#we got more crumbs than a bakery

[persephonerinyes]

The Ewan effect:

[bi-bard]

Taste Test - Rafael Barba Imagine [Law & Order: SVU]

Title: Taste Test

Pairing: Rafael Barba X Reader

Word Count: 1,075 words

Warning(s): none that I'm aware of

Summary: The SVU detectives go to visit their favorite ADA at his office. They end up finding out more about him than they ever planned to.

Author's Note: I needed something fast and cute to give me a break from some of the longer stories that I'm working on (there is a doctor who oc story and a grimm story in the works right now). I'm also on the tail end of my master's program, so it's all a little bit hectic right now.

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I rarely ever had the time to visit Rafael at his office.

Even without considering his frantic and busy work schedule, mine simply never allowed it. I owned the bakery that my dad had opened years ago. I took over after his retirement and I hadn't stopped moving at top speed since. It was always looking at the menu or staffing or some crisis that needed to be fixed right then and there.

But sometimes, just sometimes, I would have a day where I had enough people and a slow enough flow of customers that I could pack a little bag of treats and a few drinks and go see him at lunch.

Today was one of those very lucky days.

Rafael's office door was slightly open when I got there. I knocked on it lightly, pushing it just enough to peak my head through.

"Hello- (Y/n)." he stood up as soon as he saw me. "What are you doing here?"

"Slow day," I replied with a shrug. "Thought that I could tempt you into a break with some food and coffee."

"If there's a day that I say no to that, assume that someone has replaced me with a clone."

"Noted," I chuckled, placing the bag and the drink carrier on the round table in the corner. I handed him one cup. "Here, try this. It's a potential drink for the summer menu."

"Alright." he took a small sip of the drink. He nodded. "It's good. What is it?"

"It's basically a latte but made with rose milk and rose foam."

"How... How do you make rose milk?"

"Shh, don't ask questions," I said as I sat down in one of the table's chairs. Rafael chuckled as he sat next to me. "Do you really like it?"

"It's great," he promised.

"Good," I mumbled. "I was a bit worried about it."

"You have reason to be." Rafael grabbed my hand over the table. "You are a genius when it comes to making up drinks."

"I hope you feel the same way about my ability to make up food," I replied, reaching into the bag that I had brought with me. I put down a napkin and plopped a muffin on the top.

"Oh, absolutely," he let go of my hand to pick up the muffin. I chuckled as he did. He took a bite and hummed. "This is a winner."

"Glad to hear." I leaned over and swiped some crumbs off of his chin with my thumb. "But you do praise all of my food."

He hummed again as he took another bite, nodding before he was able to speak, "Because all of your food is amazing."

I grabbed my drink, taking a sip before changing the subject, "How has your day been? Anything important happening?"

"Not yet-"

"Barba-"

We both looked to the door as a group of people walked in. There were three of them; two women and a man.

"Perfect timing," Rafael mumbled to me. I would have chuckled if I hadn't been so caught off guard.

"Hello," one of the women said.

"Hi," I replied, standing up as I did.

The woman looked at Rafael. "I didn't know that you had a meeting."

"It's... It's not a meeting," I explained quickly. I always spoke quickly when I was nervous and having three people suddenly walk into the room with no warning made me very nervous. "I was just stopping by for lunch."

"Detectives," Rafael stood up behind me, touching my back. "This is (Y/n). My partner. (Y/n), these are some of the detectives from the S.V.U. Olivia Benson, Amanda Rollins, and Sonny Carisi."

"Nice to meet you all."

"You too," Olivia nodded at me. "I hope he hasn't been hiding you from us."

I chuckled. "No, no, not at all. I- I own a little bakery and cafe place not too far from here. I tend to be pretty swamped, but I had some downtime, so I stopped by for lunch."

"I thought that I recognized you!" Sonny pointed at me. "I've been by your shop."

"Oh, good, hope you liked it."

"Oh, loved it," he said. He turned to the other detectives. "There was this awesome sandwich thing on the menu during the fall. I've been craving it for months."

"I'll make note of that, so I remember to bring it back this year," I promised. "In the meantime, I'd be happy to treat you all to some food and drinks. I'm starting to sort out the summer menu; you should all come over sometime and test out some of the ideas I have."

"You don't have to-"

"I want to," I stopped Olivia in her tracks. "You guys work with Rafael so much that we might as well be friends. Plus, I need some other guinea pigs than just him. I'm sure Rafael would be more than happy to sort out a night for you and anyone else on your team to join us."

He looked over at me, pausing before he replied, "Over the moon."

"See?"

"Alright then," Olivia nodded. I glanced over to see Sonny trying to subtly celebrate the good news.

"I should get out of the way," I touched Rafael's shoulder as I spoke before going to grab my drink. "I'm sure whatever you all need to talk about is more important than my seasonal menu."

"I'll walk you out." Rafael guided me to the door.

We walked together to the point where we were just out of view of the windows in his office. I turned around and placed a quick kiss on his lips.

"I'll see you tonight," he muttered.

"Can't wait," I mumbled back. "Don't forget about the little tasting event that we're hosting."

"I won't," he promised, leaning over to kiss me again. He added a second kiss to my temple. "I love you."

"Love you too," I said before pulling away properly.

My phone started ringing as soon as I started walking out.

"I'm already on my way back," I answered before any question could be asked.

"Thank God." I heard from the other end. "Someone is promising to come back and have a stern talk to you."

"Great, sounds fun. I'll be there in a few minutes."

I let out a huff as I hung up and started jogging down the street.

Sometimes these short lunch dates were the only thing keeping me from running for the hills.

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Author's Note: The drink I described is actually an actual drink at local coffee shop in my area! I am not clever enough to make it up myself.

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[russellsppttemplates]

I'm in this if you are (Lance Stroll)

Lance wants to show you how wonderful love can be

Note: english is not my first language. this is a long piece that I hope will keep the interactions back up (I love getting your requests and overall having you interact with the posts and having some random thoughts shared too!), so I hope you enjoy this piece as this is my first Lance request * nervous giggles *

Thank you so much to everyone who likes and reblogs, your feedback is appreciated 🤍 and I'm taking requests so if you have any ideas or concepts you want to share, feel free to do so as I'll try to get to them the best I can!

Tw: mentions (bad) past relationships, curse words

my masterlist

"Is it okay if we meet up at the park instead?", you suggested to Lance over the phone, "it's only a five minute walk from work for me", earning an affirmative answer on the other side of the line as well as a farewell.

Packing your backpack with your laptop and a book you had to bring home for the weekend, switching everything off and ringing your card so you could get yourself out, heading for the park Lance was meeting you at.

It was something new, so you were being cautious. After all, you had fallen for people before who weren't good for you in the end, so you had learnt to keep your distance. But did you hope that maybe this time it would be different. The Canadian young man and you have been spending some time together after meeting through a mutual friend, and today was no different since he had texted you earlier if you would be up for a stroll in the park after you were done from work, having you accept it and even letting yourself feel giddy about it.

Following the directions he gave you, you saw him sitting in the bench like he had told you, getting up once he saw you and coming closer to you, "Hi, how are you?", he said, giving you a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, "Hi, I've been good, very happy that it's Friday so I get the to be home for the weekend. And you, busy day?", you greeted him back and continuing to walk alongside him, "yeah, the meeting was about the last few things we need to sort out before the race next weekend, so it got a bit longer than I expected but it was all good, means I didn't have to wait too long for you, but I did get you these", he said, showing you a small white paper bag, leaving you to open it.

The small sticker that closed the bag was enough to get you to gasp, recognising your favourite bakery chain's logo, "you say they always run out in the shop they have near your office, so I dropped by the one close to the factory to see if they had some and they did", Lance smiled, seeing you smile back at him, "thank you! Do you want to go and enjoy these by the lake?", you suggested, seeing that it wasn't too busy around there.

Sitting down on the dry grass, you and Lance sat in front of eachother, talking about your day and laughing at funny moments from eachother's day while sharing the croissants he had gotten, "thank you, again, you didn't have to", you pointed to the empty bag, whisking any crumbs away from your lips and clothes, "it was only fair that I got to try "the best croissants ever" according to you, and since I had some time to kill before I met you here, and it is always a pleasure to see your eyes sparkle like that", he said softly, noticing the blush on your cheeks and your shyness coming through, taking the hint to keep talking, "and a croissant like this after a long meeting and at a park like this with this company, there's not much more than I want".

.

You were dancing around in the kitchen, waiting for the water to boil so you could put the pasta in, singing to the lyrics before you phone stopped the song and instead made the sound of an incoming FaceTime call, seeing Lance's contact on your screen. "Hi Lance!", you greeted, waving at the screen, "Hey, you, am I catching you at a bad time?", he asked, lighting what looked like a nightsand lamp, "Just making dinner. Is this a good time for you though? You look like you're going to sleep", you cringed, propping your phone since one of the glss containers you had on your counter top so you could put the pasta in and still she Lance while he saw you in shot too, "I wanted to talk to you", he mused, "I saw your text, but they needed me to fix something on the steering wheel and just to be sure I called now because I was afraid you'd be working still and I would interrupt it", he reasoned.

Hoping the LED light that illuminated your working area in the kitchen hid your blushing cheeks, you managed to reply, "I was just checking in with you, seeing how it went. Aren't you tired or in need of sleep? We can talk another day, it's fine", you admitted, even though deep down you were enjoying his (virtual) company, especially seeing him like this, tucked into bed in his pyjamas and looking so handsome and soft, "I'm okay, don't worry", he yawned, "so, what are you cooking?".

Conversation flowed while you cut the vegetables so you could cook them in the pan, sharing the recipe with Lance and coming closer to the phone whenever you were letting things cook on their own, supporting your face on the palms of your hands while your elbows rested on the counter top, doing one final move to plate your pasta, "uhh, that looks good!", Lance exclaimed, seeing you top the dish with some cheese, "it usually tastes good, yeah, and it's also very quick to make. I began just when we started this call and we've been here for- oh, we've been here for nearly an hour! Lance, you could've told me! You probably need to sleep, I'm sorry that I kept you here!", you apologised, guilt overcoming your whole body. You truly didn't think you had been on call with Lance for such a long time, it was truly flowing and, above anything, feeling comfortable.

"You don't have to apoligise, I stayed here because I wanted to be with you and spend time with you, unless you're apologising because I bothered you", he hinted, "No! No, not at all, I loved sort of having you here with me", you hurriedly clarified, "I just didn't want to bother you or your sleep routine, it's really late where you are", you shot him another apologetic look, "I said none of that, no apologising for this anymore. I enjoyed having you here with me too", he smiled softly, "but if I don't go to sleep soon, tomorrow is going to hurt", he reasoned.

Sitting by your table, you propped the phone again against your bottle of water, "sleep is very important, Lanc-", you were interrupted by him, "but I need to know if the pasta is delicious or not, it's only fair", he winked as you rolled your fork on the plate, grabbing bit of everything and trying it, "it's amazing, I can confirm", you said, "you look like a little chipmunk, and your dimple is showing too. Totally worth it staying up this late", he complimented, leaving you to bid him goodbye, "goodnight Lance, have a good sleep", you whispered, switching off the call when Lance gave you the same wishes, giddily smiling at your pasta at his attentiveness, allowing yourself to be swept off your feet.

.

"Was it as good as your pasta, though?", Lance asked you as you walked along the city streets after leaving the restaurant where you had dinner. The small and cosy local restaurant was perfect for another date with Lance, your hand latched in his since you left the restaurant after thanking the owner for a great evening, "I'm not a professional, so this one was better, but my own has potential too, you know?", you giggled, allowing yourself to lean a little bit on Lance, pulling your bodies closer to one another, making him also feel your own easiness around him, which he appreciated. From the moment he met you, he knew you wouldn't be swept off your feet with elaborate dinner dates and fancy invitations to lavish places. Above anything, he noticed you were cautious, not that he thought that you were expecting him to do you any physical harm, but because maybe you had been emotionally hurt before. Because of that, Lance made it his mission to show you what love could be like, how beautiful and how simple two people who care about eachother could develop into something more.

Seeing a flower peeking out of a house fence, Lance couldn't contain himself and he plucked it, making you stop, "Here, look at me, please", he mumbled, tucking the flower behind your ear carefully, his eyes boring into yours, "I really like you, Y/N", he confessed, "and I won't pressure you into anything, I can wait. Damn, I'll wait forever for you if I have to. But I don't want you to go on without knowing this", he smiled hopefully, not knowing your reaction as he hadn't planned to do it like this.

