#valentine's day might be over for some of u but... this took me too long to do lmao

[moogey-likes-things]

FNAF SB HC 30:VALENTINE’S DAY!!!

I���m sorry this took me so long to post!

Warnings: None, FLUFF

Situation: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! Between the gang and S/O reader!

REBLOGS APPRECIATED

ASKS WELCOME FOR ALL OR INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERS

Freddy – Boy, he's been waiting for this! He's done his homework, too. Researching traditions, asking you for all your favorites, he's ready to spend the whole day with you doing anything and everything he can to make sure you feel loved and appreciated! Your favorite meal will be ready for dinner. He's got your favorite movie lined up, and he's got a gift for you, too! You'd better be ready to be doted on and given all the cheesy, loving words you can handle!

Chica – She will have a veritable buffet of goodies for you to munch on all day long. She's got activities planned. You'll use up all that sugar you consumed! She'll hold your hand and be giggly the whole time. She'll make sure you have fun no matter what. When you both get some down time, just relaxing, she'll hold you close to her and pet your head. She'll tell you everything she loves about you. The day will end wit the exchanging of gifts. She'll have chosen something for you to wear, expertly chosen, by the way!

Roxy – She wants to take an intimate approach. She'll take you on a ride around the track a few times, at a much slower pace than normal. After that, it's back to her room. She'll give you a makeover, kissing you lots all the while, then sit you down for long cuddles and movies. She's definitely going to feed you your favorite sweets by hand, maybe even mouth to mouth, getting in even more kisses.

Monty – He's not really sure what to do with himself, or you. He'll let you take the lead on this day, letting you pick the activities and meals. He's happy to let you do what you please, but he'll find a way to ass his own little touch to it all. In the end what he wants most is physical contact with you. Snuggles and scratched on the head and chin, given or received! He'll be a happy gator so long as all the lovin' is between you two.

Bonnie – He will want to make things special. He'll try to find things that aren't too full of other people. He wants things to be sweet, fun, and intimate. He'll be complimenting you all day, touching your hands and staring dreamily into your eyes. You are so allowed to snuggle u to him all you want. You can touch the ears, too. You'll get lots of nose to nose boops and multitudes of kissed on your cheeks, as well as anywhere else you like them! Your gift will be a well chosen one. It's going to mean something to you both!

Foxy – Pleasure cruise? You bet! Well, as close as he can get you to it, at least. You'll have dinner and dancing in candlelight on the deck of his ship. He'll treat you like royalty. He will sing silly, happy songs of love to you and lavish you with all the treasure he can. Anything you want shall be yours on this day! Kisses, quality time, hugs, pets, anything! You name it and he will give it to you. He only wants you to love him and promise that you will be there the next year to celebrate again.

Sun – What a corn ball, but in the sweetest way. Hearts, hearts everywhere. He will go nuts creating decorations and little gifts for you. More than one picture, and maybe even more than one card. He will write all sorts of lovey poetry for you and recite it happily, all while trying not to overheat. He will have lots for you both to do, but he really really hope he can have kisses? Please? And maybe hold your hand?

Moon – He might be a little silly, maybe even old fashioned, but he wants to dance with you. Slow dances in the dim light of candles, or even nearly no light at all. He will play all sorts of love songs meant for slow dancing, all the best oldies and the like. He will hold you close and speak softly to you as he tells you how happy he is that you are his. His kisses will come in multitudes, light and fluttering all over your face and head. His gift will be something comfortable that you can wear all the time.

DJ – On the subject of music, your gift from the big guy himself is a playlist of songs mixed and made just for you! He cant do much in the way of activities with you, but he would very gladly hold you for as long as you want. He does hope that you will nap with him. He will be extra careful of you, making sure you are safe and comfortable above all! Literally.

[fangirl-writes]

Pop Culture

Benny Weir x Reader

Request:  hey i hope ur doing well! would u be able to do a benny x fem!reader where she’s really popular and has a crush on him and isn’t shy about it. benny likes her a lot too but he’s scared that she’ll just end up leaving him for another popular kid. so she makes multiple public declarations as well as takes him on a string of extravagant dates to show him how much she truly likes him.

Warning(s): none. A lot of star wars references. Like. A LOT.

Notes: I am doing fine thank you! Sorry for taking so long with this one. This was cute. I got a little side tracked from the main request and just went all in with the star wars theme, I’m so sorry.

Y/N L/N was one of the most popular girls in school. That was undoubtable. She was a cheerleader, head of the prom committee, former homecoming queen, and her parents were one of the richest people in town.

But the fact that she had the biggest crush on Benny Weir, resident star wars lover, science wiz, and all around huge geek? Unbelievable.

Extremely unbelievable in Benny’s opinion, even if she had grown up in the house across the street from him.

And Y/N wasn’t shy about her crush on him. In fact, she was very unsubtle about it.

She left him hoards of candy in his locker, hung a bouquet of roses for valentine’s day, and stood on a cafeteria table to wish him the grandest of happy birthdays. 

“Benny!” She cooed as she walked down the hallway with some of her other friends, who were currently rolling their eyes so far into the back of their heads that the nerd squad thought they might get stuck.

“Oh, no,” Benny said, a blush spreading across his cheeks as she approached him, Ethan, and Rory, leaving her posse behind.

“Benny, I rented out the entire movie theater for a star wars marathon this weekend, if you’re free?” She asked.

Benny could barely concentrate on what she said because of how close she was. He could smell her sugary perfume and see the school fluorescents shining in her pretty (e/c) eyes.

He stumbled over his words for a minute before spitting out, “Can’t! Already got plans with Ethan, can’t back out, been planning it for months, years, a whole decade. Can’t miss it.”

“We have?”

Benny elbowed Ethan in the ribs.

“Oh. Right, those plans. Yeah.”

You frowned, looking disappointed. “Oh. Okay.”

Your smile returned for a minute. “Can we reschedule then? Is tonight good for you?”

“Ah, well, you know what-”

The screech of the school bell interrupted him and he looked relieved.

“Well, look at that, saved by the bell! Sorry, Y/N, gotta get to class.” He took off down the hallway. It was the fastest Ethan had ever seen Benny run.

You turned to Ethan, looking more devastated than ever. “He hates me, doesn’t he?”

“Who? Benny?” he replied. “No. No, he doesn’t hate you.”

“Then why does he keep giving me excuses? The old Benny would straight up turn me down...” You said, crossing your arms and staring at the floor.

Ethan put a hand on your shoulder. “Hey, Benny absolutely doesn’t hate you. He’s just...nervous, I guess.”

“Nervous?” You echoed. “About what?”

“Well, you’re really popular and he’s...well, he’s Benny. He’s just afraid that you’re gonna leave him for someone like David Stachowski.”

You pulled a face. “Hairy Dave? No thanks. He’s dog.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Ethan muttered.

“And you guys know I’m the same Y/N, right? Just because I run with a more popular crowd doesn’t mean I stopped liking nerdy things and stopped thinking about my nerdy friends.”

Ethan laughed. “It’s just a big change from how it used to be. You don’t have braces and a star wars backpack anymore.”

You returned the laugh, remembering how you used to be. “Well, I’ll just have to prove it to him. Will you help me?”

Ethan’s face contorted. “Ah, I don’t know...”

“Come on! Help me, Ethan Skywalker! You’re my only hope!”

Ethan sighed. You got him.

“Fine.”

“Yes!” You wrapped him in a hug. “Now let’s get to class!”

***

“Is everything ready?” You asked Ethan over the phone.

“Yeah, good on your end?” He replied.

“Yep. Movie theater is set. All up to you now.”

“On it.” He said before hanging up and shoving the phone in his pocket. He took a deep breath before bursting into Benny’s house and running up the stairs frantically.

“Benny!” Ethan shouted slamming his bedroom door open.

Benny let out a high pitched scream, falling from his desk chair onto the floor.

“They’ve got Y/N!”

“What?!” Benny bolted upright. “Who’s got Y/N?”

“A couple vampires out for revenge. They must have seen us talking at school the other day. They’ve got her trapped at the movie theater-”

“What are we waiting for?” Benny said, bolting out the door passed Ethan. “Let’s go! Grandma I’m taking the car!”

Ethan waved to Benny’s grandmother as he ran passed her, following Benny out the door.

He hoped this worked.

***

Benny parked the car and was about to run into the theater, guns blazing, but Ethan caught his elbow.

“Wait, wait, we can’t just burst in there! Look!” He said, pointing to the sign that read ‘Star Wars Original Trilogy Marathon - Tonight Only!’ People stood in a line out of the theater, dressed to impress in various Star Wars get ups.

Benny cursed. “Of course, the one time we need to get in there quickly they’re having a special screening.”

“We can use the side door,” Ethan said. “And here” - he handed Benny a storm trooper helmet - “we’ve gotta blend in or they’ll see us coming.”

Benny groaned. “They could be sucking her dry right now!”

“They want us, not her. And Y/N is not helpless. And I’ve got Erica and Sarah already in there scoping the place.”

“You called them before me!”

“They’re vampires!”

Benny just grumbled and put the helmet on, crossing his arms.

Ethan rolled his eyes. “Put on the costume and let’s go.”

***

Ethan and Benny snuck through the side door, dressed fully in storm trooper get up.

“This sucks, E. I can’t see a thing in this helmet.”

“What do you want from me, B?” Ethan retorted.

He suddenly let out a gasp and turned to Ethan. “Oh my god, E. This is a New Hope. I’m Han, you’re Luke, and Y/N is Leia. Yes! This is like my perfect dream.”

Ethan groaned. “I wish I could argue with you.”

“Ethan, Benny!”

The two turned to see Sarah and Erica running their way.

“What’re you guys doing here?” Ethan asked.

“What?” Benny turned to Ethan. “You called them, right?”

“Uh-”

“There’s a bunch of vampires here. Some of Jesse’s old friends that want revenge for his death.” Sarah explained.

“They’ve got the whole place on lockdown. They’re planning on locking all the star wars nerds in here and feasting.” Erica said.

“Oh my god, this is exactly like Star Wars!” Benny gushed.

“Yeah, okay, Han Solo, chill.” Ethan said. “But that does give me an idea. Where are they hiding?”

***

Erica scowled as Ethan and Benny led them up the stairs like prisoners. “I never agreed to being Chewbacca.”

“Shh. No choice.” Ethan retorted before pushing open the door to the control room.

There were three vampires sitting in there, they were staring out the small window, watching the movie before turning to the now open door.

“Who are you? And what have you here?” One of them sneered.

“We’re with you. Had to dress up to blend in. Caught these two trying to pull the fire alarm. Thought you might want to deal with them.”

Erica hissed at them and the leader, grabbed her by the chin. “Such a pretty face. Shame we’ll have to kill you.”

Erica kneed him in the crotch, making him groan.

“Look out! They’re loose!” Benny quoted, letting go of Sarah’s arms so that she could assist in beating the crap out of the three of them.

It was a good thing that Star Wars was a rather loud movie or the crowd might have been alarmed by all of the noise.

“All right, you scum,” Benny said, grabbing one that was barely conscious. “Where’s Y/N?”

“Benny-”

“Tell me!”

“Benny!”

“What?” Benny yelled at Ethan.

“They don’t have her. This was supposed to be a surprise for you. We were gonna find her in one of the empty rooms in the theater and then she was gonna take you to an empty theater and you two were gonna watch the marathon together. But now she’s alone in a room with a bunch of vampires around.”

“What?” Benny shouted. “For the love of- You go and get her, we’ll hold them here.”

“You mean we” - Erica gestured between her and Sarah - “will hold them.”

“Yeah, whatever, just go her!”

Benny pulled off the helmet and sighed.

“She really likes you, you know.” Sarah said.

“Come on,” Benny said with a bitter laugh. “Maybe right now, but once she gets me she’ll be off to the next guy in a week. That’s how they all are.”

“Not Y/N.” Erica replied. “She doesn’t get around. Never has. Her last boyfriend was a dick so if she’s pursuing you, she must really like you.”

Benny sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’m just scared. We kinda run in two different circles now, you know?”

“And you can’t overlap? According to what? The rules of high school? The world isn’t so black and white, Benny.” Sarah encouraged.

****

Ethan rushed down the hallway, looking on the door numbers for 2187 (a number you had modified for the surprise).

“Yes!” Ethan said, reaching the door. He quickly pulled it open to find you laying there on a table, decked out in an impressive Princess Leia costume. It looked like you’d fallen asleep.

“Y/N!” He called and you sat up.

“Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?” You said cheekily. “Where’s Benny?”

Ethan rolled his eyes, pulling off his helmet. “No time!”

“Come on, say the line!”

“What? No, you don’t understand-”

“Ethan! Say the line!” You whined.

He sighed. “I’m Ethan Skywalker, I’m here to rescue you.”

You grinned broadly. “Thank you.”

“But seriously, I’m rescuing you. There are vampires here, and we need to get back to Benny, Sarah, and Erica.

“What?” You shouted, processing the information.

“Sarah and Erica are vampires. Good ones. But there are evil ones here that are planning on sucking the souls out of everyone in the theater and we’ve got to get them and you out of here.”

“What? Where’s Benny?”

“Come on!” Ethan encouraged and, just like the movie, you ran out first despite not knowing where you were going.

***

You met back up with Benny, Sarah, and Erica in the hallway, as they were backed against the wall with more vampires on the way.

“Where are they all coming from?” Sarah said, spraying a holy water gun and knocking one down.

“I don’t know but I know for sure we can’t get out that way.” Benny said.

“Looks like you cut off our only escape route. All the doors are that way!” You replied.

“Oh, I’m sorry, perhaps you'd like it back in your cell, Princess Leia!” Benny bit back at you sarcastically.

“Ethan, are the sprinklers still lined with holy water?”

“I don’t know. I never did anything to take it out.”

“Let’s give it a try!” Erica said, pulling out her lighter and holding it up to the sprinkler above her head, covering herself with her leather jacket and Sarah holding up an umbrella she had been using as a weapon.

The water almost immediately started spraying out, setting off the fire alarm and soaking the vampires attacking you, burning and hissing all the way down.

“What is your problem?” You hissed at Benny.

“Well, we wouldn’t be cornered if you hadn’t lured me here! And by using Ethan! I feel betrayed!”

“Oh, I’m sorry for trying to prove to you that I like you!”

“Ha! If you really liked me you wouldn’t have become so popular! Leaving your real friends to rot in geek town!”

“That wasn’t my fault! I did what I liked! You guys are the ones who thought I needed to change just because I did similar activities to the other rich kids!”

“Guys!” Ethan interrupted. “Not the time! We need a way out. Now.”

“Oh for the love of-” You rolled your eyes and opened up the trash cute. “Everybody in!”

“Ew. Do we have to go full star wars?” Sarah asked.

“Would you rather chance the holy water river?” You replied, pointing to the floor that was slowly filling up with more water.

“Good point. Let’s go!”

Sarah entered first, followed by Erica, then Ethan, then you, then Benny.

You all were spit out into the dumpster that was full of candy wrappers, old popcorn, and soda cups.

Erica toppled into Sarah and Ethan rammed into her. You managed to avoid their collision only to have Benny slam into you from behind.

You all groaned at the impact and rolled around for a minute, picking popcorn and sticky candy out of your hair and clothes.

“Oh, I’m gonna need a shower.” Ethan groaned.

“After this I think you all deserve a spa.” You said. “I’ll buy.”

“You better.”

“Well, that was not how I foresaw this night going,” You said, standing up with the others and pulling a candy wrapper out of your hair.

Benny stood up, picking garbage off his clothes, and let out a chuckle. “What? Did you think that I was gonna give in just because of your big gesture?”

You turned on him with fiery eyes. “Would you just get it through your thick skull? I like you, okay? I’m not gonna break up with you in a week, I’m not gonna cheat on you, I’m not gonna try to convert you to a jock. Benny I’ve liked you since third grade! I just got enough confidence to tell you and you keep avoiding me every chance you get! If you don’t like me would you just tell me? It would save me a lot of time and money!”

“Not that that would be a problem for you, rich girl!”

“Well, I’m sorry my parents are wealthy! I’m sorry you live with your grandmother and not in a mansion! We’re different but quit painting me as the villain in your pathetic hero story!”

You both were fuming at each other. Erica, Sarah, and Ethan were standing with wide eyes watching this go down.

“Well, maybe if you had just stuck with your real friends we wouldn’t be in this situation!”

“I did! You guys are the ones who treated me like I’d been converted to a cult!”

“Not much different!”

“What is your problem with popular people? You have some sort of nerd code that says you can’t get along with them? Weren’t you the one who was friends with David Stachowski?”

“That’s a different story! He chose us!”

“So did I!”

“No. You didn’t choose us, you chose to have sleepovers with the cheerleaders and go to country club parties and be homecoming queen!”

“I can have more than one group of friends, you know? But do you know who I had hoped would be there for me when I needed it? You guys. Ethan was. You’re the one who keeps running away from me!”

“Well, I’m sorry I think I’m not good enough for you!”

“You’ve always been good enough for me!”

“Well, then I guess I’m saying yes!”

“To what?”

“Everything. All of it. Every date you’ve asked me on, every invitation to a dance, every declaration of love. Yes. I love you. Yes.”

Tears were in your eyes now and you threw yourself into his arms, burying your face into his neck.

Benny hugged you back, as tightly as he could without hurting you.

“You smell like garbage,” you whispered.

He laughed. “So do you.”

Suddenly there was clapping from behind you.

You turned to see Erica slow-clapping. “Well, as much fun and as that rom-com moment was. Can we get out of the dumpster now?”

And you did.

It was safe to say your Leia dress was probably ruined, but you would probably keep it anyway.

Benny held your hand all the way to the car.

You hoped this was the start of something wonderful.

[serowotonin]

❝︎be mine❞︎ | valentine’s special

➽─ a love letters collab piece dedicated to @play90soi ─❥

#SYNOPSIS ❥ a letter of confession after nearly a year leads you back to a lost love.

#PAIRING ❥ ushijima wakatoshi x gn!reader #WORDCOUNT ❥ 1.3k #GENRE ❥ mostly fluff, maybe a bit of angst? exes to lovers #WARNING ❥ mentions of breakup, uh not well written emotions, unedited

#NOTE ❥ um it’s not the best but happy late valentines !! and i hope u like it<3

Dear L/n Y/n,

This Valentine’s would be the first we spend together as a couple and I’m hoping I will be able to make it memorable enough for you. Although we haven’t been together long, I have grown very fond of you over these last 2 months. Which is why I wanted to give you something special and personal for Valentine’s day. 

I have never given anyone anything on Valentine’s day before so please forgive me if what I prepared wasn’t enough. 

Honestly, I don’t know what to write in this letter. Tendou says to just write how I feel about you but my feelings are somewhat hard to describe.

If I think about it, I would say being with you is as fun as playing volleyball. They are different of course but as volleyball is a big part of my life, so are you.

You are easy to talk to and a generally engaging person to be around. There are many things about you I find curious and drawn to but all of those little things make you who you are and I am drawn to you as a whole. 

I know I may not be as expressive as others but do know I care for you a great deal and do take notice of the little things about you. I may not show it outwardly though as I am unsure how to. The best example of this would be when you smile.

I don’t know how to react when you smile because it gives me an indescribable feeling I want to feel again when the moment fades. This is why I often bring you your favorite foods or snacks. It is to see that smile painted on your happy, cheerful face. 

Hopefully, this letter too will bring a smile to your face.

Happy Valentine’s day Y/n. Thank you for being patient with me so far and thank you for being in my life. 

Sincerely,

Ushijima Wakatoshi

You stared at the letter in your hand. This wasn’t your first time reading it, but funnily enough, you still felt all the same emotions as you did the first time around.

It was hard to believe that was two years ago, when you and Ushijima were experiencing the freshness of high school romance, and all the ups and downs that came with it afterwards.

Would you say you miss him? You did. But you two were on a break… a break that seems to be lasting nearly as long as the time you two were together.

It was for the best though. High school relationships barely made it past college anyways. You two were both busy people too.

Well, those were the same excuses you always used.

Excuses or not, you two weren’t together at the moment and although you may not want to admit it, it hurts.

It hurts even more once you realized tomorrow was going to be Valentine’s day. 

First time spending it alone in a while… Oh well, no point in dwelling on it too much now. Might as well just go to sleep. 

➽───────────────❥

Waking up to sunlight streaming through the cracks of your curtains would’ve been a great way to start the day was it not for the terrorizing shrieking of your alarm clock that accompanied it. 

Tired, you moved one hand to shut the alarm as the other pulled off the blankets with a flourish. 

Yes today was Valentine’s day, but it was also a Sunday, your day off. 

After a satisfactory breakfast and shower, you draped yourself lazily on the couch thinking of anything you could do today. 

‘There was that pile of mail from yesterday I could go through?’

And so you left the couch in favor of something more productive.

Pulling the pile of envelopes from the cupboard in which you stashed them, you brought them over to a nearby table and begun sorting through them.

Most were just the usual, coupons and bills. There were some advertisements littered through the pile too, and an envelope with familiar handwriting adorning the front.

You took in a deep breath, and opened the envelope. Unfolding the paper found inside, you were met with the same curves and strokes from the letter you read just last night.

Dear L/n Y/n,

How are you? It’s been a while since we talked to each other. It’s been even longer since we’ve seen each other last. I hope you are doing well, in both your studies and any other ventures you may have. 

You might wonder why I sent you this letter after all this time and the truth is that I miss you. It took me a while to realize but I miss being with you. You were always a comforting force and my rest from volleyball and school activities.

I understand that we aren’t together now due to distance and the fact that we’re both busy people. I am not asking that we get back together because that in itself would have enough complications. However, if you’re willing, I would like to at least be able to spend a day with you.

Are you free on Valentine’s this year? Because if you are, I would like you to be mine again, if only for a day.

Sincerely,

Ushijima Wakatoshi 

You read it once, twice, and once again. Were your eyes deceiving you or did Ushijima just write you a love letter, again, nearly a year after you broke up. 

You looked at the date and saw this was sent to you almost a week ago, but since you didn’t collect your mail until yesterday you didn’t see it..

You started panicking slightly wondering if it’s too late to answer. It was still morning though. There was still time.

Rushing to find your phone, you opened your contacts and scrolled down to Ushijima’s name. Before you could think, you pressed call and held the phone to your ear, waiting for a response.

On the second ring, he picked up.

“Hello Y/n.”

“Hi.. Ushi,” you replied not quite sure what to call him. “Um I just read the letter you sent me and I’m sorry for the really late reply but yes.”

You heard a deep breath from the other end.

“Yes..?”

“Yes I am free today and yes I would like to be yours again.”

He didn’t say anything but you swear you could see him smiling through the phone.

“Then, shall I come over to your place?”

“That would be great. Thank you Ushi.”

“Thank you too Y/n. I’ll see you in a while.”

“Ok, see you.”

➽───────────────❥

As night grew and morning loomed close, it was time he left. Today had been enjoyable, more than that even, and you could tell Ushijima felt the same.

Goodbyes were difficult, this one seeming especially so. Standing at your door, he turned to face you.

He didn’t seem to know what to say and neither did you. 

“I’ll be going now then. Goodnigh—“

“Wait, um, I know you said only for a day but really, I don’t think I want it to just be a day…”

He looked at you, eyes widened, and he smiled. 

“I didn’t want it to be just for a day either.” 

You smiled back, “Well, I guess we’ll figure something out then?”

“I’m free on Wednesday if you want to talk and figure it out,” he replied almost instantly.

“I think I’m free too. It’ll be a date then.”

He nodded and looked at the time, saying he probably should get going now. As he opened the door though, you snuck closer and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. You could see he practically melted at that but he didn’t say anything except for a goodbye and a goodnight.

You returned those before closing the door behind him and walking back to your room.

Laying on your bed a while later, you stared up at the ceiling.

You weren’t sure what the future would hold, but you knew you were looking forward to what’s coming.

#TAGLIST ❥ @lilikags @luna-in-luv

[timbertumbr]

Can I request a BHC! Ash x reader if that’s alright

Opposites Attract (BHC! Ash X Reader) Requested

Here ya go Anon! Sorry it took a while.

Ash is kind, shy, quiet and overall an introvert. You are the exact opposite, talkative, sociable, chill and best of all, a great listener if need be. The very definition of an extrovert. So here you were, helping Poplar in the kitchen when he asks you to do something for him.

