#which is pretty much her MO when the others do ''embarrassing'' stuff

[hafwen]

Grayson was sitting on the TV stand and Toni went to whack him and that surprised him so he almost fell off

Which scared Lillie so she went to run from the room

Toni thought Lillie wanted to play and chased her down the hall until there was no more hall

Lillie thought they were going to fight but Toni just stopped and was like ??? No more running

And Lillie just settled and started to bathe which bored Toni so she left

[bunnymajo]

No one asked, but it’s my day off so I filled out that OTP ask prompt I reblogged earlier for funsies for Surge x Elias(teen AU)

be warned it’s very cheesy

1. Who most initiates PDA?

-Elias. Without even being conscious of it, he’s just an affectionate guy

2. Any sleep habits either had to get used to?

-Elias is used to a typical early to bed & early to rise schedule, Surge just sleeps whenever she wants so he has to get used to her mostly if they’re in the same room

4. How did they first meet?

-Elias was camping and cooking outdoors, Surge thought it smelled good and wanted to steal it. They fought (Elias more lightheartedly than Surge, thinking it was just play fighting) and Elias eventually said “If you want some I don’t mind sharing” so she did and they started chatting 

5. What is their love language?

-Cooking for Elias to Surge, Showing off cool things she found and thinks he might think are cool too for Surge to Elias 

6. When did they realize they loved each other?

-Slowly & Gradually. Elias figured it out first when he realized he was thinking about her and her well being more often than normal. Surge was more stubborn about it for a long time, thinking “oh this chump is just some pretty faced guy, who cares.” but Elias helped save her one time and had a more serious look on his face and Surge was like “...oh.”

7. Who is more sentimental?

-ELIAS. 

8. What’s one way their personalities complement one another?

-Elias helps Surge keep her rage in check (very slightly) and gives her something to look forward to in her life, Surge shows Elias it’s ok to be a little selfish and do what you want that makes you happy and inspires his free-spirited adventurous self

9. How are their personalities different?

-Surge is the worst girl you’ll ever meet, Elias looks and acts like he was sculpted by angels

10. What are some activities they do together? 

- Sparing, anything sporty/outdoorsy.

11. Which member is more physically affectionate?

-Elias. Hand holding, nuzzling, hugging - he can’t be stopped

12. Which member is more verbally affectionate?

-Elias, partially just because Surge is just incredibly new at this. She’ll try but it’ll just come out a little sleazy sounding. 

13. Which member steals borrows the other ones clothing?

-Surge takes his stuff all the time but since Elias doesn’t wear pants there’s not a lot she can wear that’s his.

14. Are they an introverted couple or an extroverted one—AKA would they prefer to go out to a party or event together or would they rather stay in?

-Introverted, Elias is used to royal parties and get togethers. It's nice to be with someone who’s not about that life at all. Surge hates parties unless she’s going to trash the place.

15. Who is more likely to make an impulsive decision and who is the voice of reason?

-They’re both impulsive! And supportive of each impulse “Let’s jump into that lake!” “Oh that sounds like fun, sure!” But Elias is the voice of reason if it’s a violent impulse.

16. Who stays up way too late and who tries to drag them to bed?

-Surge goes to sleep when she wants to like a wild animal and Elias respects that.

17. Who fell in love first?

-Surge. She’ll never admit it was at first sight though.

18. What song fits them perfectly?

“The Theme from Big Wave” - Tatsuro Yamashita (at least it’s what I associate with them the most for now)

19. How do they deal with being away from each other for a long time?

-They’re used to adventuring separately, but they look forward to meeting again and try to think “oh I’ll have to tell them I saw this” “oh gotta get this for them next time” etc.

20. Who holds a grudge the longest?

-Surge. Even if she forgives him she’ll still bring it up weeks later.

21. Which of the two is quick to speak and which one is quick to listen?

-Surge says what’s on her mind as it’s happening, and Elias is always eager to listen, he’s fascinated by her.

22. Who gets more easily embarrassed?

-Surge. Will just run away if it’s too much for her.

23. Who overthinks the most?

-Also Surge. Trauma’s a bitch

24. Which of the two is the most competitive?

-It’s equal but Surge is more likely to take it seriously while Elias is more for fun

25. Who’s the most stubborn?

-Surge

26. How do they comfort each other?

-When her trauma just get to be too much, Elias’ presence is comforting enough but sometimes, sometimes, she’ll want to be held and he’ll happily oblige

-For Elias, if pressure gets to him Surge will think of the quickest way they can both blow off steam “Wanna go destroy some robots or something?” 

27. What random everyday object/activity makes them think of each other?

-Elias: Palm Trees, Surge: Warm Bread

28. Do they get along with each other’s friends and family?

-No. Sally and Kit want the relationship to end so they wont ever have to see Elias or Surge again, but want their siblings to be happy so they’ll just stare judgingly from the sidelines.

30. What is their favorite place to kiss the other? (Cheek, hand, closed eyelid, neck, nose, etc.)

-Elias: anywhere she’ll let him, he’s not picky. But he can usually get away with a kiss on her hand the most easily.

-Surge: she’ll never admit to liking kissing, also trying to kiss Elias is like kissing a lightbulb, it’s too bright & shiny you can’t even get close and it’s so embarrassing to even try it.

31. What’s the relationship like? Smooth? Rocky?

-Chunky peanut butter

32. How do they resolve their arguments?

-Sparring

33. Who has the most nightmares and how do they deal with them?

-Surge has the most nightmares, Elias will just be there and do whatever he needs to to give her comfort (sleep next to her, give her space, more blankets, etc)

34. Do they give each other nicknames?

-They both have a long list of names that they’re too embarrassed to use. Surge has more nicknames for Elias that were made with love but sound like insults.

35. What movies do they enjoy watching most?

-Action-comedy movies

36. How’d they meet each other’s families?

-Kit rarely leaves Surge’s side so he just came with the package, Surge found out Elias was prince and that didn’t go so well but he invited her to stay over if she ever changed her mind and she showed up the next morning at the Acorn Palace “Hey I’m here!” and broke in.

37. What do they like the least about each other?

-Elias wishes Surge wasn’t so quick to pick fights, Surge wishes Elias would be more assertive and picked more fights

38. What was their most memorable date?

-Acorn Kingdom Winter Gala, Surge’s introduction to the courts [insert hilarious violent scenarios here]

39. What other couple would your otp get along with the best?

-Tenchi & Ryoko (Tenchi Muyo)

40. Who makes the other smile with almost no effort at all?

-It’s pretty mutual, but Surge just has to be herself and Elias is instantly charmed

[larkawolfgirl]

Girlfriend and Girlfriend Chapter 4

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, Multi

Fandoms: カノジョも彼女 | Kanojo mo Kanojo | Girlfriend Girlfriend (Anime), カノジョも彼女 | Kanojo mo Kanojo | Girlfriend Girlfriend (Manga)

Relationships: Hoshizaki Rika/Kiryuu Shino/Minase Nagisa/Mukai Naoya/Saki Saki, Kiryuu Shino/Minase Nagisa/Mukai Naoya/Saki Saki, Minase Nagisa/Mukai Naoya/Saki Saki, Mukai Naoya/Saki Saki, Minase Nagisa/Mukai Naoya, Kiryuu Shino/Mukai Naoya, Hoshizaki Rika/Mukai Naoya, Minase Nagisa/Saki Saki, Kiryuu Shino/Saki Saki

Read on ao3

The girls were getting dressed in their sleep clothes. Nagisa was in the middle of buttoning her shirt, when Saki suddenly crouched down as if she had been struck by a blow.

“Two-timing,” she whispered. Her voice grew louder as she complained. “This is never gonna work. There are just so many problems with this.” Especially when her competition was someone as super cute as Nagisa with her big boobs.

Nagisa caught Saki staring at her and covered her now-clothed breasts on impulse.

Saki fell onto her hands on the floor. Why would a girl like her even like someone as degenerate as Naoya who wants something as perverted as a threesome?

That’s it!

Grinning, Saki turned around to face Nagisa and held onto the girl’s shoulders. “You’ve realized the sort of guy he is now, right? You must be seriously creeped out by him.”

Creeped out? Why would him wanting to have sex with the two girls he liked be creepy? “Well…” She gulped, closing her eyes so she didn’t have to see Saki’s reaction. “If Naoya-kun really wants to do it, then I guess I wouldn’t mind doing it with three people.”

Sure, it sounded intimidating, but Nagisa was willing to do anything to make him happy. Especially if the other person was familiar like Saki. The girl was pretty, nice in her own way, and extremely energetic. Putting that feisty energy into the bedroom, though…

Nagisa couldn’t help but blush in embarrassment at where her mind was going.

Saki spluttered. “You’re cute, have big boobs, and are a pervert.”

Nagisa was shocked. “Pervert?”

“Why aren’t you dating me?” The words slipped out before Saki knew what was happening. Nagisa gasped, her expression unreadable. Saki backpedaled as quickly as possible. “That’s not what I meant.” She tried to come up with an excuse for saying what she did but couldn’t think of one. “Never mind,” she finished lamely.

As they walked to the bedroom together, Saki came to the conclusion that she stood absolutely zero chance against the likes of someone like Nagisa. He’d give up on Saki without a second thought if Nagisa seduced him.

Naoya was crouched on the floor near three futons which were in a row and touching.

“Why exactly are they this close to each other?” Saki asked, dreading the answer.

Naoya was clam when he answered with his hand on his chin. “Don’t get me wrong. I just hoped that we could spend some time talking so that we can close the distance between the three of us.”

Nagisa smiled at the metaphor of closing the distance between them by closing the distance of their futons.

Saki, however, had a completely different reaction. She pointed an accusatory finger at him. “You’re totally planning on doing perverted stuff! With Nagisa-chan in particular!”

Naoya put his arms out. “I won’t! I already promised I wouldn’t.”

“I know you will cause I’d totally do it if I were you!”