Cupping his cheek, your thumb ran over his cheek, softly touching the corner of his lips in a silent question to know if he too wanted it before you leaned up to kiss him, pressing your lips in his for a tender kiss, pulling back to see eachother's reaction, only to crash his lips against yours passionately.

"I really like you too", you whispered, afraid to disturb the moment between you, earning a chuckle from Lance, "I should hope so, imagine if you were to tell me now that you despised me after that kiss, I don't think I could handle it", he placed his hand on top of his heart, earning him a small slap on his chest, "I'm trying to be serious with you", you whined, "So am I, Y/N, completely serious. I'm in this if you are", he said as he hugged your, kissing your forehead before kissing your lips again, "I think I found a new favourite thing to do".

.

"So you don't want to go?", Lance questioned, "it's not that I don't want to go and see you do what you love, it's the whole thing, Lance", you murmured, "I'd have to fly out on a different day, I'd have to sleep somewhere, and that whole thing needs to be accounted for, I need to sit down and look properly at all of it", you almost hissed at him, not enjoying the tone it came out of your mouth but going with it nonetheless.

"But I can pay for all of that. I am, in fact, paying for all of that, that's why I'm offering you to come to a race weekend", Lance admitted, frustrated that something so simple for him was causing a fight between you, "and that is one of my problems! I don't want you to have to take care of me like that, I can take of myself, I'm not dependent on anyone and I can do things on my own!", you admitted, voice shaky while you looked at him, "I need a minute, please", you said as you felt your eyes grow wetter, excusing yourself to go to your balcony.

You knew Lance had money, a whole lot of it, so much so that, realistically, you coming along with him to the race would go probably unnoticed in his bank balance, but that didn't mean you were totally comfortable with him paying for everything. You could take care of yourself, now you knew that, despite of years of previous boyfriends telling you it would be hard for you to make it on your own and by your own merit. And you were scared, because was this the way this was going to end? Had you been, yet again, blinded by a guy who wanted you to be what he liked, who wanted to build you to the image he wanted and needed you to depict?

Inside, Lance noticed the cold air coming from the small gap of the door to the balcony that you had left open, imagining how much colder it would be for you, standing outside, looking around in hopes to find what he was looking for.

You heard the door squeak as it opened, thinking to yourself it was just the breeze when you heard footsteps, thinking for a second someone had broken into your house uninvited, "I'd prefer if you didn't have a cold", Lance said softly as he draped a blanket over your shoulders carefully, not missing your stunned expression, "you're still here?", you managed to let out, "I, I thought you were going to leave, I didn't think you'd stay", you stuttered, "Why would I leave?", Lance asked and almost immediately he answered his own question: because that's all you've ever known. When things got complicated, they would leave you. So you naturally thought he would do the same.

"Y/N, I'm not going to leave you when we fight", Lance said, keeping himself close to you, holding himself against the railing, "that is a promise I intend on keeping to you, and I'm going to do my absolute best to make sure that I won't break it", he declared, "Can we talk about it though?".

Holding his hand in yours, you nudged him to sit in one of the chairs you had in your balcony, sitting in front of him so you could express what was on your mind, "this is a bad story from past experiences, so if you still want to make that exit, I promise I'll manage and forget what you just side", you suggested playfully, feeling him squeeze you hand tighter in his own, "I've been in bad relationships before, it probably does not come to a surprise to you, but some things still haunt me years after. I used to have a boyfriend that would get me presents, or he would pay for things, and for a bit a just took it down as he was being nice, but he slowly started offering things in exchange of something, like me changing what I wore because I would wear something he got me instead, or change what I ate, who I spent time with, ans slowly everything he somehow offered turned out to be because he thought I couldn't do it on my own, that I wouldn't ever be able to sustain myself independently, so he thought he might as well "help me" and change who I was in the process", you gulped, "and I only realised it later, when his supposed affection for me was only there when I complied with what he asked of me, and the moment I realised was a constant fight, day in day out, where he left and then he would come back and belittle so much into thinking that it was my fault he would leave and we wouldn't solve anything we were fighting about", you confessed, "breaking up wasn't even the hardest part, but the scars that it left me with are still here, that's why I thought you would leave, because you wouldn't want to hear my side and-, fuck", you wiped a tear that insisted on falling, going back to play with Lance's fingers after, "I love you so much, I care about you so much, and you make me feel things I've never felt before without any conditions", you looked up at him, seeing an expression that was a mixture of sadness, anger and maybe some revolt too.

Lance brought your hands together and kissed them, "thank you for sharing that with me, I appreciate it", he began, "and I'm so sorry that some bastard thought it was okay to treat you like that, because it is not", he squeezed your hands, rubbing his thumb on them, "you deserve to feel all the love in the world without anything in it other that love itself. I get to be loved by you and that is one of my biggest blessings, and I'll be damned if I ever make you feel less loved or less appreciated than you deserve. But that promise I made is true, I want us to always talk about something that we don't see eye to eye on, so we can understand the other's perspective, I don't want to run away from anything", he nodded for you to continue, signalling he was done.

"I'm not from the same social or professional sphere that you are, and that makes me wonder about this whole situation, like there isn't a way that I can keep up with all of that travel on my own", you admitted honestly, "and I don't know how I feel about you covering those costs, like, of course I want to go see you do your thing at the track, and be there to support you, to congratulate you when you win and to hold you when things don't go as well, even if it's not all the time, but all of that seems a lot", you explained the situation to the best of your ability.

"Can I go now?", Lance wondered, his hands still holding yours, "I don't want to sound like a prick, or like I'm flashing everyone of how much I have, but it is also true that I don't mind paying for those things. Truly. And I don't do it because I want some change from you in return. I do it because I am fortunately able to and because I want the people I love with me as much as they're able to", he said, moving his hand to caress your cheek, "I never want you to think for a second that anything that I offer, present you with or pay for is a way of manipulating you", he assured, looking for your own reassurance in your eyes.

You shuffled around in your seat, looking into those beautiful brown eyes you loved so much, "thank you", you smiled through your tears, "you don't have to thank me for loving you, I should be the one thanking you for trusting me and for letting me love you".

[amethystfairy1]

please... more ttsbc!joel / butterfly hybrid lore... im a starving victorian child begging for any crumbs

BUTTERFLY LOREEEEE

Well, I mentioned in another post that the main courting ritual for butterfly hybrids is gifting sweets. So if you didn't see that post, I think it's very cute to keep in mind that that is the whole reason Lizzie learned to be a really good baker! She wanted to make sweets for Joel so she could court him properly!

Joel, being a bad boy, tried to play it cool and act like he wasn't all that interested in sweets, but his antenna spark with glamor when he gets excited and that was a dead give away. She had to stop surprising him with cookies or sweets she made because if he wasn't expecting it the patterns in his wings would light up with glamor from happy surprise and we all know Joel isn't supposed to channel glamor in his wings anymore 😔

Joel is shorter than Lizzie and grumpy about it! Lizzie is also way stronger than him, which results in some very funny events such as her carrying him over the threshold of their bakery when they first got the building, because without being able to channel glamor Joel can't lift Lizzie anymore. He was huffy about the whole thing but he let Lizzie do it because it made her happy. Grian still has the photos, Joel wishes he could burn or delete them but there's no way Grian is letting that happen. 😆

Joel goes for check-ups at the labs with Doc several times a year to make sure the tear in his wing isn't getting any worse. They've tried a few temporary solutions to ease his pain, including different potions and they've even discussed the idea of attempting an augmentation, but Joel refused. It would be too heavy, and glamor can't pass through inorganic material, so while maybe it might ease some of his pain, it would shut down any hope of a treatment coming along in the future that might be able to repair his wing so he can fly again. Not like he's holding out hope, he's pretty much accepted at this point he'll never fly again, but that doesn't make it any easier. We've seen him work through all of this, though, and now he at least will go for flights with his avian friends or Mumbo...y'know, if he can convince Mumbo to fly. 😆

Hope you enjoyed the bad boy butterfly lore! 💖

[autistook]

DAISIES - pt 1

Merry Brandybuck x fem!hobbit!reader/soft oc

Words: 3.1k

Summary: You have been best friends with Merry (and Pippin) for several years. You see each other on almost a daily basis and have been referred to as the unseperable trio, as you do almost everything together, and have all been there for each other, through thick and thin. Slowly, you start to feel something shift. Something feels different when you look at Merry.

SLOOOOOOOW burning romance, pre - the Fellowship of the Ring.

Possible TW's: panic attack, anxiety, mentions of drowning and death, dead parents

English is not my first language, and this is the first fanfiction I have written since I was 10 years old, so I apologize for any errors or confusion. 😭 Treat me gently, I am sensitive to critisism lol

-

The sun glistened on the leaves, making the raindrops that fell on them the night before look like diamonds. The grass was damp under your feet, and the slight breeze felt comfortable on your skin. The sounds of the Shire were as usual: lots of Hobbits doing their regular chores, children running around and a few groans here and there, when the sleepiest of all were forced to get up early. Your gaze followed a beautiful bird flying from one tree to another. The bird was a beautiful one, with a bright-red chest and a grey back, the feathers on the wings being different shades of grey and black. It's melodic singing as it sat on the old willow branch, is always a reminder for the Shire folk that spring has arrived. There was a fresh lavender smell in the air, and as you stopped on your feet to enjoy it, you noticed another familiar scent.

Your gaze moved to a pastry shop window, and as you started walking towards it, you could see your best friends enjoying a couple of scones, filled with strawberry jam. Your lips curved into a smile as you opened the wooden door, and the bell above it rang to announce your arrival.

The friendly Hobbit lady behind the dusty, old counter greeted you gleefully. Her hair was grey, curls all the way down to her shoulders, and the smile lines nearing the corners of her eyes revealed just how happy of a personality she must have. But your eyes weren't focused on her, but to the two young Hobbits now noticing your entry. Pippin's green eyes sparkled with joy as he noticed you enter the room. More happy than Pippin to see you, was Merry. You had been best friends with the two for a number of years, and almost every week, the three of you would sit at the bakery, planning some mischevous pranks and talking about any new happenings around the Shire.

"We were wondering where you were!" Pippin exclaimed, mouth full of the delicious scone, and some red jam from it that had decided to settle on his lips. Amused at the sight, you smirked but still decided to not say anything, as usual. It would be funnier to see how long it would take him to notice his messy appearence.

"Sorry, I had other things in mind," you said in serious tone, pulling up a chair and sitting between the two. The round table was full of crumbs and there were two empty plates. You looked at the plates and then at your dearest friends, raising one brow as if to question how on earth they could have this ritual without you.

"We got hungry, I'm sorry!" Merry said, wiping his palms on his cream colored cotton shirt.

"How dare you!" you answered with a playfully offended tone. You turned to look at Pippin for an apology, but the young Hobbit just shrugged his shoulders, and kept munching the last piece of scone in his mouth. You shook your head and chuckled slightly, leaning back on your chair.

"What did you mean when you said you had other things in mind?" asked Merry, curiously, now wiping his mouth with a napkin. You took a deep breath and crossed your arms.

"It's been twenty years," you stated, as if Pippin and Merry were supposed to immediately understand the rest of that sentence. The two locked eyes. Their faces could only be described as curious, but utterly confused.

"Twenty years since what?" Merry inquired. His blue eyes looking straight into yours, his gaze making you feel like he was almost concerned.

"Since my parents died," you sighed. Pippin immediately turned to look at Merry, flustered as the two completely forgot about this tragic event in their best friend's life.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Merry apologized, his tone full of shame. "I completely forgot that was today."

"It's quite alright. You couldn't have known," you said with a faint smile. Your head might have told you to act fine, but the sadness behind your eyes revealed your true feelings: how tragically heartbroken you felt at that moment and how twenty years still wasn't enough of healing.

"But we should've remembered!" Merry cried in guilt. Pippin apologized, mouth full of scone, then finally swallowing the last piece. You reassured both of them that they did not offend you in any way, and that you would be fine.

"Is there anything we can do?" Merry asked, like he was in a rush to cheer you up.

"Yes! We could do something fun!" Pippin said cheerfully, his eyes sparkling with excitement. He slammed his hands on the table, making the empty plates clink against each other. "How about we go for a swim?"

"You know I can't swim, Peregrin!" you cried, arms still crossed, your fingers fidgeting with the soft fabric of the sleeves on your favorite yellow dress.