“You want me to hang out with your brother?” 

“Yes! I Think It Would Really Help Him!” You mull over his answer as you hand him some spices. 

“Sure, but would he be okay with that?” You wouldn’t want to make the poor skele uncomfortable.

“Most Likely! Before Certain… Events, He Always Had A Good Eye For Good People!” You nod.

“Alright, then how do you suggest I go about it?” Might as well ask the expert himself right?

“I’m Glad You Asked!” He proceeds to tell you how to win his brother over without making him uncomfortable. 

________

Ash puts on his sun hat and opens the door to the backyard to see you watering some of the plants. He pauses in his step and stares, he… wasn’t expecting anyone to be out here. Especially you. You see Ash and wave at him before moving to water another patch of plants. He sighs and walks over to you.

“...How much water did you give em?” He asks, knowing Poplar probably gave you a schedule.

“The amount it says on the schedule Poplar gave me,” Nailed it.

“... I see… What plants have you not watered yet?” You put the watering can down and check the schedule.

“The poppies, the roses and the morning glories,” Wait- Really? How long have you been out here? And with no protection against the sun no less!

“...I’ll handle the rest of the watering… you go rest in the shade,” 

“But-”

“...Please?” Fuck, why he gotta be so damn cute. With a nod, you hand the schedule and the watering can to Ash and head over to the shade. While Ash watered the remaining plants, he looked at the ones you did water and was relatively surprised by how well you did. He didn’t take you for the gardening type. He finished the watering and headed on over to you.

“... Wanna help me get rid of the weeds?” You smile and go to stand up when Ash holds up a hand.

“...Wait here,” And off he went back into the house, you admired the garden while waiting for him. He soon returned and with a large sun hat.

“... I have extras just in case the others want to join me,” He explained while handing you the sun hat. With a grin, you put it on and walk to the gardening shed for a pair of gloves.

“LET’S PULL SOME WEEDS!” you exclaim while opening the door, this was going to be interesting.

____________

The skeletons invited you to a day out in the park and you agreed. The skeletons were all over the park either playing frisbee, napping, cooking, or in Ash’s case, chilling under the shade of the tree. You walk up to the chilling skeleton.

“Is it alright if I chill here?” You ask, Ash looks up at you surprised.

“Uh… S-Sure,” You sit down next to the skeleton and offer a bag of chips. He takes one with a small “thanks.” 

“Are you enjoying the park?” Ash glances at you before staring up at the sky.

“...Not really,” 

“Why’s that?”

“... Too much noise, too many people,” You nod.

“Well if that’s the case, wanna go somewhere else?” He blinks and looks at you.

“... Sure?” You smile, stand up and lend a hand to Ash.

“Great, mind if I take you somewhere?” He stares at your hand before gently taking it. You pull him up and lead him out of the park, through the woods and into a clearing.

“...Woah…” He mutters as you let go of his hand and stretch.

“I come here to take a break from society and what not, a social butterfly has to rest their wings sometimes,” Ash gives you an amused smirk and walks around the clearing admiring the wild flowers while you laid down in the grass and stared up at the sky. Ash walks over to you and looks up himself.

“...This is a good place for stargazing… Sans would like it,” You glance at the skeleton.

“Are you implying that you want to go stargazing?” Ash flushes and looks down at you.

“U-Uh, Th-That’s not,”

“I know what you were saying, but aren’t you technically Sans as well?” You counter before he could ramble, he simply nods.

“Then we’re going stargazing tonight. Unless you don’t want to,” Ash shifts his gaze to a nearby flower as he mulls over your offer.

“...Okay, but only if we tell Sans,’

“Deal,”

____________

Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months as you got to know Ash better. And oh boy, now you have a problem, a crush has developed for the soft spoken skeleton. And you have no fucking clue how to deal with it so you go to the dating master himself, Papyrus.

“YOU HAVE FALLEN FOR ASH?!” You’re quick to shush him, no one else needs to know.

“Yes, and I have no clue what to do with these feelings!” Papyrus strokes his chin in thought.

“Well, I Propose You Admit Them To Ash!” Papyrus suggests in the most quietest tone.

“WHAT?!” You whisper yell, you don’t know if you can handle this…

“No, Nuh uh, I am NOT risking the friendship I have worked so hard for,” You state firmly, You don’t want to lose Ash…

“... Not risk who’s friendship?” A familiar deep voice asks in a somewhat concerned voice. You squeak and turn to Ash, Papyrus giving you a sly grin before silently leaving the room. 

“Uh... “ You answer, a blush creeping on your face. Ash stares at you before tilting his head slightly.

“Do you… love me? Like, romantically?” He asks unsure, a familiar bluish greyish blush covering his face. Your face erupted red, damn him and his observation skills.

“M-Maybe…” You mutter, an awkward silence falling over you.

“... Ya know, You’re as sweet as a flower, and not a daisy goes by when I don’t think of you…” Ash mutters, making your blush worse.

“A-Are you serious?” Ash nods.

“As serious as my garden,” You smile.

“So… How do we do this?” You wonder, Ash smiles and holds out a hand.

“Well… if it’s alright with you, want to have a stargazing picnic tonight?” Your eyes sparkle as you gently take his hand.

“Yes, I’d love that!”

Have you heard? There's a Valentine's Oneshot Event. Click here for the ground rules.

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[gojology]

Teddybears and Shitty Cards.

back to homepage pairing : yuuji x gender neutral reader warnings : minor cursing, fluff wordcount : 1529 a/n : i hope i did u yuuji stans justice .. probably not but this is rlly good for my characterization :) also i thought that gojo wasn’t as well loved as megumi/yuuji/nanami etc but holy shit i thought wrong. my megumi and nanami fics got little to no attraction, or maybe i write them horribly, idk. is gojo satoru the best husbando in jjk? (the answer is yes.) also uh.. i didnt proof read this ████████████████  100% Complete. Enjoy your game.

     “Itadori!” you yell, panting, cupping your hands together around your mouth to amplify your voice. He had asked you prior to meet with you for Valentines in this particular park, most likely because it was Valentines day.        You had to admit, his selection in nice places was clearly defined. The views from the hill you and him sat upon was spectacular, you could see the city in it’s whole. This was amplified with the setting of the sun, a hazy beautiful orangey-yellow gradient was all the eye could see from up here.       It was definitely worth the walk up the steep hill, and you took a much needed seat and breather on the painted wooden bench, pulling out your water bottle you take a long swig, wiping the sweat off your brow as you did so.       You took a quick sneak peek at Yuuji, who was humming a tune, earbuds in. Shielding your eyes with your hand, you leaned closer into his shoulder. His thumbs were fumbling with something, which you now realized was a Nintendo Switch.       “Watcha playing?” you ask, breathing in his scent. Remnants of candy and baked goods filled your nose.        Yuuji didn’t say anything back, instead continuing to hum and mumble a few lyrics, lost in his own world.       It was only until you impatiently tapped at his broad shoulders to pay attention to you. He jolted up, looking left and right before finally realizing you were sitting next to him. Taking a deep breath in, he cheerfully smiled before taking one of his earbuds out.       “Hey! You came early~ are you excited to see me?” he questioned, setting his Nintendo Switch into his backpack before picking up what seemed to be a bag right next to him.      “Of course! Why wouldn’t I be, baby?” you reply back, grinning, deciding to pay no mind towards this bag. Yuuji was quite popular, especially revolving sports or something along the lines of that. Many famous coaches had said that he possessed super-human strength, and he had been showered in contracts with sport teams not long after those few words.       In return, this caused Yuuji to be insanely busy with many interviews and pelted with multiple adult-y stuff to do, which had hurt you exceptionally. It greatly hindered the relationship between you two. Weekly visits turned into monthly, and you couldn’t bare to see him drown in all his work. He was a busy guy, but yet always so carefree, and you didn’t want that carefree childish aspect of him to disappear. After all, that was something you loved about Yuuji.       He looked up at you with a reassuring beam, and you felt yourself melt under those warm eyes. “Aww, that makes me happy, (Y/N). Scratch that, you make me happy!” facing you, he gave you a quick peck on your cheek. Your heart bursts, it had been too long since you felt that specific thing, and you give him a gentle kiss back, running a hand through his fluffy hair.       “I missed you. It’s been too long since I’ve talked to you, lovebug. Schedule is jampacked. But I met some nice friends along the way, and my coach is super nice!” he rambled on, fumbling with the handles of this mysterious bag.       “Oh? How so?” trying to make conversation, you want to appear as interested as he talked about his coach, but you were focused on his outfit and how he looked in general.        He had gotten way more stronger, you noted. He was much more scrawnier when you two first started dating, and you wondered how his cuddles might feel like. Something that didn’t change though, was his horrible fashion sense. Wearing a turquoise t-shirt with a lemon yellow jacket over it, you almost winced. Yuuji dressed like a 6th grader who had their mom pick out clothes for them.        “...And he annoys the absolute shit out of his co-worker, Utahime. It’s funny! I also met this guy named Nanami and I have no idea how my coach and Nanami are friends. Nanami always looks like he’s on the verge of murdering him whenever he opens his mouth to speak! Oh and also me and my coach made Valentine cards together and I worked really hard on it and I just know you’ll like it! Also-”       “Alright, alright. That’s a mouthful.” you sang sarcastically, Yuuji awkwardly laughed and rubbed his hand against the back of his neck, looking at you like you had caught him stealing a cookie out of a jar at 12 AM.       “Sorry. I get carried away a lot.” he says, peering into the bottomless pit inside the bag. You couldn’t quite see what was inside of it.       “No, no. I think it’s cute, Yuuji-san! I didn’t forget how you acted in the span of 1 month, why would I be dating you if I thought you were annoying?” hoping this’ll knock some sense into him, you closely examine his body language for any changes, hoping that went through his mind.       You had to make sure, the guy was dumb when it came to social cues.       “Ohh, really?” he looked up, pointer finger on his chin, a confused expression covering his features. “I didn’t know, I’ll act more annoying for you then!”       Smacking your forehead, you studied your shoes, too giggly to look at him eye-to-eye. “That’s not what I meant, idiot.”       “...What did you mean then?” Yuuji quizzed, tilting his head to the side. You really couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, you’d think that all sport players would be brutes and be masculine and perhaps... Not stupid? But here you were.       “No bother.” waving your hand as a dismissal of the conversation, you instead lean towards the bag he was holding, fluttering your eyelashes. “What’s this?”       “It’s a surprise~” he responded, obviously giddy. You felt yourself soften once more, how could someone be so cute just answering a question?        “Hey, come on!” tugging on his arm, you try to yank the bag away, curiosity killing you. His grasp was firm, and he laughed as you did so, it felt good to hear him laugh like that again.         “Okay, okay! Fine. Here, go at it.” handing you the bag, you practically ripped the handles off, ecstatic to see what could possibly be waiting to be discovered.          Inside was an incredibly large teddy bear, soft. The color was almost exactly the same shade of Yuuji’s, and you squeal, hugging the plush.          “Awww! This is so cute! I woulda never believed you’re smart enough to get a good gift for me!” you joked, he caught the sarcasm this time, giving you a confident grin. He liked the compliments.          “It’s supposed to be me.” placing a hand onto his chest dramatically. “I don’t know if you realized though.”          Scoffing, you put the teddybear to the side. “Of course I’d realize! I’m not dumb, Yuuji-san!”          “Why not? We could be dumb together! Also, there’s something extra at the very bottom that I think you’d like.”          Blinking, you realized that you had completely forgotten about the bag between your legs. Looking back down and rummaging for what possibly could be there, you pull out a card.          On the front, there’s a tacky lopsided heart, made with glitter glue. It seems there are also many failed attempts of starting this large heart at the sides of it. At the top, there’s a large, “Happy Valentines Day!” in red marker that was also uneven. Underneath the heart? A stick figure drawing of you and Yuuji, which was also... Pretty horrible.         Stifling a giggle, you open the card, eyes scanning the left for anything, you turn to face the right as soon as you deem it clear. That’s where the writing is.         Dear Y/N,          I love you very much and I know I do not spend that much time with you anymore but you still make me very happy. My coach was very nice and gave me Valentines day off because he felt bad.      I had to run to the nearest drugstore to get you this teddybear, but me and Mr. Coach decorated this together! He says he’s a very good drawer and I agree. I think the drawing is very detailed. He also helped me with the heart (we picked out the color together) and we had a lot of fun decorating. He says my handwriting looks really bad (is that true?) can you please help me fix it later? :(                                                                           With a lot of love,                                                                              Your Boyfriend and Gojo Satoru (his cool coach that helped him write this, thank me later. I have no idea how you handle this guy, but God is he such an amazing kid.)      Looking back up from the card, you look at Yuuji, who is looking at you back, squeamish. Without another thought, you kiss him, soft and light ones on his forehead, his cheeks, his lips, everywhere on his face. When you finally pull away, both of you are staring at each other fondly.        “Yes, I’ll help you fix your handwriting, dummy.”         Yuuji gave you a toothy smile that he only saved for the special ones in his life.

[headheartbellarke]

Speak Now | WILLEX

dear @calamitykaty​ - happy valentine’s day! i’m your secret valentine, and i hope you have a brilliant, lovely day!! i just wanted to say that i absolutely adore your fics hehe :3 this one is for you, i hope u like it, you wonderful human!!

& a million thanks & kudos to @screwunsaidemily​​ / @jatpsecretvalentine​ for organizing this!! happy valentine’s day, raegan! and i hope today is as amazing as you are!!

✿◕ ‿ ◕✿

PAIRING(s): Alex Mercer x Willie, Flynn x Carrie Wilson, Julie Molina x Luke Patterson, past!Alex Mercer x Luke Patterson

WARNING(s): nothing haha just some fluff and we stan bobby in this house.. oh and some language

WORDS: 3.85k

SUMMARY: With his boyfriend marrying Carrie Wilson (well, in his defence, that’s his grandmother’s ‘dying wish’), Willie fancies himself to be the main character of a Shakespearean tragedy. Based on Speak Now by Taylor Swift.

KEEP READING BELOW OR READ ON AO3

     Willie exhales, watching his breath crystallize into tiny ice particles. He extends a hand to catch them, but that action causes the little cloud to dissipate.

  He rolls his eyes. Who has their wedding in Canada, in winter? Plus, not just on any day, but on Valentine’s Day.

  He fancies that he might as well be the main character of a Shakespearean tragedy. Watching your boyfriend get married is painful enough, but to a girl? That shit makes you feel as if your heart has a screw lodged in it. He feels as if he has the weight of the world on his shoulders.

  Willie likes to say that he hates Alex (i.e., the said boyfriend, the love, the light, the star of his life) – but that sentence leaves behind a bitter taste in his mouth, like he’s just had that weird cough syrup that his mother buys.

  Alex’s friends can definitely see through his act, like, right now.

  “Willie, relax! Everything’s gonna be alright!” Julie Molina, Alex’s bandmate, ‘unbiological sister’, and ‘best gossip partner’ exclaims. She is crouching beside him.

  “Julie, I’m not the type of guy to crash a wedding and sabotage it, especially one hosted by those…” His hand moves in circular motions, pointing to the direction of the church, where Alex’s parents are probably seated. 

  Luke Patterson, Julie’s boyfriend and Alex’s ex-boyfriend, and current best friend and bandmate pipes in. “Homophobic, racist mingers?”

  Willie grins. “Don’t know what that means but sounds accurate!”

  “You know, we are saving Alex’s life, right? Literally?” Bobby Wilson chimes in, Alex’s other best friend from his position behind them. They are currently hiding behind a table laden with sweets of all kinds, and it makes Reggie, the last of Alex’s best friend-cum-bandmates’ mouth water. 

  “I still can’t believe that his parents are forcing him to marry a girl!” Julie exclaims, ponytail bobbing as she speaks. Luke adds, “Not just any girl, but Carrie fucking Wilson.” 

  “My fucking cousin!” Bobby says, looking behind to check if anyone’s there. There is, but they’re all either part of the caterer’s group, or the waiters – they are currently outside a church, where the reception will be held, post wedding. The attendees, the families, everyone – are inside the church, for the wedding.

  “Hey, is Grandma Ruth really that sick?” Reggie finally asks, his eyes diverting from the sweets. Luke smiles sweetly at him. “I’m glad you finally decided to join us, Reginald.” 

  Reggie fails to catch the sarcasm in his tone, and he smiles brightly. Luke rolls his eyes, but a faint smile teases the corners of his lips. “Yeah, she really has stage four cancer.” 

  Julie says, “Poor Ruth.” 

  Luke huffs, “I don’t care that she’s dying – she shouldn’t fucking blackmail her grandson like that! Alex, honey, I’m dying. My dying wish, you ask? Marry someone. No, not your boyfriend of four years! Marry a girl, dummy. Homosexuality is a sin!” 

  Bobby adds, “Not just any girl, but your best friend’s cousin! Whose probably into Flynn, but, yeah, whatever.” 

  Julie smiles brightly at the mention of her best friend. “Oh, she definitely is.” 

  Reggie’s brows quirk. “I thought she was still into Nick.” 

  Bobby shakes his head. “They broke up last summer.” 

  Willie clears his throat, finally gaining some confidence. “He shouldn’t be marrying the wrong girl.” He exhales, and adds, as an afterthought, “Or any girl.” 

  “You two should be walking down the aisle, Willie.” Julie says, resting a hand on his shoulder. He nods, grateful for her support. 

  He remembers this morning, when he was at the grocery store, buying as many buckets of chocolate ice cream as he could fit in his arms. Suddenly, he had felt a warm hand wrap around the back of his throat, and he let out a yelp, dropping all the buckets. 

  He remembers thinking that the universe was against him. First, it’s the day of his boyfriend’s wedding, and along with that, someone’s here to kill him. Well, he thought, it’s better to die than – 

  “Willie!” A familiar voice exclaimed, and of course, it’s Julie – he realized that the hand that he thought was here to murder him, belonged to her. She was dressed in a long, pink, A-Line dress, that complimented her skin tone perfectly and – suddenly, Willie understood that it was a bridesmaid’s dress. Yep, she’s Carrie’s bridesmaid, along with Flynn. 

  Willie wondered if she was here to rub salt on his wound. 

  “What do you want?” He had mumbled, averting his gaze from her dress. Sure, it’s a pretty dress, but it reminds him of Alex, because he has a hoodie that he adores in the same colour. (It’s in Willie’s closet now, and he makes a mental note to burn it.) 

  “We have a plan.” She said, conspiratorially. 

  Willie sighed, leaning down to pick up the fallen containers of ice cream. “I’m not in the mood, Jules.” 

  She grinned, evilly. Or as evilly as you could while having an angelic face. 

  Sure, it took her a while to convince him to crash his boyfriend’s wedding, but on the way here, he felt as if it was worth it. Julie helped sneak him in, since he doesn’t have an invite – and he found the rest of Alex’s friends – Luke, Reggie, and Bobby waiting for him. 

  Now, as Carrie’s family emerges from the church doors, he doesn’t feel that way anymore. 

  “God, I think I’m gonna throw up just by looking at them.” Luke murmurs, while Julie slaps his shoulder. “Don’t say that, they look very… colourful.” 

  Bobby snorts. 

  Carrie’s family includes her parents, two of her cousin sisters and an aunt – and they are all dressed in pastel yellow. To be really honest, that colour looks like vomit. They stand in a circle in front of the church doors, and Willie notices her aunt rolling her eyes at the waiters. He sighs. This is the same aunt who told Carrie that ‘oh, honey, it’s just a phase’, when she came out as bisexual. 

  “Guys, guys, guys!” 

  Willie sees his cousin, Flynn, running in their direction, and stopping at their table. She huffs, catching her breath and he notices that she’s wearing the same dress that Julie is. 

  “Carrie is losing her shit, dude.” She says, once she’s breathing normally again. “Why?” Julie asks, concerned. 

  “Probably because she doesn’t wanna marry Alex? I don’t know, but she yelled at me for eating!” She exclaims, an annoyed expression taking over her face. 

  Willie and Bobby exchange a look – they all know that Carrie can get a little intense sometimes – she doesn’t mean harm, but on a day like this, you can’t really hold it against her. 

  “Where is she?” Julie asks, alarmed. 

  “She’s in the back. Her mom misplaced her veil, and its total chaos out there. Also, her gown looks like a fucking pastry.” 

  Everyone’s eyes widen, and Flynn sighs, looking away. “I hate everything.” 

  Willie knows that she’s feeling just the way he is. 

  Julie stands up. “Come on, let’s help her. And boys?” She points a finger in their direction. “Stick to the fucking plan.” 

  Everyone nods rapidly, and Reggie whispers, “Yes, mam.” 

  She kisses Luke, whispering something in his ear, and squeezes Willie’s shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look, before running off in the opposite direction with Flynn. 

  Watching Julie and Luke, Willie is suddenly overpowered by a memory, a memory that was gathering dust in his brain. He remembers a cold, dark winter morning in their – his and Alex’s – apartment. It was last year, and their first morning in that apartment, in their home. They were nineteen and couldn’t get enough of each other – even after three years of being together. Somehow, somewhere they felt as if an invisible string was pulling them closer and closer, until they merged into one. 

  He remembers Alex combing his fingers through Willie’s hair, and whispering, “Is it crazy if I say that this is everything that I’ve ever wanted in life?” 

  He had smiled, eyes filled to the brim with euphoria. “No, then that would mean that I’m crazy.” 

  “We’re both crazy.” 

  “Maybe.” He had pulled him closer, loving the way Alex buried his face in the crook of his neck. 

  “Willie?” Alex softly asked, drawing patterns on his bare skin. 

  “Hmm?” 

  “I want to wake up next to you every single day. Like, I don’t ever wanna be without you,” 

  “Me, too.” He had said, then adding, “I don’t see myself marrying if not you.” 

  He could feel his boyfriend’s grin. “Not gonna lie, I’ve thought about it. A little.” 

  “A little?” 

  “Okay, I’ve planned it all out.” They both laughed, and Willie felt as if he was flying. 

  Alex continued, “I imagine us getting married on a beautiful summer day – on the beach. Where we met all those years ago. Remember?” 

  Willie smiled. “How could I forget? I will love Flynn forever for bringing me to Julie’s sweet sixteen – I never thought that I’d meet my soulmate that day.” 

  “Yeah. I imagine Luke to be my best man, and Flynn to be yours. Julie and Carrie would be our groomsmaids, yep, I invented that – and Reggie and Bobby could be the other best men. It’s a little messy, because I love them all so much and I can’t choose – but yeah.” 

  “Funny that your ex-boyfriend will be your best man at our wedding.” 

  “Shut up, Willie.” 

  “Carlos could be the ring bearer.” 

  “I think he’s a little too old for that.” 

  “Well, you have a point. But he’s gonna be pissed if he doesn’t get a title like his sister does.” 

  “All right, he’ll be the ring bearer.” 

  “We could have a skateboard shaped cake.” 

  “We will… think about it.” 

  “And we won’t need a band!” 

  “I’m not playing at my own wedding!” 

  “Well, Bobby could take your place. I’m sure he won’t mind taking a day off his solo touring.” 

  “Yeah, that sounds nice.” 

  As they went over every possibility, every dream, the world melted away and all Willie could see were the oceans in Alex’s eyes. 

  Luke’s voice dissipates the haze of nostalgia around Willie’s brain. “Yep, Carrie’s family went inside.” 

  Bobby nods. “Okay, Willie, you stay with Reggie and Luke – I’ll go inside first and distract everyone, and y’all will come at my signal.” With that, he runs towards the church. 

  “Uh… what is his signal…” Willie trails off. Luke and Reggie exchange a panicked look, as Reggie says, “I’m sure we’ll figure it out! Besides – oh my god, are those flamingos?” 

  Willie and Luke’s eyes dart to the church door, where a bunch of flamingos – Carrie’s favorite bird, apparently – are on the loose and the waiters and the staff are running around trying to catch them. 

  “Boys, I think that’s our signal.” Luke says, grabbing their hands and dragging them towards the back of the church, where the girls had previously disappeared into. 

  Luke sneezes, and Willie absentmindedly whispers a ‘bless you.’ He shifts, saying, “There’s so much dirt here! It’s like nobody cares about my allergies!” 

  “I’m sure nobody in Canada will ever care about your allergies, Patterson.” Flynn hisses.

