#too shy to tag for this but yes this is je. in my heart <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[sparky-is-spiders]

Thinking about Jon using Elias’ name as a vocal stim. Just saying it quietly to himself over and over again because it’s just nice to say. Letting it roll round in his mouth a bit. Saying it slowly. Saying it quickly. It’s an embarrassing habit but sometimes he doesn’t even notice that he’s doing it, and anyway it only ever happens after hours in the privacy of his own office. So it’s fine. Nobody will ever know.

[splendidlyimperfect]

When Gray’s girlfriend dumps him right before Christmas, he’s stuck with a non-refundable, three-week holiday to Paris. Without another choice, he agrees to go with a stranger - a man who is remarkably charismatic, and a lot cuter than Gray is willing to admit. It’s supposed to be platonic (Gray’s straight, right?), but Paris isn’t called the City of Love for nothing.

@ftmlmages​

Chapters (6/7): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster Characters: Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Cana Alberona Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Holidays, Vacation, Christmas, Paris (City), Romantic Fluff, Mutual Pining, Holding Hands, First Kiss, Trans Character, Falling In Love, Strangers to Lovers, Romance, Gray thinks he’s straight but he’s not, Natsu falls in love hard, Gray speaks French because reasons

-----

They spend all of Christmas in bed, half-clothed and sleepy, trading soft touches and kisses and quiet words meant only for each other. When Gray wakes slowly the next day, wrapped around Natsu with their legs tangled together and Natsu’s hand in his, there’s a warmth in Gray’s chest that he hasn’t felt in a long, long time.  

“Hey,” Natsu murmurs sleepily as Gray pulls him close, pressing a soft kiss to the back of his neck.

“Mornin’,” Gray says, lips tracing the words against Natsu’s skin. “As-tu bien dormi?”

“Mmm,” Natsu says, then rolls onto his back, stretching and humming happily when Gray’s hand slips under his shirt and splays across his stomach. “I’m really glad this wasn’t just a dream.”

Gray laughs, pushing himself up on his elbow and drawing lazy patterns up Natsu’s ribs with his fingertips. “Me too,” he admits. He’s mesmerized by the soft smattering of freckles across Natsu’s nose, and the way his skin turns gold in the sunlight spilling across the bed.

“Mmmm.” Natsu reaches up and pulls Gray down for a soft, sweet kiss, then brushes their noses together and pulls back. “As much as I’d love to spend the rest of the week in bed, I think I need coffee.”

Gray hums in agreement, pressing another kiss to Natsu’s forehead before sitting up and stretching. He quickly realizes he’s not wearing a shirt but before he can feel awkward about it, Natsu’s lips brush against the top of his shoulder.

Continue reading on AO3

“Thought you wanted to get up,” Gray murmurs, tipping his head to the side as a warm arm wraps around his waist and pulls him close. Natsu kisses slowly across Gray’s shoulder, each press of his lips gentle and deliberate, like he’s trying to memorize the way Gray feels against him.

“I do,” Natsu agrees, rubbing his thumb in circles over Gray’s hip, “mais t’es irrésistible. Est-ce que je veux des becs, ou du café?”

“Both,” Gray says, torn between curling back up under the duvet, and forcing himself to go shower. Despite Natsu’s gentle touches, showering eventually wins out, and he stands self-consciously, glad that he’s still wearing his sweatpants. “I’m gonna, uh…”

Natsu looks up at Gray, head tipped to the side, hair messy and cheeks pink, too-big shirt hanging off one shoulder. It’s almost too much for Gray, and he quickly looks away, grabbing his phone from the side table and darting away to the bathroom.

~

They end up back at the same café, with the same waitress, and Natsu doesn’t miss the sly grin she gives him when she sees that they’re holding hands. Gray stares at his breakfast with a shy smile on his face, peeking up at Natsu occasionally as a red flush creeps across his cheeks.

