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bloodlessbelmounte · 3 months ago

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Eternity Will Bring You Near - Chapter 1

Masterlist

Summary:

Wade understood that Logan was from a world where Alpha, Beta and Omega were everyday terms, not exclusive to red-pilled incel fuckheads who kept inventing new performative male genders. Wade would've been classified as a Beta. Logan, however, was an Alpha - Wade's read enough fanfiction and yaoi manga to know what that means. Though it doesn't explain why Logan keeps sniffing him.

Pairing: Alpha!Worst Wolverine/Deadpool

Genre: A/B/O, Smut, Domestic-ish

Warnings: A/B/O Dynamics, Blood, Mild Gore/Body Horror, Masturbation, Additional warnings to be added as more chapters are uploaded.

Beginning Note: This was originally meant to be a crackfic but the bitch decided to become a multichapter project instead. I never thought I would get brain rot this severe over a movie of all things. The toxic old man yaoi really is a hell of a drug.

Cross posted to AO3

Heya kiddos- well actually no I hope you’re not kiddos. The following events aren’t exactly G-rated. Scratch that, not G-rated in the slightest. See the author’s girlfriend asked them if they had written anything gay before because and I quote “You’re the type of person I imagine would – you are very gay” and was very surprised to find her partner had, in fact, not written gay porn for a rabid audience (though they once wrote reader insert smut for one of the most rabid fan-bases – BTS anyone?). Lucky for her, the author’s autistic ass is currently hyper-fixated on my movie and has watched it twice. Now I know what you’re thinking: another re-imagining of the icon and highly erotic Honda Odyssey scene that the Tumblr girlies are going feral over? Sadly no, there are over a hundred-and-sixty interpretations of that situationship on AO3 already and the author is not up to that task. Self-conscious and insecure fuckface they are. Oh b-t-dubs, this will have mixed perspectives. So without further ado, let’s fucking do this. Maximum effort.

Deadpool didn’t imagine his epic team-up with his hero of heroes to end this way. With his noble self-sacrifice, blue anti-matter coiled around his wrist, coursing through his veins and dismantling him atom by atom and him helplessly reaching for the matter contained on the other side of this fucking bridge. No, to be honest, he imagined it ending with maybe a few drinks in a bar to celebrate victory before trying to convince Wolverine to hate fuck him. When have things ever gone his way?

You will never save the world. Ya couldn’t even save a relationship with a god damn stripper.

“Not now, flashbacks.”

Grunts of effort and pain as he was on the verge of dislocating his shoulder to just fucking reach the other fucking side. He had to save them. Give Peanut the restart he deserved. Give this world the hero it deserved. Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’ was ringing through his ears as he knew he needed a miracle. And just like a prayer answered, Wolverine was right there with him, gripping tightly to his reaching hand and bridging the gap. He had a few precious seconds to appreciate the washboard glistening abs that were explosively -gloriously- exposed to his greedy eyes before Madonna and the pain crescendoed. Oh, what he would’ve done to at the very least get a bit of frottage from that meal of a man. Deadpool and Wolverine’s shouts of agony as energy tore through them intermingled, part of the chorus only he could hear.

White. Everything was white. Burning hot and blinding. Then there was…

Nothing. No pain. No heat. Just weightlessness.

Until his body collided with a wall with a thunk and sprawled onto the ground. He couldn’t get up immediately, his healing factor working overtime to patch up the spider webbing network of atomised damage. Once the pain was tolerable enough, Deadpool stumbled up to his feet with gritted teeth. What did people say? Pain lets you know you are still alive. Well, he was definitely alive then. The smoke and debris in the air made it hard to breathe let alone see through his mask, that wouldn’t do. Ripping the miraculously intact material off, Wade idly wondered why his clothes were fine. Did the universe decide he was too much of an eyesore to strip? Or more logically, Logan’s metal skeleton made him more conductive. Shit.

Wade scanned the destroyed room, trying to catch a glimpse of neon yellow. Panic seeped in when he couldn’t immediately spot the older mutant. Please don’t be vaporised.

“Wolvie? Peanut?!”

A groan came from across the other side of the wreckage. Groaning was good. Groaning – in this case – meant pain or annoyance, which meant functional nervous system. Good. Good. Now, how to get across. Bridge is out of the question, it’s royally fucked. Which left clambering over crumbled walls that blocked the walkways. Goal set, Wade navigated his way over to roughly where he heard the groan emanate from, muscles protesting the whole time. Bright yellow peaked out from underneath the rubble. Logan’s knee to be precise. Wade sighed.

“Maximum effort.”

Wade got to work, moving aside the bricks that had landed on top of his partner, revealing a barely lucid Wolverine and- Holy shit. Big fuck off piece of metal shelving right through the stomach. Wade was pretty sure the only reason Logan wasn’t bisected was because of those metal bones of his.

“Take a deep breath, Honey Badger, this is going to hurt worse than the reviews for the Borderlands movie. Can you believe they’ve gotten a nine percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes while we have a seventy-eight? They weren’t too happy about all the rectal stabbings. Have they not heard of queer allegory? Though we’re ninety-five from audiences. Must be all the sexual tension between us.”

As Wade was prattling on – partly running his mouth as always and partly to distract Logan – he unsheathed his katanas and slotted them into the wound and wiggled them under the metal.

“The fuck are y’doing, Bub?” Logan seethed through gritted teeth, trying to sit up only to be pushed back down again by the merc.

See Wade wasn’t always an idiot- “Hey I take offence to that.” -but he could have a smart idea every once in a while, such as now. Knowing that he did not possess the strength to pull out - “My pull-out game is strong I’ll have you know.” - the sheet of metal, a proper application of force would allow him to lever it out. Taking turns with what katana he pushed down on, he eventually worked the shelf out far enough for him to straddle the other man’s lap and rip it out the rest of the way with a wet squelch. Next to come out were his beloved weapons which he wiped in his elbow crease then re-sheathed.

Immediately Logan’s thatched lickable abs started to knit themselves back together. And Wade couldn’t stop his hands from wandering; tracing up his chest and neck to grab those blowjob handles, lean down, and finally kiss the crotchety old fuck like he’d been dying to for the past seventy-two hours. Because in for a penny in for a pound, who knows if he’d see him again when all is said and done. Logan went stiff beneath him and Wade froze in place, knowing in his bones that he was going to get pushed off. But then Logan relaxes and his arms wrap around Wade’s waist to pull him closer, his tongue sweeps across the seem of scarred lips asking for entry. Which is enthusiastically granted. Blood and iron assaults Wade’s taste buds as teeth knock and tongues dance. Of course, being over two hundred would make Wolvie a great kisser, the man wasn’t contractually allowed a flaw under Disney. As much as Wade would have loved to carry on sloppily making out and maybe slip his hand down what remains of Logan’s suit, he knew that even though he wouldn’t mind beating the crap out of a bureaucrat with a raging hard-on, the man beneath him probably would. And so semi-reluctantly Wade broke away with a sigh, Logan’s hands shifting to lightly grasp his hips.

“We should show that motherfucker upstairs just how alive we are.”

Of course, you gays, gals, and non-binary pals know what happens after that. We march our asses up to those pencil pushers resulting in two iconic lines – one of which is an Oscar-worthy delivery of my favourite word. There were some extreme levels of sexual tension between B-15 and Peter, Logan and I regenerate my timeline meaning my plan fucking worked and Logan got to stay here. We also got a fat stack of compensation each for our efforts. Now we cut to shawarma and see things from a grumpy puppy’s perspective.

Logan knew to expect some differences between this universe and his original such as there still being living X-men. And he knew that there was the fundamental difference of a lack of secondary sexes here but the distinct absence of pheromones everywhere made the air here seem… cleaner? Almost overwhelming in its purity. The scent of pollution, of food being prepared, of dog piss on the pavement undiluted. No Alphas peacocking. No Omegas trying to suppress and get by. Just “average” people living average lives. Like what was happening in front of him.

Logan, with arms crossed over and leaning against a wall, watched in amusement (not that he’d ever admit to it) as Wade went to place his order at the shawarma place he had led him to.

“I’ll have one beedo beedo, a chocobo supreme, and a mountain boo bah. What would you like Honey Badger?” Wade asked his elbow on the counter top, head resting on his hand as his body was turned to face his partner, ignoring how the server was looking at him like he’d grown three heads.

“Sir, this is a shawarma joint, we only do shawarma here. I have no idea what a beedo beedo is-” The kid behind the counter tried to inform the ADHD-riddled regenerator only to be met with a finger over his lips as he was promptly shushed.

“We do the talking sweetums, you just be a little patient. Wolvie? Anything in mind?”

Some rest would be a good start, then a shower and bottle of whiskey. An explanation on that kiss back there. But food was a good start.

“Ignore his ramblings, he’s had multiple head injuries over the last few days. We’ll have two beef and one chicken, all the salad. Obviously tarator sauce in the beef and toum in the chicken. As for drinks, give us whatever beer y’d recommend.” Logan noticed Wade’s jaw drop out the corner of his eye as he rattled off a proper order. The kid behind the counter pushed the finger on his lips away and nodded, inputting the order and printing off the details to pass to the cook. “What? Did y’think I’d never had this before?”

Wade blinked at him, “Well… uh… to be honest yeah. Didn’t take you for the adventurist foodie type.”

“Need I remind y’of just how old I am, Bub? I was around when immigrants introduced this to the country.”

“Oh, so you’re the original trendsetter for your universe. Speaking of, I’ve seen the fanfictions and read the yaoi, did your world have fated pairs and heat cycles? Do male Omegas just have a dick and ass or do they have a vagina too? Or did they just have a vagina? Did you have to take suppressors for your ‘Alpha Ruts’ to reign in your primal instincts?” Wade’s eyes shone with curiosity as he fired off questions, “Oh are we going to have to deal with those now that you’re in residence here? Maybe I should ask that TVA lady to get you like an inter-dimensional prescription.”

Logan sighed and rubbed his face, he had been expecting this line of questioning. Honestly, he had expected them to occur in the Void after Wade got offended for being called a beta-

“What in the Andrew Taint bullshit is that? They have toxic masculinity red-pillers in your world too? And you’re one of them? For shame Logi Bear. That’s why you’re the Worst Wolverine.”

-and the subsequent misunderstanding was cleared up. At least in the Void, there were fewer witnesses.

“In order: Yes to both. Dick and Ass. Yes, it’s a pain to get by without them or a partner. And that’s all I’m telling y’because it doesn’t affect you.”

“That’s no fun. I need the juicy deets,” Suddenly Wade gasped and pointed at him, “Do you knot?! Bite on the nape of the neck? Oh, I think I might just pop a chub at this rate.”

Logan growled standing straight and emitting his pheromones on instinct, “Enough. As I said it doesn’t affect y’so y’don’t need to know.”

Silence. Finally silence. And the faintest smell of something sweet.

“Order up.”

Logan took his two beef and handed the chicken to Wade alongside a beer, his own stuffed into a jacket pocket. They sat outside the shop in silence and in the time it took for Logan to wolf down one and a half of his order, Wade had only finished half before he started talking again.

“You know, the Avengers discovered shawarma in the sacred timeline.” He said, mouth still full.

Logan glanced over at him, “They’d be lucky to have y’.”

Wade had a considering look in his eye as paused chewing then nodded. The guy still probably had his insecurities and self-doubt that Logan definitely exacerbated in the Honda. Just as they were about to take another bite, barking and the sound of scampering paws were heading right at the pair. It was that fucking dog.

“Oh~”

“Come on,” Logan groaned, head falling back.

“Fuck!” Wade threw his half-eaten wrap on the ground and began the daintiest clap Logan had ever seen done by someone other than a white girl, “Come over here my little munchkin! Yes, it’s you~. You’re a survivor.” Wade picked up the ugly little thing, squeezing her tight and kissing her on the head. “Oh, all is right in the world. Yes, it is.” Wade turned to him, eyeing him up and down, “So what are you going to do next?”

Logan shrugged, “I’ll figure it out. I always do.”

“That right? I’ll probably see you around,” A small smile was playing on his lips as he continued to gauge his response.

An impulsive thought wormed its way into his head, before he knew it he found himself quirking an eyebrow at the merc and proceeded to lie.

“Probably not. See y’, Bub.”

With that, he stood up and walked away as Wade continued to pet Dogpool. He threw the remains of his meal onto a table. A waste really. But all part of the plan. His pace was slow and measured, he was waiting. And when he heard the call of:

“Logan!”

He stopped, a small smile unable to be contained as Wade finally called him by his name. Not one of those childish nicknames. This had been what he was waiting to hear. He turned to face Wade, his expression schooled into a neutral facade.

“Stay with me- us.” Wade offered, pointing between himself and the dog.

Logan walked back over to him, “I thought y’shared a one-bedroom apartment with a lovely blind woman named Althea. Doesn’t sound like y’have much room for me.” Not much room in the apartment or his life. He wasn’t part of Wade’s world.

“There’s always room for one more. We have a pull-out sofa you can use. Not much privacy but it’s home. I only share a bed with Blind Al because I’ve been incredibly touch-starved since the breakup and need my bedtime cuddles.”

Logan huffed a chuckled, “That’s why I had to tie y’up, Bub.” A lie. In reality he had been planning to abandon Wade in that car. “Well, I’m not one to turn down a free roof over my head until I can sort out something more permanent.”

Before he knew it, he was following Wade to his home which was a lot closer to the TVA base and, subsequently, the shawarma shop than he had expected. Just down the street really. Meeting Al was sweet, it almost felt like being introduced to a parent back when he was a young man. And much like a mother, she swiftly turned in ire to Wade and slapped him on the arm with such precision Logan almost doubted her disability.

“Wade W. Wilson, you disappear after blowing out your birthday candles only to return with havoc in the streets and a man on your arm. You could have told us you were dating again. Peter was worried sick about you.”

It had been his birthday? The merc had spent his birthday trying to save his friends -his world – and was rewarded with a thorough verbal dressing down and a night of carnage in a car.

“Oh well, you know, it was the usual. I got abducted, told our universe was dying because someone had to go and nobly sacrifice themselves for the next generation of mutants. So then I hopped through multiple universes to find me a Wolverine who wouldn’t stab me on sight. Found this fella right here and got sent to the universal (not the studio) trash heap. Where I then proceeded to get my brain finger fucked by a bald long-nail-bedded bitch. Seriously they began at like her knuckle. Props to the costume department for that mildly disturbing detail.” Al’s inability to see didn’t stop Wade’s wild gesticulations as he described the events that happened to him. “And after a daring escape from her clutches, I had the best birthday car romp in a while. Became a real pin cushion for ‘im.” Wade sent Logan a wink.

Logan cleared his throat and avoided eye contact, a slight heat taking root in his ear at the implication behind those words. Al gagged.

“Wade, what I’m about to say is without a hint of homophobia: I don’t need to hear any more about your repulsive sex life. It’s bad enough I can hear you choking the chicken in the bathroom.”

Wade was laughing to himself as he meandered away from his now two room-mates and it was only slightly awkward until he returned with sweatpants and a tank top in hand. He shoved them into Logan’s chest along with a towel.

“Shower is through that door there,” He pointed to his right, “You reek of alcohol, blood, and Marvel H Christ knows what else. I doubt I smell much better – not like the Void had personal hygiene products lying around – but your odour can only be described as one of my twenty-eighteen suicide attempts from the second movie before I rewrote the events that triggered that spiral.” Wade looked off to the side, “You readers know which one I’m on about.” He mimicked an explosion sound as he ballooned his hands apart.

Logan was taken aback for a moment, processing that the seemingly always chipper buffoon had tried to kill himself at some point. However, he decided against acknowledging the trauma dump by just grunting his thanks. He took the offered clothes and beelined for the bathroom.

Alright fuck-os let’s focus on me again.

Shut up, Wade. I’m trying to write here.

Oh sure you are. I saw you reading other fanfics and some of my comic runs. And aren’t you on vacation now? I didn’t say you could take a break.

Sigh. Anyway…

Wade placed Mary Puppins on the floor and then immediately flopped onto the sofa, energy levels depleted and a deep set ache in his muscles. He waited for the sound of the shower starting before speaking.

“We’re not dating.”

“Not yet,” Al responded, somehow managing to give him a pointed look despite a) being blind and b) wearing sunglasses so he couldn’t see her eyes.

“The man hates me. Stabbed me many times on many occasions – not that I didn’t enjoy it.” Wade grumbled, sinking further into his seat.

“So why is he here?”

“He had nowhere else to go. I couldn’t just let him wander the streets after I abducted him. Not after he saved me.”

“So Vanessa announces she has a new boyfriend after you’ve been separated for two years and you went and kidnapped one for yourself. That’s a new kind of fucked up, even for you Wade.”

“Yeah I know, I’m a bigger fuck up than Ryan Reynolds accepting that Green Lantern role. I don’t need reminding. Again, we’re not dating. Manage to get your hands on some White Girl Interrupted while Feige’s attention was on the Void?”

“You might not be but you like him. You haven’t introduced someone to me like that since Vanessa. I still don’t know who the fuck Feige is but yes I did.”

“Good because I need some right now. I’m guessing you’ve put it in your sex toy drawer in an attempt to deter me but Al you always fail to remember very little disgusts me.”

Wade slapped his lap as he got up, signalling the end of the conversation. He went back to the bedroom and immediately opened the aforementioned drawer, sticking his hand in he rifled through dildos and vibrators of various shapes and sizes until he found a rectangular packet. Bingo. Oh, he was so going to build a snowman. Oh wait, this is fanfiction, not a movie, Feige has no control here. Wade can just say cocaine.

You guys are going to have to use your imagination here because the author doesn’t know how to write cocaine usage because they’re a pure little munchkin who only ever smoked weed like five times and sniffed poppers once.

Hey stop interrupting or I’ll make this a T rating.

Suitably buzzed and the throbbing ache of his muscles dulled, Wade grabbed a towel and a set of PJ’s to change into after his turn in the shower. His timing was seemingly perfect as he entered the living area just as Logan stepped out of the bathroom towelling his hair roughly, a steam plume framing him in a haze with the lighting hitting just right. The clothes lent to him a tight fit as they clung to the man’s muscular frame, hugging spots that weren’t completely dry yet. Dear lord, was that a dick print? Look at the size of that thing! He needed to French kiss whoever invented grey sweats. Whoever they are or were, he hoped they were getting laid six ways to Sunday. Wade found himself thanking whatever foresight he had since the white tank went near translucent in places like the dips of Logan’s abs and the swell of his pecs. He quickly wiped away the drool on the corner of his lips.

“Nice milk cans you got there, Wolvie. Hope you didn’t use up all the hot water,” Wade commented, eyes still roving over the other’s effortlessly erotic form. That’s the World’s Sexiest Man 2008 for you.

Logan slung the towel around his shoulders, a flush to his cheeks – from heat, Wade’s comment, or ogling who knows – as he seemingly took a moment to study the merc’s face.

“Is… Is that cocaine in y’nose? Y’pupils are dilated. Are y’high?” Logan scoffed in response, eyebrows pinched together.

Wade wiped his nose, “Did you know your pupils can dilate as much as fifty-five percent when you look at something or someone you love? Because I’m loving what a feast for my eyes you are.” He approached the grouchy man and rubbed a thumb between his eyebrows, which was swiftly slapped away with a grumble, “You shouldn’t frown so much, it’ll age you faster. As much as I am all for our old man yaoi dynamics I don’t want you looking like the Old Man Logan who shotgun blasted me.”

Wade patted Logan on the arm as he squeezed past him to get entry into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He chucked the towel and change of clothes onto the bathroom’s counter top, knocking over the toothbrush pot and a few other bits. He then stripped off the red leather suit, having to peel it away as dried blood and various other bodily fluids had acted as fucking glue. Bare as the day he was born, Wade turned the shower on and fiddled with the taps to get the temperature just how he liked it. Steamy, the same way he liked his homoerotic fight scenes.

Stepping in, Wade rolled his shoulders and took a moment to let the water ease his tight muscles.

“That’s the good stuff,” he moaned softly, tilting his head back eyes closed.

After what felt like a suitable amount of time had passed, he grabbed his loofah and body wash and went to town on getting the caked-on grime off of his scarred skin. The water flowing down the drain was a murky burgundy as sand, old blood, and who knows what else was washed away.

When the water turned clear Wade decided to focus on… other things. Mainly the beefcake wearing his clothes at that very moment, the walking wet dream he was. Visions of those sweaty tits floated through his mind, making his cock – which had already been at half-mast – twitch in interest. God, he had been dying to rub one out since he woke up tied against The Wolverine. He grasped himself firmly and gave a few tugs to get fully hard before teasing over the tip. His bottom lip was caught between his teeth as tried to stifle his whimpers. He worked over his shaft as he recalled how Logan had smiled during their scuffle in the Honda, how his blood had dripped onto the older man’s cheek and into his mouth – on those fangs. Logan had licked the blood off with an almost feral look in his eyes before launching him through the sun roof. Fuck. He wasn’t going to last with how pent-up he was. His grip tightened as he sped up his ministrations. He remembered the kiss after saving the multiverse as he came with an embarrassingly desperate groan. Logan had kissed him back. Had held him close. Yet when all was said and done, he had been ready to leave Wade behind. What a confusing, grumpy hunk. With a shaky exhale he turned off the shower.

Wade towelled off and got dressed. His chosen PJ’s for the night were lavender shorts and a Hello Kitty crop top. Hey – crop tops were invented by male bodybuilders to get around gym attire rules, so never let anyone tell you men can’t wear crop tops. With dramatic zeal, Wade threw open the door and strutted out of the bathroom. He was not expecting to have two pairs of hazel eyes looking right at him. One in disdain and one in… appraisal?

Laura. Laura was on his sofa. Why was she here? Oh god… did Laura hear him jerking off?!

“Oh.” Wade squeaked, mortified as his body tinged a dark red. “Hi there.”

The girl, so much like her father, grunted in response and turned away. Speaking of, Logan had yet to tear his eyes away and if Wade saw correctly, he seemed to be… sniffing?

