you noticed the creases between his brows and the way his lips stretched into a thin, tight line. Something was bothering him, but then again, he didn’t ask you to accompany him on mindless cruises at 3AM when all was well in his life.

Knowing that it would be a couple of minutes before he warmed up to your presence and wanted to talk, you turned up the radio and watched the scenery pass by out the window. In the distance, you could see the glowing lights of downtown Tokyo, the bustling hub of the city that you usually avoided due to how busy and crowded it was. 

The city in the middle of the night was a completely different story, however. Maybe it was the way the many colourful advertisements and store signs illuminated the dark night sky, or maybe it was the way the streets emptied out enough for the overwhelming aura to dissipate just enough, but driving through the streets at night brought you a sense of euphoric calm that simply couldn’t be obtained during daylight.

Looking back at Kuroo, you took note of how his face had relaxed, even if just a little. You watched his hands tense around the steering wheel, griping tight before relaxing and tapping his fingers against the leather. Feeling your eyes on him, he finally looked over at you and acknowledged your presence.

“How have you been?” he asked seemingly out of nowhere, as if he just realized he would have to make conversation with you eventually.

Your heart fluttered slightly, joy spreading through you at the thought that he genuinely cared about how you were doing. “Fine, thank you,” you told him. “And you?”

“Okay,” he lied. You knew it was a lie, because even though he had changed drastically since high school, he was still just as bad at bending the truth, especially when it came to you.

“That’s good.” You rested your head against the window and observed the passing buildings and how they grew taller and taller the further into the city Kuroo drove.

As silence consumed the inside of the car once more, you became keenly aware of the music playing in the background; so, when a certain song that brought back a lot of memories started playing, you noticed it before Kuroo. 

Your eyes widened a little as you looked from the radio to Kuroo, waiting to see if he remembered it as well—hoping he remembered it. 

Feeling your eyes on him once more, he cocked a dark brow in your direction. “What?”

“This song.” You gestured lazily to the speaker. “Do you remember it?”

Kuroo chewed on his bottom lip as he listened, and for a moment, you thought he had actually forgotten. Then, a wondrous smile spread across his dimly lit face and he nodded. “Yeah, course I remember.” His spirits seemed to have increased ten-fold. “You always insisted we play it, and every time we did, you would sing every single word. Without fail. Every. Single. Time.” 

A soft chuckle escaped your lips. “What can I say? It’s a good song.” You turned up the volume a couple more notches. 

This time, when the conversation ceased, the vehicle wasn’t filled to the brim with thick tension. Instead, you found yourself thinking back to your days in high school—those incredible three years that you would give anything in the world to return to. Back then, you and Kuroo had been nearly inseparable. Back then, you hadn’t had to fight for his attention.

Back then, you genuinely felt like he wanted to be around you.

Looking to your former-friend and now casual acquaintance, you watched him carefully as he drove, his eyes glued to the road in front of himself. You wondered what had happened. What had gone so wrong that he felt the need to distance himself from you? Had you done something to push him away . . . or was that just the way high school friendships played out?

The question as to what series of events had taken place to get you to where you were now was one that you were unable to answer. The only thing you knew for sure was that you missed Kuroo . . . more than you probably should, but you missed him nevertheless.

Feeling a sudden burst of confidence, either from the inspiring city lights or the nostalgic song, or maybe both, you shifted in your seat to face the man beside you and cleared your throat. 

“Are you going to tell me what’s been bothering you?” you asked matter-of-factly.

Kuroo glanced over at you for a split-second, blinking a few times in response. He was clearly taken aback by your sudden and direct inquiry, and you completely expected him to ignore you altogether or change the subject. What you didn’t expect was for him to turn into the nearest parking lot, park the car, and let out a long, exasperated sigh.

Worry and curiosity coursing through your veins, you sat silent and still, waiting for him to speak or move or do anything.

“I feel lost,” he finally said, his line of sight falling to his lap. There was a pause, and you were unsure if he was going to elaborate more or leave it at that. When you opened your mouth to respond, however, he continued. “Work takes up all of my time . . . so much so that I’m starting to realize I’ve cut ties with everyone I used to know without even noticing it; not until it was too late. And the worst part is, work isn’t even going well. This corporate ladder bullshit is way harder than I ever imagined. I feel stupid for throwing away everything I had for something I might not ever be able to obtain . . . for something I don’t even enjoy. It feels like it’s all for nothing.”

Your jaw dropped slightly. Kuroo had never been that open about his feelings with you before; not unless you had pried for days-on-end or he was plastered drunk. 

You were unsure how to respond at first, so you did what you usually did when people came to you with a problem; you tried to put yourself in their shoes and then give the advice you thought you would want to hear.

“Well, I’m sure it’s not all for nothing,” you told him. “You didn’t get into business because you hated it. Sure, maybe the spark is a little dimmer right now or you’re going through a really rough patch . . . but don’t doubt yourself over one little bump in the road.”

Slowly, Kuroo turned his head toward you, his dark eyes landing on you for more than a few seconds for the first time that night. “But how do I know if it’s worth throwing everything else away over?”

“It’s not,” you said simply. “No job is worth throwing everything else in your life away over. But the best part is, you don’t have to choose between a career and a social life, and anyone who says you do is just plain lazy or insanely bad at time management.”

Kuroo cracked a smile at that and a puff of air that could be interpreted as a soft laugh passed his lips. 

“So my advice is just try to do better from here on out.” You smiled back. “Everyone has a hard time every once in a while. If the people in your life truly care about you, they will understand.”

“Do you understand?” he asked.

This time, you didn’t hesitate at all. There was no need to play coy or pretend like you cared less than you really did. “I do.” You nodded. “I’ve missed you.”

Kuroo’s eyes softened and his small smile faltered for half a beat. “I’ve missed you too.” 

Before you knew what was happening, Kuroo’s large hand was caressing your cheek and his lips were pressed against yours. Even though it was the middle of the night, you swore your entire world lit up at that moment. You had known you had wanted your best friend back, but this was so much better. This was more than you could have ever hoped for.

“I’ve been horrible to you.” Kuroo whispered against your lips, his fingertips trailing down the side of your neck and sending shivers up your spine. “I know this is a lot to ask . . . but can you ever forgive me?”

“Just promise to call me more than once a month . . . and maybe during the day sometimes,” you chuckled. 

He laughed, his hot breath warming your face. “I can do that.”

“Then yes, I forgive you.”

[imonthinice]

The Criminal Psychology Majors, Jason Todd x Fem!Reader Part 6/?

Word Count: 2.6-2.7k idk exact

Author’s Note: Y/N - Your name, A/N - Any name (your best friend’s name)

MUSIC IS INCLUDED THIS TIME! Please enjoy my personal music playlist, or at least a snippet of it.

TO THE PERSON WHO REBLOGGED AND SAID THIS WAS CUTE (at least the first part) you straight up made me cry omfg

Warnings: Swearing, gets really fucking heated at the end (no sex, yet), no beta bitch we die like Jason Todd

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12) (Part 13) (Part 14) (Part 15) (Part 16) (Part 17) (Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20)

Outfit Context:

Y/N:

Jason:

(Cause I finally found an outfit I liked on the boy, men’s fashion isn’t my strong suit,,, heh :) )

“Sorry, is my mouth hung open?” he asked.

“Yes, sir. Very much so,” she mocked.

Jason closed his mouth and outstretched his hand for Y/N’s, cupping it with both hands and kissing the top of it.

“You just look so lovely, Y/N.”

“And you’re chivalrous, Jay. Now, should we get going?” she asked, putting her free hand on top of his two.

“Yes, let’s go,” he let one of his hands go of hers and lead her to the Porsche he brought with him, not intertwining his fingers with hers.

He opened the passenger’s side door and let Y/N get in, not letting go of her hand til the last moment he could hold it. He got in an turned on the radio,

It felt like a good night, for dancing in the moonlight,

In empty streets, well, everybody's got a reason why,

If we could only just get it right,

Maybe it will all work out like in the movies,

But I know Romeo must die before the ending,

With a final poison kiss delivered gently,

Because you don't get lucky twice, and that's the truth,

“Sing to me sweet just like my memory, 

If New York City Still moves me then I’ve found something real,

I’ll be okay, I could go on for days,

But I just don’t have the courage that it takes to be real,

And even if it’s dark at least we’ll be together,

Slowly sinking in the Earth to lay forever,

You better grab a hold and hold on for your life,

Because you don’t get lucky twice,

No, you don’t get lucky twice,” She sung with the tune.

Without the Bitter the Sweet Isn’t as Sweet - Mayday Parade

“You, you have the voice of an angel,” he said.

“It’s not that hard to mimic works of art with my voice.”

“Did you ever take singing lessons?”

“I did when I was younger, so I could sing French lullabies to my cousins.”

He placed a hand on her thigh as he drove them through the countryside of Gotham to Metropolis, taking the long way on what seemed like purpose. So he could encapsulate the moment in his memory for as long as he knew her and what she was to him. She was an adventure waiting to happen, a love story not yet written to tell for ages, a rock ‘n’ roll song written to please the masses in hidden corners of the world.

And to her, he was a masterwork of intertwining memories of pain, sadness, luck and beauty. A mind of complexity she was just waiting to dive into and see how it functioned. A story behind the white tuff of hair he had, why he was jacked to the masses if he was a book nerd. A story of his favourite book and his favourite sibling, his favourite trope, his love, his pain, him.

The moments where she stuck her hand out the window and traced symbols into the Autumn air swirling past the two as they cruised down the empty back roads. When he laughed as she sang Reste by GIMS and Sting. He didn’t understand the lyrics, but she did, and she called it a love song. Well, he got the parts Sting sung, but French wasn’t a language he knew like she did.

“I guess being Bilingual helped you out massively with that one, huh?”

“It’s a talent I never knew I needed, apparently.”

“Well, you did know you needed.”

“That’s fair,” she laughed, “ I guess I did always need it as a skill.”

“Do your cousins speak English too?” he asked.

“Yeah, a bit? It’s better English than my father.”

“Can he not speak English?”

“Well, he can, just not well. But my mother is also Bilingual in English and French so they never had to worry about my father being bad at English. My twin sister and I grew up knowing both languages,” she rambled, still playing with the wind, “I guess it’s a one-up I have on a lot of people, being able to just talk and talk in another language, travelling advantage,” she kept going, Jason intently listening to her as she went on and on, he liked the silence being filled by her voice, “You know? You might know, I don’t know how you were raised to a T,” she finished.

“Well, I can assure you I only know English so you have that theoretical one-up on me, too. But I choose to see that one-up as something you can teach me as time goes on and we progress,” he paused, “If you’re down to get serious eventually, that is,” he panicked.

“Well, maybe we’re at that point where we can say we’re casually seeing each other and exclusive, but not serious. Hopeful, but not pressuring ourselves into something that’s going to be put under a lot of pressure as we go on,” she said, still playing with the wind.

“We’ll see about that after dinner.”

“Where are we even going?”

“Fancy little restaurant with a balcony facing over the city,” he assured.

“Really out here living for the moments?”

“Well, most girls crack under the pressure of the paparazzi, you, however, flipped them off, and that’s being rewarded for showing that you can’t give a fuck about those dingy ass tabloids and how they treat you, by taking you out to nice places,” he said.

She laughed, “I’m glad I’m never going to live that one down, it was really fun to do.”

“I hope it continues as we go along, I would hate to see that behavior change when it brings a smile to everyone who’s ever been harassed by paparazzi” when they pulled over for a second, Jason quickly loosened his tie a tad, “Honestly, I want to ditch this fucking tie,”

“It’s not you,” she said, “It’s just not.”

“And you know me that well to take that guess?”

“I could see you struggling with it from a mile away, Jason. Maybe the fancy restaurant isn’t us,” she laughs, “But we aren’t going to not take that dinner date.”

“Oh we’re so going to take that date, but I’m thinking from here on out we do whatever the fuck we want, no fancy dates. Thoughts?” he asked.

“Done deal,” she said.

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

In the restaurant, the two of them were basically the worst people to be there, it was levels of fancy that neither of them actually wanted, they both wanted simplicity, but they both thought the presence of the other person was enough of a takeaway from the completely wrong choice of restaurant. They had Dick to blame for this one, and Jason made that clear to Dick in a joking text while Y/N snuck off to the bathroom to ‘fix her hair, she was actually checking her breath.

Dick, this fucking restaurant is a god damn bust, man. We aren’t you and Barbara, that’s what we’ve discovered today. lol.

Bummer! We really like that place.

I can see why it screams Dick and Barbs.

You kissed her yet though?

No.

Wuss! Cat got your tongue? Just do it, man.

And at the same time, Y/N was texting A/N about Jason and what to do,

Girl! Thank you so much for reminding me to bring mints, my god, food ruins your breath so much.

You really want the pretty boy kiss huh?

No, I’m eating the mints to not kiss him, YES I WANT THE KISS.

Ha! Honesty is key, just go for it.

She laughed as she packed her phone into her dress pockets (Yeah there’s fucking pockets :) ) and went to leave the restroom to meet up with Jason again. To which, Jason had already paid and tipped the waiter.

“I could have at least helped on the tip, Jay.”

“I tipped him 200%, but if you want to drop more cash, go for it.”

“You tipped that much?” she asked while slipping in a 50$ she had on her.

“Of course, food service workers deserve a lot more than what they get, especially when they have to deal with terrible customers,” he said as he went and grabbed her hand again, not intertwining fingers again, “And my best friend, Will, he complains about people who don’t tip and praises people who quote ‘over tip’ but I think that he deserves 200% each bill for the shit he puts up with.”

“Did you tip him when we went there?”

“No, I called in a ‘No questions asked’ favour. And before you say anything, he did the same to make me babysit his daughter-”

“Your best friend has a daughter?”

“Well, he’s older than me, but yeah, he’s a single dad because her mum kind of sucks, lovely little girl, I’m her godfather.”

“Does she call you Uncle Jason?”

“Well, Uncle Jay, it’s like one of the only works she knows how to say properly, and Dada,” he laughed, “Great little girl,” he said, nervously, “This doesn’t change anything, does it? ‘Cause if he, knock on fucking wood, lord forbids, dies that will be my daughter.”

“Well, he’s not dead and you’re not worrying that he’s going to die, so nothing has to change. God kids are god kids, noble that you took on your best friend’s kid if, lord forbid, anything happens to the man, really,” she assured.

He sighed and kissed the back of her hand, “Then that is just a gift on top of what I did,” he smiled and lead her back to the Porsche once again, opening the car door for her and she slightly turned on the radio, he let out a small laugh to himself, he got the pretty girl. He got into the Porsche again and began backing out.

“There’s something about ditching a really expensive dinner date that leaves you wanting more,” she said, absent-mindedly.

“What kind of more?” he asked.

“The kind you see in the movies, fully exposed and adventurous, you know?”