Nagisa was almost entirely sure by this point that Saki must actually be attracted to her. But then, why was she pushing back against this arrangement so much?

Naoya was entirely serious when he said, “If you can’t trust me, then I guess I’ll just have to undergo surgery to get my dick removed.”

Saki contorted her face. “You’re going way too far! Geez. I get it already.”

“Thanks. Are you fine with this, Minase-san?”

Nagisa put her hand on her chest. “Of course.”

Saki would trust him for now at least. But Nagisa was not as trustworthy. The girl had brought up sex earlier as if it was no big deal, which meant she didn’t feel a need to hold herself back the way Saki did. Plus, the girl was a pervert. She’d probably enjoy doing it in secret with Saki right there beside them. Saki decided the only thing she could do was stay up all night to monitor them.

They all laid down with Naoya in the middle.

With his eyes closed, Naoya could sense the girls’ presences more strongly. Thoughts circled in his head. Thoughts of one or both of them leaning closer…pushing up against him…doing more adventurous things. They were pleasant thoughts, ones he could easily fall into, yet he pushed the thoughts away with sheer willpower.

“Thank you for sticking with me, even though I’m being selfish with all of this, Saki-chan.”

Saki had her back to them. She remained motionless and silent. If they thought she was sleeping, then they would reveal their true colors.

When no response came, Naoya asked, “Saki-chan?”

“Maybe she was so tired that she fell asleep already,” Nagisa said. “A lot happened today after all.”

Naoya turned to face her. “This is all my fault.”

Nagisa blushed. “So, um. Naoya-kun. I want to be a little closer to you. Is that okay?”

Saki couldn’t believe she could move that fast. Was she really a slut?

“I see!” Naoya exclaimed. “You feel lonely because you’re in an unfamiliar house, right?”

“Yeah,” that’s it,” Nagisa muttered, going along with his idea. She moved to lay closer beside him, but she was careful not to touch him.

Naoya angled himself toward her, internally beat himself up for not noticing how she was feeling sooner. “So? Do you feel better?”

Nagisa giggled.

No one giggled that cutely unless it was on purpose right? She really had to be a slut, Saki decided.

“Sleeping together with Naoya-kun, whom I’ve liked for so long, it’s like a dream.”

With each word, Saki felt herself freaking out more.

“From now on Naoya-kun, I wanna know a lot more about you.”

Naoya was struck by her genuine desire to get to know him. “Minase-san,” he exclaimed, grabbing ahold of her hand. “I want you to teach me more about yourself as well!”

Saki could feel tears stinging her eyes. He meant that in a lewd way, didn’t he?

“Ah. Naoya-kun, if you do that so suddenly, I--”

OMG he was already fondling her boobs?

Naoya let go of her hand. “Sorry! Did you not like that?”

Nagisa shook her head. “That’s not it. I was just surprised. But it made me happy.”

Saki “don’t enjoy it!”

Naoya grabbed her hand again. “I can do this as much as you want!”

Nagisa closes her eyes. “Naoya-kun, this…I’m feeling too happy. It’s making me feel weird.”

Despair washed over her. He hadn’t even fondled her boobs yet. Saki turned around, voice coming out loud with panic, “It’s totally gone in already hasn’t it?”

Naoya glanced over his shoulder. “What has? Ah, sorry. Did we wake you up?”

Saki grabbed the blanket and lifted it up. “Naoya, you idiot!” But there was nothing remarkable to see, just two people lying next to each other holding hands. “It’s not in?”

Naoya moved toward her, worried something might have happened. “What did you mean by it’s gone in? Are you okay?”

“No, that’s!” She screwed her eyes shut, voice loud with her denial. “I mean—I also want to go inside your futon.” She turned away, curling in on herself as if that could protect herself from her feelings that way.

Naoya closed his eyes and clenched his fist. “Were you also feeling lonely, Saki-chan?” he asked passionately.

Saki chose to laugh her worry away.

“You’re cute when you’re acting lonely, Saki-chan. Let’s all sleep together tonight.”

Saki smiled. “Yay! I’m so happy!”

Nagisa remained silent, but she could tell that Saki had misunderstood something somewhere during the events of the evening. It must not have been that bad, however, seeing as the other girl was asleep not five minutes later.

[debbiechanclub]

Know You Better Now (BTOOT sequel), Part 2

Probably not the best idea to drop this right after Extreme Rules, but I can’t wait because 😭 And that’s all I’m gonna say. Thank you for reading, and please enjoy!

Know You Better Now

Part: 2/?

Pairing: Kenny Omega x OFC x TBD 👀

Word count: 3.4k

Warnings: Language, ANGST

Find more of my fics here.

Tag squad: @galacticstat @hotyeehawman @hdbngsprnva @kingswitchblade @bec0m @betsy-bradock @heelchampbucks @linziland13 @librathepheonix13 @gabbynorth98 @exe-babymox-exe @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @brokenglassslippers @rocca09 @meteora-fc @kawaiikels @adriii-omega @thatgirlforever5 @sugar-melts-mo-fo

“Did you see the look on PAC’s face when he realized Alex broke up the pin? He was so-ho-ho piiiissed.”

Nick could barely finish speaking before he emitted a laugh that sounded more like an asthmatic wheeze, and everyone else joined in, the boisterous boom bouncing off the walls of The Elite locker room and making Alex’s ears ring. She’d never felt so out of place.

“He looked like an angry gremlin,” Karl piled on. He contorted his face and hands and made everyone guffaw and bark even louder. Alex rolled her eyes. Out of all of them, Karl annoyed her the most.

“Yeah, that was quick thinking, Alex,” Matt said. “I knew you wouldn’t let us down.”

He sent her a crooked, shit-eating grin. Had he not tacked on that last part, it might have been half a compliment. But he knew exactly what he was doing—and Alex did not have the patience for it.

“Us? Last time I checked, Kenny is the AEW Champion, not The Elite.”

The room went dead silent. Matt’s smirk vanished.

“Don’t act like you know anything about The Elite,” he bit. “You’ve been here all of two seconds. We were selling out the Tokyo Dome when you were still working bingo halls.”

“Whoa!” Kenny interjected. “Watch who the hell you’re talking to like that, Matt.”

The atmosphere went from shocked to tense; palpable. Matt’s jaw flexed, obviously embarrassed to have been put in his place in front of the boys. Alex smirked. He deserved it.

Kenny sighed into the quiet. “Alright, you know what? Everyone out.”

“What?” Gallows balked. “We gotta celebrate your big win, man—”

Don cut him off. “You heard what he said, everyone out!”

He herded them all toward the exit, and other than a few side-eyes and under-breath comments, they went without argument. It was the first time Alex had ever been thankful for Don to step in.

The door fell closed, and Alex and Kenny were left alone. His eyes were much softer than they’d been just a few seconds before.

“Are you alright?”

She nodded. “Yeah. It’ll take a lot more than that for Matt to get to me.”

“I know, but he shouldn’t have said it at all. It was out of line.”

“It’s Matt. What do you expect?” she returned. It made Kenny purse his lips in disappointment.

“He’s not out to get you, Alex. He’s just protective of his friends.”

Her eyes darkened. “Is there a reason he thinks he needs to protect you from me?”

He breathed out in frustration. “Come on, that’s not what I said.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I wish you two would get along.”

Alex stubbornly crossed her arms and looked across the room. This wasn’t the first time he’d said that to her. She knew it wouldn’t be the last.

“Hey.” Kenny gently gripped her shoulders, and she looked back up at him. “I want you to feel like you’re a part of the group, Alex. And I know right now you don’t,” he quickly added before she could interject. “But give it time. You’ve been at home working on getting healthy, and the boys just want to be sure that you’re a team player. Which… I’m pretty sure you proved you are tonight.”

She lightly sucked her teeth. “I did that for you, not—”

“I know,” softly interrupted. “But any of them would have done the same thing.”

Alex rocked back on her heels and turned her eyes down to her shoes. She understood where Kenny was coming from, one thousand percent. But she didn’t think she should have to prove herself to “the boys.” And truthfully… she didn’t want to be a part of The Elite, either.

But she also didn’t want to get into an argument with Kenny, so she just let it go. “Well, thank you for putting Matt in his place,” she said. She wrapped her arms around his waist and drew herself close to him. “I’ll do my best to get along with him so long as he’s not an ass to me.”

“That’s all I want,” Kenny returned, and he placed a kiss on her lips that was perhaps meant to be short and sweet, but neither of them pulled away. He brought his hands to either side of her face, and she pressed her fingers into his back as she lightly sucked on his bottom lip. He smirked against her mouth. “You want to get in the shower with me?”

She pecked his lips again. “No.”

He pulled back in surprise. “Why not?”

“Because. I look way too good right now to ruin it.”

He flashed a crooked grin. She already knew exactly what he was thinking.

“Fine. I’ll just ruin it when we get home.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Alex had honestly hoped Kenny would ruin it when they got home. But unfortunately, they didn’t go home alone; Matt, Nick, and Don went with them. At least the Good Brothers had decided they’d rather go drink at the hotel bar.

“So, have you officially moved in yet, Alex?”

Nick smirked at her from across the kitchen island, his mouth full of pizza. They’d ordered some “late night celebratory pies,” as Kenny had put it, but Alex didn’t have much of an appetite. She didn’t dignify Nick with a response either, instead just pursing her lips and taking a sip of the red wine she’d poured herself. As if he wouldn’t have already known if she’d officially moved in; he was one of Kenny’s best friends.

“Shit, I forget that she doesn’t ‘officially’ live here,” Kenny commented, making air quotes around the word. “It already feels like you do. Isn’t most of your stuff here?”

“Most of my clothes are,” she answered. “But I still have an entire house full of stuff in Virginia.”

“Wasn’t your cousin interested in potentially buying from you?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “I suppose. She asked me if I was thinking about selling, but we haven’t discussed it.”

“Well… maybe you should.”