“Enjoy y’shower, Red?” The smirking fucker asked, then gestured towards Laura, “The TVA just dropped her off. She has nowhere to crash so Althea kindly offered her y’spot on the bed.”

Wade gasped and marched round to stand in front of the pair, “What? Where am I supposed to sleep? On the floor?”

“I’m not going to make y’sleep on the floor in y’own home, Wade. Y’ll be bunking with me on the sofa.” Logan patted the free space next to him.

Wade stiffly sat down in the offered seat and whispered incredulously to the older man, “What about my bedtime cuddles?”

“I’m sure y’can make do without.” Logan deadpanned but that infuriating smirk was still plastered on his face.

It was quite the jump from it just being Wade and Al in the shitty one bed apartment to there now being four people in the space of a few hours.

Wade huffed and crossed his arms, “We need to find a bigger apartment… Anyone feel like Chinese food?”

There was a chorus of agreement. Wade took Al’s phone off the coffee table and opened up the delivery app he used most, his favourite Chinese take-out was top of the recommended list. He put in what he and Al usually ordered then passed the phone to Logan. His former eyebrows shot upwards as the bi-centenarian successfully navigated the menus and selected what he wanted. It was Laura who seemed perplexed by the menu and the food listed. It was a sweet moment, watching Logan awkwardly explain what everything was when asked. Despite being virtually strangers, there looked to be a genuine connection forming already. Kin recognising kin on that instinctual level only Wolverines can experience. Wade took the time to tell Al and Laura all about the epic battle in the streets and how they saved the world with the power of hand holding as they waited for their food to arrive.

“You know Peter will have told everyone by now that you’re back with company,” Al remarked, petting Mary Puppins who had situated herself on the elderly woman’s lap. “They’ll be over tomorrow, I just know it.”

Wade felt Logan go rigid beside him, was he worried about Negasonic and the other X-men in his makeshift family? Oh, that was going to be a weird meeting wasn’t it. Not because they’d be seeing a ghost of their Wolverine, no. Their Wolverine was still alive and kicking, after all it’s twenty-twenty-four at the moment not twenty-nine which was when his timeline’s Logan was scheduled to die. See, Wade had used that TVA device to jump forward in time and exhume his remains because for the TVA all timeline events are happening simultaneously. So these X-men would be seeing a stranger who looked like their Logan, and Logan would be seeing the faces of those he had already lost in his world knowing he was going to lose them here too. Wade made a silent vow to keep Negasonic, Yukio and Colossus away from Westchester when the time comes. He liked those ones.

…Wait. All that timey-whimey stuff meant that Paradox, the dickhead, was going to set off the Time Ripper five years before this timeline’s OG Logan was meant to die. Was he really so impatient to ‘prune’ the timeline that he wasn’t willing to waiting for the self-sacrificing fuck to actually do the thing?

“Everyone except Weasel – his actor has multiple sexual assault allegations against him and that’s not a good look for us,” Wade interjected in a most likely misguided attempt to lighten the mood. All it got him, however, was Laura and Logan staring at him. “Hey, I don’t keep people like that in my social circle. I’m a good boy. Consent is sexy and if someone doesn’t take no for an answer, stab ‘em. Solves everything.”

Laura nodded at the sagely advice then looked towards the door and stood up seconds before knocking resounded from the entry way. Wade handed her the tip money as she walked by to answer. Food secured, Wade stood up, washed up some cutlery that would be needed and handed them out as Logan helped Laura to sort out the food and Al turned on the TV – Golden Girls was already playing. They mostly ate in silence whilst Wade made comments about the episode that was met with “Shut up” from various people. It wasn’t long until Al was retiring for the night and taking Laura with her to sort some things to wear. The girl was briefly sent out with bedding, blankets and spare pillows for the sofa.

“We should probably get the bed set up, sounds like we’re in for a long day tomorrow,” Wade suggested while clearing away the take out containers.

“We should… but we still have those beers from the shawarma place. In the fridge, if y’d like to have them now,” Logan offered, collecting up the dirty cutlery to put in the already overflowing sink. He grunted at the sight of it.

Wade retrieved said beers and handed one to Logan who released a single claw and used it to pop the cap off. He then did the same to Wade’s, who found that all too attractive, he had to think of puppies being kicked to stop himself from popping a boner then and there.

“Cheers. To saving the world!” Wade toasted, clinking his bottle against Logan’s.

“To saving y’world,” Logan grumbled, immediately taking a deep swig.

“Any particular reason you wanted to share a drink with me, Peanut?” Wade asked, sitting back down on the cushion he had previously occupied, eyes following Logan as he sat on the opposite side of the sofa with legs spread. Slut.

“Deserve it after the shit we’ve been through. Not everyday people like us nearly die.” Logan answered, gesturing between them.

“Thank you, by the way, for not letting me face death alone in the end. Despite the noble sacrifice, I wasn’t lying when I said I was scared,” Wade said, shifting in his seat to bring both his feet up. It just never felt right to have them on the floor.

Logan growled, “Couldn’t exactly let y’. As I said, I had nothing left to live for. Would have left me stranded here with no fucking clue who anyone was if y’had succeeded. Asshole move on y’part.”

Wade nursed his beer as Logan spoke. Truthfully, he hadn’t thought that far ahead in his rushed plan to save everyone. He placed his drink on the coffee table and tried looking anywhere but at the man casually spread across his sofa. Candid moments came as naturally as bottoming to him. Not at all.

“In that moment, when you offered yourself up and held that picture, I thought I needed to save those I cared about. Apparently, in the three fucking days we’ve known each other for, you became the tenth person in my world. Saving everyone meant saving you too – despite the stabbing each other.”

The silence that came afterwards made him uncomfortable, had him reaching for his beer to keep his mouth busy. He could hear Logan gulping down his before hollow glass clinking on MDF resounded through the room with an accompanying sigh. Wade finally looked at the other man, who just seemed tired. Ready to call it a night.

“What’s done is done, Bub. Just glad we both survived to see another day.” Logan pointed to the mostly full bottle in Wade’s hands, “Y’gonna finish that?”

“Oh, uh yeah. Hang on.” In a similar display to what Logan had done in that dive-bar he dragged him out of, Wade necked the bottle of beer, some of the liquid dribbling out the corner of his mouth. He impressed himself with how he managed to chug it down without needing to breathe – he thought those binge drinking muscle memories had long since faded. Once empty, Wade lowered the bottle and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His gaze drifted over to Logan whose eyes, which were darker than usual (but that may have been down to the lighting), were locked on Wade’s throat.

“You good there, Honey Badger?”

Logan blinked a couple of times and shook his head, “Yeah just… just lost in thought. Let’s get the bed set already.”

Wade nodded and picked up their bottles, depositing them in a plastic bag that contained other used glass items. He then manoeuvred the coffee table out of the way so Logan could pull the bedframe and mattress out. It all felt rather domestic; pulling the bottom sheet into place, setting up the blankets and pillows together. The lights were turned off and the two men got under the covers. Wade really did try to go to sleep but for all his effort he was left tossing and turning.

“Will y’quit it? Is your ADHD so severe you can’t stay still even in your sleep?” Logan groaned, arm slung over his face.

“I wasn’t lying about needing bedtime cuddles, Logi Bear,” Wade hissed back.

Logan huffed and threw the arm closest to Wade over the younger man, “Fine. Y’can cuddle this arm. But just the arm.”

“Yay!” Wade cheered, eagerly rolling onto his side and wrapping his limbs around the offered arm like it was a tree to be climbed. “Goodnight, Wolvie.”

“G’night, Bubba.”

Did he just fucking call me Bubba?!

Wade was out like a light, the physical contact anchoring his racing thoughts enough to drift off peacefully.

That’s where you’re gonna leave it? I thought we were going to Pound Town?! THIS IS RATED E DAMMIT!

This was getting too long for a oneshot Wade. You’ll still get your trip to Fuckville don’t worry. It’s not tagged slowburn. Now go the fuck to sleep and I’ll see you next chapter.

#deadpool and wolverine #poolverine #deadpool x wolverine #deadclaws #deadpool

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astro-royale · 1 year ago

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「Elvis Presley: Moon+Venus sign analysis

Hello my Royalties (followers of my blog will now be referred to as Royalties) because you’re a one of a kind STAR (Astro means star) ;))

Have you guessed I have a Leo in Venus placement…

I will be starting a series where I will be analysing the moon + venus signs of male celebrities and their dating track record..

I believe by doing so we can truly understand certain placements and we can learn how to now interpret them not just metaphorically but quite literally in our personal lives.. we can learn what to stay away from, potentially save our lives. Or we can find our best match

And what better way to start than with the King of Rock n Roll… Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley was a Pisces Moon with A Capricorn Venus…

Now the moon sign in a man’s chart tells us what kind of personality a man is typically drawn to

And the venus sign informs us on preferences in regards to appearance…

His Pisces moon in 2 degrees of Taurus indicates he had a preference for mysterious, withdrawn and shy women, women which seem to be in need of protection.

The 2 degrees in taurus also points to women who can easily be possessed as well as women who he could easily secure and guide, women that he could invest in.

Which is definitely very true as he is known for his questionable relationship to Priscilla Presley. He pretty much guided her into being his “perfect girl” , shaping her personal style, taste in music, what she wore.. and she was pretty much hidden in his home for a big part of their relationship until they got married.

Even with his other girlfriends, they were all very easily influenced and able to manipulated and shaped due to their young age, which goes back to that 2* degrees Taurus of stability and investing into something so it grows over time… a little creepy but yeah I’m pretty much just quoting history.

I was inspired to write this post because I have recently watched a series on Prime with his ex girlfriends talking about their experience of him which made me want to ,,, look at his chart.

The 2* in taurus also points to women from the countryside or women with very simple backgrounds which again is very true in his case… and for his girlfriends which had a bit more status, well they were usually involved in some kind of art but SPECIFICALLY singing with that Taurus because Taurus rules the throat. And that was again true.

Now his capricorn venus shows us that he would prefer a mature look on a woman in terms of her style, women wearing leather and dressed in darker shades, also somewhat traditional, also preference for a darker hair colour.

Example: He made Priscilla dye her hair so it was darker

With this placement being in 29 degrees in Leo it does have a grandiosity to it, okay, so this could mean women with grande hairstyles (Priscilla was really known for that beehive). And the 29 degrees in Leo also points to colours that really stand out even if they were in darker shades, it could just be colours with depths to them like purple, blues etc and it could also mean mixing shiny details with darker colours, like gold on black and so on. Which ya know, Elvis was quite notorious for his flashy outfits,,

Priscilla did state that despite her being underage, Elvis would make her wear mature and sexy clothes. Well.. that goes back to that 29 degrees in Leo. There’s a big contrast between that Capricorn venus and Leo degree because it denotes that he likes a woman who embodies traditional values but still appears flashy and is in the spotlight.

Hey guys! Please keep in mind a lot of time and energy goes into this research :) I love being able to share it with everyone and I want to keep sharing my knowledge unconditionally which is why I haven’t created a Tumblr+.

Consider supporting me by booking a Tarot Reading or leaving a tip by clicking the Tip Button

IG: astr0royale

I also do pick a card readings on YouTube and it would mean the world if you checked that out

Thank you and much love to you all.

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cabbagedkappa · 11 months ago

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To my fellow Ace Attorney fans out there, I have a really, really important question. This is kind of lengthy, so buckle up- I tried to keep it as brief as possible. This is about Bridge to a Turnabout (Trials and Tribulations chapter 5), so please don't look if you haven't finished the entire case and don't want spoilers. If you know someone who has, do me a favor and share this with them.

Have you guys ever sat and thought about how Godot is entirely responsible for the events of that case, going back a year in advance? And I mean ENTIRELY. Quick recap, just in case- I need you to think back to Reunion and Turnabout from Justice For All (chapter 2). Morgan Fey was arrested for being an accomplice to murder.

We find out in T&T-5 that, during a visitation period shortly after JFA-2, Pearl told her about the special reservations she had placed a year in advance. Morgan took this information, knowing Dahlia would have been executed by then and that Maya would be in a compromising position at Hazakura Temple, and wrote Pearl the letter detailing her murder plot. Of course, Pearl can't understand the letter at all, so the plan goes off the rails very quickly.

But I feel like not a lot of people remember that the letter was given to Pearl sealed. It's probably a little easy to miss- Pearl mentions that she had stashed it away when she got home, but when she came back to read it later, she was surprised to see that the seal was broken.

Godot had overheard the plans and gone to Kurain Village to inspect the letter himself. Sometime between reading the letter and the events of T&T-5, he enlisted Iris and Misty's help to put a stop to it.

......He put the letter back. Before Pearl even had a chance to read it at all.

You could argue that this was accidental, but he had a FULL YEAR to correct his mistake. Even if Pearl had already read it by the time he got back, it's not like a nine year old is going to remember what it said word-for-word, especially not in a year's time.

Unfortunately, it's hard for me to believe he didn't leave it there on purpose. Quoted from the wiki, "seeing as his chance to save [Maya], as he projected his feeling that he failed to save his girlfriend Mia..."

He willingly endangered the safety of a small child and allowed a threat to be made on the life of Mia's beloved sister just so he could look like a hero and "redeem" himself. And he killed Maya's mother in the process- right in front of her.

Godot subjected the Fey girls to so much unnecessary hurt and trauma just for the sake of stroking his own ego. If his goal was really to do whatever it took to protect his girlfriend's remaining family, he did a piss-poor job of it.

All the art I see of this man- Mia's spirit lovingly by his side. Babysitting the girls and getting into weird uncle hijinks. Would they really have forgiven him so easily? All it would've taken to prevent it all was just to get rid of the letter. He had an entire year to do it. He had multiple chances to fess up and apologize.

Sorry for the rant. It was driving me crazy that nobody seems to acknowledge anything about the letter. I was starting to think that surely, the ENTIRE fandom can't have missed this detail, and that maybe some sort of elaborate prank was being played on me.

Please, share your ideas with me. I want to know how many people have thoughts on this. It'd be an understatement to say that it's been driving me crazy.

#ace attorney #gyakuten saiban #trials and tribulations #justice for all #aa spoilers #iris don't look

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vcg73 · 2 years ago

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Free Kurt - Wedding Edition

OK, so I never made it all the way through the episode, so this is off the cuff. But in the spirit of ‘canon is bullshit and Kurt deserved better’, here is my shot at Carole saving Kurt from that absurd S6 wedding per this request: https://www.tumblr.com/elledelajoie/697137179001028608/free-kurt-challenge-3?source=share

TITLE: Mother May I

~*~*~*~*~

“Excuse me. Can we talk for a minute?” Carole asked, knocking softly on a support post next to the hale bale on which sat Pam Anderson, Blaine’s mother.

The dark-haired woman smiled, looking relieved to have company, and it was then that Carole realized that this woman was a stranger to everyone here, excepting her son and Kurt, and had probably been feeling a little bit lost amongst the twittering throng of wedding guests, and friends and family of the two young brides.

“Of course!” she said, scooting over a few inches to make room on the blanket covered bale. “It’s Carolyn, right? Kurt’s mother?”

“Carole, actually,” she corrected with a smile, trying not to let her puzzlement show. Surely Kurt had, at some point in his relationship with Blaine, met the other young man’s parents. And hadn’t Blaine ever talked to his mom about his boyfriend’s family? She could remember Finn excitedly babbling away about every little detail of his girlfriends’ lives when he had dated, alternately, Quinn and Rachel. And Kurt had told Burt and her all about Blaine. Even before they started dating officially, every visit home from Dalton Academy had been full of information on Blaine, the information frequently seeming to burst out with his enthusiasm to talk about the other boy.

Pam shook her head. “Right, I’m so sorry. I’m terrible with names. I’ve met so many new people today that all of the introductions have flown right out of my head.”

“Are you friends with the brides’ mothers?” Carole asked, momentarily distracted from original intention in seeking this woman out.

Pam blushed. “Actually, no. My son recently broke up with the young man he’d been living with and I was coming as his, and I quote, ‘emergency plus-one’. But then he and Kurt unexpectedly got back together yesterday, so I was going to bow out, but the boys said I should come anyway. Since I’d already bought the dress and all.” She laughed a little awkwardly, seeming to only just notice that her dress and Carole’s were very alike. “I see we have similar good taste. We almost look like we should be mothers of the grooms, instead of guests of the brides!”

The other woman laughed again, but Carole felt like her thoughts had just screeched to a halt. “They just started seeing each other again? I thought my step-son was still dating that older gentleman that he met online.”

“Oh, no. I think they were just friends. That’s what my son told me,” Pam said. “Blaine broke up with Dave last week because he said he felt like he and Kurt had worked things out, but as far as I know it didn’t become official until yesterday.”

Carole’s brow creased. She suddenly felt rather suspicious of this odd chain of coincidental timing and events. “Something is very wrong here,” she said slowly. “And I think it may be partially my fault. Earlier, Kurt was saying something to his dad and me about how he had almost gotten married last year and what a young and foolish decision that was at the boys’ age. We should have just agreed, but instead we started waxing on about how you had to grab every moment of life and make the most of it. I’m afraid I may have inadvertently projected my regrets for the opportunities my son Finn never got to have onto him.”

Pam reached out, giving Carole’s hand a wordless squeeze of sympathy that told her the other woman had heard the tragic news of Finn’s passing.

“And Kurt takes everything to heart, doesn’t he?” Pam said with a small sigh. “He’s such a sweet young man. I never did get the full story on what broke them up the first time, but I regretted losing him almost as much as Blaine did. I love my son, but I know he isn’t good at taking responsibility for his actions, and I suspect he was at least equally at fault in whatever happened. Blaine has a bad habit of assuming that circumstances will always fall in line to suit his preference, and he becomes oblivious to anything that doesn’t fit that narrative. Those two have broken up and gotten back together so many times that I’m starting to believe Blaine’s in claims about destiny and soulmates.”

Carole sighed. “I’m not sure that I agree. Sometimes couples break up because they just aren’t suited for each other, no matter how strong the love is. And now Brittany is trying to convince our sons that they should get married in a double ceremony today. I overheard Sue Sylvester talking to Brittany just now, and I believe the idea originated with her. That woman has an unhealthy obsession with Kurt, and lately she’s been fixed on the idea of ‘Klaine as endgame’.”

“She what?” Pam nearly screeched the words, standing abruptly. “They can’t do that. The first time they got engaged, they’d been back together for a day, and look how that turned out! Maybe they’ll work out in the end, and maybe not. I hope they do, but not like this!”

“Agreed,” Carole said, glad to have an ally in this. She would not hesitate to take on that track-suited maniac for Kurt’s sake, but she could not honestly claim that she wasn’t a little bit scared to do it alone. “Brittany apparently thinks that having two gay weddings at one time will counteract the bad luck of her and Santana having seen each other in their bridal wear before the ceremony.”

Pam’s face froze in a quietly baffled expression, looking so much like her son for a moment that Carole had to smile. Jumping up, she grabbed the other woman’s hand and gave her a tug. “Come on. We have a wedding to save, and another one to stop.”

A few minutes later, after a hurried conference with Mirabel Lopez and Whitney Pierce, the posse of Glee moms descended on the small room where the would-be brides and grooms, along with the still looming presence of Sue Sylvester, were waiting. Each mother drew her child aside for a serious heart to heart talk.

“Kurt, I know I’m not actually your mother, but I’m going to speak to you now as if I were,” Carole said, taking Kurt’s hands in both of her own. “This is a mistake. You and Blaine started dating under less than ideal circumstances and your entire high school relationship was a series of misunderstandings and missed opportunities, usually with you paying the price to end things peacefully. I stayed out of it then, feeling that it wasn’t my place to interfere, but Finn told me a lot, and I need to apologize if I ever made you feel that I was unapproachable. Maybe if I had tried harder to let you know that you could trust me, and that you had someone you could talk to when things got rough, you never would have felt like you had to do everything on your own. Or felt like you had to give and give until there was nothing left.”

Kurt gaped at her. “But, I…” He trailed off, unable to deny that he had done just that. “Things are better now.”

“Are they?” she said, looking into his eyes and nodding to herself when he flinched away from her intent gaze. “Or do you just want them to be better because you’re in love?”

“It hurt when he was gone,” Kurt said softly.

She impulsively gave him a hug. “I know it did. Letting go of someone we love, someone we put all our hopes and dreams into, does hurt. It hurts a lot. Believe me, I know. But your first true love doesn’t have to be your one and only. You and your father taught me that.” Letting go, she led him to a handy bench to sit down. “Honey, you can’t just ignore your problems, or magically make everything okay by wishing everything was good again. If the past year of grief counseling has reinforced any lesson for me, it’s that one. You broke up for valid reasons. Maybe you worked those problems out, and maybe you didn’t. Only you can answer that for sure, but when you and Blaine got engaged, it was essentially by ambush after you’d only just become a couple again, and I don’t think you were ready for that. And now, after another breakup, you’ve gotten back together yet again, and now someone else is trying to ambush you into a wedding. Someone else’s wedding, that you’re being forced to gate-crash no less! Does that seem like an ideal situation, or something that will work out well for you?”

Kurt’s blue eyes were welling up with tears. “No,” he whispered. “I feel like Alice from ‘Alice in Wonderland’, like random things just keep happening to me with no rhyme or reason, and the more I try to go along and make everyone else happy, the more lost and confused I feel. But Carole, what if I call it off and I lose him all over again?”

“If you can’t be honest with him, and with yourself, you’re going to lose a lot more than that,” she said gently. “For now, Brittany and Santana just need to know that they’re stronger than a little bad luck, and that today should be their big moment; a special day just for them. Their moms will figure out what to say to make that right. As for you and Blaine, just tell him that you want to date for a while. You two have always been in such a hurry for a big grand gesture to somehow prove your love, and you don’t need that. Just spend time together. Maybe go back to New York and try leading individual lives, different apartments, different jobs, different schools, and make sure everything between you is open and honest this time. But be a couple in all the important ways. By the time you graduate college, if you’re still on the same page, then set a date and plan out the wedding you want. Not this.”