“Well, we could always sneak into the Wayne Manor Gardens and dance the night away under the stars like lovers do,” he half-joked, placing a hand on her thigh again and pretending like he did it subconsciously, but he was hyper-aware, especially when he caught her smile as she laughed.

“Wayne Manor? With your brothers, sisters, dad, and grandfather?” she paused, “If you’re serious, then no, not tonight. If you’re pulling my leg then, hell fucking no,” she joked.

“Maybe one day, then, huh?”

“One day, for sure. When it isn’t scary to accidentally run into your family on their property running around with you,” she said.

“Well, we can always go into the Wayne Enterprises Ballroom and dance the night away, no one should be in the office for a while and even then since there are no classes in the entire school tomorrow you can just hide out in my office if we stay too long,” he paused to make sure she was still listening, “Security can’t question me because I’m Bruce Wayne’s son, and security is tight as fuck so paparazzi can’t get to us,” he paused to put a little bit of pressure on her thigh, “What do you say? Can I have this dance, Milady?” he half-joked.

“You want to know something Jason?

“Always, Y/N.”

“I took dance lessons when I was younger, can you Waltz?” she asked.

“Yes ma’am, I can.”

“Then I’m in, let’s go.”

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

She loved the feeling of being back in her new hometown, Gotham. So when they pulled into the massive black building, she felt even more welcomed, security at the gates did ask ‘Who’s the girl?’ but Jason just explained it very easily,

“You know that date of mine that flipped off the press and you lot loved it?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” the man responded.

“You can call me Jason, you know that. But this is that girl.”

And they were let through the parking gates and into the underground parking system, they had to travel surprisingly far to Jason’s reserved spot in the lot, but the did get there before it hit AM. Once out of the car, Jason grabbed her hand and they ran into the building’s employees doors. It was a tight squeeze, but the feeling of Jason pressed so close to her sent chills down her spine. They went through many halls and reached the Ballroom, and entering it was like a dream for her.

Walls lined with intricate shapes and colours, but the colours never brought away from the stage at the far end from the door, the curtains seemed to redden with each step towards them, the 3, maybe 4 chandeliers hung above her like crystals in the ocean, it was amazing and beautiful. Checkered floorboards to give it a little bit of dimension, but it was the same colour as the main wall so your brain and eyes wouldn’t hurt after looking at it. It was stunningly beautiful and that’s what drew her in.

When he grabbed her hand and put on Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine, pulling her close to his chest and slowly Waltzing her around the room, spinning her when it felt right for him to do. Neither of them worried about the sloppiness or how it looked to the naked eye because it was for them. no one got satisfaction like they did at that moment. And grabbing her for one last dip was Jason’s goal when the ending of the song hit, although out of breath and his face stuffed in her chest as they both panted, he did pull her up so they were face-to-face on the dancefloor that they wiped clean.

“Did I tell you that you look stunning, Y/N?”

“I think you mentioned it a few times, Jay,” she said, staring directly into his eyes.

“Well, I mean it.”

“And I’m going to mean this,” she paused, taking her hand and placing it on his cheek, “ The way your eyes are a green-blue tint makes me lost in them, they’re like a sea of this mind I find myself liking more and more every day,” she paused to put her other hand on his other cheek, “And the way your nose and cheek freckles frame them is amazing.”

And he went for it. Somehow when he pressed his lips into hers, it felt like they were meant to match, and they both opened their mouths to play the coveted game of tongue-war, but they didn’t play by the rules, it was soft and sweet but full of passion and love, not lust. His hands would travel to her waist and lightly grip her, while her hands would travel to his neck and drape around the back of it.

They pulled away at the same moment to take in air, something they had clearly been missing as they were connected, they both let out a small chuckle before she put her hands in his hair and went in for round 2.

This time it was hungrier, and they both played with the shapes of the other so much more as time went on, he would grab her ass and she would pull on his hair slightly before he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist and moved one of her hands to the nape of his neck, this time, they would break for seconds only to start moving towards his office, which, conveniently, had a couch.

To say he threw her on that couch would be an understatement, he fucking thrust her on that couch and climbed on top of her, it was like 3 days of passion and lust combined themselves in a matter of minutes from their first kiss to them meeting on the couch. They both knew deep down that it couldn’t escalate further than this, especially at 1 in the morning, but time moves fast when you’re connecting in this way.

They finally broke after their passionate exchange and he fell to her side and began to spoon her, “Worth it,” he whispered.

“Worth what?” she asked.

“It was worth it to take a chance and defy my anxieties to ask you on that first date.”

“I don’t like a reality where you didn’t ask me on that date.”

“Neither do I, and I’m positive of that.”

[soldierswar]

Kobik - Chapter V

Bucky X Reader

Fluff, angst

Warnings: Violence

Chapter Summary: Bucky and Sam are still away leaving you and Kobik on your own. Soon, you learn that the two of you may not be as safe as you thought you were. And you learn a little more about how Kobik uses her powers.

Masterlist (For previous/future chapters)

“Wait, no!” you exclaimed.

“You have to slide like this.”

You demonstrated the move starting off with the run and sliding down the wood floor sideways.

Kobik giggled.

“You can’t slide forward. That’s how you fall, kid!”

You were teaching her the Tom Cruise slide from ‘Risky Business', and having fun with it for the past hour or so determined to keep going until you both got it down.

She tried again wearing your socks that were obviously too big for her, but perfect for sliding. And once again she didn’t quite get it causing her to fall forward. She would have made full-face plants, but right before she’d hit the floor she’d begin to hover and bring herself back to a standing position. Honestly, you were pretty sure that the falling part was her favourite. You couldn’t blame her. Since she wasn’t actually getting hurt, watching her do it might have been your favourite part too.

The music that you were playing was so loud that you almost missed the sound of your buzzing phone on the table. It was Bucky.

You went to go pause it, but before you got to it Kobik managed to use her telepathic powers to turn it off.

Typical.

It had been three days since Bucky and Sam left. And if it weren’t for him calling at least once a day, you would have been a bit worried.

“Hey, Y/N,” Bucky answered before you even had a chance to say anything.

“What’s up?” you asked.

“You and Sam find anything yet?”

You could hear a light sigh come from him. He sounded tired.

“We think we’re close.”

“Think?” you questioned.

“We’re pretty sure we’re close to figuring out who they are and what they want. We just need to figure out how to stop them before they go any further in their heavy search for her.”

Your heart skipped a beat. You had almost forgotten that the reason that Kobik was with you in the first place was because people actually wanted to hurt her.

“How’s she doing?”

Suddenly there was a squeal coming from behind you followed by a loud,

“I got it!”

Bucky chuckled.

“Should I ask?”

“Just…dancing,” you snorted.

“How are you guys doing?”

Suddenly you heard Sam’s voice shouting in the background.

“Tell your husband to stop being an irrational asshole so we can get through the next 24 hours in one piece!”

You let out a groan.

“Sorry I have you on speakerphone.”

You ignored that statement.

“Do I really want to know?”

Bucky awkwardly cleared his throat.

“Nothing you need to worry about, doll.”

Doll. He only used that when he was trying to suck up to you in the worst way possible.

Apparently, the two were headed to the airport in the countryside of Sweden and Bucky was driving.

“And how are…you?” he asked. His voice was a little bit apprehensive, and you knew why.

“I mean—”

“We’re both fine,” you reassured. You both knew that you weren’t talking about you and Kobik.

“That’s good.”

You could sense a little bit of a smile in his voice along with a covert sound of relief.

“Have you called…I mean have you talked to…”

“Bucky,” you interrupted.

“Just get home in one piece, and we’ll get everything sorted out then okay?”

“What’s she talking about?” you heard in the background.

“Nothing,” Bucky replied annoyedly.

You playfully rolled your eyes. You knew he was going to keep this a secret for at least a little while longer.

You decided to let him go hoping that he would rest some rest on the plane ride back. When you said your goodbyes Kobik floated into your arms like a feather and said a quick hi, and bye. And before hanging up you also demanded Sam kick your husband’s ass if he didn’t behave. Sam happily agreed.

When you finally hung up you turned your head to an excited Kobik.

“Alright kiddo,” you said.

“Hit the play button.”

………………………………….

Kobik was surprisingly cuddly. And considering the fact that you were chronically sleepy nowadays, you couldn’t complain.

Despite the fact that it was only 5 pm, you didn’t want to move at all. And thankfully you didn’t have to. You laid on your side on the couch with SpongeBob playing on TV as Kobik slept cozily with her back against you.

You felt your phone buzz in your back pocket. When you took it out you saw a text message from Bucky asking if you were home.

You decided that you didn’t really feel like texting so you just picked up the phone and called him.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Y/N, thank God. I was just about to call you.”

His voice sounded panicked.

“Are you at home right now?”

“Yeah, what’s up?” you croaked.

Kobik stirred a little bit at the sound of your voice.

“I need you to get out, now,” he stressed.

“Wait, what?”

“I don’t have time to explain. Just head to our spot and be in the car within the next two min—”

Suddenly his voice was interrupted by a bullet shattering a window and hitting the kitchen counter.

Within an instant, Kobik was awake and alert.

“They’re here,” she said, grabbing you to jump behind the couch with her for shelter. She put her finger to her mouth signaling for you to keep her mouth shut.

Suddenly two men entered the apartment treading carefully.

“You think he’s here?” one guy in a blue shirt asked from the far corner away from you.

They were about 20 feet away from you with their backs turned to you. They were one motion away from seeing you. Actually, when you thought about it, it seemed unlikely that wouldn’t have seen you by now. And Kobik was uncharacteristically calm. And that’s when you noticed.

There was an almost invisible blue silhouette surrounding the two of you. Like a bubble; or some type of force field.

“Can they see us?” you mouthed.

She looked around her watching the two men passing back and forth in front of you.

She slowly shook her head.

“Do you really think that we’d still be alive right now if The Winter Soldier was in any close vicinity to us?” the other guy in a grey shirt answered.

“But the bigger question is where that little moneybag is. Kid killed my old partner. Weak-ass. How dangerous can a four-year-old with some powers be?”

Was that what they were calling Kobik? A moneybag? How much was she going out for like she was some inanimate jewel?

You took your phone out making sure that it was completely silent and began typing in the notes.

“Can we move while invisible?”

She nodded nervously.

You watched their patterns of movement and figured out how you were going to get to your bedroom which was where your gun was.

You wrote in your notes again.

“My room. Now.”

“Seriously, is anyone actually in here?” blue shirt whined.

Grey shirt shushed him and pointed to the keys laid out on the table near the front door, and your purse on the floor. It was obvious that someone was home.

He signaled him to stand on the other end of your office door which just happened to be the door across from your bedroom. They both counted down from three with their guns held tight in their hands anticipating some type of ambush and opened the door, storming in.

You took that as your queue and mouthed the words,

“Go.”

You bolted towards your bedroom and grabbed the case that held your gun. Kobik didn’t leave your side maintaining the illusion of invisibility.

After grabbing it you carefully walked out keeping Kobik close behind you. You saw that they were still in your office debating on who was going to open the closet door.

You took the opportunity of calm to fire three shots at the most dangerous-looking one and bolted back to the living room.

You couldn’t see who or where you shot exactly, but you could tell by the cries that you hit one of them.

One of them said something that you couldn’t quite hear. But the other one hollered,

“I just got hit in the fucking shoulder, you idiot!”

It sounded like grey shirt. Mission accomplished.

You almost smiled a little bit. Bucky was not going to let you be married to him without learning how to defend yourself to your best ability.

That was when you noticed that Kobik wasn’t at your side anymore. You began to panic.

“Kobik?” you whispered.

You turned to your left and found her in a corner under the counter of the kitchen. Keyword…You could see her.

Before you had time to get to her two bullets zoomed past your head by at least ten inches. You shot right back at whoever was hiding behind the office door trying to get you. Before he could fire another round you managed to shoot him right in the hand making him drop the gun. You ran over to Kobik to see if she was okay. Her terror was beginning to set in. Her hands shook, and her eyes were red trying to hold back tears and be brave.

“Are you okay?” you whispered.

And suddenly her eyes went from scared to terrified. That was when you noticed the reflection of a man in her eyes, and he was just about to shoot.

Kobik made a soft intricate motion with her hands, and just as she did the entire room transformed right before your eyes. Just like what had happened a few nights ago, this wasn’t your apartment anymore. This was that lab again.

She managed to separate the both of you from the other guys by a wall. You were now in a completely different room. She began to run towards a small door in the far right corner from you and waved her hand to make you follow.

You ran into the room and without using her hands she slammed the door shut and locked it. You were in a tiny room. There was a little bed in a corner along with a few toys, and a dresser to put clothes in. But it also looked and felt like a panic room.

“It’s okay now,” she said breathlessly.

“They can’t hurt us here. The wall's bulletproof, and they can’t see the door or hear us.”

“How do you know that?”

But when you looked into her eyes you knew the answer.

You let out a huge sigh of relief and wrapped your arms around her. She had been so good at keeping calm since the men entered, but as you started rocking her, her body began to shake.

“It’s happening again,” she whimpered.

You pulled away and placed your hands on her wet cheeks.

“Listen, kid,” you said.

“We’re gonna keep you safe. And I’m not going anywhere.”

She began to cry even more. But now she didn’t seem scared. She seemed almost relieved. She trusted you. And trusted that maybe just maybe, you were right.

…

Half an hour passed you and Kobik were laying face-up on the comfortable carpeted floor. For a room that was made up in 0.5 seconds, she really knew how to make her surroundings comfortable.

About 10 minutes ago you began to hear faint noises on the other side of the door. A bang here, a bang there, maybe someone yelling. You wondered if more people were coming in to look for you. Whoever it was, they didn’t sound happy. Maybe a boss or someone was yelling at them for losing the two of you. But you weren’t scared. As Kobik said, you were safe.

“Y/N,” Kobik said pulling your phone that she had just found from under the bed.

“I think this is yours.”

You shook your head and smiled. You knew that you must have dropped it, but you didn’t know that it followed you.

You remembered the last time that you had spoken to Bucky and how panicked his voice sounded right before bullets came flying through your windows. You couldn’t imagine how scared he must be. Or if even he was okay. The last time that you had heard from him was about 14 hours ago and he was about to fly back from Sweden.

You turned it back on to find 27 missed calls from both Bucky and Sam.

Right before you had a chance to call Bucky, Sam’s number popped up as he was calling. But you still had to be cautious.

“Who is this?”

“Who do you think it is?”

A huge sigh of relief escaped you.

“Are you guys okay?” he continued.

“We’re inside the um…apartment? And we can’t find you.”

Kobik seemed nervous to let your secret spot go.

“Just tell us where you are. Bucky’s currently interrogating two bleeding guys that he just handcuffed. I’m guessing that you had a little something to do with that?”

You snorted. But knew you definitely had to get out before any unnecessarily serious damage was done.