"Didn't you say you have had practice?" Pippin asked, puzzled.

"It doesn't mean I can."

"Well, we could always just go just hang around the water, you know?" Merry suggested, trying to not make your mood any worse. "We used to do that all the time when we were just little innocent Hobbits." You smiled at him with gratitude. Merry's lips curved upwards and his eyes had a glimmer of pride in them.

"That actually sounds great," you finally responded to him. "When should we go?"

"How about immediately?" said the young Took suddenly, and before either of you could answer, he was already up from his chair, quickly whisking away the empty plates from the table.

"I guess we're going?" you chuckled. You and Merry got up and before you could make a leave, he put his palm on your shoulder. His warm touch gave you a sense of comfort.

"But seriously, are you okay?" he asked, looking at you from under his brows, his eyes full of concern. You nodded and gave him a soft smile.

On your way to the river, the sun was rising higher in the sky, warming your skin. The spring breeze had settled, the lavender scent no longer lingering in the air.

"I can't believe you still can't swim," Pippin said, shaking his head. You groaned in frustration as a response. "You should know at this point!" he teased, skipping ahead of you and Merry. You shook your head. Still fidgeting with the fabric of your dress, Merry took notice of it.

"Can I help your anxiety in any way?" Merry said suddenly.

"How do you know I'm feeling anxious?" you asked, looking at him full of confusion. Merry smiled softly and compassionately.

"You always fidget something with your fingers when you feel anxious," he responded and gestured towards your sleeve, where the tips of your fingers now suddenly had stopped rubbing the dress, like they almost felt shy for being caught. You blinked slowly, moving your eyes to look at your delicate hands.

"I never realized that it was noticeable," you mumbled, slightly embarrassed. You were aware of it, but did not know it was a telltale sign of anxiety for others.

"We've been friends for years," he said, as the three of you kept walking towards the water on a gravel path, Pippin just slightly ahead of the two of you. "Of course I notice things like this."

You smiled at him, impressed by this small detail that he had noticed. Pippin was still slightly ahead of you two, every now and then stopping to gesture for you two to move faster. "That's kind of endearing, actually," you smiled and Merry let out a small snicker, turning his face to the ground.

"You actually have a lot of tells for how you're feeling," he said in a confident and knowing tone. This made you plead for him to tell you what he had noticed. "I'm not going to tell you what they are!" Merry smirked visibly amused. "Where's the fun in that?"

"If I have a tell, I will have you tell me what it is!" you said in a commanding tone, horrified of this revelation.

"I think not!" Merry exclaimed, his tone mischevous. "You just have to wonder about it for the rest of your life!" he laughed, and then in a mocking, high pitched voice, imitating you, he said: "Oh no! How did Meriadoc know I was exceptionally happy today? How did he notice I was nervous? Whatever will I do? How will I ever figure it out?"

"You jerk!" you laughed, elbowing his side gently, making him stumble a little to the left. It made him want to continue teasing you, still mocking you.

"Oh, how will I ever know? Merry is such a master at reading people!" he continued, making you crack up a little. You gave him a gentle push. You then suddenly bumped into Pippin, who was standing there, waiting for you.

"What took you so long?" Pippin asked.

"You were practically running!" Merry responded, still a wide smile on his face from teasing you. He gestured towards you and smirked. "And as I can tell from her expression, her old age has caught up to her, and her body gave up, forcing us both to slow down."

"Excuse me?" you said as your jaw dropped. "I am younger than you, Merry! I will have you know, if someone has any problems with their old age, it's you, Mister Brandybuck! Now, you old prune, what are my tells? Tell me!"

"My dear friend," Merry said, putting his hands on your shoulder. "I absolutely will not tell you."

"What are you two on about?" Pippin asked confused. Merry just chuckled, and gestured you both to follow him to a shallow part of the river, so you could safely sit with them without going too deep. You scrunched your nose at Merry, and walked behind him and Pippin to the water.

You had sat on a large rock, smoothed down by the flowing water, making it sparkle under the rays of sunshine. Every now and then some water ran over the rock, drenching your dress from the parts that were laid on the almost black stone. Twenty minutes had passed, and Merry gestured you to come closer to the slightly deeper water. You shook your head, fidgeting the sleeve of your dress anxiously. The water had finally washed away the jam from Pippin's lips as he kept plunging into the water, diving for what seemed like a forever. Pippin's head ascended from the cool water and he shook his head like a wet dog, trying to dry his curls.

"Come on, it's just waist deep!" Pippin tried to pursuade you. You just shook your head again. Pippin locked his eyes with Merry's. They both nodded in unison, turning to look at you again. "I bet you a small pouch of Southern Star that you don't have the courage."

Your ears perked up at the mention of pipe-weed. It was a delicious offer, but just the thought of going in any deeper made your heart pound faster. Pippin and Merry also knew just how to press your buttons right; they knew how competetive you were. "How much are we talking?" you inquired, your ears doing one small wiggle as your body started to show signs of peaked interest. This made Pippin and Merry chuckle.

"Does it matter? You don't have the guts!" Merry cried with a wide grin on his face. This made your fingers stop fidgeting the dress, and instead your fingertips squeezed the fabric tightly. You stood up, careful not to slip on the wet rock, and tipped your toes in the water, moving them on the surface lightly. You gave a challenging look to both mischevous hobbits, and hopped in the water, ankle deep. You took one deep breath, inhaling the warm air to help calm you down. One step after another, you slowly waded towards Merry and Pippin, who looked rather amused and impressed. The water rose as you waded in deeper and as the cold water touched your hips, you froze still.

It felt like the world stopped for a moment, and the surrounding noises of the river flowing suddenly sounded like an ominous threat coming closer and closer, about to swallow you whole. The bottom of the river was muddy and it felt like you would slowly sink, inch by inch, until you would be under water, unable to escape. The water felt like it tried to push you down, make you stumble and fall. It would laugh at your struggles to try and stay on the surface, making you regret ever taking even one step towards your best friends. How foolish of you to take up on a challenge, knowing the water was your enemy, who would smother you the first chance it got.

Suddenly you felt Merry's hand on your arm, shaking you softly. All you could hear was mumbling. Your ears were ringing and your vision was blurry, as you tried with all of your strength to not collapse from fear of facing the same destiny as your parents. Your feet lifted from the mud as Merry and Pippin lifted you by your armpits and waist to get you off to the dry land immediately, taking notice of your looming anxiety and inability to move even an inch.

What felt like forever, you soon got back to dry land and your hands gripped to the grass like it was the only thing that would keep you from falling into the flowing river. Your vision still blurry, you could distinguish the familiar voices of Merry and Pippin, but not one word was coherent. The grass felt safe and warm, pieces of dirt clinging to your wet palms and feet. You were starting to shake a little, still not able to move.

Soon you felt a warm palm on your cheek, turning your gaze to the direction of it's owner. Merry caught your attention enough to lock your eyes on his. His blue eyes felt comforting as they looked at you with compassion and care. You could see his lips moving, but not one word made sense to you. He gently brushed your cheek with his thumb, looking guilty from pressuring you.

"You're okay," you could finally decipher some of his words. Your brain felt fuzzy, and your lips were quivering with fear and anxiety. "You're safe, just breathe."

You took a deep breath, slow and steady, trying to push away the panic attack that was taking over your body. You followed Merry's guidance as much as you could make sense of it, slowly starting to feel more air in your lungs. The grass started to feel like grass again, instead of an anchor you had to hold on to, unless you wanted to drown. You felt Pippin's palm gently rubbing your back, as Merry was still caressing your cheek, guiding your every breath. You could slowly focus more, but you kept your gaze on his blue eyes, scared that if you turned your face away, the water would somehow jump on you and try to pull you back. It took you several minutes, but finally the two managed to calm you down. Your body still trembling lightly, you took one more deep breath.

"Well that was embarrassing," you jested, trying to lighten the mood immediately. Merry chuckled with relief and shook his head, lowering his hand to your shoulder from your face. Pippin didn't laugh, but instead made his way in front of your face next to Merry.

"Are you okay?" he asked nervously, clearly feeling some guilt for the second time that day. You nodded, looking at him reassuringly. Pippin's lips curled into a small smile. "Good, I thought you might feel embarrassed." You laughed loudly, voice slightly shaky.

They both got up on their feet, clothes drenched and every curl on their head dripping with water. You slowly got up, taking some support from the two hobbits and straightening your back. After a small discussion, you all agreed it was time to go home and calm down a little. Pippin did promise you that he would still give you some pipe-weed as a 'consolation prize.'

You made your way home alone for most of the journey, as Merry headed towards his home in Buckland and Pippin made his way to, in his own words, 'somewhere secret.'

The green round door of Bag End was there waiting for you, immediately providing you comfort at the sight. You entered your home and called your brother by his name. He was not your brother by blood, but being adopted to the same household and growing up together most of your lives made him as much of a brother as someone who was a blood relative would.

"Hello?" you shouted, the hallway echoing, seeming empty. You took just a few steps before Frodo's head popped up from behind a wall. He gave you a soft smile and let you know there was tea at the ready in the kitchen. Frodo had made it for himself, but so much of it was left that he decided to just let it sit there, knowing how much you liked his chamomille tea.

You made your way into the kitchen and poured some still warm tea into a small cup you inherited from your parents. It was decorated with yellow flowers and had been hand painted by your great-grandmother. You stirred it calmly, looking out of the round window, admiring the green grass and the butterflies flying around, enjoying the spring as much as any being would. The small silver spoon your uncle Bilbo had given you as a birthday present (that Lobelia Sackville-Baggins kept trying to steal) was softly moving in circles, creating music-like sounds when it hit the porcelain on the edges. Your dress had mostly dried up on your way home, but it was still slightly moist, making you do a small squirm as the slightly wet fabric of it kept clinging to your thigh.

With the tea in your hand, you started making your way to your room, but something stopped you in your tracks. As you passed a small round mirror, you noticed something behind your ear that was not supposed to be there. A small daisy was decorating your frame on the left side of your face. You touched the soft flower lightly. Merry had put it there while calming you down. A small chuckle escaped your throat. He really knew how to cheer you up, even if it took some time to notice the gesture.

Next chapter

[lou-struck]

Sugar and Secrets

Tamaki Amajiki x reader

Prompt:💌 + bakery!

Genre: Fluff

WC: 1.7k

A/n: I wrote 1.2k of this and hated it so I had to scrap it and go another direction.

~This is one of the requested prompts for My Emoticon Expression’s Event; check out the masterlist On my welcome page.

When you own a bakery, there is nothing more satisfying than having to restock a tray of sold-out goods. The tray of strawberry shortcake rolls only got sent out an hour but now, not even crumbs remain on the doily-lined platter. Carefully remove the old sheet and replace it with a new one. The sweet scent of sliced strawberries and sugar fills your nose as you take a deep breath, wondering how quickly these will sell out.

The bell on the inside of the bakeries door chimes merrily, and a voice calls to you from the entrance. “It looks like you’ve got mail,”

The cheery tone brings a smile to your face as you see Anne, one of your bakery’s part-time employees, coming toward you; in her hand is a pink and red striped envelope that makes your heart flutter.

“They sent another one?” you say softly, feeling your cheeks heat up. Over the past few months, you have received dozens of little notes and letters from what people around you call a secret admirer.

These little notes are filled with lovely written compliments and praises that have filled you with confidence and have brought a new kind of light into your life. 

“they did! You should open it and see what they said today. I think it is so cute that you have a secret admirer like that.” She says, handing the letter to you. “Don’t you wonder what they look like?”

“I’m curious for sure, but so many people come in here all the time it’s hard to narrow it down to one suspect.” You say, toying with the seal on the envelope

The truth is that who they are doesn’t matter much to you, not when you already have feelings for someone else. Someone you are sure would never have to resort to sending anonymous love letters. 

“Or are you just not interested because of a certain Pro Hero customer that comes in here all the time.” she giggles, dodging out of the way of your playful swat with ease. 

“Tamaki Amajiki is just a customer,” you mutter. “He’s one of the Top Pro Heroes; he can have anyone he wants; I don’t stand a chance.”

She frowns at your self-deprecation slightly before bumping your shoulder. “You can be so blind sometimes. I’m gonna go clock in; tell me what the letter says once you read it.”

“Maybe,” you tease gently, opening the envelope and opening the crisp parchment. The carefully penned handwriting stares back at you as you read.

Y/n, 

Your smile is just as sweet as your baking. They both radiate warmth and are made with love.