The tears were trickling down Kurt’s face now, but he looked so relieved that any doubts Carole had harbored about interference vanished. He had not been born to her, but Kurt Hummel was her son just as much as her darling Finn had been, and her love for him was true motherly affection. She hugged him again, tightly.

“I love you, Carole.”

She smiled. “I love you too, honey. Now, let’s go see how the others are coming along, and get this wedding back on track before all the guests get bored and stage a giant musical revolt that makes ‘Les Mis’ look like a summer picnic.”

Kurt laughed and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, blotting away his tears and blowing his nose. “They would do it, too. You can’t put that many divas in one room and not expect fireworks.”

In the end, only one couple tied the knot that day.

Brittany’s fears of bad luck were lifted by all of the gathered glee club members and guests forming a giant circle around the couple and singing Elvis Presley’s “Good Luck Charm”. (Which somehow everyone knew, including Brad the pianist, who magically appeared at the Indiana barn just in time to accompany the group.)

Sue Sylvester’s bad temper was soothed by a personal invitation from Kurt to be the officiant on his next wedding day – regardless of when and where that happened to take place, or whomever he ended up marrying. At this promise, Sue abruptly decided that she did not particularly care about the identity of his groom, and that really, Blaine was too short for him anyway. He needed someone tall and statuesque. Someone who would look good on a cake topper. Someone not unlike a young male version of Sue Sylvester. Porcelain would be receiving texts and emails of prospective hotties every week for the rest of his single life.

Blaine Anderson picked a fight with Kurt over the drinks table for embarrassing him and ruining his big moment yet again. He whined so loud and snarked so annoyingly, that Burt Hummel abruptly had a change of heart and decided that Kurt had been right all along to dump him. In celebration of this moment, the two Hummel men shook hands and proceeded to dump a bowl of bright red, hair-gel melting, icy punch right over the top of his head.

Pam Anderson bonded with Carole, Mirabel, and Whitney, drinking and dancing the night away, and putting down the roots of a great friendship and a killer ladies bowling league. The next day Blaine - newly single and still showing blotches of a peculiar shade of pink here and there due to Brittany having made the punch out of double-strength Kool-Aid - drove his still happily inebriated mother, who had partied until dawn, home to Ohio.

Kurt returned to New York, much more happily single. Two months later, he went on a blind date set up by his best friend Elliott, and they hit it off immediately. According to Kurt’s very pleased father, the guy wooed his son like romance was a National sport and Kurt’s heart was the pennant.

Brittana lived and loved happily ever after.

THE END

#Free Kurt #elledelajoie

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kozu-chan · 3 years ago

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under the mistletoe

kenma x reader, oikawa x reader, iwaizumi x reader

since it's christmas eve, here's some christmas headcanons involving mistletoe for my faves!!

content warnings: fem!reader, fluffy fluff, mentions of food, kissing, pet names (babe, baby, darling in oikawa's and my love in iwa's), i kinda sorta got super carried away with iwa's...

kenma

🎄since kenma's not a big fan of huge crowds, the two of you just spend christmas eve together at your place

🎄you're cuddled up on the couch eating popcorn and sipping hot chocolate while some christmas movies play

🎄kenma insists that "the nightmare before christmas" works as both a halloween and christmas movie so the two of you watch that too

🎄you bake cookies together and accidentally get dough on each other's faces

🎄you both cuddle up on the couch again and look at memes while waiting for the cookies to heat up in the oven and again when you're waiting for the cookies to cool

🎄at some point it transitions into a battle of who can take the most embarrassing photo of their s/o as possible

🎄kenma says that there's no way he could lose because he has the most beautiful girlfriend who's incapable of looking bad

🎄who taught this man how to be this smooth?!?!? i-

🎄the answer is akaashi. that man is secretly a smooth menace who gave kenma some tips but you didn't hear that from me-

🎄you gape at him, clearly flustered, and you take a picture of each other because yes, he also got really flustered and embarrassed because that was so out of character for him lol

🎄like this is the boy who never uses pet names and isn't the best at expressing compliments or his emotions...

🎄but of course, he still finds little ways to show you he loves you and make sure you know he loves you and it's so cute!!

🎄anyway, back to the story...

🎄the two of you eat some of the cookies together and save the rest for the morning santa

🎄when the two of you wake up in the morning you open up the presents you got each other and make breakfast

🎄you got kenma a new game and matching golden bracelets. he got you something that you've wanted for a long time.

🎄since the two of you put a lot of thought into the gifts, you take some time to admire them and try them out

🎄you and kenma spend a little extra time playing his new game

🎄pls it's so wholesome because you're both learning together and you get so competitive-

🎄he will never ever admit it even if it's kind of obvious to you, but sometimes he lets you win

🎄"you're the only one i'm okay losing to..."

🎄kozumekenmawhyareyousocuteomg

🎄then once the two of you calm down, you get breakfast

🎄well, he makes you pancakes and whatever else the two of you want and you make a quick run to the store to get some onigiri and apple pie since you both love it

🎄after breakfast, the two of you snack on some candy canes

🎄you look up and tap kenma's shoulder. "hey look! mistletoe!"

🎄kenma looks up and looks back at you. "there's no mistletoe-"

🎄"i'm just kidding! i don't need an excuse to kiss you!" you giggle and pull him close for a kiss

🎄best christmas ever if i do say so myself <3

oikawa

💙this man is super social. we already know this

🤍and because of this, he takes you to a christmas eve party that's full of a good mix of his friends, your friends, his teammates, and family.

💙he actually got one of his friends to throw the party at their place and invite a ton of people you know so you would be comfortable

🤍he's cute like that 🥺

💙he dotes on you the entire time

🤍and by the entire time, i mean the entire time

💙he waits for you when you have to use the bathroom "because someone has to hold your drink and it's gonna be me"

🤍he's so cheeky stop he's the most adorable, hopelessly in love dork ever

💙this man is SPOON FEEDING you because he wants to, and i quote, "show off his beautiful girlfriend and make everyone jealous from how cute the two of us are"

🤍"babe... isn't this getting too much?"

💙sweetie this is THE oikawa tooru. he is the opposite of subtle and to him, there is no such thing as "too much"

🤍but he's willing to tone it down if you get uncomfortable because even he knows that you shouldn't make anyone uncomfortable.

💙he just wants to romance you and make sure you love his present!!

🤍and boy oh boy does he deliver...

💙once you're both at his place, that's when the real cuteness begins

🤍you enter his home and find the entire place decorated with mistletoe and tinsel and presents and even a fake reindeer!!

💙"tooru you really did the most oh my god-"

🤍"but you love it, don't you?"

💙"of course i do! this is amazing!"

🤍"anything for you, baby"

💙this man is such a simp but like, the cutest simp i know-

🤍he gives you one of those professional looking photo albums with pictures full of the two of you and handwritten reasons why he loves you 🥺

💙me and who fr 😩

🤍this man is making you cry bc w h a t that's so sweet!?!?!?!

💙this man also finds every. single. possible. chance. to be under the mistletoe so he can get a kiss kiss

🤍"darling look! mistletoe!"

💙you roll your eyes. "tooru, babe, this is the nth time you've done this-"

🤍but you always give in because duh that's your baby, your gorgeous man, the love of your life!! of course you're still gonna kiss him!

💙now there's a happy, spoiled oikawa who's cuddled up to the most loved, beautiful, one and only love of his life <3

iwaizumi

🎁after knowing each other for so long, you've definitely turned iwa into a christmas lover

🎁he gets so excited about it now it's so cute-

🎁he doesn't even care about being teased by his friends because he's a man who's secure in his masculinity and knows he's can like what he likes and it doesn't take away from how "manly" he is 😌

🎁iwa's a surprisingly good gift giver unlike me and he always gives the most thought out gifts that he thinks knows that his friends and family would love <3

🎁this year, he gives oikawa a bullet journal and a new set of pens because he knows how much oikawa likes pretty, aesthetic notes

🎁oikawa kinnie moment 😚🤞

🎁he gives his parents super comfy matching sweaters with their family name on it since his mom likes matching things and he knew his dad wanted a new sweater

🎁he gives you a ton of kisses!!

🎁okay obviously he gives you something more than that because he loves you so much lol

🎁this man may not look like it, but he's an easily flustered, dorky, adorable simp when it's just the two of you

🎁i mean, it seeps into his personality around everyone else but it's a lot tamer because our man has a reputation to keep :)

🎁you're really impatient for gifts because you're excited to see what hajime actually got you and you really wanna see his face when you give it to him!!

🎁however, iwaizumi hajime is also a fairly traditional man so he waits for christmas morning to open presents

🎁and no amount of whining or pouting will change his mind. our man is sturdy and will!! not!! budge!!

🎁he tries a lot of things to take your mind off of it, and for a while, it works

🎁he invites oikawa, makki, mattsun, and some of your close friends over for a dinner, but once they leave and you're both cleaning up, you're eyeing the presents, causing your exhausted boyfie to sigh

🎁he takes your hands in his and looks you in the eyes "y/n, my love, i know you're excited to open gifts and give me mine, but we need to wait until morning, okay?"

🎁this man KNOWS that pulling out the "my love" makes you weak bc it gives me butterflies so you pout and nod, kissing his cheek and going back to cleaning up

🎁after the kitchen and living room is clean, hajime tries out a movie

🎁he cuddles up to you and watches your favorite christmas movie with you and pulls out all the snack, drinks, blankets, and pillows

🎁stop bc that's so cute haji where are you and why can't you be real?!?! 😩

🎁but after the movie you look at the time and ask if you can open presents now

🎁ma'am it's 10 pm?!?

🎁iwa just laughs and kisses your head

🎁"how about this? i'll clean up and then we can sleep so the time passes by faster. is that all right, my love?"

🎁"okay haji" you let out a yawn and make your way to the bathroom to do your night routine

🎁he follows behind you so you can do your routine together

🎁after he tucks you in with a kiss to your head because he's the sweetest, he cleans everything up and goes to bed with you

🎁when you wake up, iwa's already in the kitchen finishing up breakfast and you gape at the scene in front of you

🎁haji went ALL out

🎁 there's streamers and stockings and tons of decorations all over the living room and kitchen

🎁"merry christmas, my love! now we can open presents" he greets you with a peck to the lips and leads you to the couch with the presents

🎁you give him your gift first and you're super excited to see his reaction since you got him a limited edition godzilla figure that you found at a store

🎁"is this real?" he looks incredulously at you, then the figure, and then back to you. you nod and he sets it down so he can hug you. "thank you so much, my love! here's your gift..."

🎁you carefully take the gift and unwrap it to find a beautiful golden necklace with your name and his engraved on the heart shaped charm. "haji... this is beautiful!" you wrap your arms around him kiss him "i love it so much!!"

🎁iwa just can't help but smile as yours only gets larger once he shows you his matching bracelet. "i knew you would"

🎁this time, he's the one kissing you only to realize that you've been sitting under the mistletoe this entire time <3

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insomniactalks · 2 years ago

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sooo people (r*na’s) are starting to talk about this. Im getting a little worried, i mean there’s nothing to be worried about i know my pw will be engame but this still could mean something, right..:(

Meg Donnelly talked about HSMTMTS in a recent interview and she revealed that she had filmed a lot of scenes with Matt Cornett which means EJ and Val will have a friendship. "When we filmed High School Musical, most of our scenes were together so that was really cool. It was so easy and so comfortable and we actually got so much closer on the High School Musical set. It was really weird not seeing him in a blue wig, but nonetheless, it was great." (This part is from an anon but still addresses what you're asking about so I'm putting it t/g.)

Here's the article everyone's freaking out about LOL. I have quite a few asks in my inbox about this part Meg talks about, so I will try to answer them all today (some t/g to save time). First thing first, let's all take a nice, deep breath. Okay? Breathe in. Breathe out. Now, I don't think we need to worry all that much just yet. Didn't we all predict months ago there was a strong possibility EJ and Val could be childhood friends from camp? Maybe they’ve been attending Camp Shallow Lake since they were junior campers and have always been close friends. Does Meg’s quote here really surprise anyone? To me, it just (partly) confirms Val and EJ may share history/a friendship and they’ll use it as an opportunity to show EJ’s growth as a character from the last time he attended camp (when he food poisoned Emily so Nini would be the lead). Val was presumably there at camp when it happened. But EJ doesn’t operate the way he used to (during his selfish 1.0 days) and Val may very well call attention to that. If they are good friends, maybe Val will let the audience know that she sees a real change in him from last year. He’s not who he used to be. The EJ now is “a really good guy” (2.08) who tries to do the right thing (in the right ways this time!) Just b/c “most” of Meg’s and Matt’s scenes were t/g doesn’t inherently mean that’s the end of Portwell lmaooo. Meg also said a few weeks ago that she feels like ppl will “really like” her character, even tho Val will contribute to some drama this season. I don’t think she would make that claim if most of the audience was supposed to hate/dislike her. I’m not getting antagonistic vibes from Val given her character description, which implies she won’t be just another Lily. Tim also said the Wildcats would “come head-to-head and heart-to-heart with Shallow Lake campers Jet, Maddox, and Val," which very well could mean Gina misinterpreting EJ and Val’s relationship at first before she has an eventual heart-to-heart with her by season’s end. Please keep in mind this show spent 2 whole seasons building Gina and EJ up as individual characters first, then progressed their story t/g. It took them 2 seasons to even agree to go out on a date together. With S3′s timeline being only 2 weeks, I doubt Val will cause any lasting damage to Portwell. This is the first season that they’re dating and we, the audience, get to see EJ and Gina as boyfriend and girlfriend for the first time. It’s more likely Val will force EJ and Gina to confront any insecurities in their relationship during these 2 weeks than Val causing them to permanently break up. Plus, as far as we know, Meg will be guest starring only in S3. I don’t think we’ll see her character again for any future season(s) considering Val may be based in California, not Utah. I get the feeling once the trailer is released, Val’s part in the trailer may be deceptive in that it’ll look like she’ll cause bad drama for Portwell, but it could actually be the good kind of drama that will help strengthen them in the long run. TLDR: don’t stress over Meg and Matt sharing “most” scenes together in S3. I know Portwell have a tough season ahead of them, but who says they won’t continue on this journey together? Val might just help EJ realize just how much he cares about Gina and how different his relationship with her is from his previous relationships. We just won’t know until S3 starts airing.

#hsmtmts #hsmtmts speculation #hsmtmts s2 #hsmtmts s3 #hsmtmts val #meg donnelly #matt cornett #tim federle #ej caswell #gina porter #portwell #gina x ej #ej x gina #nini salazar roberts #thanks for the asks!

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littlethie · 4 years ago

Text

Your girlfriend’s best friend - Draco Malfoy x reader

How does it feel to watch your best friend date the love of your life?

A/N: Alright, so I wanted to post something in between studying. I will be working on the request tomorrow because I have an exam yay! So I am working on it don’t worry!

Warnings: angst, swearing, alcohol, my English

Words: 2,3k

notmygif

You weren’t the first one. You weren´t the main role, and you weren´t his. It was your best friend, Angelica, a beautiful Gryffindor. You kept thinking about it, with your chin lazily rested in your palm. The boy you were sure you loved was in love with someone else. And as if it couldn´t get any worse, he was in love with the girl you considered a sister.

You couldn´t tell her, even if you wanted to. And what would you even tell her? Hi Angelica, I´m totally in love with Draco Malfoy, your boyfriend? You sighed.

You just weren´t the first one. The first one to break the tedious house stereotype, the first one the Slytherins would consider their friend. It was all her, all Angelica.

And so you were here, watching the two of them sitting next to each other by the Slytherin table. No one cared anymore. Everyone liked Angelica. She was beautiful and funny. The entire school knew Draco wasn´t the only Slytherin crushing on her. Of course you admired your best friend, she was one of the first people you had met when you had started attending Hogwarts and you had been friends since the day one. So you suppressed the pain.

You were thankful, though. If it wasn´t for her, you would have never met Draco. The truth was, you had fallen in love with him thanks to her.

***

You had always thought he was this spoiled, evil, good-for-nothing prat and bully until Angelica introduced the two of you. You immediately clicked. You were both a little reserved. It wasn´t natural for Draco to spend time with non-Slytherins and you could see he was just as nervous as you were. To be honest, he hadn´t wanted to meet you. “One Gryffindor is enough.”

But he did.

And your friendship blossomed.

No one questioned when you two were studying together or walked the halls of the castle together. Angelica had paved the way for you. But at the end of the day, it was still her bed and still her lips he couldn´t get enough of.

***

“Hey, stop staring, you look like a psycho,” one of your friends elbowed you and you quickly shook yourself out of your trance. “I´m not staring,” you swiftly replied, “I just got lost in my thoughts,” she was looking at you. Other friends were too. They weren´t blind but they understood your situation. That´s why no one had said anything so far. Then you noticed Angelica standing up and walking towards you. Did she see me? It was your first thought.

“Hey, bestie, Slytherins are having this secret party tonight. Blaise managed to steal some liquor from Slughorn the other day. And guess what, Y/N, you and I are invited!” she squealed. You were looking at her. Quiet. A Slytherin party? More of her and Draco being all over each other? Nah. “I´m sorry Angie, but I can´t. I have to stud-,” you were cut off by her furrowed brows and annoyed voice, “Study? Again? You always “have to” study, lately! It´s like you don´t even want to spend time with me anymore,” she put her two index and middle fingers in the air to mimic quotes.

Well, this wasn´t entirely false. You wanted to spend time with her, but not with her and Draco. “I´m sorry, Angie. I can´t.” you stood up, took your things and walked as fast as possible. You couldn´t go. It was already too much for you and Angelica was starting to notice that something was off.

You plopped yourself onto the grass and watched the Black Lake vibrating peacefully under the slightest touch of wind. How could you let this get so far? There was something calming about the goosebumps forming on your body from the wind. You closed your eyes and let out the frustration with a deep exhale.

“You´re a huge ass sometimes, you know that Malfoy?” you snarled at Draco who had managed to take your textbooks. You had been studying by the Black Lake but your mischievous friend had had other ideas. “You still love me though,” he smirked, and your cheeks turned red. Oh he was right. So right. He climbed onto the tree. “Let´s see,” and opened your textbook. “Draco, please, I really need to study! Can´t you go bully someone else? Perhaps someone who won´t punch you in the face like I will?” you stood under the tree with your hands on your hips, looking up at the happy face of the platinum haired boy.

“... then chop the valerian, add it to cauldron, and apply a high heat…” he read out loud. “Draco, are you seriously going to read my notes? Out loud?” you were getting nervous. “After that, juice…” suddenly, his loud, in that moment annoying voice stopped. His eyes roamed something in your book. His face changed. He was… in awe. “Draco? What did y-,”

“Draco Lucius Malfoy. Birthday, 5th June. Hair, pearly white. Eyes, grey like the ocean during a storm. An intelligent Slytherin. Amazing seeker. His favourite class is potions. Sorry, potions with Snape. Best friend, Blaise Zabini. Even though he just said he likes to spend time reading books more than spending time with him. His favourite colour is green, pft, so cliché. He loves apples. The green ones. Because, again, he loves green.” He was now looking at you. Your palms were on your forehead and your eyes were wide. Your words stuck.

“You really wrote down everything I told you about myself?” he couldn´t believe. You were still quiet, not really knowing what to say. Cheeks red, heart racing. “Y/N that´s… that´s amazing,” he was smiling. Draco jumped down from the tree, coming closer to you, handing you your textbooks. “I don´t want to forget anything,” you said quietly, looking into his eyes that were now tracing your face. His lips were slightly apart. You could smell his scent. Vetiver and apples would definitely become your favourite after being so close to Draco.

“Oh there you two are! I was looking for you all over the castle!” Angelica exclaimed and planted Draco a kiss on his cheek. You snapped out of your trance, looking at them. “Hey,” Draco turned to her and planted one on her lips. You raised your eyebrows a little and picked up your stuff, leaving them there.

“Hey! Y/N! Where are you going?” Draco yelled after you. But you acted like you didn´t hear him.

You really didn´t want to go. At first you hadn´t thought you´d be affected. But you were surely starting to be and being around them was just unbearable. It had even led you to consider cutting the ties and burning the bridges. But every time Draco had looked at you, you just couldn´t go through with it.

“My missus keeps complaining, Y/N, save me please,” you heard a voice behind you, and you rolled your eyes, keeping them fixated on the lake. “Oh, so now she sends you to talk some sense into me?” you snapped and pulled your knees closer to your chest. As if sending him was supposed to help. “You know how she is,” he sat down beside you, “she misses you. I miss you too, to be honest,” his voice was low and gentle. Your mind was running around how he just called her his missus. You couldn´t hide that it had made you a little angrier.

“I´m not going, Malfoy,” you stated coldly, putting your chin in between your knees. “Malfoy?” he laughed lightly, “someone´s grumpy. What happened?” his hand landed on your back and your alarm went off. He couldn´t keep doing that. “Nothing. I just don´t feel like socializing,” you answered and stood up the second his hand started to run circles on your back. He grabbed your hand.

“Y/N, please. I just want to make her happy,” oh damn his mixed signals, “and you make her happy.” What were you supposed to do? What were you supposed to say? It made you sick to your stomach. “I´m sorry, Draco, but as I said I-,”

“See! Here´s the Draco! You´re warming up to me again,” he laughed, “please, just sit down,”

“No.”

“What do you mean no? I will make you…,” he smirked and you looked down at him and at his hand still holding yours. Suddenly he let go of your palm and wrapped his arms around your legs, making you fall down onto the ground, pinning your hands above your head. “See, I told you,” he snickered and you started kicking your legs, your yelling slowly turning into laughing. He hovered above you.

“I swear I´ll kick you in your balls,” you growled but a smile was trying to form on your lips. “You wouldn´t…” he looked at you, face all serious, then turning into a wide grin. He was on top of you and your heart was beating just too fast for your comfort. All this was leaving you confused and furious. Your face fell. You pushed him off. “Enough, Draco,” you whispered, stood up and made your way to your dorm.

***

“Are you sure you don´t want to go?” your roommate asked you, handing you your own stolen firewhisky. “Why would I want to go?” you scoffed, drinking it like water. You were already a little buzzed. “To tell him. Everything. Or to yell at him. To scold him, lecture him, whatever, Y/N. But you should do something,” she said and took the bottle back. Something in you snapped.