You nodded at Kobik telling her that it was okay. The coast was clear. And she trusted you. With one swift motion with her hand, the door flew open.

Sam was coincidentally in the same room as you guys but was startled when you opened the door.

“Shit!” he exclaimed.

“How did you guys…where did that door come from?” he then looked down at Kobik. His mouth opened and confusedly tilted his head.

“Y/N makes that face a lot too,” was the first thing that she said.

Under different circumstances, you definitely would have burst into laughter. But all you could do was walk over and hug him.

“Are you guys okay?” he asked looking you and Kobik up and down looking for any injuries looking relieved when you both seemed okay.

“Sam?” Bucky called from afar?

“They might still be—”

That’s when Kobik used her powers again and brought everything back to normal. In fact, everything that was damaged in the first place was also back to normal.

When everything was back in place you were in the same room as Bucky.

When he turned around, you had never seen anyone so relieved in his entire life. You ran towards him and he held on to you tighter than he had ever held on before.

“Y/N,” he gasped.

“Oh my God.”

“You know if you weren’t my husband I’d be sending you a medical bill for the cracked ribs,” you winced.

“What?”

He pulled away thinking that you were actually injured before realizing how hard he was squeezing you.

“When were you going to tell me that you landed?”

He shook his head

“I tried.”

You then remembered all of the unread messages that you had received while napping.

Right.

“Bucky!” Kobik exclaimed.

She had been distracted talking to Sam about what had just happened.

He smiled and let her jump into his arms.

“She’s a really brave girl this one,” you pointed out.

“I was lucky to have her.”

"Y/N I'm so sorry I never should have--'

You shushed him and reassured him.

"It's okay," you said.

"We're all fine. That's all that matters."

That didn't stop the expression of guilt in his eyes.

"Besides," you added and winked.

"You thought me well."

Bucky shook his head and brought you close hugging you and Kobik at the same time.

“I’m sorry to break up your little Hallmark moment,” Sam interrupted pointing to the two guys on the floor that were in fact cuffed, and bleeding on your wood floors and against the back of your couch.

“But we have unfinished business.”

Tagged: @teenagedreams-bucky @typicalnerd98 @veroxloki @white-wolf-buckaroo @acciosiriusblack @pastel-boy-sungjae @flightsandfantasy @noiralei @unstablesleepygal

[thiswasinevitableid]

i can't remember if this is a duplicate or not but #59 ot4 nsfw for the winter fills?

Nope, not a duplicate! Here you go!

59. this year my family has decided we’re celebrating the holidays on a cruise and you’re the cute bartender who teases me for mourning the lack of snow OT4 NSFW

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say

On a bright Hawaiian Christmas day

That's the island greeting that we send to you

From the land where palm trees sway…

“Do you ever get tired of it?” Joseph points up at the speaker, the one nestled behind a fake fern.

“The carols? Oh yeah. But, uh, between you and me, they’re better than the top forty playlists we get the rest of the year.” The bartender, Barclay, smiles and picks up his glass, “another gin and tonic?”

“Yes, please.” Normally he wouldn’t have a second, but normally there isn’t a six foot two guy with broad shoulders, gorgeous brown eyes, and a great ass that he only gets to see if he turns to retrieve something from the shelf above the bar. “You know, the carols feel almost incongruous. I mean, there’s no chilly air, no lit up houses, there isn't even any snow. How can it be the holidays without snow?”

“Last time I checked, winter in the bay area never has snow.”

“I’m from the midwest. I only moved to San Francisco last year. For, um, for work.”

Barclay sets the fresh drink in front of him. His smile is teasing, and instead of going back to cleaning glasses he leans on the bar with a teasing smile, “y’know, most people who miss the snow pick Alaskan cruises, not Mexican ones.”

“I didn’t pick. My sister begged me to come after her in-laws booked this and her husband had to work on a massive project at the last minute. I couldn’t leave her and my niece to fend for themselves.”

“In-laws that bad?”

“They’re the kind of people who like gated communities because of the invisible ‘whites only’ sign.”

“Eeesh, no wonder you’re chilling at a bar at eleven p.m. Next drink’s on the house.” He winks, stands to serve a pair of customers who plop down at the far end of the bar. Joseph assumes that’s the end of their conversation, but Barclay keeps coming back to chat. He learns they’re both die-hard Agent X fans and that bartending is far from his only job on the ship (the line they're on boasts "uncrowded ships" which also means chronic short-staffing). He also learns that if he glances down for too long, he can make out the very promising shape of his dick through his jeans.

Still, duty calls, and it’s rude to hit on people who are stuck at work.

“I, um, I should go. I promised Lily I’d let her vent to me before bed and she doesn’t stay up much past midnight. I had a wonderful time talking with you.” He counts out bills and slides them across the bar.

“Same here.” Barclay sets his fingers lightly atop Joseph’s hand before it retreats, lowers his voice, “if, uh, you want me to show you a different kind of wonderful time, I usually get back to my room by three. 105, lower deck.”

Joseph runs his thumb along his palm with a flirtatious smile, “I’ll see you at three.”

—-------------------------------------------------------

“The worst part is, it’s not even snowing! At least when it’s freezing cold I have an excuse for why I’m huddled up on my own and not joining them for whatever horrendous outing they’re going on.” Indrid bites a maraschino cherry with a miserable sigh, “I never thought I’d long for cold weather.”

“Could always say you’re seasick.” Duck offers, checking the clock and praying no one else comes in and interrupts them.

“True, though I do want to do some of the activities on the schedule. And perhaps visit this bar again.” He grins and Duck smiles right back.

Kepler is smaller than the average cruise ship, designed for people who want all the amenities of a luxury cruise without the riff-raff but are too cheap or scared to buy their own boat. Sometimes, they drag their less well-off family along for the ride. Duck would lay every last cent in the tip jar that the guy on the stool is such a case; the silver hair, the eyebrow piercing, the fact there’s ink-stains under his fingers.

Duck’s had plenty of fun taking those outsiders back to his cabin, but Indrid blows them all out of the water. He’s an amalgam of every hot art burn-out Duck fucked in bathrooms at tiny-ass music venues, as cute as he is weird (like a bug someone might keep as a pet). Duck’s more than happy to talk with him–his family sounds legitimately shitty, which explains why he’s at the bar at one a.m–but the more he flirts, the more Indrid smiles.

“‘Ey ‘Uck.”

He looks over as the guy sticks out his tongue to display the cherry stem he just tied in a knot.

Fuck it, he can close a little early, no one else has come to the upper bar in over an hour.

“Mighty impressive, sugar. Makes me wonder what else that tongue is good for.”

“I’m happy to offer a, ah, demonstration.” Indrid settles his arms on the bar, leaning forward, and Duck dares a kiss. He gets a pleased sigh in reply, followed by Indrid trying to climb over the shiny wood to join him.

“Gimme two seconds, darlin. Then I’ll make you forget all about missin’ the snow.”

—---------------------------------------------------------------------

Joseph slips up the stairs a little after seven; Barclay needs his sleep, and so he dressed with lights off and gave him a soft kiss goodbye. If he goes straight to breakfast on the lower level, he’ll have plausible deniability for why he’s out and about (until Lily notices he’s in the same close as yesterday).

A plastic clatter followed by “damn” draws his attention, and he picks up the phone that’s just fallen at his feet. He looks up to find another man almost at the top of the stairs.

“Good morning, Indrid.”

“Hello. May I have my phone back?”

Joseph climbs the remaining steps and passes it over. From the state of his hair and the fresh hickeys peeking from his collar, Joseph’s guessing Indrid was up to the same thing he was last night.

Meals on the Kepler are buffet or fast casual for all but dinner, when guests are seated at tables with other passengers. Indrid’s family and Joseph’s have been paired off, which means there’s actually someone who wants to talk with Joseph about mothman while they eat their shrimp scampi. That Indrid resembles the guys Joseph thought himself too nerdy to ask out adds a spark to their conversations that he enjoys.

“Would you like to grab breakfast with me? Could give us both a cover story, if you need one.”

“Hmm? Oh yes, of course. I, ah apologies” he frowns at his screen, then pockets it again, “I’ve been trying to puzzle out the drunk text my brother sent at four in the morning but I give up. Shall we?”

As Joseph eats his toast and pours coffee into his system, Indrid crunches a bowl of Lucky Charms and picks up his phone.

“Can you decipher this word?”

Joseph looks at the message, “Going by the key’s he’d probably have hit if he was drunk…something about a silver fox and a Hawaiian shirt.”

“I am even more glad than usual I spent the night elsewhere.” Indrid rests his chin in his hand, “you know, you still owe me a continuation of your mothman theory.”

“...You really want to hear it? It’s involved.”

“You were very patient with my babbling about the finer points of tattoo styles.”

“It was fascinating. Right, so, the TNT plant sighting…”

—--------------------------------------------------------------------

Duck is in a better mood than a drunk sorority girl on the first day of spring break; he’s gotten laid the last two nights, this morning he wasn’t in a rush so he and Indrid could have breakfast together, and today is one of his favorite outings: snorkeling. He felt a little weird telling Indrid that he was in charge of the outdoor activities as well as the odd bartending shift, but the other man had immediately asked him to say more.

He almost asked Indrid to come, but he was so excited about the nature drawing expedition Juno’s leading Duck couldn’t bear the thought of tempting him away from it. The group passes as his collection of tourists are getting on their flippers, and Indrid blows him a kiss. Duck catches it and winks. Fuck the guy is cute.

Speaking of cute…

“Second flipper annnnd there we go. You’re all set, my little lake monster.” The guest who looks like a fucking movie star finishes helping his niece (Duck only knows this because the guy was quick to correct all the people telling him what a good dad he was) get her gear on. He’s not wearing any himself, chooses instead to wade into the water and watch her as she kicks about the lagoon. As he turns, Duck spots two scars on his chest; one of his people, it seems. And conveniently standing in a spot that lets Duck monitor all his charges if he joins him.

“Not much for swimming?”

The man smiles politely, the expression warming as his eyes glide from Duck’s arms down to his belly, “Not really. I like it fine, but I promised my sister I’d watch Elise closely, and I can’t do that with my head under water.”

“Can still enjoy the view up here.” Duck looks out at the bright blue expanse.

Blue eyes stay on him, “Yes, I really can.”

They chat about Duck’s other adventures on the cruise for a time. Then the man, Joe, takes a step to his left to adjust his balance and yelps as sand kicks up around them.

“Don’t worry, just a ray. See?” Duck points as a grey shape flaps away.

“Wow. I, I’ve never seen one in the wild. Not a lot of them in the great lakes.” He relaxes back, brushing into Duck in the process, “sorry, open water makes me jumpy.”

“Don’t worry” Duck sets a hand on his lower back, “be right here in case the fish get any ideas.”

“Very noble.” Joe replies dryly before setting their shoulders together.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Indrid is hiding from his brother in the cafe near the stairs to the crew; being rebuffed by a friendly former defense contractor has turned Apollo in a seething ball of rage and Indrid would like his carefully done drawings to survive the evening. The twinkle of the aqua Christmas tree and the dull crooning of carols is a welcome respite from the sulking.

A laugh, as absurd as a bird of paradise and twice as bright, echos from the hall below him. He peers over the railing to see Duck with his arms around Joseph, growling and giggling in his ear as he opens the door to his cabin.

As tempting as putting his ear to the door once it closes might be, he’d like both men to continue speaking to him. Perhaps Duck will let his southern manners slip enough to tell Indrid what Joseph is like in bed while Indrid’s head is between his legs.

“Hey, uh, Indrid? Mind testing out a recipe for me?” Barclay, the baker (and, according to Joseph, bartender) who’s as delicious as the sugar cookies he keeps slipping Indrid, sets a mug down in front of him, “I remember you said you love eggnog, so I wanna see how mine stacks up.”

Indrid sips and moans, “Like I’m sitting under Christmas lights by a roaring fire.”

“Guess I have a winner then. Although, uh, I’ve been mixing up a few different ones in my room. You wanna come, uh, sample them for me?”

“Why, Barclay” Indrid flutters his eyelashes, “are you trying to use eggnog to lure me away and sully my purity.”

Barclay traces the luna moth on Indrid’s forearm, “What if I am, little moth?”

“Then you’d better get to it.”

—----------------------------------------------------------------------

“Mind if I join you?” Joseph sets his towel on the lounger nearest the hot tub.

“Not at all.” Indrid’s red glasses are tipped up his forehead, “what brings you here at one a.m?”

“The exhaustion of explaining to Lily’s in-laws that Elise being bilingual will not, in fact, ‘confuse’ her.” Joseph slides into the water with a groan of relief.

“Gracious.”

“Hiding from your brother?”

“Yes. He finally got Vincent back to our room, so I’m exiled until morning.” He reclines, the underwater lights throwing colors along the planes and angles of his body, “perhaps I’ll sleep under one of the Christmas trees.”

“We’d have to put wrapping paper on you first. Or some ribbons. You know, so you match the decor.”

“And not at all because you like the idea of tying me up with pretty red bows?”

Joseph scoots closer, “No, that’s not really something I’m interested in doing to you.”

“And what are you interested in?” Indrid purrs, trailing his fingers up his chest. His seductive veneer cracks when Joseph straddles him, his eyes wide and smile twitching strangely.

“Is this okay?”

“Yes, yesyes I just…I didn’t think you’d be interested. I mean, Duck and Barclay make sense, they’re gorgeous like you, you have excellent taste by the way but I, I’m not quite as, you know.”

His heart aches as he bends to kiss a curve along Indrid’s cheek, “Indrid…”

“Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy flirting with you-”

“So you were playing footsie under the dinner table.”

“Not the first few times; I’m just a bit clumsy.” Indrid grins up at him, “but after that, yes.” He moans when Joseph sucks lightly on a faded hickey, “Joseph, please”

“Do you” Joseph kisses his collarbone, “honestly think my excellent taste doesn’t extend to you?” He nips his neck, “have you forgotten both Duck and Barclay think you’re incredible?” Grinding his hips produces a high, needy groan from the man beneath him.

“We have to find some privacy.” Indrid pants.

“You’re right. Come on, let’s go.”

They splash and scramble up, drying themselves in a hurry and slip-sliding across the empty, shining floors.

“Wait, shit, I share my room with Lily and Elise. And yours is a no-go.”

“Come now, sweetheart, surely you can think of something.” Indrid clings to and paws at him as he scans the dark hallways, “give me that pin, this one on your jacket.”

Indrid hands it over and Joseph drops to his knees at the service door of the closed cafe. A few jiggles of the lock later, the door swings open.

“Oh that is very attractiveAH!” Indrid quietly cackles as Joseph drags him inside and pushes him down onto the nearest rug. He’s a hungry kisser, lapping at his lips and moaning whenever their tongues meet.

The other door swinging open makes them both scramble gracelessly to hide behind the counter.