  The trio are currently hiding behind a curtain, the lilac shades sickening them. “Well, you wouldn’t be in this position if Alex’s lovely bride-to-be didn’t uninvite me!” Willie exclaims, looking around to make sure nobody is nearby. 

  “I’m sure she has a very good reason!” Flynn says, and Luke rolls his eyes, saying, “You’re saying that as if you don’t know Carrie. She’s hyper fixating on this wedding to distract herself from the fact that her parents will never accept her for who she is, from her fear about the fact that she’ll never get someone who sees and loves her for who she is and right now, she believes that this wedding would gain her parents’ favour, that somehow they’d be okay with her being bisexual if she’s married a man, a gay man at that, too – and now she’s doing everything in her power to make sure nothing gets fucked up.” 

  Willie and Flynn sharply look at Luke. 

  “Dude, that was deep.” He whispers. Flynn dabs the corner of her right eye. “You should be a therapist, bro.” 

  “I know, bro.” He grins. 

  Willie can’t stop a smile from breaking out on his face. He turns back to the scene in front of him, and his heart seizes because there’s Alex, dressed in a perfect tuxedo, with his hair perfectly done, with a perfect smile on his face, and Willie realizes that that is not the man he loves. 

  The man standing in front of him looks too pristine, too immaculate. It’s almost as if he is being strung up by invisible puppet strings, but his face doesn’t give away any of that – it’s absolutely blank, and Willie would have thought that the man in the front is not real if he hadn’t seen his eyes. His eyes, which houses cyclones, cyclones being fed by the apprehension, the fear, the anger, the sadness that he must be feeling inside. His eyes, that Willie loves to see first thing in the morning, showing off the parts of his soul that he is desperately trying to shield. 

  Willie wonders if he’ll see him standing behind the curtains. He probably won’t. Willie’s at the back of the room, and he’s at the front, waiting, waiting, waiting. For a moment, Willie wonders if Carrie is going to show up at all – because the wedding was supposed to start half an hour ago, and it doesn’t make sense why a person who has never been late in her entire life, would be late on her wedding day. 

  He doesn’t have to wonder long, though. The organ starts to play ‘Here Comes the Bride’, and honestly it sounds more like a death march. Willie is reminded, yet again, of another reason why this is not what Alex wants – he wants to play ‘Lover’ by Taylor Swift at his wedding. 

  Willie takes in a sharp breath when Carrie enters. She looks like a pageant queen – wearing a beautiful, white, classic dress. In one hand, she holds her dad’s arm, and in the other, there is a bouquet of daisies. 

  Flynn whispers. “I have to go. Boys, do not mess this up. Or I swear I’ll kill you.” 

  As the duo watch her run to the front of the room, Willie whispers, “Does she know about Carrie’s big, fat crush?” 

  Luke snorts. “You think so? Come on, let’s sit. They won’t be able to see us here.” 

  As they crouch down and make their way to the benches, Willie casts one last look at Alex, and he knows, he knows that Alex wishes it was Willie walking down the aisle instead.

     “Speak now, or forever hold your peace.” The preacher says, and Willie’s heart erupts into a frenzy. As the room goes completely silent, Luke whispers, “That’s your cue, Willie.” 

  Ignoring his anxiety, he stands up with his hands shaking, and his brain telling him to just fucking run out the doors. 

  Alex’s eyes widen, relief flooding his features, and for a moment, he looks like the real Alex again. Willie catches Julie and Flynn’s eyes, who are standing beside Carrie, and they nod at him, enthusiastically. But the bride, Carrie – she looks absolutely horrified. And so does all the other people in this room, including Alex’s parents, his grandma Ruth, and Carrie’s parents, too. 

  From Alex’s right side, Reggie and Bobby give him encouraging looks, and finally, he averts his eyes back to the man he loves. 

  But he can’t say anything. He feels as if he’s frozen in time, and his mind completely blanks out. For a moment he wonders if this is his rock bottom. 

  But Luke comes to the rescue, thrusting a guitar in his hands, and breaking him out of his trance. “I remember you told me that you can always sing, even if the world was ending. So, I brought this along, as backup.” 

  It’s true. Music is a part of his soul, much like it is Alex’s. Music is what connected them in the first place, and music is what still keeps them connected now. 

  He positions the guitar, and notices that it’s Luke’s acoustic guitar. He strums it, and finally, his mind comes back to himself. He keeps his eyes trained on that of Alex, and he watches the storm of emotions in his irises. 

  “I am not the kind of guy, who should be rudely barging in on a white veiled occasion…” He sings, loving how Taylor Swift has written a song for every occasion.

  “But you are not the kind of boy, who should be marrying the wrong girl!” He sings and hears loud gasps around the room – he knows that people expected him to be in love with Carrie or something. 

  “Or any girl!” Reggie adds, and Alex grins, and that gives him the motivation to continue. 

  “So, don't say yes, run away now. I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door… Don't wait or say a single vow – You need to hear me out, and they said speak now!” 

  He drags the ‘now’ for as long as he can, because he knows that the silence that will follow will be excruciating. And it is. Alex just stares at him, an unreadable expression on his face. 

  Willie finally looks at Carrie, and when their eyes meet, she gives him an odd look. He half expected her to kill him, but the way she looks at him, it’s almost as if she’s relieved. 

  Alex clears his throat, the sound piercing through the silence of the room. Whispers arise, and Willie exchanges a look with Luke, who asks him, “You want me to dig you a hole to die?” 

  Before he can nod, Alex says, “Uh…” He fiddles with his hands, before finally saying, “Fuck it”, and untying his tie. His mother gasps, and his father stands up, but he raises a hand. 

  He locks eyes with Willie, and his world spins on its axis. 

  “You are not the kind of guy to be rudely barging in on a white veiled occasion…But I am not the kind of boy… who should be marrying the wrong girl… or any girl!” Alex sings in that raspy voice of his, and Willie feels his heart soar. He can’t help the grin from escaping on his face, and he knows that his eyes are what Julie calls, ‘heart eyes.’ Luke grabs the guitar from Willie’s hand and starts playing along. 

  “And you'll say let's run away now, and I'll meet you when I'm out of my tux at the back door,” 

  Alex walks down the aisle, but suddenly remembers something, or rather, someone. He turns around, locking eyes with Carrie, and Willie can’t see what he’s saying, but Carrie smiles a big, soft one – one probably no one has ever seen on her face, and he sees her mouth ‘go.’ 

  “Baby, I didn't say my vows, so glad you were around; when they said speak now!” 

  He finishes, and stands in front of Willie, and Willie knows that the both of them can feel the air electrifying between them.   

  He turns, facing his grandmother. “Grandma, I’m sorry, but you’re 93, and I’m 20. I’m not going to give up my life for you to live. I love you, though. Mom, Dad, I’m truly sad that I’m not what you wanted. But I’m not gonna apologize for being myself, nor am I gonna apologize for loving who I want to. This is my life, and maybe it’s time that I start acting like it. I can’t keep wasting my life to please you. You – you should love me for who I am, that’s what good parents do.” Alex’s voice cracks, and Willie intertwines their fingers. Alex squeezes his hand. 

  Carrie’s mom stands up, shaking her head. “No, no, no… you do not get to ruin my daughter’s wedding –” 

  Alex’s father stands beside her, his face matching the shade of Carrie’s red lipstick. “I will not accept this –” 

  “Will?” Alex whispers, his eyes trained on his father. 

  “Yeah?” 

  “Run.” 

  With that, Alex tightens his hold on Willie’s hand, and the both of them run down the aisle, and outside. Willie can hear an uproar behind him, but it fades to background noise behind the thump of his heart. 

  “That was so fucking romantic!” Alex exclaims, as they come to a stop before Willie’s car. 

  “I just…” 

  “Wait – I’m sorry, Willie. I shouldn’t have put you through that. I should’ve fought more; I should’ve run away or something. That was not okay. I’m a twenty-year-old adult, and I should – I should – learn to be it, and not hurt any – anyone –” 

  “Hey, hey, hey…” Willie says, stepping closer to Alex. “It’s alright. They’re your parents. It’s not your fault that you want their approval. But I just want you to know that I love you, all of you, for who you are. And all of us do – Luke, Julie, Bobby, Reggie, Flynn, and even Carrie. We all love you, for who you are, and we’re always gonna be by your side.” 

  He smiles, cupping Willie’s face. “Thank you. Thank you so much. I – I love you so fucking much.” He kisses Willie, and the latter feels like he is floating amongst the stars. 

  “That – everything inside – from this tux to the decorations was horrible. I’m really glad that you… you know, stopped it.” Alex says, rubbing his thumb around Willie’s cheek. 

  He shrugs. “Well, it was your friends’ idea.” 

  “Of course it was.” 

  “Guys! Guys, guys, guys!” 

  Willie and Alex break out of their embrace at Carrie’s voice, who is currently running towards them, her dress bunched in her hands. Flynn is following her, holding her veil in her arms. Julie, Luke, Bobby, and Reggie are behind them, and they all have a look of panic plastered on their faces. 

  Flynn yells. “Carrie might’ve told your and her parents to fuck off, and your grandma to just die already, and so there’s a fair chance that we’re all gonna get killed, now that everyone knows that we’re all behind this.” 

  “Also, I threw red wine at our aunt’s dress, Carrie!” Bobby yells. 

  “I might have told your parents that they’re failures, and Julie and I are your real parents, Alex!” Luke yells. 

  “Also, Flynn and I are getting married!” Carrie yells. 

  Alex’s eyes widen, and he looks at Willie. “I think we all need to run.” 

  Willie nods, and he looks around. Maybe they will get killed (probably not), and maybe everything is a little crazy right now – but what he knows is that all of them are a family, and that he’d do anything for them. He also knows that Alex is worth everything, and that someday, they will get married, just the way they want, with the people that love them just the way they are. 

  Plus, is it weird to say that he kind of feels like Taylor Swift right now?

[i-need-entertainment]

Tsukasa Iizuna + “Make you mine”

This is the 3rd Oneshot for the Valentines Day Event, thank you so so much to the anon who requested this, I almost had a heart attack when I saw it!!

Character: Tsukasa Iizuna x reader

*This takes place AFTER nationals, so it’s graduation time~*

“Y’know Captain, if you stare any longer you might drill holes in her head.” Iizuna blinked himself out of his daze as he tore his stare away from the beautiful girl, choosing to instead direct a glare towards the second year libero. “Shut up, I wasn’t staring.” Iizuna avoided Komori’s gaze, choosing to instead look back at you. You, the ever so beautiful and kind Y/n L/n. You, the girl Iizuna had liked since first year. And you, the girl Iizuna could never bring himself to confess to. “Why don’t you just confess to her already? You like her don’t you?”

 The setter sighed in frustration while he dragged his hand down his face, a downcast expression appeared on his face as he looked towards Sakusa. “You know why I can’t do that.” Turning back to look at the girl Iizuna was instead met with the one thing that was stopping him from telling her how he felt. Or rather, the one guy who was stopping him. Making his way through the hallway was the one and only Ken Hashimoto; also known as the ever so popular third year captain of the baseball team, and Y/n’s boyfriend. 

Komori gave Iizuna a sad smile as he gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. “I don’t see why he’s stopping you, he’s a jerk and an idiot.” Komori deadpanned, “Are you really the one who should be calling someone a jerk?” Sakusa glared at his cousin; who gave him an innocent smile that said ‘please don’t hurt me’ as he stepped closer to Iizuna- for safety reasons. 

Iizuna groaned, hand coming up to run through his ash blonde hair. “I wish it was that easy...it’s definitely true.” The three returned their gaze to Ken and Y/n, observing as he had his arm hung around her shoulders, obnoxiously laughing and messing around with his baseball buddies while Y/n stood there uncomfortable and ignored. Iizuna looked at her with longing and adoration, wishing that he’d bring himself to tell her...but he knew it was a useless argument to have with himself, because everytime he tried every time he had a chance he could never bring himself to do it. 

Because he just knew in your eyes and in the eyes of everyone else he was a small fish compared to Ken, or that’s how he saw himself anyway. Soon enough the bell rung, signaling the start to the school day. Iizuna waved to his juniors as he headed to his class, class 5, the class he just so happened to share with you. Iizuna walked in, greeted the teacher and sat at his desk taking out his homework and other papers. 

He sent a glance your way, but with the way your hair had slightly fallen over your shoulders, and the look you had as you concentrated on your work he couldn’t help but let that little glance turn into a one sided staring competition. That is until you noticed his gaze and gave him a smile and a small wave, and once he realized what was happening he of course returned the gesture. Just when you were about to speak the teacher started talking signaling the start of class and you turned towards the board, Iizuna trying to focus on the lesson and not the beautiful girl sitting diagonal from him. 

After an eventful school day the bell rung indicating the end of the school day. Just as Iizuna was about to get up from his desk and head to the gym Y/n came up to his desk. “Hey Iizuna! Uhm, before you go to practice, I just wanted to know if you were going to the graduation party this Saturday?” Iizuna nodded, “I was planning on it, are you going?” Y/n nodded, “Yeah, it’s being hosted by the baseball team so, I don’t really have a choice.” Y/n lightly laughed and Iizuna cursed himself in his head for only being able to focus on how cute she looked. 

He forced himself out of dreamland and nodded, making an expression of understanding, “Ah, yeah that makes sense…Uh, listen I wanted to ask you-“ “Babe!” Before he could finish the ever so enjoyable Ken entered the room, sauntering over to wrap his arm possessively around Y/n’s waist as he looked at Iizuna giving him a very obviously fake smile. “Oh, hey Iizuna, sorry to interrupt but uh, I’ve gotta get this cutie and I to practice. We’ve got our last rounds of nationals coming up, don’t wanna mess up those! And we especially don’t wanna get injured, that would be really embarrassing- oh, my bad. You uh..doin okay?” 

Ken’s ‘buds’ behind him snickered behind him while you shot him a glare, “Ken! What the heck!” Ken smirked as he looked back at Iizuna. “What?! The guy can’t take a little joke?” Iizuna swung his bag over his shoulder as he stood muttering a ‘it’s fine’ as he tried to leave. “But uh, seriously, that was a pretty nasty fall you took. You gonna be okay, captain?” 

The mocking tone of his voice almost sent Iizuna over the edge and his fist into his jaw, but he was stopped by you, albeit not directly. “Ken stop! Just- go to practice, we need to talk. I’m sorry Iizuna, I’ll see you Saturday.” Iizuna exhaled and gave Y/n a smile, “Don’t worry about it, see you L/n.” while he walked out of the class, meeting up with a frowning Komori and a scowling Sakusa.

*Time skip to Saturday at the party*

Not long after word got around that you and Ken had broken up, which wasn’t a huge surprise, he was a jerk. So that gave Iizuna a new goal for the night; he was finally going to tell you how he felt, he was finally going to make you his. Iizuna walked up the concrete sidewalk to the house the party was being held at, a good chunk of the volleyball team behind him. Originally it was a party just for third years, buuut exceptions were made for nationally ranked teams, the men’s volleyball team being no exception. 

Iizuna knocked on the door and waited until someone let them in. Sakusa immediately headed for the corner, where Komori decided to follow him since he didn’t know anyone either and Iizuna just kinda floated around talking to a few classmates here and there. And then he saw you. You were talking with some friends by the dance floor when you locked eyes with him, smiling bashfully before you looked away, your friends laughing as you tried to re-compose yourself. 

This would be the first time you had ever seen Iizuna in anything not his school uniform or his jersey, and he looked nice. He was wearing black jeans with black/white vans and a white t-shirt, paired nicely with a dark colored jacket. Just as you couldn’t really take your eyes off of him, he had an equally hard time taking his eyes off of you. You who was wearing some perfectly fitting jeans and a white turtle neck shirt. Giving you a knowing wink your friends left you as they saw Iizuna make his way over to you. 

You smiled as he was In talking distance. “You came.” He smiled and nodded his head, “Yeah, uhm, you look really nice.” Your eyes widened as you took a moment to short circuit. “U-uhm. Thank you! You look really nice too.” Iizuna felt the heat creep up his neck as the tips of his ears turned just a little bit red. “A-ah, thanks.” A short lived silence settled between you two before you decided to ask him something. 

“Uhm, if you don’t mind me asking, when we last talked you were going to tell me something but Ken interrupted. It’s been haunting me for the past few days..” It was Iizuna’s turn to be surprised, you had remembered…? “Ah, yeah um….it’s a little hard to talk in here, do you maybe wanna take a walk?” You smiled as you nodded. The unknown truth is, you liked Tsukasa Iizuna. You just didn’t know he liked you! Hence why you spent the last year and a half dating the jerk Ken, but when he had come after Iizuna a few days ago…you snapped. And broke up with him. 

“I heard about you and Ken…I’m sorry.” You shook your head smiling, “Don’t be…I’m not.” He chuckled, hands going into his pockets as he glanced towards you before he returned his gaze to in front of him continuing to walk to no where specific on the concrete sidewalk. “…I always thought he was an idiot, but he proved it when he let you go,” He turned his gaze to you once again, Your eyes widened and your mouth slightly open in shock. 

“You’re smart, you’re kind, you’re easily the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen and since first year there’s been one thing I’ve wanted to do. One thing I wanted more than nationals or to be captain,” He stopped walking, turning to face you as he took the smallest of steps closer, taking your hand in his as his eyes came back to yours. “For the longest time the only thing I’ve truly wanted was to be yours…so, Y/n L/n, if you’ll let me I want to be the one to make you smile and to make you laugh and to take care of you…let me make you mine.” 

For a moment after his proclamation it felt like you had forgotten how to breathe, all the words you wanted to say were stuck. You snapped your self out of the trance you were in and surged forwards to hug him, whispering a ‘yes’ while his arms locked around you and you held onto him tight. Three years seems like a long time to wait for someone, but it’s hard to regret that time when the person you’ve longed to hold is in your arms, holding on just as tightly and just as scared to let go.

“Put your hand in mine, you know that I won’t stop until I make you mine, until I make you mine.”

[inthedayswhenlandswerefew]

Eccentricity [Chapter 10: Stay, I Need To Be Myself]

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the fluffy times while they lasted. 😉

Series Summary: Joe Mazzello is a nice guy with a weird family. A VERY weird family. They have a secret, and you have a choice to make. Potentially a better love story than Twilight.

Chapter Title Is A Lyric From: “Where Were You When The Sky Opened Up” by The Dangerous Summer.

Chapter Warnings: Language, sexual references (not graphic), angstttttttttt.

Word Count: 6k. 

Other Chapters (And All My Writing) Available: HERE

Taglist: @queen-turtle-boiii​​​ @bramblesforbreakfast​​​​​​ @maggieroseevans​​​​ @culturefiendtrashqueen​​​​ @imnotvibingveryguccimrstark​​​​ @escabell​​​​ @im-an-adult-ish​​​​​ @queenlover05​​​​ @someforeigntragedy​​​​ @imtheinvisiblequeen​​​​ @seven-seas-of-ham-on-rhyee​​​​ @deacyblues​​​​ ​ @tensecondvacation​​​ @brianssixpence​​​​ @some-major-ishues​​​ @haileymorelikestupid​​​ @youngpastafanmug​​​ @simonedk​

Uninvited

“Hey, it’s our song!” Joe turned up the radio as he steered his Subaru down the Lees’ cobblestone driveway and into a parking spot facing the woods. We’d been back from Chicago for a full week now, and—with the notable exceptions of classes and the early morning hours when Joe soundlessly crept out of my bedroom window—were very rarely apart.

“And I would do anything for love

I’d run right into hell and back

I would do anything for love

I’d never lie to you and that's a fact.”

“Uh, this is not our song,” I objected, the soles of my shoes propped against the dashboard. “I was not consulted. A couple’s official song cannot be a unilateral decision.”

“But I'll never forget the way you feel right now

Oh no, no way

And I would do anything for love

Oh I would do anything for love

I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that

No, I won’t do that.”

“Oh okay, what are you, the relationship police? Alright, Chief Baby Swan, let’s hear your brilliant suggestion. Wait, let me guess. Something by The Killers. Vampire Weekend. My Bloody Valentine. Is there a band called Chipotle Veggie Bowl?”

“Never Gonna Give You Up?” I suggested.

He laughed, dragging me over the center console and into his lap. “Oh, you are the worst!”

I straddled him in the driver’s seat, cupped his face in my palms, giggled as I touched my lips to his, soft and cool and lithe and inviting. When I broke the kiss, Joe pulled me back in, knotting his fingers through my hair. The way my thighs fit perfectly around him; that sharp, instinctual, now so familiar ache of longing. “I want you,” I breathed.

He pretended to be scandalized. “Right now? At this exact moment? In my parents’ driveway?”

“Yeah,” I confessed.

He grinned, unbuckling his belt. “Okay.”

“Really?!”

“Yes. I’ve lost all sense of decency. I’m an animal. You’ve absolutely ruined me.” His hands travelled beneath my U Chicago sweatshirt and tore it over my head. Yes, he had converted me to Chicago apparel. It was very embarrassing. Let’s move on.

“I’m sorry,” I moaned softly. I lied. I wasn’t sorry at all.  

“I think we might need to get our own place.”

“Why?”

“Because I love the way you ruin me. And I want you to do it...” He went on, kissing me after each word: “All. The. Fucking. Time.”

I yanked off his Cubs t-shirt in one vicious tug. “We’re okay out here?” I didn’t really care; I should have, I was aware of that. But I didn’t. The Lees, most likely, would not call my dad to report us for public indecency. I could imagine Scarlett’s voice in my head, warm with approval: Get it, girl.

“Totally. And we’re far enough away from the house, Rami shouldn’t be able to hear us.” Joe nipped lightly down the side of my neck: carefully, always so carefully.

“He’d only get your side of things anyway.”

“Well yeah, that’s what I’m worried about! Your thoughts wouldn’t be so intrusive. I don’t care if he knows I’m a fantastic lay.”

“Oh, are you?” I teased, grinding my hips against him. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Joe smiled as he unbuttoned my jeans, deliciously slowly. “Well let me...just...refresh your...memory...”

I kissed him, roughly and deeply, arching into him, biting his lower lip. Yes, yes, yes...

Joe pulled away, still smiling but blinking and dazed. “Wow, all the sudden I feel...like...really calm.”

“Thanks...?” A week of almost constant sex might do that to a person. Sure, maybe, what did I know? My lips found his again. My hand skated down his bare stomach and into the waistband of his boxers. Joe began to help me peel off my jeans; then he stopped.

“Wait wait wait, I know this feeling.” Joe lifted me off of him and pushed me back into the passenger’s seat, gently but stubbornly. I tried not to be offended.

“What—?”

“Shhh.” He grabbed the headrest of my seat and twisted around to peer out of the rear windshield. I followed his gaze. There was a new car in the driveway, parked up by the front porch: an anonymous black Honda Civic. The plate said California. It was probably a rental. “Oh fuck,” Joe whispered. His eyes were enormous, glassy, horrified.

“What is it?”

“Stay here.” He threw on his Cubs t-shirt, zipped his pants, fastened his belt. “Stay down, stay quiet. And no matter what happens do not get out of this car, do you understand me?”

“Joe, why—?”

“Do you understand me?” His voice was low but severe, so incredibly unlike him; his dark eyes were flinty. Just like that night with the apples in Mercy’s kitchen, that night when Ben almost...

“I understand,” I heard myself reply.  

“Good.” Joe climbed out of the Subaru—smoothing his shirt and then his tousled hair—and rushed over to intercept the unsolicited guest. I peeked around my headrest to watch, my right palm braced against the center console, that feverish lust that had been rushing through my bloodstream gradually weakening, perishing, vanishing like seawater baked from the sand under a rising sun.  

The stranger stepped out of the Honda Civic, and although I knew his face, it took me a moment to place him. It was like—I could only imagine, having never been myself—a child stumbling into their movie heroines and beloved stuffed animals come to life during their first trip to Disneyland, amazed and yet somehow gut-twistingly uneasy as they gawked up at that grotesquely inflated cartoon face, that mask of lipstick and rouge that didn’t quite match their recollections, that dreamlike mirage plucked from pages or screens and impelled into a physical form that suddenly swallowed up space and gravity and oxygen. I had seen this stranger before in the massive painting that adorned Gwilym Lee’s upstairs office.

Cato.

