#tom surely hates christmas

[marvoloring]

Christmas card

[modelbus]

can i request a reader (with sbi and also separate) who’s rich rich like she was born with a gold spoon and whenever she gives them gifts or treats them food they feel bad BAHAHAHA but it's just readers love language

can this be a drabble or whatever you can do :DD

I got your other message saying you wanted headcannons, so here you go! No wilbur for obvious reasons.

Included: Cc!Tommy, Cc!Phil, Cc!Techno, + all of them (platonic)

Rich Reader Headcannons

Tommy

Unapologetic about using your money.

He cares at first, and even when you say you’re paying he’ll order cheap things from restaurants, but after you give him the go ahead he will be a menace

Expect to lose all your money to Legos, his one true addiction.

“I could stream building this one, but this one would look so good in my room…” Tommy mumbles, squinting at two Lego boxes. You’re starting to regret letting him talk you into stopping by the store for what he said would be a quick visit.

It’s been two hours.

“Just get them both, Tom.” You finally sigh.

He lights up, no better than a kid on Christmas Day. “Fuck yeah!”

He’s money conscious, and will still note the price of things, but after he gets used to it he’s fine with you paying.

Doesnt blink twice at gifts.

You get this man anything and he will GOBBLE it up. Give him an Apple Watch? Great, his forever, he’s already wearing it. Give him a toothpick? He’s using it, perfect.

Won’t ask you to pay, and is very willing if you don’t want to, but let’s be real you always do pay.

He’ll say “thank you” at least. Five days later, maybe, when he finally remembers, but he says it!!

Talks you into buying things that you don’t need.

”I mean, you have the money. Y’know. Just saying.”

Phil

This man hates it, change my mind.

It’s a competition to see who can pay first with this man, and he does it out of pure spite.

Actually, he does it because he wants you to feel normal and not like you have to pay because you’re rich.

“I have the money, Phil!” You insist, holding your card.

“And I don’t care. I already gave them my card, I’m paying.”

When you make a stupid financial decision and buy a $1,000 lightsaber (blame Tommy), he just kinda sighs at you.

If you approach him for financial advice, he will genuinely tell you helpful things as if you weren’t incredibly rich.

He accepts your gifts, but always makes sure to somehow give you one in return.

maybe not of equal value… he isn’t as rich as you… but of equal love <3

Techno

Have you SEEN this man’s setup? He is in NO POSITION to decline gifts.

Will secretly be desperately in need of literally anything and just. Wont get it. So you end up buying it for him…

You order him food online to have it delivered to him and man just won’t say thank you. He’s rather awkwardly send you a photo of the food on his desk, entirely eaten.

Or he’ll just drop a photo of his new setup in discord for you.

He will “anonymously” acknowledge you when he streams/records a video on his new gear though.

“And if you’ve noticed this video came much faster than normal, it’s because of a new PC which runs at light speed.” He zooms into the face of his Minecraft character. “It’s not a toaster guys! Praise the rich gods!”

He literally can’t afford to buy you gifts in return.

Well he COULD but that man sees the shipping and is horrified.

His gifts in return are those photos of whatever you give him.

Techno genuinely is VERY appreciative though!! Like you are practically saving this man’s life by buying him shit.

He won’t ask for anything, you’ve just got to use your gut instinct to figure out what to give him.

All

Having all three to spend money on is a DREAM for you.

Phil forces Tommy to say “thank you” every single time. Repeatedly.

Techno sends his photos in the group discord, and Tommy will jokingly rage that he didn’t get a new PC or something that Techno did.

Paying when you all go to eat is a competition of speed between you and Phil. He started getting sneaky and approaching the waiter/waitress before they even brought the bill.

So you had to compromise and agree to give your cards to the waiter and let them pick a card at random.

(you win most times because you’ve got a fancy ass card)

For your birthday they tend to kidnap you from your bed and take you to do a surprise so you can’t find a way to pay or something 😭

They’re all in awe of your house, meaning you love having them over!!

Best vlogs occur at your house, let’s be honest

[lenoraslament]

Masterlist

Hello! Welcome to the Masterlist!

My name doesn’t matter. Insatiable Slytherin gal. Pisces ENFJ. Morally ambiguous characters are ✨

I am now taking requests. I write for Slytherin boys mainly but I can also write for Bridgerton and Gilmore Girls.

One shots are at the bottom

First are posts related to my three part Tom Riddle Fanfiction. All three parts are on my Wattpad

* indicates smut

^ indicates romance

+ indicates dark themes/angst

Lenora was cold, smart and cunning. Until. Until that night. Two mudbloods stole something from her, a piece of her she couldn't get back. She finds solace and healing in the unlikely ally of her longtime acquaintance Tom Riddle.

Wattpad Link

Chapter 9 Excerpt: Insolence +

Chapter 12 excerpt: Moment in the Library ^

Chapter 16 excerpt: Apparating ^

Chapter 20: Pleasure *^

Chapter 23 Excerpt: Malfoy Ball ^

Chapter 28 Excerpt: Good Girl ^ (*in the Wattpad chapter)

Chapters 33&34: Revenge and Satisfaction *^+

Chapter 35: Aftermath ^*

Chapter 36: Make Me Forget *

Chapter 38: Punish Me *+

Book 2 Lenora’s Love:

Lenora was Tom Riddles everything. Until he had to Obliviate her memory. Now they are brought together for the summer, as he continues to build his dark legacy the death eaters. Their love is inevitable; even with Cygnus Black trying to intervene. Will the truth out?

This book whole chapters cross posted to Tumblr but if you want to read on Wattpad

Part 1 Summary / Say Yes to Heaven ^

Lenora arrives at the Malfoy Lakehouse and leaves Tom breathless

The Rose Garden ^

Tom watches Lenora from afar much to the chagrin of Abraxas

Why Not Tom Riddle

Lenora wonders about the change in Tom Riddle not realizing she was obliviated

Hard to Resist^

Cygnus grows closer to Lenora

Firestarter +

Lenora accidentally reminds everyone just how powerful she is

Worth It +

Tom and Cygnus duel, Abraxas confronts Lenora

Flawless ^

Tom continues to confuse Lenora, Delia appears for the first time since the Malfoy Christmas Ball

Strumpets *^

Lenora catches Tom doing something unsavory, she pushes to be a deatheater

Overprotective

Lenora tries her best to be respectful and discovers something useful

Lust Potion *^

Delia gets revenge on Lenora, Tom tries his best to resist Lenora

Despair +

After being humiliated by Delia, Lenora wants to prove herself as a deatheater no matter the cost

I Love You ^+

Tom nearly loses Lenora for good.

Pain is a Price +

The long term repercussions of Lenora’s potion are discovered

High and Mighty

Tom proves his leadership while being absolutely faded.

Flowers for a Lady ^

Lenora is made a deatheater but isn’t sure what to make of this new side of Tom.

Dowries and Dark Marks +^

Tom tries to figure out how to get Cygnus Black out of his hair as they both chase after Lenora

Pillow Fight +^

Cygnus Black wishes Lenora goodbye, making her lash out at Tom Riddle

Tawdry ^

Lenora forgives Tom and then is forced to play the temptress

Make Me ^

Tension finally comes to a head between Tom and Lenora at the lake

Cozy^

They simply can’t stay away from eachother.

Crash Into Me^

Tom and Lenora continue to push and pull, Abraxas catches them

Tom Riddle the Romantic ^

Tom Riddle goes way out of comfort zone

A Proper Date ^

Tom and Lenora finally have a real date

Anchored*

Lenora wants more from Tom than his horcrux

How it Always Should Have Been*^

Tom and Lenora make love

Time Doesn’t Bow^

A snapshot into 6 months of bliss as Tom and Lenora stay together

Lying *

Cygnus Black returns, Lenora catches Tom in a lie

Disillusionment +

Lenora learns the truth of everything that happened before Tom obliviated her

I Lost You+

Tom’s proposal goes awry, Lenora gets revenge

I Hate You+

Lenora broke Tom’s heart but he gets the last word.

One shots

Tom Riddle

Hot Mess Part 1

Hot Mess Part 2 *

Infatuated

Careful What You Wish For *

Mattheo Riddle

Careful What You Wish For *

Theo Nott

Some Plumber ^*

Lorenzo Berkshire

Finally Requited pt 1

Slytherin Boys React

Perfume Preferences

How they would Overstimulate You*

Edging Orgasm Denial *

You took Lust Potion *

Romantic Moments ^

Free Use *

Dance with Me ^

[humanpurposes]

AKA, some silly things I have written

Find me on AO3

All fics feature explicit content and are tagged with appropriate warnings

Minors dni

Not open to requests

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💚(Completed)

🌿(In progress)

WIPS

Karma is a God - Aemond x OFC 🌿 The Dance of the Dragons begins on a lie, and Aemond owes a debt, one Lucerra will see repaid in Fire and Blood

August - Aemond x Reader // Modern AU 🌿 Your family is invited to spend August at Dragonstone, where you have an unfortunate first encounter with Aemond Targaryen

It Will Come Back - Aemond x OFC // Modern AU🌿 Jaya Velaryon finds herself face to face with a demon of her past, namely Aemond Targaryen. Love and hate are not emotions easily unlearned

We're Born At Night - Aemond x OFC 🌿 Lady Rhaelle Targaryen of Runestone travels to King's Landing to plead for her sister's life

My Heart Belongs to Daddy - Modern AU 💚 She loves this little game of theirs, taking what they can from each other with the brief moments they have

Come So Close That I Might See - Aemond x OFC 💚 Desperate to secure her position, Aegon's wife turns to Aemond for help

Nightblooms 💚 It was a single night, such a trivial moment, two children sharing lemon cakes in a brothel, but she has not forgotten it. He will not recognise her, surely? Can I Be Yours? - Nightblooms II 💚

You Want This, You Need This 💚 The only daughter of Rhaneyra Targaryen is firmly devoted to her mother's cause, and yet she finds her way through the passages of the Holdfast, to the bedchamber of a Prince she should hate

De Facto 💚 She can't afford to fantasize over Aemond Targaryen, he's her boss and the Prime Minister... but stopping is easier said than done De Jure 💚 (part 2 to De Facto)

Sweet Dream - The Sandman AU 💚 Her father means to summon and capture Death, but ends up with the wrong sibling. She becomes fascinated with their prisoner

Sour Switchblade 💚 No sooner has she landed in the courtyard of Storm’s End, she knows her mission is doomed

Hysteria 💚 A housewife reaches breaking point and seeks medical advice at her husband's request

I Have Always Been A Storm - Aemond x Floris Baratheon 🌿

Just for a Moment - Tom Bennett x OFC 💚 Tom Bennett has a habit of climbing through her bedroom window whenever he's in trouble

Mine All Mine 💚 Michael doesn't need friends, but now he thinks he's found his perfect match, and he has no intention of letting her slip away

Christmas Request 💚

Christmas Request 💚

[laurfilijames]

All I Want...

Pairing: Will Miller x reader

Words: 1.3k

Warnings: Angst. Swearing. PTSD. Panic attack. Mentions of an unhappy childhood, military service, personnel being KIA. Tom's death. Grief. People being unhappy at Christmas. (There's some fluff too, bear with me!)

Summary: Will tries to fight off a panic attack early on Christmas morning, his unenthusiastic feelings toward the holiday making him feel guilty on top of everything else on his mind, only to be reminded that it's okay to not feel festive and that he's not alone.

A/N: I'll be the first one to admit that Christmas isn't all it's cracked up to be sometimes. People often call me Scrooge, but I've learned over the years to prioritize my mental health around the holidays and take it all in stride. To those who struggle in any kind of way this time of year, I see you, and this is for you.

This fic follows some of my headcanons about the Miller brothers in that they didn't have a great upbringing, and that Will often suffers from poor sleep and panic attacks.

---

Scrooge. The Grinch.

These were some of the names bestowed upon Will over the years, his less than enthusiastic feelings toward Christmas noticed and pointed out as often as possible during the holiday season by those closest to him, mainly Benny.

It was innocent enough, his brother, Fish and Pope all aware and understanding to the reasons why Will wasn’t overly excited, but sometimes it got under his skin and the temptation to tell Ben to fuck off sat on the tip of his tongue on more than one occasion when he got going on a roll of teasing him.

He always tried his best to keep his opinions to himself, not caring to bring it up in order to avoid the shock and disbelief that someone could hate Christmas, having to stand and painfully listen to whoever was scolding his humbug ways try to convert him and preach all the reasons why it was so magical.

He had been this way for as long as he could remember, the earliest memories of an unhappy Christmas morning tucked away in the back of his mind until they inevitably were pushed back to the surface each time the radio stations turned their usual music to all the annoying holiday songs and people started asking the mundane “Are you ready for Christmas?” questions to everyone who never wanted to give an honest answer. He could always see the stress most people carried with them this time of year, the worry of spending money they didn’t have and not meeting expectations evident on their faces as they frantically rushed around to get all the things ticked off their lists to make the day ‘perfect’.

Perfect was never a word Will would use to describe any of his past Christmases, the thought making him scoff and shake his head as he looked up at the night sky, counting the stars as a way to try to clear the persistent thoughts that had gotten him out of bed at 3:26 AM.

Vivid images that he had tried to blur and forget always reappeared no matter how hard he tried; his parents yelling from the kitchen loud enough he had to peel Benny and his one toy from under the tree to go outside to get away from the anger, not to mention the countless Christmas mornings he woke up to gunfire or spent the day trudging through the rain and freezing cold, or had sweat clinging to his back in the heat of the desert, more often than not spending December 25th on tour and deployed somewhere that mimicked hell.

Will couldn’t help but feel guilt more than usual on days like today, thinking of all the families whose sons or daughters, husbands or wives and everything between never made it home to celebrate another Christmas with them, that shame becoming part of the reason he tended to make sure he was always off serving somewhere, not feeling like he deserved to be in the warm comforts of home with those he loved.

Add that to the long list of things his ex resented him for, one more thing he could never do right, and something else she refused to make an effort to understand despite him trying to explain it.

Today it seemed to all weigh more than it normally did.

Tom’s death was still fresh in all their minds, this being the first Christmas Molly and the girls would have to spend without him, and the thought of their irreparable grief made Will want to crumble.

He exhaled a long breath, blowing it out shakily from his lungs, his chest feeling tight as his heart pounded inside it like a caged animal.

He inhaled as slowly as he could manage, one, two, three, counting in his head to gain control over the quickly rising panic.

Exhaling out, one, two, three, his heart still hammering, his pulse furiously thrumming in his neck.

His hand shook as he lifted it up to rub the back of his neck roughly, feeling sweat accumulating on it and dampening his palm that was equally wet.

The steadiness of the number of seconds between each laboured breath was doing little to keep him calm, the thoughts of his conversation with you a couple of days prior echoing in his mind to drown them out along with the ringing in his ears.

You swore up and down a hundred times that you were fine with not celebrating, assuring him that you were relieved to not make a fuss over Christmas and reminding him that your own views of it were also plagued by unhappy memories; that being alone with him was more a gift than anything wrapped in paper and bows under a tree. He knew you meant it when you said you wanted to hide away with him until the madness of it all was over, but now his mind was playing tricks on him, making him doubt your words and sending him into a tailspin over projecting his attitude toward it on you.

But he knew you wouldn’t lie to him.

He kept on that train of thought as his fingers wrapped around the railing on the deck, gripping into the wood as hard as he could, feeling the splintered pieces from years of weather digging into his skin. Drawing in another short breath and gasping slightly, he did his best to remember why he came outside in the first place, seeking fresh air that ironically had become suffocating.

One, two, three, he repeated to himself again, closing his eyes to better focus on slowing his breathing down.

A minute and thirty-seven seconds had passed with him concentrating, able to let the consistency of the numbers aid him as he continued to count, the feel of your warm hands slipping up his cold, clammy back allowing him to finally release the tension he had been holding in his shoulders.

“I’m okay,” he muttered, his voice lacking the conviction he hoped it had.

“I never thought you weren’t,” you whispered, your hands still pressing reassuringly on his torso as you moved beside him, your lips meeting his shoulder to kiss it twice.

Will smiled, grateful for your belief in him, never making him feel weak or like he needed saving, simply there with a love and empathy he had sought his whole life.