“Dr Harris Bonkers, you in here buddy?” A familiar baritone whispers out.

“I can check the back if you can search the trees out here. Aubrey said he likes to hide under ‘em.” Ducks’ footfalls come closer.

Beeblybeep

“Looks like she found him!”

“Thank fuck, hate for the poor little fella to…get…we got a leak or somethin’ because there’s a wet spot on the floor.”

Joseph winces as he speaks up, “That was, um, was us.”

Duck rounds the counter and laughs, “Damn, you fellas were so horny you broke in here to fuck?”

“Our options were limited.” Indrid waves as Barclay peers over the counter.

“Kinda hurt you didn’t consider my room.” The cook teases.

“We didn’t want to be presumptuous.” Joseph stands, but Indrid waits until Duck helps him up and then cuddles up to him.

“I don’t suppose we could presume now?”

Duck chuckles and kisses him, “Hell yeah you can. Actually, hold on a sec.” He waves Barclay over to one of the tables to whisper, then turns back, “okay, we’re gonna use Barclay's room. Are, uh, are you two okay bein’ blindfolded?”

“Yes.” Joseph says instantly. Indrid thinks for a moment, then nods.

They close their eyes once they reach the cabin door, staying put as Barclay wraps a tie around each of their heads. He’s relaxing already, letting Duck guide him into the room and onto the bed. Barclay must do the same to Indrid, because the mattress dips to his left and then spindly arms are around him.

“Damn, sugar, can’t even go a few seconds without someone payin attention to you?”

“I can, but I don’t want to.” He kisses Joseph's throat, which is almost enough to distract him from the snip-snip of scissors.

“What are you doing?”

“Barclay’s gettin a little surprise ready for y’all.” A hand runs up his calf and, from the little squeak in his ear, Indrid’s as well, “my job is to get you ready. Though, uh, you’re already most of the way there, ‘Drid.”

“You try to not get hard with Joseph in your lap.”

“Don’t intend to.” Duck carefully rolls him onto his stomach, “but I gotta make sure you stay, uh, at attention.”

“H-OH, oh my what do you have planned?”

“Somethin that means you’re wearing that ring on your cute little dick for awhile.” There’s a pop and a crinkle of foil, then a finger teases his ass, “this okay, Joe?”

“Yes” He squeezes the pillow with a delighted groan as Duck pushes inside.

“Told you he liked it.” Barclay chimes from somewhere by the T.V, “got wetter from me being balls deep in his ass than from anything else.”

“Jesuschrist.” He rolls his hips as Duck gingerly works him open, the second finger joining the first right as warmth engulfs the left side of his body. Indrid’s cock ruts against his thigh and whimpers fill his ear.

“Be patient, darlin; you cum too fast, you won’t get to feel what this” he drags Indrid’s fingers across Joseph’s folds, “feels like on your dick.”

“Fuck, if, if this what I think it is, please hurry up.” He pushes his hips back, urging Duck to add another finger.

“Never thought a fella as buttoned-up as you could be so fuckin kinky.” The third finger pushes in, Duck fucking him with more force and scissoriing him open. There’s a kiss on the base of his beck and he turns his head to capture Duck’s mouth properly before letting him pull back.

“Okay, ready.” Barclay joins them, must pull Indrid onto his back, the thinner man whining about the loss of Joseph’s body heat. There’s a messy kiss and then, “don’t worry, little moth, gonna be plenty warm in a minute.”

“C’mere handsome.” Duck helps him to his knees and guides him until he’s straddling Indrid’s hips, “think a smart fella like you knows where this is goin.”

He grins Duck’s way as he sinks onto Indrid’s cock.

“AHhhhhnnyes” fingers dig into his hips, “ohgodyoufeelsogood, so good.”

“So do you.” He adds a slight bounce to his movements, loving the way Indrid moans at each one.

A beard tickles his shoulder, “Hey babe.”

“Hi, big guy.” He parts his lips, certain Barclay will kiss him (Barclay kisses more than anyone else he’s ever taken to bed). It’s a languid, delicious kiss, and for a moment everyone and everything else melts away. Then Duck pinches Indrid’s chest and he yelps, making the rest of them laugh.

“Bend forward.” Barclay growls.

Joseph obeys, focuses on kissing Indrid’s face and lips as the thick head of Barclay’s cock presses into him. The cook grunts with every thrust, hands replacing Indrid’s on his thighs.

“Fuck, babe, your ass was made for this. Shoulda, fuck, shoulda put on a ring too because I;m gonna cum so fucking fastfuck.” He bottoms out, then drags Joseph upright to fuck up into him with ecstatic groans.

“Guess I better get to it then.” Duck’s voice is close, and his position becomes clear when there’s a muffled “mmph” from Indrid followed by the obscene, slick sound of Duck grinding on his face.

“Lucky.” Joseph pants, cock throbbing and the contrast between Indrid’s erratic, bucking thrusts and Barclays determined, deep ones.

“Don’t worry baby, plenty of that sweet mouth for all of us.” Rough fingers rub along his dick just the way he showed Barclay that first night, “fuck, love how bounce when I jerk you off, can see this whole fucking perfect body tensing and it’s so fucking hot.”

He moans, rolls his hips in time with Barclay’s thrusts, “C-can I cum or will that ruin the plan.”

“Cum whenever you want, just know I’m not gonna stop until I do too.”

“Kinda, fuck ‘Drid right there, kinda wanna hear how he gets when he’s sensitive” Duck growls something else and Indrid moans, “taking two dicks don’t make him scream, we gotta work out what will.”

That thought does it, his whole body shaking as he moans out a thank you. He braces on Indrid’s body as Barclay thuds into him over and over again, the cooks orgasm following on the heels of his own. Kisses pepper his back as the blindfold is ripped away and he’s pulled off Indrid’s cock.

A high, muffled whine and Duck cooing, “hush now sugar, we’ll take care of you.”

“Fuck yeah we will.” Barclay removes the condom, pulls off the ring, and grips Indrid’s cock, stroking it roughly while pointing it at Joseph’s chest. Joseph relaxes against him, murmuring about how he’s doing so well, treating Indrid so sweetly, before cum splatters up his chest.

“Fuck” Duck’s hand thwacks into the wall, ripples visible in his thighs as they shake. Joseph is going to re-coat them in kisses before this trip is through.

Duck climbs off Indrid, eases away the blindfold so brown eyes blink in the dim light.

“Mmmmm, that, that was exquisi–when did you do all this?”

Joseph follows his gaze, laughs when he sees the paper snowflakes hung around the room, made pleasingly icy by the twinkle lights and accented with silver tinsel.

Duck blushes, shrugs, “Y’all both said you missed snow. In a way. So, uh, Barclay and I talked and thought it’d be fun to make our own little snowy spot.”

“Live up to what you were missing?” Barclay cuddles up in Joseph's arms as Indrid wiggles between the cook and Duck.

Joseph kisses his cheek, “I’ve seen a lot of snowy days in my time, big guy. This is better than all of them put together.”

[rose-blooms-red]

Significant Others/troopers under their command react to Edee's latest volley of obnoxious gifts :D

Did I start this 3 months ago? Yes. Did I also write over 2k of it Today? Also yes. Productivity is a Relative Term. 

[read on ao3]

Fox twitches as he reads the clearly handmade voucher. Says, pleasant as anything, “I’m going to fucking murder him.”

Ponds hums, looking over Fox’s shoulder, “It’s sweet. Probably.”

Fox makes a noise in the back of his throat that isn’t entirely describable by any known language. 

Does he still have that clock he found during that one shopping trip? The one with that awful fucking peach, mustard, and grey-blue combination that spat out an eeopie’s mating call every half hour? He’d been planning on saving it he remembers but—

“Telling you to take a break like that,” Ponds continues, like he can’t hear the way Fox’s higher reasoning is currently dying a slow painful death, “very considerate.”

Fox grits his teeth. Needs must, and Fox needs to crush the little fucker’s spirit thoroughly under heel. He’ll have to take it out of storage tomorrow.

“No.”

Ponds giggles, “I’m sure it’ll be entertaining at least.”

“Hondo,” Fox reiterates, digging his elbow back into Ponds’ stomach. 

Ponds drapes himself over Fox’s back, knocks the side of his head against Fox’s, “As I said,” he simpers, “entertaining.”

Fox makes a disgusted sound, sneers down at the offending…. Gift.

‘All expense-paid cruise on the Hondo Ohkana ‘Sights of The Galaxy’ tour!!!!!!’ It proclaims in neon colours and excessive exclamation marks, ‘Very Romantic and Exciting!’

“When’s it say it’s good for?” Ponds asks, like he’s actually contemplating it.

“No.”

Ponds snatches the voucher out of his hands anyway, “Oh good! We aren’t busy that ten-day.”

Fox’s hand twitches, “I am not getting on a fucking ship with fucking Hondo Ohkana, Ponds.”

“Mhm, ‘course not Fox.” Ponds responds absentmindedly, pats his arm lightly in the way that means they are definitely getting on the fucking ship with fucking Hondo Ohkana, “We’ve got a ten-day to pack and get everything in order, that should be enough.” He nods to himself, breezes out of the room with a vague sense of purpose as he flits around the house, presumably for things to take on a ‘very romantic and exciting’ trip.

Fox is going to murder somebody, preferably Hondo, or Neyo. 

He hears the sound of Ponds grabbing the DC-15A’s and he grimaces, ugh, time to find the fucking holdout blasters, those things haven’t been serviced in at least a ten-day, and he needs to check on the blaster packs for the DC-17’s. He can’t remember if he restocked the things after the last time he used them. 

If they’re going on the fucking trip, they’re gonna be well fucking stocked.

(Fox manages not to murder Hondo, but it’s a very near fucking thing.

He does come back from the trip in a much better mood though, other than the twitch he’s developed from listening to Hondo all day. Ponds is annoyingly amused and smug about it. Fox ignores it, like he does every other fucking annoyance in his life. 

He shuts down the talk of another trip like it happening any time in this fucking century before Ponds even opens his mouth to respond. Once was fucking enough thank you.)

__________

Colt closes his eyes, casts a net about his mind for a sliver of patience and finds his supply has dwindled something awful.

When he opens his eyes again both nuisance and potted plant are still there. Gree smiles winningly and Colt smells danger. 

Or maybe he just smells the plant, because that is the thing overwhelming everything else right now. He glares down at it, it looks harmless, mostly, in it’s large pot but already Colt can hear the sounds of flies swarming around.

“That is not a houseplant,” Colt says, relatively tamely in his opinion, given that the overwhelming smell it emits is decay, “that is the type of plant one shoots and hopes doesn't survive the encounter.”

“It’s a very rare and endangered plant,” Gree lies, grin earnest and eyes bright with humour.

“It’s a pile of banthashit dressed up in vegitive form.”

“It’s an Amorphophallus titanum,” Gree corrects, “and it’s very rare, it’s one of the largest unbranched inflorescence in the galaxy that isn’t also carnivorous in any shape or form.”

Colt gives the plant a dubious look, “I’ll believe that when it doesn’t smell like it just ate and digested something.”

Gree shrugs, “It’s possible it’s a type of carrion flower…. but in the name of protecting it from extinction there’s no one I’d trust more than you.”

Colt twitches, he has no clue what a carrion flower is or how that accounts for the way it smells like Colt has a pile of corpses rotting away on his front step, but he does not like it at all.

The worst part is that he can’t actually tell whether this is Gree being serious or him pulling a shithead move. Because this is exactly the type of thing Gree would genuinely do and also the type of thing Gree would do just to fuck with him.

Behind him someone gags and Colt twitches.

“Fine,” he grits out, and Gree’s smile tries for sunshine and comes up partly cloudy and fully shiteating.

“Wonderful, thanks Colt.”

“Please leave.” 

Gree laughs as he leaves and Colt closes the door with a sigh.

“It smells like someone died over there,” Blitz calls out and Colt groans.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

Havoc sniggers, “It really does sir, we might have to keep the Little’s away for a few days, wouldn’t want one of ‘em puking.”

Colt winces, that image does enough to convince him of the necessity, the only thing that could be worse right now is over a dozen Little’s sicking up from the smell. “Might be for the best.”

Blitz hums, looking at the now closed door in interest, “How likely is it that he was pulling your leg?”

Colt slumps into his chair, “50/50” he admits and Blitz raises his eyebrows.

“That is almost more concerning. What the kriff did they put in your batch.”

“Mistakes,” Colt grumbles back. This is why he’s the oldest, he’s the only one in the entire batch who managed to wrangle any sense out of his tube and keep it all the way through.

Havoc laughs and Blitz snorts, then looks like he immediately regrets it, “Ugh, Colt your batch is full of sadists I’m not gonna get the smell out of my nose for weeks.”

“It’s probably seeped into the clothes at this point,” Havoc agrees and Colt groans.

(When Shaak comes home she takes one look at the plant and can’t seem to decide whether to grimace or smile.

“Apparently,” he drawls, “it’s a very endangered plant that’s been entrusted to my care.”

A burst of laughter ripples out into the room and Shaak smiles, hand covering her lips as her shoulders shake minutely, Colt forgets about the death plant for a second as he looks up at her, heart stopping for a moment in the split second it takes her to swallow her laughter back down and he wants nothing more than to pull that sound out from her again.

It takes him a minute to realize that at some point he’d started smiling. He can’t seem to stop it, but there are worse things to find himself unable to stop doing.

“It’s commonly known as a type of carrion flower,” she tells him finally, laughter lacing her tone, “otherwise known as a corpse flower for the smells they produce. It is not endangered, though there are those who agree that it might not be too much of a loss if it was.”

Colt groans. Shaak giggles and Colt finds himself forgetting for a second to plot his revenge.

Maybe Gree will get off a bit lighter this time, if only because Colt got to hear that bright laughter. 

He hums, “Plant it far, far, far away from the house?” Shaak smiles, presses a kiss to his forehead.

“That, my dear Colt, sounds like a brilliant plan.”)

__________

Gree gives the box a look of suspicious distrust that makes Barriss giggle and Decker snicker. 

It’s a big box, about the size of his torso and Gree has seen that bland, even smile too many times before to trust the contents of the box.

“Fox,” he warns and Fox’s grin goes sickeningly sweet.

“Gree, Baby Brother Dearest,” he drawls and Gree can hear the capital letters what the fuck, “I put my heart and soul into this you know, I’m hurt, really I am.”

That, Gree thinks sourly, is the worst load of banthashit he’s ever heard, and he’s had to listen to ‘scientific lectures’ given by people who read maybe one Edupad and then promptly forgot all of the information in the Edupad and decided whatever half-remembered thing left was Fact and Truth and refused to listen to Reason…. or sources and cited works.

Gree was very annoyed about that one, he’d put Effort into that paper thank you very much and he’d taken the class to learn things, not whatever that had been.