“You’re adorable,” Natsu says around a bite of his croissant, catching Gray’s ankle with his foot under the table. Gray’s face turns an even darker shade of red, but he doesn’t stop smiling.

After breakfast, Natsu leads Gray down the street away from the restaurant.

“Where are we going?” Gray asks, frowning.

“Surprise,” is all Natsu will say.

They end up taking the Métro, which is surprisingly crowded for the day after Christmas. It’s standing room only, and a fond sense of relief flows through Natsu when Gray pulls him close and shields him from the crowd.

“Okay?” Gray murmurs in his ear, thumb rubbing soothing circles over the back of Natsu’s neck. Natsu nods, closing his eyes and pressing his forehead to Gray’s shoulder.

“Thanks,” he mumbles into Gray’s jacket. He feels safe here, in Gray’s arms – like they’re the only two people and he’s not suffocating in the crowd.

Leaving the Métro station is a relief, and Natsu eagerly pulls Gray down the street until they’re standing outside a building draped with Christmas lights and a sign that says Café des Chats.

“A cat café?” Gray asks, eyes widening as Natsu pushes the door open. It’s warm and cozy inside, with dark blue walls and an eclectic mix of furniture. A slim, Siamese cat with wide blue eyes hops lazily down from one of the tables and saunters over to them, rubbing itself against Gray’s legs.

“You said you liked cats,” Natsu said as Gray crouched down, reaching out his hand for the cat to sniff. “I thought you might—”

“This is amazing,” Gray breathes as the cat rubs its face against his fingers.

Natsu orders them another coffee as he watches Gray settle onto one of the couches, smiling when two other cats immediately hop up and rub themselves against him. He looks entranced, gazing adoringly at the cat that climbs into his lap as he runs a gentle finger across its nose.

“I used to have a cat,” he says quietly once Natsu returns with their coffee and sits down next to him. “She was my mom’s. Her name was Snowflake.”

Natsu hesitates before gently asking, “What happened?”

Gray doesn’t answer right away. The cat in his lap kneads his sweater for a bit, then turns in several circles and curls up with its tail over its nose. Gray runs his fingers through her fur.

“I’m adopted,” he says eventually. “My parents died when I was eight. My mom – the one from Lebanon – was best friends with my dad, so when he died, she and her wife adopted me.” Natsu makes a sad sound and rubs his thumb over the back of Gray’s hand. “It was a fire; Snowflake was with them.”

“I’m so sorry,” Natsu murmurs, slipping their fingers together. Gray gives him a sad half-smile.

“Thanks. I miss them a lot.” He scratches the cat behind its ears, and Natsu can hear it purring. “I love my moms, though; they’re amazing. And they had three other kids already, so I’ve got brothers and sisters now, which is cool. It just hurts some days more than others.”

“I know,” Natsu says. Gray looks at him and Natsu adds, “My parents aren’t around either.” He sighs, looking down at their joined hands. “They left when I was little, they had… issues, and I’ve lived with my gramma for a long time. Both Wendy and I. Which is better than living with my parents, because they aren’t safe people to be around, but I still miss them?”

Gray nods, tipping his head against Natsu’s. “It sucks,” he says.

They’re quiet for a while, listening to the rumble of the cat in Gray’s lap, and eventually Gray says, “I’ve actually been thinking about getting a kitten.”

“I have a cat,” Natsu says. Gray looks up at him and Natsu immediately turns pink. “Not—I didn’t mean like, living… just, you could visit him? He’d like you.”  

Gray laughs, squeezing Natsu’s hand and nodding. “Sounds good,” he says. “It’s a date.”

~

When they get back to the hotel that evening, Gray takes his time kicking off his boots and shrugging off his coat. When he finally turns to Natsu, his expression is uncertain.

“What’s wrong?” Natsu asks gently. He takes Gray’s hands and sits down on the bed, pulling Gray close as he runs his thumbs over Gray’s knuckles.