Probably that was why you were now fairly drunk, stomping down the corridor to the Slytherin common room. You didn´t know what you planned to tell him, but you now knew you had to say something. You were already losing him to Angelica. Nothing mattered anymore.

“Y/N?” a voice echoed through the corridor and you turned around just to face the one boy you had been hoping to see, “I thought you didn´t want to come,” his eyebrows were raised but face still, emotionless. He almost looked annoyed.

“I didn´t. But I need to speak with you,” you stated, words a little sloppy. He narrowed his eyes. “Are you drunk?” he asked and took a step closer. You ran your hand through your hair. “Maybe. But that doesn´t matter. I´m angry with you,” you said boldly and lifted your chin. “That´s why you came? You said you´ve had enough of me.” Oh, so he was angry too.

“Are you really telling me you´re mad because I said that? Can´t you see what you´re doing to me?!” you really tried not to scream but when the Slytherin door opened Draco immediately dragged you into a dark corner. Loud music came out of the room but died down as the door closed. Your bodies were pressed together, hearts beating fast. His eyes fell on you and his hand rested on your waist. The time felt like it was frozen. But you pushed him away, again.

“See? I can´t be near you, Draco. Because every time that I am, I feel like a lunatic! You make me weak and I hate it. I can´t be friends with you anymore. I don´t love you like a friend,” there was a smile growing on his face, but you continued, “And you must be fucking blind not to see it. So I am sorry, but I can´t see you if I can´t have you. I-“ you were cut off.

By his lips.

On yours.

He pressed you against the wall and you let out a small whimper. He was rough. Almost hungry. His hand was at the back of your head, grabbing your hair as tight as he could, while he supported himself against the wall with the other. Your hands sneaked around his neck, to his hair and back to his cheeks. He was kissing you. You were kissing him. But he wasn´t yours to kiss. He was Angelica´s. He belonged to someone else. You stopped.

“Draco,” your breaths were heavy and deep, “this isn´t right.” He looked at you and caressed your cheek. “But it feels right…” he whispered and started leaving light kisses on your neck. “What about Angie?” you tried to stay focused but it was almost impossible. “I don´t care about Angie… you know that,” did you? “I´ve always cared about you. I thought you didn´t like me like that…”, he stated. You cupped his face. “Draco. Listen to me. I can´t be kissing you, when you´re with her. Make your choice. I did mine. You know where to find me,” you said and let him go. You lightly pushed him and walked away, leaving him to think through what you just said. But he didn´t have to.

He loved you. Just like you loved him. He had been feeling the same confusion, the same anger and had had same dilemma. It had been you all along. The way you knew him. Every single detail, because you cared. The way you looked at him and spoke to him. He knew he loved you and there was nothing to think about. A smile grew on his face as he turned around to run after you. To grab you, hold you, spin your around. Maybe he had liked Angie at first, but it was you he loved. It was his girlfriend´s best friend. And now that he knew your feelings towards him there was nothing that could stop him.

“I knew it,” he stopped as a voice bounced from the walls. His tall figure turned back around just to meet the eyes of a girl he had betrayed.

“That you love her,” her hands were folded on her chest and her gaze was cold. She was slowly approaching him. “But here´s the thing, Draco. You are mine. If you go running after her, I´m not going to ruin your life, but hers. I am going to make sure she´ll never finish school. I am going to make sure, she´ll be in constant danger. I am going to make sure she´ll believe in every single rumour about you. I am going to break her heart. Because no one takes what´s mine.”

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thatiranianphantom · 3 years ago

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It’s always interesting to see how BAs minds work. For them, 605 was just 'crumbs' and fan-service for BH and they are truly the ones winning, which tells you how far ahead of context they’ve been this whole show because they rely on screeners and ‘behind the scenes shootings' instated of the actual show. The episode did nothing for BA except placing BH as a way superior dynamic and one that holds the show together at that, you had them point out that what’s happening in RiverVale is an anomaly, in another universe they called the V/A/B love triangle 'old fashioned', had Veronica and Jughead calling themselves the counterparts to Archie and Betty (which BAs are trying to twist but that word mostly means that you complement the role of the other person) and none of the characters seemed thrilled with the idea of a BA marriage. One thing I noticed, they had Cheryl say "awkward..." when Jughead asked about their marriage, which feels like a weird thing to say because it suggests history between them of some sorts, which is again weird because J/T were already stablished in that universe. And strangely, no one is speaking about how Jughead asked everyone (but his own girlfriend) to help him recreate that BA scene when it was stablished that it didn’t matter which one the person to do it, in fact, in that universe, Tabitha didn’t fully trust in Jughead's theory until Betty fully did.

In the episode – which was literally a parallel universe to RiverDale, they never had BA actually meaningfully interacting. For Archie it was a killing spree in hopes to bringing his father back (which is very true to Archie as a character, and it’s been stablished twice in Vale that he keeps trying to be his father, almost obsessively, and I can see that taking way more form in Dale). A whole episode of BA wedding and zero scenes BA scenes in her wedding dress. Betty truly didn’t seem to care about her marriage, and didn’t hesitate to kill him the moment she saw Jughead in danger, in fact, she didn’t hesitate to believe Jughead and a quote that no one is speaking about: "i saw my life flashing behind my eyes and knew I had to come here…", she saw her life (future, maybe) and knew she needed to go to Jughead. That’s not foreshadowing at all. That paired with the obvious efforts of doing those comic book covers with Jughead saving Betty from Archie, and both of them wearing wedding clothes. If a show made this much effort on some crumbs or fan service, I would genuine reconsider.

It’s crazy how Bughead having to save the universe together, hold each other tight in what could be the end of the universe, kiss and go almost all the way for it, repeatedly saying they are in this together is considered a crumb, what it means having an actual scene for BAs. And the ending scene, isn’t even a win for them by any means, Jughead changed the ending to stop the b0mb from happening in Dale. The ending was Vale/Dale re-starting, because that’s exactly how 5x19 ended. If BA and JT are together in Vale, it’s because that’s the way it needed to be so Vale stopped being Dale's parallel universe – by context it means Dale needs to be different, and it will, Ethel told Jughead that changes might influence the events. The ending scene gave you a post BH saving the universes, where they obviously don’t remember the sacrifice they just made, go down the stairs and show up together to dinner in matching clothes (because that was intentional) and being pulled apart by Archie and Tabitha, they don’t go towards them themselves. That’s enough visual to tell you what is going to happen in RiverDale.

RVD has the same formula every-time, it will go back to the couples again, give it until 608/609 (leaked part of the script for 608 suggest T/J are having trouble already - to no one’s surprise) until they start getting invested in their own story lines, and often by the 12 episode, those story lines start to get connected (mostly Bughead's). That episode confirmed BH endgame to me, and not matter how many contractual interviews the actors are forced to do is going to change the obvious ending of the show.

I am presenting this almost without comment, because yes.

Small sidenote to that awkward thing - the 'dale versions of themselves have been super hunky-dory about their former SO's dating other people.

Yet in this episode, we have it being implied as awkward for Jughead that BA was getting married, we have Jughead and Veronica decide to skip the wedding and we have Betty almost sound embarassed that she was with Archie before the bomb, when Jughead tells her he read it in the comic.

That is also very 👀

#Answered #Bughead #RD negativity #Anti-B*rchie

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xyzcekaden · 3 years ago

Photo

🍔 chains on the swings of the set 🍔

by airauralintensity (aka me, xyzcekaden!)

His name is Norman Midable. “But you can call me Nor.” A subversion of the guy-at-college-vies-for-Kim’s-attentions plot.

fandom: kim possible (cartoon) characters: kim possible, ron stoppable, OC (technically), wade monique and rufus in supporting roles ship: kim/ron, kim/oc genre: romance, angst, friendship themes: college au, major original character, cheating, one-sided romance, canon endgame, working through relationship problems, kim has a type word count: 6.8k chapter: 1/2 rating: T

read it below, on ffnet, or on ao3!

A/N (11.3.2021): A common KP college!au centers on Kim potentially leaving Ron for a smart jock type (a smock, if you will), but I’ve always taken such issue with that because it undermines Kim’s growth in the show. So, what if she met someone just like Ron instead? Enter Norman Midable: a very mediocre conspiracy theorist with a dry sense of humour. I kinda meshed his personality based on one of my IRL friends, Felix, and Ron from yvj's 'a lot like love.’ (If you haven’t read that yet, please do. It’s unfinished but will still be one of the best character-centric pieces I’ve ever read.)

Title from Tightrope by Walk the Moon. Inspired by early Ron Stoppable concept art. If you recognise it, it doesn’t belong to me. I actually plotted this out back in 2019, then proceeded to forget about it for years haha. I’ve never created an “original” character before (‘original’ in quotes because he’s basically Ron lol), so let me know what you think!

~~~

The Kimmunicator rings just as Kim finishes making her bed in her new college dorm, and she lets herself have a split second of wonder. Even the day before orientation, the world needs saving.

"What's the sitch, Wade?"

"My badical best-friend/girlfriend moved into college today, and I miss her," an unexpected voice replies.

"Ron!" She flops backwards onto her bed in delight, and it's almost like she's still back in Middleton.

"KP," he says on an exhale. She can hear everything he's feeling in that one breath, or maybe she's just feeling those same things herself.

She flicks her eyes between her screen where she can see the way Ron is looking fondly at her and the approximate area where she knows the front-facing camera to be so that Ron has something to look at. "How long have you been back?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Dr. P dropped me off a bit ago. I just finished dinner with the 'rents before I called you."

"Ah, a Ron on a full stomach, my favourite," she teases. "It means there's one less thing that I need to compete with for your attention span."

"Not tonight, KP. You've been the only thing I could think about since yesterday."

She looks down at the screen then, ascertaining his seriousness. "Wanna try that again? I know for a fact that you were up late last night playing Zombie Mayhem."

Ron scratches the back of his neck and chuckles. "Nah, I just said that 'cause if I said the real reason I was late this morning, the tweebs would have heckled us all day. I really just couldn't sleep last night. I was… well, I was worried about you, honestly."

Kim smiles appreciatively. "That's sweet, Ron, but you of all people know I can take care of myself. There's nothing I can't handle."

"Can you handle yourself around the Hirotakas and Josh Mankeys of college, though?"

Kim's heart and smile drop like anchors. "... What?"

She watches as Ron scrunches his face up in the universal sign of knowing you just said the wrong thing, and she can't even laugh at the sight. "I… didn't mean to say that. I didn't mean to say it that way. Please forget it," Ron begs.

She can't, of course. "You think I'm still like that?"

There's the sound of rustling as Ron rubs a hand down the front of his face. "No, I don't," he answers eventually, and she believes him. She wants that to be enough, except… "But I haven't seen you not like that, either, you know?"

She is ready to defend herself—the instinct to act-first-think-later is deeply ingrained in her at this point, and it's saved her life more times than she could count—but she stops herself just in time, and she reviews.

No potential romantic interests ever surfaced since the two of them began dating; no one in Middleton would dare try. There would never have been a chance for her to demonstrate her loyalty to Ron. As hurt as she is by the knowledge that Ron still harbours an insecurity over that, she is in no position to blame him.

She swallows down her offense and looks back at the screen. Ron has his head in his hands, roughly rubbing at his temples in self-flagellation.

No, she doesn't blame him at all.

"Hey, stop that," she calls out. Her best-friend/boyfriend's attention jumps back to the screen, and she gives him a small smile. It's no big, afterall.

"Let's make a promise to each other right now. Okay?" Ron nods. "Do you promise to trust me?"

"With my life and with my heart, too."

They're still young. She knows that… but sometimes Ron is just so genuine, so transparent about his feelings for her that she's ready to be older, to actualise the dream she can hear in his words.

"Then I promise you: I have no interest in 'golden hotties'. My guy has a heart of gold and a pocket full of hot sauce; what could be better than that?"

Rufus pops up from wherever he was hiding. "Cheese!"

~~~

Her first class of the first day is the one Kim's been looking forward to the most. Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies sounds like the exact sort of thing people go to college to learn, and even the classroom is a quintessential lecture hall like she's seen in movies. It's as good of a start as any to help her figure out what she should major in. She has some ideas, of course, but it helps to keep her options open.

She slides into a seat in the second row an easy seven minutes before class starts, and she takes the time to set up the new digital notebook Wade made her as a graduation present. She likes it—at least, she likes the idea of it; supposedly it'll automatically upload her notes onto her laptop back in her dorm room—but writing on a screen instead of paper will take some getting used to.

The professor enters, welcomes everyone to college, introduces her class; and just like that, they're off. It's rather anticlimactic. That's another thing she'll have to get used to, too.

After fifteen minutes of going through the syllabus, some voices gradually getting louder distract everyone's attention to the back of the class. There's some guy trying to force his way to an empty seat in the middle of the last row, and the students already seated are having none of it.

"Young man, if you're going to be late on the first day, you'd do well to avoid causing a commotion at the same time," the professor admonishes. "There is plenty of space here at the front."

The guy swivels his head between his desired seat and the professor before slumping over in begrudging defeat. He walks down the steps knowing everyone in the class is watching him, and he takes the first empty seat on the edge.

Second row, right next to Kim.

"Man, this casks," he says under his breath as he settles in.

"Well, if you got to class on time, you'd have your first pick of seats," Kim retorts without thinking. Her eyes widen cartoonishly. "Oh my god; I'm so sorry. That was so ferociously rude! I don't know what came over me!"

Her seatmate has his eyebrows raised in mild interest at the blunt girl before him, then he shrugs. "Nah, you got a point, though."

Determined to salvage her first impression, Kim sticks her hand out confidently. "I'm Kim, Kim Possible. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Over the years, she's become used to the effect her name has on people: shock, awe, fear, (derision if you're Bonnie Rockwaller). To her surprise, the guy doesn't react at all like she expects. Besides the fact that he doesn't seem to even recognise her name, he just holds his hands up in the universal signal for don't-come-any-closer. "Woah, woah, woah. 'Acquaintances'? Take a guy out to dinner first before you go putting labels on anything."

She doesn't sputter, but it's a close thing.

Thankfully, the other person lowers his arms and smirks. "I'm just teasin' ya. You can call me—"

The sound of a throat clearing stops him from introducing himself, and the two look to the front to see the professor looking straight at them. They sheepishly face forward.

The professor keeps their unimpressed gaze on them for a moment longer before continuing. "As I was saying, the final project is a semester-long research paper that you will submit to me in both papercopy and digitally no later than the first day of finals week. People may partner up if they so choose, but no more than three to a team. The topic is up to you, but your arguments must utilise…"

Suitably chastised, Kim takes diligent notes to make up for her poor lack of concentration. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see her classmate constantly looking over at her.

The professor dismisses them for a mid-lecture break, and Kim says something before he can. "Why do I have the feeling you want to ask if we can partner up for the project because you're afraid you can't make the grade on your own, and you think that I'll pick up your slack?"

The other student blinks at her. "That's not the only reason," he feebly argues.

Kim takes a deep breath and puts on a placating smile. "Sorry, but that's not gonna happen. Besides, I'm honestly not the best project partner. I have a really... erratic and time-intensive extracurricular that I do. It's better for both of us if I work alone."

She's not ashamed of the fact that she saves the world on a weekly basis. She really isn't. It's just that she doesn't know how much this guy knows, if he's even heard of her, and it's kind of much to explain with only a few minutes left in the break.

Luckily, the student doesn't push her. He just turns to his laptop, and Kim takes that as a sign that the message has been received. The professor comes back into the lecture hall, and the second half of the class goes without incident.

That is, until her Kimmunicator goes off.

"Ah yes, I was wondering when I'd have to make this announcement. No cellphones in class; no exceptions!"

Kim hops out of her seat and over her seatmate with practised ease. "Sorry, professor! I have to take this."

The professor seems to realise something as soon as they get a good look at Kim's face. After referring to some papers in their briefcase, they nod. "Very well, Ms. Possible. Join us again whenever you're ready."

Kim waves appreciatively as she bounds out of the nearest exit. "What's the sitch, Wade?" she asks as soon as the door closes behind her.

On the small screen, the image is split between Wade on one side and Ron and Rufus on the other. "You just got a really weird hit on the side, Kim, and it's for you specifically."

"Aw man, no one ever remembers me!" Ron laments. Rufus agrees, "Uh-huh, uh-huh."

"What's going on?"

"Someone just asked you for help with his, uh, 'WGSS' project? I tried doing some research, but my usual sources aren't being very helpful. The only results that pop up for that acronym are Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies courses at colleges. I sent a clarification email in response, but I'll keep looking until we hear back."

So he did recognise her. Kim rolls her eyes. "Don't bother, Wade. Some classmate of mine thinks if we partner up for the semester project, he won't have to do any of the work."

Wade pulls at the collar of his shirt uneasily. "He wrote here, and I quote, 'I promise I'll do the work. I just need some help, is all.' Close quote."

"That's what you do, right?" a voice from behind calls out. Kim whirls around to find the guy from class only a few steps away from her. "Help people?"

Other students are spilling out of the lecture hall behind him. Class must have ended while she was out.

Kim is used to making quick decisions with barely any information to go on. It's a habit that's saved her life more times than she can count. Between his earnestness, his unique way of going about asking her, and something else she really can't just put her finger on, she decides to trust him.

After one last glance to the student's hopeful expression, she looks down to her team on the screen. "Tell him I'm in."

She hears cheers behind her, and she can't help but smile.

"Who is this guy?" Ron cuts in, trying to peer closer to the screen as if that will help him see the newcomer behind Kim.

"The form says 'Norman Midable'," Wade responds.

The other student steps closer to Kim, eyeing her device with interest, and she tilts the Kimmunicator over so that they both can be seen by the camera.

He gives a jaunty little salute. "But you can call me Nor."

~~~

It really is more a matter of when than a matter of if.

"Excuse me, hi," someone interrupts Kim where she's sitting out on a picnic table in the quad doing her assigned reading. She looks up confusedly at the young girl, probably a freshman like she is, looking nervous and embarrassed.

"Hi," Kim answers, wary but kind. "Can I help you?"

That's what you do right? Help people?

The words of that guy from her WGSS class flit through her head, unbidden and annoying. She forces it out of her mind as quickly as it came in.

"Yes! Well, no. Uh…" the student trails off. Kim surreptitiously looks around, wondering if Ron's routine emails to Prank'd finally resulted in her appearance on the show.

Finally, the girl musters up the courage to say what she wants to say. "Are you Kim Possible?" she blurts out.

Oh. Kim can't help the embarrassed twist to her smile. "Yeah, that's me."

The girl plops down in the seat opposite from her in relief. "Oh my gosh, hi! I heard you were going to attend this school, but I thought it was just a rumour!"

Kim gives a strained smile. As nice as they always are, she's still not used to people recognising her while she's doing basic, average girl things.

"Well, clearly not a rumour," she jokes awkwardly. "I really go here."

"That's so cool. You know, you came to my hometown once! Yeah, there was a boat stuck in the canal, and you were able to clear it out with, like, wine and a spyglass, or something. If the canal were blocked for any longer, my uncle wouldn't have been able to bring his shipment downstream and would have lost out on a major contract. Literally, he was up a creek without a paddle."

Kim's awkwardness melts into genuine pride, and she chuckles freely at the other's joke. "I'm glad to hear that I helped your family out, even if it's indirectly. That was down in Mississippi, right? I remember that."

The two of them happily converse about each other's hometowns and some of Kim's most memorable missions. Her reading can wait. She's just happy to find someone who didn't treat her like she was too cool to talk to them or who clearly just wanted to be able to say that they met Kim Possible once.

It's nice while it lasts.

"Howdy, ladies," someone greets as he smoothly slides into the seat next to hers at the picnic table.

The other girl shoots Kim a quick, weirded out look, and Kim nods concedingly to show the situation is still under control. "This is Norman," she says as she gestures to the intruder with an eye roll. "I met him in WGSS, and I thought he would know better than to butt into people's conversations uninvited." She directs the second half of her statement to Nor with a pointed look.

Nor simply shrugs. "The more the merrier, right?" He leans across the table with an outstretched hand. "Hiya. No need to be so formal; you can call me Nor."

The girl warily reaches out to accept his handshake. "Hi, I'm—"

"—Not obligated to divulge your identity if you're genuinely uncomfortable," Kim interjects with a stink eye still directed towards Nor.

"Who's uncomfortable? Not me." Nor laces his fingers behind his head and leans back in affected nonchalance. Since there isn't anything to actually support him, he's just suspending himself at an unnatural angle in the air.

Kim darts her hand out to topple him over, but Nor's spasm to avoid her touch results in his backwards fall anyway. Nor yelps, and Kim is still laughing at him even when she leans over to help him upright again.

"Are we still meeting up later?" Kim asks through a giggle as she sweeps some grass off Nor's hair and the back of his shirt.

"Yeah, why?" Nor asks, roughly mimicking the same sweeping motion on Kim for the sole purpose of annoying her.

He succeeds; she swats his arms away. "Then why are you bothering me now if you know you'll see me later?"

"Uh, is there a maximum on how often I can see you in one day? Come on, Kim."

She doesn't respond, instead trying to force the bookbag he took off back into his hands while trying to tug the zipper closed. "I'll see you later then," Kim underscores.

"Alright, alright. I can tell when I'm not wanted." Nor finally takes the bag into his own grasp and heaves himself out of his seat. He bids goodbye to the other girl, "I hope I get to meet you again without Kim Jong-un over here dictating when and where I go."

Kim gasps in offense, and Nor winks. "Laters."

Needing to have the last word, Kim calls out after him, "Yes! I will see you 'later'!"

She stares after him until she's sure he won't turn around and bother them again. Her squinted eyes smooth into something much friendlier when she finally turns her attention back to her new friend and her amused look. "I'm so sorry about that," Kim effuses.

"No problem," the girl brushes off easily. "Was that your boyfriend?"

Kim chokes on air. "W-what?" she coughs out.

The other student offers her water bottle, but Kim waves her off. "No, no. He's not my boyfriend," she eventually gets out. "I do have one, but he's working back home."

"Ah," the girl intones. "Well, you better watch out for that one"—she points in the direction where Nor had walked away—"'cause I think he likes you."

Kim twists her face into an are-you-sure-about-that expression, and the girl shrugs like hey-you-never-know.

"So, what's your boyfriend like?" she redirects. "Can I see a picture?"

Kim is more than happy to oblige.