Fox wiggles the box in his hands around, expression pleasant and smile sharp.

Gree sighs. At least, he assures himself as he takes the box, it won’t be as bad as whatever happened after Fox and Ponds had come back from Neyo’s…… Gift.

Maybe.

The box is squishy. Boxes are not supposed to be squishy.

Gree has a Bad Feeling about this. He raises an eyebrow, Fox doesn’t even twitch.

Behind him Barriss is watching the exchange with wide, mirth filled eyes and a hand covering her mouth. Decker has long since lost the battle of keeping his snickering quiet and the rest of Gree’s so called loyal troopers of Green company watch with rapt attention.

He sighs again, loud and long-suffering, Fox’s smile never shrinks a shade less than serial killer pleased.

Gree unwraps the wrapping flimsi with ease, and then stares with distant horror at the plasti-cling underneath it. Not a box, no, plasti-cling.

It’s layered.

Gree twitches and reaches for one of his vibroblades.

“It’s very delicate,” Fox informs him, just as he gets the vibroblade out of it’s holder.

“Oh?” Gree asks, really quite pleasantly given the plasti-cling is so layered he can’t see a damn thing through it.

“Extremely,” Fox confirms, deadpan. Behind him Barriss giggles uncontrollably and Decker is flushed with laughter and gasping for air and the others aren’t much better. 

“Do they always do this?” one of them whispers incredibly poorly, Gree twitches, Fox eyes him with that malicious amusement that cements his place as youngest forever in Gree’s head.

“Always,” Barriss whispers back, giggling still and Gree’s heart warms for a second before his impending humiliation via gift settles in again.

“I knew the Commander wasn’t only, you know, learny, but I always thought he was sane.”

“Oh he’s sane,” Cooker reassures, “far as we can tell their entire batch is just, Like That.”

“But this is Torrent lev—” Fox’s face gives an unpleasant twitch that Gree sympathizes with.

Torrent, ugh.

“Shhhh,” the rest of Green hisses and Barriss hides her head in her hands as she laughs.

“We don’t compare them to Torrent, makes them touchy,” Draa mutters, as if he isn't half the reason Gree goes into interactions with Torrent prepared to have engineering go on another crazed building spree. He has a hunch that they feed on each other, the engineers, and it's their own special kind of crazy that Gree is half fascinated by and half resigned to.

“My point stands.” 

Gree grits his teeth, narrows his eyes at Green Company as a whole to no avail, turns a raised eyebrow to Barriss in a last attempt at gaining control of a situation he’d lost all hold over the moment Fox had walked up to him with a ‘gift from the bottom of my heart, Gree’.

His cold dead heart maybe. Gree is plotting his revenge already.

He puts the blade back with mechanical motions, feels around for the beginning of the despised plasti-cling, seriously who made it Gree has complaints for them, and begins the arduous task of unwrapping it all.

Who let Fox have this much plasti-cling.

(Over 10 hours of nonstop focus later the last of the plasti-cling has finally been ripped away and Gree stares at the new puzzle cube. Ugly and about the size of his palm. Much, much smaller than the wrapping he’d been given, nearly the size of his torso.

Gree makes a strangled sound that he will forever deny, Draa. 

The plasti-cling sits around him tauntingly, viciously victorious in all it’s piled glory.

It takes 3 days for Green Company to stop laughing about it. It does not take 3 days for them to stop sharing the holopics and vids they took, that takes much longer.

Barriss is Gree’s favourite now, everyone else is awful and everything they say is lies, and Fox has been demoted to all the way to being the baby.)

__________

Neyo tilts his head, grin bordering manic, “That, is the ugliest piece of garbage I’ve ever seen.”

Colt smiles, “It’s high class art.”

“It looks like someone took cans of paint and dumped them on the nearest patch of dirt they found.” 

“The texture adds value.”

“It’s chunks of dirt and grass.” Neyo hisses in delighted outrage. 

Colt waves a hand, voice disinterested and all ‘above all this nonsense’ like, “Very classy. Made with only the best of intentions.”

Neyo giggles, “It looks like actual manure, I hate it.”

“I got it just for you,” Colt simpers, like the little shit no one ever believes he is, “I saw it and just knew you’d connect to it.”

Neyo cackles, “This is awful, you’re awful, I’m hanging it on the wall and telling everyone you painted it.”

Colt raises an eyebrow, “No one will believe you.”

He’s right, it’s awful. Neyo pouts, “I could convince them.”

No he can’t, but that’s besides the point.

Colt hums, “mhm, I’m sure you could kih’vod.”

Neyo flicks at Colt’s wrist and wilts, “This is harassment.”

“Whatever you say Ney’ika.”

“You’re a bully.”

“Mhm.”

“I can’t believe anyone thinks you’re responsible.”

“That is because I am.” Colt says, putting Neyo in a headlock, they both ignore the way Neyo tenses up for a fraction of a second before he relaxes, sulks, digging his elbow into Colt’s side.

It’s the first time Colt has given him such a blatantly awful gift. Neyo cackles and something shakes loose in his chest. His throat feels grossly tight and the stupid shitty canvas covered in dirt and paint sits leaning against the wall innocently.

Colt makes the same even face he uses on the Little’s when they’re being hilarious and he can’t afford to tell them or when he’s about to say something completely karking stupid because no matter how much he likes to tell everyone he’s the oldest he totally isn’t. 

Neyo slips out of the headlock, giggles through the knot in his throat and rolls his eyes.

“You’re deluding yourself and everyone around you.” he tells Colt. Colt has only ever been responsible by necessity, and never once in all of Neyo’s memories of him, has he been anything less than an absolute shithead just like the rest of them when there was no necessity.

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“I’m not arguing with you like a first-cycle.”

“Are too.”

“Neyo.”

“You’re the one who gave me the shitty painting.”

“It’s high class art you bastard.”

Neyo preens, “Thank you, still the worst thing I’ve ever seen though. Might hang it up in the front room, just to really bring it all together.”

Colt sighs, aggrieved. Neyo has no sympathy for him, really if you’re gonna play the game you gotta be in it to win it. It’s not Neyo’s fault that the trashy, awful, horrible dirt, grass, paint mixture splattered onto canvas happens to be horrifyingly tasteless. Neyo loves it. It’s gonna make Fox so mad.

(“Neyo,” Vaughn asks, staring at the wall, “why is there a, what even is that, dirt? On canvas?”

Neyo straightens up, grins wide, “Colt painted it. Out of the love in his heart and the limited talents he was decanted with.”

Vaughn raises an eyebrow, “That’s lovely and everything, why is it hanging in our front room.”

“It is horrifically awful and I love it and Fox and Ponds are coming over tomorrow.”

Vaughn laughs.

The next day, Ponds takes one look at it and giggles, “Fox, Fox come here, you’re gonna hate it.”

Fox takes one look at it and walks right back out of the house, Neyo cackles the entire time.)

[my-writings-and-musings]

Latest part of my commission series from an awesome person, now on part three of the Brave Police hanging with the Lost Light!

Kazuto Azuma had known nothing but one long, continuing headache from the moment he'd allowed the Brave Police to be commissioned. Between their eventual acclimation of sentience to the constant additions to their numbers, they'd turned what was supposed to be a public relations move into a nightmare of paperwork and legal ramifications, mostly to be dealt with by him.

And all for what, so they could have feelings? Emotions that did nothing to help while they were on the job, and only resulted in insubordination and disaster for his end? He doubted anyone could live a day in his shoes and see them as anything but a gigantic inconvenience, and an expensive one at that!

Thus, it seemed fitting that he hadn't time to celebrate their apparent loss in space before receiving a message that they were somehow fine, and worse, had been rescued by Cybertronians.

Reading the transcript again, word for word, the vice commissioner had to resist the urge to crumple it into garbage. Of all the fates they could have met, of all the ways he could have finally been rid of them, they had been picked up by the biggest robotic nuisance in the galaxy? Even if they had spent little time in Japan, Cybertronians had made their mark well known on earth, and the litany of restrictions against them spoke to the nature of their destructive presence. Despite being machines, they had no inclination nor any kind of desire to heed the will of humans, and thus every government they dealt with was left with a huge and expensive mess. Knowing that the already rowdy Brave Police were in such company was… disturbing. Who was to say what horrible habits they could pick up while cruising back to Earth at such an apparent lackadaisical speed? Just the rudeness it took to return with "relaxed urgency" as the message had put it was enough to make his blood boil, and he had no reason to believe the few days it would take for them to arrive might leave them even more unmanageable by the end.

At the very least, before it came to that, he had a rare opportunity in a tiny window of time. Neither the Tomonaga brat nor Saejima knew any of this yet, and he was in no rush to let them know of the development. Surely it wouldn't be too bad if they received the news a little late, continuing to believe the bots were MIA in the depths of space, while he made a little call.

Adjusting his suit to appear less ruffled, he left his office behind and ventured into the depths of the building, where the communication center was nestled amongst a swarm of high tech enhancements and long range experimental equipment. It was here the first message had been received, and it was here he would send back a reply. Staff, already informed of the plan, set to work as soon as he arrived. The report had mentioned that there was some unknown and invisible "tether" of sorts connecting to their end, likely a way for long distance communication to happen instantaneously even when only one side had the technology to make it happen, and had likely been left in place for the express purpose of getting a reply back. Azuma intended to use it for just such a thing.

A great monitor for communicating visually faced him in the pulpit where he'd chosen to stand, and he made it a point to ensure he was presentable. Robots or not, it was important he established he was a prominent figure that required respect, assuming the Brave Police hadn't had the last of that knocked out of them by their troublesome rescuers…

"It it ready?" he asked after checking his watch, knowing that he only had as long as it took for Saejima or Yuuta to arrive and receive their initial briefing. It had taken all of his influence to ensure they weren't informed immediately, so he had to make the delay count.

"Yes, Mr. Azuma." an engineer replied hastily, nodding to his co-workers with a neutral expression of assent. Several great switches were flipped and the building hummed with tremendous energy, the invisible tether for communication igniting to allow an instantaneous connection across the vastness of space.

-----

Sitting idly at the bridge, Rodimus allowed himself to more or less sink into the captain's chair in boredom, wishing desperately that he could be at the bar having fun with their guests like everyone else. But, of course, plotting a reroute to Earth didn't happen on it's own. For reasons he couldn't begin to understand, the Brave Police had indeed been insistent about returning home with relative speed. It was only because of the message they'd been able to send that he'd been able to get them to take it slow at all… Ah well, at least they did seem to be happy about going home. Earth did have its charms-

An unexpected beep from an incoming message made him flail nearly to the point of crashing, but thankfully he managed to catch himself and flip right side up, plopping down into a somewhat respectable position in his chair just as the computer brought through the signal.

A face so grumpy it would have made Magnus appear sociable appeared on screen, and Rodimus recognized the speaker as human just before he began speaking the same language used by the Brave Police. "This is Kazuto Azuma, Vice-Commissioner of the Brave Police Force in Tokyo, Japan. Who am I speaking with?"

"Uh, Rodimus, Captain of the Lost Light." he replied automatically, having heard friendlier opening statements from enemies about to open fire. There was also no memory of this person being mentioned by the Braves, but he had figured their organization was a big one, so he tried to take the helpful route. "What can I do for you?"

"Are the Brave Police in your custody?" Azuma asked pointedly, and Rodimus knew with just a few words he wasn't going to like this particular human. Just managing to hold off a frown, he replied with a carefully chosen sentence, folding his hands together to keep them from forming fists. 

"They're our guests, yeah." he said, hearing approaching footsteps from the side door. Judging by the pace and weight, they belonged to Magnus, who could always be expected to check in when a message came in. Thankfully the mech also had the sense to be subtle about it, so Rodimus made no move to acknowledge the big bot when he stepped quietly into the room off camera. Having a calm bastion of reason was going to be critical in keeping this from becoming an incident. 

"Per your communication, you are not making utmost haste to return to Earth, is that correct?" Azuma asked, the question sounding more like an accusation to Rodimus given the aggressive way it was delivered. It proved to be one when he wasn't even allowed a chance to reply before he was being chewed out. "I demand an immediate increase in your speed, they must be returned to us as fast as your technology allows!"

Dentae clenching, he tried to hide how thoroughly enraged the tone made him, especially with the particular choice of words. Did this guy really think he had any kind of authority here? Was he so callous to the Brave Police that he regarded them as nothing but cargo to be shipped overnight? With Magnus tensing by his side, Rodimus just managed to reply without visibly clenching his jaw. "Is there some kind of emergency you need them for? Because otherwise, I don't think you have the authority to make that kind of order."

"That is none of your business, Cybertronian." Azuma retorted, practically sneering at the immature bot who was refusing to do what he was told. Assuming that the Braves would pick up anything from such hosts, he was certain it would be uncooperative behavior like this, and at this rate that seemed more and more unavoidable… He'd probably have to try and convince the Commission to reprogram the entire group.

"It's Rodimus, human." Rodimus sneered right back, gradually letting his scant efforts to look professional fade out into open contempt. Every word seemed to confirm his worst fears about earth and the Brave Police, and he was beginning to doubt the wisdom of just dropping them off back home. With people like Azuma about, it seemed equivalent to leaving a group of cybersheep surrounded by hungry turbofoxes, and he was not about to let those bots come to harm. Sitting back more formally in his chair, Rodimus tried to cut an intimidating figure. "This is my ship, so that means if you expect it to jump, I need to know why."

"This is pointless." Azuma clipped, sputtering as he fought to keep his anger in check to avoid looking too flustered. Looking about what little of the ship he could see, he tried to find any trace of the bots he was looking for. At the moment he'd settle for anything more cooperative than this fire patterned Cybertronian. "Where are you keeping the Brave Police? I must speak with them."

"Okay, because you're having a hard time grasping this, we aren't keeping them anywhere. They're not cargo, they're our guests." Rodimus replied, standing up from his chair as the energon in his veins started to run hot. If a human could be so condescending now, what did those bots have to endure on a day to day basis? Protective instincts told him to never give a human the opportunity to hurt them again, leaving him tempted to kill the communication as Azuma sputtered through an increasingly red face. 

"That-"

"Secondly, you aren't going to just hop on my channel and start barking orders." Rodimus interrupted, not intending to give the man a second to recuperate. He wanted the tiny organic to realize he had no power here, and that the Brave Police would not have to endure any further bullying on his watch. 

Azuma, never one to put the pieces together expediently if he didn't like the picture, continued to press every metaphorical button possible to anger the captain. "This is absurd! I don't know how your laws, if you have them, presume to function but by the standards of earth you're in possession of stolen property!"

Rodimus felt his vents hitch, and thankfully Magnus was already mobilizing just before he could finish the thought someone might eventually regret.