He sent her a grin. She chewed the inside of her lip. “Maybe,” she returned, and took another sip of wine.

“Speaking of official,” Don segued. “Is Alex officially with us now?”

Alex stiffened. She didn’t at all appreciate that Don had spoken as if she wasn’t standing right there. But she couldn’t really answer him, either.

“Come on, why wouldn’t she be?” Kenny returned.

“Because tonight was the first time she’s been on AEW programming in what—nine months?” He fixed Alex with his beady eyes and finally addressed her directly. “People still think of you as part of Best Friends. And even though you broke up that pin in Kenny’s interest, the fact of the matter is that you technically helped Orange, too.”

“What?” Kenny let out a loud, disbelieving laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous, Don! She would have done the exact same thing if it had been Orange going for the pin instead of PAC.”

“Would she?” Matt challenged. He glanced at Alex. “Would you?”

Kenny’s eyes widened at him. “Really, Matt?” he charged—but Alex spoke up.

“No, if they’re so concerned about it, then I’ll tell them.” She leaned forward on the island and looked Matt dead in the eye. “Of course I would have done the exact same thing if it had been Orange going for the pin instead of PAC. And you know why? Because I was out there in Kenny’s corner tonight, and tonight was the first time in months that I’ve seen or even spoken to Orange or any of the others. So no, I’m not a part of Best Friends anymore.”

It hurt to finally say that out loud; but it wasn’t anything Alex hadn’t already known deep down. She’d known it as soon as Kris had popped out of that claw machine a month ago… maybe even sooner. And their behavior toward her that night—Trent’s behavior—had only proven it.

Kenny wrapped an arm around her waist and placed a kiss on the side of her head. Matt, meanwhile, said nothing. It seemed she’d finally shut him up—for now.

Don nodded. “That’s all I need to hear.”

Alex shifted. Somehow, she doubted that.

“Well, now that that’s out of the way,” Nick interjected. “Do you guys have any ice cream?”

“Jesus, Nick,” Matt breathed; but Kenny perked up.

“We do, actually. Alex has turned me onto Blue Bell.” He started for the freezer. “Do you want some, baby? We still have mint chocolate chip.”

Alex shook her head. “No. I’m actually gonna head upstairs; I’m exhausted.”

Part of her knew that, by going to bed, she was only inviting them to talk about her more. But she didn’t care. Matt could spew whatever bullshit he wanted; Kenny knew where she stood, and that was all that mattered.

He nodded. “Okay. I’m honestly not far behind you.”

She put her wine glass in the sink and gave him a kiss on the way out of the kitchen. Her legs were tired as she climbed the stairs to their bedroom. Our bedroom, she realized she thought of it as, not Kenny’s bedroom. She wasn’t sure when she’d made that switch, but she was hyper-aware of it now after Kenny’s comment just a few minutes before. But just the thought of selling her house stressed her out; she had enough on her plate as it was, and she didn’t want to give any of it any more of her energy for the rest of the night—

Beep-beep!

But she got a text just as she crossed into the bedroom. She sighed and pulled her phone from the back pocket of her jeans—and stopped when she saw the screen.

It was from Trent.

I’m sorry about what I said tonight. I just didn’t know how to react.

Alex’s brow lowered as she read the message. She knew Trent, and something in her gut told her that he hadn’t sent that on his own. No; Kris had probably beat him over the head until he’d relented. He would have been better off not sending anything at all.

She purposefully opened the text so that he would get the “read” notification, and then she locked her phone, tossed it onto the bed, and went into the bathroom to do her nighttime routine. If there was one thing she definitely would not give any more of her energy to, it was that.

* * * * * * * * * *

The Dynamite following Double Or Nothing wasn’t until Friday, so Alex had nearly an entire week to mentally prepare herself. She needed the extra time. Because, in the interest of “publicly clearing up any confusion” about where her loyalties lied, Don had booked her a sit-down interview with Excalibur.

She’d been furious when he’d told her. So had Kenny—he’d set it up behind both their backs. But of course, Don had talked him down and convinced him that it was “the right move.” Afterward, Kenny had profusely apologized to her; but she’d just told him to forget it. She’d do the damn interview. She wanted to speak her mind.

But now that she was sitting across from Excalibur in one of the backstage areas at Daily’s Place, she felt like she might vomit.

He spoke to the camera as he opened up the interview. “I’m sitting here with Alex Hawthorne, who made a surprise return after a nine-month absence at Double Or Nothing this past Sunday… and before we get into the interview, Alex, I just want to say welcome back. You were gone rehabbing a shoulder injury, and you’ve clearly come back in fighting shape. I think we all did a double-take when you walked out with Kenny Omega on Sunday.”

Alex felt herself relax a bit. It felt good to be acknowledged. She hadn’t felt that in a while. “Thank you, Excalibur, I appreciate that. It feels good to be back, and I have come back in fighting shape—not just physically, but mentally, as well. When I found out that my shoulder needed surgery, it was a bitter pill to swallow. And I’m not gonna lie; I struggled with it at first. But I distinctly remember waking up in that post-op room after surgery, and I realized right then and there that I could either let this injury drag me down, or I could use it as an opportunity to come back even better than before. And I promise you—and the entire AEW women’s division—that this isn’t the same Alex Hawthorne who competed in that ring nine months ago.”

Excalibur nodded. “Which begs the question: when can we expect you back in the ring?”

She breathed out. “Soon,” she nodded, her tone determined. “I still have some work to do, but it’ll be soon.”

“And we all look forward to it,” he said. “But you mentioned that you’re not the same Alex Hawthorne you were nine months ago. We’re used to seeing you at ringside in support of Best Friends… however, you returned in Kenny Omega’s corner for the AEW World Championship match at Double or Nothing, a match that also included Orange Cassidy. Is it safe to say that this new and improved Alex Hawthorne has moved on from Best Friends?”

Alex’s heart jumped into her throat. There it was, the million-dollar question, the reason for this entire interview, and if she didn’t know any better, she’d think Don had fed that line directly to Excalibur. But he didn’t like Don any more than she did—and she needed to give an answer. So, she did.

“It’s safe to say that, yeah.”

Her stomach churned and she looked down at her hands in her lap. It was out there now. She couldn’t take it back.

“Well, I have to ask,” Excalibur started, and she flicked her eyes back up at him. “You interfered in the match on Sunday and most likely prevented PAC from winning the AEW World Championship. But you also prevented Orange from taking the pin. Is there no part of you that did that for him?”

Alex’s brow lowered. First Don, and now this? Why was everyone so confused about her motive? “No. I did that for Ken—”

“Who cares who ya did it for!”

She was abruptly cut off by an angry, distinctly accented voice, and then PAC unexpectedly stalked into the interview area. He fixed Alex with a wild-eyed glare. “It’s like Excalibur said… you cost me the AEW World Championship.”

Alex leaned away from him in her chair as he moved closer. The entire sight of him was jarring, that ubiquitous scowl of his contorting his face, his dark, wet hair dripping water down his bare chest. She looked him over in confusion. Why was he already in his gear, ready to go? He and Penta had a match that night against the Young Bucks, but the show didn’t start for another two hours.

Excalibur tried to intervene. “PAC, we’re doing an interview here—”

But PAC just talked over him. “I know you’ve been gone a long time, Alex. And I have to admit, you do look good. So, here’s a bit of advice: instead of interfering in his matches, why don’t ya stick to being Kenny Omega’s arm candy.”

Alex’s eyes darkened. Suddenly, all her surprise turned to anger. “Arm candy?”

“You heard me,” he spat.

“Do you even own regular clothes? Or do you just live in your gear dripping wet like you emerged from the Atlantic Ocean?”

“Hey, PAC!”

Another person interrupted then, and Alex and PAC both looked over to find the Young Bucks, Brandon Cutler, and the Good Brothers stalking toward them. But it wasn’t just them. They had Rey Fenix—and it looked like he’d already been jumped.

Matt smirked. “Did you lose something?”

PAC growled in his throat. He charged toward them—but they dumped Fenix to the floor and retreated, laughing as they did. Nick held up his hands. “We’re saving our energy for the match tonight!”

PAC let them go, choosing instead to help his friend. Meanwhile, Alex jumped up and ran after them—the interview was over.

“Hey!” They all turned to look back at her, but her focus was zeroed in on Matt. This was his doing, she knew it. “What the fuck did you do that for?”

He scoffed. “To send a message, obviously. Come on, Alex… I thought you were with us now?”

He flashed another crooked smirk, and then they all started off again, patting each other on the back and hyping the Bucks up for the match that night. And Alex just stood and watched them go, all the while realizing that she was with them now—and she’d all but said it for the entire world to hear.

* * * * * * * * * *

“You ready to head home?”

Alex looked up at Kenny, re-emerging from her thoughts. She nodded. “Please.”

He gave her a sympathetic smile and held out his hand, and she took it and let him pull her up and lead her out of the locker room. It was the end of the night, and she’d been ready to head home before a single match had even been contested.

To her great surprise, Dynamite had started off by airing the footage of her interview. Alex had barely been able to watch, knowing what was coming, what she’d said. But when it was all said and done, it didn’t even feel like it was about her anymore. The interview had led right into the tag match between the Young Bucks and PAC and Penta—the story became the Super Elite’s attack on Fenix, not her return. And Alex wasn’t sure if she was more relieved that they’d distracted from the fact that she’d basically disowned Best Friends, or more angered that they’d taken away from everything else she’d said.

“I am ready to just relax and spend the weekend alone with you,” Kenny said as they walked down the hall. He grinned at her. “I told everyone to lose my number.”

Alex returned his smile, and Kenny lifted the back of her hand to his lips; but she barely noticed as he kissed her. She was too distracted by the group of people who had appeared in the corridor.

Best Friends. All of them. And it didn’t take long for Trent to say something.

“Where’re you going, Alex? Kris has a Dark match. Oh, wait—that’s right. You’ve moved on from us.”