My day gets a bit brighter every time I walk into your bakery. 

Maybe one day I may feel bold enough to tell you all these things in person, but for now, I hope these notes suffice.

~Your Secret Admirer

You reread the letter a few times, letting the sincere compliments fill you with joy. If you ever find out who your secret admirer is, you will be sure to slip them freebies whenever you can. Even if you can’t return their feelings.

The entry bell rings again, and you jump a bit, sliding the envelope under the countertop before the customer comes in. A figure wearing a long white cape with gold accents on the hood walks carefully across your clean floors.

Your day just got one hundred times better. “Hey there, Suneater.” you beam, giving the pro hero your best smile.

“H-hey y/n, it’s good to see you,” he says, his eyes already eagerly scanning the display case for what catches his eye today. Unlike your other regulars who stick to buying the same couple of pastries every time they visit, he likes to order a variety, wanting to try something different every time. It keeps you on your toes and inspires you to bring in new desserts as often as you can.

“What are we thinking today?” you ask, making an awkward little gesture with your hands at the large variety of sweets in front of you.

He smiles softly, chuckling a bit at your actions. “Could I get one of these, one of those, and one of each of the cream puff flavors?” he asks. “Is there anything else you recommend?”

“The new shortcake rolls have been doing well.” you smile, pointing to the pristine tray you just restocked. “I know how much you like strawberries.”

He looks a bit surprised that you remembered that about him, but he thanks you anyways, walking over to the coffee station to fill his cup.

 Your eyes scan your large display case, searching for the best-looking pastries to give to the shy hero. Although it takes longer, you grab ones from the middle that look the best to place carefully into his pink and brown spotted pastry box.

Throwing in several extra pasties and meat buns for good measure

Sure, it may be irresponsible to give away so many products for free, but sneaking him food is the only way you can express your feelings for him.

“Here you go,” you smile, placing the box in front of him as he taps his credit card against your card reader.

“Excuse me, uh y/n.” he says, looking into his box of pastries, “I think you may have miscounted; I only asked for one of each.”

“No, I didn’t miscount.” you smile, “I just wanted to pack you a little something extra today since you’ve been working so hard. You’re my best customer, after all.”

He gives you the most adorable smile as the tips of his pointy ears turn pink, “I think Fat is really your best customer, but-”

“Tamaki,” you sigh, using his first name without thinking and pushing the box closer to him, “Take the freebies; you deserve it.”

“R-really? Thank you then.” he smiles, his eyes never leaving your own. “I’ll see you later, y/n.”

“Thank you for coming in,” you mumble, watching as he takes your carefully packaged box and leaves you with your thoughts.

~

One week later, you are getting ready to close up for the night, sweeping the floor with frustrated concentration. 

You didn’t receive a letter today, 

And Tamaki hasn’t come into the bakery in a week.

Is it possible that your secret admirer has lost interest in you and your crush is avoiding you?

You are so wrapped up in your thoughts you don’t notice the uneven cart of ingredients in your path. You bump it slightly, sending a bag of powdered sugar tumbling to the ground. It immediately bursts at the seams, sending a thick cloud of white powder into the air.

“Shit,” you yelp, inhaling the cloud of sugar in the air. The sweetness overwhelms you and sends you into a fit of coughing. Sugar gets everywhere, your hair, your eyes, up your nose. You can’t see anything, and the sensation burns as you try to wipe it away blindly.

“Are you okay?” Voice calls from the entrance.

“No, I need help, “you cough. The voice sounds so familiar you feel that you can trust them in your time of need.

You hear rustling as your savior comes towards you. “I-it’s okay, I am here.” They say, gently taking your hand and wiping away the sugar from your face with a gentle touch. It takes a few seconds for you to blink away the last bit of the product, but then you see the handsome yet concerned face of Tamaki Amajiki. 

“Suneater?” You say, coughing, wiping a tear from your cheek.

“What happened?” He asks, “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, just a bit clumsy. “You explain cleaning a bit more of the powdered sugar off of you. “I accidentally knocked over a bag of sugar, and it did not feel great to breathe in.”

“That sounds like something you would do,” he says, giving you a sweet wobbly smile, his violet eyes still looking over you carefully. If he notices the coating of sugar on your skin, he doesn’t mention it.

“Thank you for helping me, but what are you doing here? I thought you came in already today.”

He looks around nervously, his hand balled up in a fist. “Well, it’s just that I-I,” he starts to say, but then you notice some things sticking out of his pocket. A very familiar-looking red and white striped envelope.

In an instant, you reach for it, pulling it away from him before he can react. These are the envelopes your secret admirer uses. “Is it you? Have you been the one leaving these letters?”

He casts his eyes to the sugar-coated ground and nods.

Your heart feels as if it is going to burst out of your chest; not only has the customer you have been crushing on for a year been your secret admirer. But why does he look so sad?

“I’m so sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” you ask. 

“You were probably expecting someone else,” he sighs, giving you a look that makes your heart want to break. “Someone more confident and capable than me.”

‘Is he serious?’ you think to yourself, ‘Tamaki Amajiki is one of the most amazing people you have ever met. How is it possible that someone who builds your confidence so easily with his words struggles so deeply with his own?’

“Tamaki, I haven’t thought about anyone else. I liked you even before the letters,” you say, taking his hand and giving it a soft little squeeze.

His features light up with hope as he begins to realize that you like him too. 

“Then would you maybe want to get dinner tonight?” he asks, his voice coming out steady and comfortable.

“Well, first, I need to go home and shower, but after that, I would love to.” you laugh, glancing at your reflection in the mirror. 

“Maybe we should skip the dessert then; I think we have had a bit too much sugar today.” He quips boldly, sending the both of you into a fit of laughter.

[nokacchan]

Here i am~ so the first idea was inspired by this video (I'll link it below if you want to see it's worth it i promise) and i was thinking of a dad!chan with his kid(s) and the parent/mom!reader like.. not very focused 💀

The rest is up to you eheh bbye ofc you are free to ignore it maybe you don't like it I'll love u anyway

The video! https://www.instagram.com/reel/CkmxDmorqyx/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Variety Show With Dad!Chan

pairing : bang chan x fem!reader

genre : fluff , dad!chan, attempt at humor (I would rate myself -1/10)

w.c 0.6

📎rei’s notes : I hope this is good enough >-< a special request for my bestie inki <3 😤

“Okay, be safe and behave well, alright? Don’t give your dad a hard time”

Your kids hugged your leg before running back to your husband’s side.

“We will! We love you mummy! Bye-bye!”, your older son spoke as he got into the car. Chan buckled your two sons in their respective safety car seats.

Chan quickly made his way to your side after closing the car door. He looked at you with a smile on his face. You cupped his cheek as he looked down at you. “Make sure you drive safely”, you reminded him. He nodded while laying his hand against your hand that was on his face. He kissed your palm before leaning to leave a peck against your lips then your forehead.

“I will. Make sure you take your time to rest up. I’ll pick up your favourite later for dinner”, he replied.

You nodded your head, pulling your hand back to your side. “Okay…you need to go now before you’re late for the shoot”. Chan let out a chuckle, pecking your lips once more before running to his car. “Love you!!!~”, Chan yelled, making a smile appear on your face. 

“Love you too chris! Come back home soon!”, you waved goodbye as your husband and children drove off to their awaited distination.

Chan was invited to be part of a variety show which focused on Korean actors/idols who are fathers, doing challenges with their child(ren)s. In Chan’s case, he was required to bake some bakery goods with his children.

Initially he was a bit worried about exposing his children to the media but then you reassured him that it was alright. After all, your children did love watching the variety show that he was invited to be part of.

“Why is the camera so big? Can we see space through that?”, your older son pointed to the cameraman holding the camera near him. It made the staff there burst into laughter.

Your son only blinked blankly before helping Chan to shape the dough. Your younger son was making a mess which made Chan panicked. Noah, who was only 1 years old, only let out a cute laugh, unbothered by the mess he had made.

“OH NAURRR NOAH!!..your mom is going to kill me”, Chan pulled the bag of flour away from your son.

*cue chan’s cries*

“Dad? Why would mom kill you? Doesn’t she love you?”, your older son, wolfy blurted out. Chan looked at wolfy then Noah then back to the camera. “Help me”, he mouthed to the camera. Chan knew he was for sure going to get memed so badly after this episode went live. The fandom wasn’t going to let dad!chan panicking and running away without memeing him first.

After an hour, Chan managed to get himself together. The cookies he made with his children may not look tasty but it was sure edible. “Just add sprinkles and you can barely taste the burnt part”, Wolfy talked to the camera. Chan covered his face in embarrassment.

“We should have uncle felix as a guest star for this episode. He makes better cookies than dad”, Wolfy added on which made everyone in the room burst into laughter.

“WOLFY! SHH”, Chan covered wolfy’s noisy mouth. Noah giggled, making grabby hands to pull his older brother’s hair. “Wooo-fi!!”, Noah called out. Wolfy hugged Noah who sat on the baby chair with a cookie in one hand.

“Dad…”

“Yes Wolfy?”

���Please wash my hair when we get back. I think Noah sprinkled cookie crumbs on my hair”

Chan looked at Wolfy and Noah -_-’

“Yes son”

Let’s just say that Chan fell asleep almost immediately after he got home with his kids. That was probably the last variety show he was going to accept to be part of, if it involves cooking/baking.

The End.

[stitchkiss]

i hate tv shows nowadays because im actually so pissed maxton hall is only 6 episodes long. if it was longer we probably could've gotten so many interesting scenes between characters. (btw i have not read the books so this is based off the show).

i keep thinking about the many unexplored dynamics and potential other characters have. i get this is very ruby and james centric but i wouldn't mind additional scenes of others.

i wanna know more about lin and see her as more than the token poc best friend. i wanna actually see ruby's mom's bakery. i got the vibe that cyril is kinda jealous/envious of james like what is going on there??? i forgot for most of the show that alistair and elaine are siblings because they had exactly one interaction in the first episode iirc. kieran is so clearly into ruby and jealous of james' relationship with her, i wanna see more of that and him! he's cute! i want more drama please! we barely got crumbs of ruby and lydia, i desperately need the whole cake! idc how it went in the books i wanna see mr sutton getting the shit beat out of him. alistair and ruby have so much bestie potential!! he was more distressed when james iced ruby out than when kesh did the same to him! they talked ONCE in the first episode and then never again?? alistair was the first person to realize the effect ruby had on james and pointed it out to him. i need need NEED a classic alistair and ruby mess around!!!!

now that i think about it, a filler episode focusing on the side characters would be so good. a little time dedicated to a day in the life of ruby's dad showing that while his disability effects him, he's still capable and happy in life. ember going to her public school and pursuing fashion, wildly contrasting what we see going on with ruby. a bit solely about the committee/other students at maxton hall gossiping about ruby and james because it's so obvious when they can't go 5 minutes without looking at each other or bickering in class. another day in the life focused on percy getting dragged through rich people shit but still being very loyal to james and being proud of who he's becoming OR a segment with zero beaufort in sight and it's just percy chilling off the clock. i bet he has a cat named moon-moon and watches downton abbey

[ququb444hm]

𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭, 𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝

part 21 / grandmama chocolate cake ☆

masterlist

warning(s): profanity, possible typos

the faint sound of a bell signaling customers have either entered or exited the snug little bakery, flour men, was ignored amongst bustling college students and passengerbys except for a group of three; tooru, rintarou, and morisuke who waited expectedly for their friends yn and koushi.

yn looked around, trying to spot the trio who were seated in the far back of the room. rintarou waved his hand, catching the attention of his friend. “ah! they’re over there, koush.” the two made their way past other customers and into the booth with the rest of their group.

“sorry, someone was borrowing my charger and I forgot to grab it back after class,” koushi sheepishly explained, “did you guys order anything yet?”

“three slices of the grandmama chocolate cake. no drinks yet though, we were waiting for you guys.” rin answered. and as if on cue, a waiter came by with their order.

yn marveled at the dessert laid in front of her, “it looks so good! thank you!!” she picked up one of the forks that the waiter gave before digging in. the rest of the group ordered the rest of their pastries and drinks. when all their dishes arrived, mori instantly inquired what everyone was questioning since the previous night…or well early morning i guess.

“so?” 

yn rose a brow, feigning innocence. “so what?”

“don’t act like nothing happened!” mori whined, dragging his hands down his face to show his impatience. “did you not see what I sent to the group chat last night?”