He released his grip on the rail and glanced over at you, shooting you a weak smile gathering you in his arms for a hug, kissing the top of your head appreciatively while you continued to rub your hands in a calming, languid pattern across his skin.

“I love you,” he murmured, feeling his heart beat in a stronger rhythm different from how it had moments ago.

“I love you too, Will,” your lips moved against his chest, your arms squeezing him a little tighter as you pressed yourself closer to his body.

“You’re sure you’re happy to spend Christmas this way?”

“More than happy,” you reiterated, pulling your face away to look at him, his blue eyes like flames against the deep navy of the night sky.

“Okay,” he sighed, leaning in to kiss you.

“You know there’s that song, ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’,” you smiled, watching his expression change, his grin stretching out to form the creases in his cheeks as he shook his head.

“Please don’t sing it.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

Will chuckled and kissed you again, slowly, his tongue slipping into your mouth with a gentle demand.

“Let’s get back to bed,” he said quietly, nodding toward the house after he broke the seal of your lips.

As he led you into the house, your fingers laced with his, he thought how maybe he could find ways to celebrate Christmas with you that wouldn’t make it all seem so terrible, the idea of creating your own traditions somewhat exciting to him.

He smiled at you over his shoulder, stopping in the middle of the hallway where he clasped your face in his hands and kissed you deeply, his body pressing into yours with a need to show you just how much you meant to him, knowing that as long as he was with you he could face anything.

---

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[leslie057]

rating things owned by nancy elizabeth wheeler

because she’s got a lot of little things. mostly they are very cute and strange little things.

starting off strong we have the prettiest tissue box in the world. 9/10, i think if i were sick it would make me feel better to have such a nice tissue box.

i’m fairly certain this is her diary beside it because her diary looks pink in the upside down version of her bedroom. so this is probably it? 11/10, i want to read it so bad. and very sweet pic with mom—7.5/10.

next up these pinstripe pants !! 10/10 i love them so much. oh and the index finger ring is there obviously, 8/10, such a consistent piece of her character.

a ribbon for being the bestest girl ever in the world. 10/10. also the card of cardinals: 6/10, probably just a christmas card or something rather than a symbol of her love for birds. but i still like it.

mr rabbit gets 11/10 for the name alone. and why does he look dead. i love him. he’s me.

descent from xanadu: QUITE LITERALLY 0/10. at first i was SO excited to cheer her on for reading a sex and drugs book at school but as it turns out? bizarre and gross. seems to go heavy on nonconsensual stuff. i snagged a free pdf and command f’d for whore and bitch. lots of results obviously (one use of c*ck crazy bitch…lovely). it seems men in this book say a lot of sexist stuff that the women pretend to hate but love which i can’t imagine is great for a teenage girl to consume. also just not sexy at all.

literally so bad, and this is not the worst of it.

sooo bad. the author was what 70 (??) writing that his female character got clinically DIAGNOSED with being a slut for every guy she comes in contact with. i know options for sexy literature were probably limited at this time but…please go check out something else. i wanna bonk her on the head with this book (paperback) and hug her. you don’t need to read this to be cool and sexually aware. moving on.

on the other side of that, the blondie calendar gives us a sense of the GOOD media she’s consuming!! a 10/10 no questions asked. we don't really get to see many of her hobbies or interests outside of investigation so this is a much appreciated detail.

of course like all good things in life the blondie calendar does get replaced. its replacement is what i will call Weird Antinaturalist Art Piece #1 seen in her room in s4. i give it a 4/10 because idk what’s going on really.

and here is a very crunchy screencap of Weird Antinaturalist Art Piece #2 from s4 which i will give a 5/10. note the boyfriend typical photography above it, for sure a 10/10.

there is also Weird Antinaturalist Art Piece #3 which gets an 8/10 because i like the composition and the piano player. where did she get this and why. interior decoration is her passion.

the sleeping bag and crochet pillow setup. 7/10. would take a cat nap here.

pluto!! 15/10, the best mickey mouse character i would say. i hope her cousin is taking good care of him.

bulletin board 10/10. i love how obvious it is that she has had this up for forever. probably a nice constant in her life.

and my favorite pic up there is this precious one. look at herrr. 5000/10.

her floral weekender bag. 6/10, i like it, but not as much as i like the speedwalk and the toss into the backseat. she was SO ready for her lab takedown road trip.

trapper keeper is a 9/10 because they probably put anything and everything on trapper keepers back in the day and yet still she chose this lovely understated hot air balloon. elegant.

tom cruise poster is 1000000/10 actually. she is so loyal to that man. actually though not a great pic of him all things considered so maybe i give it a 999999/10. (i love it so much because i know for a fact that jonathan byers works proactively to never acknowledge this poster, because he is more mature than that.) (he is not more mature than that, in fact he is a little pouty about mr cruise.)

KITTY FIGURINE. 10/10. i thought it was just in s4 but i found it on her other nightstand in s1. very very adorable. i imagine it is now one of the first things she sees in the morning (well that and her blue telephone: 8/10) which is bizarre and cute. the mixtape drawer gets a 10/10 for reasons that i don’t think i need to get into.

white fingerless gloves! 10/10. so chic for monster hunting.

black fingerless gloves from s4. hmmm 3/10, they're cool i guess but they don’t feel very nancy and the white ones are so much better. especially because you may get the splatter effect of monster blood on them in a battle scenario, which would be badass.

piggybank (with her name on the side). 2/10 unfortunately i don’t like him. he looks at me like i took out his whole pig village and i just need some quarters. also did she paint this herself? in that case, 3/10 for customization lol.

pastel underwear drawer: 10/10. her committment to the hollistic aesthetic and color palette of her room is impressive here. it was a good idea to use this drawer as a deterrence against her little brother and a money hiding place but clearly he has no manners and is a THIEF.

STRIPED SOCKS. 10/10. i realize it's hard to see because she's moving so fast (slow down he is not going anywhere) but they are indeed stripey even though i would have guessed solid white. and wow what good sleeping socks. stripes are just cozier. hope she got lots of sleep in those.

[thebiggerbear]

"I hate you." "You have a weird way of showing that." - Alec McDowell Prompt Response

Summary: You're looking for a way to set yourself up and blend in after breaking out of Manticore. Having heard the rumors, you seek out Max for help. In doing so, you come across someone you had never thought you'd see again.

Pairing: Alec McDowell x Female!Reader; Alec McDowell x Female!Transgenic Reader

A/N: Prompt from @creativepromptsforwriting (#941). I have been in love with the world of Dark Angel and Alec ever since the show aired. To me, it's completely fascinating, and I really wish it had continued. (I was a big Malec fan back then btw; Lomax just wasn't my thing) There's so much to explore, especially with Max herself and how the transgenic community was going to move forward now that the public was aware of them. And of course, Joshua, OC, and Alec. Great stuff. Originally, I wasn't sure what scenario would best suit Alec based on this prompt line but I knew it would definitely be something that would apply to him. As far as It's A Wonderful Life, I was listening to the Christmas radio show they aired back in the 40's as I was outlining this one and the idea sort of came to life on its own. Hope this one's alright.

This is meant to take place mid-s2 and I did use events from the Berrisford Agenda episode (2x11) as inspiration for the beginning. 😉

Thanks to my beta @rieleatiel for her services. You rock, girl!

Warnings: implied violence; implied murder; mention of fatal injury; implied sex

Word Count: 8419

Taglist: @avada-kedavra-bitch-187

Alec Taglist: @heartlessdelusions; @nancymcl

Jensen Taglist: @samanddeaninatrenchcoat; @deansbbyx

This was recc'ed by @winchestergirl2 here.

"I hate you." "You have a weird way of showing that."

Soldier Boy version ✨ Beau version ✨ Dean version ✨ Jenny version ✨ Jason version ✨ Tom version ✨ CJ version ✨ Rachel version ✨ Anael version ✨ SDV Leah version

You made your way into the bike messenger shop, glancing around despite the busy, distracting din. Rumor had it that a transgenic named Max had a sweet hookup here, something a fellow transgenic like yourself could use, being on the run and all. You could get a job, make money, and more importantly: blend in; not to mention it would teach you the layout of the city, the ins and outs, and provide you with legal documentation to let you past checkpoints in case Manticore ever came looking. 

So far, you hadn’t spotted the dark brunette you had been told about, and you didn’t sense any of your kind here. While a few people either walked past you, giving you a once-over as they did or stood there staring, all of them appeared to be human. Everyone else was milling to and fro, and you wondered if perhaps you’d been given wrong information. It had happened before so you were used to it, but this one you had really been hoping would turn out to be true. You could use a lucky break.

A man was barking out orders to a group of messengers before they dispersed, and his eye landed on you once they did. “You need something, Missy-Miss?”

You assumed the crankpot was the boss so you carefully approached him. “Uh, yeah, I was looking for—”

You were interrupted by yells coming from your far left. Your head snapped in the direction of the sounds and your eyes widened at what you saw.

There was the transgenic X5-494 backed up against the lockers, holding his hands out in a ‘whoa’ manner and giving the women in front of him his most charming grin; by the looks of their faces, it wasn’t working. “Ladies, ladies. No need to fight.”

“You didn’t tell me you were already seeing Lena when you asked me out!” One woman seethed.

“He asked you out?” Another woman, who you assumed was Lena, demanded. “I bet it happened right after we slept together, didn’t it?”

“He slept with you?” A third woman blanched.

“Tell me you haven't been making the rounds through the entire company,” another woman scoffed in disgust.

You shook your head, watching the show. Typical 494. Even out here he was still getting himself into trouble. By the sounds of it, he more than deserved the wrath of the women he was currently faced with, but you were still taken aback by his sudden appearance. Just when you thought you’d never see him again…

Before you knew it, the older man you had been talking to made his way over. “Alright, break it up! Break it up!” He forced his way next to 494 and glared at the ladies. “Shouldn’t you be working? You want your paychecks? Packages need to be delivered on time. Get going.”

The women grumbled and began to disperse, glaring in both men’s direction. “You just wait until later, Alec! This isn’t over!” 494 gave them all a sheepish smile while the other man scowled. 

“Okay, okay! You’ve got deliveries to make. Packages don’t deliver themselves so let’s go, keep it moving!” 

By the time they had all left, 494’s smile dropped and he seemed to deflate, gratefully clapping the man’s shoulder. “Thanks. I think they were about to eat me alive,” he laughed.

“Not on my watch,” the other man promised. “How’re you feeling, champ? You okay?”

“Yeah, no, I’m good. Just, you know…” He gestured to where the women had disappeared and bugged his eyes before letting out a nervous chuckle.

“You should’ve let them take a swing at him,” a brunette woman suddenly threw at them as she approached her locker, which was near the two men. “It’s not like he didn’t deserve it.”

494 let out a huff. “Thanks, Max,” he mumbled.

That name caught your attention—so this was Max. It had surprised you to see 494 here of all places, but it made sense considering what X5-452 had set up here.

“Don’t be like that, Missy-Miss,” the older man warned the woman. “There’s no reason to have that kind of attitude.”

Max shook her head and discreetly rolled her eyes, zipping up her backpack. “So what have you got for me today, Normal?”

Normal held out two packages for her to take. “They need these by noon, not one second later.”

Max snatched the packages and nodded. 494 stepped closer to her. “I’ll come with you,” he insisted, still seeing some of the dirty looks he was receiving from girls coming to and fro. 

She made a face at him which clearly said that wasn’t going to happen, and before she could voice that, Normal cleared his throat. “Not a bad idea. You could show him the ropes on that side of town and keep him from the estrogen mob looking to burn him at the stake. He’s got that raw animal charisma working and it’s causing trouble.” This time you made your own face of disgust. And this guy’s name was Normal? Far from it.

“Whatever,” Max snapped and shoved a package into 494’s chest, hard. She turned and was about to leave when you stepped forward.

“Max?” You called.

Her eyes snapped towards you as did 494’s and Normal’s. “Yeah?” She asked, seeming unsure. 

You knew she was sensing who you really were just like you could sense her and 494 across the way, even if you hadn’t just been watching them. You ignored 494’s eyes widening at the sight of you and the sudden tension in his body, making your way closer. “I was wondering if we could have a word.”

Max’s brows furrowed and Normal glanced between you, holding up a finger. “No visitors at work, Miss. You know the rule: packages need to be there by noon. Make it quick.” He turned and walked away, completely uninterested in whatever conversation you two were about to have.

Max stepped over to you, studying you intently. “You know my name, but I don’t know yours. What do you want?”

494 was standing right next to her, his eyes never leaving you. The surprise was still evident in his expression along with something else you couldn’t quite put a name to.

You glanced around, making sure no one was paying attention to you, before turning and lifting your ponytail from your neck, letting her see the barcode tattoo you had. After a moment, you spun on your heel to find her appearing a little more receptive to what you had to say. “So, you got somewhere we can talk?”

She nodded and glanced over at 494 before inclining her head in a direction she expected you to follow her in. You obliged, your eyes briefly flickering to 494’s, before he followed both of you.

Once you were outside in a semi-private spot, Max turned to you, her arms crossed. “So, who are you really?”

“X5-498,” you answered. 

Max glanced over at 494 before addressing you once again. “How long have you been on the run?”

“Since you destroyed the base and helped 494 escape.” You nodded in his direction. Yeah, maybe you were still a little bitter about that. 494 looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“I didn’t help him do anything,” Max insisted, her nose scrunching up in what appeared to be repulsion at the very idea. 

494 ignored her and trained his gaze on you. “I thought you were dead.”

You smirked over at him and crossed your arms. “Sorry to disappoint.” You noticed his jaw tighten and his eyes narrow at the jab.

“You two know each other?” Max was looking between you but neither of you looked away from the other. 

“She was my breeding partner,” 494 informed her. 

Max’s eyes widened and turned on you. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah,” you agreed. “He wouldn’t have been my first choice, either.”

He snorted and the amused smirk you were more than familiar with began to appear on his face, yet he didn’t say a word. 

“Oh-kay. That’s not super weird or anything.” She turned to 494. “You had more than one breeding partner? Were you Manticore’s stud horse or something?” She looked grossed out at the thought.

494’s eyes briefly flickered over to her. “498 and I were paired off long before you got there.”

“But then, if you were already paired off, why were you paired off with me, too?” Your gaze snapped to Max who looked genuinely confused for a moment before realization hit her. “Oh, right. It was all part of your big plan to get me to trust you so I could accidentally kill Logan. Got it.”

494 shrugged unapologetically. “Pretty much.” He turned back to you. “Renfro gave me the mission and told me if I didn’t succeed, then that’d be it for me. I was already on thin ice with them. So, she assigned me to you, Max, and I did what I had to do.”

“And he left me to die,” you supplied, gracing her with your smirk. 

His jaw dropped before he closed his mouth and pressed his lips into a thin line. “I didn’t leave you there to die,” he protested. 

“Leaving me there to burn to death constitutes as leaving me to die,” you countered. He glared at you but you ignored it. You noticed Max’s eyes constantly moving between the two of you and you decided you’d get to the point of why you were here. “452, I’m here because word on the street is that you have a way of helping fellow transgenics like yourself.” You motioned towards 494. “I was hoping you might be able to help me as well.”

She looked taken aback. “I don’t have anything set up like that. As a matter of fact, Alec here only got the job because of Normal’s weird worship of him.” 494 gave her a smug smile which made her roll her eyes. “But as far as other transgenics go, I don’t really have anything in place to help like you’re thinking. Sorry.”

You nodded, figuring as much. You thought it had been unlikely but you had hoped anyway. All you could do now was remain on the run until you could find a place where you could seamlessly blend in. “Thank you for your time.”

“Just hold up a sec,” 494 entreated you, but you ignored him.

You turned to leave when Max’s voice stopped you. “Wait.” You glanced back and found her watching you, compassion twinkling in her eyes. “Maybe there’s something we can do.” She quickly glanced at 494 who was giving her a look. Max rolled her eyes at him but lifted her chin when addressing you. “I wouldn’t put you with this one because it sounds like you’ve been punished enough already.”

494 shot her a glare to which she only smirked. You couldn’t help but smile yourself; perhaps you would like this 452 after all. 