"Now that's where I'm gonna need you to stop-"

"I can assist with this matter." Ultra Magnus said plainly, stepping into the video and laying a hand on Rodimus's shoulder. The gesture appeared amicable, but was more than a little forceful, pushing the captain back into a seating position. Reading the intent loud and clear, the smaller mech still pouted as he conceded and sat back down. Choosing the smart path never felt as good, especially because Azuma looked pleased by the turn of events as Magnus took over. "Greetings, Mr. Azuma, I am Ultra Magnus. Perhaps the best way to proceed is to allow the Brave Police to speak for themselves? I have already asked that they come to the Bridge."

"Acceptable." Azuma replied simply, appearing less ruffled but no more amicable. At the very least he was silent until a group of bots audibly approached at full speed, and after just a minute of tense silence their wait ended and the bots of the hour entered the room.

Rodimus couldn't help tensing at how the human regarded the group with barely concealed contempt.

"Vice-Commissioner, we came as soon as we heard you were in contact!" Deckerd said the moment he stepped into the Bridge, snapping to a salute that his companions mirrored with varying amounts of success. It was a greeting so proper and well mannered one would have thought they were interacting with a popular superior, and the effort they'd put in made Rodimus frown with dissatisfaction. Azuma didn't even bother with a wave as they continued. "As stated in our message, we are all intact and accounted for, and will be arriving at earth in due course!"

There was an awkward silence and a dissatisfied glare from the human before he went right into criticism. "Why are you not returning at full speed?"

Deckerd wavered in his salute, and those around him did the same. There was a moment where the bot looked about almost helpless for a reply, before carefully stringing his words together, helm lowered the whole time like a child caught in the wrong. "We… we do not want to pressure our hosts, Mr. Azuma. They have been most accommodating-"

"Ah, so you've been content to stall up there, lazing around while we need you back on Earth?!" Azuma snapped, interrupting the police bot so aggressively he flinched. Rodimus clenched his servos into fists, knowing that getting involved would lead to a huge mess but caring less with every passing moment. Seeing the bright and happy bots pressed into a corner was making him absolutely enraged, to the point the air about him wavered from the heat. Only a firm hand on his shoulder from an equally simmering Magnus kept him in check. 

"Their technology is quite advanced, but it would still be strained by an immediate trip to Earth." McCrane offered helpfully, stepping in as he always did when things were tense. A grateful smile in his direction from Deckerd was so subtle and quick it may have been a trick of the light. 

"We would not wish to cause our rescuers any kind of harm or stress." Duke confirmed, stepping to the front with a level of calm control not yet seen by anyone on the ship. The transformation from shy and quiet to bold and in control impressed the Cybertronians present immensely, but had no impact on the fuming Azuma, who didn't take well to being told no in very certain terms. 

"Unacceptable!" he barked, making Drill Boy flinch and step closer to the others for security. Though they appeared quite accustomed to the man's badgering, the stress was no less considerable, and they all shared the same tense mannerisms of a cornered animal. Rodimus could feel himself reaching his boiling point, and knew it was now a matter of when rather than if. There'd be no holding him back once that was reached, and thankfully Magnus appeared to be in similar straights. One could almost see the anger breaking through his usually stoic frown. 

"Are you really trying to convince me there is no way for you to arrive sooner? That you're just going to laze about in space because there are no other options?!" Azuma said, grilling the Brave Police so readily it was obvious he had considerable experience with the task. It hit Rodimus in that moment; this was merely how they were treated with an audience, what was this man like in private? What terrible things had he said or done to these bots when no one was there to protect them? The thought flipped a powerful switch inside him, and before he knew it he was rising from his chair, having been given free reign to do so by an equally protective Magnus.

"Vice-Commissioner-"

"Alright, I don't think we're communicating effectively here." Rodimus said loudly, stepping in front of the Brave Police to form a physical barrier with his larger frame. Deckerd appeared worried by the action, but the captain didn't flinch, putting his hands on his hips as he faced the monitor with a plastered on smile. "Look buddy, maybe your human technology is buggy so you're not hearing us clearly…"

Azuma fumed, visibly growing hot under his collar as the bot he had no power over flounced about before him. "You-"

"So allow me to make it loud and clear! They'll be there in a few days at the earliest, got it?" Rodimus replied, cupping a hand beside his mouth so he could bark the words back as loudly and obnoxiously as physically possible. 

"I do not believe you understand the situation!" Azuma sputtered, and Rodimus was tempted to reply with something far more crass than what he eventually settled on.

"Try me!"

"Perhaps it is unclear, due to personal reasons fogging your judgement, but the Brave Police are the property of the Japanese government! You risk a great incident by delaying their return!" the Vice-Commissioner said, unintentionally striking the deepest possible nerve within every bot present. Rodimus felt something snap inside of him at the way the word property was uttered, and he was so revolted the human was able to take advantage of his horrified silence to continue.  "They may look like you, but they are Earth made, not Cybertronian! Their physical appearance should tell you that much."

Magnus stiffened at his side, the big mech's equivalent to what would have been a shocked gasp by most other bots. Through sheer incompetence, Azuma had managed to put together an insult so grave no Cybertronian could let it stand, though the Brave Police themselves appeared resigned to the treatment. Only a murmur from Drill Boy came in response. 

"Is he calling us ugly?" the dejected little bot said just loud enough to be heard from his fellows, and a simultaneously comforting and silencing hand was laid on his shoulder by Shadow Maru.

"Okay, see… I thought we were getting along okay here, but I think things are getting out of hand…" Rodimus said in a halfway bitter laugh, pinching the bridge of his nasal ridge as the full torrent of anger he wanted to unleash stewed inside of him. Though there were quite a few foul words in the mix, he cared very little for propriety, especially when none had been directed their way since the conversation had begun. "Because I can't help telling you what a massive and egotistical-

"Rodimus!" Deckerd whispered in warning, his frightened expression only managing to fuel the fire. After all, why would these bots be afraid, except if terrible things could happen if they disobeyed? He was going to go nuclear on their behalf, just to make it clear there was nothing to fear while they were with him.

"Vice-Commissioner!"

Every single being involved in the conversation froze when a voice cut through from the other end of the call, echoing through the long distance tether as someone approached Azuma from an out of frame location. Rodimus lost all of his fire and only stared in total confusion as the once haughty human blanched at the sight of whomever had called for him, and the expression of worry only intensified as the voice cut it again.

"Vice-Commissioner, what is the meaning of this?!" the unknown speaker said, their tone gruff but somehow personable and animated as their laid into the other man from offscreen. A look in the direction of the Brave Police revealed only a shared smile of relief amongst them.

"C-Commissioner!" Azuma sputtered, stepping away from the podium to meet with whomever had arrived. The Lost Light was treated to a somewhat distorted view of the out of focus man they'd just been arguing with as he tried and failed to make his case. A sharp rebuttal was issued before a single word could pass his lips.

"You received word that the Brave Police are alive and well, and we were not informed immediately?!" a man said as he appeared suddenly in the view, advancing upon Azuma with his greater height and build as the smaller Vice-Commissioner backed up at every word. To the surprise of a greatly entertained Rodimus, a small human appeared as well, undoubtedly a child. The little boy glared up at Azuma with all the rage Rodimus had been feeling moments prior and then some.

"You jerk, how could you lie to us!?"

Azuma ignored the child altogether to retort to his apparent boss, pointing at the screen where Rodimus was still front and center with his current expression of total bafflement. As if it would clear his transgressions, he announced his argument for everything with as much desperation as could be packed into so few words. "Saejima, they're with Cybertronians!"

Worlds apart, the two groups fell into total and oppressive silence. Rodimus met the eyes of the man called Saejima, and immediately got the sense he was dealing with someone who actually had a backbone and a conscience just by the way he apologized with his expression alone. Clearing his throat, the man gave his subordinate a flat look and spoke with undeniable authority.

"We shall discuss this later." 

Like any bully, the defeated Azuma slunk off, leaving his superior to clear his throat and take center stage on the pulpit. The confused child remained at his side when he finally addressed the Autobots.

"My apologies." he said calmly, giving Rodimus the comfort he needed to step in line with the Brave Police so they could be seen far more clearly. The man smiled as he caught sight of the bots. "Is everyone safe and accounted for-"

Without any warning, the child lit up as he saw the Brave Police, his wide eyes locking on Deckerd as he ran up to the monitor as if it were a barrier. Tears began to flow unabated as he cried out in a voice choked with emotion. "Deckerd?! Deckerd, are you there?!"

In another surprise for Rodimus, the always restrained police car pushed right past him and mirrored the boy's actions, his optics lighting up as he replied with equal jubilation.

"Yuuta!" he cried happily, his tone alone making it clear he adored the little human bawling his eyes out a billion miles away. Rodimus and Magnus exchanged shared looks of total surprise and confusion. Neither had ever seen a human and a bot so incredibly close, and the two weren't even done.

Sniffling so hard he could barely talk, Yuuta tried in vain to wipe away tears, looking to each of the Brave Police as tears continued streaming down his face. "Deckerd! Build Team! Everyone!" Each and every bot came behind Deckerd to joyfully greet the human Rodimus recalled was their fabled "boss", and judging by their smiles none felt anything but relief to see him again. The crying adolescent made it clear why they all loved Earth with a single heartfelt phrase. "You're all okay!"

"We're more than okay, these guys rule!" Drill Boy interjected, clamoring over the bigger bots to be seen.

"They've welcomed us into their home, and they're bringing us home while showing us the sights on the way back!" Power Joe said, gushing as if describing a vacation.

"Boss, please tell Ayako I am safe! I know she'll only believe it from you!" Dumpson said, spurring McCrane to make a similar request.

"Please tell Seia the same!"

"Make sure nobody touches my bike until I get back, that includes you!" Gunmax said playfully, obviously just messing with the little human. Yuuta nodded and smiled through his tears, overwhelmed with happy relief that Rodimus had to admit was beyond touching to witness.

"Stay safe, miniboss." Shadow Maru said simply, and at his side, Duke cleared his vents before speaking softly.

"Make sure Regina is okay, she won't admit that she's worried." he said, and Yuuta nodded in acknowledgment and a kind of deep understanding.

"As you can see, Commissioner, we are all doing quite well." Deckerd said once everyone had spoken their peace, smiling as he was shushed in amongst the group. Saejima smiled in kind, and Rodimus found something inherently trustworthy in the expression.

"That is a relief." he said calmly, sighing ad a great weight of worry disappeared from his relaxing shoulders. "I must apologize on behalf of my subordinate once again, Captain. Please excuse his behavior, as he does not speak for us. We are beyond grateful for your actions."

"Thank you for rescuing my friends." Yuuta added, finally getting his tears under control long enough to speak clearly. Rodimus found his spark flickering at all the gratitude he felt hit him from a galaxy away.

"Uh, no problem. We'll get them home safely." he said, a little unsure of himself at the total whiplash the conversation had taken. How was it that a planet capable of producing an Azuma could also have people like this? Then again, the same could be said of Cybertron several times over, couldn't it?

"Mr. Commissioner!" the offscreen voice of an engineer said with urgency. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but this communication is taxing our equipment heavily! I'm afraid we have to end the call."

"Understood!" Saejima said, speaking fast in the wake of the news. "Until we speak next, just let me say that you have our highest gratitude!"

As the older man jumped into a full salute, Yuuta spoke with the speed only a child could manage, bouncing between his various concerns as the video began to fade. "Call again soon! I miss you guys! Stay safe but have fun!"

The Brave Police gushed out their farewells, waving and promising to do so with such excitement that Rodimus found himself unintentionally joining in with a tiny wave of his own before the screen went dark. He was left speechless when it did, but the bots at his side turned to each other and began to talk amongst themselves with unimaginable excitement. A million different things were said at once, most of which were praise for their tiny boss. The Captain of the Lost Light could only look on in awe at their happy circle of friends, one that just minutes before had been reduced to anxious silence at a being from the same planet.

It occurred to him in that moment why they truly wanted to go home, and he found himself smiling at the thought. Just as there were those on this ship who wanted to keep them safe, so we're there individuals on Earth to do the same. They were really loved wherever they went… 

A flash of amusement tickled his spark as he thought about all those friends reacting once they heard about this call. Their protective instincts would undoubtedly be the same as his, especially for dear Tailgate, who'd more or less claimed the group as his adoptive younger brothers… along with the entire crew. It seemed they had a young human to add to that rank now.

[mayonnaisetoffees]

Mayo's Fic Recs

List of my favourite fics below the cut; this list is a WIP and completely personal taste; a mix of fandom classics and lesser knowns

Please remember to leave comments and kudos for the authors and podficcers!

*shows particular favourites

Fandoms currently included: Spn, Merlin, Les Mis, BatFam

Fics That Changed Me Fundamentally

Loaded March*** by Footloose. Merlin | E | 1.26M(Series)/ 35k (First part) | 188k hits (First part)

The reason SAS Captain Arthur Pendragon can’t keep a communications specialist in Team Excalibur because none of them are good enough. And then Lieutenant Merlin Emrys gets assigned to his squad, and Arthur does everything he can to prove that Merlin isn’t good enough, either. Except he is.

You can read all about my thoughts on Loaded March here, here, and here. Basically this fic series is beautifully written, has absolutely delicious UST, has found family, magic, and high stakes. It’s been part of my life for almost a decade now, I made friends through LM that I still have to this day, and it genuinely changed me as a person. Plus there are 78k of Extras to itch that I Finished Now What scratch. Parts 1-5 have been podficced and you can find them in works inspired by this one in each part.

Down to Agincourt*** by Seperis. Supernatural | E | 1.12M(Series)/ 154k (First part) | 73k hits (First part)

The world’s already over and they’re already dead. All they’re doing now is marking time until the end.

S7!Dean is transported back to the aftermath of where 5x04 The End left off. Much like LM, DtA was one that I avoided for a while. I didn’t think it would be my thing. I’m not usually into End!verse, it sounded so bleak from the summary, and it sounded so long for something I wasn’t sure about. If you’re reading this and nodding along? You are as much a fool as I was. Yes, it’s the end of the world. But it’s not over yet. This is a beautiful journey in what it means to be yourself, how to survive the end of the world, a How-To for Coups, and a study in food as a love language. I only read this fic this year, but like LM, it has genuinely changed me. Map of the World has been podficced.

Supernatural

Let’s start with the current hyperfixation. All of these are at least passively Dean/Cas unless otherwise stated. I've split into ones from my first time around in the SPN fandom and more recent ones because the vibes are actually really different and it took me some time to adjust (Not in a bad way! In a time has passed they have grown as characters way)

Old-School SPN (AKA the Classics my first time around)

Canon-Compliant or Divergent

Home in Motion* by nomdeplume13 M | 232k | 48k hits

Castiel swore he was done with spur of the moment decisions that permanently changed Dean Winchester's life. A year after the angel's most disastrous, his newest may present the largest challenge of dean's life: Fatherhood.