“I…” Gray chews his lip and lets out a quiet sigh before admitting, “I’ve never dated a guy before.” He looks up at Natsu. “That’s what this… we’re…”

“Yeah,” Natsu says, squeezing Gray’s hands. “I want you to be my boyfriend. Is that what you want?”

“Yes,” Gray says, looking back down at their hands. “Yeah, I… I just…”

Natsu shifts backward on the bed, pulling Gray after him until they’re lying on their sides facing each other, knees touching, hands clasped between them. “I really, really like you,” Natsu says, bringing his other hand up to touch Gray’s cheek. “And we can take this as slow as you want, okay?”

Gray nods, and Natsu slowly runs his thumb across the anxious tension in Gray’s jaw. “I thought…” Gray hesitates. “I never really thought about—I’d never liked a guy, before you?”

Natsu smiles, shifting closer and nudging his knee between Gray’s legs. “Guess I’m special, then,” he teases. He expects Gray to laugh, or to blush or stammer. What he doesn’t expect is for Gray to meet his eyes and whisper, “You are.”

“Oh.” It’s Natsu’s turn to blush now, and he leans in to touch his forehead to Gray’s. “You… you too.”

Gray looks like he might say something else, but instead he kisses Natsu, drawing him in with a cautious enthusiasm like he can’t quite believe this is real. Natsu moves against him eagerly, sliding his hand down Gray’s back and tracing the shape of his ribs, opening up to Gray in a way he never has with anyone before.

When Gray eventually pulls back, a dizzy happiness bubbles in Natsu’s chest, and he almost feels like crying from the force of it.

“Can we… just, maybe, keep doing…” Gray gestures between them and Natsu nods, rubbing his thumb over Gray’s hipbone.

“Yeah,” he says softly. “Yeah, we can keep doing this.” He kisses Gray again, then murmurs against his lips, “We can do whatever you want.”

~ 

The trip comes to an end much too soon, but after three weeks of living out of a suitcase, Gray is eager to get home and sleep in his own bed. Or maybe Natsu’s bed. They haven’t talked about it yet – about what their relationship will look like once they’re not in each other’s immediate orbit every day.

When the hotel concierge checks them out of the hotel, she nods at their joined hands and smiles. “Félicitations,” she says, and Gray manages to stammer out a quick, “Merci, bonne journée,” before they head out to the taxi.

The airport is crowded, but Natsu remembers to take an Ativan this time. Gray holds his hand tightly, and by the time they’re on the plane, he’s adorably sleepy.

“Can I sleep on you again?” he asks, tipping his head against Gray’s shoulder and giving him a goofy smile. When Gray wraps his arm around Natsu and kisses the top of his head, Natsu waves at one of the flight attendants and whispers, “C’est mon chum.”

He falls asleep before they’re over the ocean, curled up and snoring with an arm across Gray’s stomach. “He’s very sweet,” the stewardess says when she returns with the snack cart. “You’re lucky.”

“Yeah,” Gray says, staring down at the tattoos across the back of Natsu’s hands. “I am.”

~

“Gray!”

The busy crowd in the Arrivals area of the Montréal airport parts and Cana appears, darting between people until she can pull Gray into a hug. He sighs happily, wrapping an arm around her.

“Hey, you,” he says, kissing her cheek.

“Merry belated Christmas,” Cana says, pulling back and squeezing Gray’s arm. “How was the…” She trails off, realizing that Natsu is standing just behind Gray – and that they’re holding hands. “Oh?” she says, raising an eyebrow at Gray.

“You must be Cana,” Natsu says, letting go of Gray’s hand and reaching out to shake Cana’s instead. “I’m Natsu.”

“I saw lots of pictures of you,” Cana says, grinning at him. “So you’re the lucky one who got stuck with my brother for three weeks, huh?”

“I am.” Natsu shifts his backpack on his shoulder and looks back at Gray with a shy smile. “It was really nice.”