He was very tall and very beautiful, classically beautiful, Ben-level beautiful. Joe often jokingly referred to him as Idris Elba within the Lee household, and a mid-thirties version of Idris Elba was just about right. He wore an immaculately tailored grey suit and aviator sunglasses, which he removed to greet Joe, folding and then sliding them smoothly into the front pocket of his suit jacket. His face was solemn and observant; he had a closely-trimmed beard without a fleck of silver. He extended a hand, which Joe shook.

“Hey, Cato!” I heard Joe say, muffled through the walls of the Subaru. I couldn’t make out Cato’s replies; his voice sounded deep, rumbling, extremely level. “So nice of you to stop by! I didn’t know you were in town. Yeah, everyone’s doing great. Even Ben. Hahaha, yeah, you know how he is. You know exactly how he is. But it’s all good. Well look, I’m just gonna go run a friend home and then I’ll be back in fifteen, maybe twenty minutes and we can all chat. Okay? Awesome. Feel free to head inside, I’m sure Mercy would be thrilled to play hostess. There’s sweet tea in the fridge and a hummingbird cake on the counter and...oh, something else too...some weird type of cookies she baked this morning. Help yourself. I’ll be back before you can say ‘tyrannical vampire murder cult.’”

“Tyrannical vampire murder cult,” it looked like Cato replied without a hint of a smile. But he wasn’t paying attention to Joe anymore. His eyes had found the Subaru, and then me; he was staring with that intense, seeking bewilderment that reminded me of Rami and Lucy and Ben when I’d first met them, when they were still trying to puzzle out why my mind (and my mind alone) was a night-draped, silent ocean of the unknown.

He's trying to read me, I realized. He’s trying to read me and he can’t.

Joe was jogging back to the Subaru now. At last, Cato turned away from me and headed into the house. The carved pumpkins from Weber’s Farm still lined the front porch: Scarlett’s Thunderbird, Archer’s Vantage, Rami’s swooping bat, Lucy’s moon and stars, Joe’s moustached jack-o-lantern, my (but actually Gwil’s) snapshot under the sea, Ben’s miniature Lee residence complete with the winding cobblestone driveway. Joe swept into the driver’s seat, adjusted his rearview mirror, and spun out of the parking spot.

“Goddammit,” he hissed as we barreled down the driveway.

“Why is Cato here?”

“I have no idea.” Joe looked straight ahead as he drove, preoccupied, consumed with possibilities. His fingers drummed the steering wheel. “We have to pay dues to them, all the covens do. Gwil cuts a check. But that’s not until around the New Year. That’s almost always when Cato stops by. Collects the payment, interrogates us in a way that masquerades as conversation, hangs around town for a few days, reports back whatever we’re up to...which usually isn’t much. Holidays with the extended family, gotta love it. I don’t know why he would be here now.” Joe shook his head. “Maybe something to do with Ben. It would have to be Ben. There’s no other reason.”

“And you don’t want him to know about me.”

“No, I don’t.”

“But...Cato isn’t all that dangerous,” I said, not understanding. “Is he?”

“Not alone, no. But the people he works for are.” Joe sighed, glancing over at me as he drove, serious and sorry and sad. “There’s a lot of violence in my world. A lot of darkness. I’ve tried to protect you from that as much as possible. And maybe I’ve done too good a job, maybe it’s too easy for you to forget what we really are. Most vampires aren’t like Gwil’s coven. They’re not like me. They kill easily and unrepentantly. And I don’t want any of them knowing that you exist, that you’re a weakness of ours. I want them to know as little about you as physically possible.”

“A weakness,” I repeated. I didn’t like that.

He smiled faintly. “It’s a compliment to be somebody’s weakness, Baby Swan.”

“I guess so.” The towering pine trees whipped by in a verdant blur. The sky above was thick and grey and churning. “You’ll be okay, right? Ben will be okay?”

Joe seemed to find that amusing, ridiculous even. “You don’t need to worry about us.”

“But I still do.”

“We’ll work it out, whatever it is. Cato is a reasonable guy. And Ben is definitely capable of...well. Advocating for himself.”

Capable of unparalleled carnage, he means. The memory of the first day I’d met Ben hit me like a hurled stone, illuminated my mind like a pulsing neon sign: the coiled tension in his muscles, that mindless, animalistic hatred in his eyes. Yes, he must be quite the monster when he wants to be. But he didn’t want to be anymore. I knew that completely, unquestioningly.

Joe pulled into Charlie’s driveway. The police car was gone; my 1999 Honda Accord and Charlie’s Toyota Corolla rested idly side by side. My dad would be working late tonight, until eight or nine at least. A pang of loneliness struck in my gut, just beneath the ribs; I had grown so accustomed to the absence of solitude, of quiet. The silence suddenly felt so loud.

“Don’t let it ruin your night,” Joe said as I got out of the Subaru. His words were affectionate; but his voice was still distracted, distant. “Don’t let it bother you. Everything will be fine, I promise. And as soon as Cato’s gone, everything will go back to the way it should be.”

“Okay,” I replied, not feeling very comforted at all. I don’t like the way he pushed me off him when he saw the car. The way he’s barely looked at me since. The way he called me a weakness.

Joe was already checking his mirrors, preparing to leave.

“Hey. Mob guy.” I leaned into the rolled-down window. “I love you.”

And the grin lit up Joe’s face like the sun. He crawled across the passenger’s seat, drew me into him by the collar of my brand new U Chicago hoodie, kissed me until that wild, interrupted desire was flaring up again in my arteries and nerve endings and everywhere else. The thunderous clouds in my skull split open. Everything’s still okay. It really is. “I love you to death. And then back again.” He retreated and shifted the Subaru into reverse. “I’ll see you soon. But maybe not too soon, I might be tied up with this family thing for a while. Don’t wait up tonight.”

“No problem. I’ll just call one of my other monster boyfriends to keep me company. The werewolf should be free. It’s not a full moon, is it?”

“No bestiality,” Joe retorted sternly. “That’s illegal, ma’am.”

I smiled and waved as the Subaru swerved out of the driveway and disappeared. Everything’s okay, I told myself, standing in the front yard under darkening skies. Everything will be okay.

And I kept telling myself that, again and again like Hail Marys, until I was dozing off in my bed alone six hours later.

Hit It And Quit It

I dreamed of the beach at La Push—my toes wriggling beneath the cold sand, the ricocheting cries of seagulls, the primordial growl of the frothing waves—and woke up with the ghost of saltwater in my sinuses. I grabbed my iPhone off the nightstand. Two new texts: one from Archer—Hey would it be distasteful or hilarious to dress up as Dracula for the Lee Halloween party? Asking for a friend.—and one from Jessica asking if she could copy my Marine Botany homework. Absolutely nothing from Joe.

When was the last time I didn’t have a text from Joe waiting for me in the morning? I struggled to remember, my mind still foggy with snippets of dreams. A week? Two weeks? A month? It felt like forever.

I tapped out a text to Joe with my clumsy, just-waking-up thumbs: I am resolved. No more nights with my werewolf boyfriend. Dude scratched the hell out of me and then barked at the mailman. Had to drop him off at the SPCA for neutering. See you soon! xxxx

I tried not to obsessively check my phone as I showered, got dressed, gathered my textbooks and notepads and pens. And yet still, I noticed: Joe didn’t text me back.

The rain poured from a grey sky all through my drive to Calawah University, Marine Botany class with Jessica, our frantic dash across campus beneath her hot pink umbrella to Forks And Spoons. My human friends had custody of me during lunchtime today. Angela was studying for a Computer Science quiz, Eric working on an article for the Calawah Chatterbox, Mike histrionically lamenting a sprained ankle coming just on the cusp of basketball season. Jessica bought me a chocolate chip muffin as thanks for texting her a picture of our Marine Botany homework this morning. Ah, the sweet taste of academic dishonesty.

I was relieved—more than I would have liked to admit—that all five Lees were at their usual lunch table, looking worn and tired but normal enough. Ben was hiding behind a pair of sunglasses and his black U Chicago hoodie that Joe and I had bought for him last weekend, sipping steaming tea out of a mug that he gripped with both hands. Scarlett flipped moodily through an astrophysics textbook. Rami repeatedly tapped the tabletop with a pen while Lucy knitted a lavender sweater, never raising her eyes from the jumble of yarn in her lap. They all murmured to each other in low, furtive voices, their mouths barely moving. Joe gave me a wave and a drawn smile; but only after I waved first.

Angela was now scolding Jessica for her lack of moral integrity.

Jess rolled her eyes, gnawing on a chicken finger that was burned black around the edges. “I’m here ostensibly to become an anthropologist and in actuality to find a hot rich husband, not to learn how to identify like sixty different types of algae.”

“Then why even take Marine Botany?” Angela asked, confounded.

“Calawah University forces every student to take at least two science classes, even if you’re a humanities major. Because they’re fucking fascists.”

“Oh, fascists, a big word for you!” I congratulated Jessica, patting her shoulder before returning my attention to my homemade veggie quesadilla and leftover slice of Mercy’s hummingbird cake. I was getting so good at this eating respectable meals thing. Joe would be proud.

Angela chuckled. “How’s that finding a husband thing going, by the way?”

“Awfully,” Jessica sighed. “I had this really promising flirtationship going with a frat boy in my Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic class. Ellsworth Jonathan Griffin, gorgeous blue eyes, blond man bun, his dad is a partner at a corporate law firm in Los Angeles. That’s the stuff dreams are made of. But I’m pretty sure he dropped out because I haven’t seen him in a few days. Also he would bring Absolut vodka to class in an Aquafina bottle.”

“You can probably do better,” I said.

“Well we can’t all end up with Lee boys, now can we?” Jess snapped irritably.

When it was time to depart for our afternoon classes, I met Joe in the doorway of Forks And Spoons, linked my fingers around the back of his neck, tugged at his dark, auburn-tinted hair.

“You okay, mob guy? You seem a little...” Exhausted? Edgy? Sad? “...Distracted.”

“I’m good. I’m great.” He kissed me briefly, fleetingly. No big deal; after all, we were in public. Right? “Are you cool to hang out later?”

“Absolutely. Can we go to La Push if it stops raining? I know it’ll be cold, but I woke up with the beach on my mind and haven’t been able get it out all day.”

“You got it. Can I meet you there? I have to take care of a few things first. Have to, uh, hunt.”

I stared up at him, feeling my stomach drop, feeling rapidly and jarringly off-kilter. Joe rarely mentioned hunting around me...not in a serious way, at least. It was one of those things that knocked me out of the fantasy of how compatible we were, how possible. It was a reminder of all those interminable differences that lived in the hushed space between us. “Okay.”

“I’ll...I’ll explain everything then. At La Push.”

“Okay,” I said again, very uncleverly. What’s going on here? What exactly did Cato say?

Joe smirked; finally a flash of playfulness, that contagious light he was built of. He smoothed my hair with one feather-light stroke of his hand, touched his lips to my forehead. “Don’t be late to Chemistry. I can’t have you failing out.”

“Of course not. How would I be able to get my Marine Biology PhD from U Chicago?”

But Joe didn’t laugh, didn’t even smile; he just left.

Ben was hunched over our table in Professor Belvin’s classroom, his arms encircling his notebook, the pen in his hand scribbling frenziedly. The window was wide open; the rain outside had weakened to a docile drizzle. He was still wearing his sunglasses. He didn’t acknowledge me at all.

“Rough night?” I asked, sliding into the seat beside him.

“Yeah.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“I definitely do not.”

“I’m sorry,” I told him. Ben glanced up, his thick eyebrows raised; they peaked just above the rims of his opaque sunglasses. “Whatever it is, I’m sorry.”

For a long time, Ben just looked at me; maybe wanting to say something, maybe just feeling that decorum necessitated it. “You shouldn’t be,” he replied at last. And he spent the rest of class paying no attention whatsoever to Professor Belvin’s lecture on the Pauli exclusion principle and instead scrawling untidy Welsh phrases into the formerly pristine pages of his notebook.

It was just after 5 p.m. when I arrived at La Push, the tires of my 1999 Honda Accord crunching over the gravel of the small parking area, the wind whipping ferociously. Joe had gotten there first; he was sitting on a rock down by the water with his back to me, peering out over the Pacific Ocean, tossing pebbles and shells into the waves. We had an hour of daylight left. The sky was obscure, grey, dim. Fine droplets of rain like mist sailed through the biting autumn air and clung to my skin.

When Joe spotted me, he leapt off the rock and watched me approach with his hands in the pockets of his North Face jacket. He wasn’t wearing anything Chicago-related today, which was highly unusual. I waited for him to touch me, to hold me, to tell me that everything was okay and always would be...at least for the next ten to fifteen years. He didn’t. “Hey,” he said instead.

“Hi.”

Joe nodded down the beach. “Let’s walk.”

I have never been especially good at mundane, monotonous rambling. That’s a Scorpio thing. And yet monotonous rambling is exactly what I did: I prattled on about my classes, Charlie’s bowling league, Renee’s new life in Florida with Paul, the ocean, the weather, anything to fill that space between us that all at once felt so enormously significant. I was vaguely aware that I was afraid to stop talking; I didn’t want Joe to have the chance to say whatever was on his mind.

Finally, Joe stopped walking. He took my hand, ran his thumb over the faint scar from when I accidentally cut myself in Mercy’s kitchen. His shoes sank into the wet sand, left imprints there like fingerprints. He turned to face me, pained, grave, and oh god, far worse: guilty.

“What?” I asked, terror swelling in my lungs, my bones, some inborn warning of impending ruin.

Joe gazed out over the crashing sea, then came back to me, like a dislocated joint popping back into place. “I am so sorry.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I...” He spoke slowly, haltingly. “I thought that this was something that was doable. But I was wrong.”

“What...?” And then a possibility occurred to me, a glorious possibility. Of course. A grin erupted across my face. “This is a joke, right? You’re joking, you’re always joking, this is just—”

He shook his head. He wasn’t joking. I wrenched my hand out of his and stared up at him in furious disbelief.

“It’s not fair to you,” Joe said. “This thing, being with someone like me. I can’t give you a future. I can’t give you an uncomplicated existence. I mean, come on, you have to worry about getting murdered around my own family—”

“Do you have fucking amnesia?” I demanded, incredulous. “Joe, we just talked about this. We just made plans to move to Chicago after graduation, we agreed that it was what we both wanted. I don’t want a normal human boyfriend. I don’t want normal human in-laws. I want you, Joe, and Ben, and Mercy and Gwil, and Rami and Lucy and Scarlett, I want the whole ridiculous Lee family package and there’s nothing you could say to make me decide that this isn’t worth it.”

“Look—”

“No, something happened, right? Something happened with Cato, or Ben, or someone, something happened and now you think that you have to do this but I’m telling you that whatever it is we can figure it out, we can figure it out together, isn’t that what you promised me?” He said he wouldn’t leave. He promised me he wouldn’t leave. All those things...all those things he said...

“Listen.” And now his eyes were stony. He didn’t call me Baby Swan. Oh, this is bad. This is so bad. “It’s not fair to me either.”

“And that’s what this is really about,” I realized. My voice was abruptly fierce, caustic. All those other women; those beautiful, graceful, immortal women. How did I ever think I could compare?

“It’s not personal.”

“It’s the most personal thing there is, Joe, it’s pasts and futures and love—”

“It’s not though.” He smiled, just barely. “Maybe we thought it was, but it’s not.”

It hit me like a brick, like a bullet; I couldn’t catch my breath. I was drowning in thin air, like a sawfish, like a shark. “Well I’m glad you figured that out on your own fucking schedule.”

“This was my fault,” he said. “All of it. And I am so profoundly sorry for the pain I’ve caused you, and I take full responsibility for it. I hope you’re able to move on knowing that there’s nothing you could have done differently. These are just the realities of my world. You’re better off in your own. And you’re going to make someone very happy someday.”

It's all so empty, so excruciatingly generic. “You’re a monster,” I seethed at him, tears stinging in my eyes.

“Yes,” Joe agreed softly.

“I hate you.” I wasn’t sure if I meant that, but I still said it. Maybe I could will it into being true, like how people find God after a particularly grim diagnosis; there’s no harm in trying to make it real. There’s nothing left to lose.

“That would be more than fair, given the circumstances,” he said. “I won’t bother you again. I’ll ask you to do the same for me.”

“Sure.” Tears were streaming down my cheeks now; my breaths were ragged, hitching. I need to get out of here. I need to get away from him.

A shadow of concern crossed his face, the first one I had noticed since yesterday afternoon. “If you need someone to drive you home, I’d be happy to—”

“I’d literally rather die.” And I left Joseph Francis Mazzello standing on the beach with the twilight wind in his hair and the sun setting behind him like time slipping through an hourglass.

I fled to my Honda, turned the keys in the ignition, covered my face with my hands and wept in raw, heaving shudders as Hungry Like The Wolf played from the mixtape that Joe had left in my cassette player. I ejected the mixtape, rolled down my window, tossed it out onto the rain-slick gravel. I couldn’t stand the thought of going home. Charlie would be at work until late tonight; Joe would never set foot in the house again.

I have to go somewhere. I can’t just sit in that goddamn bedroom. I can’t be alone.

I wheeled my car onto the main road and drove until I came to an unceremonious mechanic’s garage with a fractured concrete floor and cracks like spider legs across the windows. When I stepped out of my Honda, Archer raced over to meet me, beaming and wiping his hands clean with an oil rag.

“Hey, you know you’re not allowed to come here unless you bring Taco Bell with you...” Then he saw me, he really saw me. “Whoa, what—?”

And Archer caught me as I collapsed into his arms, sobs ripping through my throat like fangs.

Benjamin, 24 Hours Earlier

It was bad. Whatever this was, it was bad.

I knew because Rami could read Cato, and I could read Rami; the hazy wisps of color that unfurled from him were a hectic, wrestling electric blue: distress, grief, anxiety, denial. Cato’s own aura had always been rather unforthcoming—he tended towards deep, mellow greens and purples of congruence and contemplation—and forever tinted with an opalescent quality that spread like wildfire to the people around him, the people who were under his influence, that intangible calming and harmonizing effect, that irrational sense of wellbeing. Everyone in the room had that faint opalescence shimmering around them now, even Rami, whose unspoken turmoil remained a roiling rather than a storm. And I thought—not for the first time—that if Larkin was a spade that hollowed you out, scraped along the jagged snags of your split bones to empty you of any ambitions and loyalties that had come before, then Cato was the anesthetic that made the mangling go down smoother, the promise that you would someday still catch glimpses of innocence. Larkin was a purger, a purifier; Cato made you believe again.

There were pitchers of sweet tea and a heaping tray of butter pecan cookies on the living room coffee table. Cato sat on the neat white sofa, one leg crossed over the other, stoic, waiting. Rami stared vacantly from the loveseat; Lucy was beside him, her delicate bare feet tucked beneath her and her fingers laced through Rami’s, her brow knit into grooves of worry. Scarlett was next to me on the largest couch, her boots propped up on the edge of the coffee table, her hair in a long French braid, periodically cracking her knuckles. It was nearly the only sound. Mercy bustled around the room gifting everyone tall chilled glasses of sweet tea; Gwil stood by the virtual fireplace on the big-screen tv, his hands in his pockets, his lips pressed into a rigid line.

The front door opened, and Joe stepped inside, his car keys rattling in his fist. For as long as I’d known him, his color had so often been a bright and buttery yellow, his aura more visible and constant than anyone else’s. Lately, he was increasingly cloaked in the rosy pinks of love or the vivid, shifting, crimson reds of lust; and Rami and I bonded over our shared efforts to politely ignore that particular variety of thoughts.

Joe pointed to Cato. “What’s going on?”  

“How long?” Cato asked him.

Joe feigned cluelessness. “Huh? What do you mean? Oh, car chick?! That’s nothing. She’s just a friend.”

Cato blinked. “Do you really think I just arrived in Forks today?”

It rolled through Joe like a wave: surrender, apprehension, dread. The realization that Cato had been watching us for days, weeks even, meticulously keeping just enough distance to stay out of Rami’s range of hearing. Joe’s now-opalescent aura dipped from cerise to an agitated mahogany. “Two months.”

“And she’s talented.” Cato’s voice was impatient, incredulous; How could you be this stupid? that voice said.

“No,” Joe flared, like shards of wood cracking in a fire. “No, she’s got nothing to do with you, with us. With our world. She’s got nothing to do with it.”

Cato circled the fingerprint of his index finger around the rim of his misted glass of sweet tea, meditative. “In one hundred and seventy years, I have never met someone who I couldn’t find if I wanted to. And yet the second I turned my back on that girl, she was gone. Vanished. The world was a blank map. How is that possible?”

No one said anything. Finally, Cato looked to Rami.

“You can’t hear her thoughts, can you?”

“No,” Rami admitted.

“And how many times has that happened in...how old are you now, the same as Ben? How many times in the past century have you met someone who made you feel normal, weak even? Who made you feel human again?”

“Never,” Rami conceded.

“You too, right?” Cato asked me. “You can’t see what she’s feeling. She’s nothing but white noise.”

I nodded reluctantly.

“She’s talented,” Cato said again, decisive.

“Oh god,” I choked out, burying my face in my hands. Now I knew what Rami had heard. I knew everything.

Joe shook his head almost violently. “No, that’s not fair. There’s no way of knowing if that would translate to life as a vampire or how it would manifest. There’s no way of knowing if she would survive the transition at all. And none of us are ever going to find out because she has nothing to do with our world.”

“She does,” Cato insisted. “Because you brought her into it.”

Scarlett shivered beside me, crossed her arms over her chest, clutched her leather jacket tighter. “You can’t be serious, Cato. You’re not a monster, you know she might not survive—”

“And that would stop Gwil. It would stop me, sure. When has it ever stopped Larkin?” Cato gestured to me. “With him? With me? With Akari or Araminta or Liesl or Rigel or all the ones who didn’t make it, who died screaming as they scorched from the inside out? It has never stopped him because he doesn’t care. He finds talented people. He covets them, covets them jealously, like jewels or money or lovers. And they either become one of his possessions or they become nothing at all.”

“No,” Joe whispered. “No, no, no...”

Rami was shrinking into the loveseat, overwhelmed by the emotions in the room that were dragging his aura into whirling greys, those desperate and dark thoughts; not even Cato could mute them entirely. Lucy tried to soothe him, laid the back of her fine-boned hand against his cheek. Mercy covered her gaping mouth. Gwil studied the floor, thunderstruck, absorbing it all.

“This is a courtesy that I’m doing you right now,” Cato told Joe, his large palms clasped together, his voice sorrowful and yet unyielding, almost pleading. “This is a warning. If he finds out about her, about what she can do...he’s going to want her. And he gets everything he wants.”

“He can’t find out,” Gwil said hoarsely.

“No,” I agreed. Death or a hundred-year sentence. Either way, a part of you dies. Either way, a part of you ends up in a box six feet underground and clawing for the sun.

“What can we do?” Scarlett asked Cato. “I mean...is there anything we can do?”

“You have to get rid of her. That’s her only chance. Get her out of your orbit, away from our world, away from where Larkin or anyone who serves him would ever cross her path. I won’t tell him about the girl. I’ll try to deflect his attention. If she’s already been spotted, I’ll tell him that she’s useless, just another one of Joe’s litany of casual liaisons. And that’s a risk I’ll take, I’ll do it out of respect for your coven, Dr. Lee, and for Ben. But there is absolutely nothing I can do for you if Larkin finds out for himself. I don’t think I’m the only one he has watching you.”

“Of course not,” I said bitterly. “I’m sure he has all sorts of eyes on me. The white whale. The one that got away.” This is my fault. It’s all my fucking fault.

“It’s not,” Rami murmured; and nobody else heard my side of it, but I think they understood.

Joe’s aura was now murky, sunless, almost black. It was a color I hadn’t thought he was capable of. His eyes were slick and bleary.

“Son?” Gwil prompted. Mercy was sobbing into a handkerchief patterned with roses. Mom, I ached instinctively, before pushing the thought away.

“I won’t do it,” Joe said. “You’re asking me to break her heart and I won’t do it.”

I begged: “Joe, you don’t understand—”

“No, you don’t understand! You don’t understand what this will do to her, what it’s going to do to her for the weeks and months and years that come after, she might never forget—”

“Do you want her to end up dead or in a hundred-year contract?” Cato shot back. “Do you want to see how much of that girl you care about so much is left after a century with Larkin?”