~~~

Between instances like that one, the events her Resident Assistant puts on, and small talk with her classmates, Kim slowly gets to know more and more people. It helps make the big campus feel a little smaller, and it definitely soothes the homesickness for Middleton that lances through her every now and then.

She'd even call some of those people friends, but she hasn't been able to find anyone she gels with that well. At least, no one except—

"Nor! This isn't research!"

The two of them are in the library, supposedly doing independent research in order to pick a topic for their WGSS paper. Kim presumed the frantic and intermittent typing on Nor's end was the creation of an annotated bibliography while she thumbed through books, but a chance glance on his screen reveals an active forum of some sorts instead.

"Uh, ch'yeah it is, Kim," Nor retorts like it should have been obvious. "There are bozos on the internet who think Truman Capote was the real author of To Kill a Mockingbird just because they can't handle it when a woman is successful. That sounds like prime WGSS material to me! How can I be expected to properly defend my stance without fully understanding the opposing narrative's standpoint?"

Kim faceplms. "We're writing a term paper, Nor, not a blog post for your latest conspiracy-theory-of-the-week fixation!"

Nor patronisingly shakes his head. "Kim, Kim, Kim… Wait, what's that short for, by the way? 'Kimothy'?"

"Nor!"

"Is there a problem here, Ms. Audible?" a gruff voice snarks from behind her.

Kim and Nor wince in their seats before turning around to face the school's librarian.

"No problem at all, Professor Snarkin," Kim says in that tone people use when they know nothing they say is going to be good enough for the other person to hear.

"Is that so? Well, there shouldn't be any problems then when I kick you out of the library for disturbing the peace."

Nor checks his watch. "Could you kick us out in about 30 to 40 minutes? If I wait any longer than that, I'll be late for my next class."

"You'll be later than that if I end up burying you under the Archaeology tomes for the juniors to find during their labs! Out, now!"

Kim and Nor quickly scramble to collect their things and hightail it out of the library. As soon as the door swings closed behind them, they're greeted by a blur of white tackling Nor in the gut and making him spill the contents of his never-fully-closed bookbag.

"Igor! How are ya, buddy?" Nor exclaims with no heed paid to his other belongings.

Kim shakes her head at the scene. "An albino gopher. Nor, you ever think about circumventing the college's no-pet rules with something more normal?"

"Like what?" Nor asks obliviously as he ruffles Igor's fur.

"Like something not albino!"

"Kimothy, Kimothy, Kimothy—"

"—That's not my name."

"Oh, it isn't? … Well, anyway—"

"We need to pick a WGSS topic today, Nor," Kim interrupts before Nor could launch into a long winded and almost-impressive-in-its-meaninglessness tirade on something or another. "Come on, we'll try to find spots in the student union instead."

Igor follows along happily as the two students make their way through campus in companionable silence. The late September weather is still warm, but something in the air tells them autumn will make its appearance any day now.

"You know, when I first signed up for WGSS, I thought it was gonna involve a lot more women and sex than it does."

Kim snorts. That much is obvious.

Nor continues, "I should have known on the first day that something was up when there weren't nearly as many dudes in the hall as I expected."

"It's not too late to drop," Kim teases.

"And leave you all alone to write a paper about Truman Capote?"

"If you intended for him to be the topic of the paper instead of Harper Lee herself, maybe you actually should drop."

She cuts a sideway glance at Nor just in time to catch a smirk on his face that must mirror her own. He draws her into a quick one-armed side hug before ruffling her hair as he pushes her back to her side of the sidewalk.

"If you think that's all it takes to get rid of me, Possible, think again."

Kim fights a lot of things; but even she can't fight the smile on her face as she makes a show out of complaining and fixing her hair.

~~~

"... And get this: he eats his cheeseburgers with fries, chips, and mashed potatoes on it! 'I call it the 'potager'. Wanna bite?'" Kim pitches her voice low and nasally to imitate Nor before bursting into giggles. "Gorchy!"

As Kim wraps up her tale of when she and Nor hung out a few days ago while working on their final project, Ron gets a funny feeling in his chest.

"Oh, oh, and one time he even brought one to class! The professor had to dismiss him because he sounds like a freaking food processor when he chews. There's technically no food ban in the syllabus, but I think they'll include one this semester just for Nor."

It takes a second, but Ron recognises it as jealousy. Before he knows it, he's abruptly changing the subject. "How tall is this guy?"

Kim takes in stride, however, and tries to imagine Nor for a second. "Uh, about your height? He gels his hair up; it's hard to say."

"What was his class rank in high school?" he continues determinedly. Kim snorts. "His high school didn't do class ranks. He says that's half the reason he was even able to get into this university."

"Does he play any sports?"

"I don't even think he plays sports video games."

"What's his BMI?"

"And how exactly am I supposed to know that?"

"Hnnnngh, fine. Bueno Nacho or Cow 'n' Chow?"

"Ha. Cow 'n' Chow."

"Has he ever saved the world or done any freak fighting?"

"Definitely not; we'd have heard of him if he did."

Ron sits back in his seat, satisfied with the information he's gathered. "Wow, this guy is even more mediocre than I am!"

"Ron!"

"What?" he defends. "Can you blame me for trying to learn a little more about the guy that you're spending all your time with now?"

"I think your motive is just a tad more ulterior than that," Kim admonishes.

"Ahhh. School word, KP."

Kim rolls her eyes, but she can't help how her mouth quirks at the corners. The older she gets, the more she realises how hard it is to admit something you don't know; but Ron rarely ever has that problem.

"Why don't you tell me what's really going on?" she asks with a conceding tone. When Ron struggles with what to say to her, she senses that this is a bigger deal than she originally ascertained.

She watches him as much as she can through the screen while she waits. She hasn't spent this long this far apart from him in forever, and moments like this one hit her with how much she's taken his proximity for granted. This conversation would be a lot easier sitting on the couch in her den side by side, his hands in hers.

"It's like I said, Kim. You spend a lot of time with this guy now, is all," Ron eventually gets out. "You didn't even come home for the long weekend."

Kim doesn't like where her mind went next, but it's worth it to voice and seek clarification on your understanding of a situation. It's a habit that's saved her life more times than she can count.

"Do," she starts, then stops, then starts again, "Do you think I would leave you for some guy I just met?"

Ron lets out an audible sigh, and Kim bites her lips at the admission. How long has she been making him feel this way?

"Maybe not leave me, but…"

"Ron." She's pleading, though she couldn't pinpoint what exactly it is she's asking for. "I honestly can't imagine myself ever leaving you, for Nor or for anyone! You're not just my boyfriend; you're my best friend. Remember my promise at the beginning of the semester? I'm not gonna break it six weeks in."

Cursed with an audiographic memory of anything Kim Possible has ever said, Ron cannot help how his brain remembers the exact phrasing of her promise, phrasing that does not cover the situation in which they've found themselves.

And yet, he understands that Kim invoked the memory of the promise for what she really means it to mean, so he resolves to let it go.

"You're my best friend too, KP," he says with a small smile.

Kim mirrors it with a palpable sense of relief; and Ron reminds himself that it was she who was waiting for him the whole time, not the other way around. Now it's his turn.

Ron would be the first to admit he was anxious about Kim going off to college. He had nightmares of Kim attending fancy seminars or college parties, meeting people who could talk intelligently about the things she cares about, getting bored of him and the kinds of experiences being with him entails. What could a high school boyfriend—who takes cooking classes at night,and daylights at Smarty Mart, and stays behind in their hometown—give her that college couldn't?

to: Kim <3 hola kp, think u got time 4 a chatty chat 2nite?

from: Kim <3 sorry Ron :( the school's community haunted house is in desperate need of volunteers

Luckily for him, college didn't transform Kim overnight. Even with her advisor's recommendation to hold off on extracurriculars for a semester, she still has the same extreme aversion to staying still that she did in high school; the only difference is that he can't be along for the ride. He told himself he could handle that, and he can. Really.

But only to an extent.

from: Kim <3 and Nor's acting like he's too busy to help me help them, so I have to deal with him too :P

from: Kim <3 I think I'll have time on Tuesday!

After reading the latest messages from Kim, Ron throws his Ronnunicator over his shoulder in frustration and plops face down on his bed.

He almost wishes Kim would attend fancy seminars and college parties, just to do something that isn't hanging out with Nor for once.

Ron sneers at the name even as he says it in his mind.

The two of them study together; they explore the collegetown, or go to the movies, or walk around the park; he introduces her to frankly genius fast food concoctions…

Ron's seen this movie before.

He's 100% sure that this Nor character already likes or is in love with Kim, and Ron can't even blame him. Thanks to Bonnie's active efforts, Kim is completely unaware of the kind of magnetic pull she has on people: she's a one-two punch to the heart with her looks and her personality, and she soothes the wound with a smile. Nor would have to lack both eyes and ears to be immune against the full force of Kim's charms for the extended periods of time that he's been spending with her.

What's worse? Kim likes him back. She likes him back, and she doesn't even know it.

Sure, she may not be a crushing sheep around Nor—though, Ron almost wishes she were; that's a Kim he knows how to handle—but she regards him with affection and familiarity. There's an ease and a comfort to the way Kim talks about the guy that Ron hasn't seen from her since… well, since him.

Despite what she says or what she intends, there is a very real chance that she develops genuine feelings for her classmate. What then? What happens then, and what is he willing to do about it?

Rufus scurries over to the Ronnunicator to read the message log still open on screen. "Kim, Kim!" he chitters.

Ron forces himself back into an upright position and picks up the device to see what Rufus was talking about: a new message came in while he was dwelling.

from: Kim <3 my morning class lets out at noon, let's call over lunch?

to: Kim <3 i do miss my kp lunch dates. alrite, c u then! good luck with the haunted house

to: Kim <3 as long as u tell the truth all night long, maybe u'll actually enjoy urself this time

from: Kim <3 ha ha ha. thanks :P

from: Kim <3 talk to you later, i love you!

to: Kim <3 rite back at ya kp :*

Ron lightly scratches Rufus' back as he scurries up the sleeve to Ron's shoulder. "We haven't lost her yet, buddy."

~~~

One Saturday afternoon, Nor texts her asking if she wants to go to the mall then to Cow 'n' Chow on the way back, and she jumps on the offer immediately. She hasn't gone shopping in forever! Besides, with the November chill finally settling in, she'll need some layers to tide her over until she can switch out her wardrobe for winter clothes during Thanksgiving break.

She asks him when he wants her to pick him up, and he says it's no big, he'll drive.

Strangely, his response causes a sense of impending to strike through her chest. It's a familiar feeling that has saved her life more times than she can count; but without any noticeable threats in her physical environment, she pushes the feeling down. It's just a trip to the mall with her best friend—her best college friend, she amends in her mind. If she happens upon any trouble while she's out, she can handle it like she always does. She's Kim Possible.

She texts back that she'll be ready in fifteen, and Nor arrives in thirty. Kim opens up the passenger seat and greets him with a glare.

"You think this happens by accident?" he defends, gesturing to his casual outfit and gelled hair with a raised eyebrow and his tongue literally in his cheek.

"I think you're an accident," she shoots back as she clicks her seatbelt. "Come on. The mall closes in four, and it'll take the better part of an hour to get there."

Nor hollers with laughter as he peels out of the parking lot of Kim's dormitory. "Is that how Planet Earth's Sweetheart Kim Possible should be speaking to the populace she's meant to protect?"

Kim groans good-naturedly. "Oh my god, don't call me that. It's so embarrassing."

"What's so embarrassing? In fact, I think you should be outraged. It's not good enough! You shouldn't rest until you're the Sweetheart of the entire solar system!"

Nor's so ridiculous. "Seriously, please stop talking."

"I'd tell you to shoot for the stars, but the title of Galaxy's Sweetheart is already taken by the winner of last season's Lowardia's Next Top Model, Wardrangea."

Kim can't even respond with how hard she's laughing, and Nor finally lets up on his joke so he can join her. The comforting blur of the scenery whizzing by, the happy and relaxed feeling in her shoulders, the sound of Nor's laughter trickling down into giggles… She likes that she can focus on those entirely from her spot in the passenger's seat. It's nice to be driven for a change.

When they reach the mall, they stop at a directory since it's both of their first times there. Nor's in the market for a new pair of sneakers, but he's in no rush. They pick a store clear on the opposite side of the mall so that they can stop and explore in a gradual meandering towards their destination.

As they walk, Kim points out storefronts whose contents she wants to check out, Nor explains his theory that shopping over the Internet is going to become so popular that it'll render the brick-and-mortar shopping experience obsolete within the next ten years, and they both share a laugh at how ridiculous that sounds.

Relaxation settles over her like a physical thing. This is the first time all semester she's done something just for herself, where there's no expectation of her and she can be a basic, average girl—and what's more basic and average than a trip to the mall with your best college friend?

By the end of the day, Kim gains a few new sweaters from Old Maroon and a cute jacket from Club Banana, and Nor is proudly rocking his new kicks, his old pair carried in his bag. On the way back to the car, she doesn't think about it too hard when she offers to drive them back. "CNC is, like, right next to the school; you'd basically be driving us the whole way back. It's only fair that I take the return trip."

"We're hanging out at a local mall, not roadtripping to South Dakota," Nor deadpans. "We don't need to take turns."

She's embarrassed that she asked, but she refuses to show it. "I was just offering. What's in South Dakota?" she redirects as she and Nor load the backseat with their things. "I was there once on a search and rescue mission for a little kid who got lost in a corn field, but I didn't get a chance to look around."

"The Six Grandfathers, Kimothy! A.K.A. the greatest cover-up job in American history!"

With a wry smile, she settles into the passenger car seat as she buckles herself in for another of Nor's conspiracy theories. "Do tell."

"You've heard of Mount Rushmore, surely. Well, that mountain is known to the local tribes as the Six Grandfathers, and…"

Nor excitedly babbles about the long-held belief that there is a secret room carved into the mountain behind Abraham Lincoln which houses national secrets while he drives, and Kim just sits back and lets his voice fill the space.

Throughout the whole mall excursion, the impending never fully went away. She refused to let it spoil her good time; but now, with the feeling growing the further along they go, it is begging to be acknowledged.

In line at Cow 'n' Chow, she thinks about mentioning it to Nor when they sit down, but he starts a conversation before she can bring it up.

"What does the word 'transaction' mean to you?" Nor asks before taking a sip of his soda. He is leaned back slightly and turned on his side to face her, adjoined countertop seats being the only ones available when they arrived.

Completely taken aback by the random question, Kim has to take a second before answering him. "Isn't that just, like, an exchange? I go to Club Banana, give the cashier money, and get to walk out with a new jacket."

Nor nods as he assembles his potager. "Yes, yes. Exactly that. Has anyone ever told you that you seem to have a transactions-centric approach to your relationships?"

She makes a face. "What does that even mean?"

"Like… Look at your whole business model. You don't exchange cash; you just ask the people you've helped for favours when it's convenient—favours, I will point out, which they're already capable of providing. This makes the transactions more personal and therefore more valuable or memorable to you, and you've been operating that way since middle school. That's bound to have long-term effects on your perception of the world. Why else would shopping be your favourite hobby?"

He adds the last part as a joke, but Kim has stopped staring at him like she was humouring him and has since started paying rapt attention. He's startled enough at the sight to lose his train of thought, and he continues with less assuredness. "Right, uh. So… Couple that with the fact you're just a genuinely nice person, and I bet it ends up being net-negative for you. I've only known you for a few months, but it seems like your whole existence is so rooted in what you can do for others that when things are done for you unprompted—like today with the car ride—it straight up triggers a recalibration."

Kim still hasn't said anything, so Nor finally bites into his meal, giving her time to think.

And think she does. She completely ignores her own meal as her mind conjures up memory after memory: times she went out of her way to express appreciation for someone after a favour as small as sharing a pencil sharpener in class; tantrums of But I was good! in her youth when she didn't yet understand that behaving well wasn't praised with extra cookies the way behaving poorly resulted in no cookies at all.

"I… think you're onto something," she admits slowly, hesitantly.

Nor raises his eyebrows at her. "What's with the tone?"

"Well, what am I supposed to do with that? How do I fix it?"

He's waving his hands in the air before she even finishes her question. "No! No no no no no. There's nothing to fix! You're clearly happy and fulfilled. I was just… I had a suspicion and wanted to see if I was right. I thought you might have noticed or known this about yourself already. It wasn't meant to mean anything."

"But this isn't normal, right?" she argues.

Nor registers the note of self-criticism sneaking its way into her voice and realises he's messed up. He quickly pulls her into a side hug, hardly a feat with how close the countertop seats are positioned. "Aw, Kimothy. You can't let yourself think like that. 'Always be abnormal,' that's what I always say! Here, have a fry. That'll make you feel better."

The chatter and clatter of a busy restaurant fade into silence as he waves a fry in front of her face, slow motion. The press of his hand on her shoulder and his arm around her back is grounding. Despite the discontent from the previous conversation, she feels comforted here. This place, this ambience, this feeling… it's all so familiar.

There is no more impending.

"... Kim?"

She opens her eyes, and Nor's face is way closer than she remembers it being. The sounds come rushing into her consciousness like a CD on fast forward, and her hand is on Nor's cheek.

"Kim, what was that?"

What has she done.

She stands up abruptly, balance honed from years of cheerleading and freak-fighting being the only thing stopping her from stumbling onto the ground.

"I gotta go," she says, but she is already out the door.

#kim possible #kim possible fanfiction #ron stoppable #kim x ron #k/r #xyzc*#cotsots

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dramioneasks · 4 years ago

Text

HP FESTS: Dramione RomCom Fest (Part 1)

Dramione RomCom Fest 2020:

12 Years and 3 Months by pixiedustandbluebutterflies - T, one-shot - As news of their engagement takes Wizarding England by storm, elusive power couple Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger are finally sharing their love story in this Witch Weekly interview!

50 (First) Dates with Hermione Granger by HufflepuffMommy - G, WIP - Draco Malfoy sets his heart on romancing Hermione Granger, but she has short-term memory loss; she can't remember anything that happened the day before. So every morning, Draco has to woo her again. Her friends are very protective, and Draco must convince them that he's in it for love. Plot (andsummary) taken from the movie "50 First Dates" for the Dramione RomCom fest!

About Time by WordsmithMusings - E, WIP - When Draco's Father reveals to him that the men in their family have the ability to travel back in time, he uses his newfound gift to do many things - save a life, be a better friend, reconnect with a witch, and fall in love.

All's well that ends well (to end up with you) by weestarmeggie - M, one-shot - Hermione Granger is all set to be the maid of honor at her best friends wedding. She is taken back when she finds out that the best man is none other than her ex-fiance.

Away by In_Dreams - E, WIP - Desperate for a change of pace, Hermione unknowingly commits to a home exchange with Pansy Parkinson and finds herself swept up in the chaos of New York City and into the arms of Draco Malfoy. Dramione/Hansy. Loosely inspired by The Holiday.

Bells on a Hill by HeyJude19 - T, WIP - Left by his fiancée a month before the ceremony, Draco never got his dream wedding, so agreeing to assist Granger with her own wedding planning to distract himself from his broken engagement seems like a great idea—though Draco probably shouldn't fall in love with the bride-to-be. Based very (very) loosely on The Wedding Singer.

Chasing the Future by Rdlentz8 - T, WIP - An unusual and anonymous Patronus finds a frustrated Hermione alone in the library and talks to her about being lonely. Could this be the push she's needed to change her fate? Inspired by A Cinderella Story. There are direct quotes from A Cinderella Story.

Domino Effect by KoraKwidditch - M, WIP - Resolved to live her life in Muggle London, Hermione Granger finally felt free. Free from the Ministry, free from her celebrity status and everything that entailed. But who knew that one cataclysmal incident would lead her straight into the Malfoy's den and down a series of unfortunate events? At least they think she's a Muggle.**A Dramione retelling of While You Were Sleeping**

Fairytales and Wishes by Charlie9646 - T, one-shot - All Scorpius wants is for Hermione to be a nice step mother, but somehow that sort of gets lost in translation with his accidental magic.

Flipping Through the Pages by DarkAngelOfSorrowReturns - T, WIP - Draco Malfoy had a fascination with a popular book series and its writer. His life changes when he meets her.

The Hate List by bethelson - T, WIP - While chaperoning the post graduation trip, Hermione and Draco find themselves wandering the streets of Paris in the middle of the night, fruitlessly searching for the seventh years they were supposed to be in charge of. What Hermione doesn’t know, is that those seventh years struck a bargain with Draco to keep her occupied so they could sneak out for a last hurrah before they all head back to London. So in his efforts to derail her search, he convinces her to join him in their own night of frivolity. As they paint the city red, they slowly learn to let their guards down, and find that putting the past behind them allows them to finally focus on the present. ___ My contribution to the Dramione RomCom Fest!

Hollywood & Vine by dreamsofdramione (Bugggghead), msmerlin - M, WIP - As the manager of an occult bookstore currently renting a room from an old friend and living paycheck to paycheck, Hermione wasn’t exactly living the Hollywood dream. But her life is turned upside down when a chance encounter with Tinseltown’s current heartthrob, Draco Malfoy, leaves her questioning everything she thought she knew about life and love. or the one in which Hermione unintentionally falls in love with a movie star.