“Dude,” Kris chastised and lightly smacked his shoulder. “Don’t.”

Kenny scoffed. “I’d listen to your alien friend, Trent.”

“No one was talking to you,” Orange returned.

Kenny narrowed his eyes at him. Alex squeezed his hand in protest; the last thing she needed was for him to go on one of his power trips. Thankfully, he let it go.

“I’ve already taken care of you, so I won’t embarrass you in front of your friends,” he dismissed. “Come on,” he said, and he started to pull Alex past them; but Trent just couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“Was that you giving that interview? Or were Kenny and Don pulling the strings on your mouth?”

“Fuck, Greg,” Chuck breathed—but Alex spoke over him.

“Was that you who sent that text Sunday night, or did one of them make you send it?”

She glared a hole through Trent, unwavering and angry, waiting for him to say something for himself. Anything. But he just bit down on his jaw, silent. Alex scoffed. It was just as she’d suspected.

“What text?” Kenny asked in confusion. Alex didn’t take her eyes off Trent as she answered.

“Trent sent me a text after Double Or Nothing apologizing for being a dick to me before your match. He said he ‘just didn’t know how to react’ to seeing me.”

“I didn’t know how to react,” Trent fired back.

“Oh, so it was just the apology that was bullshit, then.”

He breathed out and looked stubbornly away, nothing to say again. And as she continued to stare at him, Alex realized that she wasn’t surprised or even hurt by his reaction. Instead, she was vindicated in everything she’d been feeling.

Her gaze sharpened. “But since you asked so nicely; yeah, that was me giving that interview, one hundred percent. And you have no room to be angry about it, Trent, because whether you want to admit it or not, you all moved on from me months ago.”

Chuck’s brow furrowed in confusion. In hurt. “What? Alex—”

“Save it,” Kenny cut him off. “Good luck in your match, Kris,” he added, and then he tugged on Alex’s hand, and she turned and went with him, ignoring the way her sinuses burned.

[gingersnapwolves]

The Untamed, a brief summary [part 6/6]

Part One: Sword Wizard School

Part Two:  The Search for the Yin Iron and the World’s Worst Summer Camp

Part Three: The Fall of Lotus Pier and the Sunshot Campaign

Part Four: The Downward Spiral

Part Five: Mo Manor, Hungry Sabers, and Yi City

Part Six: The Hidden Room, Burial Mounds Redux, and Guanyin Temple

Ext, Koi Tower [Lanling]

Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Lan Xichen roll up to Koi Tower. Jiang Cheng is already there and decides to make it awkward for everyone by asking the Lans to introduce the masked Wei Wuxian, even though a) he knows or is at least pretty damn sure it’s Wei Wuxian, b) he knows that they know it’s Wei Wuxian, and c) he doesn’t know if they know that he knows. Thanks for making me type that sentence, Jiang Cheng.

ENTER A WOMAN WHO SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN A BETTER PRE-NUP

Jin Guangyao comes out. He still has a great smile and he and Lan Xichen are still cute together. But it gets really awkward because, if you’ll remember (and I don’t blame you if you don’t), Wei Wuxian is pretending to be Mo Xuanyu, who is Jin Guangyao’s half-brother who got thrown out of Koi Tower for bad behavior. How bad? Well, apparently Mo Xuanyu had a habit of harassing Jin Guangyao’s wife, Qin Su. Whoops.

Of course, it’s difficult to say whether or not Mo Xuanyu actually did this, since all we have to go on is what people say about him, and ‘maybe don’t believe every rumor you hear’ is like the main thesis of this show.

 Int, Koi Tower [Lanling]

Nie Huaisang shows up too, and throws himself at Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen because “the old problems are solved, but new problems have arrived!” He is a drunk mess and it’s a little embarrassing for everyone.

 Ext, Koi Tower [Lanling]

Jin Ling is being bullied. Wei Wuxian tells him that he should beat the bullies up, because once you’re an adult you can’t just beat people up anymore and it sucks. He teaches Jin Ling some moves and they have some nice nephew-uncle bonding time, even if Wei Wuxian is pretending to be a different uncle from the one he actually is.

 Int, Koi Tower [Lanling]

Wei Wuxian uses a little paper man talisman spell to sneak into Jin Guangyao’s rooms. His wife is there and she’s upset about a letter she got. Jin Guangyao comes in and they argue about it. She keeps asking if what’s in it is true, and what happened to their son. He keeps asking her who wrote the letter and saying whoever it was only trying to upset her. When she won’t back down or answer his question, he burns the letter and then puts some sort of trance spell on her. Then he takes her into a hidden room behind a mirror.

The room is full of all sorts of treasure, including Wei Wuxian’s old sword, and more important, Nie Mingjue’s head. Yeah, just his head, with blinders over its eyes and everything. It’s weird. Wei Wuxian does a spell called Empathy to communicate with the dead guy.

  Int, Nie Mingjue’s mind [currently Lanling]

We see flashbacks to him first meeting and promoting Meng Yao, who was getting bullied by the other soldiers, then to the day he exiled Meng Yao (with slight differences from the way it was presented earlier because unreliable narration is fun). We see them argue a few times over the years, then see Jin Guangyao playing music for Nie Mingjue (ostensibly to keep him from qi deviation). They get into a big fight, Nie Mingjue throws Jin Guangyao down the steps of Koi Tower, but then his brain basically explodes. Jin Guangyao looks pretty satisfied with how things are turning out but then Nie Huaisang runs up, shouting for his brother, and Jin Guangyao switches to looking super worried instead. He keeps Nie Huaisang from running to his brother, saying he won’t recognize him. Then Nie Mingjue is held down in the treasure room we’re currently in, still alive and fighting qi deviation, and Jin Guangyao tells Xue Yang to kill him (with Baxia, which Xue Yang is holding), which he does.

  Int, the hidden room [Lanling]

Wei Wuxian separates his mind from Nie Mingjue’s and says ‘well that was fucked up’.

Jin Guangyao notices the little paper man and starts trying to catch it, or stab it. Wei Wuxian manages to use the paper man to manipulate his own former sword, which is very cool, and get away.

Jin Guangyao is like ‘gee, who could that have been, using Wei Wuxian’s paper man talisman to wield Wei Wuxian’s sword?’

  Int, Koi Tower [Lanling]

Wei Wuxian tells Lan Wangji about all the fucked up stuff he just witnessed. They go to force their way into the hidden chamber. Lan Xichen catches up with them on the way. A bunch of Jin disciples try to stop them, including Jin Ling. Lan Xichen asks Jin Guangyao to let them in if he has nothing to hide. Jin Guangyao tries to demur, but Lan Xichen insists. With so many witnesses, he’s left with no choice.

  Int, the hidden room [Lanling]

Nie Mingjue’s head is gone, but Qin Su is still there. Wei Wuxian goes over to try to talk to her, and Su She (remember this guy? Betrayed the Lan sect way back when, made friends with Jin Guangyao afterwards) says that ‘Mo Xuanyu’ just wanted to harass Qin Su some more. While Jin Guangyao is showing off a knife that’s part of his treasure, Qin Su grabs it and uses it to kill herself.

Everyone is super fucked up about this. (Don’t forget, Jin Ling is there! This 16 year old is having a Time of it.) Lan Xichen is like ‘holy shit my best friend’s wife just killed herself in front of me’ and Wei Wuxian basically blue-screens trying to figure out if she did that to herself because of whatever was in the letter, or if Jin Guangyao somehow coerced her to do it with the trance spell. (Unclear! Draw what conclusions you will.)

Jin Guangyao, who is either really upset or the world’s best actor (or both) asks them why they demanded to come into the treasure hall and what the fuck is going on. People outside, who have heard the commotion, come running in, including Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng (who looks at Wei Wuxian like ‘I leave you alone for five fucking minutes and now there’s a dead woman’).

Lan Xichen explains about the sword spirit and the body in Yi City and how they were looking for Nie Mingjue’s head. Jin Guangyao asks ‘did you really think I had our sworn brother’s head in my treasure room?’ Lan Xichen looks at his best friend cradling his dead wife that yes, he was in fact about to accuse of such a thing, and looks like he’s going to be physically ill. (Lan Wangji, however, is staring Jin Guangyao down like ‘listen up you lying asshole’ and Wei Wuxian is just impressed he’s found someone who’s even more shameless about crime than he is.)

Jin Guangyao takes the opportunity to blame ‘Mo Xuanyu’ for everything. He pulls his sword on Wei Wuxian, and Lan Wangji steps between them. Wei Wuxian tries to de-escalate things but it doesn’t work for shit because Su She attacks him, and he grabs his old sword off the display to protect himself. This is a Big Deal because the sword sealed itself when he died, so nobody except Wei Wuxian would be able to draw it. Oops. (Wei Wuxian has a sad moment with his sword for being so loyal, even though he was unable to use it for years before his death, since he had no golden core.) Then they run outside because fuck this shit.

  Ext, Koi Tower [Lanling]

Jin Guangyao reassures Jin Ling that it’s not his fault he got tricked by Wei Wuxian, because Wei Wuxian is so evil and everything. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji try to get away but get surrounded. Jin Guangyao again calls Wei Wuxian out on being Wei Wuxian, so he takes off his mask. Everyone acts shocked even though 90% of the characters already knew this.

The Jin cultivators surround him. Wei Wuxian pushes Lan Wangji away and says to tell them that he didn’t know who Wei Wuxian was and that he was tricked by him. Lan Wangji refuses, immediately telling everyone he knew damn well that Wei Wuxian was Wei Wuxian and what the fuck are they gonna do about it? Wei Wuxian still tries to get him to leave, and Lan Wangji runs up to the line of what the Chinese censors will allow in terms of declarations of devotion between two men and plays gay chicken with it. He and Wei Wuxian smile at each other. Jin Guangyao has a ‘really? Right in front of my salad?’ look on his face.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji fight off the Jin guys but then Jin Ling stabs Wei Wuxian in the stomach. It sucks for everybody. Lan Wangji grabs him and they run away.