Everyone’s eyes fell on me. I could feel them, full of pity and horror. I’m what’s left. Someone gutted of everything but rage and bloodlust.

“No, of course not,” Joe said. Thanks a lot, brother.

Cato smirked without any humor at all. He had known. “Then the choice is easy.”

“Son,” Gwil said again.

Joe gazed back at him with huge, agonized eyes. His words were brittle, raspy, hollow. “Dad, I love her.”

“I know,” Gwil replied. His aura was a blue like cobalt: profound sympathy, compassion, mourning. “And that’s why you’ll do the right thing.”

Twenty minutes later, I was puffing on my vape pen as I paced back and forth across the wrap-around porch like a caged bear, watching the sun disappear behind the western hemlock trees that raked the clouds. Gwil, Rami, Lucy, and Scarlett were with Joe; Mercy was trying to convince Cato to stay the night in one of the guest bedrooms. I could hear her ludicrously gracious protestations through the walls. “We know it’s not your fault, dear, this...this...situation. We know you’re just the messenger. And you’ve been so important to Ben all these years, so kind. It’s really no trouble at all...here, let me at least wrap up some cake for you to take...”

The front door opened and closed. Scarlett appeared beside me, resting her forearms on the porch railing. She sighed, closed her eyes, said nothing.

“This is going to destroy him,” I told her.

Scarlett nodded, her face bathed in silvery moonlight, marvelous and yet forlorn. The aura that surrounded her was a deep, despondent indigo. It matched the sky. “Yeah.”

“And to think...” I exhaled heavily, nicotine-tinged vapor vanishing into the damp night air. Rain was coming; I could feel it in my bones. “I was just beginning to like it here.”

[amburnedphoenix]

Best Surprise [Valentines collab]

Paring: Noya x reader

Rating: E/Fluff

Warning: This takes place post timeskip, slight spoilers ahead!!

Wordcount: 1.5k

A/n: This is a part of a big multi fandom collab hosted by the wonderful @prettysetterbaby​ to celebrate this wonderful or lonely day. Decided to try my hand at writing for my fav libero Noya, this is my first time writing for him so hopefully he’s not too ooc. Make sure you go and check out the other stories [Valentines Masterlist] Give them some love too!

-Valentines day was a day that people either loved or hated, you always leaned toward hated in your younger years, then again most kids didn’t think too highly of love or romance.

-When you started highschool you swore you’d never fall in love no matter what. You’d weather any storm and stand strong.

- However you didn’t expect in your second year to encounter a storm by the name of Nishinoya Yuu.

-Noya crashed into your life, literally. You met the shorter boy when he slipped down the stairs and crashed into you. Rapid apologies and a promise to make up for it was the start of your friendship with the libero.

-It was funny how in just a few months you forgot your vow as you fell head over heels for him. 

-It was after the game against Shiratorizawa that you waited excitedly outside the stadium for Noya and the rest of his team. 

-Still buzzing from the intensity and victory of the game you didn’t even think twice before giving him a kiss when you saw him; which made his brain short circuit and you to be very much embarrassed when you realized you did it, and in front of his team. Suffice to say the feelings were mutual when he pulled you in for another kiss.

-Ever since that day you started to love Valentines as Noya made sure to surprise you in the best ways, even after you graduated and started traveling the world together it was a day he went all out on you no matter where on the map you were.

-This year was different, you had to return to Japan after your father had an accident. He needed someone to come and take care of his house while he recovered in the hospital, not wanting to put that responsibility onto your boyfriend. You told him to continue traveling and you’d meet up once your father had fully recovered.

-While you had made the suggestion to begin with being separated from Noya for over two months made you realize how truly lonely you were without him physically there. Now here you were sitting on the couch watching some boring tv show trying to call Noya to at least talk to him on this day, but he wasn’t answering.

“Hey this is Nishinoya Yuu, I can’t come to the phone--”

“Damn it Yuu!” You bursted out cutting off the recorded message, hanging up the call you threw your phone onto the couch. Frustration had boiled into anger after hearing the voicemail for the 10th time. Noya had never gone this long without answering one of your calls, even if it was the dead of night he would still wake up and answer.

Letting out a huff you reached over and picked up the phone again, exiting out of the contacts you went to your most recent texts with him.

You swipe down and look at the message you sent earlier in the day, each one of them was left on read. Why on earth would he do that, he hates when you left him on read so why was he suddenly doing it to you? Maybe he was hanging out with Yaku; no that doesn’t make sense he wouldn’t ignore you especially on valentines day.

As you tried to think of why he wasn’t responding a sour thought came to mind ‘what if he’s cheating?’ You quickly shake your head at such a stupid thought, Noya was one of the most loyal people you knew; he’d never leave you or do something to hurt you.

Even knowing that, the small shred of doubt from his unusual behavior gave you an uneasy weight in your stomach. You decide to distract yourself with a movie marathon, selecting which one to start with, you sit back and relax.

------

It was maybe a few hours into the marathon your attention is pulled from the detective about to tell who the murderer is by a knock on the door. Grumbling about having to be left in suspense you pull yourself off of the couch and slowly make your way over to the front door, who could be at the door; you didn’t remember ordering anything or anyone coming over.

You opened the door to find no one there, confused you looked up and down the hallway of the apartment but saw nothing. You think it was someone pulling a prank and are about to close the door when you noticed a rose on the doormat. 

Brows furrowing, you lean down and pick it up, who would leave just one rose in front of someone's door? You walked back in closing the door, it was odd but the thought was nice; taking a vase out you filled it with water and set the rose in it.

Just as you were about to sit back down and continue watching the movie another knock at the door came, frowning you went over and opened the door to nothing but a rose on the mat again.

This continues 3 more times, every time you went to start the movie there was a knock and a new rose. Setting the 5th rose in the vase you quickly moved over to the door being as silent as possible, you were going to find out who this was.

Pressing your ear against the door to listen, when you heard footsteps approach and stop in front of the door you pulled back and threw open the door, mouth open to say something but the words never made it out of your throat.

There in front of the door with a bouquet of roses was Noya kneeling down in the midst of setting a rose on the mat, eyes wide staring at you like a kid who just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. You both just stood in silence staring at each other until you finally found your voice. “Yuu?” 

At hearing you say his name he snaps out of his shocked state and springs to his feet. “U-Uh hey babe.” A sheepish smile came onto his face, your eyes trail from his face to the bouquet in his hands then back up. He shifted putting the singular rose back with the others as you spoke again. 

“Baby what are you doing here? You said you were going to Russia.” You took a step to the side and let him come in, his laughter gave a fuzzy warmth in your chest as he took his shoes off and looked at you. “That may have been a lie haha, sorry about that.” With his free hand he rubbed the back of his head. “I wanted to surprise you.” 

“That’s why you didn’t respond” You let out a relieved sigh as you both walked into the living room. He'd been busy getting things done so they could spend today together; you knew you had nothing to worry about. “Yes I’m so sorry baby, I knew you’d want to call for a bit if I responded and I was trying to make sure everything was set up.” Setting the bouquet down on the table he walked over and embraced you tightly.

When you returned the hug your boyfriend seemed to visabble relax. “God I missed you y/n'' He said mumbled into your hair, a smile spread across your face. “I missed you too Yuu.” You said pulling back a little, a small pout was on Noya’s lips.

“Although I wish you didn’t open the door so soon, I had a whole plan set up.” He huffed with false annoyance that caused you to start giggling. “Hey don’t laugh!.” “Hehe sorry sorry babe but what even was your plan?” He let go, took a step back and crossed his arms. “I was going to keep leaving a rose at the door until I had one left, then I was going to stand at the door and present it to you.”

You couldn’t help but laugh more, because that was indeed something Noya would do. “Haha knowing you baby you’d be in a ridiculous pose too!” Noya cracked and began laughing too, “But that is the best part!” The living room was filled with your laughter, when it finally died down you took a few steps forward and gave him a chaste kiss before going and putting the rest of the roses in the vase.

“I’m glad you’re here, now I was in the middle of a movie marathon and I want to find out who the damn murderer is.” Noya snickered before hopping over the couch to sit down. “Well I don’t see any better way to spend this day then a movie date.” 

You also hopped the couch, grabbing the remote and the blanket you had out; the two of you quickly got set up nice and comfy, once you were set up you looked at Noya. “Want me to restart the movie?” He shrugged “I mean if you want to, you mentioned murder so you might see clues you missed the first time.” You nodded your head and went back to the main menu of the movie. “Oh by the way babe.” Noya hummed in response as he wrapped his arms around you. 

“Out of all the surprises you’ve given me, this was by far the best one.” Looking up at Noya “Happy Valentines day.” You could have sworn he had hearts in his eyes at hearing that from the loving look on his face, he kissed your forehead. “Glad to hear, happy Valentines day baby.”

[mischiefandi]

the marauders dating at Hogwarts - headcanons

A/N: yes im writing harry potter universe headcanons now, i’ve recently fallen back in love with so many of these characters and i just really wanna write for them so im trying it out <3, if you’d like to read more headcanons or fics, please send me any requests (i’ll try to make something out of them tho it could take a while), or if u just want to be added to my new hp taglists, please fill in this form :)

headcanons below the cut !

James

liked to pretend not to care about girls enough to date them

always flirting with them though he never took more initiative than a few quips and a wink

that changed with Lily Evans

his mates couldn’t stop teasing him for it too

he couldn’t help but blush when he caught her eye from across the quad

unable to hide his grin

when they finally kissed

James spent the entire night describing what it had felt like to his friends

Sirius pretended to snore, making Peter erupt in a fit of giggles

”shut it, Padfoot”

in fact James spent most of his time swooning over Lily

he always seemed to bump into her in the corridors

and even when he was in a rush

he’d stop dead in his tracks and wave at her or smile

she usually returned the gesture with a gentle nod and a gleam in her eyes

he would not shut up about her eyes

he’d constantly talk about what she’d said earlier in class

or what she’d worn in her hair the day before

to the point where Remus had to cast a silencing charm on Sirius to keep him from ranting about how “love isn’t real, Prongs”

(yes he’d done it before)

(yes, he’d gladly do it again)

James had never loved anyone more than he loved Lily

nor had he ever felt happier

underneath the cool boy attitude he so loved to portray, lay a hopeless romantic

Sirius

he was bitter af that James had fallen in love

they were best mates and now he was spending all his time with her

not only that, he just wouldn’t give it a rest with the swooning

Sirius refused to let him get away with it

every day he’d mutter rude remarks under his breath

earning a few glares from Remus

he was a child

though he too had his weaknesses when it came to girls and boys

big, thin, blonds, brunettes, the occasional ginger (though never Lily),

it didn’t matter as long as their lips tasted sweet

they came in all shapes and sizes, and he utterly worshipped them

”why not use what nature has so generously given to me?” he often asked

and his friends all groaned in unison, though none seemed to disagree

Sirius always kept his intentions quite clear

he was not ready for anything even remotely serious

that didn’t stop him from having some fun however

he seemed to have quite a few talents for catching someone’s eye

and he knew better than most how handy the room of requirement could be to someone in need ;))

all in all, Sirius wasn’t a bad guy

he was a just a wild young man seeking adventure and enjoyable company

and sometimes, but only during the quietest of nights, he found himself looking over at Remus sprawled across his bed on the opposite side of the room

and just the sight of him sleeping made him smile

Remus

Remus often shook his head gently as Sirius told his tales of conquests past

laughing half-heartedly as Peter cheered him on and James reenacted some tasteless scenes from Sirius’ stories

Remus was the only one who’d never had his first kiss

it wasn’t that he didn’t want to

though if anyone were to ask, he’d just shrug it off and say it was a waste of time

the truth was he dreamed of it

but the opportunity had never presented itself

instead of dwelling on what hadn’t happened yet

he kept busy by thinking of what would eventually happen

he made little lists of things he’d do if he had someone the way James had Lily

how he’d always remind that person of his love for them

how he’d always hold their hand to remind them that he was there

how he’d ask them how they slept every morning

how he’d pay attention to them

how he’d remember everything they told him, even the things shared during lighthearted conversations about nothing in particular

Remus daydreamed a lot, so much in fact, his friends sometimes had to snap him out of it

they’d give him little pats against the back of the head

”earth to Moony”, he’d often hear, and he’d laugh gently, pushing their hands away

Remus was a kind and compassionate friend

always giving advice to Peter and encouraging James

but he too had a big heart, and he wanted more than anything to offer it to that special someone he always dreamed of

maybe someday he would find the courage to

Peter

Peter was a shy boy

he cheered his friends on while picturing himself holding a girl’s hand

it was a pretty picture

but it unfortunately wasn’t real

when he talked to girls, they usually giggled and walked away

laughing at his awkward gait and haircut

laughing about his ragged robes

Peter often laughed with them, trying to ignore the sting he felt every time

though one day, his luck changed

when Pepper Huckleberry, a stout Hufflepuff with a freckle-speckled face passed him by in a corridor and laughed

not at him, but at the joke he’d just told Sirius

Peter blushed a deep crimson

a girl had liked his joke

after multiple pep talks from his mates

”go for it, Wormtail”, “if you don’t do it, i will”

”Pads, shut it”

he finally did ask her out

and she planted a soft kiss on his cheek

which made him blush even more

none of the Marauders would’ve guessed it

but Peter was the first one with a date to the valentine’s day ball

he felt very dapper in his overgrown dress robes

Sirius wouldn’t stop giving him tips on how to get her up to the Gryffindor common room

and while Remus scolded the dark-haired casanova, James patted Peter’s back and muttered a few words of encouragement

Peter, who’d gotten so used to being overlooked, finally felt like things were starting to look up for him

tagging a few pals who might be interested and my forever tag <3

@duskholland @siriusly-harry @apatheticanvas67482 @teen--marvel @thegirlwhoimagined (u dont have to interact of course!)

forever tag:

@stixnstripesworld @masterofbluff @drakewalker04 @superapplepie @apatheticanvas67482​

if u would like to be added to my new Harry Potter taglists (either Harry Potter or the Marauders taglist, or both), please fill in this form :)

[studiobeebo]

Hey Bee, super excited to see you writing again even if just for a bit! Might I be so bold as to ask for Hawks making breakfast in bed for reader? 🍳 I'd love some snuggly domestic fluff. Also, are people submitting pets? I'm not sure why or if it's a thing, but incoming pictures of my little bastard fur baby.

HHHHHHH VIX I HOPE THIS IS BETTER LATE THAN NEVER TY FOR REQUESTING MY FAV CHICKEN ITS BEEN A WHILE SINCE IVE BEEN INSPIRED TO WRITE FOR HIM  ALSO THANK U FOR SHOWING ME UR BASTARD

Hawks / Keigo Takami

Legally, even heroes amongst the top ranks were required to have days off. An unstable hero is an ineffective hero, after all. For a long time, however, days off were just that for Keigo: a necessary component to be the hero he was trained to be. It took him a while to see days off as most people saw it, a time to relax, even if those days off were usually interrupted in one way or another. Still, that never stopped him from dreaming of a world where he could have genuine free time to fill with whatever random shit he could think of, but for now he was making do with ‘enjoying the little things’, something that you had drilled into his brain when the two of you first started talking, and since then he’d had plenty of time to realize that you were one of his favorite ‘little things’ to enjoy.

He didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time with you, but over time you became one of the main factors in why he wanted to be done with the difficulty of hero work. He liked being with you, as cheesy as it sounded, and he found himself always hoping he’d have a little extra time in his day to swing by your place so the two of you could talk over lame late night sitcoms and some terribly unhealthy food.

The two of you never outright called your little get togethers ‘dates’ and you never even dared get into the conversation of finally calling it how it is and saying you were together, but compared to just about everything else in his life, the issue there wasn’t actually his job, it was just how the two of you were. Despite how cheeky and suave he liked to act, he could never really figure out the right way to go about this sort of thing. He mulled over the idea of just flat out asking or mentioned the two of you dating, he never had problems keeping other things to himself anyways so it sounded like the most natural way to go, but he could never bring himself to just say something. It never felt like the right time and to be fair, you could always be the one to say something too but you found yourself in the same dilemma. It seemed like the two of you were in a constant cycle of ‘Eh, I’ll just bring it up next time’, always assuming but never really realizing how much the other wanted to make things a bit more official.

So that’s how things went and have been going, the two of you dancing around the idea of just sharing your feelings and growing closer in the process. Even with work becoming more overbearing than ever, he still always managed to get lost in the way you made him feel the moment the two of you were together. You, on the other hand, spent your time excitedly wondering when he’d come by next, even going as far as to try and spend more evenings at home instead of out with friends just to heighten the chance of hanging out with him. Needless to say, you knew you were head over heels for that winged idiot and after weeks of consideration you finally decided on saving your confession for a few days before the upcoming White Day.

The idea was that, if he returned your feelings like you hoped he would, you’d then be able to get him a gift a few days later. Cliche maybe, but you figured that would make for an extra special anniversary if things ever happened to get that far. Plus, even if he rejected you, you figured at least that wouldn’t ruin the holiday for either of you.

Unlike you, Keigo really wasn’t that inept at the whole ‘think before you act’ thing in regards to relationships.

He wasn’t an idiot (well, not in this regard) and he knew he had insane hots for you at this point and since his idea of just casually dropping that he wanted to be with you wasn’t coming to fruition, he figured he’d try to do something a little more structured and came up with what he thought was a fantastic idea.

Valentine’s Day was romantic, right? So what better day to confess his feelings? He didn’t bother worrying about the whole ‘what if you say no’ thing and instead started thinking about what he could do to make it less lame than ‘hey we should go out for real’. He started paying more mind to couples he’d see out and about while patrolling and even would watch any of the seasonal abundance of romance movies that he’d pass by while scrolling through television channels when he had the time, but everything he saw seemed a bit too romantic and totally not his style. He wanted to do something sweet but a bit more laid back and with no other thoughts in mind, after some time he finally settled on the classic act of breakfast in bed.

Of course in his plans he sort of omitted a few things that tend to make ‘breakfast in bed’ a special thing, the first being that, well..he didn’t know how to go about cooking breakfast. Growing up his diet was extremely regulated and he was rarely allowed to cook for himself, so the only things that were his choice were snack foods or pre made meals he’d grab from a 7/11. Sure he was a few years out of the constant regulations and overbearing ‘caretakers’, but he was out of the frying pan and into the fire in a way so he never had a lot of chances to improve his skills past a basic enough level of cooking to keep himself alive. 

With that in mind, his plan was to pick something nice up for you and maybe if he was feeling it he’d get some flowers or something as well before finally stopping by and sneaking in with the extra key you had given him to surprise you. You’d probably call him a loser for waking up so early, ask him what the hell he did this for, and his answer would be that somehow he managed to fall for you. It was easy as pie in his mind and he was actually pretty chipper in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day, but things never quite go as planned for him, do they?

For starters he was out much later than he had planned the night before which pissed him off because every little issue that popped up felt so insignificant and not worth the price of pushing back his plans. He wasn’t some narcissistic asshole, but when he’s out until three in the morning dealing with little mishaps that cops should have been able to handle, he tends to get a bit irritated despite not showing it. Still, by the time he got home he barely had a few hours to rest before he had to get his plan into motion of picking up things and making his way to you. He wasn’t even planning on closing his eyes when he sat down for a ‘minute’ and when he woke up an hour or so to a call for aid from his agency he barely had time to worry about what was ahead. Even then by the time he was done as the sun began to rise, not only was he behind in general but the call took him a good distance away from where you were so it would take at least an hour to fly there and even more to get what he needed so instead, in his exhausted state he ended up saying ‘fuck it’ and dropping his ass into a family mart, picking up a bagful of breakfast pastries and coffee, and then rushing over to your place where he was finally able to give his wings some damn rest.

He was relieved enough to have made it a little after the time you mentioned you usually woke up around and being as jittery as he was he didn’t give a second thought to unlocking your door and practically slamming it open in the process before cursing to himself for being so damn loud when this was supposed to be a surprise, but with all his clattering around he spilled still very hot coffee all over himself and proceeded to practically throw the bag of goods in surprise as he cussed himself out some more.

Of course meanwhile all that was happening on your end was being woken up by your front door being slammed open followed by noise and cursing. You immediately tensed as you snuck your way closer to the intrusion, a small knife in hand in the event your quirk was rendered useless. As your heart raced in your chest you rounded the corner before bracing yourself, only for your eyes to widen at the sight of the absolute idiot you had fallen in love with whisper-yelling at himself surrounded by a now spilled puddle of coffee and various packaged breakfast pastries.

“Keigo?!” You practically screamed, rushing over him to see what the hell he was doing, but when he looked up at you as if he should be surprised you couldn’t help but sigh and cross your arms.

“A knife?? Jesus, (Y/N) the hells’ a matter with you.” He said with a smile, only half preparing himself for the huff of annoyance and smack to the side of his head.

“What’s the matter with me?! What the hell are you doing breaking into my apartment and making a fool of yourself???”

That made him groan and run a hand through his hair as he looked around to realize exactly what you meant about him looking ridiculous.

“Well you gave me a key so I wasn’t really ‘breaking in’, right?” He questioned, raising a brow as he moved to grab a kitchen towel to attempt to blot his clothes dry, but when he saw the look on your face that screamed you were tired and cranky and not having his jokes, he finally let out a sigh before leaning his back up against your kitchen counter.

“Was trying to do the whole ‘breakfast in bed’ thing, figured it would be best to make myself look good to confess or whatever you want to call it, with it being Valentine’s Day and all.” 

He immediately tensed as his brain caught up with what he had just said before slouching his shoulders upon realizing that in the end, he ended up going with his original plan of just blurting it out like an idiot. 

You scoffed, bending over to begin to pick up what he had dropped before stopping in your tracks as you heard the rest of his sentence. Now your heart was beginning to beat faster for a different reason as your brain replayed what he had just said as you picked up one of the pastries off the ground. After a moment of calming yourself so you wouldn’t embarrassingly bust your own feelings open like you had planned to do in the upcoming month, you stood up and smiled, holding up a one of the things you had picked up.

“You tried to make yourself look good with store bought pastries and crappy convenience store coffee?” You teased, making your way over to him and stopping so you were face to face with him and that ridiculously annoying and attractive smirk of his.

“What can I say, if you don’t love me at my worst you probably won’t love me at my best.”

“What would you have done if I didn’t love you at all?”

“Pfft,” He huffed, “When you go sayin’ things like that it makes it sound like you do love me.”

A moment later his face dropped and he let out a quiet ‘Oh’ as you gave him a look that said ‘Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m trying to say’. All this time not worrying about whether or not you actually liked him back and him thinking that surely you did since the two of you had gotten so close, and yet when you put it so clearly like that it made his stomach do ecstatic flips not knowing that you were just as thrilled as he was.

“That’s cool.” Was all he could manage to say, figuring he would save at least some of his pride by not going into a love stricken rant about just how much he had come to love you.

“Just cool?” You asked, biting at your cheek in an attempt to keep your smile at bay but failing miserably at keeping your happiness on the inside, your hands itching to do something you had only previously dreamed of as you reached up to rest your hands on his shoulders before actually wrapping them around his neck as he leaned into your touch which effectively bolstered your confidence and lowered any inhibitions you had.

“Maybe a bit more than ‘just cool’. At least extra cool, maybe even insanely cool if we really want to push it. But h-“ His words were pleasantly cut off by your lips pressing against his own, a little desperate and very much eager after waiting so long to feel his lips pressed against your own. He was supposed to be the cool and suave ‘Hawks’, the nation’s number two hero, but just like that he was melting against your touch as his hands gripped your waist, gently at first but giving a desperate tug as you finally pulled away from him and he tried to lean in for more, the only thing stopping him being the fact that he just had to savor the look of happiness on your face that he was sure matched his own as you bit your lip out of slight embarrassment as the wave of ‘I cannot believe I just did that’ finally hit, though to him that look along with the fact that he now knew you really liked him back only made you that much more attractive.

“Sorry..” You muttered, a smile still on your face as you couldn’t help but chuckle at seeing him flustered and looking so naturally himself, the self that you had learned to love maybe a bit too much. “I’ve been kinda wanting to do that for a while.”

If he wasn’t already relieved before, hearing you confirm that you’ve been aching to be his as much as he was yearning to be yours made his heart soar with adoration and a liiittle bit of an ego boost that he probably didn’t need.

“Was it cool? Even without breakfast or the bed?” He questioned, still trying to keep things casual in a way, but with you, even being in a position he never thought he’d actually be in, it was easy to act naturally since he so naturally loved you.