Home is Where the Heart Is by lrs002 - T, one-shot - A rewrite and Draco/Hermione look at basically the last scenes of the movie Sweet Home AlabamaOr in the other words: The Wedding and the Kiss

How to Lose a Wizard in 10 Days by GracefulLioness - E, WIP - Hermione will do anything to prove to her boss at Witch Weekly that she's ready to take on more serious topics, including dating a man just to drive him away for the sake of her next column, How to Lose a Wizard in 10 Days. But pushing Draco Malfoy away proves to be a challenging task, perhaps because he's got ten days to make her fall in love with him. Inspired by How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

It Happened One Knight by Klawdee - T, WIP - “A spoiled heir running away from his family is helped by an old classmate, who is actually a journalist in need of a story.” Based off of the 1934 film, It Happened One Night

It's All In The Malfoy Family by TwilightToMidnight - M, one-shot - Over a decade of longing and desire comes to fruition one night. Not quite the way Hermione expected but definitely with a bang. Everyone and their dog seem to be working against her. For the 2020 Dramione RomCom Fest. Loosely based off Sabrina (1954 - with Audrey Hepburn).

Love, Actually in Dramione by Blessedindeed - G, one-shot - I absolutely love the movie "Love, Actually" and was so excited to make some art pieces from a few of the more memorable scenes! Many thanks and kudos to QuinTalon & NuclearNik for hosting and being such amazing encouragers to everyone! I cannot wait to dive into all these fun pieces!!

Love, Hermione by pandora_rose_xo - G, WIP - When Hermione leaves some personal letters lying around in a sleepy haze, Dobby comes across them, and trying to be helpful delivers them to their recipients. Who were never supposed to see them.

Metamorphosis by persephone_stone - T, WIP - Draco Malfoy is king of Hogwarts High—student body president, captain of both the water polo and basketball teams, and boyfriend of Astoria Greengrass, the hottest girl in school. That is, until said girlfriend returns from Spring Break with some unexpected news: she’s dumping him for a college boy. Now, Draco is on a mission to win her back. And who better to help him turn into a more intellectual, cultured version of himself than Hermione Granger, the smartest girl in school? As he and Hermione spend time together, will Draco learn how to be the right type of boyfriend for Astoria? Or will he instead learn that maybe Astoria is not the right type of girl for him? Written for the Dramione RomCom Fest, based on the 90’s teen romcom She’s All That.

Midnight in Paris by Aneiria - E, one-shot - ‘Granger,’ Draco replied, casting a quick wandless charm to clean his own clothes. ‘Want to watch the magic you’re casting next time? Whatever spell that was, it nearly took both of us out.’ Hermione’s face settled into a frown of confusion. ‘I thought that was you,’ she said, hesitantly. ‘I wasn’t using magic.’ They both looked away at the same time, taking in their surroundings. ‘Where are we?’ Hermione wondered out loud, as she spun on the spot and took in the sights. It was the wrong question, really.

My Big Fat Muggle Wedding by BiscuitsForPotter - G, one-shot - Draco's gotten more used to having Muggles as future-in-laws, but what about his parents?

No More Waiting by anchoredto717 - T, one-shot - The end of Hogwarts, an impending Mastery, and confirmation that Hermione is well and truly over Ronald Weasley: three factors that push Draco into a place he never imagined. Is he really going to Harry Potter’s house party? A one shot heavily inspired by the 90s teen classic, Can’t Hardly Wait.

Off the Rails by RoseHarperMaxwell - E, WIP - For the Dramione RomCom Fest 💚 My adaptation of the movie Trainwreck (Amy Schumer/Bill Hader), featuring Draco in Amy's role. “Pans.” Draco’s head falls back petulantly. “I can't interview Granger, especially not about how she's healing Potter. Neither of them are going to want to talk to me. Make Creevey do it.” “No, you'll do it. And don't sulk at me, Draco.” Pansy shuts him down immediately, not that he expected to talk her out of it. She gives assignments, not suggestions. “Old Quidditch rivalries. Gryffindor Princess confiding in the Prince of Slytherin, with a side of The Boy Who Lived. You’re the only one for it.” She drops her pen on her notepad with finality. “She’s also fit as hell now. I’d even fuck her, so our readers will be drooling over her. This is easy, Draco. Don’t fuck it up.”

One Thing We've Got by IrisCalasse - M, WIP - Over a decade after the Second Wizarding War, Draco Malfoy is a broke socialite straddling the Muggle and magical worlds. One day a new neighbour moves in his residential complex. What has happened to Hermione Granger to make her hide from Ronald Weasley? If Cormac McLaggen is gay, why is he hanging around Granger so much? And why does her cat seem to know way too much about everything? Based on the plot of Breakfast at Tiffany's, but set in 2012 London with a magical twist. Updates every 16th of the month.

Pin down your heart by hiyas - G, one-shot - Hermione Granger contemplates a door when Destiny comes knocking.

Playing Cupid by tygermine - T, one-shot - Set It Up AU.

Pretty Witch by TakingFlight48 - E, WIP - When confronted with the opportunity to take on an alter ego - Hermione Granger, Potion's Mistress and the Wizarding World's Golden Girl became Vivian Roberts - London's weekend escort. For three years she lived in this duality until Draco Malfoy, lost in Soho and driving a precious DB6, wound up uncovering her secret. This is the tale of Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy finding a balance between work and love through the guise of fake dating, unacknowledged feelings, and Hermione not wanting to let go of a part of herself that is no longer serving her.

Promises, Promises by Musyc - T, one-shot - Lawyer and social work advocate Hermione Granger is one signature away from fulfilling her dream to have a house-elf education program. All she needs is to seal the deal, and Draco Malfoy has promised the full support of Malfoy and Son Developments. But the owner of the property is balking, there's a new buyer in the mix, and a promise isn't a contract.

The Proposal by FaeOrabel - M, WIP - When Head of Creatures Division of the DMLE, Hermione Granger, is pushed into a corner regarding a new marriage law she doesn't want to comply with, she gets the brilliant idea to stage an engagement with her long time, loyal assistant, Draco Malfoy. Draco goes along with the charade on the condition she gets him promoted to a new position. A deal set, they prepare to fool not only the Minister of Magic, but Hermione's best friend, and Draco's entire family. What could go wrong? Just the threat of Azkaban should they fail.

PS I love you by emotionalsupporthufflepuff - M, WIP - After a tragic accident, Hermione must reintroduce Draco to a life they've built far away from home. She recieves unexpected help in a series of letter written by Draco himself before the accident...

Regrets Only by nztina - T, WIP - Draco and Hermione are the best of friends - until Hermione goes off to teach at Hogwarts and Draco realises that he doesn’t just miss her. Upon her return to London, he intends to reveal his feelings, but she has a surprise of her own, one that will definitely put a damper on Draco’s plans. Draco. Hermione. And...Hermione’s fiancé?

Restless in Ripon by QuinTalon - T, WIP - Scorpius Malfoy wants his father to be happy again and as his grandfather often told him, a Malfoy always gets what he wants. A nosy radio host, well-meaning friends, and fate will help bring two lonely souls together. Well, that and one tenacious eight-year-old.

Rushing Back by floorcoaster - M, WIP - Draco Malfoy is thirty, surviving, and very much not thriving. He's near the utter end of himself when he experiences the worst of all possible bad days--a double betrayal that rocks him to his core. Unmoored, untethered, he winds up in a strange place, where he begins an adventure through time that will change the course of his life. A time travel fic with a twist on the movie "13 Going on 30."

Say Anything by MidnightValkyrie - G, 9 Chapters - To know Draco Malfoy is to love him. Hermione Granger is about to know Draco Malfoy. Written and created for the Dramione RomCom Fest, based on Say Anything.

She's the Snake by monsterleadmehome - E, WIP - In a universe where Voldemort never came back, Harry lives with Sirius, and Dumbledore isn't dying, the worst thing the Golden Trio has to contend with is their grades and Quidditch matches... oh, and the recent magical attacks on Muggles and Muggle-borns. Harry is sure Malfoy had something to do with it, and though Hermione doesn't agree, her sarcastic offer somehow turns into her latest nightmare: to go undercover as a boy in the Slytherin dorms and find out what's really going on. And maybe throw a Quidditch game or two. But there's one thing she hasn't prepared for: falling in love with the boy she's supposed to be spying on.

Signed and Sealed by niffizzle - M, WIP - She owns a children's bookstore. He runs a corporation buying significant shares of small businesses. Never in their lives have Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy gotten along — or so they think.

Timing is Everything by anne_ammons - M, 7 Chapters - Draco Malfoy is your average bachelor living an average bachelor's life, until he crosses paths with his former classmate, Hermione Granger. Strike that - when has Draco Malfoy ever been average? A retelling of the 1994 movie, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Dramione-style.

A Trip to Kouloura Beach by rennaissance_woman - one-shot - A day at the beach, what could happen?

The Truth About Kneazles and Crups by samkablam7 - T, WIP - When Draco Malfoy started hosting his wizarding radio show The Truth About Kneazles and Crups, he had no idea that it would bring Hermione Granger back into his life. He also didn't know that they would both be interested in each other. The only problem? She thinks that the radio host she's interested in is his best friend and Pro-Quidditch-player-wannabe, Blaise Zabini.

Untitled Marital Crisis Comedy by Darlingheart - G, one-shot - Draco is rich, handsome, and most importantly, excellent with the ladies. Harry Potter is not. Which is where Draco comes in. With Draco’s help Harry will learn there’s more to life than being a one-woman man. But what happens when Draco meets someone who changes his mind? And what does Hermione Granger have to do with it...

A Woman of Some Dignity by mcal - G, one-shot - That seemed to get his attention. “What are you—of course I respect you, you daft witch!”

“Your actions today show the opposite!” I answered. “And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m a woman of some dignity and I’d like to shower in peace. You’ll kindly wait half an hour before Apparating back to my flat.” Hermione's not one for diaries, but it's been a week to say the least. It all started off with a confusing meeting with Draco Malfoy in her office, and... well, Hermione thought maybe recording her thoughts on the events would help her process. She isn't wrong.

You lost and lonely, You just like heaven by Wake_The_Dragon - T, WIP - Dramione Romcom Fest. Hermione Granger had needed something new and a change of scenery was a good start. What she hadn't counted on was renting a flat with an annoying (if handsome) ghost, who claims he isn't dead. Somehow, helping out a ghost and falling in love were two things she hadn't bargained for.

You Wish by Talonwillow (Ehollis303) - T, WIP - What makes a bad case of "Black Cat Flu" more tolerable? Young Perseus is learning that hearing about dueling, torture, revenge, giants, dementors, chases, true love, and miracles from his Grandfather Scorpius certainly makes things easier- If the man would finish the story that is. A story about love, where not even death can keep the beautiful feisty stable-girl and her sometimes irritating one true love apart. Together they must battle the evil Lord Voldemort through an adventure crossing the magical and fairy tale realm.

#Fests/Exchanges/Challenges #dramione #Dramione RomCom Fest #humour #fluff #based on other book or movie plot

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specsforwoo · 3 years ago

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Son of Bia | Demigod!Nakamoto Yuta

Parent Deity: Bia (Goddess of Power, Anger, and Raw Energy)

Allegiance: Zeus

“My power is no fucking illusion.”

Easily Yuta’s favorite quote

He has been in and out of different martial arts programs since he was able to stand

Everything from Judo to Aikido

He’s done it

Right now he is currently working on boxing because he got to see Daigo Higa live (at one of his KOs) and he instantly fell in love with the art

So Yuta is one of the few kids to have known that he was a demigod since he was really young

The only others are Jaemin and Jisung

His dad was a martial artist and he had grown up in and out of gyms since he was 3 years old

And his mom was actually around until he was about 15

So from about 5 years old on, he was aware that he had a goddess as a mother

His parents never tried to hide it from him

But he wasn’t claimed until he was 15

It’s a long story

To shorten it up

His mother was forced to return to Olympus to carry out orders given by Zeus

But like a week later he had this huge aikido competition

And boy was just in a slump

Like he almost got KO��ed with a kick to the head

Which NEVER happens

It hurt his pride

As a martial artist and as his mother’s son

His father was with him, telling him his mother was looking down and cheering him on

But Yuta just couldn’t feel it

But this warmth of home just surrounded him

And in the metal of the locker door, he caught sight of a shimmering chain and feather above his head

His father gave him a huge smile

And he could feel his mother with him again

That last match of the day was the best he has ever performed

Yes, he has been aware of his godly heritage for a long time

But he had never been to camp before

But once you are claimed your scent becomes like 20x stronger

So at the age of 19 his parents decided to send him to the camp for the summer

Yuta was realllllyyyyy against this

His whole argument was

I’ve known who I was for so long, why the hell are you making me go to some group therapy session 14 years later.

His mind changed the 3rd day at camp

Okay the first day he was just in a pissy mood and almost punched the Camp Medic but that almost got him into a brawl with some son of Zelus, who just happened to be his cousin

The second day he was still in a pissy mood but now he also had a black eye so he was even more grouchy

But the third day was life changing

Some Ares kid who was like 12 years old ran up to him and begged him to come join him and his cabin in the training rink

And Yuta followed because, an octagon? Hell yes

The Ares camp leader agreed to work on some aikido moves with the kids and Yuta agreed to be his opponent

He suddenly remembered why he loved martial arts

And why he loved his parents

So soon he made up with Sicheng and actually became really close to that Zelus kid, Xuxi

And after that he was considered the best fighter in camp

He had led a few missions, once accompanied by Xuxi’s girlfriend and they almost got into another brawl but it’s cool. Xuxi is just overprotective

He was also co-captain for the Ares house during competitions

So after his 4th year back at camp

This time he started up a makeshift boxing gym in the training facility and was helping some of the more academically inclined demigods train

And by academically inclined he means nerds but Taeyong yelled at him for that so

You just happened to be one of those academically inclined individuals

But you weren’t horrible in the athletic department either

As a daughter of Hermes you were quite mischievous

Which meant you needed to know how to get out of tight situations fast

So your stamina was incredible

But as for strength

You were screwed if you had to put up a fight for some reason

So you decided to seek help in Yuta

The lessons that the camp allowed him to teach weren’t as rigorous as he would like to be

But at the same time he was so amazed at how many people were actually interested in the sport that he loved so much

So you were basically the quiet girl in the back of the room unless one of your friends was in the class with you

Then you became the life of the party

But Yuta honestly wanted to see you be the life of the party all the time

Like you made classes so much more brighter

And he was learning that with a little bit more practice you could have quite the heavy hand on you

To say you didn’t admire Yuta would be a lie

A HUGE lie

As Jisung (a young camper you had taken under your wing) would say it

“You are so whipped.”

Like whipped to the point that

You would go to the gym more often to workout and watch him work out

Stop your half-siblings from pulling dangerous pranks on the Bia cabin

Work with Sicheng and Xuxi more, along with Jaehyun

And Yuta was doing the exact same thing

Silently moving closer to you in the gym while he was working out

Hanging out with the Hermes kids more in attempts to pull pranks on other houses

Hanging out in the med center and courtyard more often

Honestly Sicheng was at another screaming point that if the two of you didn’t kiss soon he was going to force it.

Thankfully Jaehyun already had that under control

Today was one of your off days from helping Sicheng in the Med Center but you were also really close with his girlfriend so you offered to help while you were waiting for her to finish up

Yuta on the other hand was outside the camp in a taekwondo tournament with Jaehyun for ‘moral support’ (someone to help his beat ass home)

He won but he had multiple lacerations on his face and what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder

Hobbling in with the help of Jaehyun was no surprise to Sicheng or his girlfriend, who both just put down whatever they were doing and Sicheng gliding across the floor on his wheely chair (Sicheng loves his wheely chair) while she just went to work gathering saline solution, gauze and other things

But for you

This was a BIG surprise

Sure you were used to seeing Yuta with the constant bandage on his jaw and gauze around his ankle or wrist

But this was the first time that you had seen what had come before the clean up

It was actually something Yuta tried to hide from you

He didn’t want to make you feel like he led a violent life, it was just that as the type of athlete he was, he just had to roll with the punches… and kicks… and slams

And you were just there standing in the middle of the Med Center with your jaw tight to stop from tears welling while Sicheng and everyone else acted like this was a normal day’s occurrence

You were also used to seeing the constant smirk or resting bitch face plastered across his stoic features

But he was wincing every time his shoulder moved and looked ready to yell at Sicheng for pouring Saline into a cut

Yet when he looked up at you

He gave a small smile

Something about that brought you back to reality

You rushed over and began examining his shoulder, and relocated after making sure his collarbone wasn’t broken or anything

After Sicheng finished he called his girlfriend over and they walked out with Jaehyun following close behind

You weren’t supposed to see that.

The statement caught you off guard.

Why?

I don’t want you to see the pain I deal with and to think I live a violent life because of it.

His head dropped just low enough for his overgrown bangs to hide the expression melting onto his features

I don’t think you live a violent life.

You don’t?

I think you live your life to the fullest, I think you go after what your heart desires, I think you want to push your mind and body to their very limits. I don’t think that’s violent.

For some reason after that conversion you two just knew that you were together

It was very unspoken but it was there

He still hated you show you his wounds

But he begged you to show him yours

He still acted shy in the gym

But smiled a million times brighter when you were in the ring with him

He lived for the moments of adrenaline rush inside an octagon

But prayed for the moments he stepped out the ring and into your arms

He was still the same old Yuta

He was still constantly fighting

He was still constantly on missions

He was still everything that you fell in love with

But there was something different

He wanted to show you off to everyone

He made you meet his parents (mortal and deity – at the same dinner table)

He wanted to talk about apartments and universities

He was in for the long haul

Like one night you had snuck into the Bia cabin since Hermes had just gotten 3 new campers who couldn’t sleep

And you were sitting on opposite sides of the bed, legs tangled together just talking

He was in his oversized white t-shirt and cookie monster pajama shorts

You were in a jacket of his and leggings

And it felt right to him

Gods he would never admit it to anyone else

But he found the piece of him that was missing when his mother had to leave

He just blurted it out

25379 Songjam-ro gil, Seongbuk-dong, Seoul

What?

It’s an apartment, it’s really nice, really close to camp, close to campus, big enough, I placed first year’s rent yesterday.

OH MY GODS YUTA DO YOU EVEN HAVE THAT KIND OF MONEY?

I’ve been saving for a while.

What are you even going to do with it?

I got it for the both of us. We’ve been talking about moving in together and I don’t see why we can’t now. I really want this.

He seemed so excited telling you about it

How could you say no?

Everyone gets together for a small house warming party and it’s a disaster

Sicheng is drunk screaming about how it fucking took long enough

Mark is crying in the corner because his hyung is leaving him

Taeyong his about to pull his hair out

Doyoung is force feeding Jaehyun wine???

Taeil is trying to make Mark stop crying

Johnny and Ten are dancing on your new couch

But Yuta and you are in your own world

And everything just feels right…

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yourfinalbow · 4 years ago

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Ack anon I'm sorry. Tumblr ate your ask and I'm 🔪 But I saved your ask to put on the Google Doc so don't fret! I have it!

“Hi Ghastie Ghast, I wanted to share a prompt with you lol. I decided to go more holiday theme’d because it’s never too early to get into the holiday spirit.

“Your favorite winter drink was back on the menu, so I decided to surprise you with it.”

Please enjoy this prompt lmao”

The nickname made me -_- but hi Little Gray Circle Dude With Sunglasses! Thank you for sending me this! I had fun writing it. I'm assuming you wanted a Destiel fic, so that's what I wrote! (Also bonus points for Saileen as a background ship?) I sort of strayed a little from the prompt and the tone gets heavier as it goes on… 👀 I also accidentally wrote more than intended, so you can read it on Ao3 if that's easier. (And maybe give it a kudos because you’re the best?)

Title: Black Coffee Derangement Syndrome

Ship(s): Dean Winchester/Castiel, Sam Winchester/Eileen Leahy.

(Basic) Tags: Fluff, Slight Angst, Domesticity in the Men of Letters Bunker, Established Dean/Cas, Established Sam/Eileen, Using black coffee as a metaphor for hypermasculinity, With a whip cream style topping of internalized homophobia. *Finger guns.*

Warnings: Coffee gatekeeping and small sections of fluff that are as sweet as Cas’s Starbucks order. Also I’ve been to Starbucks once. Maybe twice? (Also a single mention of a drug that's commonly found as white powder, the non-descriptive comparison of Sam’s stupid health stuff with emesis, and use of the name that the figurehead for Germany in WW2 bore, just to be safe.)

Rating: T? Maybe? For language?

Word Count: 9k+

Quick thanks to my awesome beta @walksinstarllight! They are a poet and a writing sorcerer (wizard without a hat), and the only reason this fic even makes sense so please go shower them in kudos. (You can find their work here.)

Another thanks to @internetintroverts, who described a peppermint mocha to me in like 300 words because I drink black coffee and know nothing of anything ever. You can find their work here! (There's an Easter egg of one of their fics in this one hehe.)

The first thing Dean did when Cas got back from the Empty was give him coffee.

Okay no.

The first thing he did was fall into Cas’s arms and grip that stupid trenchcoat until his knuckles turned white. Shaking and laughing with hot tears streaming out of his eyes, he told him he was an asshole for leaving him like that. And to never, ever do it again. With blurry eyes and all other thoughts hazy, he told Cas he could have it, he could have what he wanted. Whatever he wanted. He told Cas he loved him too.

But then the next thing was coffee.

Caffeine is a hunter’s number one best friend, and since Cas was human again, Dean knew Sam was going to come at him with his stupid green health drinks and herbal tea. As Cas’s knight in shining armour, (a title used by Dean and Dean only), it was his duty to protect him from the disgustingly liquified rabbit food.

Now he expected Cas to like black coffee, you know, like a normal person.

But no, oh no. Apparently, he was dating a heathen.

Dean had to actually rub his eyes the first time he watched Cas fix his own coffee. He stood in the doorway of the kitchen, mouth agape.

Cas was leaning on the counter, humming some song that Dean could neither recognize, nor would he approve of, thank-you-very-much.

(Ok it was Champagne Problems by Taylor Swift and it's entirely possible he's listened to it once or twice but he still doesn't approve of it, thank-you-very-much.)

He held his yellow and black striped, bee-themed ceramic mug Eileen had bought him in one hand, and the entire five-pound bag of cane sugar in the other. And there he stood, happy as can be, pouring it directly into his mug.

Dean rubbed his eyes again.

And not even like, a normal amount either.