Before Cana can ask any embarrassing questions – especially in the middle of the airport – Gray grabs Natsu’s hand again and quickly says, “Yes, we’re dating, no, you can’t ask any questions about it.”

“I called it!” Lucy says, appearing behind Cana and wrapping an arm around her waist. “Cana wasn’t convinced because you’ve never—”

“I said no questions,” Gray grumbles as Natsu laughs.

“You’re adorable,” Cana reassures him, then nods toward the airport doors. “Shall we?”

Gray turns to Natsu, realizing that he’d never asked what Natsu’s plans were now that they were back home. “Do you—what’re you…”

“I was gonna call a cab to get home,” Natsu says, but he looks reluctant. Gray shakes his head.

“Don’t be silly,” he says, tugging on Natsu’s hand. “We can drive you.” A disappointed sensation spreads through him at the thought of being apart from Natsu after all their time together – he’s not quite ready to say goodbye, even if it would only be temporary. “Actually,” he says, staring down at their hands, “Would you—do you wanna come over for a bit?”

Natsu brightens, smile spreading across his face and lighting up his eyes. “Yeah,” he says, leaning in and pressing a quick kiss to Gray’s cheek. “Yeah, I’d really like that.”

[theclaravoyant]

Pride prompt Coffee shop AU wheee Skye is kicked out by her foster parents and she runs into May who decides to take her home where she lives with her girlfriend Natasha

AN ~ lucky you get to jump the queue as it allows me to cover a few further up the list as well :D I hope you all like your found families with an extra helping of Gay™ this time of year! also tagging @mocking-point who prompted me something similar a while back in relation to this fic (tw: abuse), and @the-shy-and-anxious-fangirl, sorry I don’t write much Maria, but I put a little of her in here for you

main relationships: Skye & May, May x Nat. some background Skimmons.

Rated T mostly for swearing and some sexual references, but in this fic Skye is underage, so I won’t be writing any smut for it, though I am open to other prompts in this ‘verse.

Read on AO3 (~2000 words)

Where the Heart Is

There was always a place at Mack’s with her name on it, the manager had told Skye once. She’d been grateful for it at the time, but never more than in this moment, as she hissed and swore at her computer screen and its crappy wifi and everything that her day, so far, had been. She had a backpack, a duffel, and her computer bag surrounding her like rounded wagons; all her belongings in the world not even reaching the other side of the booth. She had a table at Mack’s with her name on it, and not much else except the tears running down her face.

“Shit- fuck – shit!” she muttered, wiping furiously at her tears and raking her hair back in one hand. Lincoln was out of town, Fitz and his mother barely had enough room for themselves, and Jemma was probably having her own ass handed to her right at this very moment. Mack had his daughter to think about, and Skye had way too much damage to bring herself to taint their lives with hers. She dragged her hands down her face, all the guilt and fear and panic combining into bitter-tasting, gut-wrenching shit.

“Can I help you?”

Skye was almost feeling too bad to be ashamed as she looked toward the source of the voice. It was an older woman, Chinese like her – and American-born too, by the sound of things. She looked… not emotionless, exactly, nor uncaring. A little bored, perhaps, and more than a shade judgemental, Skye would say, about the tirade of curses she’d been muttering for a while now. She took a moment to wonder why one of the staff hand’t asked her to be quiet or to leave, before she realised that the woman was still standing there.

“Sorry,” Skye said. “I got – I got kicked out again, that’s all, from this foster home place, and normally I’d crash at my friend Hunter’s but he’s got this new asshole landlord so I can only ask maybe one night out of him and everyone else I know can’t help so basically I’m fucked and I’m going to have to go back to St Agnes and then I’m really fucked and –“

The woman’s facial expression had barely changed. Maybe it wasn’t the swearing she’d hated, Skye speculated. Maybe it was just words.

“Sorry,” she said again. “Thanks for your concern but basically, unless you’ve got a spare room I can have for – well, pretty much free at this point – no, you can’t really help I don’t think.”