“But I think I have an idea of where you can stay. It’s temporary and you’d have a roommate, but we can see about getting you a job and getting you set up properly. Logan can help, too, with papers. If you’re serious and you plan to stay, that is.”

494 watched you intently. You thought it over for a moment. This proposal was better than anything you had going for you right now. Hell, you would have even stuck yourself with 494 again if it meant you’d have a place to sleep and something to eat, safe from Manticore for a while. You gave Max a nod. “Thank you.” To your surprise, 494 seemed to relax a bit at your response.

She smiled and turned, indicating you should follow. “You’ll be with Joshua for the time being. He’s pretty easy to get along with,” she assured you, her tone softening a bit. You could tell she was fond of the guy she was mentioning.

“Joshua?” You questioned, looking from her to 494.

494 stayed in step with you as you all made your way out onto the street. He shot you a smile as Max retrieved her bike. “You like dogs?”

Joshua did indeed turn out to be a decent roommate. He was kind and thoughtful and actually a little funny. Truthfully, you hadn’t been prepared to find a dogman as your new temporary roommate, but once you found out about his history, you found yourself feeling compassion for his situation. You were glad he had managed to escape the destruction of the base that night. 

Max kept her word and set you up with a job as a bike messenger at Jam Pony (apparently a couple of the girls 494 had been involved with decided to up and quit for some strange reason), which gave you access to all of the legal documentation you’d need to get past certain checkpoints in the city. She’d introduced you to her friends Original Cyndi and Sketchy, who would also turn out to be your coworkers. Normal viewed you as another hooligan he was forced to pay for standing around and not doing your job just like the rest, though despite his warped assertions, you actually did get your work done. You ended up going on runs with 494 and Max to get to know the ins and outs of the job. Outside of work, you kept your distance unless your help was needed. Max and OC had invited you to Crash a couple of times, but you bowed out, especially when Sketch seemed a little too invested in your joining them. You also met Logan and Asha, neither of whom you cared for very much; still, they were important to your fellow transgenics and Logan was helping you, so you kept your thoughts to yourself. All in all, you were settling into life in Seattle and beginning to blend in. And you avoided 494 like the Plague despite his couple of attempts to approach you and strike up a conversation, so everything was going pretty swell. 

You had even found a new place you liked to escape to every now and then. You knew the Space Needle was also Max’s favorite spot—she had told you as much—but after a long day, you liked to get to the highest point and look out over the city you now were beginning to call home. 

It was one such peaceful night when 494 found you.

“Thought I’d find you here.” He carefully lowered himself down next to you.

You didn’t respond and instead focused on the feel of the cool breeze gently blowing through your hair.

“I’m glad you made it out,” he admitted.

You shot him a look before returning your attention to the city. 

“I am.” He rested his forearms on his knees and looked out towards the city skyline. “I know what we had wasn’t of our making, but it wasn’t all horrible, was it?”

You let his question hang in the air. No, it hadn’t been all horrible, but it was still a messed up situation you both had been thrust into. Based on what you’d learned about his sessions with Max, copulation hadn’t needed to happen due to the background plan. You and 494 weren’t so lucky after a while, just like every other pair of breeding partners in the facility. By the time Max was recaptured and brought to the base, Renfro and company were already starting to side-eye the two of you and wanted to know how you hadn’t gotten pregnant yet. Almost every other pairing had been successful or reassigned if they weren’t; you were arousing too much suspicion by your constant failure to report an impregnation despite your successful copulations. The truth was that you and 494 did what you could to prevent it from happening. You had no desire to add to the ranks of Manticore transgenics and neither did he, something you both had been on the same page about since the first night you’d been thrown into a cell together.

You hadn’t fooled yourselves. This wasn’t about love or any attraction you had for one another, nor was it even a fun roll in the sheets; you both would not have chosen each other if you’d had a say in any of it. This was all about science and genetics, and it was purely clinical. That didn’t mean that there weren’t a few moments here and there that you snatched for yourselves: a laugh here, a tender moment there, a camaraderie forged between you in flipping off the organization that had created you and controlled you since your first breaths. So no, it wasn’t all horrible.

Which is why you didn’t protest or move away when you felt him subtly shift a little closer to you. You nearly smiled at the action; 494 had always sought a connection between you, something that superseded the physical. You couldn’t count the amount of times after your sessions that you had both held onto each other: you still remembered how he would wrap his arms around you and pull you close, letting out a content sigh as you ran your fingers through his sweaty hair, scratching at his scalp in the way you knew he liked. And he would make sure every inch of him was still touching you on the uncomfortable cot suspended from the wall, before the guards were due to come back and retrieve him. How he would chatter away about different subjects, doing his best to engage you.

“I went back for you,” he murmured.

Surprise ran through you as you turned wide eyes on him. 

“Once they revealed the base’s location and I was able to get free, I went back for you.” He stared at you, swallowing compulsively. “But by the time I got there, it was too late. I thought you were gone.”

You could see the truth of what he was saying in his green eyes, but you refused to give in that easily. You huffed out a snort and turned back to the view. “More like you were hoping.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see him shaking his head. “I never wanted you gone.”

You ignored him and continued your ritual of observing the city, allowing silence to fall between you. Only when he slowly took your hand into his did you turn a glare on him and finally speak:  “I hate you, you realize that, right?”

“You have a weird way of showing that.” He nodded his head towards your intertwined fingers. 

You rolled your eyes but you didn’t pull away. “Don’t you have a harem to get back to? Or what’s her name…Asha? Now that you’re free to choose who you want to copulate with. You didn’t seem to have any issue finding willing partners before I showed up.”

This time, he was the one who snorted. “Just passing time.”

You finally did pull away, grimacing. “Ew.”

He let out a nervous-sounding laugh. “I just meant it’s all been casual. Nothing serious.”

You side-eyed him. “Good luck with that.” You got to your feet and were about to leave when he grabbed your hand to stop you, forcing you to look down at him.

“Y/N,” he murmured, using the name Max had picked out for you. It wasn’t your favorite, but you needed something to go on the paperwork for Jam Pony and the papers Logan was acquiring for you, so you figured it would do. Perhaps you’d even grow into it and it could be a decent identity for you.

“494?”

He shot you a glare. “Alec.”

Right. Max had named him, too. That was something he’d mentioned on one of the runs you, he, and Max had gone on. You had smirked at Max’s explanation of that choice while 494 had rolled his eyes.

“Okay then. Alec?” It felt weird to call him that yet at the same time…it felt like a good fit.

His thumb tenderly stroked against your skin and he watched you. “Just wanted to see how it sounded. Using our names instead.”

You nodded. You could understand that. All of this was new and…fragile in a way. Any moment you could be found, you could either be killed or worse — brought back to another base. However, from what you’d heard, the former was more likely to happen these days. Max had encouraged you to start thinking about what you wanted out of life, and so far, freedom was certainly at the top of your list. You might be free right now, but you weren’t really free, not with your captors still out there who viewed you as their property, to apprehend or destroy at will. You had a feeling that Alec knew that just as well as you did, no matter the optimistic picture Max tried to paint for Joshua or any other transgenics she might come across.

He tugged on your hand to urge you to sit back down next to him. You resisted for a moment but then decided to oblige. What did a few minutes more matter in the scheme of things? He snuck an arm around your shoulders and pulled you closer. Had it been anyone else, that arm would have been ripped from its socket by now. 

Alec gave you a small smile and leaned down to press a kiss to your hair, flooding you with memories of every time he’d done just that. Other memories made appearances, too: his sharing with you about his side hustle of trading things with guards for certain comforts, something he actually used on your behalf a few times; his laugh and kiss to your head when both of you had gotten a little too much into one copulating session, almost making the two of you forget to take your usual precautions; his promise of getting you both out of there together if you could hold out just a little longer; his expression when he told you that he thought Renfro had a mission for him that would keep him out of your barracks for the next few nights but that he’d do his best to see it through quickly and return; the last time you’d seen him when he’d exchanged a look with you across the yard before you and your unit were led away for more drills and testing, you thinking back to the worry you’d seen in his expression and since you didn’t know the cause, it created your own set of worries — 494 never let it show if he was ever worried or scared. 

You weren’t sure how to feel about any of this. Yes, you and Alec had history but it had been forced upon you. Although you had forged some sort of connection during it all, it didn't mean that either of you were looking to continue that or see where it went on the outside—especially now that you were able to choose for yourselves. Still, that connection hadn’t simply ceased to exist just because you wished it would… Especially not when he was trying his damndest to restore some piece of it, right here and right now.

He lowered his head to meet your eyes and you could feel something familiar inside your chest squeezing a little bit. You told yourself that it had to be heartburn from the chicken stew you’d eaten for dinner earlier, and not anything to do with him at all. “I’ve missed this,” he quietly admitted. “Just talking and being together. Didn’t you?”

You gave him a look of disbelief mixed with amusement. “I don’t really think we did all that much talking as I remember it.”

That cocky smirk of his was back. “True.” 

You rolled your eyes and he laughed. You enjoyed the familiar sound that caused more memories to wash over you. You would never admit it but the bond you’d shared had actually been the only good thing to sustain you when you were running after the explosion. You’d hoped that wherever he was, he had gotten away and was safe. You knew he hadn’t been in his barracks; you’d checked amidst the chaos. 

Thinking back to that night, you rested your head back against his shoulder and stared out into the night. His lips tipped up in a small smile and he laid his head up against yours, following your gaze. You both stayed like that for the next hour until he murmured to you, “Come back with me?”

You turned to frown up at him. Was he for real? “Really?”

“No, not that, I just meant…” He ran his free hand over his hair. “I didn’t think I’d see you again and now you’re here. I didn’t really know how to ask you before without it sounding like that. But I want to show you my place.” He gave you a bit of a proud smile.

You considered it. It would be interesting to see what kind of setup he had going for himself. That had been something you had talked about back in your bunk at the base as he held you to him, his hands roaming your bare back. “You sure Alec’s groupies won’t mind?”

Alec smirked and shook his head. “I don’t have any roommates or regular visitors if that’s what you’re asking.”

You smirked right back and leaned in, making his eyes drop to your lips. “I wasn’t,” you whispered before dropping his hand and getting to your feet. 

He got up as well, grinning over at you, that familiar fire lighting those sharp green eyes. “Just think: no guards to bribe, no need to keep it down, no time limit, no metal cot we both have to try to fit on…”

You snorted. “So you really are asking me to go back with you for that reason.”

“No, I really do want to show you the sweet setup I have.” His smile then turned wicked. “But if that were to happen, I wouldn’t exactly be against it.”

“Uh-huh.” You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms, looking away from him. You did your best to hide your own smile when he wrapped his arms around you from behind, resting his lips near your ear.

“So what do you say? Let me show you my apartment. I got a couch, a bed, a tub…”  

“Ooh, a tub?” You pretended to be impressed though you weren’t pretending too much. If a tub was considered a luxury before the world went to hell, then it was an even rarer commodity now. 

“Yep,” he huskily whispered as he brushed a kiss to your ear lobe. “All the hot water and soap you could want.” He trailed his lips down your neck, making your eyes shut halfway. “And I’ve got glasses, plates, a coffee table… I even have a stereo.”

You dug your teeth into your bottom lip when he found that spot on your neck that he knew you loved. “A stereo?”

“For music,” he explained, pressing a kiss to your jawline. “And I even managed to score some whiskey from years back, pre-pulse. You’ll love it,” he promised before nuzzling your cheek. “Come home with me.”   

You stared out over the horizon, unsure if you should give in to what he was tempting you with. Before, at Manticore, the sex had been clinical and while there was a connection between you, given the circumstances, it made sense to stick together like glue. But now… “I don’t know if I should. We’re out now and everything’s changed.”

He spun you in his arms, his brows furrowed as he cupped your face with his hands. “Not for me. I meant what I said to you in there, we were gonna get out together, find some place to blend in, and make it work.”

“But we didn’t get out together,” you whispered, gently removing his hands from you before stepping around him towards the door. 

He grabbed your hand. “Y/N.” You glanced back at his earnest expression. “I did come back for you. When everything exploded and I didn’t hear or see any trace of you, I thought—”

“I know. I went to look for you, too, once I managed to get out of my barracks.” His eyes widened slightly in surprise. “That guard, Hayes, he let me out. He said something about a deal you had in place with him if things went wrong while you were away on your mission.” You dropped your gaze. “It must’ve really cost you, so… Thanks for that.” You squeezed his hand before letting it go and making your way inside the abandoned building.   

You didn’t look back; there was no point. When you thought back to that night, you remembered Hayes sneering at you as he opened your cell door, spitting something about telling 494 that he owed him something better than cigars and the usual contraband this time. You didn’t bother thanking the man who treated you and every other transgenic on the base as nothing more than freak science experiments that were less than human, and you booked it towards the male barracks, fighting your way through when you needed to. You would never forget the relief you felt finding the specific bunk you were looking for empty, that was then followed by the feeling of betrayal, which quickly shifted into acceptance. You hoped he was alive out there somewhere, whether he had made it out before you got there or he had already been out in the world on his mission. You had chalked up your time together as a weird yet not so bad interaction and kept running. You’d even seen Hayes’ dead body on your way out, his throat torn apart, almost as if that too was closing the book on this messed up chapter of your life.

And that’s what you’d done: closed that chapter of your life and attempted to move on, to do what you could to figure out your own life. You never expected to see 494 again, let alone find him living his life, a harem of women around him. It had stuck a finger into that particular wound for a moment before the blanket acceptance was back in place. Your relationship was exactly as you’d thought it had been for both of you: something that had been forced upon you by your creators and you both had tried to make something good out of it (just not the child Manticore had wanted). And now, it was over. You both were on the outside and it was time for you both to go your separate ways, figuratively if not literally. He’d done right by you in that last moment and you’d escaped, gotten free, and lived. What more could you ask for?

You were just about to scale down to the next level when his hand landed on your shoulder, making you look back at him.

“Y/N, come back with me to my place. I want to show you something.”

You gave him a look. “494—”

“Alec,” he corrected. “I’m not talking about sex, though if you wanted that at some point, like I said, I’m more than willing.” He lifted his hand to cup your cheek and he stared into your eyes, willing you to agree. “I really want to show you something.” 

His thumb tenderly ran along your bottom lip in a familiar gesture that had always preceded a kiss before he left you for the night. A part of you hoped he would repeat the action but when he didn’t, you were more relieved than anything. Your body yearned for his—the familiarity, the comfort—but you still didn’t think you should fall back into old habits—it could only end badly, whether he ended up getting bored or one of you (or both) were found by your enemies. You felt incredibly torn. Truthfully, you weren’t quite sure what you wanted when it came to him. 

“Please,” he added. “Come over.”

He looked so determined, so earnest, that you found yourself slowly nodding in agreement. 

His handsome face lit up with a bright smile. “I promise, you’re really gonna like it.” He urged you to follow him, scaling to the next level down with you right behind him. You hoped he was right, and you also hoped you would finally get some sort of answer for yourself on whether to explore this new great unknown with him with the former Emerald City as the backdrop in contrast to your cramped cell or to close the book on him for good.

You had to admit, Alec had a nice apartment. It was bigger than you’d imagined and he had told you the truth: he had glasses, plates, a coffee table, a couch, a bed, a tub, the so-called stereo (which he turned on for a minute to show you how it worked), and the whiskey he’d promised. As you drank from your glass, marveling at the taste, you glanced around, nodding.

“Nice,” you complimented.

“Thanks.” He took your hand and led you to a corner of the living room where a box sat tall on some sort of stand. He released you to go over and stand next to it, turning to beam over at you. “What do you think?”

Your eyes roved over the box with a glass front, confused. “It’s…great?”

He gave you a look as if you should know what it was before smiling wide again. “It’s a TV,” he crowed. 

Your brows furrowed in confusion. “TV?”

“Yeah, you know, to watch movies and TV shows, that kind of thing.” 

You peered at it, wondering just how it worked. You’d heard of movies of course, but you’d never seen one. Did the images just appear on the glass when you turned it on? Was there something that needed to be selected or perhaps inserted somewhere?

He proudly laid a hand on top of it. “I managed to get ahold of it after one of my customers I’ve been selling synthetics to heard about some old lady dying nearby who had one. I headed right over to her place and got this beauty.” He smiled down at it. 