He just kept pouring, and pouring, and Oh my god he’s still pouring. Dean thought. It would honestly be more believable if it wasn’t sugar at all, and instead was in fact Cas’s secret stash of cocaine.

Dean might actually have to put sugar on the grocery list after he was finished.

His thoughts traveled back to Ishim doing the same thing with his coffee, in the tiny little diner Cas had set up as a meeting place. Dean had barged in that day, not thinking of his brother mocking him, or the possibility of danger inside. His vision was as tunneled as his thoughts focused only on Cas, not caring about anything else.

By that time the following day, Dean thought they were both going to die. The bloody and uneven sigil on the wall, Cas no more than ten feet away. Not quite within a comforting reach. The room was spinning from the blow to his head, and he could barely make out the words being spat from Ishim’s mouth.

“You blast me away, you’ll blast away every angel in the room. I’ll survive. Castiel, on the other hand, he’s hurt. He might live, or he might just end up a bloody smear on the wall.”

He almost lost Cas that day.

The blood rushed to his ears as his instincts sought out the mark on the wall. Ishim had told him to roll the dice, but in his head he couldn’t look past the chance of rolling a one. Watching the acrylic cube bounce until it decided Cas’s fate. There was no dilemma, there wasn’t even a decision to be made. He would always choose Cas over himself. Silent acts of care he could never vocalize.

An inability to speak formed from fear and cowardice. Like a lion in his stomach scratching at the words until they fell back down his throat.

And it was that inability to speak that led Cas to think he was nothing more than a tool for the Winchester’s to use.

He almost let Cas believe he meant nothing to him.

Dean cleared his throat. “Mornin’ Sunshine.”

Cas set down the bag of sugar and picked up the pot, the glass making a small clink as it hit the top of the coffee maker. “Goodmorning Dean. Would you like any coffee?” He greeted cheerfully, turning around like he hadn't just put enough sugar to make a pound cake in his coffee.

“Uh.” Dean was still caught off-guard by Willie Wonka over there. “Sure Cas.” He took the coffee pot from his hand and muttered a thank you.

“So,” Cas started while Dean reached into the cabinet for his own mug. “What ingredient do you suggest I put in my coffee this morning?”

“Uh...I don't know man. I drink my coffee black.”

“Yes I know you’re boring Dean, but you can still help me not be.”

“Black coffee isn't boring it's-”

“Dean, if you say ‘manly,’ I will sit you down and make you eat only spinach and kale for a week.” Sam said, walking into the kitchen, hair still spiked up from sleep. He used one hand to sign the words, his other one occupied by Eileen, who was sleepily shuffling closely behind.

Dean looked aghast. “I would starve.” He attempted to sign his indignant response, hands moving sloppily while holding both his mug and the coffee pot.

“I think that's the point.” Eileen said, laughing. She looked at Cas. “Is Dean gatekeeping your coffee aspirations again?”

“Yes.” He answered, ignoring Sam’s laugh and Dean’s huff of exaggerated outrage.

“Have you tried cinnamon?” Sam suggested. “You like Dean’s apple pie, and that has cinnamon in it.”

“I’m not so sure about that, Sam. Dean told me not to ever take cooking advice from you.“

“And I stand by that.” Dean interjected suddenly.

“I can cook!”

“Ehhh…” Eileen’s comment bought her a look of betrayal. “Though Sam may be right on this one, you might like it.” She shrugged.

“See.”

Cas pondered the thought for a moment. “Perhaps I will then.”

“Do we have nutmeg?” Eileen said, breaking away from Sam’s grip to check one of the cabinets. He walked to the other side of the kitchen, intending to look through the spice rack, knowing exactly what his girlfriend was getting at.

“You better not mess up my damn kitchen.” He said quickly. “Or you're organising them all next time.”

Sam rolled his eyes, knowing full well Dean would never let him organise the kitchen. Eileen looked through them, carefully turning the bottles around until the labels faced her. She pulled out the cinnamon and clove while she was looking for the nutmeg.

“Found it.” Sam called from the other side of the kitchen, walking over and putting a hand on Eileen’s shoulder.

“Thank you.” She said with a smile, grabbing the plastic spice jars.

She individually tossed each one to Cas. “Use these, it will taste like a pumpkin spice latte.”

“And don't forget the milk.” Sam added.

Cas scrambled to catch the spices, successfully grabbing two of them out of the air, the third one intercepted by Dean.

“What’s a pumpkin spice latte?” He looked at Eileen before snatching the bottle of cinnamon from Dean.

“It's a famous drink you can get at Starbucks.” Sam answered.

Cas tilted his head to the side and squinted at him. “What's a Starbucks?”

“You know, the coffee shop Alex and Patience drag Jody to all the time.” Dean said.

“I’m pretty sure Donna drags her there too.” Sam added. “Something about girl’s date night out.”

“The one Claire says is for ‘basic bitches’?” He lifted his hands, forming air quotes as he spoke.

“Yeah.” Dean answered, quietly laughing. “That's the one. She’s probably right, too.”

Cas carefully put the different spices in his coffee, eyeing the mug warily. His light brown coffee now had specs of...stuff in it.

(And unbeknownst to him, there was also a small pile of sugar at the bottom, the coffee so saturated it wouldn't dissolve any more.)

Eileen laughed at the look on his face. “It's good, I promise.”

Sam turned to look at her. “How would you know? Most of the time you get hot chocolate and spike it with bourbon.”

“You’re the one who gets a Pink Drink.”

Dean choked on his coffee. “What?”

“It's strawberry and coconut milk, and it's delicious.”

“Sure it is Sam.” Eileen jabbed.

“So what I'm getting here is that not only have you two been to Starbucks often enough to have a regular order, but Sam gets something called a ‘Pink Drink’?”

“No…” Sam started, trying to find a way to defend them. “Sometimes we…”

“...Make our own drinks.” Eileen snapped her fingers as she finished for him, attempting to save them from the endless stream of good-natured insults Dean would throw at them otherwise.

“Well you two are a real Martha Stewart, aren't you?”

“Yeah, except she's a convicted criminal.” Sam attempted to snark back.

“So are you!”

Before either of them could respond, Cas shoved his mug into Dean's face. “You have to try this, Dean. It tastes like pumpkin pie.”

Dean carefully grabbed the hot mug from Cas and took a sip. He was right, it did taste kinda like pumpkin pie. He took another sip, letting the pleasant flavor sit on his tongue. The different spices mixed perfectly together.

“I mean it's… okay.” He lied.

Dean contemplated his pumpkin themed food options. “Though I would rather just have pumpkin pie.”

Cas took his mug back. “Fine. More for me.” He said with a smirk, mimicking the look Dean gives him every time Cas says he doesn't want anymore bacon, before taking another sip of the makeshift pumpkin spice coffee.

Dean smiled at him, setting his own mug down and moving Cas’s out of the way to pull him into a kiss. He could smell the nutmeg almost as much as he could taste the cinnamon on his lips.

“Mmm we should bake pumpkin pie tonight.” He said, pulling away just enough so he could talk.

“I would like that.” Cas answered. “All four of us could make pie. According to the 'mom blogs', as you call them, it would be a good family bonding exercise.”

“That’s right. And if they want any pie, they gotta help make it. That means more for us if they refuse.” He grinned.

“A win-win situation, really.” Cas smiled before tugging Dean close so their lips met again.

“I love you.” Dean muttered.

“I love you too.” Cas said softly.

Behind their backs Sam and Eileen were fake-gagging at their sickly sweet interaction, but secretly just glad the two of them had finally gotten over their stubborn (and oblivious) selves.

Sam was honestly overjoyed to see his brother finally happy. He would even go as far as saying finally willing to be himself, too. (Not that he would ever say this outloud. Sam can practically see Dean’s eyes roll farther back into his head than should be possible at the words.) All four of them had gone through more shit in the last few months than any normal person would in their entire life. They were all just lucky to be alive, and with that, learning how to savour the little moments of overly sweet normalcy.

(And the pumpkin spice-life Dean had secretly been longing for since they were little kids.)

So of course they were going to help bake pie.

---

“I want to try Starbucks.” Cas said the next morning, both of them still in bed.

Dean groaned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Can I ask why, or is this one of those, 'I'll tell you later’ disasters like with the slime ingredients?”

“I want to try all the human things that I didn't get to try last time.” He said offhandedly.

Dean pictured Cas’s hurt face when he had told him he couldn’t stay, smile broken as Dean’s own heart shattered from the look the newly-human angel was giving him.

He wanted to tell him it was going to be okay, that Cas himself wasn’t the reason, but the lion in his stomach clawed the words down faster than even the thought of ruining Sam’s chances at survival could.

With a pang of guilt from the memory, Dean pulled himself closer to Cas and rested his head on the other man’s chest. He wrapped his arms around him, trying to preserve as much warmth and comfort as he could until they had to inevitably get out of bed. “Only if you let me sleep like this for thirty more minutes.”

Cas smiled. “Oh, are we making deals now?”

“I’d sell my soul for you.” Dean said cheekily, which earned a glare from Cas. “Believe me, I know.”

After a beat he went on. “Fine, you have a deal.” Before Dean could celebrate by tugging the covers over their bodies, Cas added another clause to their agreement. “But... in true Crowley fashion, you have to seal the deal with a kiss.”

Dean lazily threw his arms into the air. “Victory.”

He turned over, pulling himself upwards until he was just inches from Cas. Cradling the angel-turned-Winchester’s head in his hands, Dean placed his lips on Cas’s, melting into the touch as he felt the other man’s arms wrap around his torso.

When he broke away from the kiss, Dean found himself face to face with the most beautiful smile he had ever laid eyes on, one born from adoration and love. Cas’s eyebrows were slightly scrunched up, but for once it wasn’t a sign of confusion when met with some obscure eighties rock reference. It was a tiny expression of care, and it was one that was truly Cas. Not Jimmy’s, not even one Cas had picked up from him or Sam. It was completely and wholly Cas, and a completely and wholly human thing to do.

He realized Cas had been doing that long before the Empty stole his grace.

Dean smiled back at him, relaxed. Like taking in a deep breath after being under murky water for forty years. He brushed a loose strand of soft, brown hair into its place, before falling back into his spot and closing his eyes. “Crowley would be proud.” He whispered with a soft laugh, smile deepening as Cas joined him.

When their quiet laughter died out, there was a pause, air stagnant and in its own sleepy haze

“Oh and Dean?”

“Hm?” Dean turned his head to look at him, eyes not failing to glow with their unusually bright, green pigment. He took a deep breath, the lids of his eyes already started to slowly fall back down again.

“The slime wasn't a disaster. You enjoyed it.”

“I did.” He muttered sleepily, a loose smile forming on his lips as he drifted off to sleep. Cas laid there, running his fingers through the other man’s hair, contentment and admiration showing itself in every feature on his face.

This was more than he could have ever wanted.

---

“Dean. Dean wake up.” Cas was excitedly whisper-shouting in his ear like a kid on Christmas morning. It was exactly thirty minutes later, (he had counted), and Cas was ready to get moving.

“No.” He answered back, mimicking Cas’s tone.

“But you’re like a cat.” He teased. “You're on me and I can't get up.”

Dean sighed. “I can't believe I let you talk me into this.”

“It didn't take much convincing.”

Dean rolled over to give Cas a playful glare, but was met with the saddest puppy dog eyes he had ever seen, completely throwing him off his guard.

“I'm going to kill Sam for teaching you that.”

Cas just continued to give him that look.

“Fine.” Dean relented, sitting up with a yawn and thinking about how he will now never be able to win another argument.

“Get dressed.” Cas said excitedly. “We're going to Starbucks.”

“Hooray.” He gave a sarcastic laugh, but a smile creeped on his lips.

They walked out of their room together, heading towards the bunker’s library. Dean slid in one of the chairs, turning Sam’s still-open laptop around and waking it up.

Cas, meanwhile, turned to a random page of the lore book resting on the table and started reading in an attempt to pass the time.

The sound of Dean typing filled the air. “So, I just looked it up, and do we have to go to Starbucks?”

“Yes.” Cas said simply, not looking up from the book.

Dean groaned. “Cas there isn't one in the county, let alone Lebanon. That's probably why Sam and Eileen make their own.”

“Where's the closest one?” Cas asked, his blinding, blue eyes glaring at the back of Sam’s computer like he was trying to will the coffee shop to be near.

“I thought it was across state lines and in Nebraska at first, but it looks like there's a small one in a town called Washington. It's about 80 miles from here.”

“Let's go!” Cas excitedly straightened his trenchcoat and headed towards the door.

“Or, we could leave Starbucks to the fourteen year old girls.”

Cas turned back around and rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’m sure their entire demographic is fourteen year old girls, staff included.”

Alright, smartass. Dean thought, struggling to hide a smile.

Cas walked out the door, expecting Dean to follow.

“It takes an hour to get there, our coffee’s going to be cold by the time we get home, and it's freezing outside.” Dean muttered under his breath, but he grabbed his keys off the table and stood up, willing to follow Cas to the ends of the earth if it meant he would stay with him.

Not that he was going to enjoy this trip. In fact, he was currently doing the opposite of enjoying, and they hadn’t even gotten into the car yet. Starbucks. Starbucks. Really, Cas? Of all the places he wanted to go, it had to be Starbucks. He couldn’t want to explore humanity through Target or something?

Even Claire wouldn’t be caught dead in that place, with all the frou-frou toppings, elaborate drink mixes, and colourful, drizzled syrup. The people who go to Starbucks are the kind of people who like coffee that doesn’t taste like coffee. Teenage girls who might as well just be drinking whip cream, and that was without considering the seasonal drinks they fawn over.

Seasonal drinks that shouldn’t legally be allowed to be referred to as coffee.

Dean couldn’t believe he ever agreed to this, but still, he begrudgingly followed.

---

Using the GPS on Cas’s phone, (Dean said his insane directional skills helped out too), they found the Starbucks relatively easily once they were in the little town.

They parked the Impala, and Dean looked at the modern building. The green lettering contrasted with the tan plaster walls, spelling “Starbucks.”

He heard Cas get out, his feet making a crunching noise as they hit the gravel, and watched from across the top of the car as he started towards the coffee shop. Dean looked at the building warily, reluctance painted on his face.

Cas was telling him some random fact about a bird he saw, but Dean could only think about his reputation that was about to shatter like a vase dropping on tile floor.

Reputation with who? He didn't know.

Well, he had a vague idea, but chose not to let his thoughts wander that far.

It was okay. This was fine. He could swallow his pride and-

“Ooh. The peppermint mocha looks good.” Cas was reading the limited edition drinks on the drive-thru menu as they traveled across the parking lot.

Dean was going to barf.

They walked into the building, immediately hit with the overwhelming smell of excessive amounts of flavoured syrup indoused coffee. Dean glanced around the well-lit building, taking note of the many different people there.

(He wasn’t about to have any black-eyed minions reporting his Starbucks order to a very judgmental Queen of Hell.)

Cas pushed Dean’s protesting body into the line, looking pleased with the many different options written on the menu overhead.

He enjoyed the small touch of Cas’s hands on his back, moving him forwards to the line, but was grateful Cas was careful not to let them linger there too long.

He was still wary about doing… this, in public.

He knew Cas was patiently waiting for him to be ready, so he didn't know how to tell him that he might never be.

The teenager working the cash register interrupted his train of thought. “What will it be for ya?”

“I would like a peppermint mocha please.”

“Alrighty. And you?”

“I'll take just a black coffee.”

The barista looked unimpressed. “And your names?”

Dean grinned. “John and John.”

“No relation.” Cas added.

The barista just sighed. “How do you want me to differentiate the two of ‘em then?”

“Oh you can put ‘John Bonham’ on mine.” Dean replied.

“Comin’ right up.” Their tone didn't change, still just full of apathy that could only be perfected by the work of a burnt-out teenager.

Dean and Cas walked down to the end of the counter and towards the pickup section. “Now tell me, Castiel.” He stressed his partner’s name. “Who’s John Bonham?”

Cas sighed, but the corner of his mouth upturned in a grin. “John Henry Bohnham, affectionately referred to as ‘Bonzo’, born in 1948 and was most well known for being the drummer of the rock band ‘Led Zeppelin’.”

“Mmm very close, but unfortunately you forgot the word ‘best’ in front of ‘rock band.’” Dean smirked before leaning in for a chaste kiss.

“You should have said I was ‘John Bon Jovi.’” Cas said, smiling.

“Why? Because you’re only good at this sometimes?” Dean closed the gap between them.

As soon as their lips met, Dean pulled away instinctively, realization hitting him like a hunter with a bat as his eyes widened in terror. “I-I'm sorry, I didn’t...” His words faltered as he looked around at the people sitting in the coffee shop, all of which were paying no mind to them.

He felt sick, guilt gnawing at him from a pit in his stomach.

“Hey, it's okay Dean. You know I'm perfectly fine with public displays of affection, and no one else even saw us. There's no need to apologize.”

“Yeah-h.” He said shakily. Before he could figure out who he was apologizing to, a voice from behind the counter called.

“I have an order for a mister ‘John’ and ‘John Bonham’.”

“That's us.” Dean spat the words out quickly, turning around to take them from the barista’s hand. He rushed out of the door, the small tinkling sound of the welcome bell and the blood rushing to his ears drowning out the sound of Cas’s call from behind.

He sat in the front seat of Baby, knowing he was being childish. Dean took a shaky breath and tried not to think about it.

About what the hell he was thinking, kissing Cas out in public like that. The judgemental eyes- black or not- that were watching. He thought about what his father would say, mind instantly going back to a moment in his childhood he has tried to forget since it happened, wondering where he went wrong.

About the time John had caught him and Lee, ignoring the weak excuses Dean was stuttering out. Skipping town faster than they had done in years.

About how the left side of his face had been a yellow-ish purple for weeks following, and the sore spot on his arm from where he caught the pavement as he flew towards it.

About how he had told Sam he just fell on a hunt. “Don't worry kid, you should have seen the vamp when I was done with him.” He swung his fist around in slow motion, pretending to punch an invisible enemy as his little brother giggled in childish bliss.

About how John never looked at him the same. The disgust in his eyes, harsh words on his lips.

About how he vowed to never disappoint his father like that again, and their joint hatred for that part of him. Sometimes it felt like the only thing they could agree on.

About how somewhere, somehow, he had decided Cas was different. That he somehow didn’t count, and that losing him hurt so much, was such an egregious pain, he wanted as much of Cas as he was allowed to have. And how that was something insurmountable stronger than the twisted, sick feeling John had placed in his gut.

He remembered something Cas had told him once: “Hatred isn’t a natural trait, Dean, it’s a learned one. A baby isn’t born with the ability to hate, it’s passed on from one broken soul to another. Love, love however. That’s something different altogether.”

Cas’s hand on his shoulder pulled Dean out of his thoughts. “Hey.” He said softly.

“Hey Cas.”

“I love you.” He got in the passenger's seat, taking his coffee from Dean’s still frozen hand.

“I love you too.” He whispered absentmindedly, staring straight ahead and seeing nothing but thoughts from the past. His mind fighting an internal battle, logic telling him that what he had with Cas wasn’t wrong, and even though everything from fate to God had tried to wedge itself between them, it was still the most right thing he had. And he knew that, but his dad’s drunken, booming voice echoed throughout his head, telling him that he was dirty. Telling him the Winchester men had no place for someone like him.

“You better stop that now, boy. Bad things happen to you when you’re weak.”

At the time he had taken that as a warning, rather than a threat. But now Dean wasn’t so sure.

It’s not even that his Dad was particularly religious. He wasn’t told that it was a sin, or that he was going to Hell. Though it’s not like that particular statement would have been wrong. He thought with a bitter laugh.

While the thoughts in his head were screaming mercilessly, the drive home was in a simple silence. The only noise being Cas’s occasional sip, and the sound of soft fabric rubbing against skin as Cas moved his hand in small, comforting motions against Dean's back.

When they got to the bunker, Cas, who was genuinely impressed that Dean managed to drive them home without crashing into a tree, pulled Dean out of the car and gently shook him out of his self-imposed stupor.

“Your coffee's cold.” Cas said with a laugh.

Dean blinked a couple times, clearing the fog from his mind, before laughing along with him. “And who’s fault is that? You were the one who insisted on traveling across the state to get it.”

“Do you want some of mine?” Cas asked. “There's a little bit left, and I held it next to the heater. It should still be lukewarm.”

“No thanks, Cas. I can go make some in the kitchen.”

“But what if I want you to try it?” Dean glared at him. “Don't make me do Sam’s ‘puppy dog eyes’ again.”

“Okay, okay. You win.” He put his hands up, mimicking a surrender. “I'll try some of your stupid, Christmas cookie, candy-cane flavoured coffee thing or whatever.” They started walking towards the entrance to the bunker.

“Peppermint mocha?”

“That's the one.”

Cas laughed at him.

“Oh just, give it here.” Dean said. He took a long sip from the disposable cup. He could taste a vague hint of whipped cream mixed in with the coffee, its light fluffy texture sticking to the last swallow of smooth liquid in the bottom of the cup. The chocolate and espresso rested on his tongue, and the peppermint was strong and refreshing. He took another sip.

“Does that face mean you like it?”

Dean looked at him guiltily. “No.” He opened the bunker’s door and started walking down the metal stairs.

“Yes you do.”

“No, I don't.”

“You took a second sip.”

Dean reached the bottom of the stairs first, and walked over to the War Room table to set both coffee cups and his keys down.

“So? I was trying to make sure I properly understood the flavour. Since when is that a crime?”

“You wanted to properly understand a flavour you didn't like?” Cas walked up to Dean and pulled the nearest chair out to sit down.

“What are you two arguing about this time?” Eileen asked from the library.

Cas clenched both of his hands into fists, putting the right one on top of the other. He made small, circular, stirring motions with his right hand. “Coffee.” He signed swiftly, movements fluid.

“Ah. That makes sense.” She spoke the words.

“What makes sense?” Sam asked, walking in from one of the hallways, making sure Eileen could see his lips before speaking.

“They're arguing over coffee again.”

Sam glanced at both of them, before his eyes reached the two cups on the War Room table.