Skye turned her attention back to her computer screen, and to the swarm of Facebook messages that announced disappointment after disappointment. She closed the page and opened another blank one. There must be some kind of work-sharing, noticeboard exchange site that would help her out, surely. But what would she find there? Would she be willing to – what was it called, ‘bang for roof’? Was that even legal?

“Why’d you get kicked out?”

Skye jumped.

“Je-sus!” she exclaimed. The unflappable Asian woman was still there. Her odd, hard-to-read expression mad Skye want to spill all her secrets. She was homeless and crying in a diner anyway; what did she really have to lose?

“I had sex,” Skye confessed. “In their house. With a girl.” She shook her head. “To be honest, I’m not entirely sure which part bothered them more, but I know what I’ll be hearing from the nuns about.”

She rolled her eyes, and put a smile on it. The stranger’s face changed. It was hard to tell, moving from one emotion to another on such a small scale, but there was something in it, Skye was sure. And it was something that, bizarrely enough, made her feel hopeful.

The woman took a pen out of her pocket, reached for a napkin, and wrote down an address.

“My name is May,” she said, sliding the napkin to Skye. “There’s a room here, if you want it.”

Skye felt her stomach twist. Her instincts made her want to trust May, but they’d also let her fall in love with the last place she’d stayed, and she’d been all but chased out over the threshold just now. Clearly her radar was off. At least on www.4-let.com she knew she could trust that sketchy feeling.

But when she looked up to decline the offer, May was gone.

-

She wasn’t sure what made her keep the napkin. Desperate times called for desperate measures, she supposed. For whatever reason though, it wasn’t long before it was playing on her mind again. Skye lay wide-awake on Hunter’s couch, staring up at an old, familiar stain on the roof. She’d spent many a comforting night on this couch, but this one seemed to get longer and harder as it went on, as if the bed and the roof were screaming at her in a language she could barely understand, that tonight was the last night she would even have this.

Unless.

The hairs tingled on her arms. It almost felt like the napkin was whispering to her, keeping her up until, at some point, she must have drifted off because she did remember waking, and what was there to wake from if not sleep? She felt about as fresh as the towels in Hunter’s bathroom, but nevertheless, she did manage to drag herself to the kitchen for a coffee and a bagel. Munching on one of the small joys she still had left in life, Skye pulled the napkin out of yesterday’s jacket pocket. It no longer seemed so menacing in the daylight, but for that unsettling feeling of wanting to trust it that came over Skye again.

Desperate times, she reminded herself, and took a picture of the napkin with her phone. On the sheet itself, she scrawled:

In case I get murdered, I’m at this address.If you haven’t heard from me by 5pm, call me, then call police.

Being back at Agnes was better than being dead, after all. Skye capped the pen with a short, sharp, satisfied sigh. That was it now, she thought. She’d committed, to the visit at least. No backing out.

It was with this attitude – albeit a little battered from her shift at work – that Skye got off the bus later that afternoon in front of an old blue and white colonial, behind a low brick wall and a slightly scrappy garden. She let herself through the gate and took a deep breath as she approached the door. It certainly felt like finding a new home, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. And, she recalled, it was the middle of the afternoon. If May had any kind of regular adult life, there might not be anyone home after all.

Skye was contemplating bailing when a smiling face appeared from around the corner of the house. It was another woman, a little younger than May, with short flame-bright red hair. She carried a small potted plant in one hand and a trowel in the other, which Skye thought was a little odd given the state of the garden, and in the middle of the day, but it was not the strangest thing she’d ever seen. Certainly not as strange as giving a crying girl in a coffee shop your home address.

“Hi,” greeted the woman. “Ni hao.”

“Uh, hi,” Skye greeted eventually. “Sorry, I don’t – I don’t speak much Mandarin. I’m a California girl.”

“What brings you to these parts then, hm?” the woman asked.