Did someone say kid!fic in canonverse? This is perfect. Canon divergence from the end of S6. Cas saves a baby from a neglectful mother and gives him to Dean to raise. They all move in with Bobby. Great OCs. Bobby considers Cas his son. Listen everything I say here will not be able to begin to encompass how much I love this fic. Just trust me on this one.

Named* by RC_McLachlan M | 95k | 95k hits

Jesus Christ is dead. Somehow, that isn't the worst part of Dean's week.

With a summary like that, need I say more? No but I'm gonna. This is one of the funniest fics I've ever read, but it doesn't take any emotion from the serious moments, if anything it heightens them. There are so many quotes from this I think about all the time. It was written in 2010 and so there's a bit of misogyny/character assassination of Anna in places.

Second Childhood by CloudyJenn (read by exmanhater) G | 16k (1h30) | 10k hits

"Dude, I can't do this whole thing by myself," Dean said with far more desperation leaking into his tone than he liked. It would just be too much to make it through hell and death and Lucifer only to have Castiel bail on him because of a frigging baby.

They beat the Apocalypse (OG-S5) and then Sam gets de-aged by a spell. I've listened to this so many times I know it by heart, it's an ultimate comfort fic to me.

Defy Any and All Expectation* by Tenoko1 (read by Tenoko1) M | 138k (14hrs) | 37k hits

Chuck's newly released books tell of another war between Heaven and Hell. Team Free Will sets out to try to defy prophecy, only to realize there is a lot more at stake and amiss than the not-quite-accurate words of one Prophet of the Lord. Along the way, Dean and Cas' relationship continues to evolve into something neither expected or were prepared for, all of their lives transforming in ways no one could have expected. But with no shortage of cases, monsters, and mayhem, it's going to require the help of new friends and old enemies if they're to have a hope of saving the world one more time. Alternate Season Six.

So this is a re-written version of Tenoko1's The Path We Choose which I don't think is around anymore. By the time I was reading the re-write as each chapter came out, I knew every single line of TPWC and it wasn't all that much shorter. It's such a perfect canon divergence because they are all 100% in-character. If you're into podfic, you already know what an absolute gift 14 hours is, but if you have never tried podfic before, Tenoko1 is a fantastic place to start. Her voice is soothing and energetic and her Cas sometimes comes to mind when I'm reading fic in Misha's place (sorry Misha)

His Fucking Kids 'Verse by 8sword M | 96k(Series)/ 3k (first part) | 26k hits (first part)

Jesus, the school should just have a parking spot labeled, “Reserved for the Novak-Winchesters,” because Dean’s getting sick of having to cruise around the parking lot looking for a spot every time he gets a call from the principal about Emma.

Emma survives and Dean and Cas are raising her and Claire. This fic series will make you laugh, make you cry, and (nowadays) make you wish Emma had survived to be a part of Wayward Sisters.

One Species Too Many by wallmakerrelict E | 22k | 37k hits

While Dean is laid up for a month after breaking his leg on a hunt, Cas decides that it's a perfect time to adopt a litter of kittens. But even though he's gotten better since Purgatory, Cas still isn't quite the same as he was before fixing Sam's head, and being trapped in a cabin with him for weeks on end is making that all the more obvious to Dean. When Sam takes off on a hunt, Dean has to figure out on his own how to navigate his new relationship with Cas while also helping to raise a bunch of fuzzballs that aren't even cute. Not even a little bit. (Well, maybe a little bit.)

Dean breaks his legs, and honey!Cas brings home some kittens to foster. It's achingly sweet and also painful because you know Dean wants to fix Cas but there's nothing to fix. It is tagged for ableism for this.

Tripping* by Hatteress E | 49k | 78k hits

That time the universe decided Dean belonged with Cas and wasn't afraid to pull out the big guns to make it so. Big guns in this case being obsessive fangirls, archangels turned tricksters and overly enthusiastic cupids. Welcome to Dean's life.

Alt!S5 and it is beautiful. Also any fic with Missouri is an automatic win.

Broadway Musical by Grifitings M | 12k | 79k hits

This is the day that marked the Holy and Blessed Union of Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle. The merging of prominent bloodlines is always a grand occurrence, but breeding pedigree hunter families like Winchester and Harvelle is something to be rejoiced. It is also something to be meticulously planned, which thankfully the Host is very good at. Or, the romantic comedy where Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle are destined to get married, Castiel is given the task of playing matchmaker and fails terribly, the entire Heavenly Host becomes a sitcom audience, God warns against male pregnancy, and Jimmy Novak is incredibly unimpressed with angels in general.

Jimmy deserves a sainthood and frankly I don't even want to hear about crack if it's not on the level of the Host yelling at Cas not to touch the butt.

Classic AUs (AKA AUs from my first time around)

Try Something Tuesday by almaasi E | 48k | 144k hits

Dean Winchester teaches a third-grade class. He's new to this whole ‘bisexual’ thing - but by pure happenstance, he meets Castiel: a particularly dapper male librarian who moonlights as a substitute teacher. Dean's curious and Castiel is willing, so why the hell not? Except, fate never intended it to be one-time-only...

This was one of the first spn fics to really really stay with me and it never really left.

Rock 'n' Roll Queer Bar by ChasingRabbits E | 127k(Series)/ 8k (Part1) | 29k hits (Part1)

Ellen and Jo Harvelle run Harvelle's Roadhouse, a bar that unintentionally becomes a beacon for wayward queer souls. Her employees: Dean, the smartass runaway with a big heart and bigger mouth; Castiel, the college drop-out turned hippie; his (surprisingly heterosexual) trouble-making brother Gabriel; and Charlie, who has been told several times that the back room is not to be used for after-hours Dungeons & Dragons games. But there's a lot of love in this place, and a new family for anyone who may otherwise be without.

This series. If you've ever felt unsure or out of place or anxious or just really felt like no-one understood you, this fic is for you. I first found this series when I was coming to terms with my queerness and I genuinely think it was invaluable. Also I am a sucker for the go for a dinner at Cas's family and end up storming out trope.

Play It All Night Long by janie_tangerine (read by Tenoko1) NC17 | 43k (4hrs)

The rom-com-ish one where Dean hosts a late night radio show, Castiel is a regular listener of his who starts calling one day and ends up calling more often than not and Dean finds himself liking it. This, until one day Castiel calls for not exactly petty reasons (just before Dean's brother Sam is visiting with his girlfriend for spring break) and things get very, very crowdy at his place. He also doesn't know it's just the beginning of it. Also features Gabriel, Chuck, Andy, the Roadhouse crew and a huge amount of music quoted. Especially Bob Dylan.

Again, this podfic has got me through many a night of insomnia. Cas calls in after a particularly shitty day and it all goes from there.

New-School SPN (AKA post-2014)

Canon-Compliant or Divergent

Tall Grass by aeli_kindara E | 57k | 28k hits

“I think we should have a garden,” Cas says. Dean looks up from his beer. He hasn’t had that much to drink, but Cas still has a vague look of unreality about him, a splash of living color that doesn’t fit in the bunker’s echoing stillness. Dean didn’t hear him coming. A lot of the time, Cas is so unobtrusive it feels like Dean has the bunker to himself, with Sam away. Dean shakes his head to clear it. “A — garden?” he repeats.

There is a reason you will see this recced time and time again. It healed parts of me I didn't know needed healing.

So Says the Sword* by komodobits E | 85k | 73k hits

The briefing was simple: ‘Stand guard over the Michael Sword until the battle is ready to commence. Await further instructions.’ Castiel doesn’t mind working security duty; he was briefed shortly after the initial salvation of the Sword from the pit, and again before taking up his position. He knows what to do. However, it’s easy to forget that the green room isn’t real. Time moves differently there, the space ever-changing to make a prison of mountains, cathedrals, salt flats, orchards, and whatever Castiel was led to believe about Heaven’s greatest weapon—Dean Winchester is something entirely unexpected

I saw ssts mentioned in like every single If you're getting back into the fandom READ THIS rec list. For good reason. It's described as "canon-adjacent in that seasons one to three happened exactly the same, but when Dean goes to Hell, he is not raised by Castiel". It's one of the most interesting concepts I've read and it's one of those fics where the writing style will stick with you. Castiel POV in a way you've never read before.

Aching in the Absence of You* by sobsicles E | 95k | 9k hits (in 5 days)

Brittle and battle-worn, Cas looks at him over coffee one morning and says, "I need to go," and Dean instantly knows that he's not coming back. He's not really sure how he knows it, but he does. It settles into the pit of his stomach, curling hot and tight like something he instinctively wants to tear out with his bare hands. He takes a breath, and it gets stuck in his throat, hitching there. It hurts, hurts, hurts when he finally exhales. "Yeah," Dean says, "of course you do," and he nods jerkily as he looks down at his phone. He doesn't say goodbye. He doesn't look up from the screen when Cas gets up and leaves the room. He doesn't finish his coffee, or move for a long time. By nightfall, Cas is gone.

If you don't already know sobsicles, I am delighted to introduce you to the person who will smash you to pieces with a hammer to put you back together Kintsugi-style. This one is post-finale but without 15x18 (it'll make sense as it goes). Cas says he's going to leave again and again Dean doesn't ask him to stay. Full of lines so beautiful they'd make Shakespeare weep, Sobsicles has this way of writing that is so evocative and paints such a clear picture. Fair warning, if you're Dean-coded, this might be A Lot.

dumbassery, denial, doing (the three d's to the destination)** by sobsicles E | 108k | 25k hits

Freedom is just one adjustment after the next. ~~~ Cas hums again. "I think you already have. It's been months since everything settled. All that's left to do is...get used to it, and perhaps—" His voice stalls out, uncharacteristically, and his gaze roams Dean's face with intensity. When he speaks next, his tone is a little raw. "Perhaps what one does with peace is...whatever they want." "What if I don't even know what that is?" Dean grumbles, arching an eyebrow in challenge. "'Cause I know damn well you don't just mean good food and a good bed and time in Baby, not simple wants like that. You mean—ya know, the big things, the wants we didn't get to have before." "Yes," Cas agrees. "If you're not sure, figure it out." "Easier said than done."

Yes, two sobsicles recs back to back. This one I read first and it still holds such a special place in my heart. A sign of a good fic is being able to picture it perfectly. The sign of an amazing fic is that when reading this I was so in Dean's shoes I could feel a pool cue between my hands and Baby behind my back. And I sobbed like a baby in this. It has probably my favourite ending ever. It's genuinely beautiful. If you don't read another on this list, read this one.

Teaching Poetry to Fish by aeli_kindara M | 52k | 14k hits

In which Castiel teaches poetry to fish. Also, himself. Also, eventually, Dean. (A series-long story, diverging slightly from canon after S14.)

The ultimate Cas character study and interwoven with poetry.

So There It Is, I've Said It All by PorcupineGirl (read by Ceewelsh) G | 4k | 13k hits

"Why, do you have something you need to say to me that you don't think I'll like?" I think I'm in love with you. "Yeah. I guess so."

Dean figures out he's in love with Cas then can't stop thinking it. This is genuinely beautiful and if you've ever had trouble actually saying the thing you're thinking, you'll relate to Dean here. I recently did the podfic for this.

you won't find this place alone by amidsizedfrog G | 9.5k |

When Claire said she was dropping out of college to pursue hunting full time, Dean said, “right,” and left the room. Or, the cross-generation conversation about formal education, choosing your own path and figuring out what it looks like to find a family. Or, in other words: "But what I do have is a GED and a give-'em-hell-attitude, and I'll figure it out." - Dean Winchester

This is a beautiful look at education in the hunter world, and I love anything that looks at Dean and Bobby's relationship and this does it perfectly. Also best cameo ever.

Seek to Know You Better by ahurston E | 33k | 23k hits

Dean and Cas, a long stretch of highway, and 36 questions empirically designed to make two people fall in love. As if they weren't already.

This is perfect. It has a lovely slow pace like it has the vibes of an indie film if that makes sense? Like it's two guys going from place to place talking. It was an instant favourite.

Newer AUs (AKA more recent AUs)

And This, Your Living Kiss* by opal_bullets M | 57k | 69k hits

Only a very few people in the world know that the celebrated and reclusive poet Jack Allen is just Kansas mechanic Dean Winchester, a high school dropout with a few bucks to his name. Not that it matters anymore; life has left him so wrung out he never wants to pick up another pen. Until, that is, a string of coincidences leads Dean to auditing a poetry course with one Dr. Castiel Novak. The professor is wildly intelligent, devastatingly handsome...and just so happens to be academia's foremost expert on the poetry of Jack Allen.

When I asked which fics were absolute must-reads for someone who'd been out of the fandom a few years, this was said repeatedly. But what really got me to read it was everyone actually told me more about what it meant to them than just the summary. It's a study in poetry, a study in learning who you are and who you used to be, and a reminder that it's never too late.

The Graveyard Shift* by riseofthefallenone, PurgatoryJar E | 620k | 175k hits

Dean’s favourite coffee shop, The Graveyard Shift, is only open after the sun goes down. Which is perfect for him, because that’s exactly when he craves coffee the most while doing the overnight at the fire hall. The coffee shop’s owner is pretty perfect too, but it’s kind of a bummer that Dean never gets to see Cas during the day. In a world where the supernatural live more or less in peace with the rest of humanity, it’s a little impolite to ask Cas just what he really is - or what his dark past entails.

A fantastic magical realism fic - magical creatures live and work with humans. Gabe and Cas run a coffee shop, Dean is a fireman, and the burn is slow and delicious and the intrigue kept me reading for like a week every single spare minute.

Painted Angels by WinJennster E | 106k | 162k hits

Author Castiel Novak has finally hit the big time, with a book based on his failed college relationship with a brilliant painter. He's put all his pain behind him, but at a book signing, he comes face to face with Dean Winchester for the first time in twelve years, and the reunion doesn't go like Cas hoped. Dean's a broken man, with a lot of scars and secrets, shoulders weighed down by his demons and self loathing. Cas sees a second chance with the man he's never stopped loving, but Dean's moved on, and is about to get married. Sam launches a "brilliant" plan to reunite his brother and his best friend, but Cas is worried it will all blow up in their faces, and he'll go through the agony of losing Dean a second time.

The first part of this I actually saved back when I was first in the fandom but I never got around to reading it (I had a To Read folder of 100+ fics that I absolutely dove into when I got back into spn) and the rest of the series finished in 2016 so I'm counting it in this section not the other. On the one hand, I wish I'd read this when it first came out. It's beautiful and heartbreaking, and so visual. On the other hand, I think I appreciated it a lot more now than I would have seven years ago. The parallel of me coming back to the old fandom that I loved dearly with Cas coming back to see someone and places he loved so much really hit. (Although coming back to the spn fandom was much easier and much less heartbreak!)