“hmmm…” yn averted her eyes away from mori’s, a sly smirk creeping up her neck and plastering itself across her face. “I don’t know…are you talking about the picture of kozu n’ I or..”

“well obviously,” tooru scoffed, wanting to know all of the details asap. “stop stalling! tell us or I’ll eat the rest of–” before the brown haired senior could finish the rest of his threat, yn beat him to it and shoved the remaining spoonfuls of cake into her mouth. “...nevermind. but you get what I was gonna say!”

“I’m gonna be completely honest,” yn started, wiping off the frosting that coated the sides of her lips with a napkin, “I kind of have no idea what happened.”

“oh you’ve got to be kidding me–”

“well!” yn protested, motioning for rin to hear her out, “I remember that we kissed twice and that…kozu was the one that initiated it–”

the group unanimously gasped at the news. “kozume initiated the kiss?!”

 “okay now,” yn warned, a bit displeased to hear the reaction of her friends, “no need to be that surprised.”

“walk us through it,” koushi preservered, not content with only crumbs of what happened. “take your time.”

yn propped her elbows on the table, cheeks resting in her hands as she tried to recall the events of last night.

���˖*°࿐ flashback ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

continuing their call to assure yn’s safety as she walked through the almost-empty streets leading to yūgen university’s boys dormitory, kozume’s quick paced footsteps were quietly heard on the other side of the line. kozume, knowing this idea was spontaneously stupid yet a bit…enticing, wanted to meet up with yn as soon as he could to reassure the both of them that nothing bad would happen– though he was more worried than she was.

seeing the familiar blond hair belonging to the one and only main lead, yn’s face lit up, “kozu, I see you!” she ended the call, skipping over to the boy who stopped in his tracks with a sigh.

watching yn’s giddy little walk as she made her way to kozume was– “cute.”

“hm?”

“nothing.”

yn smiled softly, both of her hands clutching onto the sleeves of kozume’s jacket. “hello handsome~” her doe eyes peeking through long, wispy eyelashes drew kozume into a daze and if it weren’t for a few cars passing by to help him regain his awareness, he swore he would, once again, stay glued to his position, forever in this moment.

“behave,” he muttered, removing yn’s hands from his jacket. “what made you even want to come over, we could’ve just stayed on call y’know?”

“yeah, but it’s jus’ not the same.” yn insisted. the two began walking over to the dormanity, small conversations in between leisurely steps.

“yeah? how so?”

“well for one,” yn glanced to the side, catching kozume’s cat-like gaze, “I wouldn't get to see your pretty face, and you know how much I love looking at it.”

“flattery won’t get you anywhere, ms. green peas.” smirking at yn’s reddening face at the nickname, kozume quipped back a response. “you’re right though, I definitely wouldn’t get to see just how red you get when I call you ms. green peas if we stayed on call.”

“okayy now…not too much of that,” yn grumbled. “before I end up throwing up on you right now.”

“and avoid me for a week again? no thanks.”

“cause you’ll miss me?” yn teased.

“I always do.” kozume mumbled, almost inaudible for the girl right next to him. but yn heard. loud and clear. noticing a few seconds go by without a response from the usually talkative art major, kozume clears his throat. “sorry…didn’t mean to make it awkward.”

it was usually yn coming up with the flirty comments and remarks and kozume going quiet as his cheeks flush red hot, but when roles were switched, yn couldn’t help but internally groan, desperate to know what kozume’s stance was when it came to their relationship.

what were they to him? when he thinks of her, what comes to mind? what feelings are bubbling in his stomach?

there are times where he would flirt back, just as he did moments ago, and there are times where he seems to harbor mutual feelings. there are times, if not all the time, kozume would feel like a lovesick fool, wanting nothing more than to just tell yn how he truly felt. 

but, there are times where he would do things that seem to halter the progress of their relationship and make yn bewildered at his change of demenor.

fortunately though, tonight was not one of those nights.

“no, sorry.” yn let out a breathy laugh, stopping in her tracks to face the curious blond. “I think I’m just not used to you being the one to initiate things.”

“oh really?” kozume teased, turning his body to completely face yn. 

a lot of people would say that they feel like a different person when night falls, especially when the clock travels past midnight. they feel more open to share their feelings, connect deeper with people they’re with, even going as far as doing things they wouldn’t normally do when the sun makes an appearance.

yn watched as kozume, the boy she’s known since the second grade, the boy who’s been one of her closest friends since they’ve first met, the boy who’s best friend’s with her brother, as well as her ex (sadly), someone who she has had a small crush on in high school and currently an even bigger one right now, take small steps to close the gap between them. “what?” she let out a breathy laugh once again, her face warming at the touch of kozume’s hands intertwining with hers.

“you’re hands are cold,” he noted, bringing yn’s hands up to his mouth and blowing hot air in an attempt to warm them up. yn’s eyes followed the movement of their hands, feeling kozume’s perpetual gentle gaze on her but choosing to ignore it because for some reason, no matter how much she’d wish and dream for this to happen, it felt unreal. “yn,” kozume breathed out, waiting for her to meet his eyes and when they did, he slowly inched closer, their lips now milimeteres apart. kozume’s honey golden eyes dripped down to her lips making yn’s breath stuck in her throat. her heart pounded viciously at the current situation, wanting out of her ribcage. yn’s eyelids fluttered closed, awaiting the soft impact of kozume’s lips on hers. and when it happened, it felt as sweet and fairy-tale-like as she’d always imagined it to be. 

although it’s a bad habit to compare, for some reason this kiss felt different than any previous ones she’d experienced before. kozume’s lips felt like years of unspoken words being poured out into a single moment. when they parted, yn’s lips formed a slight pout, wanting more than just a few seconds of kozume’s affection. 

as if he could read her mind, kozume giggled, his own heart shooting fireworks inside of him before leaning in once again.

✧˖*°࿐ end flashback ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

“and then?” tooru asked, eager to be told more.

“uhm well,” yn furrowed her brows, trying to think of what happened after the kiss. “then we walked back to his dorm and I fell asleep.”

“you’re telling me–”

“you’re telling us that you guys just fucking kissed and that was it!?” koushi exclaimed, cutting off his boyfriend’s sentence.

“koushi!” yn scolded, cheeks flushed at how loud her friend was being.

“sorry, sorry,” he apologized, calming down. “but it’s just..that!? like that was it? you guys met up, kissed, then didn’t even talk about it when you arrived at his dorm?”

“uhm. yes…”

now it was koushi’s turn to scold his friend, “you can’t just be okay with that! you have to clarify what you two even are!” tooru backed him up, mentioning how it’s disrespectful to her since kozume knows of yn’s feelings yet won’t communicate his.

mori seemed to just be taking in everything yn said, nodding his head in agreement with the couple. rin on the other hand, was interested in what happened in the morning.

“hm? what do you mean?” yn asked, not really sure what rin was thinking since nothing really— “oh! nothing much. I wouldn’t wake up n’ koz kept trying to wake me up, and then when I was leaving I accidentally gave keiji–”

“keiji?”

yn nodded at rin, conitnuing on telling the group about her morning, “yeah, I accidentally gave him a bloody nose cause I hit him with the door n’ then koz gave him some ice and then I had to get out cause tetsu was waiting to pick me up.”

“so when you left, keiji and kozume were still together?” rin questioned. yn nodded in clarification, curious as to what rin was leading up to, but he just dismissed her curiosity.

“this whole thing is so….interesing,” mori hummed, “I am definitely, one hundred precent on team kozu and yn though.”

“well obviously, what other teams are there to choose from.” yn laughed.

“why don’t we look at the ‘yn’s love life’ board hm?” tooru chirped, projecting the updated board on his phone and putting it in the middle of the table for everyone to peek at. “it is currently up to date with the kozume and yn slow burn. keiji just made an appearance and for some reason…my gut is telling me it’s going to be…quite interesting. kei on the other hand seems fine, I don’t really have anything to add to his notes, and eita or whoever, whatever his name is, is just there so.”

“aw wait, speaking of kei,” mori checked the time on his phone, groaning as he remembered volleyball practice. “yn and I have practice in a few minutes so we gotta bounce.”

“oh shit I almost forgot,” yn quickly grabbed her bag, scooching out of the booth. “see y’guys later!” and off the two went, leaving rin, tooru, and koushi in the booth with clear intentions to discuss theories of what will happen throughout the upcoming days with the new information they have just received.

part 20 touché <- | masterlist | -> part 22 side-hustling

note(s): the way i told myself to sleep at a reasonable time yet it's almost 3 in the morning :333 none of the pictures used are mine!!

✩⡱ taglist !! + @writing-for-the-hell-of-it @sherryuki-callmeyuki @anny-bah @ast4rg1rl @sukunasrealgf @killed-kiss lmk if u want to be added (msg or inbox)ヾ(･ω･`；)ﾉ

[chaotic-on-main]

The Bakery | ModernAU One-Shot

☾ Pairings ➼ Levi Ackerman x fem!OC

☾ Content/Warnings ➼ fluff

☾ Author's note ➼ This was meant to be a drabble but then I couldn't stop writing I'm so sorry. But anyways! I'm still working on March for Unspoken Words but sometimes you get little ideas and I just can't move on until I do them. So here! TAKE MY DELUSIONS. (this was only proofread once so take it as it is)

☾ Word Count ➼ ~1.8k

The exhaustion of opening the shop at five in the morning is just now starting to hit you as you roll out blue fondant for the tier cake in front of you. You can’t stop the heavy yawn from escaping your mouth, tears pricking the corner of your eyes from doing so. There were only a handful of hours left in the workday but you were determined to finish this order before then so it would be ready for tomorrow’s pick up.

“Aunt Lyra, you have flour smeared all over your face again.” A voice rings out to the right of you, jarring you from your sleepy state for a moment. You see your red-haired niece munching on a cookie with a contented smile warming up her light brown eyes.

“Sasha, how are we supposed to make a profit if you keep eating all of our products?” You give her a stern look and she just shrugs her shoulders and shoves the rest of the cookie in her mouth. You sigh at her.

“I’ll make more before I leave today.” She mumbles through a full mouth, crumbs falling everywhere.

“That’s not the point and you know it.”

“Yeah yeah.”

“Why are you back here? You should be manning the counter.” You look back down to the designs you were currently working on with the freshly flattened out fondant, reminding yourself to wipe your face when you were done.

“Your favorite customer is here, he says he needs to pick up an order he placed last week.” She stares at you with large, sparkling eyes. “When are you going to finally ask him out? I see the way you look at him.” Your face flushes with heat as you drop everything to wipe your hands on your apron before making your way to the large fridge behind you.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, my dear. Go get his payment, I’ll be right out.” You admit that you couldn’t keep your gaze off him whenever he came in, ordering his usual drink and sitting in his usual spot. For the past year, he always brought a book and would sit in the back for around an hour or two reading and sipping on a few teas before heading off to who knows where for the day. And it was only just that, just a few professional words back and forth and then silence before he left. But you always looked forward to his next visit. You take a deep breath and shake your hands out to get rid of the jitters. Sasha had joked about it but you were actually planning to ask him out the next time you saw him. Today is the day, you tell yourself.

You make sure to have a tight grip on the tall cake box before backing out through the swinging doors separating the dining area from the kitchen. You’re met with the bustling noises of your bakery, signifying yet another busy day. When you turn around to make sure you don’t bump into anything, you also see that the building was indeed teeming with chattering and laughing patrons. The afternoon sun beams through your wide front window and bounces off the shining wooden floors.

“Ah! Ms. Brause, let me help!” Your tall sandy-haired employee comes running up from a table, dirty cutlery and cups discarded, with his arms out in assistance.

“No, Jean, it’s okay. I’ve got it.” You grunt as you heave the heavy confection on the pick-up counter then wipe your hands off on your apron. Jean is a good friend and classmate of Sasha’s. According to your niece, he needed a job as soon as possible so he could start saving up for college. He mentioned that his mom owned a restaurant, and that he could work there but would rather chew his leg off than do that. You couldn’t understand that sentiment, but it never hurt to have extra help at one the busiest bakeries in town, so you said sure.

“Alright, but I’m here if you need help!” He chirps as he stares at you for a moment before turning back around to finish the table he was working on. Sasha had made an offhand comment how Jean had a crush on you since he started. You laughed at the time because it was adorable. Of course, nothing would come out of it since you were practically double his age and he knew that. He never made a pass at you thankfully.