“I’m looking for May?” Skye pulled out her phone and showed the woman the photo of the napkin. “She gave me this.”

The woman smiled fondly at it.

“Alright then. Come on in, I’ll give you the tour. I’m Natasha by the way. Call me Nat.”

“Skye.”

She followed Nat inside and was shown around; upstairs, downstairs, the bathrooms, the kitchen. When they got there, Nat offered her a drink, and started making coffee before she could answer.

“Any questions?”

Skye was distracted by the pictures on the fridge. This was definitely May’s house. In fact, judging by some of these photographs, it was May and Nat’s house. Skye smiled, feeling her heart clench at a particularly domestic shot of the two of them: a younger couple, in front of their home – sold! – and both of them with matching smiles, broad and toothy, and with their arms around each other, as if they’d been laughing before the shot or about to collapse into it. It felt like such a distant dream, that she could be that happy. It was heartening beyond what she could have imagined, to feel that happiness – and so much more – in the bones of this house.

Nat sidled up beside Skye, smiling to herself.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” Skye said, blushing a little as she turned away from the fridge and accepted the coffee Nat held out. Nat shrugged.

“We wouldn’t keep them on the fridge if we didn’t want visitors seeing,” she explained. “And it’s not like you wouldn’t figure it out, if you moved in. We like to get any awkward questions out of the way early.”

Skye nodded. “I can appreciate that.”

“May tells me that shouldn’t be a problem with you though, should it?” Nat raised an eyebrow, the implication so unavoidable that Skye blushed a little.

“I guess not,” she said. “As long as it doesn’t bother you?”

“Only after 9pm on a school night.”

Skye snorted.

“And you’re telling me I can stay here – for as long as I want – for free?”

“As far as we’re concerned? Absolutely. Legally? That’s a different matter. Fortunately, we have a lawyer coming to help us out. May’s with her now.”

“You knew I was coming?” Skye wondered. Nat smiled cryptically.

“May did.”

“How? Even I didn’t know I was coming ‘til this morning.”

“Yes you did,” Nat replied simply. Skye raised her eyebrows, but drank her coffee. It was a stranger day than she’d been expecting, but she knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth.

There was a knock at the door and then it opened, and a tall dark-haired woman with a face that reminded Skye of an eagle marched through it enthusiastically, tailed by May, who was even smiling a little. She knew Skye would be here, and she knew that Skye would be impressed that she’d been anticipated.

“This is Maria,” Nat said, gesturing between them. “This is Skye.”

“Maria Hill,” the other woman said, holding out her hand. Her suit and stern features gave Skye the impression that she’d be just as straight-laced as May, but there was a sparkle of amusement in her eyes. “Ace attorney. Welcome to Nat and May’s Forever Home for Wayward Gays. It’s nice to meet you.”

Skye blinked, confused, and forgot the actual shaking part of the handshake for a moment.

“Forever what-now?”

Nat groaned. May rolled her eyes.

“Nothing,” Maria brushed her off with a cheeky shrug. “It really is nice to meet you. It’s just, these two get me around for custody stuff fairly often, that’s all. There’s often sensitive issues at play and it’s nice to have somebody from, you know, ‘the community’ on the case.”

“You’re – I mean you’re –“ Skye glanced at the photograph on the fridge. “Too?”

Maria shook her head.

“Ace, baby, all the way. But we take all sorts here.”

“Really?” It was not lost on any of them, the way Skye’s face lit up, and she blushed a little. After so many years being raised by a stifling church, and their network of often-just-as-stifling foster applicants, this was starting to feel like a whole new world. And she thought of Jemma, and if that went wrong, and of what if it did and they could live here, together, in this little piece of freedom. And even if they couldn’t – which would be good, of course, if Jemma could stay with her family who loved her – Skye could feel herself breathing easier here already.

May pulled something out of her pocket, and put it on the counter. A key.

“It’s yours if you want it,” she said.

Skye didn’t have to be asked twice.