“Oh yeah.” You laughed, pulling him closely into a tight hug that fit the two of you together so perfectly that it made it feel like you should have done this ages ago. “Perfectly,-“ You pulled back, giving him a peck on the lips that felt so right it made you giddy, “Extra-“, another kiss, this time with him returning the favor while trying hard not to let his own excitement take him too far as he relished in the fact that this was real and you were his and if he could help it, there’d be nothing in the world to change that “- and insanely cool.”

[leavetwn]

* KAYLEE BRYANT, CISWOMAN + SHE/HER  | you know SUZIE TANAKA, right? they’re TWENTY-ONE, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, EIGHTEEN YEARS? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to VALENTINE BY HOPE TALA like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole ROLLERSKATES SCUFFED FROM YEARS OF USE, STARTING A JOURNAL ENTRY TWO YEARS SINCE THE LAST ONE, A SIGH OF RELIEF ONCE YOU'RE FINALLY ALONE thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is NOVEMBER 28TH, so they’re a SAGGITARIUS, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( claire, 22, est, she/her )

it’s me again ! bringing a character who i’ve played for a while now, just switched up & such for every rp, and now , i’m bringin her here. :^) i hope you enjoy her as much as i do! tw: mentions of mental illness (anxiety)

𝐈. ━━ ˟ ⊰ ✰ 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 .

full name: suzie tanaka. nickname(s): su, anything your muse wants to call her tbh. age: twenty-one. date of birth: november 28th. zodiac sign: saggitarius. gender/pronouns: ciswoman, she/her. sexual orientation: bisexual. romantic orientation: biromantic. hometown: san francisco, californio. current residence: irving, north carolina. occupation: part time waitress at cutie pie’s thanks to her skills on skates. full time student at the local college in her junior year as a creative writing major. she minors in film pro eye color: brown. hair color/style: dark brown, upper-mid back length & she usually just wears it in a simple ponytail. it’s more manageable when she’s out. however, when she’s at home, she’ll leave it down. height : 5′3″. clothing style: you can’t really put suzie’s style into one category. it’s inspired by several different eras & many times she pieces it together. some might call it a bit tacky at times, but she thinks it looks cute. to her, that’s all that matters. tattoos: none. probably could never attempt to get one cause she’s seriously afraid of needles lol. piercings: her ears and that’s when she was fairly young. reference the tattoos portion for reasoning.

𝐈. ━━ ˟ ⊰ ✰ 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 .

when you were around six years old  , you first realized that you were lonely. it wasn’t like you weren’t around other people. it was just that those people were mostly your mom and dad. occasionally your cousins would come over sometimes, but they were all older than you by at least four years. your parents were kind of eccentric, and for that, they experienced how harsh other kids could be very early on. they decided they didn’t want you to experience the same things, so since both were felt they were prepared enough to do so, they homeschooled you to keep you sheltered from those types of things. 

you’re sure they had good intentions. that’s not something you questioned, but you wished they’d at least find another kid you could be friends with or have another kid. you found yourself bored by yourself, so you immersed yourself in things like books or whatever movies they had around the house. this is where your love of fairytales began, and you’d fantasize about living in one while you read or watched the stories unfold.

you lived in your head, and you still pretty much do. you’re an idealist, even though you haven’t seen much of the world. perhaps it’s the fact that you haven’t ventured very far from your home that makes you so, and while life could still be boring, you always had another book or movie to keep you company. you grew content being on your own, and the more that you were, the more you began to enjoy your own company.

that didn’t change the fact that you longed for friends. in all the stories you read or watched, the protagonist had one other person along with them for much of their journey. sure, you had people that you were friendly with, but it was never to the extent that you wanted. it was never a best friend or a close group  —  just someone you saw on few occasions. it also didn’t help how you felt when you were around others. the way you monitored every step you took, the way you crossed your legs, or going over the way you would speak to someone in your head over and over. you figured for the longest time it was because you were shy, but a diagnosis of anxiety gave you a lot more clarity and almost a sense of relief. those things started to make more sense.

being alone helped a lot when it came to academics. you spent a lot of your time studying or looking up random ass facts on the internet, and because of this, you’d call yourself fairly smart. you know your shit. it also helped a lot when getting into colleges. you didn’t aim too high though, not yet comfortable being all the way on your own. so, you chose the nearby university to attend. 

you move out. you’re excited, and your parents are nervous but prepared. they’re not oblivious to the fact that this day would come. you’re ready to go out and face the world, but most of all, you’re ready to make friends. you’re ready to go out and experience the world, every small step at a time. you’re convinced at college you’ll become a brand new person, find yourself, and make plenty of friends. 

it doesn’t go like that at first. of course it doesn’t. it’s a new environment, and it takes getting used to. but soon, people loosen up and warm up to you. you’re quick to make a couple of friends. it isn’t at all like the stories you’d read or watched when you were younger. it is happy and fun and joyous, but you realize that friendships take work. it’s a bit exhausting, as someone who had become such an introvert, but you manage and form close bonds. 

as of now, you are working on your degree and managing life one step at a time. you’re doing pretty well, and things are looking up. you keep your head in the clouds still to this day, imagining what the future will be like. you’re still idealistic and optimistic, not that that’s a bad thing.  

𝐈. ━━ ˟ ⊰ ✰ 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 .

i was being exaggerative with the ‘being at home’ stuff rip. i mean, she did spend a lot of time at home, but she wasn’t always there. her dad would take her out to rockin’ and rollin’, and i mean, she fuckin rocks when it comes to skating. it was kind of freeing to her as a child. she def got a pair of rollerblades as a christmas present, and she probably was the kid skating down her neighborhood road and shit from sunrise until her mom told her to take her ass inside. 

maybe seems like she’s ditzy and she’s probably somewhat naive, but she’s definitely not stupid. she’s also a fast learner. she is, however, too nice for her own good. she’ll learn eventually, but she’s hopeful and an optimist at heart 💔

loves her dad but tells her mom everything. she doesn’t recognize it, but her mom was probably her first best friend lmaoo. they have a really good relationship. she has a good relationship with her dad too. he’s a bit more closed off than her mom, and she recognizes that but understands.

has an irrational fear that everyone’s like,,, staring at her & thinking she’s weird. really wants everyone to like her but she’s not sure how to make that happen (news flash, it won’t)

her fam is actually from san francisco but when she was 3, her dad got a better offer in irving so that’s how they ended up here. she knows this & she wonders what life woulda been like if she stayed back in san fran. probably wouldn’t have changed but she literally lives in her head and imagines shit like that’s her job at this point so yehhh 

dreams of being a screenwriter and maybe even a director one day. she saw how film and books influenced her life as a kid & she wants to have the same impact, yk? v cute to me i love that. maybe she’ll write a book one day too who knows

i’m feelin like she has a ton of online friends cause she was seeking connection /w people so it makes sense. shout out to all her online pals who kept her sane & shit, but it wasn’t enough for her cause she really wanted those kinds of things irl.

is a hopeless romantic rip to her. just wants someone to sweep her up off her feet and give her butterflies but this aint no damn fairytale so let’s make it chaotic

character parallels: lily (dash & lily, 2020) , amélie poulain (amélie, 2001) , belle in some ways lmao (beauty and the beast, 1991) more to be added.

𝐈. ━━ ˟ ⊰ ✰ 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 .

*  friends, best friends, etc.  — literally any friends at all. this is the connection she craves the most tbh. platonic over romantic periodt ! she just wants people to braid her hair and have deep, personal convos with about literally anything while legally blonde is on the television. 

* a bad influence  —  i mean, she stayed inside mostly & is kind of an introvert. didn’t have tons of friends either, so she didn’t really have time to go to parties, etc. BE A BAD INFLUENCE SHE NEEDS TO LET LOOSE LMAOO. it’ll prolly take a lot to get her out but hey 

* good influence  — someone she’s a good influence on & who she helps in some way. i could see it happenin’. if you see it happening, i mean... hmu you know where i am mwah 💖

* crush  — someone she’s head over heels with. i mean, it probably wouldn’t take a lot. in my head she be catching feelings way too fast. it’s just a thing, but yeah, it could go either way. maybe your character is into her too or she’ll end up getting her heart broken which is lmao bound to happen one day. could also be someone who’s crushing on her but she’s way to busy focusing all her romantic attention on someone else to notice? idk i’m just here for all the plots.

* annoyance  — someone who finds her ass annoying/does not like her. she wants everyone to like her so it would be so confusing and upsetting and she would be like wtf did i do but i want it cause i love angst. sorry to all my muses out there luv yall but i’m just bein real

* again, anything at all  — if you have an idea that you love, pls don’t hesitate to hmu and lemme know. i promise i will 99.9% of the time be down. the same goes for any wanted connection doodads that i reblog like if u see it and ur like omg i luv that... PLEASE hmu i luv u all already & just wanna have plots and write with you srsly

[kirishwima]

Hey! Can you do Valentine's day with Jumin x MC, except this time is she who had to work that day? She comes home and finds Jumin sleeping in the middle of all the surprises he prepared for her, pretty please? Thanks!!!

Sure, this is such a cute idea! I took a bit of liberty and went with an MC that’s working as a doctor because well, I’m a little biased ;u; hope that’s okay!

* The night before 14th of February, MC was lounging on the couch with Jumin, content to simply sit besides him and lay her head on his shoulder, Elizabeth the 3d taking her rightful place on his lap. 

* He had one hand around MCs’ shoulders, rubbing soothing circles on her skin, his other hand stroking Elizabeth’s fur. The ideal night, if you asked him.

* “My love” he started, turning to place a quick kiss to MCs temple, “You’ll be home tomorrow night yes?”

* MC hummed, a teasing smile on her lips “Hmm...why, is there something important going on tomorrow?” she teased, giggling at the sudden frown on Jumin’s lips, the furrow in his brow his tell-tale sign of confusion.

* “Of course I’ll be free tomorrow Juju” she smiled, giving him a peck on the lips, “I’ll be working until evening, and I only have a couple surgeries scedhuled in the morning, so I’ll be home to celebrate our first Valentine’s together with you.”

* Jumin hummed in content, a small smile on his lips. Of course MC knew her husband would’ve a grand plan for their first Valentine’s day together, and she was eager to find out what it’d be-but even more so, she was eager to give him his present, a box skillfully hidden in the back of the closet for a while now.

* Happy with their plan, they both greeted the morning of the 14th with glee, Jumin singing a song under his breath as he got ready for work, MC hiding her smile behind her mug of coffee at the sight. 

* They both tried to travel to their works together whenever possible, and today was no exception-Jumin sat with MC in the backseat, bidding Driver Kim a good morning as they entered the car, their fingers intertwined. MC tried to sneak some hints about tonights plans from Jumin, but to no avail-his lips were sealed shut, and he’d only give her a knowing grin whenever she asked.

* She even tried asking the rest of the RFA if they knew anything, bribing Seven with photos of Elizabeth the 3d-but as much as he’d begged for the photos, he genially knew nothing either, so MC was left to pout, folding her arms over her chest.

* Jumin laughed at her adorable gesture, kissing her as they reached her workplace. “You’ll find out tonight my love, and I promise you’ll be happy” he promised, bidding her goodbye as she exited the car to enter the hospital doors. 

* Jumin was cheerful all through the day-which freaked Zen out, as he of course broadcasted his excitement for the day in the RFA messenger, posting significantly more emojis than usual.

* By 6 o’clock, he’d already finished all the work he had for the day, telling Jaehee she could take the day off too before heading out of the C&R building and rushing to get back home (Cue Jaehee dashing out of the building before he changed his mind, shocked she might actually get a full 8 hours of sleep tonight lmao)

* By 7 o’clock, he had everything said-a specific menu he asked the chef to start preparing the moment MC stepped home, reservations to a late night screening for a movie he saw MC gushing about in the messenger, a dozen gifts adorning their bed so she could open them after the movie, bouquets of her favorite flowers in every part of the house-he had everything set, along with his final gift, his big surprise that awaited them on the buildings terrace. 

* Now all that was left was for MC to come home. He knew her job was demanding, and didn’t think much about her not being home yet, even though he was a little upset she hadn’t contacted him at all throughout the day. He was patient however, content to take this time to freshen up for their night, finding his best suit and putting on the cologne he knew MC loved on him.

* The final rays of sunshine were already leaving the sky, the pink hues giving way to darkness, and Jumin still awaited, a glass of wine in one hand, the other anxiously running through his hair.

* By 10pm he was terrified, all his calls to MC left unanswered. There was a gnawing worry building up in the pits of his gut, rising up like smoke all the way to his lungs, getting lodged in his throat-a million bad scenarios ran through his head like a nonstop cinema film, making him pace around the penthouse with furstration.

* Eventually he caved in and called the hospital, stating who he is and asking if MC was there, if she was okay-the secretary asked him to hold for a moment, the longest one in Jumin’s life, before telling him she’d connect him to the OR’s phone.

* He waited, confused as to why she’d do that, when a famiilar voice, the one he loved filled his ears.

* “Jumin, baby I’m so sorry!” 

* MC’s voice was loud and frantic, yet it brought such relief to Jumin, simply to know that she’s alright, that she’s safe.

* “I was going to call you but I didn’t have the time to-we had an emergency come in, a multiple cars accident, with so many patients needing surgery and there weren’t enough people in the hospital since so many got the day off and-I offered to help but I should’ve contacted you I’m so sorry-”

* “Darling, it’s okay. It’s okay I’m-” Jumin sighed, sinking down on the couch, his legs suddenly weak, “I’m just glad you’re alright. Of course I’d want you to be right here next to me right now, but I know that you’d never rest unless you offered help to those that needed it. It’s okay just-come home soon. I miss you.”

* His brow furrowed when he heard a commotion on the other line, even a few giggles and whistles as MC shushed them.

* “J-Jumin, baby...I’m still in the operation room, the phone’s on speaker.”

* He felt his face redden, but couldn’t bring himself to be entirely flustered over this situation-at least now everyone in that room knew MC was his and his alone.

* “Well...just come home soon my love. I’ll be waiting for you.” he said before hanging up, enjoying MC’s flustered sigh as he did.

* With his mind at peace, he sank further on the couch, his heart beat slowing from its previously frantic race, his muscles unclenching, his eyelids dropping-it’d be alright if he closed his eyes for a moment right? MC wouldn’t be home for another hour at least....just for a moment....

* He woke to the sound of the door closing, his eyes snapping open. He looked around, bleary eyed as he turned to the clock on the wall, noticing it’s nearing midnight.

* MC tiptoed near him, holding her shoes in one hand, surprised to see him up.

* “Baby, no..” she sighed, coming to stand before Jumin, cusping his cheek in her hand. “Why didn’t you go to bed? You must be exhausted.”

* Jumin nuzzled his face in her hand, placing a kiss to the pulse point on her wrist. “I said I’d wait up for you, and I’m a man of my word” he huffed, “besides, our bed is covered in-” he halted that thought, noticing MC’s confused expression. 

* “Well, nevermind that” he sat up, tugging MC onto his lap, “I’m just glad you’re here.”

* She kissed him, running her hands through his hair, massaging his scalp as he hummed in appreciation. “I’m sorry I made you wait so long. I should’ve contacted you first at least. I completely ruined our first Valentine’s didn’t I?” she said, an ironic smile on her lips. 

* Jumin simply shook his head. “Never” he said whole-heartedly, “Just you being here in my arms makes me the happiest man alive. However, I’d like to show you something, before allowing you to rest from your tiring day. Is that okay?”

* MC nodded and Jumin sat up, holding her hand tight in his as he led her out of the penthouse and up the stairs to the terrace, opening the doors to the gardens, illuminated only by strings upon strings of fairy lights, making the flowers around them glow other-worldly. He led her all the way to the edge of the terrace, the view of the entire city beneath them, few buildings as tall as this giving them a perfect view of the night sky.

* Jumin checked his watch with a smile, bringing his arms around MC to warm her up from the winter air, resting his chin on the crown of her head. “You arrived home just in time darling. Please look to the sky...now” he said, and his final word coincided with a loud boom, before an explosion of colourful lights highlighted them both, filling the night sky with colour.

* “Fireworks!” MC beamed, looking to the sky with bright eyes. “Jumin did you-” she took note of the pink and red colours of the fireworks, how some formed hearts before sprinkling into coloured dust, “did you plan this?!”

* Jumin kissed the crown of her head, his hands tighter around her frame. “Of course”, he admitted, “It was to be the grand finale of the night, a sky full of love just for you but well, it’ll be the starting point of our night instead.”

* MC turned, ignoring the fireworks for a moment to lean up and properly kiss her husband, laughing between kisses. “You are absolotuely ridiculous, a wonderful, beautiful loving goof. I’d be happy with just you, like this, nothing else at all was necessary.”

* Jumin smiled into the kiss. “I promised you I’d make you happy, and as I said-I never go back on my word.”

* MC rolled her eyes, biting her cheek as she moved to hold Jumin’s hand in hers. “Speaking of happy...I also have a gift for you, and I refuse to end the night before giving it to you.”

* Jumin let her tug him back to the penthouse and into the bedroom, stopping for a moment to register all the gifts scattered on the bed, rolling her eyes with exasperated fondness as she turned to open the closet and dig the hefty box out and into Jumin’s hands.

* “It’s um, it’s a couple of things-definitely not on the same level as all of this” she said nodding to the bed-turned-Toys-R-Us, “but I hope you’ll like them nontheless.”

* Ignoring his protests of “but I’d love anything you give me”, she led him to the couch and sat cross-legged across him as he opened the box, bringing out the gifts one by one.

* They were all things that made her think of him, or things she heard him mention he’d wanted-a vintage edition of the necromicon, an introductory book of witchcraft and its history, a delicate glass lamp that when turned on would illuminate star alignments onto the walls and ceeling-items and trinkets that Jumin equally showed excitement and love towards, kissing MC as thanks for each one. And then, at the bottom of the box-a flyer for a local animal shelter.

* “I know how much you love Elizabeth the 3d” MC started to explain, fiddling with her hands in worry, “and-I love her too! I adore her, but I gave some thought to the circumstances of how we met, how you felt towards Elizabeth and-I thought maybe you’d like us to adopt a little kitty brother or sister for her to play with, together. An addition to our family that you can learn to love just as much as Elizabeth and-” she blushed at that, “-and me.”

* Jumin didn’t say anything. Instead he let the flyer down onto the table gently, leaning forward to take MC into a tight embrace.

* He couldn’t wait to make their little family just a little bigger.

* “Happy Valentines Day, my love.”

I went a little overboard with this hahah sorry ^^’

-send me mystic messenger headcanons/prompts for the characters to react to!-

[redbeanboi]

same anon for mista and i love your hcs! 💖 is it ok if i ask again but this time with him pining after you for so long and just wants to be out with it and sweep you off your feet and call you his if thats alright?

AHHH!!! I love pining. And I think Mista would be such a sweet sweet doofus in love so I have fun imagining these kinds of things for him. I’m going to do a hybrid between a fanfic and an hc post, so expect like… a story, but in bullet form??? hopefully that makes sense (and hopefully this is ok!!). Here’s some Mista pining for the longest time ever… FT. the members of the Bucci gang (and Trish), who collectively decide to meddle a bit so you can just start going out already.

absolutel y LOVIng the enthusiasm for our italian marksman,,,, so if you like this ask for more Mista because writing him is actually really fun for me

also i purposely made my grammar and spelling and my voice and such very silly for this thing so please excuse that. i’m having some fun too

**mostly written from Mista’s POV**

wordcount: 3.0k

sO

it’s been a few years now that Giorno’s been the boss

and you joined the gang a couple years ago

haven’t really climbed up the ranks, but!! Bucciarati took notice of your good work and so did Giorno

so you were assigned to work with Bucci’s team

and you’ve been there for the past year and a half

and for the past year or so, mista has had the fattest crush on you

narancia and trish took an immediate liking to you when bruno introduced you

so they introduced you to mista

anyway it’s just

so easy to fall in love with you

you’ve got the heartiest and dorkiest laugh he’s ever heard and he loves it

face of an angel 

loves how you know when to crack a joke and when to get serious

beautiful lips!!! pretty and soft looking and he just wants to kiss you!!

ahem–

right

beautiful eyes!! he has no idea how many times he’s gotten lost in them, but he’s stared at them pretty often

very very intelligent, always seen with a book when the team has downtime

mista reads a lot too, but he’s been picking up more books now that he’s seen you read

that way he can do something together with you

sometimes you’ll recommend books to him

he THOUGHT he would hate the philosophy book you recommended to him

he hates philosophy and hates overthinking anything

but it turns out, the course of love was right up his alley like you suggested

and now mista is more convinced than ever that you’re his soulmate

he’s like

dead sure

100%

you’re perfect to him

sweet, funny, caring–the entire package

unfortunately guido’s convinced that you’re wayy out of his league

usually he’ll ask someone out regardless

the possibility of being shot down never scared him before

“ya win some ya lose some”

thaT used to be his mindset

but with you?!! no

he’s definitely not risking that

he’s already got something pretty good going on with you

doesn’t want to wreck the current relationship you have with each other

you’re friends and you have fun with each other

it’s basically perfect!!

except

mista obviously wants a little more than that

kisses and cuddles and maybe some other stuff too if you’re up to it

but what if you don’t want that??

and if he asks you out or tells you how he really feels

what happens???

if you say no, what’ll happen to your friendship after that??

god now he’s overthinking everything again!!

anyway it’s valentine’s day

and the entire team celebrates together because none of you have any plans

and you’re all just hanging around giorno’s big fancy house in the posillipo district of napoli

everyone’s just lounging around one of the sitting rooms when mista gets up and excuses himself to get a drink from the kitchen

Trish notices he’s been in the kitchen for way too long tho (and isolating yourself from the rest of the company is NOT party behavior)

so she goes there, sees Mista feeding the Sex Pistols a bunch of snacks and decides to take action

“Mista”

“mhm” Mista feeds number 5 another chip, looks up at trish and then goes back to feeding his babies again

final straw for trish

“oh look it’s y/n” trish points over his shoulder and mista immediaTELY scrambles around the counter and starts to stutter “I was just joking, calm down”

at least he’s snapped out of it

“don’t make jokes like that!!” mista huffs and smooths his sweater down before like, triple checking to make sure you’re not actually within earshot

“what’s the matter with you? you always get so jumpy when someone mentions y/n” she starts wagging her finger at him. “is it because you think y/n’s cute?? or is it because you have a crush on--”

“i don’t–i don’T have a crush on y/n!!” he starts digging around giorno’s fridge for a drink and just settles on cracking open a peroni

yes, mista

drink some beer

that will totally solve your problems

anyway he does like you

the thing is

he’s not sure if you like him back

and usually he’s ok with people knowing if he has a crush on someone

but now that it’s you he wants to keep it to himself

he’s always considered bucciarati, abbacchio, narancia, fugo, giorno and trish like family, but he’s not about to admit he has a crush on you

because he knows 100% that they’ll all tease him, 

((ok maybe not giorno so much, but guido definitely wouldn’t put it past the other five))

he’s just not about that lifestyle

especially because narancia and trish would definitely end up letting it slip to you

and he can’t have that

no sir

when someone even slightly suggests that what mista feels for you is more than just plain old friendship he just goes pffFFfffTT me? no. no crush. i don’t do dating. or crushing. too busy for that crap

but like

cmon

everYONE knows

it’s pretty damn obvious he has a crush on you

always being the first to volunteer to get paired up with you on missions

always the first to shoo away any creep who tries to flirt with you

also he definitely throws longing glances at you whenever you’re not looking

has stared at your lips

and bruno’s caught him doing that MORE than once

((seven times now, if you must know. bruno’s been counting))

“are you going to talk to y/n tonight?” trish asks, nudging him. “neither of you have said a word to each other” 

mista’s cheeks flare up immediately

now everyone knows you’re single

even mista

it’s the only reason why he’s letting himself daydream about you

but just the thought of asking you out makes him want to piss himself

he’s part of a gang, yes

he’s also part of bucciarati’s team

he’s been through life or death scenarios

he’s been at death’s doorstep more times than you can probably count

he has a place among these hardened criminals

but you just make him SO so nervous

he can’t look at you straight in the eye for more than three seconds before he starts blushing and looking away

and either you’re too dumb to notice or he’s just so so out of your radar that you ignore all his obvious feelings

“was wondering where you guys went” narancia came to get a drink too, cracks open a beer too and sits on the counter. “what’re we talking about”

“we’re talking about how much mista loves y/n”

“oh i love talking about that–wait” narancia coughs on his beer.

mista knows EXACTLY where this is going. “don’t–”

“you and–” narancia claps a hand over his mouth and starts laughing “i KNEW IT”

and soon enough everybody else (minus you) has joined them in the kitchen

everyone’s teasing mista about you (minus giorno, who’s just shaking his head), narancia’s making kissy noises

abbacchio keeps making these “just ask her out already, you idiot”

Bruno is saying “you’ll never know what happens if you don’t say anything, and we all know you want to say something–”

fugo is telling him “if you don’t take your shot now, you might not get your chance”

mista wants to SCREECH

“shut up! what if y/n hears you idiots”

and fugo goes “has anyone else noticed that thing that mista does, where he feeds y/n a bite of his food ALL the time, but he never does it with us unless we ask”

“or the one time mista took a bullet for y/n”

“or that one time he broke y/n’s umbrella so they’d HAVE to share his umbrella”

“it was broken, idiots! that’s why I shared mine”

“mmmmhm sure it was”

and fugo nudges mista a little too hard and mista spills beer on himself

“fuck you guys” and mista grumbles and shoves past them to go to the bathroom upstairs

everyone exchanges glances

giorno just jams his thumb into his temple and sighs. “how have they not gotten together yet?”

literally everyone in that room has actively tried to push you two together

none of it has worked, obviously

 you aren’t making a move

neither has mista

you two are adults but you’re acting like teenagers

except most teenagers prob would’ve acted on their feelings now

and just two minutes after, you stroll into the kitchen super grumpy

“why did everyone ditch me in the sitting room?”