 Int, Cloud Recesses [Gusu]

Lan Wangji has taken Wei Wuxian back here to heal. Lan Xichen is there, too, and says that it was with his permission. But he’s clearly pretty upset about what happened at Koi Tower, since he’s the one who forced Jin Guangyao to open the treasure room on Wei Wuxian’s word, and now he kind of looks like an asshole. He and Lan Wangji come as close to a fight as they’re capable of getting in. Lan Wangji thinks Lan Xichen should believe Wei Wuxian. Lan Xichen points out that he’s known Jin Guangyao for nearly 20 years at this point and he trusts him. Since neither of them saw Nie Mingjue’s head with their own eyes, they cannot know which of the two (Wei Wuxian or Jin Guangyao) is lying. It’s frustrating, but Lan Xichen has good reason to be wary, considering that witch hunts are what led to everything that happened to Wei Wuxian in the first place. In fact, Wei Wuxian is much less upset about it than Lan Wangji.

He tells Lan Xichen what he saw while using Empathy, and plays the Song of Clarity (the qi-deviation prevention music that Jin Guangyao was playing in the memories). Lan Xichen said he played it wrong and Wei Wuxian said he played it exactly as he heard it in the memory. They realize Jin Guangyao altered the song to cause qi deviation instead of prevent it. Lan Xichen still finds this pretty hard to believe, but he says he’ll test the version Wei Wuxian heard on himself and see what happens.

Lan Xichen walks Wei Wuxian back to where he’s been stashed, and Wei Wuxian takes the opportunity to ask him why Lan Wangji has so many whip scars. Lan Xichen explains that after Wei Wuxian died, Lan Wangji flipped his shit a bit and prevented all the other sects from sacking Wei Wuxian’s cave of neat stuff. It’s a bit vague but you get the impression he might have beaten up some important people. So Lan Qiren punished him with a whipping and three years of seclusion in the back hills of Cloud Recesses. Then they show him being beaten because sometimes this show’s continuity is not great.

(Lan Xichen is like ‘hey, you know my brother’s in love with you, right? I mean, only an idiot could not know that. But you really seem to be an idiot. Let me tell you a story about how our mother killed a guy and our father insisted on protecting her anyway. Please use your lone brain cell to connect the dots.’)

Lan Wangji comes back with booze for Wei Wuxian. They talk a bit about Lan Xichen, and Lan Wangji asks if they should tell him about the second flute. He talked to Wen Ning, who told him that he heard two flutes playing at Qiongqi Way. Wei Wuxian says he wanted to know at first, but now he’s not sure it matters. No matter what, people will always say he’s evil, but at least Lan Wangji still believes in him. He says to Lan Wangji ‘I’m sorry, and thank you’.

  Int, Cloud Recesses [Gusu]

Jin Guangyao has turned up, and says he definitely believes Lan Xichen that Wei Wuxian isn’t there, but maybe they could take a look anyway, to reassure the other clans? Lan Xichen doesn’t even dignify it. Then Jin Guangyao says that they’re all going to band together and do a siege on the Burial Mounds because strange things have been happening there, fierce corpses are roaming, and obviously Wei Wuxian is there and up to no good. Obviously Lan Xichen knows that this is not true since Wei Wuxian has been convalescing at Cloud Recesses. He is fucked up by the fact that Jin Guangyao is lying straight to his face and he really can’t deny it. Jin Guangyao leaves, and Lan Xichen says he’s going to go to Koi Tower, while Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian plan to go to the Burial Mounds.

  Ext, some random cabin [somewhere]

They meet up with Mianmian. She’s got a husband and a daughter and is a badass rogue cultivator. There’s really no point to this scene but it’s nice to see that at least one female character got a happy ending.

Then they meet up with Wen Ning, who’s been trying to scare people away from the area so they don’t encounter the fierce corpses that Jin Guangyao has raised with the yin iron (to make people think Wei Wuxian was doing it). They head to the Burial Mounds together.

  Ext, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wei Wuxian and company find all the juniors tied up in the cave, and they say they were abducted but they’re not sure who was behind it. Then an absolute fuckton of cultivators show up, including Jiang Cheng, Lan Qiren, Su She, and Nie Huaisang (who says he’s just there to make up the numbers). They’re all shouting about how they want Wei Wuxian dead for all the crime he committed last time around. Jin Guangyao’s not there because ‘someone tried to assassinate him’ that morning, and Lan Xichen is tending to his injuries. Wei Wuxian looks extremely skeptical.

Then they get attacked by fierce corpses. The gathered cultivators realize that they’ve all had their spiritual power leached away by ill-gotten means. Ruh-roh! They all end up hiding in the cave.

  Int, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wei Wuxian sits everyone down for an Agatha Christie reveal. He deduces that Su She is the one who took away their spiritual power, by playing malicious music on their way up the mountain. Su She denies it but Wei Wuxian tricks him into revealing that his own power is still intact.

Su She ruins the protection seal and then uses the teleportation talisman and bounces. Wen Ning tries to fight off the horde with some help from the juniors, who still have their spiritual power, but there are too many. Wei Wuxian paints a lure flag on himself and uses himself as bait, with Lan Wangji killing the fierce corpses, so the others can escape. When he catches up, he half-collapses into Lan Sizhui’s arms and Lan Sizhui is really worried about him. It’s cute. Wen Ning looks at Lan Sizhui and realizes he’s actually Wen Yuan.

  Ext, some docks [Yunmeng]

They’re heading back to Lotus Pier to figure out what to do. Wen Ning comes over to talk to Lan Sizhui. The juniors are scared of him but decide he seems harmless enough, and he did just help them fight the horde, after all. He tells Lan Sizhui that he looks like a cousin of his.

The parents tell their kids to stop associating with evil, and the kids tell their parents to get a grip, and it’s beautiful.

  Ext, Lotus Pier [Yunmeng]

Jiang Cheng won’t allow Wei Wuxian in, so he and Lan Wangji hang out on the steps. Wen Ning tells Lan Sizhui stories about the little boy that Wei Wuxian used to plant in the dirt.

  Int, Lotus Pier [Yunmeng]

Some mysterious ladies show up. Jiang Cheng talks to them for a while and then gathers everybody together (although he still makes Wei Wuxian basically stand in the doorway).

Mysterious lady A is a prostitute who was there when Jin Guangshan died. Basically Jin Guangyao had his father fucked to death. It’s gross, although to be fair, couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Then all the prostitutes except her were murdered. (Why she was spared is actually never explained in the show. It’s because she was friends with Jin Guangyao’s mother and was nice to him when he was a kid.)

Mysterious lady B is a maid who worked for Qin Su’s mother. She tells everyone that she wrote the letter to Qin Su, telling her that her mother had a secret. Qin Su is not the daughter of the man she always thought, but was actually conceived during an act of rape by Jin Guangshan. She and Jin Guangyao were half-siblings. It’s strongly implied (although never outright stated if I recall correctly) that their son had some developmental delays because of this and Jin Guangyao had him killed so nobody would find out. He then blamed his son’s death on a sect that was opposing him on some political stuff and wiped them out.

Everyone is Big Time Shook over all this news. They immediately begin calling for Jin Guangyao’s head.

Wei Wuxian is frankly disgusted. Because sure, he thinks Jin Guangyao’s evil and everything, but it’s sickening to him how quickly everyone turns against him, just based on a few rumors – so much like what happened to him. He wants to know where the ladies came from, and why they came forward after so much time has gone by. But in the end he acknowledges that the gathered cultivators being against Jin Guangyao helps him, and he can’t convince them of anything anyway, so whatever.

They go to the ancestral shrine so he can pay his respects to his parents. Jiang Cheng finds him there and picks a big fight. It’s really painful for everyone. After the first couple minutes, Wei Wuxian tries to leave but Jiang Cheng won’t let him go. Wei Wuxian ends up passing out. Lan Wangji tries to leave with him but Jiang Cheng is using the lightning whip to try to stop them.

Wen Ning shows up and he’s pissed. He tells Jiang Cheng the truth about his golden core, in basically the meanest way possible, directly targeting his insecurities with dead accuracy. It’s fucking brutal. Was Jiang Cheng being a dick? Yes. Did he deserve everything that Wen Ning said to him in this scene? Not really, given that it wasn’t his fault he didn’t know. (Does Wen Ning have a right to be pissed at Jiang Cheng on general principle because Jiang Cheng didn’t help him and his family back then? Now we’re getting into the reams of meta that are written about this show.)

Anyway, in telling Jiang Cheng, Lan Wangji finally finds out, too. He’s clearly horrified to find out that Wei Wuxian went through something so awful and he didn’t even know. He picks Wei Wuxian up and they leave.

  Ext, a boat [Yunmeng]

Wen Ning gives Lan Wangji the details about the golden core swap. Lan Wangji looks like he wants to cry for an hour. I feel you, Lan Wangji.

Wei Wuxian wakes up and tells Lan Wangji not to be mad at Jiang Cheng, he’s just a jerk sometimes. He wants to pick lotus seeds but Lan Wangji reminds him that the lake they’re on belongs to someone and so the lotus seeds are private property. Then he picks some and gives them to Wei Wuxian anyway. It’s super romantic. Wen Ning pretends he’s not the world’s thirdest wheel.

  Ext, Yunping City [Yunmeng]

So while Wei Wuxian was in the hidden room, he saw a deed for a temple in this city. They figure it has to be important since it was in Jin Guangyao’s safe, so they go to check it out. It has a weird vibe.

  Ext, Guanyin Temple [Yunmeng]

Literally so much happens in this scene you guys. It’s almost 4 entire episodes long. Let me try to sum up as quickly as possible.