Finale Fix-Its (yeah fuck you Dabb that this has to be a whole category)

The Goldenrod Revisions by aethylas M | 66k | 15k hits

A rewrite of Supernatural’s final two episodes, expanded into a five episode arc - in which Chuck needs to be defeated, Castiel deserves to be saved, and the characters in this story get a very different ending.

Script format re-write of 15x19 and 15x20 into a 5-episode finale fix-it. As far as I'm concerned, this and chocolatecakecas's American Pie fanvid are the Supernatural finale.

break the skin (to break the barriers)* by sobsicles M | 30k | 9k hits

The first time she meets him, he's nothing more than an almost-missed appointment. ~~~ Dean is silent for a long, tense moment, then he gruffly says, "It's not for banishing the angels. It's to summon them. So, it doesn't—it's not to get rid of 'em, but to draw 'em in." Mitzi can't help but glance up at him at that. His voice is so heavy with so much unexplained pain, and she doesn't understand why, or what angels have to do with it. She knows religion can impact people. She's very aware that it can get complicated, and that it can be a huge source of pain for someone, but Dean sounds grievously wronged, somehow, as if it's a truly personal thing. She pushes through, focusing back on her job, clearing her throat before murmuring, "Well, I guess we all want angels to visit us sometimes." "Just the one," Dean mumbles. "Your guardian angel?" Mitzi asks. Dean breathes out, "Something like that. As close to one as an angel will ever get."

Therapy through getting tattoos and telling your life story to someone who obviously doesn't think it's real. Outsider!POV not just done well, but done literally the best.

Kingdom Come by ahurston E | 17k | 10k hits

Cas wakes up on the coast of Maine. He makes his way home.

I don't know if this counts as finale fix-it as it's more fuck the finale we're ignoring that. There's just so much love and care in this fic.

The Family Business by chai_lattes M | 16k | 5.5k hits

It's all over. It's been weeks since Chuck's defeat and Cas' return from the Empty. There are no threats on the horizon, no apocalypses to stop, but there's something that keeps the Winchesters from being happy. Something that's maybe always been there. On their way back from a hunt, they find John Winchester, back from the dead.

If you're anything like me, you start rubbing your grubby little hands together at the tag John Winchester's A+ Parenting like yes let's address this! This is one of the best examples of John coming back and how it jars with the life that they have built. Also Claire and Jack getting to share screentime!

Merlin

If I have a forever fandom, it's Merlin. I've always kept one foot in this fandom, and it introduced me to fandom, and most importantly to podfic which kinda had an impact. All Merthur unless stated.

Canon-Verse

Seven Magpies by syllic (read by lunchee) E | 33k (3hr15) | 58k hits

Arthur opened his eyes a minute later to the sight of seven magpies streaking across the top of the clearing, their shapes dark against the white clouds and the muted grey of the sky. He tried to remember what it was that seven magpies meant—he'd had a nurse who had sung the rhyme to him as a child—but couldn't. Arthur wakes up somewhere he doesn't recognise, but where he clearly belongs.

Okay so this is an AU but it's Canon-AU so it's going here. Fantastic role reversal fic that you will be thinking about for weeks.

and from your grace, i fell by TheDragon (read by Ceewelsh) T | 4.6k (41mins) | 13k hits

“Where’s Merlin?” he asks the maid. “Where’s that idiot of a Court Sorcerer?!” “Begging your pardon, Your Majesty. I thought you knew,” the maid replies, not daring to look him in the eyes. “He’s taken ill.” “And he couldn’t be bothered to tell me himself that he would be unable to attend today’s council meeting?” Arthur questions, voice full of acid. “He hasn’t woken since he collapsed two days ago, Sire,” the maidservant says, blissfully unaware that what she’s saying the power to stop Arthur’s heart in its tracks.

When I first read this, it had me completely transfixed. I could not stop reading. It was so raw and so full of emotion. I was then lucky enough to get TheDragon in our exchange, so I did a podfic for it and it's probably the most proud I've been of one.

Modern AU

The Student Prince* by FayJay (read by FayJay) M | 145k (15hrs) | 696k hits

A Modern day Merlin AU set at the University of St Andrews, featuring teetotal kickboxers, secret wizards, magnificent bodyguards of various genders, irate fairies, imprisoned dragons, crumbling gothic architecture, arrogant princes, adorable engineering students, stolen gold, magical doorways, attempted assassination, drunken students, shaving foam fights, embarrassing mornings after, The Hammer Dance, duty, responsibility, friendship and true love...

A classic is a classic for a reason. I'm also pretty sure this introduced me to podfics so like special place in my heart x2. Did you know if you filter AO3 by hits on Merlin, this has 426k more hits than the second result? Now that is a Fandom Classic.

Drastically Redefining Protocol* by rageprufrock (read by lunchee) E | 46k (5hr30) | 269k hits

In which Prince Arthur meets Merlin and all hell promptly breaks loose.

As I always say, if this can happen to me and I still love the fic, nothing is going to change that. Arthur hides from his duties in a cupboard and gets stuck in there with a chainsmoking med student.

Fundamental Imperfections by Starlingthefool (read by bravenclawsome) M | 12k (1hr35) | 123k hits

In which an argument about Dickens leads to a Twitter scandal, broken bones, midnight conversations, and transatlantic longing. (Or, an AU with Arthur and Merlin as moderately famous authors.)

This fic has everything: Charles Dickens, long distance texting, Morgana choking a Sherlock cosplayer with his own scarf. This is the ultimate comfort fic and I compare all fics to this even when they're incomparable. I never read the sequel because it was WIP and I was waiting for it to complete, it hasn't been updated since 2015 and apparently ends on an unhappy note, so if you're going to read the sequel you have been warned.

Les Mis

Modern!AU

Overzealous Oddities by YassHomo e/R, Courf/Cosette/Marius, Comb/Ép | G | 6.4k | 4k hits

Courfeyrac: Remember when I smashed our tv and we laughed about it? Enjolras: No. Courfeyrac: Let me rephrase Courfeyrac: I've smashed our tv, lets laugh about it.

I love me a text fic and this is in my opinion the best one around. Just look at that summary. I have quoted that so many times.

But Paris was a very old city and we were young* by GingerNinjaAbi E/R, Courf/Jehan | M | 99k | 42k hits

Perhaps somewhere in between all the cups of coffee, shots of tequila, sunny March days, terrible lumpy jumpers, love, cigarettes, drunken nights and the desire to change the world they'll all leave Paris with a degree in something. Or not. Grantaire's money is on no. But he's a pessimist who's hopelessly in love, so perhaps his opinion shouldn't count.

The ULTIMATE modern!AU tbh.

Tagged by Salomonderiel E/R, Courf/Jehan | E | 155k | 28k hits

So there's this artist. He could probably be compared to Banksy, but he's a lot more... cynical. He shares rooms with a poet who braids his hair with flowers, in a flat near Covent Garden they rent from a short-tempered shop keeper with a penchant for fans and who'd do anything if you mentioned Poland. Sometimes, the three of them will go and deface public buildings in London whilst completely smashed off their heads. And then there's this, shall we say, 'revolutionary'. He has a band of other revolutionaries, who all meet at this cafe by Borough Market. He shares rooms with his best mate, a philosophy student, spends too much time with a flirty guy who has a thing for poets, goes boxing with a guy in a red vest, wants to punch the wet sop who drools on the blonde waitress and is getting tired of this guy who keep breaking his laptops through sheer dumb luck. Thank god the hypochondriac's there to keep an (slightly too) attentive eye on their stress levels. The revolutionary thinks the graffiti artist's work is a waste of space. The artist thinks the revolutionary's campaigns are a waste of time. And all the while, the poet and the flirt drool over each other in the background...

This is perfect and it's funny and it's beautiful and it rips my heart out multiple times.

Canon

To Be Free by kjack89 (read by Ceewelsh) Gen, Cosette/Marius | T | 3.8k (32mins) | 375 hits

Three blows from a bayonet had transfixed Combeferre’s breast, followed by a fall from the barricade as he rapidly lost first blood and then consciousness. But neither of these, it seemed, was enough to kill him, as much as later he might perhaps wish that they were.

I read this because it was on a list kjack89 did of their favourite fics which don't necessarily have the same hits traffic. It's nothing I would have usually read (canon era, not e/R, MCD) but I am so glad I gave it a go. It's a study on what if Combeferre had survived the barricades too and the guilt. This stayed with me for days afterwards until I eventually messaged kjack89 to get permission to podfic it.

BatFam

Canonish (I don't know differences between canons but these are all they're superheros fics)

Robins United by laceymcbain (read by reena_jenkins) Gen | T | 49k (6h15)/ 19k (2h25) (First part) | 103k hits

Bullets, knives, a three story fall, even a fucking crowbar hadn't managed to keep Jason down permanently, but Dick Grayson (and the rest of his "family") was going to kill him with kindness.

The ultimate batbros series. Also if you haven't heard reena_jenkins' podfics before, you are welcome. Pre-pandemic I took a lot of public transport and reena_jenkins kept me sane.

batcoons by drakefeathers (read by reena_jenkins) Gen | G | 6k (49mins) | 14k hits

Jason and raccoons have a lot in common. (Additionally: his so-called family are much bigger pests than the stray animals hanging around his safehouse.)

This is funny, it's heartwarming, and it's a really good character study.

AU

Here Comes the Sun by batsy_rocks Clark/Bruce | T | 19k | 20k hits

Clark Kent is a kind-hearted reporter working in the big city. Bruce Wayne is a stressed dad of four with no idea of what he's doing. Then they meet.

Bruce Wayne is a Tired Single Dad™. It's genuinely such a sweet fic.

[jumukus]

A3! Event: Trump the Phantom Thief Episode 7 Translation

Juza took Muku to one of the locations appearing in his favorite manga as they had a heart to heart conversation.

Juza's Mom: I heard Muku-chan won another race!

Kumon: Seriously!? That's sick!

Juza's Mom: Let's go cheer him on next time.

Kumon: Sure! You too, Nii-chan!

Juza: ...No, I'm good.

Kumon: Whyyy~!?

Juza: (I'll only freak people out if I go. 'Sides, what if people start spreading bad rumors about Muku because of me?)

Tenma: Thank you so much!

Misumi: Thanks for coming~!

Muku: Thank you very much!

Juza: (That's Muku? He looks like a totes different person.)

(I heard he was kind of down after quitting track and field, but he didn't look that way at all on the stage.)

(Never knew he could shine like that onstage.)

(Maybe I, too…)

Juza: You're the reason why I started theater.

Seeing you take a step forward to theater gave me the courage to do the same.

But what if you go back to track and field, and in the worst case get injured again….

What if you clash with your teammates and get hurt in the process… What if that issue affects your acting as well…

I just don't want to see you get hurt again.

...But that's just my ego speaking.

I didn't know how you feel about returning to track and field.

No one can ruin your desire to run again, just like how no one can ruin my desire to perform onstage.

I should've told you, "If you're gonna do it, give 110 percent at both of them. I'll support you."

It's my job as your fellow troupe member, your family and your co-star, to support what you wanna do and back you up.

Sorry for being harsh on you the other day.

Muku: ...It's alright. I should thank you instead, Juchan.

I know you said those things because you were worried about me.

I could make up my mind because of your words. I finally realized my own feelings.

I'm sure there's still a part of me who longs to participate in a relay race with my clubmates…

I thought I'd moved on, but...

Maybe I thought that way because somewhere in my heart, I was sure my leg hadn't recovered, because I felt like I couldn't go back to track and field.

This time, I won't regret it even if I can't manage to bring the best outcome after practicing. I just want to do my best to take part in the race with the others, just like before.

I want to do my best until the end. And I want you to watch me run.

Juza: Sure. Show me how you run as the Ace of the club.

Muku: Okay! I'll give it my all.

And you see, I've never thought about leaving the theater.

Mankai Company is a precious place that everyone gave to me when I was still unable to go back to track and field.

And I don't think I can ever quit now that I know how much fun acting is.

Juza. ...I know right.

Muku: I have to focus on our upcoming play first before the race.

Juza: We've gotta catch up after causing troubles like that.

Muku: Let's do our best!

Juza: Man, this place sure is out of this world…

Azami: Freakin' spacious.

Izumi: It's more gorgeous than the photos… Oh, right. Thanks for coming with us, Azami-kun.

Azami: Nah, no need to thank me. I wanted to see the dressing room since I'll be doing y'all makeup.

Kazunari: Mukkun, you're not getting seasick or anything, right?

Muku: Yep. I'm alright. I already took some medicine, and it's not like we're riding a small boat where we can feel its motion.

Saionji: I've been expecting you. My name is Saionji.

Izumi: My name is Tachibana. Nice to meet you.

Muku: (Hm? I feel like I've seen this person before…)

Saionji: I'd like to offer my gratitude for accepting our request.

Izumi: I should be the one thanking you for offering us such an amazing request like this.

It's not everyday we get the chance to perform in a place like this. I'm grateful for it.

Saionji: I'm also attempting a lot of new things. I don't usually hold a jewel showcase…

Since this is the first time it'll be showcased in Japan, I chose this ship as the venue so that a lot of people can see it.

And because I want people to also enjoy the cruise, I decided to hold it for several days and considered adding more activities throughout the journey.

That was how someone suggested I hold a stage play here.

Due to that, I went around the Veludo Way by myself in search of a theater troupe.

Izumi: I see.

Muku: Oh! Are you perhaps the person who dropped his cufflinks the other day…!?

Saionji: Thank you for picking it up at that time.

Muku: N-No problem!

Sakyo: You know each other?

Saionji: He helped me when I was walking around the Veludo Way. I've got to know Mankai Company because of him.

I looked it up afterward and decided to offer you a request to perform here. It just so happened that my acquaintance was also bringing you up.

I believe it might be fate after knowing that my acquaintance's son is also a member of your theater troupe.

Kazunari: Are you talking about my papi!?

Sakyo: Receiving an offer after helping someone...

Yuki: That's just so Muku.

Banri: Sounds like something that comes out of the Straw Millionaire*.

Muku: Ehehe…

Come to think of it, I remember some jewels are embedded in the cufflinks.

Saionji: That's right. You have a good memory.

Muku: I remember it because it's so beautiful.

Saionji: Right. Why don't you all participate in the jewel unveiling while we're at it?

Since the unveiling will be held a day after the closing show, I'd like you all to stay one day longer here…

Muku: Can we, really?

Izumi: Thank you so much!

Juza: Jewels in a luxurious ship… That's just like our play.

Kazunari: It won't be weird if some thieves come to steal it.

Sakyo: The setting is just perfect. We won't have any issues making the audience immersed in the play like this.

Muku: Now we only need to do our best!

Juza: We've gotta focus.

Saionji: ...Oh, I almost forgot. Tachibana-san…

Izumi: Yes?

T/N: The Straw Millionaire is a Japanese Buddhist folk tale about a poor man who becomes wealthy through a series of successive trades, starting with a single piece of straw.

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