“oh we were just talking about you” bruno hums and pops a biscotto into his mouth

“yeah? what about?”

“talking about how wimpy you and mist–MmmP” Abbacchio claps a hand over Narancia’s mouth before he finishes

“want anything to drink?” fugo asks. his eyes are darting around like crazy and you think its  s u s p i c i o u s !!!

“it’s alright I’ll get something later”

giorno wants to conduct a little experiment

mista doesn’t want to talk about his feelings for you

and you haven’t said anything really, but he has a feeling you’re not going to deny any of this 

“oh, there you are mista”

and immediately you just duck under the counter behind giorno and start fixing yourself–hair, shirt, EVERYTHING

giorno just stares at you

so do the others

god its official–you and mista were made for each other

“god help me,” abbacchio gives you a hand. “what’s up with you? slip on a wet patch or something?”

you glare at all of them. “Why the hell did you do that?” 

giorno smiles. you’re all pretty familiar with each other so cussing and acting a little friendly isn’t an issue.

but now bruno wants to go upstairs and dunk mista’s head into some water and tell him to just ask you out already

it’s so infuriating for them

everyone knows how much you like each other

everyone

everyone except you and mista anyway

and you’ve liked mista for almost the same amount of time he’s liked you

it’s not your fault!!!

Mista is beautiful

the most beautiful face in the world!!! and the body of a greek god

sculpted like some fancy statue

he’s sweet, can be very polite

does his job so well

smart

best, dreamiest smile you’ve ever seen

great taste in food

the best person to talk to–never too serious, but you always know he’s listening

always super super protective and considerate towards civilians and is TOTALLY against getting normal people wrapped up into their fights and work

and he’s so perfect

also not to be a pig, but you can definitely appreciate what a great ass he has

“you like mista, don’t you?” trish asks

you shrugged. “so what if I do? lots of people like mista”

“but you LIKE like him”

you’re not going to flat out deny it

otherwise giorno might take it as “oh y/n doesn’t want to be paired up with mista anymore for missions, so blah blah blah”

and nope, can’t have that

you can at least tell your new friends about your feelings

not that you’ll act out on them of course

and you’re shy about it still so you’re not going to even tHINK about telling mista

it’s fine you can just read books next to him forever

and then just watch when he finally finds someone he likes and goes out with them instead

ouch

speaking of mista

where is he

“so,… where’s mista?”

“he’s in the bathroom, but he’ll be coming down soon” fugo just points to the staircase

giorno just adds “i was thinking of taking us all out for dinner too”

so half an hour later you’re at libeccio

which is great, service and food are sublime

except you’re seated across the table from mista

and he’s not looking at you

so you just decide to talk to abbacchio and bruno since mista’s ignoring you

and mista gets a little nervous and sees how you’re talking away with abbacchio

and fair enough, abbacchio’s a great guy to talk to once he’s warmed up to you

and he’s smart and good looking

and mista’s convinced that maybe you’re just into older guys!! and bad boys!!

abbacchio’s got that aesthetic nailed down

mista starts wondering if he can pull it off

and he looks at abbacchio’s get up and gets pretty depressed

yeah, that’s not happening

you’d definitely make fun of him if you caught him dressing up like abbacchio

and he kinda stares into the bottle of mineral water on the table and spaces out

fuck this he’ll just pretend he’s on a date with you and zone everyone else out

and all of a sudden giorno looks at his watch and gets up from his seat

“I’m sorry, it looks like I’m going to have to leave early–I forgot about an appointment I was supposed to have”

mista looks confused

so do you

everyone else though is like “yeah that makes total sense giorno”

and you’re looking at them all like ??? “It’s night time”

and Bruno, the underboss gets up too

“I should probably go with you actually,”

and then Abbacchio quirks a brow…. and then a couple of seconds later sighs and adds “actually I think I have to go home and water some plants”

and you’re getting annoyed at this point “I thought you guys wanted to celebrate valentine’s day together!! I could’ve stayed home and watched movies or something tonight, jerks”

and then fugo leaves because he’s suddenly got some errands to do

and narancia and trish leave when they realize they’ve “suddenly got mani-pedi appointments” even though…. all the salons are closed at this hour

and you’re PISSED

mista stays behind though, and you’re actually really really happy about that

“thank god, at least I have you, right?”

and mista just laughs nervously

“yeah,,, I’m here for you”

and he WANTS TO SCREECH

but thankfully you just smile and clap your hands excitedly and lean over and share a menu with him

“ok !! let’s order some really expensive food and have them send the bill to the almighty ‘Don Giorno,’ huh???” and mista’s heart melts because

that is such a a brilliant idea

god you’re perfect

“yeah let’s do that,” and he just kinda basks in the proximity and lets himself get comfortable

and you both order some really tasty stuff!!!

affetati misti and burrata affumicata for appetizer (the pistols love it), risotto al pescatore and spaghetti alla carbonara for the first course, gamberoni alla griglia and filetto alla brace for the second course

and then you guys leave libeccio and find some gelateria

and you’re not really up for getting your own gelato because you’re so stuffed

but mista’s still a little hungry

and after that he offers to walk you home

the weather’s pretty nice anyway so you’re like “!! yes that sounds perfect”

and then halfway thru you ask if you can try some of his gelato and he’s like

“yeah,,, totally fine haha”

and he’s NOT screaming when you start helping yourself to his hazelnut gelato

and he kinda gestures at your mouth when some of it gets plastered to the corner of your lip

and you’re about to wipe it off yourself when he swipes his thumb around your lip

and he just kinda looks away and mutters “yeah, all good now”

the rest of the walk is super silent

so silent

not that either of you mind really

and then suddenly you’re at your apartment

and you’re about to say bye to mista

and it’s just you two and no one’s around and it’s Valentine’s Day so

why not give him a hug

so you lean in to give him a hug and mista’s like thinking ok this is happening and i am actually very fine with this

and he just kinda meets you halfway and hugs you

except he trips and all his weight kinda pushes you up against the door to you apartment

and it takes you a good minute to realize that

you’re kissing him

mista’s lips

your lips

and you wanted it to happen, yes but 

oh no now everything’s RUINED

and mista just scrambles away when he realizes what he’s done and bows his head

and all of a sudden he’s babbling a bunch of nonsense and he’s so nervous

oh god it’s ruined

everything’s ruined

and he’s just moving his hands around and talking way too fast

and he’s so so full of remorse

and he tries to like lay a hand on your shoulder or like hold your hand or something but you’re staring at him like he’s grown five EXTRA heads

and maybe they’re all very attractive heads because he swears you’re blinking and babbling and looking away bashfully

and it’s so cute but he fucked up

he fucked up real bad

this is all his fault

“oh god, i’m so sorry” and he’s speaking so quickly. “please don’t leave. or you can i guess, i messed up–”

and you’re really confused because??? you thought he like flinched away because he DIDN’T like you

“i don’t understand what you’re saying mista–”

“it’s fine ! don’t worry about me, just–” he’s like shaking his head because he already messed up by kissing you, he doesn’t want to say something stupid “please just tell me what you want me to do? I know I fucked up”

and you’re just staring at him and he wants to be swallowed up by the ground right about now

“do you want me to leave you alone? i can ask giorno to transfer you to another team or something, please just–”

“I didn’t mind it”

mista just stops talking and looks at you … what

“I… actually liked it”

and he’s blinking

this can’t be real

you’re way way wayy out of his league

does this mean

“this is probably the worst time to say it, but I like you”

mista’s silent now

and then you have to swat him in the shoulder

“I said that i like you, you idiot”

and mista just gets this cheesey smile on his face and starts repeating it “you like me?? really???”

“i said it twice now, mista” and you’re just standing in front of him, hands on your hips. “at least say something back or-or SOMETHING”

and he does

he says everything

he just lets it all out

he’s liked you ever since he met you

he thought you were pretty cool already at first

and then he just got the biggest crush on you the more he got to know you

and basically

“do you…. want to keep doing this?? dinner and stuff”

and you nod so much your head might fall of your shoulders

and yes

it’s official

guido mista is now your boyfriend

unreal

and 

when you guys come to work the next day and are chatting up a storm and mista just leans on you and has this big goofy grin on his face

everyone’s watching and noticing

and bruno just smiles and shakes his head 

and you’re just glowing!! and smiling ear to ear

abbacchio just goes

“took you guys long enough”

ok but

im so sorry this was long--

but i love mista he’s my son and i want him to be in LOVE!!!!

best boy in the world, point blank.

fr though guys, if you want more fic/hc hybrids like this

let me know…. this was actually really fun and like

super stress free,,,, no pressure at all,,,, just all fun and laughs!!!

sidenote: that book i linked, “the course of love” is actually a very good book…. and if you’re a total romantic or just love the idea of love… then I highly recommend that you read it. i know mista would love it.

[lonelypond]

A Coffeeshop Christmas Carol, Ch. 1

Love Live, NicoMaki, 5.8K, 1/3

Summary: Maki Nishikino finds herself haunted by Christmas memories as Nico Yazawa enlists her help in putting together the Tudor Conservatory Annual Christmas Pageant. Will their clash be just a collision or the start of something more? Plus, NozoELi shenanigans.

PROLOGUE

Chill in the air, hint of snow on the wind, Christmas only a few days away, dinner plans that might turn into future plans, Nishikino Maki was as excited as she’d ever been for Santa’s arrival as a child. At least in the calm moments when she wasn’t overthinking, like now. Too much excitement, too much pressure, too many thoughts pinballing through her head. Maki stood outside her apartment building, arms full of prickly pine and plants, groceries, and her heart full of...it wasn’t exactly hope. Or maybe it was hope. She was definitely nervous, definitely rehearsing conversations she might have had and might be having with Mako Omine. And now there was this Solstice Eve dinner...or date...or…

The doorman opened the door with a smile and Maki nodded as she rushed past, already behind in her preparations. Fortunately, she’d ordered dinner from her favorite Italian restaurant and only had to put some basic appetizers on a plate. The wine could be opened when her guest arrived. And then…

Maki slid the key into the lock of her apartment, hand trembling. And then...that was the entire worry.

###

Should this feel more comfortable, Maki wondered as she swirled the wine around in her glass, not really listening to Omine as she described her last day of classes.

“I won’t miss that place at all.” Omine sighed, leaning back dramatically and tossing her fair, curly hair over her shoulder.

Maki snapped to instant alert, “What place?”

“Northwestern.”

Panic set in. Maki had obviously missed something; she set her wine glass down before she crushed it. “Why would you miss it?”

“Weren’t you listening at all, Maki? Of course you weren’t.” Omine leaned in, flicking Maki’s forehead as the redheaded future doctor flinched, “Too much going on in that big brain of yours.”

It was a colder laugh than Maki expected. Smart had always been the thing she did well, the area she always excelled at. Was it a problem now?

Maki stood, towering as Omine continued to lounge on the couch, far too casually amused about the tension vibrating from Maki.

“Where are you going?”

“California.”

“California??”

“Beaches, bikinis, no snow San Diego.”

“Why?” Maki winced as her voice cracked.

Another too casual shrug, “Dream job, tired of school, parents tired of paying tuition. I’m not a brainiac like you.”

“I’m not…”

Omine shook her head, standing up to interrupt Maki, and somehow closer than she’d ever been before. “It wouldn’t work, Maki. You’re always off somewhere, nowhere I can find you. And our parents…” A side glance at the mistletoe carefully hung over the piano, “Thanks for the snack, Maki. It’s time for me to finish packing. I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“Omine.” It was all Maki could say.

And then she was in a hug, but she still couldn’t relax and her brain kept racing through possibilities rather than being in the moment. Should she hug back, ask more questions, not let go, play a song, cry, turn away…

Now the hug was tighter.

“I’ll miss you, Maki.”

Did “don’t go” want to come out of Maki’s mouth? Her arms fell to her side. Omine let go and stared for too long. “Still just standing there?”

“What am I supposed to do?” Maki snapped, “You’re leaving.”

Maki willed the tears not to start as Omine stepped away, “I am.”

Maki turned away, nearly falling into the couch, a grunt her only reply.

Omine was already in her coat. “Take care, Maki.”

The door closed and suddenly, all the pine and green and gold and mistletoe and dreams were tainted, taunts to be torn down.

###

EARLY NOVEMBER, 23 MONTHS LATER

 Maki almost had a flow as the Tudor Conservatory’s Composer In Residence. Piano practice in the aftermorning, lunch, meet with the quintet she was composing for, write, if blocked, pick up random donut shop coffee and take her music to a park. Then lock herself in her studio, avoid social obligations, and listen to darkly humorous heavy metal screamers. This would push HER out of memory, flood Maki’s brain with static so she could avoid falling into the loop of mired in heartbreak composing. It hadn’t really been heartbreak, Maki had never really put her heart out there, on her sleeve, in a selfie, or anywhere. Almost...a grand plan, dinner, mistletoe, but instead there had been Omine excited she was about her new job, across the country. And that had crushed Christmas, Maki’s favorite mood, Maki now finally, finally believed Santa and goodness and joy had NEVER existed. Because if they had, her heart would not have been frozen by unawareness and then shattered by distance. Last Christmas had been the worst. Maki just disappearing into her apartment and an endless stream of anything dark and not Christmasy. And now Christmas was looming again. Halloween, a cheerful dark holiday you could blast The Smiths and Girl In A Coma and weird, darkly humorous old school country bluegrass songs to get through, had just passed so there was no goth line of protection for the broken.

Maki was in a rush. Late to a meeting with Professor Sonoda. And her score was nearly complete. She just needed five minutes, a large table, and a sharp pencil. The campus coffeeshop loomed on the left, the owner, Nozomi Tojo outside and looking like she was about to finish placing the large candy cane she was juggling and talk and Maki had no time for that. A small figure, all bundled up against a bracing wind was walking fast, head down, toward Maki, but Maki prepared to dodge. And then the candy cane flew out of Nozomi’s hand, skittered in front of the woman hustling to the shop, tripping her, the momentum of her fall caught Maki off guard so her score flew everywhere.

“What the…” Maki bit off a profanity, scrambling.

“Watch where you’re going!” The projectile snapped, unexpectedly fierce red eyes glaring.

Maki froze, drawing up to her full height, “Watch where I’m going? Watch where I’m going?”

Nozomi scooped up a sheet of music, “Maki, don’t you need these?”

“Oh hell,” Maki moved to sprint into the street, but felt a strong hand pull her back as a speeding car took half of her score two blocks away. She turned expecting to see Nozomi, instead it was the tiny, sable haired, fiery eyed cause of her new problem.

“Are you stupid?” The woman sounded breathless and scared, but her grip on Maki’s arm didn’t yield.

“That’s my entire score. It’s almost finished. I…” Maki felt like crouching down and covering her head.

Nozomi had collected a handful. “Here. I’ll get the counter girls to run after it.”

“Make me my usual. Nico will help.” Nico released Maki’s arm, shoved a handbag into Nozomi’s arms, and took off down the street, hair streaming behind her. Maki watched, having trouble processing what was happening and clutching a too small stack of music to her chest.

“Maki? Professor Nishikino?”

“Huh?”

Nozomi had a hand on Maki’s shoulder, “Let’s get you inside.”

“I have a meeting.”

“You probably need your music for…”

“Yeah.” Maki walked through the door, found a corner booth that had not been tainted by Christmas decorations, and shoved back in the corner, legs drawn up on the bench.

“Is there someone you can call?”

Maki shook her head, pulling out her phone, texting was always her only option.

M: Sorry, Umi, I’m going to be late. I had an accident.

Immediate response.

U: Are you all right? Were you driving?

M: No, someone tripped into me and scattered my score.

A thump and Maki looked up to see a large stack of papers slammed into the table in front of her.

“They’re not numbered. Didn’t your professors teach you anything?”

“I am a professor.”

The woman sat down in a chair, examining Maki carefully, then shaking her head. “Graduate students shouldn’t pass themselves off as faculty.”

Maki thought that was ironic coming from someone who looked like they might be on their way to their freshman dorm, “Well, I’m glad you’re not in any of my classes. I’d never get anything done.”

“That stupid candy cane tripped Nico. Who puts up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving?”

Maki’s mood improved. A kindred spirit. “Exactly. Why put them up at all?”

“Bigger tips.” Nozomi announced, carefully placing a huge mug in front of each woman.

“I’ll pay you to skip to…” Maki considered. New Year’s was never really much, Valentine’s Day was frankly disturbing, Easter was for kids…”summer, yeah, beaches, pictures of piers, sandpipers popping along the shore.”

‘I’m sorry, you’ll just have to get in the holiday spirit. Or Santa won’t bring you what you need.” Nozomi winked as she turned.

“Santa.” Maki and Nico both snorted.

Nico considered Maki for a moment, then extended a hand, “I think I rescued most of your pages. I’m Nico Yazawa, Drama and Performance.”

Maki put her phone down, ignoring the text notification, “Maki Nishikino. I’m the composer in residence.”

“Oh.” Nico grinned, “My friend Umi’s been telling me I should talk to you.”

“Why?”

Somehow Nico puffed up like a proud bird showing off its feathers, “Nico’s in charge of this year’s Christmas concert. Everyone asked me to take over and it’s going to be the best one ever.” Nico leaned in, eyes even brighter with excitement than anger, “So Nico needs the best people to work with and since Umi won’t help me, she suggested you.”

“Umi won’t…” Maki was trying to make sense of what Nico was saying, the third person self references and lack of context making it a confusing knot.

Nico coughed, “No, no, Nico misspoke. Umi just thought that if Nico knew you, you would have been Nico’s first choice.”

Was that the other thing that Umi had wanted to talk about at their meeting today? Maki grabbed her phone and pounded out a message.

M: Were you going to talk to me about…

Maki glanced up, “What was your name again?”

Nico’s smile got brighter, although her eyes narrowed, “Nico Yazawa.”

M: Nico Yazawa?

U: Oh good, have you met her? She has A Christmas Carol script she wants to turn into a musical and I thought it might be a good challenge for you…

Maki frowned. Christmas. Ugh. She had been hoping to avoid anything holiday-like by focusing on the Lunar New Year and the twelve movement orchestral suites she had planned out. Most of her colleagues just went “whoa” and “good luck” when she explained the scope of the project.

Maki put her phone down again. Nico was closer, she switched to the chair next to Maki and was reading through Maki’s sheet music.

“Hey!” Maki pulled the pile away from Nico, “You can’t….”

“Pretty good. Nico approves. Although I think they’re out of order.”

Of course they’re out of order; you blew them down the street, Maki screamed inside her head, while her hand reached for whatever Nozomi had placed in front of her. Nico took that as a signal that there would be a break in the conversation and reached for her own mug. Maki wondered if she could just make a run for it, but one hand tugged on a twist of hair and the other raised the mug to her lips. The bitter coffee, no sweetner, no colliding, no demands, was a bracing relief.

Nico stacked the pages, neatly, in an entirely different order. Maki groaned. “Nico will take you out to dinner. We can talk.”

“I have no spare time and multiple ongoing projects.” Maki had the mug in both hands as a rampart against the looming presence of her tablemate.

Nico grabbed Maki’s phone. Maki had gotten lazy and turned her lockscreen to ten minutes so Nico easily swiped into her contacts, then texted herself. “Nico will text you later and we can find a date.”

Maki stood, grabbing her phone back from Nico, “I have a meeting.” She picked up what she hoped was all of her score, “Not with you.”

Nico responded with a wink and a smug confidence that just bolstered Maki’s will to flee. “Nico will wait.”

“Please don’t.” And Maki was out the door, not realizing she hadn’t paid for her drink.

###

Nico had a meeting of her own, and hurried back to campus. She was in charge of the Holiday Pageant, a legendary event that took most of the day on the Solstice and involved all of the students. The head of the dance department was waiting for her in the small dance studio.

Nico opened the door. Eli Ayase was everything that aggravated Nico’s insecurities, tall, blonde, stuck up, probably cool. Nico had never really had more than a passing conversation with the choreographer and former prima ballerina as Ayase was another staff newbie. The dancer was standing at the barre, going through what Nico recognized as the most basic ballet positions in a light blue leotard, white tights, and blue and white striped leg warmers, blonde hair in a ponytail. Nico stood in the doorway, allowing excellence a moment to finish and herself a moment of real appreciation for someone putting in the work.

Eli stepped away from the barre, wiping her forehead with a towel, “Oh, hi, Nico! I always like to go back to the foundation. I’m teaching a beginner’s class for non majors next semester.”

Nico nodded, “Ballet is good exercise.”

“Exactly.” Eli swept out her arm, “And a good way to learn about the meaning in movement.”

Nico knew a few D + P majors who would be interested, “Nico will put out the word.”

Eli nodded, and grabbed her bag, “Want to go to my office?”

“Nah. Nico’s fine here.”

“Efficient. I like that.” Eli pulled her water bottle from her bag before putting it down.

“Have you met the Composer In Residence yet?”

“Nishikino?” Eli shook her head, “No, Don’t know much about her. Apparently, she took some time off from music for med school or something, but decided not to give up the piano.”

“Nico didn’t know that.” Nico leaned back against the barre, stretching out a leg, “So you’re not one of her “ongoing projects”?”

“Not yet. Umi wants me to talk to her about The Nutcracker.”

“Is the hyper dedicated to her job Professor Sonoda turning slacker and passing all her jobs to the newbie?”

Eli laughed, “No, I think she’s just making sure that Nishikino interacts with other people. I heard that for the first month, she didn’t come out of her studio, and you could hear the piano day and night.”

A reclusive workaholic. Nico made a mental note of that. Probably needed some fresh air. A walk around campus and a tour of some of the better local foodie spots might be a pleasant way to get to know each other better on the way to a collegial collaboration. That was a good phrase. Nico made a mental note to use it on Maki.

###

The redhead was pacing back and forth outside the coffeeshop. Nozomi was fascinated. Maki seemed to be having a conversation with herself, would stop, start to head inside, and then begin pacing again. After three customers, Maki was starting to look cold so Nozomi decided to investigate.

“Hi Maki, come in.”

Maki shook her head.

“What’s wrong?”

“Christmas.”

Not the answer Nozomi expected, but then she remembered Maki being decoration averse. Nozomi wondered what the story was, but Maki did not seem like the answering questions type.

“Do you do takeout?” Maki asked warily.

“No.”

“Could I pay you to do takeout?”

“How about if you come inside and stop shivering, I take the decorations down from one corner, and you let me treat you to a hot chocolate.”

“Cider. Lots of cinnamon. No Santas.”

Nozomi nodded, “Okay, I can do that.” She held the door open, “What did…”

Maki stopped moving forward.