First of all, the show never actually bothers to explain why Jin Guangyao is even here. It’s actually because this is where his mother is buried (and he had the temple built just for that). He’s planning to go on the run because the jig is obviously up, and wants to bring her remains with him. He also wants to get one last date with Lan Xichen in, possibly apologize for ruining everything, et c. Lan Xichen was with him in Koi Tower, and Jin Guangyao tricked him and sealed his spiritual power, then carted him off to the temple. Romance!

Anyway Jin Guangyao doesn’t get that date because literally everybody in the damn story shows up. First Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, for obvious reasons. He has Lan Xichen as a hostage so it’s pretty easy to catch them. Then Jin Ling shows up. Then Su She shows up, which is less problematic since he’s a henchman, but he brought Nie Huaisang with him because he found him passed out in a gutter or something. Jin Guangyao can’t just kill Jin Ling and Nie Huaisang because he still has feelings I guess.

Then Jiang Cheng shows up! He makes a grand entrance and then promptly gets his ass kicked. This is partly because Jin Guangyao tells Wei Wuxian that Jiang Cheng found out about the golden core thing, which upsets him. Lan Xichen tells everybody not to let Jin Guangyao talk because he’ll manipulate you and get the better of you. Everyone proceeds to let Jin Guangyao talk for the next forty-five minutes.

At some point during all this they confirm that yes, Jin Guangyao sent Jin Zixuan to Qiongqi  Way to get him killed, and that Su She was his accomplice playing the evil music. Su She is also the one who cursed Jin Zixun. Jin Guangyao���s basically like “whatever, I said what I said”.

They finally get the coffin dug up, but instead of Jin Guangyao’s mother, Nie Mingjue’s body, complete with head, is inside. Jin Guangyao has no idea how he got there and he freaks out, which seems reasonable.

Wei Wuxian points out that while Jin Guangyao has been so impressed with himself and neatly manipulated everyone around him, someone has been pulling his strings as well. He points out the letter sent to Qin Su, the emergence of the mysterious ladies at Lotus Pier, the release of the sword spirit at Mo Manor, even his own resurrection. Jin Guangyao freaks out more.

At this point they’ve dicked around long enough for Lan Xichen’s spiritual power to come back. He puts his sword at Jin Guangyao’s throat. Jin Guangyao makes sad ‘you don’t like me anymore?’ eyes at Lan Xichen. Lan Xichen responds ‘dude, you killed, like, everybody’. Jin Guangyao admits that this is a fair rebuttal, but begs his forgiveness and pity anyway. Lan Xichen seems to forget that he literally just told everyone not to let Jin Guangyao talk because he’ll manipulate you.

Then Wen Ning shows up, and he’s been possessed by the sword spirit. He chops Jin Guangyao’s arm off. Ouch. Then he attacks Jin Ling, because the sword is just pissed off about everything, which seems fair. Wen Ning manages to fight off the possession and not kill Jin Ling, so good for him. Wei Wuxian gets the sword suppressed using his awesome mojo.

Lan Sizhui shows up at some point. I really don’t remember why the hell he’s there. Late night field trip?

Nie Huaisang screams that Su She attacked him, and his leg is bleeding. The sword springs right back to angry spiritude and murders Su She. Wei Wuxian is like “wtf I just put you to bed” and has to do it again.

Lan Xichen patches Nie Huaisang up. Everyone else sits around thinking about how truly fucked up the last 2 hours have been, especially Jin Ling, who is really having trouble with realizing one of his uncles was evil and not the one he thought. He is going through it. Meanwhile Jin Guangyao is kind of slumped against a pillar behind Lan Xichen because somehow he is not dead after losing an arm, which seems kind of whack when you consider what killed some of our other characters.

Then Nie Huaisang shouts, “behind you!” and Lan Xichen, assuming that Jin Guangyao is about to attack him, whips around and stabs him through the chest. Double ouch. Jin Guangyao is, understandably, upset at being run through. Nie Huaisang says he had a knife but Jin Guangyao calls bullshit (yes, while being run through, I don’t even know), saying even though he’s done tons of terrible things, he never once hurt Lan Xichen. Meanwhile Lan Xichen is having a complete mental breakdown, standing there with his sword in Jin Guangyao’s chest. Jin Guangyao realizes that Nie Huaisang is the one who orchestrated all this, in revenge after Jin Guangyao killed his brother. Also the angry spirits are back. A lot is happening. The temple starts to collapse. Jin Guangyao asks Lan Xichen to die with him, and it looks like Lan Xichen is going to do so, but then Jin Guangyao pushes him clear at the last second. Lan Wangji grabs him and gets him out of the temple before it collapses.

  Ext, Guanyin Temple [Yunmeng]

Everyone is injured and in various states of shell shock. A ton of people show up and start fussing. Wei Wuxian reveals that the last curse mark from Mo Xuanyu is gone, indicating that Jin Guangyao was the last person Mo Xuanyu was holding a grudge against. (Presumably for throwing him out of the Jin sect and back to his abusive family, which Jin Guangyao presumably did because Mo Xuanyu found out about Qin Su’s parentage, which presumably Nie Huaisang told him. I know, it’s a lot of presuming. I’m trying not to be biased and pass judgment lol.)

Lan Xichen asks Nie Huaisang if Jin Guangyao really had a knife. Nie Huaisang prevaricates rather than answering.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are leaving. Jin Ling asks Jiang Cheng if he doesn’t want to talk to Wei Wuxian before he leaves. Jiang Cheng says everyone is going back to where they belong. He flashes back to just after his parents were killed, when he vanished from the inn, and we see him realize Wei Wuxian was about to get caught and lure the soldiers away. All this time we thought he just wandered off and got captured like an asshole, but no, he was saving Wei Wuxian and never told anybody. In the present, he says ‘take care’ to himself as Wei Wuxian leaves. Five thousand ‘Yunmeng bros reconciliation’ fics spring into existence.

  Ext, the forest [presumably still Yunmeng]

Lan Sizhui approaches Wei Wuxian and tells him what little he’s remembered about his childhood, and that he’s realized his family name used to be Wen. Wei Wuxian realizes that he’s Wen Yuan, and that Lan Wangji saved him back then. It’s super touching and I happy cried, like, so much.

  Ext, Cloud Recesses [Gusu]

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are standing around by the waterfall acting married. Lan Wangji is chief cultivator now. Wei Wuxian has finally figured out how Lan Wangji recognized him even though he was wearing a mask when they first met up again – it’s because the song he was playing is the same song that Lan Wangji sang to him in the cave of the murder turtle. Lan Wangji actually wrote that song just for him and has never played it for anybody else.

Nie Huaisang comes for a visit. Wei Wuxian asks him if he wants to be chief cultivator. Nie Huaisang tells them that no, he was really only in it for the revenge. It’s awkward, especially given all the morally questionable choices Nie Huaisang made while on his revenge quest and the fact that Lan Xichen is super fucked up about everything, but we all hope that they’ll eventually work it out. Or at least I hope that. Your mileage may vary.

  Ext, a mountain [the world]

Wei Wuxian goes off to wander for a little while. The show really makes us think that it’ll end with the two of them splitting up, but then at the very last second they meet again. We all collapse into sobbing, emotional heaps.

 ~end of part 6~

Characters/naming notes, as promised

I use the Mandarin for names and titles in fanfiction because it just reads better. Some of these don’t have an exact translation, so, the original is better, here are the basic terms you need to know:

Zongzhu = sect leader

Gongzi = young master

Furen = madam

Guniang = maiden/miss

Ge = older brother

Jie = older sister

Xiong = kind of like “bro” in a friendly sort of way

Da, Er, San = first, second, third – these are used in conjunction with the above, so “da-ge” is “oldest brother”, “Lan-er-gongzi” is “second young master Lan”

A- = an affectionate diminutive

Wei Wuxian (courtesy name)

Birth name: Wei Ying (only Lan Wangji calls him this)

Title: Yiling-laozu (used mostly in the second half of the show)

Also called: Wei-gongzi (by Lan Xichen, Wen Ning, and assorted others), Wei-xiong (by Nie Huaisang), A-Xian (by Jiang Yanli)

Lan Wangji (courtesy name)

Birth name: Lan Zhan (only Wei Wuxian calls him this)

Title: Hanguang-Jun (by the juniors and various others)

Also called: Lan-er-gongzi (by various characters)

Jiang Cheng (birth name)

Courtesy name: Jiang Wanyin (Lan Wangji calls him this)

Also called: Jiang-gongzi before he’s sect leader, Jiang-zongzhu afterwards, A-Cheng (by Jiang Yanli)

Jiang Yanli (only name given, not specific if birth or courtesy)

Also called: a-jie (by Jiang Cheng), shijie (by Wei Wuxian), Jiang-guniang (by pretty much everyone else)

Lan Xichen (courtesy name)

Birth name: Lan Huan, but nobody uses this

Title: Zewu-Jun (most people use this)

Also called: Lan-zongzhu (I think a few people use this instead of his title), xiongzhang (by Lan Wangji, this is a formal word for older brother), er-ge (by Jin Guangyao)

Wen Qing (only name given, birth)

Also called: Wen-guniang (by Jiang Cheng), jiejie or just jie (by Wen Ning)

Wen Ning (birth name)

Courtesy name: Wen Qionglin (used very rarely)

Title: Ghost General (never used to his face, I don’t think)

Also called: A-Ning (by Wen Qing)

Nie Huaisang (only name given, courtesy)

Also called: Nie-xiong (by Wei Wuxian), Nie-gongzi (by assorted others)

Nie Mingjue (only name given, courtesy)

Title: Chifeng-Zun (called this by many people)

Also called: Nie-zongzhu (by Meng Yao and others), Mingjue-xiong (by Lan Xichen), da-ge (by Nie Huaisang, then later by Lan Xichen and Meng Yao)

Jin Zixuan (only name given, courtesy)

Also called: Jin-gongzi (by most people)

Meng Yao (birth name)

Later in series, courtesy name: Jin Guangyao (used commonly)

Title: Lianfang-Zun (used occasionally)

Also called: A-Yao (by Lan Xichen), Xiandu (after he becomes Chief Cultivator), Jin-zongzhu at some point probably

Hoo boy all. That was a lot, huh? “I’ll write a brief summary,” she said. 20 thousand words later ... but this was as condensed as I could make it without it reading too disjointedly! So I hope you’ve all enjoyed and that this will help those of you who want to plunge into the fandom but didn’t have the time or the spoons for the show itself. 