“You’ve been selling synthetics?” Of course he was still hustling, even out here. In Manticore, it had been a necessity; out here, if it helped him get nice digs like this and set him up, you had to give him credit for keeping it going and getting creative.

“Among other things. Oh, and look.” He gestured down to another smaller box sitting in front of it. “I was also able to get a VCR. It took me a few months to get a lead on one of these, but I got it.” He chuckled and turned a wide smile on you. 

You returned the smile, still unsure of what a VCR was.

“And the best part,” He took your glass from you and placed it on top of the TV before he grabbed something from behind it and shoved it into your hands. You looked down at the rectangular object and spied a familiar image you had only seen once before, when you were on the run from Manticore the first time. Your eyes widened; something you had told Alec about one night after copulating a few times and he was falling asleep, him tiredly rubbing your shoulder as you laid your head on his chest, one of the nights he’d bought more time for you both… The sight made the corners of your eyes sting, yet you forced yourself to keep the tears at bay. He had heard you that night even while nodding off and he’d— he’d managed to get his hands on it. “It’s that movie you told me about,” he began. “It’s—”

“--A Wonderful Life,” you finished in an awed whisper. You reverently traced the picture you’d seen a hundred times before Manticore caught you. You ignored the rips and stains surrounding the rim of the image and focused on the man who’d caught your interest in the first place. He looked happy, staring down at his wife, the two of them surrounded by their children, one hoisted up behind him and holding onto him for dear life. They all looked happy, which was something you’d never had or known. You’d never had a father, never knew your mother, and you’d never had a family, not like the one portrayed in the picture. Sure, you had dozens of brothers and sisters, but you weren’t a family. Manticore would punish you if any of you had even uttered the word. You were soldiers in training and that was it.

Still, this image piqued your interest and many nights, you found that you couldn’t stop staring at it. It was in an old theater, a place you’d managed to find while running the first time—the same place you took shelter in and eventually turned it into your own setup. There were other people throughout the theater who’d had the same idea, but they pretty much left you alone once you’d fought off the biggest guy in the group who had stupidly tried to take your food from you. Once you’d seen that poster, it created a yearning in you for something you had never known, something you never imagined wanting. You didn’t need parents and you didn’t need siblings, but you did crave family… Something that became more and more apparent the more you studied the image, imagining what that life would be like. 

Which is why it was so cruel when Manticore recaptured you and immediately thrust you into its breeding program. Not only had they taken your life from you since conception, viewed you as their property that they were determined to see some sort of return of their investment on—now they wanted to take whatever life you could create from you and control it, too. You weren’t going to let that happen. As a matter of fact, you’d fought 494 off the first night they sent him into your cell. It had taken him by surprise because he’d thought you both were on the same page: you had orders. But he’d quickly learned that you’d rather die than follow those particular ones. He’d maintained his distance until a guard came to retrieve him, and as he’d glanced back at you one last time as he stepped across the threshold, you knew then that you were marked for death. A soldier refusing to obey and follow orders was no good to the organization and more importantly, of no use. Thus, it took you by surprise the next day when 494 confirmed the success of your copulation the previous night to your superiors which led to him being brought back to your cell later that night to continue.

From there, even though it took a little bit, you’d both talked and began getting to know one another. You’d learned that he didn’t want to spawn any kids for Manticore anymore than you did. Eventually, a bond began to form between you and of course, so did an attraction. The night you got hit with your first heat since being recaptured—thanks to a splash of feline DNA in your system, something you’d always been able to manage on the outside before—things had changed between you, and 494 no longer had to lie when reporting that copulation had been successful. Nonetheless, the entire time you’d been back in Manticore’s hands, you’d never forgotten about that picture and what you truly wanted: your freedom, a life, and eventually, family—happiness. You wanted to be happy just like the people in the poster.

And now here you were: on the outside, free for the moment, attempting to build a life, and this picture had somehow made its way back to you, right into your very hands, real enough to literally touch. “How did you get it?”

“One of Max’s fences gave me a line on where I could find one.”

You glanced up to find him watching you intently. You gave him a small grateful smile and you could see relief flood through his expression before he covered it with a smile of his own.

He cleared his throat. “I got it before you showed up, but…I never watched it. I couldn’t bring myself to. It felt wrong to watch it without you, especially after how you talked about it, so it’s been sitting in that case for months. I hope it still works.” He let out in a quiet chuckle.

You placed the box down on top of the TV and approached him. He watched as you cupped his face with your hands and pulled him down to you, your lips meeting for the first time since seeing him again. That all-too familiar feeling flooded you and this time, you didn’t fight the smile that made its way to your face. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” This time, he was the one initiating a kiss, and he snaked his arms around your waist, pulling you into him.

Only when you both needed air and he pulled away to trail kisses down to your neck did you tease into his ear, “So exactly how many girls have you shown this movie to?”

“None,” he breathed, nibbling on your earlobe. “I told you, I didn’t want to watch it without you.”

“You expect me to believe that you haven’t shown the TV or the VCR to any other girls?” You chuckled.

He pulled back to meet your eyes. “Okay, yeah, fair enough, I’ve shown them both of those, but not that movie, I swear. That was always yours.”

You knew you should be disgusted—not only that he had been such a callous player in your absence but also because he had used similar moves on you—but right then, you decided to throw all caution to the wind, even if just for one night. Seeing the movie picture again had reminded you that you needed to take happiness wherever you could find it, because thanks to your life, who knew how much longer you had? 

“So,” you whispered huskily as you ran your fingers through his hair. “What were you saying about a bed and no time limit…?”

His eyes lit up with that familiar fire and he smirked. “Oh, hell yes.” He kissed you harder than before and picked you up, making you laugh into his mouth, as he used his transgenic speed to get you to the bedroom. 

You watched the images on the screen in awe. You and Alec were sharing a blanket to keep your nude bodies warm as you sat in his embrace, the only light in the place coming from the TV. He had his chin resting on your bare shoulder, watching the movie intently with you. The man from the movie poster, George, was telling the woman, Mary, how he was going to travel the world and he was listing off his dreams right before she threw a rock at the abandoned house they were facing. When they started singing, Alec began to frown, but you? You were completely enraptured. You’d never seen or heard anything like this before. 

In the beginning, the tape had seemed like it didn’t want to work, black and white tears in the image as it played, but thankfully Alec knew what he was doing with the equipment and how to get it working. Ever since then, your eyes hadn’t strayed from the screen once, even when Alec had tried to get a second round going, promising you he could pause the film and you could finish watching it later. When he’d failed to garner your attention, he’d pressed a kiss to the back of your head and settled behind you, letting out a quiet sigh of contentment as he’d burrowed into your neck before rejoining you in watching the movie.

When George told Mary that he’d give her the moon, Alec rolled his eyes and dropped a kiss onto your skin. “That’s lame,” he muttered.

You turned to look at him. “Why? Because he wants to give her anything she wants?”

“No. Because he’s going to lasso the moon. Lasso the moon? Really?”

You laughed and he smiled, leaning in to kiss your cheek. “Alright, sure, it’s cheesy, but the message isn’t.”

“It’s not?” Alec moved to kiss your ear.

“No. He likes her that much, he’d do anything for her. Kind of nice actually,” you ended in a whisper as you turned back to the screen. You let out a soft chuckle when the old man interrupted the couple and told George that he talked too much and he should kiss Mary already.

Alec, who had glanced back at the screen to watch that part of the scene, turned an affectionate smile on you before leaning in to nuzzle your cheek. “Stay here tonight,” he urged.

Your eyelids dropped halfway when he moved his lips to your neck and you dug your teeth into your bottom lip. “I can’t. Joshua will be worried.”

“The big guy will be just fine, trust me,” he promised, his lips gliding back to your shoulder. “I want you to stay.”

You thought it over. You both had reacquainted yourselves earlier quite nicely so that wasn’t an issue. Just like Alec had said, it had been amazing to be in a bed for once, not under the pressure of a timeclock or having to worry about prying eyes and listening ears milling around. You didn’t have to separate soon after you were finished if the guards Alec usually bribed weren’t on shift that night. Here, you were free to just be and let things take their own course and that had been a phenomenal feeling. As for what came next… you weren’t too sure about that. You hadn’t done a lot of talking since Alec carried you into his bedroom and playfully dropped you on the bed, knowing it wouldn’t hurt you. You had let out an incredulous laugh and he mirrored your grin before he’d been all over you.

You watched as he pressed tender kisses to your bare skin before glancing up at you hopefully. You took his face into your hand and he leaned into your touch. Seeing that, you decided to state your one condition if he truly wanted you to stay. “No more girls.” You refused to look away as you threw down that gauntlet. While he never said he wanted anything more than tonight with you, you needed him to know that if this did somehow go past that, you wouldn’t be wondering just who he had in his bed or on his couch a few hours before you would arrive at his front door. Or who he might bring back to this apartment to show his TV and VCR to. 

He stared at you for a moment until the corner of his lips tipped up into a bit of a smug smile. “No more girls,” he agreed.

You tilted your head at him, studying his expression.

“What?” He laughed. 

“Just like that?”

Alec’s smile grew and he leaned in to place a kiss to the corner of your mouth. “Just like that.” You weren’t the least bit surprised when he suddenly turned you around in his arms to face him, one hand keeping the blanket over you, cocooning you both. He wiggled his eyebrows playfully at you before covering both of your heads with the blanket and leaning in for the kill.

“What about the movie?” You laughed as he began to kiss your neck.

“That’s the great thing about tapes. We can watch it again anytime we want,” he murmured, his hands starting to roam your body insistently.

“So we can watch the lasso the moon part again?” You teased.

He groaned into your neck, making you laugh. “Yeah, we can, if that’s what you want,” he grumbled, sounding like he was going to majorly suffer when you watched it again.

You pulled back, smiling, and cupped his face. “I want you,” you told him earnestly. And you did. You wanted more nights with him like this, you wanted what you two had managed to create back in your cell. Studying him now, you could see the man who had become almost everything to you back then, who’d kept you going during the rough moments, who ended up looking out for you even though he usually lived by the unwritten rule of only ever looking out for himself.  

His eyes stared into yours and a small smile began to form on his face. “Then stay,” he urged.

You pretended to think over it for a minute and when you grinned over at him, his smile was already mirroring yours. “Okay,” you answered playfully, as if he had only posed a simple question like asking you if you wanted a drink or not. You moved up to kiss him and bury your fingers in his disheveled hair. “No lassoing the moon required,” you murmured to his lips.

He rolled his eyes and quickly maneuvered you onto your back with him right on top of you. He smirked down at you, leaning in to kiss you. “I’ll give you something better than the damn moon,” he mumbled into your mouth, making you laugh. 

You didn’t want the moon or the stars (except the ones Alec made you see exploding behind your eyelids from time to time) or anything else that grand. What you wanted was simple: everything right here in front of you at this moment. A life that was your own, a job that helped keep money coming in, a roof over your head that offered protection from the cold, the wet, and intruders, while offering you a safe space to rest your head at night; food in your stomach, clothes that fit, and the feelings that coursed through you every time Alec kissed you.

Post-pulse Seattle might not be Bedford Falls and you might not be George Bailey or even Mary for that matter, but you were free, you were building a life, and you were happy. And someday, if you lived long enough, you might even get that family you’d been yearning for. From the look of things, between Joshua, Max, and now Alec, you were hopefully already starting to form something akin to the idea. And really, what more could you ask for?

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[hyperfixatedimagines]

Home for the Holidays Chapter 2

Summary: Your family didn't take your coming out well....and instead of spending the holiday alone you join your roommate for Christmas dinner. While Aemond wishes you set your sights on his sister Helaena, your tastes skew much older. 

A/N: This chapter is not quite as smutty as I may have promised so I apologize but hope you all still enjoy it. Please let me know what you think!

A/N 2: I also apologize for the massive massive delay but as always I appreciate those of you who've stuck around patiently waiting. Happy Holidays!

You walked into the study, and revealed yourself as the peeping tom. 

“Oh it’s you,” Alicent said, a bit of surprise in her voice. 

“I’m so sorry Alicent. I just couldn’t sleep so I came down for a drink of water then I saw the lights on and wondered who else was up but then I heard you crying and tried to leave you alone but then you heard me so I-,” you rambled, your face getting warmer with every word that left your lips. 

Alicent put a hand up to quiet you. 

It worked. 

“It’s alright (y/n)," she said, her voice a bit hoarse.

You noted her eyes looked tired but her smile was just as warm as it had been earlier. 

“I’ll uh- leave you to it then,” you said sheepishly.

You turned to leave but Alicent called out to you. 

“Won't you join me for a drink?” 

You turned back to her, eyebrows raised. “Are you sure?” 

Alicent nodded. 

“Only if you want to though,” she added. 

“I do,” you replied. 

So you walked over to where Alicent stood. 

You sat down in the armchair opposite her in front of the fireplace. 

“Pick your poison,” Alicent said and gestured to the bar cart next to her. 

You eyed the options she had in the cart. Nothing you really liked but you didn’t want to be rude. So you went with the drink you least hated out of the alcohol she had available. 

“I’ll do just two fingers of whiskey,“ you told her. 

Alicent raised her brows. “I didn’t peg you for a whiskey girl.“ 

You smirked. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” 

Alicent chuckled. “That is true.”

Then she turned to the bar cart and started to pour your drink. 

You cleared your throat. “Is it alright if I ask why you were crying?” 

Alicent finished pouring your whiskey. 

Then she handed it over to you. You took it. 

Alicent leaned back in her seat. “It’s not some big secret. My family can be...a lot, but the estate is so lonely when they aren’t all here. I get a little emotional when they leave.” 

"I get that," you said, then took a sip of the whiskey. 

It was horrendous but you did your best to hide your disgust. 

You figured you didn’t hide it well enough by the laugh that escaped Alicent’s lips. 

Your face went hot with embarrassment. 

Alicent quickly recovered and changed the topic. “So, why couldn’t you sleep?” 

You set the glass of whiskey aside. “It’s a bit pathetic really,” you replied without meeting her gaze. 

Alicent frowned. “I’m sure it’s not...but I won’t pry if you don’t wish to share.” 

You looked over at the fire, and got lost in the crackling flames before you answered. Alicent watched you, rapt.

“It’s my family. I checked my mother’s social media and she already has a bunch of vacation photos up.” 

Alicent nodded softly. “I can imagine that hurt to see.” 

You met her gaze. “It did, but what really hurt was that she didn’t even acknowledge a family member was missing. In one of the captions it said it was good to have the ‘whole family’ there.” 

You felt tears pricking at the corners of your eyes again so you turned away from Alicent and blinked them away. 

"That’s so awful. I don’t understand how a mother could do that to her daughter. I can’t even imagine doing that with Aegon...and you know how he is," Alicent replied then took a long drink. 

You let out a small laugh and turned back to face her.

She set her drink on her lap and laughed along.

The pain in your chest dissipated hearing Alicent’s laugh. 

You smiled. 

“Thank you,” you told her. 

She tilted her head to the side. “Whatever for?” 

“It hurts less, being here with you,” you confessed. 

When you realized what you had said you quickly added, “- With your family, I mean.”

This time it was Alicent who blushed. She looked down at the drink in her hands. “You say the sweetest things (y/n).” 

Butterflies started to tickle your nerves. No funny or witty retort formed in your mind. So you just smiled. 

Alicent looked back up at you, and smiled back. 

It started to get quiet as neither of you knew what to say next. 

Once again it was Alicent who broke the silence.

“How is Aemond doing at uni? He tells me he’s doing well but I know my little dragon. I worry about him. He’s never been one to have many friends,” Alicent said as she swirled the alcohol around in her glass. 

You took a steadying breath. “He’s doing alright. He’s a really nice guy.” 

Alicent nodded without looking up from her glass. “That’s good. I’ve always hoped he would be. Does he have a girlfriend?”

 You shook your head. “Not that I know of, and Aemond and I tell each other everything.” 

“I see,” she replied, then looked up at you. “You know, the first time I saw you in the background during a facetime call I hoped you were his girlfriend.” 

You laughed. “Me? Really?” 