When you make your way to the till, you see Sasha running a card as she talks animatedly about the cake. His hooded eyes flicker over to yours and he nods a hello to you, a small smile playing off his lips. Your heart is racing already.

“Levi, nice to see you again. Would you like your usual, to-go?” You press your hands together underneath the counter to keep them from trembling.

“No, thank you. I unfortunately have somewhere to be as soon as possible.” His deep voice responds back, making your heart flutter more.

“Oh? Where are you headed with such an intricate cake?”

“Just a friend’s party.” He shoves his wallet back into his back pocket and checks his watch. “Speaking of. Is it ready?”

“Yeah, just over on this counter. I’ll help you out.” You walk around the counter to get to the customer’s side before picking up the box carefully. He steps over to you quickly with his mouth open a little in surprise.

“I can get it, just set it down.”

“No, I insist. Besides, I’m already holding it. Get the door for me?” You give him a big smile and he just huffs before turning around and doing what you ask. As you step through the door, you’re met with a warm late summer breeze. The sun is shining down, and you take a deep breath in. You’ve been cooped up in the kitchen for so long that you instantly relax at the freedom.

You see him leading the way over to a small black car about 10 feet away and you begin to follow him, holding the cake box close to your chest. He opens the door behind the driver's side for you to slide it in gently. For extra measure, you even buckle the seatbelt around it. When you stand back up to face him, he’s staring at you incredulously.

“What?” You ask him, stepping back to the sidewalk so he can close the door.

“Why did you do that?” His gruff voice sounds almost amused.

“You need to make sure all passengers are safe.” You shrug your shoulders and chuckle at your own joke. He rolls his eyes at you but he’s definitely smirking. You eye his face as he studies yours. You can’t do this, you think. Asking him on a date seems so ridiculous, maybe next time. Yeah, you’ll ask him out next time.

“Well, I’ll see you the next time you stop by. I hope your friend enjoys their cake.” You manage to get out as you give him a nod then turn to leave as you feel your face warm up again. After taking a couple steps back to the bakery door, you feel something tug at your sleeve. You stop and look over to see Levi holding on to you with two fingers. His eyes are averted and a pink flush runs across his cheeks. He lets go quickly and clears his throat.

“Hey, uh. Before you go…” he trails off. You blink hard at him and twist your body back to face him. He’s about a foot or so away from you and he has his hands shoved into his jean pockets now.

“Yes, Levi?” You notice the tips of his ears are the same flushed pink. His raven hair is blowing gently in the breeze. He is so beautiful, you think. He clears his throat again and shifts his weight from foot to foot.

“I know I don’t know you very well, but I would like to. If given the chance.” He takes one of his hands from his pocket to run it through his hair, his eyes refusing to meet your now shocked expression. He wants to get to know you. Wait, is he asking you on-

“A date? You want to go on a date with me?” You squeak out.

“Yeah. I guess if that’s what you want to call it.” Your heart is about to explode out of your chest and because of that, you can’t keep the shit-eating grin off your face. His gray eyes finally lock onto yours, the corner of his mouth twitching.

“I- yes! I would love to. I was actually going to ask you out just now, but I got too nervous.” The amount of relief that floods your system is almost euphoric. He breaks out into an actual smile, one that just takes your breath away because of how much it lights up his entire face.

“W-well great. I don’t have any plans tonight. 8 o’clock okay?” He fiddles with his car keys as he watches you expectantly.

“What about your friend’s party?”

“It should be over by then. Besides, they’ll be thrilled that I’m finally getting out of my apartment to socialize with someone other than them.” He rolls his eyes at the thought, but then looks back at you with apprehension.

“Oh, well…” You look back in the window to your bakery and see Jean and Sasha both staring at you with wide eyes and big smiles. They give you a thumbs up and a vigorous nod. You shift your gaze back to Levi. “Tonight sounds great. Absolutely.”

You both spend the next couple of minutes exchanging numbers so you can both discuss where to meet later. He gives you a small wave as he backs out of his spot and drives off to his friend’s party. You can’t help but jump up and down as you squeal with excitement. This was actually happening! After months of crushing on him, you have his number and you’re going out with him later. You pinch yourself. Yep, it’s real.

As if in a daydream you slip back into your store, the sounds of chatter and clinking dishes muffled by the thoughts racing through your head. The smile from earlier has not left. Your niece comes bounding up with another cookie in her hands and she starts asking excitedly about what you're going to wear and where are you two going. It’s all just buzzing to you. You’re still in disbelief of what just happened.

“Ms. Braus?” Jean’s voice breaks you out for a moment and you look over to him.

“Yes, Mr. Kirchstein?”

“You have flour on your face still.” Your face falls and you start rubbing at your face with your hands. When you pull them away, you see streaks of white powder covering your fingers. You groan loudly. Levi just asked you on a date while you had flour all over your face.

[katsukikitten]

@gixxie Thank you for using our services, your date is excited to meet you!

Izuku was so shy with his answers it was almost impossible to pair him with the perfect match until we saw your profile! So when we showed him pictures of you in stellar green outfits he was in love at first sight!

We suggested he take you out on a sunset picnic where the two of you can share a little wine and pizza on an checkered blanket and watch the sun float lazily under the horizon (we even encouraged Izuku to kiss you under the stars if the chemistry was there! Which of course it is duh we are experts in love here!)

Izuku picks you up at the time agreed right to the second. Guiding you to the car and being a gentleman trying not to eat you alive with his eyes as you wear the sexiest green outfit that he's ever seen. Matching his eyes was a smart move because now he's obsessed and more determined than ever to make this the best date of your life.

The spot he picks out is perfect, the weather is perfect, the food is perfect and even the sunset is cooperating and painting you both in such a sweet ethereal glow he thinks he isn't going to be able to wait to kiss you!

With everything from the pizza, the glasses of wine and strawberry lemonade he's made and cutely called love potion, to the cake he picked up from the bakery, everything was perfect. So he takes the chance! Leaning in with a rapid heart beat to kiss you until suddenly a fuzzy black body jumps between the two of you and the another!

Two stray dogs crash your date! Oh no! Gobbling up the two pizzas and their dirty paws trample all over the heart shaped cake. Izuku is quick to shoo them away but by the time it's all said and done there isn't a crumb left that's salvageable.

Izuku could cry!

Looking at as he's about to apologize he sees your shocked face and how your lips turn up into a smile as you comment “Well at least someone got to enjoy that pizza! Glad we could feed some strays.”

He can't help himself when he grabs your face and kisses you! Fireworks erupt behind your eyes and suddenly in real life as the both of you forgot about the summer festival. He asks you on a second date right there and then if you'd like to get some festival food and this time he promises he won't let any strays steal your meal.

See everything worked out just fine!

[camaro-and-smokes]

Dream a Little Dream of Me

Chapter 18: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Tags: Angst, wedding plans

Summary: Billy starts organizing the wedding. It doesn't quite go the way anyone planned.

Other chapters on tumblr >>

Read on AO3 >>

::::::::::

Steve woke up and reached out his hand on his side in search of Billy. The hand found what it was looking for—after a way too long break—and Steve turned on his side opening his eyes. Billy was snoring lightly and hugging his pillow, his face relaxed and calm. Steve shuffled closer to him with his pillow and put his hands under the pillow. He didn't want to disturb the sleeping beauty next to him, the one he loved today even more than he did yesterday. "I'll never tire of waking up next to you, gorgeous," he whispered, and smiled. "My husband," he tried on the word.

It still felt surreal that less than twelve hours ago he had actually proposed to Billy, who had accepted, and they were now engaged to be married. They'd known each other barely for two months, and everyone he had told about his intentions to ask Billy to marry him had called him mad. To him, though, it was the sanest thing he'd done in a long time.

Being with Billy was so different from anything he'd had before. Being with a man was one thing, and he sure as hell never imagined getting married to one. But Billy allowed himself to be pampered by him, not something most of his girlfriends had allowed him to do to this extent. Now he did it just to see if there was a limit when Billy would tell him to stop or what he did was too out there. He had got Billy a big surprise for his next birthday - or for a wedding gift, whichever came first. If that didn't get Billy to tell him to stop, he didn't know what would, really. But most important of all, Billy saw him as who he was instead of his riches. It had been clear from day one, and Steve had never realized how important that was to him. Having someone next to him who was there because of him made him work less and enjoy life more, and apparently it also made him easier to be around, according to Robin, at least.

It never could have been anyone else than Billy he'd rather spend the rest of his days with.

In fear of accidentally waking him up, Steve fought the urge to brush away the stray curls that had fallen in front of Billy's eyes. And it wasn't the only urge he had to fight, despite feeling deliciously sore from the previous night. So, he got up and head up to the closest bakery for some fresh baguette and pain au chocolates. Yes, he could get them from the room service and they'd probably be just as good - but this was Paris. He wanted to go out and get them himself and then wake Billy up to a heavenly smell of fresh baked delicacies that were the best in the world, at least in his opinion.

And a heavenly smell was exactly that woke Billy up. Coffee. Fresh dark roasted coffee right in front of his nose. He opened his other eye and saw a mug from where steam rose lazily up in a beam of sunlight, held by a large hand in front of him. "Good morning," Steve said. Billy smiled. "Mhh," he let out. "Morning." "You gotta sit up before you take this. It's literally steaming hot." Billy took a deep breath, sat up pulling his hair back and moved to lean to the headboard. When Steve handed him the mug with a peck on his forehead, he smiled. "Can you wake me up like this at home too, please?" he asked, his voice still raspy from just waking up. Steve sat next to him and presented him with fresh pastries and slices of baguette with pieces of melted chocolate on top. "Only in Paris, gorgeous," he replied. "But we can visit here whenever you want." Billy took a bite of the baguette and had to close his eyes. ”Oh god,” he mumbled, ”this is...” he let out a satisfied moan ”...heaven.” ”I know,” Steve said, smiling, and took a bite of his own piece of bread. ”So, what do you want to do today?” Billy looked at Steve, wiping the chocolaty crumbs from the corner of his mouth with his finger to his mouth. ”Aren't we going home? I mean, I have a job to do for a few more days, but I can ask Eddie what he thinks about that now that Chrissy is here.” “We can stay until the tour is over. I just won't be leaving you behind,” Steve said and put his hand on Billy's thigh, stroking it. “So you are stuck with me. And it's traveling day for the crew, and we'll travel by plane, so you'll be in Nice within a few hours from the moment you want to leave. So, we have the day to ourselves.” Billy smiled a wide smile, making Steve's heart skip a beat. ”Perfect.” He snuggled under Steve's arm. “I'm in Paris with my almost-husband. This is where I want to be.” Steve wrapped his arm around Billy's shoulder and kissed the top of his head. “So, what do you want to do, husband-to-be?” “Can we go to the Louvre? I've always wanted to go there. And eat in some super fancy restaurant?” ”Yes, we absolutely can do that. You want to go shopping?” Billy looked up at Steve and smiled slyly. ”You mean some nice things?” Steve smirked. ”You can buy other clothes too.” ”You spoil me rotten.” ”That's precisely the point. Also, we need to start planning for the wedding. Should we get married here?” Billy almost choked on his coffee. ”Wow, wow, wow, slow down,” he said. ”I want to get married, but not that soon.” ”I don't mean now. I mean, would Paris be the perfect place? Whenever you want to have the wedding.” ”Remind me again how anyone else but the jet-set people you know would get to the wedding?” ”We fly them in, of course. And pay for their hotels.” ”Ah, right. Nothing making people feel like second class than having them flown to the other side of the world, all expenses paid, for just one half a day.” Steve stared in front of him. ”Okay, when you put it like that, I guess it might seem extravagant...” Then he looked back at Billy. ”But we can have any kind of wedding you want.”

-:-

Three weeks later, Billy was standing in the penthouse's foyer rubbing his face with his hands. He'd just guided the wedding planner out after meeting with her for the first time, and he was already feeling the same choking feeling he'd had when he'd been stuck in the apartment after the media frenzy.

Steve had told him he could have the wedding look any way he wanted. So, he had sat down with the planner to choose a theme. They'd go see a florist and visit possible caterers next week.

But instead of feeling exhilarated, he felt sick. A knot was forming in his stomach, growing bigger with each tiny detail he was forced to decide on.

It wasn't the getting married part that made him feel like his insides were being pulled out through his throat. Nor the planning of the wedding. It was the number of people on the guest list. One that he had with Steve together, yes, decided upon. A list that was full of people only Steve knew—because he didn't want to let him down. Steve had given him free reins over all details of the party, and it was the least Billy could do to allow Steve to have all his family and his friends and people he worked with at the wedding. All 250 of them.