“Wait a second… Dean?” He looked at his brother, before turning to face his best friend. “Cas?”

“Yes, Sam?” Cas answered.

“Did you two go to Starbucks?”

“I don't want to talk about it.” Dean grumbled.

“Yes, we did!” Cas sounded way too excited to be referring to coffee. “I got a peppermint mocha, and Dean tried some and liked it.”

“I did not.”

“I don't care what coffee you like, Dean. What I do care about is that you went all the way to Starbucks, and didn't bother to ask if we wanted to come.”

“Not cool Dean.” Eileen walked in, shaking her head and hiding a smile.

“I might have thought about buying you two drinks, but there was no way I was ordering yours with a straight face.” He looked at Sam. “And it's an hour away, they wouldn't have been hot or cold or whatever they're supposed to be by the time we got here.”

“Well then we'll just have to go back, all four of us.” Eileen put simply.

“It's an hour away.”

“We know.” Sam added.

“Let me say that again, in case you weren’t listening. It's an hour away. For coffee. That isn't even that good.”

“I beg to differ, Dean.” Cas said.

“Yeah I'm definitely with Cas on this one.” Eileen agreed while Sam nodded along.

“No. There's no way I'm getting back in Baby to drive all the way to Starbucks again.”

“Fine. We’ll go get our own.”

“With what car?” Dean said, very sure of himself.

Sam snatched Baby’s keys off the war room table, which in hindsight was probably something Dean should have expected.

“Let's hope Sam doesn't have too many shots of espresso.” Eileen said, faking concern. “I would hate for your baby to pay the price.”

“Fine. I'll drive you.” Dean grumbled while Eileen double fist-pumped her win.

Cas looked very pleased with the thought of getting to try more coffee.

---

They left shortly after, the drive over painful for everyone except Dean, who listened to the same four songs on repeat the entire hour.

(It’s their own fault, really.)

---

“Can we please listen to something other than Bob Seger on the trip home?” Sam complained as he slammed shut the door to Baby’s backseat.

“You’re just mad you didn’t get shotgun.” Dean said, closing his own door. “Besides, driver picks the music, everyone else shuts their cakehole.” Sam mouthed the words along with Dean, having heard the speech a million times before.

Eileen and Cas got out, neither one of them had any desire to input on their squabble, and were instead engaged in their own, quieter discussion.

Both brothers continued to argue until they walked into the Starbucks.

“Ah. There's the scent of overpriced coffee I missed.” Eileen joked as she took her first breath inside the building, using her hand to waft the smell towards her.

“What are you getting?” Cas asked Sam.

“I want my usual, and Eileen, what are you having?”

“Hot chocolate with espresso shots please. This place doesn't sell liquor.” She shook her head sadly and Sam laughed. “Good thing I brought my own.” She winked at them, opening her jacket just enough so they could see the inside pocket and showing off her flask.

“Oh, now that would be a Starbucks I would go to.” Dean said.

“You two wait in line.” Sam pointed to Cas and Dean. “We’ll save a table.”

Dean looked like he wanted to protest, but they walked away before he had the chance. Cas leaned over towards him. “Don't worry. I'll order Sam’s.” He very conspicuously winked.

Dean smiled at his attempts of regular human interaction, before over-the-top winking himself.

“Can you order for us? I need to talk to Sam about something.”

“Sure thing…” Cas had to think before finishing his sentence. “...buckaroo.”

Dean outwardly cringed. “Keep trying, you'll get there eventually.” He patted Cas on the back, which was slightly moving in a chuckle.

It was good to see Cas filled with so much simple joy. Face creased from laughter rather than stress, he seemed so much lighter. Happier. It was only a small sliver of what he deserved, but it was something. Maybe he could live with driving an hour to get what he assumed was half-decent coffee.

“What would you like?” Cas asked him, eyes still filled with a sparkle that only comes from gaining something you thought you lost.

“Uh.” He thought about it for a moment, almost considering branching out into the unexplored terrain that was the dark green menu with small, white text, before shuddering at the thought.

“I think I'll take that expensive black coffee I didn't get earlier.”

Dean was not going to turn into one of those people, if he had any say about it.

Cas walked into the line, leaving Dean to scan the room, furiously waving Sam over when his eyes found their booth.

“Sam.” He sounded like he was trying to whisper, but his volume raised far higher than that. The patron closest to Dean gave him a look before turning back to their work.

“Sam, come here, it's urgent.” His brother turned to look at him, rolling his eyes before getting out of the booth.

“What do you want?” He said once he reached Dean.

“Sam. Help. What do I do?”

“About what?”

“About what kind of coffee Cas is having.”

“Oh god, Dean let it go. He's not going to only ever drink black coffee. Contrary to popular belief, former angels do actually have souls.”

Dean ignored the implications that he didn't have a soul, too distracted by Cas. “But look.” He motioned his head towards where Cas was standing, next in line to order. “He’s eyeing the weird fruity drinks.”

“Dean. It's Cas. The man’s favorite food is PB&J. What did you expect him to have, taste?”

“Alright that's rich coming from mister Pinkity Drinkity or whatever the fuck.”

“You walked into a Starbucks and ordered black coffee, I don't think I'm the wrong one here.”

“Wait, wait. Shut up. Quiet.” He hit Sam on the shoulder in a childish attempt at getting him to stop talking so he could listen.

“Ow. That hurt.” Sam muttered, before turning to watch Cas, which Dean was already doing.

“I would like to try a…” Cas methodically scanned the menu again. “A ‘Passion Tango Iced Tea,’ please.” The barista took no mind to the excessive air quotes.

“It's not even coffee.” Dean said to Sam, clearly distraught. He turned to look back at Cas.

“And your name sir?”

“Lizzo.”

Dean threw his arms up into the air. “I can't believe this is the man I love.” His voice cracked like he was holding in tears of anguish from listening to Cas order.

Sam just rolled his eyes at the theatrics. Right, and he’s the dramatic one.

“Aw. You're in love.” Sam held his hands up, forming a heart and mocking his brother.

“Oh shut up. What are you, seven?”

“Is Cas your gay thing?”

“You shut your mo-”

“What are we gossiping about?” Eileen whispered, cutting Dean off and causing them both to jump.

“We're not gossiping.” Sam said indignantly.

“Sam started it.”

“Jerk.”

“Bitch.”

“This is where I call you two ‘asshats’, right?”

“It's ‘assbutt.’” Cas said, walking up to them and catching the tail end of their conversation. “And that's my line.”

Cas handed them each their drinks, before excitedly trying his own. He put the plastic cup up to his mouth, almost missing the straw. When he swallowed the cranberry-colored liquid, his face relaxed in pleasure.

“I know this one isn't coffee, but it's really good.”

“We didn't get coffee either.” Eileen said. “So don't worry, Dean's the odd man out here.”

Dean glared at her before trying his own coffee, and well, it was coffee. The point of buying expensive caffeine still went straight over his head.

The four of them went over to their thankfully-still-available booth and sat down. Dean and Cas sat on one side, both instinctively choosing the side that faced the door, with Sam and Eileen sliding into the seats directly across from them. They sat there, talking about nothing in particular, and certainly nothing of importance, before falling into the natural art of storytelling.

Aside from killing monsters, that’s what hunters did best. Sitting around and sharing stories. As tiring and dangerous as their lives were, some hunts were worth sharing exaggerated and hyperbolic versions of, especially over drinks.

Sam’s favourite story to tell changed every time, and one would almost be inclined to believe that most of it wasn't real, but the wildest parts also caused the most merriment. (Dean pretended he hadn’t witnessed the whole thing, sparing Sam by not telling the other two how it actually went down.)

Eileen shared of her time in Ireland. “Foreign country, foreign monsters.” She said with a wink, telling of creatures neither Sam nor Dean had even read about.

Dean’s favourite story to tell, aside from the fact that he killed Hitler, was the time he got to solve a mystery with everyone’s favorite talking dog. And yeah, all three of the people that sat at the table had heard both many times before, but that didn't matter, it was still enrapturing to hear them again.

Cas had millenniums to choose from, but always found the most interesting hunts to be the ones with the Winchesters. He also had many hilarious stories about his adventures with Crowley, but he was less fond of those.

“I remember once, Dean went on a hunt with Dad.” Sam started. “Nasty vampire, it got a hit or two on Dean. I think you guys went with another hunter. Young. About your age, actually. Uh…”

He snapped his fingers, trying to recall the name. “Lee. That's it.” Dean looked up from the coffee right as Sam said it. “Do you remember him?”

Something flashed in Dean’s eyes, but his brother didn't seem to notice.

Cas, who was used to admiring every minute detail of Dean's expression and posture, didn't miss the ever so slight, yet sharp, inhale. Or the way he swallowed before speaking, trying to clear the small lump from his throat.

Dean noticed too, internally rolling his eyes at his own reaction.

“Yeah it's been a while, but I remember him.” Dean was blatantly ignoring Cas’s burning stare from beside him, and the fact that he had stabbed Lee through the chest just last year.

Cas made sure no one was watching before gently placing a hand on Dean’s thigh. Knowing it would comfort him from both intuition and experience. Dean stiffened under the touch, but after realizing no one could see where Cas’s hand was, he visibly relaxed.

“What happened to him?” Eileen asked innocently.

“Oh uh, a hunt I think. Most of us go that way, I assume he was no different.” Technically Dean dealt the final blow, but it was the entrancing call of the monster, greed, and the life Lee and Dean had both secretly wanted, that caused his former-friend’s downfall in the end.

“Yeah.” Sam said solemnly, suddenly lost in his own thoughts, most of which were riddled with grief.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, letting the weight of their many losses wash over them like a tidal wave.

One made of espresso and milk rather than the rough waters of the sea.

---

The ride back was more manageable, Dean allowing them one song choice each, complete with a warning to pick wisely.

(They all very cheekily chose the songs they knew would bother Dean the most.)

---

Full on coffee, cookies Dean bought for them at Starbucks, and brimming with contentment, (as well as the fact that they spent half the day in the car), Cas suggested to Dean that they “hit the hay” as they stepped back into the bunker.

They laid there in silence, breathing in scents of comfort, coffee, and each other, until Cas eventually drifted off to sleep.

Dean, however, continued to lay there. Thinking.

He remembered the first solo case John sent him on.

Something curled inside his gut.

They had been two nuns, their fate a product of hate crime. Put to death for simply being themselves.

Dean didn't blame them for coming back as ghosts.

He remembered the words - ones he would soon learn were slurs - that John would spit out like acid.

Or offhandedly toss like they didn't bear enough weight to shatter the window of a person's self-image.

It had taken him almost forty years to realize that very same window inside of him was in sharp, jagged pieces. Cutting anyone and everyone who came near.

It had taken Cas dying to start picking them up again.

He turned to look at the man next to him, relaxed and blissfully sleeping. His chest moved up and down rhythmically, and Dean slowed his breath to match until he fell into a surprisingly peaceful slumber.

---

When Dean woke up, the other side of his bed was cold.

He didn't panic, knowing full well that Cas probably ran to the bathroom, or was pouring another mountain of sugar in his coffee.

Losing Cas again to the Empty had ripped him apart, but months of spending every night with his partner left him with less nightmares and waking in cold sweats then he had since before Hell.

Dean also learned that his own presence was enough to fight off the demons of solid, black goo that plagued Cas’s head at night.

He was finally starting to understand why life seemed to lose all meaning when Cas was gone, and from there he could slowly start to rebuild both of them.

Dean heard soft padding noises as socked feet walked down the hall, and there was a knock on the bedroom door. "S'your room too, Cas. You don't have to knock." He laughed, words slightly slurred from just waking up

Cas walked in, wielding two mugs of coffee and a proud look shining in his eyes. “I made us coffee.” He said triumphantly, handing one of the mugs to Dean.

“I put chocolate and peppermint in your coffee.”

Dean fake-gasped. “You monster. Ruining the integrity of my drink like that.”

“I'm a human, you ass.” Cas responded, a smile tugging at his lips. “Besides, I know you liked mine yesterday.”

“I did not.” He said, discontentedly crossing his arms. “I only drink coffee that's as black as my soul. Darker than the night sky. Hotter than the bunker’s computer when it overheats. As manly as-”

“Oh, just drink your damn coffee.”

“Fine.” He groused. “But I'm not enjoying it.”

Cas raised an eyebrow at him, before setting his mug on the bedside table and sitting down behind Dean. The bed creaked underneath him as he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Dean’s waist. “Is this why you and Sam never use umbrellas?” He joked.

Dean laughed.

Cas rested his head on the crook of Dean’s neck and whispered. “You know you don't have to pretend.”

“Pretend what?” Dean asked softly.

“You know.”

“That I don’t like flavoured coffee?” He said with a snort.

“Sort of.” Cas hugged him tighter. “No one’s going to think any less of you Dean. You’re allowed to like the things you like.”

“I know.” He resigned.

“John isn't here anymore.”

“I know.”

“I love you.”

“I know.” The words barely came out as a whisper, hot tears betraying Dean’s eyes as they silently leaked out and ran down his cheeks.

He tried to wipe the tears away, hearing his Dad’s voice in his head and knowing he was being stupid.

Dean couldn't help but think of himself as a small, living-room window, from an old, dilapidated house. Stained yellow with age. Cracking from wear.

He let the drumming of his Dad’s words in his head be drowned out by Cas’s voice.

He couldn't unwrap the fuzz from around him, so he didn't know what Cas was saying, ears seemingly filled with cotton. It was just the knowledge alone that he was there. That he was holding him and whispering comforting words into his ear. That even as a human he could heal Dean at his lowest points, and still see him as the brightest, strongest, soul.

You don't really know what a picture is going to be until it's done.

Maybe that window is a beautiful stained-glass portrait.

“Uh.” Dean cleared his throat. “What-what do you have?” He indicated Cas’s coffee by angling his head towards where it sat on the nightstand.

“I made iced coffee.”

Dean just looked at him, astounded, eyes widening. “You mean it’s not hot?”

“Yes, that's where the ‘iced’ in ‘iced coffee’ comes from.” He said very seriously.

They both sat in silence for the next hour, peacefully drinking their coffee and enjoying the presence of one another.

---

When they got out of bed and ventured into the rest of the bunker, they found Sam and Eileen in the library.

They were sitting in adjacent chairs, with Eileen laying her head on Sam’s shoulder and reaching for her water bottle on the table. They were reading a book together, but Eileen shook Sam indicating she had seen them walk in.

“Goodmorning.” She greeted cheerfully.

“Mornin’.” Dean pulled up a chair across from them, and watched as Cas did the same.

“What are you two reading?” Cas asked.

“The Men of Letters’s Bestiary.” Sam said.

Dean snorted. “Ah. Doing a little light reading are we?”

“We're thinking about filling in some of the pages.” Eileen added.

“Yeah, for all of the stuff they have here, it's surprisingly empty.” Sam continued flipping through some of the pages, most of which were blank.

“Heh. I should put you in that thing, Cas.”

Cas let out a laugh. “Right. Because I’m a good example of an angel.” The sarcasm was masking something else in his voice.

“If it makes you feel any better, you’ve always been my favourite angel.” Dean only realised how sappy he sounded after it came out of his mouth.

“Yeah, I’ve heard the rest of them are dicks.” Eileen added.

Cas smiled at that, seemingly back to normal.

“Right, well you three can do that, I'm off to the Dean Cave.”

“Or…” Sam started.

“We could go back to Starbucks.” Cas finished, nodding his head enthusiastically.

“Yeah... that's not where I was going with that, but I like where your head’s at, Cas. We should definitely go back.”

“Eileen?” He asked.

“Hell yeah.”

“Dean?”

Dean pressed his mouth into a thin line and glared at him. “Yes, sure, fine. But we're not making this a daily thing.”

“That's fair.” Cas agreed. “It's probably not very healthy.”

He went to grab his wallet and keys before Sam could start his speech on the nutritional value of green things, and Eileen snatched her water bottle off the library table as they all got up to leave.

---

Dean gave up on letting them choose the music after snickering and requesting “Friday” by Rebecca Black for the third time in a row.

(It wasn't even Friday?)

---

Dean stepped out and closed Baby’s door in the parking lot of Starbucks an hour later, kicking the loose pieces of gravel on the asphalt for the third time in two days.

“We might as well just live here.” He said, tone dripping with sarcasm.

“I wouldn't make that offer if I were you, Cas looks like he’d be totally on board.” Sam laughed.

Cas went and stood beside Dean as they started walking towards the building, smiling.

“What?” Dean asked, question genuine and free of all malice.

“Nothing.” Cas answered, smile not faltering.

His eyes revealed nothing but pure devotion for the man he was staring at. A silent promise, one without pressure, that he would be standing there, and Dean could take the leap anytime he wanted.

Dean was slowly inching towards the end of the diving board.

---

“I think I'll just drink my water.”

“Oh that's exciting.” Sam joked. “If I got you a lemon to go with it, would you be able to handle that?”

“Don't talk to me about my drink, when yours is a vivid green puke colour.”

“Hey, at least it actually has a colour. And a flavour at that.”

Dean couldn’t believe those words were coming from the same man who drinks exactly a hundred and one ounces of water a day. (Which, according to Sam, is the recommended amount for males, as stated by the Institute of Medicine.)

(Dean didn’t care.)

“Fine then.” She turned to look at Dean. “Get me the strongest thing on the menu.”

Dean laughed before turning to Cas. “Let's just go get in line before we suffer at the hands of the Leahy like Sam.”

Sam and Eileen went to look for a place where they could all sit again, playfully bickering the entire way.

While he was standing in line with Cas, Dean looked over at his brother, and found him and Eileen sitting at a small table in the corner.

Cas was still helping him learn ASL, so he caught parts of their conversation.

“If Jack is in every drop of rain, do you think he's in your water?” Sam signed, trying to contain his laughter.

Eileen pushed her water away with a look of disgust. “You’re lucky I love you.” She answered back.

“I know I am.”

He watched her silently laugh before turning back to look at Cas.

They really did have it good, didn't they?

“What are you ordering, Dean?”

Dean stood there silently, contemplating. He internally weighed his pros and cons, mind leaving the menu entirely. While there was still a lot of shit he had to work through, (shit he had been actively not working out his entire life), there wasn’t much of a decision to be made.

He would always choose Cas.

“You know what?” He reached out and grasped Cas’s hand firmly. “I was thinking about being less boring. What ingredients do you suggest I try?”

Cas smiled warmly, reaching the crinkled corners of his eyes. “They have a cinnamon flavoured one. That’ll be almost like apple pie.”

“Will it really?” Dean’s tone was dismissive, but there was a smile on his face.

“Yes, Sam told me.“

“Not that I trust Sam’s judgment, but okay, I think I’ll take one of those.”

“I'm going to have a real pumpkin spice latte this time.” Cas seemed very pleased with the aspect of buying something they could make it home, but Dean wasn't going to fault him for it.

The patron in front of them finished ordering, clearing the way for Cas and Dean. The barista from the first time they went caught sight of them and made a face. “Wait a minute. I think I know you two.”

“Yes, we came here yesterday.” Cas helped. “Well, we actually visited twice, but you weren't working the second time.”

“Right... John and John, how could I forget?”

“This time we're ordering for four though.”

“I would like a…” Dean squinted at the menu, looking for the cinnamon flavoured coffee. “‘Cinnamon Dolce Latte.’ And my devilishly handsome friend here will take the pumpkin spice version.”

“And what are the other two drinks and names?”

Dean whispered something in Cas’s ear. “I'll drink the coffee, but I won't budge on this one.”

“That's okay Dean, you’ll get there eventually.” He whispered back.

The barista looked unimpressed with them. Again.

Dean cleared his throat. “Ahem, sorry. The tall one with the stupidly long hair,” he pointed towards Sam, “is getting…” he trailed off before looking to Cas for help.

“I don't know, man. It was something sickly looking. Cold? Green? Possibly tea?”

“And Iced Green Tea Latte?” The barista suggested.

“That's the one. His name is Jimmy.”

“And the lovely lady sitting next to him would like the strongest drink you have. Her name is Robert.”

“Her name is Robert…?” He slowly pointed towards Eileen, sounding unsure of himself.

Or them.

“Yup.” Cas said.

Eileen gave a little wave from across the room.

He gritted his teeth in a very clearly fake smile. “Coming right up.”

They paid for their coffee and picked it up, taking the travel cups across the room and towards Sam and Eileen.

Cas took a sip from his pumpkin spice latte, gleefully smiling. “As much as I like trying different drinks, I think I might start just getting this one. It's my favourite.”

Sam leaned over to Dean, neither one taking their eyes off of Cas. “Should we tell him the drink is seasonal?” He glanced at Sam, before staring back at his partner, whose face was beaming like a literal ray of sunshine.

Dean’s face softened. “Nah. Let’s not ruin his moment.” He took a sip of his cinnamon coffee and damn, it was delicious.

Nothing at all like apple pie, but still delicious.

Cas walked over to him, making eye contact in a silent question. Dean nodded with a small smile, and Cas took his hand.

“I love you.” Cas whispered.

“I love you too.” He whispered back.

They didn’t whisper to hide, and it wasn't because he was ashamed. It was because that exchange was just for them.

Dean leaned in and softly kissed Cas.

Now that was to tell everyone in the shop that his devilishly handsome friend was spoken for.

Slowly, the sun would come out and shine through the stained-glass window, shadow portraying the picture of an angel.

And alright, fine, Dean could admit that he enjoyed the peppermint mocha.

He thought about it for a moment, before giving a light chuckle, realising something.

“What?” Cas asked, turning to look at him with a soft smile resting on his face.

“Nothing.” Dean whispered, squeezing Cas’s hand in his. He took a sip from his coffee, relishing in the warm and cozy flavour enrapturing his tongue.

He was only thinking that maybe, just maybe,

Cas had changed him too.

---

Bonus Epilogue:

Dean held the glass door open for the other three, and they all walked out onto the asphalt, laughing, and making their way towards Baby.

The street lamp overhead flickered, and all four of them froze.

“Did anyone happen to get the salted caramel macchiato?” Dean whispered.

---

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