Alicent laughed along with you. “Yes, I guess I just hoped he had someone caring for him y’know?” 

You nodded. “I do."

"Besides, you seemed like a nice girl and I thought we would get along well," she added, a tinge of pink in her cheeks. 

"I don't think Aemond would classify me as a nice girl,” you said with a laugh. 

Alicent took another drink, but she smiled as she peered over her glass and looked at you. “Is that so?”

“I don’t think Aemond would be my type, if I was into men, or I his in all honesty,” you replied and shrugged. 

Alicent’s smile slowly disappeared, and was replaced by slightly pursed lips. She eyed you up and down before looking back down at the amber liquid in her glass. She cleared her throat.

Your gaze shot back towards her. 

“What is your type?” She asked, swallowing hard.

Your eyes narrowed a bit at the question.

Why would she want to know? Is she flirt- No. She’s just making conversation, you thought to yourself.

“I guess I have a tendency to go for older women,” you revealed, trying your best not to give away that you only had one older woman in mind.

She met your gaze, and you didn’t dare look away.You didn’t dare take a breath. 

There was something in her gaze, you couldn’t read it, and you didn’t want her to stop looking at you. 

But she did. 

Alicent looked away and took another drink. “How did you and uhm- how did you and Aemond become friends?”

You slowly let out the breath you had held. 

“Uhm…,” you began, trying to collect your thoughts. “We had the same history class freshman year. He was this annoying kid in class that would correct the professor whenever there was the smallest inaccuracy or inconsistency. It drove everyone crazy but I thought it was hilarious.He was a total nerd and I found it ridiculously endearing.” 

Alicent smiled. “That sounds like my Aemond.” 

You nodded. “Then we got paired up for a history project and we just got to talking. We bonded over the way our families can be...a lot.” 

Alicent looked at you with raised brows. “I see.” 

You sat up, afraid you had offended her. “Not like in a bad or good way, just that with money comes high expectations.” 

Alicent nodded. “Of course (y/n), I understand more than you could imagine.” 

You sat back in the armchair and took another sip of your whiskey. “I don’t doubt it...what are eldest daughters if not slaves to the family name, right?” 

The whiskey didn’t taste as gross this time so you took another drink.

Alicent gazed at the burning fire. She sighed. 

“Exactly,” she whispered. 

"Sorry for being so dour,” you said and downed the rest of the whiskey. 

Alicent did the same and finished off her glass. “Don’t be. I haven’t had someone to talk to like this since…” She trailed off.

“Since your husband passed?,” you guessed.

Alicent nodded slowly. “Yes..”

“Aemond mentioned you used to be very involved in your late husband’s political campaigns. Do you have plans to get back into that?”

Alicent exhaled loudly and ran a hand through her messy auburn hair. “That’s a great question…” 

Then Alicent sank into her seat and let her head rest against the back of the armchair. 

“I’m actually having trouble figuring out what to do now that I’m a widow. It feels like my whole life I’ve lived for what others wanted of me. First, what my father wanted. Then what Viserys and the children needed from me,” Alicent mused. “I have no idea what I actually want..”

You stared at Alicent. 

She looks so lonely, you thought. Does she open up like this to everyone, you wondered. Or is she like this only with me?

“Do you want to start a new career? Or take up a new hobby? Maybe…get back out there and date,” you asked, paying great attention to how she would react to your last words.

Alicent sat up and let out a chuckle. “God no, I mean….” 

Then she looked down at her empty glass. “I wouldn’t know what to say or do,” Alicent tucked a stray lock behind her ear, “I doubt I’d have suitors clamoring for me at my age.”

You frowned. “You can’t possibly think that.”

Alicent shrugged. “I’m not much to look at I’m afraid.”

She’s not serious, you thought, how could someone so beautiful not know they’re a gift to us all?

“Alicent you are without a doubt the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” you blurted out.

Your stomach dropped. Had you really said that? Out loud?

Alicent’s gaze shot up to meet yours. Blush once again tinted her cheeks pink. “You’re very kind (y/n),” Alicent replied.

“It’s not kindness Alicent, it’s the truth,” you replied. 

Before she could respond with something tragically self deprecating again you continued on.

“I know for a fact you would have hordes of men knocking down your door just for the chance to take you out to dinner,” you rambled as you fingered the rim of your glass anxiously.

You felt emboldened by her gracious acceptance of your flattery but you weren’t sure how far she’d like you take it…if she wanted you to take it beyond flattery.

Alicent laughed softly. “I don’t know about that.”

Your eyes flitted to her lips. You swallowed hard.

You wanted to know…you needed to know.

“I’d be at your door,” you professed and looked up to meet her gaze.

Alicent’s gaze felt hot. “Really?” She asked.

“In a heartbeat,” you replied, the thrumming of your own heart pulsed in your ears. 

 Alicent bit the inside of her cheek as her eyes raked over you. “Are you seeing anyone (y/n)?”

You shook your head softly. “No.”

You didn’t trust yourself to say much more, afraid your voice would crack under the nerves that ate away at your insides.

“I wouldn’t have guessed it, you’re such a charmer,” she said, with a playful smirk on her lips.

 The thrumming dropped from your heart to between your thighs.

Desire bloomed in the words left unsaid by Alicent’s darkened gaze.

You sat up in the armchair and cleared your throat, hoping to regain some semblance of control over yourself. “The girls at school aren’t really my type.”

Alicent nodded. “Right, you like older women.” She set her glass aside then leaned back in her seat. "So what age is just right for you then?” Alicent asked as she crossed her legs. 

Her nightgown rode up just past her knee, just enough to give you a glimpse at her thigh. 

You swallowed hard and looked away. "That uhm- it uh-," you stuttered, the sneak peak at Alicent's thigh lingered in your mind. 

Alicent sat forward and put her hands on her knee. "Would a woman like me be too old?" She held your gaze, and you noted that her irises had darkened much since dinner. 

"N-n-no," you blurted, your brain had short circuited from the drastic change in Alicent’s demeanor. 

Alicent smirked once more. “Am I making you nervous (y/n)?”

Your face felt feverish. You smiled sheepishly and ran your sweaty palms down your thighs. “Oh uhm I-,” you stuttered. 

Then you closed your eyes and took a deep breath.

When you opened them you realized Alicent was staring at you, smiling.

She was toying with you…Alicent was no longer just making conversation.

Two could play that game, you thought.

You swallowed hard and composed yourself. 

“You do make me nervous Alicent. You’re exactly my type, after all,” you replied earnestly.

You watched as Alicent’s brows raised then she blushed and looked down at her hands. 

"Oh, I-," she replied, her breath just above a whisper. 

You smiled triumphantly. You just had to keep telling yourself that Alicent was no different than the other women you had flirted with, and who had flirted with you, countless nights at the bars in town.

Alicent shifted in her seat, you noted the way she pressed her legs closer together and smoothed her nightgown down. 

She didn't meet your gaze again.

Your heart dropped. 

Had you read things all wrong? 

You panicked. 

“I’m such an idiot,” you said under your breath. 

Alicent furrowed her brows. “Did you say something?” 

You swallowed hard. “I’m sorry Alicent. I didn’t...I didn’t think that my words might be uncomfortable for you,” you rambled. “I’ll leave. I’m sorry,” you continued and stood from your chair. 

You turned towards the door and started to move but Alicent reached out and gripped your wrist. 

You turned back to meet her gaze. 

“Stay…for another drink, please,” she uttered. 

She let go of your wrist and you slowly sat back down. 

This time she did not ask you what you wanted to drink. Instead she busied herself with the drinks and liquors. She picked the shaker up and proceeded to mix the cocktail she had prepared. Then she poured it into a clean glass and handed it to you. 

Your fingers briefly grazed hers as the glass traded hands. 

It only served to flame the kindling desires inside you.

You took a sip of the drink. She had poured you something sweet, but it was still quite strong. 

“This is delicious,” you said, your eyes looking at her from above the rim of the glass. 

Alicent cleared her throat and turned to pour herself another drink. “How did things go with Helaena? I noticed the way she took to you after dinner.You said you talked but it looked like more than that.” 

You furrowed your brows as you took another sip. You needed liquid courage. 

“That? She was just being nice. She congratulated me for being brave and sharing my story at dinner,” you explained then took another drink of the cocktail Alicent had mixed for you. You continued. “I told Aemond and Aegon I don’t think Helaena is gay. She’s just a very nice girl,” you finished. 

Alicent turned to you with a new drink in her hands. She took a sip before resting it on her thigh. “That she is...it’s a shame though,” she stated. 

You tilted your head to the side, unable to read her. “A shame?” 

Alicent swirled her drink in her glass. “Mhm, I would’ve liked seeing you around more often if you had dated Helaena.” She took a long drink. 

You looked down into your own glass and smiled. The thrumming in your chest returned. “I’ll just have to find another reason to stop by and share your company then,” you declared then looked back up at her. 

Alicent held your gaze, her eyes curious and piercing. “You could be in any woman’s company, why bother with mine?” 

You set your glass on the small table to the left of your armchair. You thought about how to respond. 

She was your best friend's mother and you knew you couldn’t have her but…you wanted her nonetheless. 

So you returned your gaze to her and told her the truth. “Because yours is the company I desire.” 

Alicent did not look away and neither did you. 

The world seemed to come to a standstill. 

The way Alicent looked at you...if she was anyone else your lips would have been against hers in a matter of seconds.

But she wasn’t anyone else. 

She was your best friend’s mother. 

So you couldn’t assume. 

She had to initiate. She had to show you that she wanted this too.

Alicent’s gaze drifted down to your lips. 

She bit her lips as she stared and it almost sent you over the edge, the best friend code be damned. 

Then she heaved a large sigh and turned towards the bar cart. 

“Would you like another drink?”  Alicent fiddled with various bottles before she stood. “Oh god, I forgot the grenadine.” 

Then she walked to the full size bar at the far corner of the study. 

You turned in your seat and watched as her hands shook, picking the grenadine up from the rack of mixes. 

Had you misread things again? 

No, you were convinced something was there. There was a spark between the two of you. 

One you could not light and Alicent seemed hesitant to do so. 

So you stood and walked to her side. You stopped when you felt Alicent’s back against your chest. 

“I have another confession to make,” you whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. 

Your hands itched to reach out and touch her. 

Part of you knew you would have to make the first move. A woman like Alicent, with no experience with women, would not be the one to initiate.

 Alicent looked at you through the reflection in the mirror on the wall of the bar. 

She swallowed. “What is it?” 

You noted her voice was a little hoarse, dry and raw.

So you leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear.

“Something I’ve wanted to tell you since the moment I laid eyes on you...but if it would be unwelcome just say the word and I will go back to the guest room and we can pretend this conversation never happened.” 

Being so close to her you smelled her intoxicating scent of cinnamon and vanilla. You had no doubt it was from an expensive perfume. 

Alicent stared at you through the mirror, indecision and desire plain on her face. 

“Say it,” she finally whispered. 

“I want to kiss you. I want to kiss you and never stop. I want to kiss you until my lungs burn and my lips bruise,” you confessed, your voice thick with desire. 

Alicent gasped. 

She whipped around to face you.

Her chest pressed against yours. 

The heat of her breath warmed your chest. 

She looked between the two of you, at the lack of space.

Then she met your gaze. 

She nodded ever so slightly.

That was enough for you.

You leaned in slowly, giving her enough time to change her mind if she truly did not want to kiss you.

Her lips were full and ruby red. You wanted nothing more than to devour her then and there. 

Butterflies burst in your chest. 

She wasn’t just any woman. She was Alicent. 

And you did not want to break whatever spell the universe had cast. 

Alicent closed her eyes as her lips neared yours. 

You did the same when you felt the warmth of her breath on your lips.

Soft and yielding, were your first thoughts when your lips touched hers. 

She cupped your face and pulled you closer. 

You reached out and put your hands on her hips. 

The thumping of your heart rang in your ears.

Alicent parted her lips and you let out a low moan when your tongue met hers. 

No thought formed in your mind and all you could do was relish the feel of Alicent’s lips against your own. 

But soon your lungs ached for air and sweat beaded off your forehead. 

You did not want to part from her. You knew that if you did the spell would be broken. 

Even worse, you feared that Alicent would ask you to forget such a kiss even took place. 

So you continued to kiss her, your lungs be damned. You pulled her hips towards you and pressed them against your own. 

The fire in your lungs could only be matched by the throbbing between your thighs.

Then just like that, Alicent pulled away.

But her hands remained on your face. 

She ran her thumb across your cheek as her chest heaved. She smiled breathlessly. 

“That was…,” she said then trailed off. 

You nodded, also trying to catch your breath. “It was.”

Then she brought you in for another kiss. 

It was quicker, and not as deep.

But you were glad the spell was not yet broken. 

When she pulled away the second time you saw the hunger in her eyes once more. 

It reminded you of the painful throb between your legs. 

“Alicent,” you said as you tried to catch your breath.

Alicent stared at your lips. “Yes?”

“I want you…all of you,” you confessed. 

Alicent’s gaze shot up to meet your own. 

“What,” she gaped. 

You swallowed hard. 

Had you broken the spell?

“I want all of you,” you reiterated. 

Alicent shook her head. “We couldn’t (y/n)...kissing is one thing but-,” Alicent replied but you cut her off with another kiss. 

You needed to show her how much you wanted her. To let her realize how much she wanted you in return.

Alicent kissed you back without hesitation. 

Slowly, you guided her to the chaise nearby. 

When you felt the back of your knees hit the chaise you slowly lowered yourself and Alicent down onto it. 

Alicent pulled away as you settled on the chaise. 

She furrowed her brow. 

“(y/n)...,” Alicent began but stopped herself. 

She bit her lip as she watched your chest heave. 

You laid back on the chaise and stuck your hand out towards her. 

Alicent took it and straddled you. 

She crashed her lips onto yours and kissed you hungrily. 

Your hands fell to her hips once again. 

Alicent’s hips softly bucked against yours as she continued to kiss you. 

The throbbing between your thighs started to overwhelm you. You brought your hips up against Alicent’s. 

She moaned into your kiss. 

Your hands roamed her lower body as you both lost yourself in the kiss. 

Alicent pulled away from you and put a hand on your chest. 

“You must never tell Aemond,” she commanded. 

You nodded, not trusting your voice to speak.

Then Alicent got off of you and helped you stand. 

She led you to the elevator and pressed the button for the floor where her room was.

-

I will never tire of her kiss, you thought as Alicent pressed her lips to yours once more. 

She straddled you on her bed. 

It was plush with ample space. You figured it was probably worth more than your school’s tuition.

Alicent broke the kiss to unbutton your pajama top. 

When Alicent reached the second to last button she furiously pulled it apart and hungrily kissed your neck.

You threw your head back and bit your lip. 

It burned wherever her lips trailed along your neck and down your chest. You needed more.

Alicent pulled away and undid her silk robe.

You stood and pushed the pajama bottoms off your body. 

The second your pants hit the floor Alicent pushed you back onto the bed and straddled you. 

You smiled up at her. 

You would never have imagined her so dominant, but it fed the flames of your desire.

Alicent brought your lips to hers and placed her hands on the bed on either side of your head.

Your hands flew to her thighs. You pushed her silk nightgown up, and didn’t stop.

The nightgown was up to her hips. 

When you didn’t feel any lace underneath you pulled away from the kiss. 

“You’re not wearing anything underneath?” You asked, your voice filled with surprise.

Alicent looked down at you with a small smirk. “Maybe I wanted to save you a step,” she replied with a laugh.

You smiled back and leaned up to capture her lips in a kiss once more. 

 Not even a minute later you pulled away from Alicent again, this time to bring the nightgown up and over her head. 

Alicent grabbed the nightgown from you and tossed it aside. 

You stared up at her, now fully naked and bathed in moonlight from the skylight in the ceiling.

“You’re perfect,” you whispered. 

Alicent smiled at you. “Such a charmer,” she teased.

You wrapped your arms around her and flipped the both of you over in her bed. 

Alicent giggled as she landed on her back, a few of the feathers from the down pillows on the bed flew out and settled in Alicent’s hair. 

You raked your eyes over her body, committing every dip and curve to memory. 

“Are you going to keep staring or are you-,” she began but was once again cut off. She let out a small moan as your lips closed around her budded nipple. 