All Billy wanted was to have his sister, Max, and two of his best friends, Eddie and Chrissy, attend. While he had family too and people he worked with, these three were the few he actually wanted to share that special moment with.

When Steve came home, he found Billy sitting in his favorite place: on the floor of the living room in front of the transparent wall, leaning his elbows to his knees, looking outside. “Hey,” Steve said when he sat next to Billy. When Billy said nothing, he leaned his shoulder against Billy's. “A penny for your thoughts.” “It's nothing. I'm just overwhelmed. So many decisions to make and so little time.” “I checked the venue. It was free on that day, so I booked it. But just see it with...with the... Fuck.” Steve laughed. “Go see it with the planner. I can't remember her name.” Billy smiled weakly. “Yeah, I will. I'm sure it's great.” “You don't sound so excited about it.” Billy shook his head. “I'm just a little tired. Didn't sleep well last night. I'll be alright.” Steve wrapped his arm around Billy's shoulders and pulled him close. “If you say so.”

-:-

It was three weeks before the wedding, when Eddie stopped by the penthouse unannounced. “You should've called me and let me know you were coming,” Billy said when they were in the elevator going up after he'd had to collect Eddie from the front desk. Eddie laughed. “I didn't remember that the clerk was that stiff.” “He's not a clerk, he's a guard. Someone who needs to know if a ragged musician like you is about to visit the millionaire's penthouse,” Billy replied, amused. “Yeah, I know. Sorry.” “Nah, it's okay. So, is the world tour finished?” “We still have five gigs in Japan, but then it's done. I'm itching to have the time to write some new material. Hey, maybe you could write some lyrics for the next album?” “You've asked me that before and like I said then, I say now, thank you, but no. I don't want anyone to know that I write.” “You could use your alias. Or come up with a new one.” “I really don't know...” “You could write a poem for Mr. Fortune 500. I could then make a song of it. As a wedding present for you guys.” Billy glanced at Eddie. “Would you make it a good one? The best you've ever written and the only one you can never release to the world? Could you live with that?” Eddie smiled. “As a wedding present for you, yeah. Definitely.”

“So, do you already have the jitters?” Eddie asked as he plopped down on the couch in Billy's office. Billy sat on the other couch across from Eddie. “If I'm brutally honest with you, I'm fucking terrified.” Eddie smiled. “Well, you should be a little nervous. You're going to be a Harrington!” “I'm terrified, as in I'm seriously contemplating of running away.” Eddie sat up straight, his eyes wide open. “Say what again? I don't think I heard right. You want to run away?” Billy bit his lip and looked at his friend. “I haven't been sleeping for weeks, and I had to raise the dosage of my anxiety meds just to manage the meetings with the planner and florist and who the fuck else.” “Uh... So... Are you worried that you're marrying the wrong person? Because that would be valid. You've known each other just for, what, four months? And he asked you to marry him only after two. And the wedding is in three weeks from now.” Billy shook his head. “It's not that. I've tried to figure it out, and I know I love him and that I want to marry him.” “Okay, uh... So what's the deal, then?” “There's going to be 238 people there that I've either met once or haven't met at all. There's going to be 15 people I actually know.” “What did he say to that?” Billy looked away and said nothing. “Oh, for fuck's sake, Hargrove,” Eddie muttered and rubbed his forehead with his hand. “You have to tell him.” “And how do I do that at this stage? It is just three weeks away. And I like everything, it's not that. The reception venue is amazing and the decorations and the flowers and the food and the cake—everything is exactly how I wanted.” “But you're still planning on ditching him on the altar?” Eddie asked, confused. “Yeah, I know you're not getting married in a church but...” Billy squeezed his eyes closed. “No! I just...” his voice trailed away. “You just don't really want your wedding to be like that, right?” Eddie asked after a while, when Billy didn't continue. Billy nodded. "Why is it you tell me these things but not to him? Christ! You're supposedly soulmates and you're marrying him!" "It's not that easy..." "It's exactly that easy! Do you want to remember your wedding because you hated it or because you loved it?" Billy rolled his eyes. "The later, duh." "Okay. When is he coming home?" “He should be home any time now. Why?” Billy's eyes widened. “Wait, you're telling him?" he asked, alarmed. “Well, someone has to. You'll regret it for the rest of your life if you go through with it and hate everything. I don't want you to do that to yourself. Hell, it's the most important day of your life so far!” "No, fine, okay, uh...I'll tell him. But on my own time." "No, no," Eddie said, and pointed a finger at Billy. "No 'on my own time'. We both know that time will never come. You're going to tell him once he comes home. If you don't, I will. Pick one." Billy glared at Eddie and shook his head. "Fine."

"Hey, gorgeous," Steve said, smiling when he saw Billy sitting on the couch in the living room. When he saw Eddie sitting on the other couch, he clenched his teeth and stopped in his tracks. "What's up?" "Uh...umm," Billy started. Steve sat on the couch next to Billy and glanced at Eddie suspiciously. They'd cleared the air between them and talked things through, what happened in Paris and what the history between Eddie and Billy really was, but Steve just couldn't trust Eddie. And they both knew it. "I'm here just as a support," Eddie said, spreading his hands. Steve looked back at Billy. "Then what's going on, gorgeous?" Billy fidgeted with the hem of his shirt and said nothing. Steve looked at Eddie, frowning. "What is it?" Eddie and Billy looked at each other. Eddie sighed. "He doesn't want the wedding." Steve's eyes bulged, and he turned to look at Billy, horrified. “What?!” Billy glared at Eddie and then looked at Steve. “I don't want a big wedding. I do want to marry you, though.” Steve stared in front of himself for a while, stunned. Then he got up and walked by the transparent wall, placing his hands on his head and taking a deep breath. After a while looking outside and processing the news, he turned to look at Billy. "The wedding is in three weeks. Everything is confirmed and the guests have booked their hotels and so on. Everything is ready!" "I don't care about the people or the venue or the food!" Billy said, frustrated. "I know fifteen people out of almost three hundred who have been invited. I don't want my wedding to be like that!" “Then what kind of wedding do you want?” Steve exasperated. "I don't know! But I know I don't want three hundred guests!" Billy shouted, throwing his arms in the air. Steve looked at Billy, mortified. Then he turned his gaze to Eddie. "Did you know about this?" he asked sourly. "No, man! He told me an hour ago." "Right. Okay." Steve let out a deflated breath. "Baby, why didn't you tell me before?" Billy grimaced. "I thought I wanted it all, too." “Are you sure it's not just stress?” Steve asked hopefully. He walked back to Billy and sat down. “I mean, there's been a lot of work in organizing this, and you've done it all alone. And getting married is a big change.” Billy looked away. "Every time I think of saying our vows in front of all those people, of which most are strangers to me, I get a panic attack. It's not just stress," he said quietly. "Okay then," Steve said, leaning to the backrest and stared at the ceiling, then closed his eyes, taking a deep sigh. "I guess I'll start making cancellations then." Billy brushed Steve's hand with his, lacing their fingers. "Baby, I'm sorry I said nothing before. I want to marry you. I really do. Just...let's just tone it down. Okay?" Steve pulled his hand away and got up. “I really need to start with the cancellations,” he said coldly as he walked towards his office.

Billy broke into tears on the couch. Eddie sat next to him and hugged him, letting Billy's tears fall on his shirt—once again. “See? See?! I didn't want this!” Billy snapped at Eddie. “Fuck this,” Eddie said, letting go of Billy and got up. “Eddie! What are you...” Billy managed to say before Eddie vanished into the corridor after Steve.

Eddie stormed into Steve's office. “What the fuck was that?! Billy told you how he felt, and you just walked away. Do you have any idea how rare it is for him to actually say how he feels?” Steve looked up from his laptop. “Yes, I actually do. But have you any idea how much everything...” He paused mid-sentence and grimaced. “You know, it's none of your business, actually. I'd appreciate if you'd leave me.” “At least he didn't go through a wedding he didn't really want and not tell you he didn't want it.” Steve stared daggers at Eddie. “He just threw a few hundred thousand dollars into thin air by doing that. I think I'm allowed to be annoyed about it.” “So, there's a price for love, after all.” “Excuse me?” Eddie clenched his teeth. “I said there's a price for love after all.”

“Eddie, out. Now!” Billy said from the doorway where he was standing. Eddie glared at Steve, then at Billy, his mouth a thin line. “You simply told him how you feel, that shouldn't...” “Eddie, he's right, it is none of your business,” Billy said, his arms crossed on his chest. Then his expression softened. “You don't have to protect me anymore. I know his love for me doesn't have a price. It has nothing to do with the money spent on the wedding. And I totally get his point of view, it is a hell of a lot of money he has spent on the wedding. Which is why I don't want to cancel it!” Eddie looked at him, bewildered. “But you said that you want to run away! Isn't that a sign that you should at least consider cancelling?” Billy looked at Steve, who stared at him gobsmacked. Billy grimaced and closed his eyes. “Eddie, thank you for being a friend and concerned for my well-being. Your heart is in the right place and I appreciate it,” he said and opened his eyes. “But I really think you should leave now. Me and my husband have things to talk through.”

[crispy-buddies-bakery]

The Sugar Swan took over this time. 'They had baked a batch of Sugar Swans, so presumably there still are legendaries back there...'

Hephaestus, Selene and Amphitrite looked at each other. 'There were a batches of us too, when we had escaped. We felt bad being unable to rescue anymore than us three...' Amphitrite answered.

The officer frowns at this, the fact this bakery could bake a batch of legendary speaks of how much money they could have been making to those crumb rings they sell those poor cookies too, after all, the rarer the cookie is, the more those vile entertainment that those sick people love would pay more, its sick to think about.

at that time, Elizabeth returns with a bottle of water which she hands to Kagami and a bowl of starjellies which she placed on the table for the cookies to eat to try and calm down a bit.

“I see, Well its clear that the bakery has a lot of violations in their hands now an—“

*SLAM!!!!*

the sound of the door slamming open suddenly made everyone jump as they turn to see Elaine, panting as she held something in her hand

“No time to explain!! Elizabeth! we got a code blue!”

Her assistant and the officer’s eyes widen when as their eyes turn to her hand, resting on her hand were two small cookies, A young Snapdragon and a pond dino cookie, laying unresponsive on her palm

“Quickly! to the clinic!” Elizabeth shouts as she and Elaine made a dash towards the clinic, as they do, Chiron and Ajita, two cookies that is also not present when Kagami went in the center ran in, both carrying Elaine’s phone as they ran to the officer

“It’s… gah… its worse than we thought!” Ajita exclaim as she has her raisin crows fly up and drop the phone in the Officer’s hand. both looked shaken up, Chiron especially as he pants and takes deep breathes to calm himself down.

“We.. we snuck in the bakery… it..its.. oh my light” Chiron pants as he takes deep breathes all the while the officer looks at the phone and begins to swipe through what seems to be pictures, their face turning darker as it went on.

[miss--katherine]

❝We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it’s forever.

Moodboard: Pinterest

Name: Katherine Dolle Age: 23 Birthday: 10th August Species: witch Lives in: Downtown Occupation: Barista at Enchanted Crumbs Bakery Length of time in Raven's Peak: on and off for 4 years Family:

1 older sister and 3 older brothers

Hobbies: she enjoys everything. Playing instruments (can play guitar, violin, piano and drums), she also likes sports (soccer, tennis, swimming, volleyball, dancing, and running), and she loves reading books and walking around the city. She loves drawing as well. She always has a backpack with random items in it in case she feels like doing something.