If you have any questions about something that wasn’t clear or a part of the story you want more detail on, feel free to ask me anything!

Love y’all!

[petri808]

B2+Nalu stealing clothes @heres-a-cookie request HS-modern setting AU/Alpha/Omega AU fluff

“Mo—m! Have you seen my dragon shirt?” Natsu Dragneel yelled from his bedroom, searching his closet to no avail. The Alpha teen was frustrated that he couldn’t find one of his favorite t-shirts. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen it for over a week.

“No,” the reply came from somewhere in the house. “Maybe it’s still in the laundry room waiting to be washed.”

“Ugh!” Natsu groaned and grabbed an alternative. The high school senior had wasted too much time searching and needed to get to school before he was late again. This was the second t-shirt to go missing this month!

He plops onto his first period seat just as the school bell rang, an annoyed look on the teachers face greeting him. But Natsu merely shrugged at the man with a wide brimmed smile. What was Mr. Gildarts gonna do? He’d made it on time and he was a star pupil. The lesson droned on. Then second period, and third period passed by with nothing out of the ordinary.

As a popular Alpha, Natsu fielded a lot of attention, especially from the Omegas, but he never let it get in the way of his education. He’d learned to ignore the wanton scents left behind by irresponsible Omegas. Everyone was supposed to wear suppression patches in public, but the rule was rarely enforced unless there was a problem and that mostly happened if they weren’t suppressing a heat spell or rut.

Thankfully it was time for lunch, and since he’d missed breakfast, Natsu was starving! The cafeteria was filled with students by the time he’d arrived, but as his eyes searched, it keyed in on their usual spot. His friends were mostly sitting with their trays in conversation, so Natsu quickly grabbed his food and joined them, taking a seat next to his best friend, and fellow Alpha Gray Fullbuster. It was typical high school banter, projects coming up, some gossip like so-and-so just started courting, blah, blah, blah. Natsu didn’t really pay much attention to such things. Not that he didn’t like a certain blonde Omega, but they’re still young, and frankly he wasn’t interested in following traditional rules at the moment.

Okay, that was a bit of a lie. While he may be an Alpha, that didn’t mean he wasn’t socially awkward when it came to the idea of dating. Alphas are expected to take the dominant position, make the moves, so-to-speak, and he was afraid to. There is supposed to be a proper way to court the person you like, giving proper gifts, etc and Natsu was too nervous to even walk into those stores to buy anything. Plus, he didn’t know if the Omegan felt the same, and the last thing he wanted be was rejected.

“You okay, dude?” Gray nudged Natsu’s side. “You’re like, distracted today.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I was just trying to think where I might have left one of my shirts. I couldn’t find it this morning.”

“Am I rubbing off on you? Picked up my stripping habit?”

“Pfft! No! I’m sure I’ll find it.”

But he doesn’t. Natsu searched his locker at school, all over his house, and never found it. Two weeks later another piece of clothing disappeared, then a month later another. The tally was up to three t-shirts, a pair of socks, a hoodie, and now his favorite scarf. Okay, the other items he could deal with, but the scarf held a lot of meaning for him because his father gave it to him for his 10th birthday.

Natsu vented about the missing scarf at school the next day to his friends. How it was really strange that stuff was going missing from his room. Everyone tried to give suggestions, maybe he’d simply misplaced them or stress from school was affecting his memory. One person even commented that ruts were affecting his brain. Pfft, no they weren’t! He was very careful to control and suppress his rut times to avoid its affect on the unmated.

Then something new occurred in the clothing shenanigans. A couple of days later, he found his scarf back in his room, neatly folded, but hidden in his closet. Had he simply missed it? No, he was pretty certain he’d checked well and the scarf had not been in his closet. The only person who’d been in his room that week aside from himself was his mother and Lucy Heartfilia.

“Could it have been Lucy?” Natsu wondered aloud, while wrapping the scarf around his neck. They’d known each other since primary school and the blonde never struck him as a thief. There must be a logical explanation. “I’ll just drop by and ask her,” since he needed to give her his notes for a class anyways.

It took him only a few minutes to arrive at Lucy’s home a couple of blocks over. Natsu knocked and was greeted by Virgo, the family maid who welcomed him in.

“Miss Lucy is in her room,” the woman gestured towards the stairs with a gleam in her eyes. “Go right on up.”

“Are you sure it’s okay if I go up there?”

“Oh, yes! I’m sure she’d be happy to see you. Just knock upon entering.”

“Thank you, Virgo,” he smiled and walked to the stairs.

Natsu knew where Lucy’s room was, but it had been a couple of years since he’d gone inside it. When they studied, she always went to his house, or they’d study in her living room. He assumed it was because they were older now, and it wasn’t as proper for a male to go into a girls room. Which was fine with him. He didn’t want to see anything inappropriate by accident that could trigger his instincts.

He knocked as he opened the door. “Hey Lucy, you in—” A shriek rang out as he stepped inside and was confronted by a sight he wasn’t expecting. Nothing R rated! But... “I-Is that?”

“Omg what are you doing here?!” The blonde screamed as she scrambled, failing to hide things.

“I have the notes for the test... Lucy, is that my shirt?” Natsu spied the familiar dragon logo he’d been searching for in over a month.

All the blood runs out of Lucy’s face at being caught. “Um, I-I... I can explain.”

Just as expected, Natsu’s Alpha instincts kicked in the moment he sensed the distress blooming in the Omegas scent. Lucy wasn’t wearing a suppression patch since she was at home, so he could smell her feelings immediately. And what he was seeing was clearly a nest based on what they’d learned in health class. It all made sense now. “I’m not angry,” his face softened, almost chuckling. Frankly, she was adorably embarrassed and he couldn’t help the preening sense of pride growing in his chest. “You took my stuff to add to your nest?”

The blonde averted her eyes. “Yes. Your scent is comforting during my h-heat cycles,” her voice petered out at the last part. “I didn’t think you liked me in this way, so I took them when I was at your house.”

It shouldn’t surprise him that she felt this way about him. One of the reasons they’d grown close over the years was because their scents were comforting to each other’s. Natsu closed the gap between them, taking her hands gently into his. “Lucy look at me,” he coaxed her brown eyes up. “I’d be honored to court you properly, if you’ll let me.” He then removed the scarf from his neck and wound it around hers, “consider this a promise gift.”

“Is this for real?” The words wisp out from Lucy’s lips as if unbelieving what the Alpha was saying.

He chuckled and swept in to place a soft kiss on her lips. “It’s as real as you’d like it to be.”

[chamomileteainabuttercup]

18, 20, 39 and 41 for reyrose please? Thanks :)

Nice! I don't get to talk about them all that much (the sequel trilogy turned out so poorly that discussing it just isn't much fun) but I really like to imagine a life they could have together. A lot of this requires ignoring stuff I didn't like, primarily from The Rise of Skywalker. We're going to an AU where Rey is most certainly not Palpatine's granddaughter; she's a "nobody" in the positive sense that she doesn't carry the baggage of being descended from anyone with a significant history. Whatever she does, she's doing of her own accord. Plus, she certainly did not have a romantic attraction or attachment to Kylo Ren. She was simply trying to do what she thought might work to bring peace, despite her natural aversion to him. Also in this AU, Rose got to do stuff that mattered! I don't have many specifics because it would require writing a whole different plot for the movie, but she did!

(oh and the big bad/puppetmaster was Jar Jar, but that's well beyond our scope here)

On to Rey and Rose!

18. What are their dates like? How long do/did they date? Do they ever feel the need to take a break from each other?

For Rey and Rose a really good date is a day out rummaging through junkyards and pawnshops. Rey is great at finding things, Rose is great at fixing things, and together they find all kinds of technological curiosities that they repair, restore, or refashion into something new. They don't necessarily have a lot of dates as such because they're both pretty busy working with their friends to re-establish peace and democracy across the galaxy, but when they have a day off together that's how they like to spend it. Rather than needing a break from each other, during their busy times they wish they could see each other more, and not be too tired to enjoy their time when they do. (It's like having a partner who's going through medical school, but both ways.) When things aren't so busy but they can't take a whole day to do something nice, they work on their fix-it projects together, share a meal, or have a movie night in with Finn and Poe.

So whether that qualifies as "dating" or not, mileage may vary, but that stage of their relationship goes on four or five years before they decide together to make it permanent and get married.

20. What does their home look like? Their room?

Once things calm down enough that they can have a home of their own and spend a lot of time in it (so a few years on from when they meet, a little after they marry), they buy an old scrapyard and set up Rey and Rose's Salvage and Repair, and live in a house they build at the back of the yard. I'm not sure what planet this is on, and it might well be Tatooine; I'm happy with Rey going to live there but I don't want her to take the name Skywalker. After all, Tico is a good surname, if she needs one, and again, it doesn't have baggage.

The house is by no means beautiful; it's functional and sturdy and designed to largely keep itself warm or cool depending on the climate. Their room is sunny and always a little messy and dusty because neither of them is particularly houseproud, but it's not dirty or chaotic. They always have a few rescue droids around the place that they're rehabilitating - ones that have been abused or badly damaged and need some TLC both to get them running smoothly again and to help them regain trust and confidence. Some go back out into the world to find new jobs and some become permanent residents - one of those is Professor Huyang, who they found on a scrapheap during the alternative third-movie plot I haven't fully figured out, and who helped Rey to make herself a better lightsaber and taught Finn how to craft his own too. Huyang is the closest thing to a Jedi mentor they have - since Anakin's lightsaber was cut in two in The Last Jedi, I wanted a new lightsaber quest to be part of the story, and it was meant to tie in with Finn's Force sensitivity coming to the fore and Rey trying to help him get to grips with it while still learning about it herself.