Her hands dug into your hair as you sucked on her.

Your hands did not idle as one held you upright and the other traveled down Alicent’s side.

The ghost of your fingertips left goosebumps in their wake on Alicent’s warm skin. 

Alicent bit down on her lip as your hand settled between her thighs.

Her wetness was splashed against her inner thighs. At the very touch of it you felt your own desire soak through your underwear.

Your mouth left her nipple and placed kisses along her collarbone. 

Alicent hummed in bliss.

Your fingers made their way to Alicent’s labia.

Her voice caught as the tips of your fingers touched her. 

You brought your gaze up to hers. 

“Last chance to turn back and pretend like nothing happened,” you joked.

Alicent huffed and brought your lips to hers. “Don’t you even think about it.”

You smiled into the kiss.

I wouldn’t dream of it, you thought to yourself, I’ve been good all year for this present.

Alicent moaned into your kiss when your fingers entered inside her.

Sounds of pleasure would escape Alicent all night as you devoted yourself to making the night never end so that you would never have to leave the warmth of her kiss.

-

After you both had been spent, Alicent placed a gentle kiss to your cheek and bid you goodnight.

“Dream of me,” you told her.

She smiled lazily as her eyes fluttered shut. “As if I could dream of anyone else after tonight.”

You smiled as you watched her drift off to sleep. 

Your own eyelids grew heavy, but you fought sleep for as long as you could. 

If you slept you would wake up and would have to have a conversation about what tonight would mean for you and Alicent (and Aemond), but if you remained awake you could bask in post coital bliss.

So you gazed at a sleeping Alicent, and gently raked your hands through her hair.

“Thank you,” you whispered to her.

-

Sleep came for you though you tried your hardest to fight it.

The next morning you woke up, briefly confused about the location you had awoken in then reassured as you looked over at Alicent still wrapped in your arms. 

It had not been a dream.

You placed a gentle kiss to the side of her head then slowly untangled yourself from her.

You dressed yourself and put on the now partially torn pajama top then headed out the door. 

-

Sounds of a whirring blender and workout music lead you to the kitchen. You knew Aemond loved to blast hip hop right before he weight trained first thing in the morning. It had been annoying at first but you’d grown used to it. 

You entered the kitchen.

Aemond smiled as you walked in. “Good morning (y/n).”

You grinned from ear to ear. “It is a blessed morning indeed.”

He immediately narrowed his eyes on you. “Why are you talking like that?”

Then his eyes flew down to the torn pajama top.

He set his green smoothie down on the counter, a severe look on his face. “Tell me you didn’t actually-”

You opened the fridge and retrieved a bottled mineral water. 

“Oh I very much did, and hope to do it again,” you replied with a satisfied smirk.

Aemond’s jaw dropped. “That’s my mother, you harlot! How? She’s totally- wait I don’t want to know how.”

You laughed and took a long drink of water. 

Aemond threw a piece of nearby celery at you. “You’re never coming home for the holidays ever again.”

You laughed as it landed on you. “I don’t think I’m ever leaving, son.”

Aemond laughed as you walked out of the kitchen.

As you walked back up to Alicent’s bedroom you realized that this had been the best Christmas you could’ve asked for. Fuck St. Barths.

[haveyouseenthishorrormovie]

Not a poll request (so don't worry if you don't want to answer on the blog) but - could we get each of the mods' top 10 horror movies? (: I'd be so interested in hearing them!

Long post!

Mod Z:

*long sigh* *opens letterboxd*

K-12 (2019)

NOTE: Yk what imma just leave this here

2. Beau is Afraid (2023)

NOTE: a masterpiece i probably won’t rewatch for a long time but since i’m an ari aster truther it deserved this spot

3. Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

NOTE: Yes

4. The Crow (1994)

NOTE: Awesome ass movie. Awesome ass soundtrack. An absolute classic. I have the graphic novel it was based on and it’s one of the best things I have in my library

5. Carrie (1976)

NOTE: Stephen King’s the best at writing real characters <3

6. The Craft (1996)

NOTE: As a wicca myself, accurately depicted teen witches are my jam and this film did the best job at it

7. Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)

NOTE: The only reason this isn’t in the top 5 is because i haven’t seen it in a while. If u had asked me in early 2023 i would’ve put this in second place for sure

8. Cam (2017)

NOTE: So underrated. Go watch this on Netflix now while u don’t know anything about it

9. Frankenweenie/Nightmare before Christmas/Edward Scissorhands

NOTE: CHILDHOOD (lumping them together cuz i couldn’t decide which tim burton film to add)

10. Smile (2022)

NOTE: okay wait this scared me shitless at the theatre and i just convinced myself this movie was bad to stop myself freaking out but this is a genuinely good and scary movie i’ve made up my mind

These are subject to change and Invisible Man (2020) definitely deserves an honorable mention but I haven’t seen it in a while to check if it still holds up

----

Mod L:

The Thing (1982)

Absolute masterpiece. Perfect marriage of cast, visuals, music, and script. They (audiences in 1982) hated Jesus (John Carpenter) because he told them the truth.

2. Ravenous (1999)

I love social horror more than life itself, and this is a pitch-perfect example. I recommend Atun-Shei Films' Overanalyzing Ravenous, if you haven't seen it yet.

3. Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)

See above re: social horror. I never stop thinking about how this series was inspired by rising incidents of domestic violence in Japan - how the contagion of violence in the home spreads to anyone who comes in contact with it.

4. Demon (2015)

This would pair amazingly well with my next pick, which is:

5. La Llorona (2019)

To quote a friend of mine after we watched Demon, "there is no society without memory."

6. Black Christmas (1976)

Truly ahead of its time as a slasher, as well as in its politics. Ladies, never date a Peter, and DON'T trust the Toronto Police.

7. The Devils (1971)

Nobody was doing it like Ken Russell, and nobody ever will again.

8. The Changeling (1980)

This movie understands the greatest horror of all: Joseph Kennedy Sr.

9. Us (2019)

My favourite Peele to date, no I will not be budged on this point.

10. Peeping Tom (1960)

An extremely prescient film about the male gaze and the medium of film.

(Mod Sus releases their own once they get the braincells rubbing for more than 5 movies)

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Okay, everyone, let’s talk Taskmaster speculation. I hate how stuff about the lineup for the following season can overshadow a season before it ends, or sometimes, like in this case, before it starts. It was around this time last year that they announced the Taskmaster season 17 studio filming dates, which perfectly coincided with some live gigs John Robins had canceled, so we all took time to get excited about that s17 lineup spoiler before season 16 had ever begun to air. Now, season 18 hasn’t started yet but we’re already talking about 19.

Spoiler alert, obviously, for vague speculation. I have no inside information or anything, so if you click through, you won’t be party to anything that’s meant to be secret. Just guesses based on publicly available information, which I know some people like to avoid, to preserve the surprise.

First of all, I find this Reddit post from a few weeks ago interesting. That obviously can’t be the exact five person lineup. First of all, Scroobius Pip would be a possible NYT candidate, probably not close enough to comedy for the main show. Secondly, obviously, all-white lineup. Thirdly, there’s no overseas person on the list, and we know from Alex’s recent interview that the season will contain that.

So it won’t be all five, but it could be a few of those. Social media evidence has been surprisingly accurate before, I remember in season 12, people accurately predicted 4/5 names before the studio filming started, just based on who’d recently followed Alex and each other. This may of course be wishful thinking on my part, that such vague social media evidence means anything, because that list contains two people who are on the shortlist of my dream contestants. Josie Long and Chris Addison would both be wonderful on there, particularly if they somehow ended up on the same season as each other.

Josie Long really should be there. She was the only women on the original Edinburgh Taskmaster in 2010, where there were a lot of men. Look at all the men in this video:

The non-Josie Long contestants there were: Dan Atkinson, Jarred Christmas, James Dowdeswell, Tim Fitzhigham, Steve Hall, Tim Key, Lloyd Langford, Mark Watson, Henning Wehn, Joe Wilkinson, Mike Wozniak, and Tom Wrigglesworth. Josie Long spent a lot of years being the "only girl in the lineup" for lots of things, between when she started stand-up in 1997 and when they invented other female comedians in 2014 (I apologize to Jo Brand for that joke, who also spent years holding it down for women on panel shows before they let women on panel shows, no women were allowed to do that stuff in the 00s unless they were named Josephine). I think she should be compensated for that in the 2020s by being allowed to appear on pretty much anything she likes.

More significantly, she was also on the second of the Taskmaster live Edinburgh shows, in 2011. See if you can spot the odd one out in the contestants from The Taskmaster 2011: Bruce Dessau, Dan Atkinson, Henning Wehn, Joe Wilkinson, Josie Long, Lloyd Langford, Mark Watson, Steve Hall, Stuart Goldsmith and Tim Key. Yes, you are right, the odd one out is Bruce Dessau, for not being a comedian. Was he ever a comedian? It did not occur to me to wonder that until right now, did most comedy reviewers start out their careers as comedians, the way most sports commentators started out as athletes in that sport? I don't know. It's not important. But if he was ever a comedian, he sure wasn't one anymore by 2011, and it is notable that when recruiting comedians for his comedy show, Alex Horne brought in the same number of reviewers who don't perform comedy, as he did of women who do perform comedy.

Obviously the odd one out in the above list is actually Josie Long, as the only woman again. And I say this one is more significant because she made the finals, where she faced off against Stuart Goldsmith in a battle of who could fit the most grapes in their mouth, administered by 2010 champion Mike Wozniak:

and she won:

Mike Wozniak won the first live Taskmaster event, and he's been on the TV show. Josie Long, by rights as a live Edinburgh Taskmaster champion, should be. In addition to her being, you know, a very talented comedian and generally funny person who would be absolutely excellent on Taskmaster.

She has now done two full shows in the last five years, and is working on a third, about how she's very very busy these days, creating and then raising two children, and has moved to Glasgow so getting down for London-based comedy shows isn't so easy, so it's possible that she's been offered a spot on previous Taskmaster seasons and turned it down, which would be fair enough. But she should definitely qualify for an offer, for a number of reasons, some of which are real (I do sort of genuinely think that winning one of the original live Taskmaster events should earn someone the chance to be part of it when it becomes a lucrative television show, but obviously far more significant is that she's a very talented comedian and generally funny person who would be absolutely excellent on Taskmaster), and some of which are not (I was joking about the reparations for female comedians who were on panel shows before that 2014 rule, mostly, I mean it does feel like they should get something).

A friend of mine noticed that some gigs she did in London, back in June, had an odd hole in them that could be shaped like the filming of Taskmaster house tasks, for someone who lives in Glasgow and, if she had to go down to London to film a TV show, would want to make the most of the trip and plan some stand-up gigs around it. That, combined with the social media evidence presented on Reddit (and the fact that she surely has more right to a spot than anyone else who's not been on it yet), makes me think there's a reasonable chance of her being on season 19. I may be starting to believe this theory a bit too much, I need to pull back on that so I won't be disappointed if it doesn't happen. It's two pieces of evidence, but they're both fairly flimsy and circumstantial.

Chris Addison was also on that list of people who've moved into Alex Horne's social media orbit, and there is, of course, lots of precedent in his Tweets for making his feelings toward that show clear. First, a couple of Tweets that let us know he's not off in Glasgow doing his own thing; if he's not been on Taskmaster it's because he's not been given the offer:

And he's tried various Twitter tactics to get that offer, including showing off his knowledge of the show:

Flattery:

Selling his potential, and reverse psychology, combined into one Tweet:

And just implying that his casting is inevitable, like that'll manifest it into existence:

Chris Addison has been campaigning for ages to get a Taskmaster spot, and I think he'd make great TV if that happened. God, imagine a team with him and Josie Long together. How excellent would that be? Oh, and if he's on season 19, that's 2/3 of The Department covered in two seasons. Only one more member of that radio show they'd still need, if only Taskmaster would suddenly decide they're interested in casting someone who lives overseas, is a big name there, but maybe still has some connection to British comedy...

No, obviously I know the "overseas contestant" to whom Alex recently referred can't be John Oliver. They'll be filming the studio portions of season 19 during the peak of the American election campaign, John Oliver's a bit busy these days to fly to England and count eggs or whatever. If it was going to happen, it would have been last year during the writer's strike, when John had just done the Horne Section TV show and could surely have fit in an NYT filming. I'd love to get my hopes up, but not this time.

I am interested in the speculation about who the American will be, though. Obviously my first thought was of Paul F. Tompkins, as he's done the Taskmaster podcast twice, both times claiming to be a huge fan of the show, and backing up that claim by frequently beating Ed Gamble at knowing Taskmaster history. He said both times that he'd love to be on it, has even though about things like what his costume would be.

He was my first thought, and then I read that he's performing in the UK in September, so that seems like a pretty strong case for him. I thought I read at some point that he was doing the Comedy Bang Bang tour and then some other gigs with a possible Taskmaster-sized hole in between, and if that were true, it would be very clear evidence, either he's doing Taskmaster or he's pranking the public into thinking he is. But upon further research I don't think that's true, he'd doing the podcast tour and that's it. I still think he's a very likely candidate, just not as clear-cut as if he were doing one thing in Britain, and then another thing with a hole in the middle. If anyone else has also read that thing that I think I read somewhere that says he's doing that, and you know what that is, please let me know because I'd like to know if I've missed something and that's true after all.

My guess for the American contestant is still Paul F. Tompkins, and I think he'd be fun. Admittedly I only know him from Bojack Horseman and those two Taskmaster podcast episodes, but I generally assume anyone who was in Bojack Horseman is probably cool (partly because that show was a masterpiece, but it's not like Paul F. Tompkins wrote it, so I think that view mainly comes from a subconscious assumption I have that anyone who's ever met Kristen Schaal has to be all right), and he was very good on those Taskmaster podcast episodes.

Either way, I think this is a good time for me to jump on the Paul F. Tompkins bandwagon. I've had his stand-up on my list of stuff to get to for ages, and I think I'll watch/listen to that stuff now. If he's on Taskmaster, then great, I've jumped on a bandwagon at the right time and I'll go in knowing more about him. If he's not, I think I'll still have a good time with his comedy, as I keep hearing how great it is. There really is a lot I don't know about American comedy.

Besides Tompkins, from the vague evidence I've seen, I think Hank Green is an outside shot at the overseas Taskmaster contestant. I don't know what Dropout is and I hope Taskmaster doesn't force me to find out.

[maxverstappensflatbrim]

Show Me Yours | Matty Healy [36]

chapter thirty-six, act five: the ballad of me and my brain

masterlist

little Author's note /TW before this act begins. There's going to be alot of talk of drug use and addiction within the chapters coming, if you're not comfortable with these kinds of things please don't read.

January 14th 2017

Tommie yawns, one big loud yawn as she shuffles through her house to the front door.

Gabby grins when it’s opened and tugs her little suitcase in behind her. “Hey, babes.”

“Gabs? What are you doing here?”

Gabby sighs, “I miss my best mate, is that a crime?” She asks kicking her shoes off and lining them up neatly besides Tommie who quickly shakes her head and opens her arms for a hug, “Haven’t seen you since Christmas, I missed you.”

Tommie smiles, breathing in slowly as she accepts the hug from her friend. “Okay, I have so much planned for us, tonight is movie night, tomorrow I’m driving us to Cardiff and we’re having a shopping day, monday we’re going to go to the cinema, I haven’t decided on tuesday yet, struggling between a pamper day and a trip to a beach, but that might be too cold now I’m thinking about it.”

“Okay, let’s start with movie day-”

“Okay, but I’m picking. I cannot watch Fantastic Mr Fox again.”

“But it’s my favourite.”

“It’s the only film you watch besides Revenge of the Sith.”

“They’re good films.”

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ 

The flashes are bright, too bright and she’d forgotten her sunglasses to protect herself from them.

The bag on her shoulder weighs her down more than everyone else, her laptop, books, writing books, hoodie and a pair of shoes she couldn’t fit into her suitcase make their weight known against her muscles.

Ross’ body blocks some of the light, but when he’s moved over by Jamie and towards the side her shield is gone.

The screams of teenage girls are too loud as they push against the old creaking barrier to try and get closer to Matty, he’s upfront, sunglasses and leather jacket on looking like a guy out of a Corey Hart song.