Wanted connections:

Roommate (1)

One night stand (1)

TBA

Katherine is the youngest of five kids, a bit spoiled due to that but also taught to be quite loving and easy to bond with people, used to always having someone who is there for her. She grew up in Albany, NY, constantly preoccupied throughout her childhood, constantly switching between hobbies. She tried multiple musical instruments, wishing first to be like one of her brothers who was in a band, then she went to try out different sports for a few years, copying her other brother, who had already graduated as a star athlete. With time she could say she’s tried almost any hobby one would think of but the ones that stuck around were sewing, baking and art, as well as keeping active whenever she could find the time. Maybe growing up with such a big family and always having attention on her has made her a bit too trusting. Despite better judgement and the warning of her siblings when she was sixteen she entered into a relationship with one of the jocks with whom she bonded over studying together for their finals. They were together for two years, planning to go to New York University together and renting. She never really said it to anyone but she was actually imagining wedding bells and suburb houses in her future. Little did she know that once he got accepted into the university - not NYU, and he didn’t need her help with applications or studying anymore, he quickly dumped her. It didn’t take long to understand that she had in fact always been his backup girl. During this heartbreak, she closed off her emotions and spent the rest of her school year debating on whether to go to university or not. At this time was when she fell into her witch powers, not wanting to go out and pour over her mother’s grimoires in the attic. She spent her year after university working and saving up money, unsure of the next step but nonetheless constantly supported by her parents. Finally, she asked her mother about Raven’s Peak, the small town that she was originally from. She had grown up there, leaving her parents and moving to New York State to study. That was where she had met Kat’s father and therefore not come back once she had gotten pregnant and they had married. As her father was unaware of the magical side of his children and wife they had never really gone to the town to visit but Katherine had always had an interest to see where her roots were. After a weekend trip here she decided she loved it and so applied to the university. Her grandparents had passed and her mother had since sold their house, so she had to find an apartment to rent, which she did quickly and found a roommate. She moved to Raven’s Peak right after her 20th birthday, excited to start her bachelor's degree. She wasn’t sure what to major in and by the end of her first year that got to her so much that she decided to drop out until she figured it out. She left the town for a few months and went home, then came back again and repeated for the whole year, finding herself more undecided than ever before. However, after a deep conversation with her mother, she finally chose a major and moved back, signing up to finish her school. She started work in the new bakery in town and loved every moment of it, studying both for university and understanding her magic. Now she’s in her third year and has decided to finish what she started, working so that she can pay rent for a small apartment with a roommate.

[marsmarvel02]

"What Manny Can't Fix" Review: Chapter 16

Welcome back and welcome again to my review of "What Manny Can't Fix" a Handy Manny fanfic that- well, if I'm reviewing it, you know it's got to be bad.

In the last chapter... something happened, I guess, and now in this chapter Turner is faced with a plot bombshell we all knew had to happen sometime... and a plot bombshell that comes completely the heck out of nowhere with no foreshadowing whatsoever.

(And as always, if you'd like to start this review series from the beginning, Chapter 1 is here.)

Chapter 16

Hey, does anyone remember what happened in the last chapter?

I think it was a Plunker segment… which might be why I can’t recall anything. 

Wait, wasn’t there golf involved somehow?

Anyway…

Well here we go…. Turner internally sighed. First day on the new job. How am I going to do this!? I can’t just keep going to the kid everyday to take food from him!

Turner wasn’t sure if it was the fear that Manny would become suspicious of him constantly taking food or guilt for doing it, but Turner felt a knot twist in his stomach. 

For some reason, I feel really tired of “knots in tool stomachs are bad for the spacetime continuum” jokes.

Like something made them stop being funny anymore, or something.

I don’t really have much of a choice, do I? I can’t go back to the bakery, and I can’t even remember where the community garden is! I guess I’ll have to go back there.

Turner made his way down the sidewalk, his stomach still churning.

When he got to the entrance of the backyard, he paused when he heard crying.  Manny?

Uh-oh.

Turner rushed in and saw Manny sitting on the back porch, sobbing into his hands.

He hurried over to the porch and sat next to him. “Manny? What’s wrong?”

“Turner!” Manny said, quickly picking him up and pressing him into a tight hug.

“Yeah kid, I’m here, I’m here…” Turner said, gently. “It’s okay…”

He nuzzled slightly against Manny’s cheek, hoping to calm him down. “What’s wrong, kid?”

“Mi...Mi madre murió….” [“My… my mother died…”] Manny sobbed, pulling the screwdriver closer.

Wow, a source of cheap emotional torque that doesn’t involve romance! I’m impressed!

Turner knew enough Spanish to understand his mother had passed away.

“I...I’m sorry kid…” Turner said, softly.

Manny sniffled loudly and just sat there, cradling Turner close to his chest. “Turner?”

“Yeah?”

“Will….will you stay here with me?”

Turner froze. “Stay….h..here?”

Manny nodded. “Please...I...I don’t wanna be alone…”

“Kid….I...I can’t…”

Wow, I actually felt the tiniest crumb of genuine sadness there. Just a modicum, a scintilla, a speck, but that’s still more than literally anything else in this story has made me feel.

Manny frowned. “Oh….I understand…” He pulled away slightly and sighed.

Not bad for a completely-out-of-left-field random plot twist!  

Turner felt the knot twist even more. 

Hopefully the author doesn’t find a way to ruin it somehow.

Swift watched closely from behind the fence as Turner and Manny talked.-

Aaaand they did.

-She narrowed her eyes at them. I knew there was something suspicious about him! I gotta tell Teeth!

“But….I guess I can stay here with you a while…” Turner said.

“G...Gracias Turner…” Manny sniffled, holding him closer.

“It’s gonna be okay kid.” Turner said, gently.

“I hope so..” Manny sighed. “Tomorrow I’m going to Concrete Falls to stay with my dad for a while.”

“Your dad lives in Concrete Falls?”

I can’t wait for poorly-thought-out location placement to turn Concrete Falls into another region of San Diego.

Manny nodded. “He runs a garage there. Me, Reuben, and Lola used to help him…until me and Lola moved down here to live with mom. Reuben stayed with dad but he still came down to visit.”

“Oh.” Turner frowned. “So you’re going to live with your dad now?”

“For a while….then me and Lola are gonna stay with Abuelito.” Manny explained, hugging Turner more. “You’ll still be here too, right?”

“Yeah, of course kid.” Turner said without hesitation. “I’ll still visit you.”

“Manny!” A voice called, startling Turner.

“Who...who was that?” He asked anxiously.

“My Abuelito.” Manny said, putting Turner back on the porch. “I have to go….”

He stood up and looked at Turner again. “Are you sure you don’t wanna come with?”

Turner sighed. “I’m sorry kid...I can’t…”

“It’s okay…” Manny said, heading towards the door. “I’ll see you later, right?”

Turner smiled. “Right, kid.”

When Turner returned to the alleyway, Teeth, Swift, and Twist all looked at him, and they didn’t seem too happy.

What’s with them? Turner thought. Then realization hit him. I forgot to bring food back! And on my first day of it being my full job! How did I forget the one thing I needed to get!?

Oh my. The dramatic irony is killing me.

Turner smiled anxiously as he hopped over to the three of them. “Hey guys...uh...I just uh...came back to uh...tell you I haven’t heard of any food yet, but I’ll uh...keep looking!”

“Save it Oliver, we know you found your own little Jenny.” Teeth said.

What on Earth does that mean? 

Turner looked confused. “What?”

All I know is that it sounds like another out-of-place pop culture reference.

Teeth went over. “Swift told us everything.”

Oh, right. Oliver And Company. 

Turner looked over at Swift who seemed angry, and Twist….She looked devastated.

Gee, Turner is going to get kicked out of the gang and end up being able/having to go to Concrete Falls with Manny after all! How convenient!

“You were with a human this whole time….” Twist said as she went over to him, her voice small and broken.   “How could you do this to us!?” Tears rushed down her cheeks.

“Whoa, whoa!” Turner panicked. “I...I wasn’t with a human….”

The other tools looked at him, unconvinced.

“Well...o...okay I...I was...but...but it’s not like we were friends or anything!” Turner protested.

“Hm. Right.” Swift grumbled. “That’s why he was hugging you?”

“No! You...you don’t understand!” Turner pleaded.

“No. I don’t think you understand.” Teeth said, getting closer. “You’re a traitor! And we don’t like traitors around her.” He turned towards Twist and Swift. “Right, girls?”

“Right!” Swift said.

“...Right…” Twist said, looking away slightly. 

“Yes, riiiiiiiiiight…” 

“So I suggest you mosey on out of here”-

Random cowboy lingo. That’s a way to kill the mood that I haven’t seen before!

-“before we have an even bigger problem.” He said, bending his blade towards Turner.

“H..hey...let's not get violent here…” Turner sputtered out. 

“Why? Because your little human isn’t here to protect you?” Teeth laughed.

“Just let him go, Teeth.” Twist sighed. “He’s not worth our time…”

Teeth looked Turner over one more time before laughing slightly. “You’re right, Twist. He can’t do anything to us….Come on girls, let's go…”

He and Swift left the alleyway, but Twist lingered behind slightly. She sighed and turned towards Turner.  

“Twist I…”

“Turner…” She groaned. “You hurt me.”

“I didn’t mean to Twist...I...I just…”

“You just what?” She asked. “Thought you could get away lying to us!?”

“ Well ...yeah...but I was just doing it to get food!”

“So you don’t care about him? At all?” Twist challenged. 

“Well I...wouldn’t say at all ...but he’s just-”

Twist sighed again. “Just forget it, Turner...it’s for the best if you just leave…”

“But, but….”

He watched as Twist followed the others.

But you’re my family...

Aaaand CHAPTER!

(My review of the next chapter is now up and available for reading!)

[chubbymen101]

“Oooff! I shouldn’t have eaten that last slice of cake”

Dylan was had recently started his new job as an accountant for a huge local company. He was used to having an active job and lots of free time after work but now his hours have increased and the most exercise he gets in a day is walking across the street to the local bakery on his breaks.

Everyday since he started a month ago, Dylan would visit the bakery and try something different. The owner got to know him quite well and baked something extra just for him. He loved watching Dylan slowly outgrow his suits. Not only was he eating a large pastry or cake each day, but the office cafeteria kept him well fed throughout his days.

The caterer also got to know Dylan and served him an extra large portion of food, even after he got back from the bakery. When the canteen wasn’t busy, he would go to him with little treats throughout the day. Cameron loved to watch Dylan stuff his face with his food. His stomach expanding just enough so the buttons don’t pop on his shirt and trousers.

Dylan sat back down after visiting the bakery, crumbs over his newly formed gut. He was told by his boss to work overtime that evening as they had an event going on in the office the next day and wanted him to set it up along with max, Dylan’s fave catering assistant. Once everyone had gone home, Dylan begun to put up the decorations. Max was setting up the tables and Dylan was hanging bunting along the walls. Dylan felt his cock hardening at the sight of Dylan’s belly under his shirt. They continued to do this till almost an hour after Dylan was supposed to have finished.

Once everything was all set up, Dylan and max rested in the canteen for 10 minutes after.

“There’s 3 slices of cake left in the kitchen that needs to be eaten. Do u want em’?” Max said, hoping Dylan would accept because we wanted to watch him get bigger even closer than in the canteen.

“Alright! I suppose I have to now, save it going to waste!” Dylan tucked in to the first slice and finished it in nearly 30 seconds. The second slice was a little bit harder to put down. The slices of cake were quite big and had huge amounts of icing all over it. The first 2 thirds went down the same as the first slice but soon the cake begun to get too much for Dylan to handle. He undid his belt and un zipped his trousers allowing his belly more room to expand. He slowly chewed through the last third of the slice and felt even fuller. His stomach stretched his shirt a little, revealing a small bit of belly poking through his thin shirt.

Max noticed that Dylan’s belly was covered in thick hair. This turned him on even more.

“BUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRPPP!! Christ I don’t think I can eat that last slice, I-UURRRRRRRP am just so fu-uuuurrrrp-ul” this slice wasn’t like the rest. It looked like it was almost a quarter of the cake. It had even more icing on than the rest and it was covered with shards of chocolate and sprinkles. Max sighed “please. It will really upset me if it goes in the bin. I spent ages making that cake” Dylan burped again “ I suppose I have to -urrrrrrrp finish it now, I’d h-urrrrp-ate to make you sad.

He took of 3 of the 7 chocolate chards and stuffed them in his face. His enlarged belly groaned a little but Dylan carried on. 4 large bites in and his already swolen gut got even bigger and bloated. He paused for a moment and rubbed his belly. He gave it a little tap to find it was rock solid. He accidentally let out a little moan which could only be described as pure bliss.

About 5 minutes later and Dylan was down to the last bite. His shirt was expanded to its limits. The outstretched buttons were hidden under his navy blue tie. He wanted to just leave it but seeing max looking so horny made him want to eat it so not to disappoint him. He finally finished it. His gut felt so heavy: He smacked his belly hard and is didn’t move. Max sat down next to Dylan and rubbed his enlarged gut. Dylan let out a little moan and burped. “Oooff! I shouldn’t have eaten that last slice”