Nozomi chuckled and shook her head, “Never mind. Let’s get you off the sidewalk before you scare away business.”

###

The apple cider came with company. Maki knew she hadn’t agreed to that but Nozomi had slid confidently into the wall bench, Maki having taken the seat facing away from the still decorated rest of the coffeeshop.

“So, how do you like Tudor?”

Maki shrugged and sipped, mostly hiding behind her mug.

“Are you having fun at the Conservatory?”

Maki raised an eyebrow, ‘The quality of the ensembles and musicians I’ve worked with have met my needs.”

Nozomi leaned closer, “I hear you spent most of September getting to know that Steinway.”

Maki scoffed, “It’s not a Steinway. It’s a Shigeru Kawai.”

“What’s the difference?”

Maki rolled her eyes, “Are you at all musical?”

“I sing in the shower? Do you duet?”

And then a chair landed next to Maki and Nico’s voice was harsh in her ear, “Stop harassing the pretty ones, Nozomi.”

“But Nico-chi, they’re all pretty.”

“Does not change Nico’s point at all.” Nico unwrapped a scarf probably longer than she was tall and snapped her fingers at Nozomi, “Get your favorite customer a mocha.”

Nozomi sat for a moment, watching Nico and Maki, then smiled slowly, “You owe me, Nico-chi.”

“Put it on my tab.”

Nozomi stooped to whisper in Nico’s ear as she left, “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Nico waved Nozomi off as she slid into the seat the taller woman had vacated, “Hi, you.”

Maki still held her cider mug close to her chest, as if Nico might grab it, “Hello.”

Nico grinned, “How did your meeting go?”

“I left the score for Umi. She had other responsibilities.”

“Im sure it will be fine. From what Nico could tell, it was…” Nico hesitated, at a loss for words, running through her memory for anything she could remember from the music sheets that had been scattered in front of her earlier, “complicated.”

Maki giggled, surprising herself.

“So what’s your drink, now that you know Nico’s?”

Maki put the mug down, relaxing enough to not need extra protection. “Usually coffee, this is cider. Seemed warmer.”

“Nico is always cold,” Nico hugged herself.

Maki had no response so picked up her mug again.

Nico frowned. The other party usually wanted to know something about Nico, but this person...Nico needed an angle. And then Maki surprised her with a question.

“So what’s your favorite line in Christmas Carol?”

Nico brightened and her body language became more open. “You want more details about Nico’s project? It’s so exciting. Nico knew once Umi told you about it, you’d...

“No.” Maki regretted her urge to speak into the increasingly uncomfortable silence.

Nico’s eyes glittered like firelight, “No?”

Maki put the mug down again, focusing her attention on it as she spun it slowly in a circle. She could feel Nico watching her, but needed to avoid getting drawn into a staring match.

“I was just curious. Asking a question isn’t signing a contract.”

Nico was silent. Maki sneaked a peek. Nico had a thoughtful look and was briefly still, but then her hands flew up and the air filled up with words.

“Business! Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business.”

“Did Scrooge say that?” Maki couldn’t remember details of her last A Christmas Carol viewing, probably the Muppet version.

Nico shook her head, “Haven’t you read A Christmas Carol? There’s so many versions out there, in every medium, but the Jacob Marley scene is pretty consistent.”

Marley...oh the Marley and Marley number, lots of chains. “Chains, right?”

“Fettered. All forged by heartless choices.”

Nozomi swept up with the mocha, a pile of chocolate dusted whipped cream nearly as tall as the cup topping the drink. “When’s the wedding?”

“Shut up, Nozomi.” Nico snapped.

“What?!?!?!” Maki spluttered.

Nozomi winked over her shoulder at Maki, “If she leaves you at the altar, call me.”

Nico had both hands in the praying position, “Please ignore Nozomi. She has been harassing Nico and anyone else who isn’t a sad, defenseless mess for years.” Nico shrugged, “It’s a warped way to flirt.”

“So you’re not a ‘sad, defenseless mess?’” Maki asked, slowly, uncertainly not sure where this conversation was going.

Nico stopped sipping, upper lip covered with a ridiculous whipped cream moustache. “Does Nico look like a ‘sad, defenseless mess?’”

Maki giggled, touching her own upper lip, “You look like half a hipster dudebro.”

Nico frowned, then quickly licked off the whipped cream, “Nah, Nico’s JLo in a suit when she wants to boi up.”

“Really.” Cider done, Maki leaned into the elbow she’d propped on the table, “So is that your go to opening night outfit?”

Nico leaned back, considering, a smile sharp on petal pink lips, “Work on my Christmas Carol and find out.”

Nico’s eyes actually seemed to twinkle, with mirth, which is the kind of thing that was entirely wrong with this season. Here Maki was, having a more interesting conversation than she expected, and the propaganda that had been etched in her brain over a theoretically loving childhood brought Christmas back into the conversation. With a huff, she pushed back from the table.

“What’s your favorite line?” Nico sipped, the question gently curious.

“Huh?”

“A Christmas Carol, the future Pulitzer winning musical by the team of Yazawa and Nishikino. What’s your favorite line in the original?”

“Bah humbug.”

Nico shook her head, tapping the table. “Predictable. Have a better answer next time.” Nico picked up her mug, stood, and bounced over to where a student wearing a pride flag pin was staring moodily out a window. As Maki watched, Nico raised her free hand in a gesture, said “Nico Nico Ni” loud enough to carry, surprisingly getting a shy smile out of the young person, then put her mug down and engaged in a conversation Maki wasn’t close enough to overhear, but the atmosphere around them was lightening. Must be a student of Nico’s having a tough time with the holidays. So many people did, Maki included. She shook her head to clear memories of the past two years, then put on her coat. Piano time.

###

Nico stood on stage, sweeping her hands through the air, muttering, “We put giant candy canes at the back, do a cutesy period Victorian backdrop, piles of toys, some...no no no…” Nico shook herself and vaulted off the front of the stage, rushing to the back of the house and visualizing the mood she wanted to set, “Lamplight! We set up street lamps along the aisle.” Nico laughed and swooped forward, dancing like a chimney sweep in the chorus of Mary Poppins. “Perfect. Cozy.”

“I can’t work with her.” Eli’s voice filled the theatre as she shoved the double doors open.

“Can’t work with who? Is a dancer giving you trouble?”

“The composer. Umi’s letting her lead the musical ensemble, but she refuses to discuss Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.” Eli stamped a foot and threw her head back, “How can you not discuss Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. It is THE Christmas classic.”

Nico jumped up to sit on the front of the stage, watching Eli stomp in front of her. “You’re talking about Maki, right.”

“Of course,” Eye roll, “Who else?”

“Did she say why?”

Eli frowned, “Something about Ellington.”

Ellington, Nico thought, must be Duke Ellington. Nico pulled out her phone, “Oh, Duke Ellington’s done his own version of The Nutcracker.”

“Jazz?”

“Probably.”

“And how is that a Christmas classic that will showcase my dance classes?”

“That would depend on the choreography, wouldn’t it?”

Eli leaned on the stage, arms taut, and turned her head to look at Nico, “I’m not familiar with it at all.”

Nico hit play, “It bops.”

Eli glared.

“Lots of energy.”

Eli continued to glare.

Nico shrugged, “Hey, crashing the canon is a thing people need to do now.”

“Crashing the canon?”

Nico hopped down, “Hearing new voices, diverse voices.”

There was a pause, then Eli snarled, “Like Dickens?”

Nico continued unphased, “Actually, yes, because it’s the voice of Nico Yazawa doing an original modern, musical riff on Charles Dickens.” She pulled out her phone and fired off a text.

N: Hey, Maki, meet me and Eli at the coffeeshop. Ellington vs. Tchaikovsky death match.

M: Use their full names.

M: And I’m busy.

N: Get unbusy. Nico’s going to help you with Eli. So that more people can hear Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s genius.

No reply. Nico grabbed Eli’s elbow, “We’re going to the coffeeshop. Maki’s going to meet us there.”

“Did she say that?”

Nico grinned. “Not yet.”

“Yazawa…”

Nico yanked, “You, me, coffeeshop, Team Christmas meeting.”

Eli hesitated, “I don’t drink coffee.”

“You don’t drink coffee?”

Eli shook her head, “Bad for the body.”

“We are going to the coffeeshop. Nico needs enough caffeine for three people to deal with this.”

“But…”

Nico’s phone pinged, Maki.

M: Ten minutes

N: (ʃƪ ˘ ³˘)

M: Two years.

N; See you soon.

M: ᕕ| ͡■ ﹏ ■͡ |و

N: Ooh, Maki sent Nico a sexy selfie.

No reply. Nico laughed, but refused to answer Eli’s questions.

###

The coffeeshop had been a mistake. Nozomi’s eyes had developed a laser-like glow the second Eli stepped in behind Nico.

“Nico-chi! You brought me a present!” Nozomi looked like she was about to vault the counter. Eli was staring around like she’d never been out in public before and Nico didn’t know what that was about but Nozomi was the bigger problem, so Nico reached out, grabbed Nozomi’s apron, and pulled her into hiss, “Stop perving.”

“No.”

Nico released Nozomi and deliberately used a liberal amount of hand sanitizer, “You disgust me. Eli doesn’t drink coffee so don’t bug her.”

“Who is she?”

“Choreographer.”

“A dancer.” There was something in Nozomi’s tone Nico never wanted to hear again.

“Hey, Eli, tell Nozomi what you want and let’s hit the corner booth.”

Eli very politely stood at the counter, reading the menu with an expression that could have meant she was examining a bomb that needed defusing.

Nozomi leaned over, “Welcome. First drink is always on the house. And I make a luscious hot chocolate.”

Eli started to smile, but then shook her head, “I can’t. I only allow myself a cheat day once a month.”

“I won’t tell.” Nozomi winked.

“Just a peppermint tea, please.”

Nozomi considered, finger tapping her chin, “I’ll consider it if…”

“Don’t you just take customer orders?”

Eli’s genuine confusion had Nico snorting as she eavesdropped. “Newb.”

Nozomi continued, “You come back for a hot chocolate on your cheat day.”

Eli tilted her head, lashed flitting slowly over bright blue eyes, and then she smiled at Nozomi, “Okay.”

“Good, that’s settled, let’s go, bring me a strawberry latte in a bucket.” Nico dragged Eli to the table.

“This is a friendly little place,” Eli decided.

Nico unpacked her bag, refusing comment.

###

Maki slid into the booth, wondering if Nico had chosen the one without decorations deliberately. The choreographer was there, with tea in front of her, staring around the shop. Nico was on her phone, typing rapidly. Maki wondered to who.

Nico glanced up, “Hi, Maki! Thanks for meeting us.”

“Us?”

“Nico, Eli, Maki...We three Queens of the Tudor Christmas Pageant.”

“I’m not having any title with Christmas in it.” Maki stated.

“There were Kings, not Queens. Or wise men.” Eli frowned, “Next to the ass. In the manger.”

Nico sighed, closed her eyes, choked a little on snark, and then smiled, “This is not a Nativity Pageant, Queens rule, you, Maki, can choose any title you want as long as you commit to composing music for Nico’s Christmas Carol.”

“What about my Nutcracker scenes? Clara? The Mouse King?”

“Nico loves a good sword fight as much as anyone, but I think Maki has a point about Duke Ellington.”

“What?” Maki spun in her seat.

“You want something different, to show people music that while great, they might not have been exposed to.”

Maki hesitated, “Yeah.”

“Nico approves.”

“But I can’t just deliver all new choreography.” Eli whined.

Nico leaned in, “Don’t you have advanced choreography students?”

“Yes.”

“Give them the dances you can’t manage. Make it their final. It’s a real world challenge. Dancers love crazy pressure.”

“But it’s not Christmas without...”

Nico was unmoveable. “Make some new Christmas memories, Eli.”

Eli was suspicious, “Do you two know each other or something?”

“No.” Maki practically shouted, while Nico looked at her despairingly.

“Nico met Maki the same day I met you, and yes, Nico is trying to charm Maki into scoring her bopping new musical version of A Christmas Carol, but she also has a point.”

Eli hmmpfed and changed her tactic, “I won’t have time, I don’t know how to work with jazz…”

Nico glared as Eli trailed off.

“I don’t bop.” Maki broke into the silence.

“Nico will teach you.”

Maki took a flash drive out of her pocket and slid it toward Eli, “These are my favorite pieces. I think a modern dance approach mixed with a foundation of ballet would work really well with them.” Maki hesitated, cleared her throat, and continued, staring out the window behind Eli, “I understand loving traditional Christmas things…” a pause, fingers tapping, “But some of us do need to make new memories.”

After a minute, Eli picked up the flash drive, “Okay, I’ll listen. No promises.”

Both women turned to Nico, expecting something said with a flourish, but Nico was silent, chin in hand, seemingly absorbed in Maki’s profile.

“Nico?” Maki waved a hand in front of Nico’s nose.

Nico jumped, “Good that’s settled.” Nico stared around her, “Where’s my latte? Darn Nozomi, Nico will be right back.” Nico headed to the counter, “Nozomi, how can you keep your number one customer waiting?”

Maki stared at Nico’s large and half full cup, then glanced over at Eli, who raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

“Um.” Eli was watching Nozomi laugh at a Nico who seemed to be hopping up and down with rage, “I need to get back for an evening class.”

“Let me know what you think.”

Eli nodded, then followed Nico’s path to the counter. It was like a relay, Eli arrived, Nico grabbed what looked like a plate as well as a mug, and Nozomi ignored Nico as soon as Eli began speaking.

“Yeah, yeah, go to your class. Nico will be in touch.” Nico called over her shoulder, then slid in next to Maki, putting a plate with two scones between them. “Pumpkin cinnamon chip. They’re delicious. Have one.”

“Okay.” Maki took a bite. “”S good.”

Nico winked, “Always trust Nico.”

Maki shrugged and chewed.

“So why are you making new Christmas memories. What’s wrong with the old?”

“External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn’t know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often `came down’ handsomely, and Scrooge never did.”

“Scrooge? Is that why you don’t want to work on Nico’s Christmas Carol.”

“You demanded a better line for my favorite.” Maki explained, “So this is it.”

“That’s a chunk not a line. Dickens was hailing words.” Nico giggled; Maki remained unimpressed.

“The weather sets such a mood, grim, cold, clingy, mist and fog and all the things Scrooge won’t be able to escape.”

Nico considered, eating half her scone before replying, “True. But Nico took those parts out. Boring. No people in them.”

“No people in them?” Granted, Maki had only done a quick read of A Christmas Carol, not an indepth dive for a thesis she was prepared to defend in front of a panel, but…”Scrooge is in them. It all describes Scrooge. His mental weather.”

Nico sipped. She was proud of her adaptation. All the Victorian carols and games and silliness had been nicely modernized. There was no space for Victorian gloom. Christmas Present was a little judgey and Christmas Yet To Come a little unsympathetic, but the characters around Scrooge were so vibrant that eventually he came to see the life he was missing. “Actions are more interesting than “mental weather.”

“But you could set such a great, scary, best ghost story of all time mood.” Maki’s eyes gleamed.

“Nico went for friends, family, and community mending a heart broken by life.”

Maki was surprisingly insistent. “His heart wasn’t broken. He took it out himself and locked it up with his gold.”

Nico sipped again, trying to arrange her features in an expression that represented thoughtful consideration. “That interpretation can be found in the text.”

“That is the text.” Maki was almost shouting. Nico touched Maki’s forearm and the other woman pulled back, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Sorry.” Nico cupped her new mug in both hands, ignoring her previous one.

Maki shrugged.

Nico inhaled, calming the atmosphere. “I spent years working on this. Did Umi give you my script?”

“I haven’t opened that email. I prefer reading on paper if it’s that long.”

Nico tapped her cup, a measure to keep her temper. “I will hand deliver a copy if the great composer will do me the courtesy of reading my carefully constructed ninety minutes of gripping, heart warming human drama before trashing its central theme.”

Maki blushed, a hand in her hair, half turned away from Nico.

“Nico’s favorite chunk, if you remember, starts with “Mankind was my business.” You know the part where Scrooge’s sole friend, Marley, shows him exactly why the successful life he’s been leading is a failure.”

“You could do so many things with percussion there. And maybe some violins, chilling…different strings for the phantoms outside.”

Nico frowned. This would be easier if Maki read the script. “No floating phantoms. Nico went with the Marley’s taking their shot to actually do one good thing angle. But you’ll see that when you read the script.” Nico paused, “The nuances will attract you.”

There was nothing nuanced about Nico, Maki thought, as the playwright waited for a response. Nico was the picture perfect professor of Drama and Performance, stylish, very noticeable clothes, hair in a bun, neat, well used bag hanging off her chair, every gesture broad and full of meaning, voice full and making complete use of the spectrum of emotion.

“Maki.” A demand for attention, like everything about Nico.

“I’ll read it.” A quick agreement.

WIth a nod, Nico flounced out, leaving Maki surprised by the abrupt departure. At least Nico wasn’t the first of a train of writer/directors planning to haunt Maki into collaboration. Maki played with the crumbs of her scone, sorry Nico hadn’t had a copy of the script in her bag. Now she was curious. Maki stopped, leaned her head back, and sighed, apparently, she was going to do this. Well, it would be a new Christmas memory. Next time, she’d have to be more careful what she asked the universe for.

A/N: A/N: And the annual tradition returns.Last year's got sideswiped by the pandemic, although I would like to finish it, so this year, I went back to paced like a movie basics.

I hope this finds you well. Thanks for reading.

[haikyupid]

hello!! your concept is so so cute omg :")) can i request for a dalgona matchup latte please? i'm an intj-a with a 3w4/8w7 enneagram (it fluctuates D:) i love music/art/literature a lot and studied music in high school but at the same time i take STEM subjects! i'm quite a logical/rational person but i love spending my time daydreaming/crafting scenarios in my head hahaha. i might be quiet/scary at first but when i open up i'm super warm and affectionate with all my friends!! (1/2)

Thank you very, very much for ordering and being patient with Kyupid’s Love Shop. One Dalgona Matchup Latte coming right up! Whew, here comes the side effects: I matcha up with ˚₊·͟͟͟͟͟͟͞͞͞͞͞͞➳❥

➞ this just screamed sugawara to me; i legit heard his singing after reading your order 🥺👉👈

➞ on the topic of singing, can you imagine how beautiful it sounds when he sings while you play the piano? legit every gathering (doesn’t matter if it’s with friends or family) will never be complete unless the two of you have performed for everyone while they just stare in pure awe ‘cause duh, very talented couple over here

➞ this isn’t how i usually format orders (this would usually be at the last part) but omg, you two would be such cute parents! argh, this is too adorable for me— ik you don’t particularly like kids, but i just had to put this in!

➞ he once brought you at work during lunch since you dropped by to give him a bento box, and omg, now the children think that you two are their second parents; he asked you to play the keyboard while he sang, and lich rally the kids thought you two were angels sent from above and i mean, they aren’t wrong

➞ he jokes about the fact that you’re dating him, an elementary school teacher, even though you’re not very fond of kids; lowkey kinda sad about it since he does daydream about having a lil’ family with you, i mean he is surrounded by children all the time so he can’t help it

➞ n e ways, speaking of your daydreaming habit, koushi seems to be the type to do so as well (so it won’t bother him by any means; sometimes you two would even just cuddle in silence and let each other daydream)... except you’re always in it — what’s happening in those vivid daydreams of his is up to you ;D

➞ loooves the fact that you’re mature, it’s literally what he wants (maybe even needs since the cutie may be affected too much by his students childishness) in a long-term partner

➞ i’m not sure if you’ve seen korean fashion, but you two would legit fit their whole aesthetic; like the soft, neutral and calm, coffee shop and ceramic arts type of vibes— what i’m trying to say is, you two have now become the epitome of this soft aesthetic

➞ he has a lil’ garden, and whenever you visit and stay the night, you wake up to breakfast in bed with one of the flowers from the garden on the side of the tray and i— now i want a suga

➞ loves, and i mean loves, doing domesticated things with you! he cherishes the moments where you two just go grocery shopping together, make dinner together, go on late-night food raids at each other’s kitchens, taking care of the plants, quite mornings where you two just enjoy each other’s presence and be reminded that you two are so lucky to have found and fallen in love with each other

➞ bby, imagine this: you visit his house for a surprise dinner, and you just see him with only his pyjama pants and glasses on; he walks over and gives you the softest hug with a soft peck on your nose, then he tells you that he’s been grading his students’ art assignments all day and that he’ll love it if you could help him a bit with it; now you two are sitting with takeout for dinner in his dimly lit apartment while you two laugh at the kids’ spelling mistakes, having the best times of your lives — he won’t say it, but it was during that simple and domesticated moment, he realized that you were the one he wanted to spend forever with

➞ i’m not sure if this makes sense, but this relationship gives off pastel pinks and yellows—

➞ ngl, i didn’t specify this topic with you... but i headcanon that children don’t particularly like you in beginning while suga automatically becomes their prince charming whom they’re just so drawn to

➞ sooo you may get a lil’ jealous when kiyoko’s newborn was so calm when with him, but turned into a lil’ spawn of satan when he passed the baby to you; but don’t worry, with a lil’ help from your beau, the baby learned to be calm with you — you may or may not have been thinking of having suga’s children right when you two get back to his apartment, after the baby reached out and grabbed your pointer finger which was booping its lil’ nose, and the baby just pulled it so gently close to its chest and fell asleep with it and—

➞ since you tend to strive for success for almost every aspect in life, he does see that it takes a toll on you sometimes; so when he thinks that you need even just the littlest amount of cheering up, he’ll pull out his iconic ‘negativity begone’ but this time it’s with an aggressive hug and the softest kiss on the forehead, to the tip of your nose, then finally, your lips

➞ on valentine’s day, his students presented him with a picture of you two during a school field trip (who took it? i guess we’ll never know), and now it’s his most favourite thing to look — it just gives him energy, y’know; the kids may or may not make fun of him since he sometimes just gets so lost when looking at it, like mans is whipped

“look, sugawara-sensei’s daydreaming again...”

“maybe we could make a life-size photo of miss pretty! that’ll make him more hap—“

“no, that’s a bad idea! sugawara-sensei will end up forgetting about us, and he’ll just keep staring at the photo.”

“yeah! and look, he’s drooling a little bit. imagine if it was a bigger picture! there’d be a puddle of drool everyday! he’s like a doggie.”

➞ he gives you a lot of small gifts; even if they’re just erasers that he found to be almost as cute as you, a dainty necklace that he thought would look amazing only if you wore it, or a cup of coffee from you two’s favourite coffee shop; koushi will end up spoiling you even if you tell him not to; if he could he’d literally catch one of the stars of just for you

➞ all in all, this is the type of relationship that everyone just says is so perfect; you two will just be the type of couple that every blogger wants to be in real life; not only are you two so in love that you don’t have to fake it like they do, but you two are also so pleasing to look at, so perfect couple alert? yes, yes indeed.

I hope you liked your Dalgona Matchup Latte! Here’s a little visual of your soft aesthetic relationship with Sugawara Koushi: as I’ve said before, karaokes all day ‘eryday, baby; he can be a lil’... how do you put it nicely?... a lil’ shit sometimes, so expect some teasing when it’s your turn to cook (he doesn’t mean any of it, he just loves getting you all riled up, he thinks it’s the most adorable thing on Earth); you two always end up running into stray animals, so that’s how he looks at you when he asks if you two could get a puppy, whether you end up getting a pet or not is up to you; I don’t know why, but I see you vibing real well with Nishi, so that’s you after drinking with Nishi — expect him to record a video of your drunken state and tease you with it the morning after (he watches it every morning for a lil’ boost of happiness, but he won’t tell you that); piggyback rides forever, and you wanna know his reasoning? He says it’s to prepare when you two finally have kids and he has to carry them!

Thank you very much for ordering at Kyupid’s, babe. I really hope to see you again! Have a very, very negative-free day ♡⋆.ೃ࿔*

lmao, ik you said you don’t particularly like children but like i just couldn’t get the thought out while making this for you and now your order’s filled with children and i—

i hope you still like it though 🤣 but if you don’t, then do message me, i’ll fix it for you. also, thank you for the concept compliment! i made it as original as i possibly could, so this means a lot, bby 🥺 ur so nice.

but legit, you two would be so cute, like your married life with him is just perfect! don’t forget to invite cupid and i!