He revels in the attention whereas Tommie hates it, shying away as much as she can, hiding into the darkness of her hoodie as her hands fumble with the strap of her bag.

Then someone is breaking over the barrier, she can’t tell who gets over first, the fan or the rogue photographer.

They both shove each other, the poor teenage girl is on the floor, Tommie’s standing there above her, photographer’s camera in her face.

Without thinking she’s shoving the camera away, it clatters and smashes on the floor, hitting the girl who’s being helped up by other fans.

“Tommie! Tommie!”

Hands are gripping her from both sides of the barriers, the walkway hasn't been made big enough. Strangers are touching her and she holds her breath not to be sick right there.

“Tommie! Matty!”

Someone gripped her and pulled her into them, arms wrapped around and guiding her into the van, straight into the back.

George sits beside her, holding her hand in his lap as the rest pile in, Matty coming in last after signing a few screaming fans shirts.

Matty raises his brows as he peers over the drummer, but George shakes his head, wraps one arm around her, tugs her into his side and blocks her from the singer’s view.

“Tom.”

“Leave her be, Matty.”

“You alright?”

He ignores George and moves his arm to brush his knuckles across the top of her head, reaching around the back of George awkwardly to do it.

“Matty-”

“I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

George elbows him, giving him a look that he once again ignores. 

“I’m fine, Matt.”

Her tone is sharp, and he leans back, taking his arm away and resting his hands in his lap. “Okay, I was just asking.”

“You’re always just asking.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ross looks between them slowly, the tension has been building between them for weeks and no one knows why.

Adam gives one harsh look to Matty and he’s pausing, shrinking back in his seat and mumbles an apology. “I jus-” He cuts himself off before he can finish the word, “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ 

February 21st 2017

“Just be honest with me, Jamie. Be brutal. It’s bad.”

Jamie sighs, “It can easily be fixed.” He assures, “I’m sure Matty will do something bad next week.”

She sighs and leans forward, head in her hands, Adam moving to rub up and down her back, “God, this is bad.”

“It’s fine, it’ll blow over.”

“Yeah, but I-”

“So what? Have you seen the way the Gallaghers act? Or any other mildly popular artists? People have done worse.”

She looks at the newspaper on the table. An article about her blowing off the fans at the airport, talks of assault as she’d accidentally shoved someone in a hurry to the awaiting car.

The truth was the flight had been bad, she’d been seated beside Matty, the pair still haven’t talked since he showed up at her house, and with the show after show after show routine she’d already been on edge.

It’s all falling apart. Something she used to be so good at, touring endlessly with no rest, is no longer her strong suit.

And to top it off, she hasn’t seen Button in two months, the dog has been staying with her grandparents back in South Wales to give her a break from moving around.

Usually articles like these would mean nothing to Tommie, she’d brush it aside with a half-arsed shrug.

But it's the fact they’re dragging Caleb and his band down with her, knowing the 1975 are far too popular around the world to be touched by a little article they’ve targeted Dirty Delights.

She knows they probably won’t see this. It’s a European news outlet, there’s no chance, right?

Nope.

Caleb had called her the moment it came out.

That’s why she’s panicking.

She doesn’t want to ruin Caleb’s career before it’s even begun.

George sighs, finally sitting down, “It’ll be forgotten next week. They’ll start talking about Taylor Swift again or a shitty Kardashian boob job or something, don’t worry.”

She sighs, “What if this ruins Caleb’s career?”

“What career?” Comes a snort from across the room.

Ross smiles, but it's quickly dropped when he sees the glare that Tommie is sending to Matty across the room.

“I can’t be the reason his band fails before they’ve even had the chance to start.”

“They’ve had plenty of chances, they’re the ones who's fucking up. I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.”

“Matty-” Adam tries but Tommie’s standing now.

“You’re forgetting you guys were in a band for ten years before you got the chance.”

“Yeah, but we had fans. People who’d turn up to our gigs-”

“Oh, you mean your groupies who’d give you money to suck you di-”

“Alright.” It’s Gabby who’s breaking them up, brows raised as she looks between them weirdly, she sighs as she moves to Matty pushing him back down, “Shut up.” She tells him as she moves to sit on the other side of Tommie, bringing her back down to rub her arms.

“Give it a few days, ignore it, don’t comment on it. You get things like this all the time.” 

She shrugs, picking at her jeans as she nods, “I know.”

“Never usually bothers you like this.”

“I know.”

Matty’s jaw wiggles as he watches his girlfriend comfort Tommie quietly, arms around her with Tommie resting her head on her shoulder.

The door opens then, Caleb steps in, eyes falling to his girlfriend who sits up quickly. He smiles walking over to greet her and she stands as he hugs her.

He mutters a ‘don't worry about it all, we’ll talk later’ and she nods quickly.

Then Jamie's standing too, “Come on, five minutes and you’re all on.”

On her way out he grabs her hand, “I’ll sort it.”

“Thank you.”

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ

“I’m sorry.”

Caleb shrugs as they enter their hotel room in London, he sheds his jacket hanging it on the chair and starts unlacing his shoes.

“It was all too much, everything, I-”

“Babe.”

He turns, holding his hands out for her and she slowly accepts it, “It’s okay. It’s not your fault, I know how you get.”

“How I get?”

He nods, wincing at his words of choice, “You know what I mean.”

“No, no, I don’t.”

“Well, you’re… different, Tommie.”

“Different?”

He sighs, bowing his head, “I’m not winning this no matter what I say so whatever it is you’re building up to just get it out with.”

“I just want to know what you mean.” She says, knowing full well she does in fact know what he means, and she also is in fact building up to say something. 

She sighs looking down, “I’ve always been called different, Caleb, but what does that mean?”

He sighs slowly, “You’re just… not like everyone else.” She raises a brow and he sighs, “It’s not a bad thing.”

She nods, then steps back shedding her blouse and jeans to put on her pyjamas.

“Tommie.” He says, watching her carefully, “You’re just a little more… I don’t know, sensitive I guess.”

“Sensitive?”

“Yeah. But also weirdly emotionless at the same time.” He says looking up at thought.

“I’m not different.” She says, as she glances up over his head at the mirror hanging on the wall to stare at herself. Picking apart everything, her straightened hair, the makeup still on her face, the gold necklace he got her for her birthday, the bags under her eyes, the little scar on her eyebrow from when she hit her head as a kid. It’s not her. It’s Caleb.

Straightened hair because he likes it like that, makeup left over despite how hard she’s scrubbed her face because she put so much on to hide the bags given to her by sleepless nights made no better by his comforting hands, a golden necklace replacing her favourite silver one because he caused an argument when she didn't wear it. The scar on her eyebrow he points out way too much, that he avoids touching when his fingers trace her features. 

“I’m just me.”

Caleb watches her as she climbs into bed and hangs his head, “Tommie…”

“Goodnight, Caleb. Big day tomorrow.”

taglist

@thereisaplaceintheheart, @indierockgirrl, @sofaritsalrightt, @julezs-bl0g, @eaglestar31, @sophinthealpss, @noacfemcel, @if-my-heart-bleeds, @befrwime, @fallingforel, @sexorchocolateorpillowsorclouds, @3terna15unshin3, @1975sophie1975, @thesocraticjunkiewannabe, @littlesoldierelleora, @procrastinatinglikeapro

-let me know if you want to be added :)

[lnfours]

summer loving (nine) ⎸t.h

⌙ summary: your mom and tom’s mom grew up together, swearing that their kids would be life long friends. and it was true, the holland boys were a special part of your life. but on the annual trip to their beach house this summer, everything feels different. and that’s because it is.

⌙ au: based on the book and tv show ‘the summer i turned pretty’ by jenny han. childhood friends to lovers

⌙ wc: 1.8k

⌙ warnings: fluff, language, a little bit of smut?? idrk. and he who shall not be named is back 

⌙ pairing: tom holland x fem!reader

masterlist ⎸ chapter eight  ⎸ chapter ten ⎸ listen

                                 ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

to say that the airport was crowded would be an understatement. there were people walking in all directions, trying to get to the baggage claim to see their families. you had somehow found yourself in the middle of the airport in london 3 days before christmas. wasn’t the smartest move on your part, but you missed tom. you didn’t want to wait the couple more months until he’s in the states for filming. 

plus, harry had mentioned that all tom was talking about was how much he missed you. so the two of you had planned the surprise visit, and now here you were. in a city you’d never been to before, standing in the middle of the airport, feeling so out of place. 

your phone rang from your pocket. you stepped to the side, pulling it out to see harry’s contact pop up. you slid over the answer button before pressing the phone to your ear.

“hello?”

“hey, we’re here,” he said, hearing haz and tuwaine make commotion in the background, “are you outside yet?”

“no, not yet,” you sighed, “it’s packed in here.”

he chuckled, “yeah, something about christmas coming up, maybe? dunno.”

you rolled your eyes at his sarcasm, chuckling softly, “you’re at terminal b, right?”

“yeah, we’re right by the doors. tuwaine almost pushed an old lady out of the way to get this spot, but we managed.”

“she was just standing there like a div!”

you laughed, reading the sign above your head as you made a right down the hallway towards baggage claim, “okay, i’ll see you guys in a few.”

“sounds good.”

you hung up and shoved your phone back in your pocket. you weaved your way through the crowds and after a little bit of pushing, you managed to find the boys. you smiled and sighed out of relief when you hugged harry.

“this is a fucking nightmare, please get me out of here.”

he laughed, “sure thing.” 

you loaded your things into the car and hopped in the backseat next to tuwaine who pulled you into his side.

“my favorite girl is here!” you laughed as you hugged him back.

“it’s been so long,” you said, “it’s a bummer the two of you didn’t get a chance to come to the beach house this summer.”

after a little more catching up, the three of you finally pulled up to tom’s house. you unloaded your things from the car as haz went into the house to make sure tom was ready to be surprised. you followed tuwaine and harry into the house, hearing tom’s laugh.

“what the hell is going on?”

“tom just put on the blindfold.”

“i’m not sure i want to.”

“oh, you want to.”

the boys nodded towards you, letting you know you could enter the room. tom was sitting on the couch, blindfold on as he asked a million questions. 

he hated surprises.

you smiled as he complained again, “what the hell is going on?”

you stood in front of tom where he was sitting and smiled to harry, nodding at him to tell tom to take the blindfold off. 

“alright, you can take the blindfold off, tom.”

he tugged at the material until it was off his head, throwing it beside him. he adjusted his eyes before they landed on you standing in front of him. you watched as his eyes shifted from you to all the guys in the room. 

“shut the fuck up. is this real life?”

you laughed, “god, i hope so after that 7 hour flight.”

he sprung up from his seat and hugged you tight. you laughed as he lifted you off the ground, smiling as your arms tightened around his neck. he buried his face into your hair, taking in the smell of your shampoo and perfume. 

“you’re really here.”

“i am.”

he placed you back on your feet, smiling as he looked around at his friends and back at you, “you fuckers pulled this off, didn’t you?”

haz and tuwaine threw their hands up in fake surrender, “it was all harry and y/n’s idea.”

he smiled at his brother and back at you, pulling you back into a hug. you giggled, the smell of his cologne filling your nostrils for the first time after 4 months of not being able to see him. 

after the reunion, he grabbed your things and led you throughout the house, giving you a little tour so you’d feel more at home during your week long stay. he led you up the stairs, showing you to his room. 

“wanna do something later? go out into the town? i’ll take you to my favorite pub, pretty sure there’s a trivia tonight.”

you smiled, nodding as you wrapped your arms around his neck, “sounds perfect.”

he smiled back down at you, your fingers tangling in the curls at the nape of his neck. the feeling of being with him, the feeling of at home, washing over you. 

“i missed you.” he said, his voice softer due to the proximity.

“i know.”

he fake scoffed, “no ‘i missed you too’?”

you giggled, leaning up so your lips brushed over his, “i was thinking i could show you just how much i missed you.”

his lips turned into a smirk as he pulled your body closer, leaving no gaps in between. 

“yeah?”

you nodded, “mhm.”

he leaned in closer, his lips closing the space as he kissed you sweetly. you kissed him back, his hands falling to your waist as he gripped tightly, walking the two of you over to his bed. his knees hit the edge of the bed and he pulled you on top of him as he sat down on the mattress. your legs straddling his hips as he cupped your cheek into his hand, deepening the kiss.

your hands found the hem of his t-shirt, your fingers dancing along the skin of his abdomen before he pulled away to tug the material over his head, tossing it somewhere on the floor. you didn’t hesitate to do the same thing, pulling the hoodie over your head. he adjusted his body so he was fully on the bed now, his head resting on the pillows as you climbed on top of him again. he smiled, moving your hair out of your face as you leaned down and peppered his jaw with kisses.

“i love you.”

you smiled down at him, “i love you, too.”

you leaned down to kiss him again, however you were interrupted by the knock at his bedroom door, harry’s voice following af†er. 

“we’re leaving for the pub at five!”

you looked down at tom as he looked at his watch, rolling his eyes softly, “okay.”

“what time is it?” you asked, harry’s footsteps fading away as he walked down the hallway, the sound of his door closing echoing off the walls.

he smiled softly at you before switching your positions so now he was on top of you and you were the one with your head on the pillows, “three.”

you smiled softly, hooking your arms around his neck as he leaned back down towards your lips, “better make it quick, holland. i need time to get ready so i can impress all your friends.”

he chuckled softly, “darling, you could show up in sweatpants and a t-shirt and still impress everyone.”

you smiled softly, “damn, i guess that red dress you like so much will just stay in my suitcase.”

his eyes widened softly as you maintained the smile you were sending back up at him, “that’s what i thought.”

                                ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

you walked into the pub with the boys, tom’s arm draped loosely around your waist. you watched as tom greeted his friends, smiling as he stepped back to introduce you. 

“this is y/n, my girlfriend.” 

“oh, so you’re the girl from the summer house? he doesn’t shut up about you.” the one with black, fluffy hair had said as you slid in next to tom in the booth, chuckling as tom playfully smacked the boy’s arm.

“yeah, that would be me.”

“your mom is nikki’s best friend, right?” the blonde girl had asked. you nodded, fiddling with your fingers under the table. tom was quick to notice your nervous fidgeting, placing his hand on yours to reassure you that everything was okay. 

pretty soon, the trivia had begun and you helped the table answer the questions. after your fourth time getting something right, they had claimed that they should kick tom out and put you in instead. 

and because of your contributions, you helped them win the trivia night for this week. everyone celebrated by going up to the bar and getting drinks, but you and tom hung back at the booth. 

you smiled, watching haz talk to the blonde girl from before, “he likes her, doesn’t he?”

tom nodded, putting his beer down on the table, “yeah, has since we were in primary.”

you looked over at the brunette, “what’s stopping him from asking her out?”

he shrugged, “beats me. we’ve all been telling him to do it for years. i think whenever theres a chance, their either in relationships with other people, or there’s just not enough time.”

you nodded, looking back at haz and the blonde girl as she laughed at him, placing her hand on his as he stood with her at the bar, “kinda like us. we were either with other people or we were too scared to tell the other how we actually felt.”

“yeah, but i eventually pulled my head out of my arse.”

you laughed softly, “indeed you did. it was about time.”

he rolled his eyes playfully, “yeah, yeah, whatever.”

you both laughed, leaning your head on his shoulder. you loved everything about this moment, loved everything about london and the atmosphere. you felt like you were at home even though it was a city you weren’t too familiar with. 

you felt at home because tom was here.

your thought process was interrupted when your phone started ringing on the table, kat’s contact picture lighting up your phone. you grabbed your phone and answered.

“hello?”

“did you see it?” she asked, her voice frantic.

your eyebrows pulled together, “see what?”

“you seriously haven’t seen it?”

you sat up now, noticing kat’s serious tone, “see what, kat?”

she sighed, the echo of her nails tapping on her phone screen filling your ears. you felt your phone buzz in your hand, pulling it away and clicking on the messages notification from her. you clicked on the screenshot, your eyes widening quickly. 

“kat, what the fuck is this?”

shawnmendes added to their instagram story.

you were staring blankly at the screenshot. a picture of you on the beach with a smile on your face, a picture you knew shawn had taken during one of your beach dates. 

missing summer with you! <3 @/y/ny/l/n

add yourself to my tagged list here

tagged:

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[danieljreboot]

Friday Night Movie ... 'Elvis' with Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, and Kodi Smit-McPhee

Almost half a century after his untimely death on August 16, 1977, in Memphis, Tennessee, the dysfunctional relationship between Elvis Presley, The King of Rock 'n' Roll, and his long-time manager Colonel Tom Parker continues to stir controversy. To clear his name and set the record straight about his involvement with Elvis's rise to fame and career, a dying, penniless Parker awakens alone in a Las Vegas hospital room in 1997, with his mind filled with memories. As the colonel reminisces about their eventful, two-decade-long love/hate relationship, elements of Elvis Presley's story--from the singer's humble roots, Parker's first encounter with Presley in 1955, the influence of black music, country, gospel, and blues--unfold. On his deathbed, Tom Parker looks back on other pivotal landmarks of their career path, including Elvis's military service in West Germany, his focus on a new movie career, and the performer's marriage to Priscilla Presley. Of course, the former manager calls to mind Elvis Presley's return to live performances with the 1968 televised Christmas concert, Elvis: The Comeback Special (1968), the 5-year residency in the International Hotel, Las Vegas, and the last Nebraska concert on June 20, 1977, at the Pershing Municipal Auditorium, Lincoln. Elvis Presley rocked the stage in an unrivalled last performance on June 26, 1977, at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, only six weeks before his death.—Nick Riganas

My personal all-time favorite Elvis song ... chokes me up every.single.time ... "If I Can Dream" ...

🎶There must be lights burning brighter somewhere Got to be birds flying higher in a sky more blue If I can dream of a better land Where all my brothers walk hand in hand Tell me why, oh why, oh why can't my dream come true Oh, why

There must be peace and understanding sometime Strong winds of promise that will blow away the doubt and fear If I can dream of a warmer sun Where hope keeps shining on everyone Tell me why, oh why, oh why won't that sun appear

We're lost in a cloud with too much rain We're trapped in a world that's troubled with pain But as long as a man has the strength to dream He can redeem his soul and fly

Deep in my heart there's a trembling question Still I am sure that the answer, answer's gonna come somehow Out there in the dark, there's a beckoning candle, yeah And while I can think, while I can talk While I can stand, while I can walk While I can dream, please let my dream come true, oh

Right now, let it come true right now🎶

[fireflowersandblood]

Letters From Home - Preview

i promised a preview so. here it is. or maybe. a first chapter. maybe. i'm not promising anything.

Pairing: Tom Bennett x f!reader

WC: 800-ish words

TWs/Warnings: strong language, adult themes

Summary: Knitting for Victory has never been bigger and Tom gets a nice, cozy package from home.

“Hey, look at this, lads!”

Tom’s head snaps up. Immediately, his lips curl into a smirk. One of the men has jumped up on a box of supplies, holding a paper in his left hand. With his right, he’s trying to ward off the poor sod who has just lost his picture. Tom can’t see what it is with all the waving about, but he’s almost entirely sure it’s a lady, maybe even a lady with very little clothing. Little else gets the men this worked up.

“Bennett, for you.”

Before he can react, a paper wrapped package has been placed in his lap. It looks almost like a wrapped Christmas gift, with the string that ties it together, and is no bigger than the Encyclopedias that Lois collected when she was younger. 

“What’s this?” Tom glances down at the package and frowns at the handwriting. It’s nothing he recognizes and he can’t think of anyone who would want to send him something. Maybe his dad, but even that seems unlikely. 

“Red Cross”, his superior explains. “Knitted socks and the like. You’re not the only one.”

Tom gives an appreciative hum and glances back down on the box. The handwriting is neat, neater than anything he could manage, and spells out his full name. To his own surprise, he runs his fingers across the letters, before he takes care to open it.

The box is filled to the brim. He finds not one, but two, pairs of navy blue socks. A matching pullover and hat, as well as a small box of hard candies in all sorts of colors. It feels strange to hold something so normal in his hands, and it reminds him of when he was smaller. His mother used to have them, he remembers, in a small tin box by the radio. She’d always give him and Lois one each, and let them pick between the fruit shaped ones.

“You got socks”, someone next to him complains, and the sigh is nothing if not envious. It makes Tom feel just a tad superior, and he immediately kicks his boots off, tears the old socks from his feet, and pulls the new pair on with a self-satisfied grin. 

“I did”, he boasts. It’s all in good fun; now that the first few months have passed, there’s not as much fighting. Everyone has seen battle one too many times to spend any time asking for trouble, even Tom. “And they’re cozy.”

Everyone close enough to have heard laughs, and Tom takes the opportunity to make sure he hasn’t missed anything. He would hate to leave another tin of candies for the rats. 

Tucked away in a corner of the box, he finds a letter. Again, with a handwriting he doesn’t recognize. Not the same as on the wrapper around the box, but something a little smaller and cleaner. He tears the envelope and is met by a sweet, light scent. It takes a moment too long to realize it must be perfume. It reminds him of the one Lois wears, and the thought makes his nose scrunch up. To take his mind off the rather unpleasant thought, he unfolds the letter.

Dear soldier,

When I’m writing this, I have no idea who you are. I might never know who you are. You, however, will know a little something about me when you’ve read this letter.

I’m the person who has made you the socks and the sweater. I hope you’ll find them useful and warm. The rationing has made it difficult to get a hold of yarn and I decided to unwind an old sweater of my father’s. I know he would much rather it be used by you.

I know our Navy must need as much as our Army, but if you have no use for two pairs of socks, perhaps you can give the second pair to a friend. I know the endless walking that the Army does tears the garments rather quickly, but two pairs might have been too much. I couldn’t help myself, when they said that the packages will be delivered to people who rarely, if ever, receive mail. I wanted you to know that there are people who think of you back home. 

The candies are made in London and remind me of my childhood. I hope it brings back pleasant memories for you, as well. 

I don’t know if people actually spray their letters with perfume, but I read it in a book once, and I thought it might lift your spirits. Pass it along and let the boys sniff it like a pair of used knickers, for all I care. 

Write, if it would please you. I would love to hear if the clothes have come to use, and make sure that you’re safe. I will pray for your safe return and a quick end to the war. 

Most love.

Tom flips the letter to find a name and an address.

“Mate, you got paper and a pen?”

[gemsofthegalaxy]

Greg and Marianne are so interesting, in addition to Greg and Ewan (and the fact we somehow never got any interactions between Marianne and Ewan?). @mossiestpiglet said in the tags of a post that we don't talk about them enough, and I concur. So allow me to do so.

I really do need to re-watch the early episodes to confirm, but from my memory, Marianne says she can't give Greg money and encourages him to go to New York City to ask for a job from Logan despite having, like, $20 left when he arrives (which makes it a huge gamble to do, given how fucking expensive NYC is otherwise). And despite the fact her own father would hate this, and wants Greg to have nothing to do with Logan. I always took it to mean she was not willing to give him money, but later on Greg talks to Caroline how his mother is solvent, debt free now. And even later, he's paying for her credit cards. So perhaps she simply had none to give.

Still, I remember getting the feeling that she was tired of dealing with him in the first few episodes and I sort of think that's part of it, but I also think she just can't help him any more than she has. She probably feels like a total failure, I mean, look at her cousins in comparison. Sure, we as the audience know they are complete messes, but at least they're rich and have the freedom to do whatever the fuck they want. Marianne at the very least does not have that luxury, and I'll say more on the financial situation throughout this post.

Greg is very clingy to her early, on and I believe they're implied to still be in contact afterwards. I think Ewan says that Marianne asked him to make sure Greg ate at Thanksgiving- that means Marianne is worrying over him going hungry (and he was going hungry, he was stealing food from work and Tom made fun of him for it).

Despite one mention in the script, Greg is vaguely not in contact with his father canonically, and I take his father's marked absence (when Greg is so reliant on his mother) to mean that he was raised by a single mother (I strongly believe he would have asked for support from his father too if he was in contact with him. It doesn't make sense to me that he wouldn't.)

Many people have noted that Marianne's scenes are often held in a bedroom, and it gives her a vaguely depressed vibe, and with her alluded financial issues, it seems like she struggled, alone. Even though her own father has millions of dollars he refuses to use.

Greg, although he is taking care of his mother financially (after she was unable and seemingly less willing to do so for him), is also a brat to her despite being an adult. No more than in the scene at a funeral where he tells her to shut up. (I personally have fairly chill parents who I can get fairly angry at and we bitch at each other, so,) I don't see this as majorly out of line or horrific, but rather as portraying that they are very casual with one another and she probably did not do a great job with discipline or, arguably, boundaries.

One thing I do want to take as canon despite it only being in the scripts is Greg's post-funeral fight with Ewan, and what I want to point out is that Greg says "mom and I have been talking and We are not coming to Christmas" which is only one line, but it feels HUGE in put together with the rest of their scenes.

Here, Greg is presenting himself and his mother as a united front against Ewan, a rich man whose child was in debt severe enough to be a topic of family gatherings, and whose grandchild was in such poverty he was sleeping in a church at one point... We have almost nothing to go off with Ewan and Marianne, but, I say again: it is quite absurd to me that he was sitting on 250mil for Greg while she struggled to raise him, presumably on her own. While she clearly checks in with Ewan about Greg back in Thanksgiving (again, unless i am mistaken then oops), Greg sits between the two of them at the funeral although he is her father, not his.

I have had friends tell me that even with their limited interactions, they get a strong impression that Marianne and Greg are quite codependent with one another, and I feel like I agree; he relies heavily on her for guidance and does not want to do things alone, but also takes care of her financially and comes across as mildly defensive about her towards Caroline, at least trying to make sure the family knows she's in a better place than she used to be. And, then with Ewan, he goes out of his way to say something to feel like it's him and mom against Ewan, when he is feeling incredibly, incredibly defensive and upset at Ewan.

For one reason or another, whether it be depression or financial mismanagement (probably a combination of both that fed into each other) Greg probably has not had much stability from Marianne but seeks her out anyway. Sure, he is an adult, and you may argue that he should be able to stand on his own feet by the start of season 1, he doesn't seem to have much else support besides her- and her him, from what very little we have seen. And honestly, parenthood does not stop at 18 years old, parents in my humble opinion should be prepared to support their kids for their whole lives as best as they are able.... and from what we can tell, this very well might be the best Marianne could have offered Greg, with how little support she must have gotten from Ewan who is incredibly gruff and only interested in his own 'environmentally-friendly' agenda. I doubt he was much help if she is indeed depressed, as many have taken her to be.

I am not even sure how to wrap this up. Just- the little glimpses that we get into Greg, Marianne, and Ewan paint such a sad fucking picture to me. Single mom, obstinate grandfather, and child who tries to please both of them but still never quite measures up. Growing up poor, with a grandfather who has millions but thinks money is the root of all evil and would rather nearly starve his own family than give it to them. And Greg doesn't even seem to resent this, although Marianne might at this point; at the start of the series he genuinely wants to make a good impression on Ewan and be sweet with him still. We didn't actually get their funeral fight, either, we got Greg saying "that was a good speech grandpa", playing both sides to the bitter end, still wanting to please Ewan in what tiny way he might be able to after his show of trying to stop him speaking. Greg desperately wants love and approval from Ewan, and he seems to get some but not a ton of support from Marianne, and we have almost no way to know exactly what goes on between father and daughter with the other two but... I cannot imagine it's a strong or loving relationship.

[footprintsinthesxnd]

Christmas Wrapped Up

Parings: Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky x reader

Summary: Tom Kazansky has a big surprise for you whilst he’s trying to wrap Christmas presents

The soft humming of Christmas songs wafted down the hall of your small on-base house when you stepped through the front door. Putting your bag on the hook you smiled, pleased at the thought that Tom was home early this evening. The songs continued to play and you followed them to your bedroom door, which was slightly ajar. Peaking around the edge, you could see Tom sitting in the middle of the floor with his back to you, his tanned shoulder hunched in frustration and his arms flapping at the tape that was stuck to him. You watched as the toned muscles of his back sagged as he gave up, huffing in annoyance. You stifled a laugh as you watched his antics, cursing quietly to himself as he tried to untangle the tape and ribbons from around his wrists. You tore your eyes away from Tom and noticed that the room was in utter disarray, wrapping paper and ribbons littered the floor, while a pile of presents sat neatly on the bed, waiting to be wrapped.

“Tom,” you called out gently, as you stepped into the room. He turned to look at you, a small smile gracing his lips before he pointed at the mess on the floor around him.

“I was trying to get some Christmas presents wrapped so that you didn’t have to do all of them, but I seem to have made more mess.” He looked disappointed with himself and you sighed sadly, hating to see him so miserable.

“Here, let me help you.” You sat down beside him and began untangling the ribbon and tape from around Tom’s arms, occasionally your fingers grazing at his skin causing him to shiver. Kissing gently along his arm and up to his shoulder, Tom sighed under your touch, relaxing against you.

“I just wanted to help,” Tom sighed, looking up at you with his ocean-blue eyes that resembled a small child’s.

“I know you were, Baby. It’s ok, we can do them together.” You hopped up, grabbing the presents off the bed before Tom could stop you. You placed them in a pile between the two of you and noticed a small box on the top. You reached out for it just as Tom did the same, snatching it from your hand and burying it in the pocket of his shorts. You looked stunned, Tom was never one to grab things off of you, even when you thought it would be funny to wear his dress shirt and nothing but his dress shirt right before his graduation.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly, reaching out to grab your hands between his.

“It’s ok,” you shook it off, moving your hands away from his and busting yourself with the other presents.

“Love?” He said quietly, trying to catch your attention. When you didn’t answer, he leant across the pile of presents, taking your face into his hands and holding you gently.

“I’m sorry.” You looked up at him and the sincerity in his eyes told you he meant it. He continued to hold you, waiting for your reply.

“I know,” you mumbled quietly and you had forgiven him, you were just confused about why he’d do it. What was in the box? Tom chewed his lip worriedly and his eyes darted back and forth across the room. He took a deep breath, steadying himself before he spoke. He mouthed your name, barely above a whisper but just loud enough that you heard him.

“I need to ask you a very important question. I was going to ask you on Christmas Day but I don’t know if I can wait, I’m worried my nerves will get the better of me. I’m also not sure I can trust Mav not to blurt it out either.” He chuckled lightly and for a moment he became his normal confident self again.

“Well, I better get on with it.” He joked as you looked at him in complete confusion.

“Tom, what is this?” You asked, worried at this sudden outburst.

Tom smirked as he stood up, pulling the box from his pocket before kneeling on his right leg in front of you.

“Darling, I have loved you from the moment I first met you at the bar when Mav was trying to serenade you. From the moment you turned him down, I couldn’t picture my life with anyone else. Every day I have grown to love you even more and I didn’t even know it was possible to love someone as much as I love you.” He took a deep breath, opening the small box in his hand and revealing a delicate silver ring, with a small diamond clasped on top.

“I know it’s not a very elaborate ring and I…”

“No Tom, it's perfect. I love it and my answer is yes.”

“But I haven’t even asked the question…” he began but you cut him off, bringing his lips to yours and kissing him deeply. He let out a muffled yelp as you continued to kiss him, running our hands through his blond hair. You pulled away, placing a small kiss on the tip of his nose. “My answer will always be ‘yes, Tom. Always.” He let out a loud, “YES!” Fist pumping the air and a large grin spread across his face. He jumped over the pile of presents, wrapping you tightly in his arms and spinning you around. You shrieked, laughing loudly as you celebrated together. Tom took your face in his hands, kissing you sweetly without the smile leaving his face. Both of you were so wrapped up in each other that Tom had completely forgotten the ring that he’d left on the bed.

“I love you so much,” he kissed your hands delicately, realizing the ascent ring and whipping around to grab it. He took the ring from the box and slipped it slowly onto your finger. “That’s much better.” He kissed your now ring-clad finger.

“I love you future Mrs Kazansky.”

“I love you too Mr Kazansky.” You laughed as he picked you up again, throwing you onto the bed before climbing beside you. The Christmas present scattered on the floor had long since been forgotten but you’d have plenty of time for that later.

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