39. Who initiated the relationship? Who kissed who first?  When did they realize they were in love?

This is very much a romance that grew out of a friendship which had a bit of an inauspicious beginning. When Rey needs to go on her quest, Rose, having recovered from her injuries, volunteers to go with her so she doesn't have to do everything alone. That's a good reason but it's also a way to get some distance from Finn, who she's realised is in love with Poe, and now she feels mortified about her grand romantic gesture for him. Finn is a Good Boy who's grateful for her feelings although he can't reciprocate, and doesn't want Rose to feel badly but it's not really in his power to help her with that. She needs time to get over the disappointment and embarrassment without having to see him being all in sync and starry-eyed with his extremely handsome and dashing fighter-pilot boyfriend who is all (bites lip) at the sight of him.

To begin with she also feels awkward with Rey, because she's Finn's best friend and also has this whole legendary magical vibe about her that's a bit intimidating - but a few days on the Millennium Falcon with her and seeing the Magic Knight Hero who floats rocks with her mind also chews with her mouth open, and will happily eat a brick of uncooked noodles as a snack, and has the most delightful scrunchy-nosed smile, and is just as much of a greasemonkey and gearhead as she is (and they need to spend a lot of time just keeping the Falcon going, and there's nothing like solving problems together for making friends), and she soon gets over any awkwardness and realises Rey is a kindred spirit.

Both of them are conscious of their liking for each other growing into a romantic attraction, but they're awfully busy avoiding the First Order and fixing their ship in flight and questing for kyber crystals and encountering Jedi ghosts and realising the Falcon's computer with the "peculiar dialect" is sentient and building a new droid body to transfer L3-37 into so she can live again, so it's a bit hard to find a good time to talk about it. At the end of a tiring day they're sitting in the lounge of the Falcon where the holo-chess table is, feeling pretty exhausted, and Rose leans her shoulder against Rey's, and then her head, and Rey takes her hand between both hers, and they sit quietly for a couple of minutes more, each becoming sure that the other feels the same way, before something goes bleep and the lights go off and they have to get up and find what's wrong and fix it.

While Rose has both hands busy with tools, her hair flops over her eyes and she asks Rey, who's holding the flashlight for her, if she can get that. Rey gently brushes it back with her fingers and pauses with her hand on Rose's cheek, and Rose looks up at her, and the first soft kiss is mutually initiated. And at that moment the whatchamacallit Rose is trying to reset gets its act together and the lights all flicker back on very prettily. It is nice.

Incidentally, Rey has no idea Jedi weren't supposed to have romantic relationships or get married. Either Luke didn't know either or he didn't get around to telling her (it's not mentioned in the ancient texts she saved because they predate that rule, which cynical people say really had a political rather than spiritual purpose, preventing the concentration of power in the hands of Jedi dynasties). It doesn't become a problem. Over the years Rey gradually rebuilds a reinvented Jedi Order (one that's a lot less hierarchical and order-y), finding people of all ages with talent that went undeveloped during the dark period, and a few who've had some training and have been living off the grid - like this one little green kid who lives in a flyspeck on the map called Mos Pelgo with his elderly dads who are nevertheless younger than he is.*

41. Are they party-goers? What are they like when they’re drunk? Does it happen often?

The Rebellion/Resistance does love its victory parties and peace celebrations, and naturally they go to a lot of those. There's also Finn's birthday party. Finn doesn't know when his actual birthday is. Poe has picked one out for him and throws him a rager of a party every year. They don't get drunk with great frequency, they're more likely to have a drink or two to relax together and leave it at that, but Finn's birthday party is the annual occasion when they predictably do.

When Rose gets tipsy, she gets very red in the cheeks and laughs till she snorts - it doesn't take much. She's a happy, friendly and cuddly drunk who everyone wants to take care of. Also kind of sweaty.

Drunk Rey can go one of two ways, giggly and silly along with Rose, or feisty and belligerent. Everyone hopes for silly Rey, who won't do anything worse than jump in a pool with all her clothes on. Belligerent Rey wants to prove how much she loves her friends by fighting anyone who she thinks she overheard saying one word against them. Belligerent Rey has to be pushed in the pool to cool her off.

---------------------------------------------------

*I haven't decided why he stopped attending Luke's school before disaster struck and as a placeholder will use "Expelled for drinking ink."

[joyful-soul-collector]

50 Christmas Ornaments My True Love Gave To Me

Summary: It was Christmastime in the Stark-Rhodes-Potts’ household, with Tony, Rhodey, Pepper, Peter, and Morgan all sitting at the table. Jingle Bells was playing quietly in the background, and each one of them was working on decorating a clear plastic christmas bauble, a growing pile of colorful ornaments in the center of the table.

OR

The Iron Family gets carried away making Christmas ornaments, and Peter talks to his dad about asexuality

Taglist: @phahbiyah @keep-a-bucket-full-of-stars @clevermuffinalmondpeach @stuck-in-a-fictional-universe @canonismybitch @freckledmountain @hold-our-destiny @not-your-housekeeper98 @misskirkstark @iron-loyalty @skeeter-110 @m3ga1nsp1r3d @nazezdha321 @peterparkerspidgeons @fallenstar07 @baloobird

Let me know if you want to be added/removed! I don’t mind at all either way! Also thank you to @baloobird for beta-reading this for me!

Read on Ao3!

“This was the best idea. Peter, remind me never to doubt you again,” Tony said, gazing at his newly made red and gold Christmas ornament. It was Christmastime in the Stark-Rhodes-Potts’ household, with Tony, Rhodey, Pepper, Peter, and Morgan all sitting at the table. Jingle Bells was playing quietly in the background, and each one of them was working on decorating a clear plastic christmas bauble, a growing pile of colorful ornaments in the center of the table. 

“I told you it would be fun!” Peter said with a laugh, carefully pouring a bit of red glitter into his own ornament. 

“Told you!” Morgan echoed, despite the fact this activity had been a complete surprise to her and she had told Tony no such thing. Morgan reached forward suddenly, grabbing the white glitter. 

“Oh, dear you need to be more careful with that,” Pepper said as Morgan spilled some on the table trying to pour it into her ornament. “Here baby, use the funnel.”

“Finished!” Rhodey said suddenly, nearly startling Peter into flinging glitter everywhere just as Morgan had done. Rhodey held up a bauble that had been painted in three stripes of red, blue, and grey, with “T+R+P=‎⎊” painted in black overtop. It took Peter a moment to realize that the colors were representing each of their Iron Suits, and he said “Awww” along with the rest of the family. 

Both Tony and Pepper kissed Rhodey on the cheek, Tony on the left and Pepper on the right, and Peter laughed at the sheepish but adoring smile Rhodey gave them in return. He placed his bauble next to the others and gazed fondly at the colorful pile. 

“I think these are my favorite ornaments,” he said with finality. 

“Ha! You sure about that? You like them even more than your special War Machine one Pep gave you?” Tony said, an eyebrow raised skeptically. 

“He’s a close second of course, but these are my favorite since we made them together as a family,” Rhodey said, grinning happily. 

“Aw, you’re extra sappy today, Pops,” Peter teased, putting the top on his ornament, and smiling at the layers of red and white glitter in his candy-cane themed bauble. 

“Are you implying that I’m sappy all the time?”

“Not even just implying. You’re sappy. You’re a sappy, mushy, lovey-dovey, man,” Peter said, scrunching his nose at his father, and sticking out his tongue childishly. Rhodey made a mock-offended gasp, and pressed his hand to his chest. 

“I’m deeply offended by this. You know I’m not sappy, right Little Mo’?”

“Super sappy,” was all Morgan replied with, clearly more interested in stuffing bits of ribbon in her ornament than she was in the conversation itself. The rest of the family laughed as she continued to fill her bauble, and Tony threw an arm around Rhodey’s shoulders. 

“Nah, I think I actually agree with you, Honeybear. These are probably my favorite as well, I can’t believe we never did this before. I almost wish we could make more, we were each only able to make five,” Tony said, looking down at his completed ornaments beside him, a slightly disappointed look on his face. “I had a lot more ideas for what to design.”

“I did too,” Pepper said, looking down at her own baubles, neat and elegant, all themed with the colors of white and gold, unlike the rest of the family, who had gone a bit more wild with their designs. 

“Well… who said we’re not allowed to go back to the craft store and get some more?” Peter said tentatively. When all three parents raised an eyebrow he quickly went on. “I mean we have plenty of paint and glitter and ribbon left! We could probably just get some more baubles and have enough supplies to make more--I mean what else are we gonna use this stuff for? Might as well use it up on more ornaments so we don’t waste it, ya know?”

The three adults were now wearing varying convinced facial expressions, though Morgan’s response definitely worked in Peter’s favor. 

“Yes! Let’s do it! Pleeeeease???” she said, looking up at them and giving them her best puppy eyes, garnished perfectly with a little sniff. 

Peter was grabbing his coat before they even said “yes.” 

~~~

“Ya know, I distinctly remember you saying all we had to get was more ornaments, and that we already had enough supplies to make another batch,” Tony said, frowning at Peter, who was gazing at the rows of glitter on the shelf. 

“Yeah yeah, I know, but we only got christmas themed colors last time! What if we got something else besides the red, green, white, and blue?”

“Well we got gold and silver too, and a little black--”

“You know what I mean,” Peter groaned with a roll of his eyes. “We could do so much more with some extra colors--Ooh look!” Peter snatched four containers of glitter off the shelf and presented them to Tony. “We could make pride flags! You and me could have personalized asexual pride ornaments!”

Tony sighed at the sight of the bottles. 

“Well… that would be cool… I dunno kiddo…” Tony said slowly, pushing his hands in his pockets as he thought. 

But Peter suddenly realized what he was doing and his face turned red with embarrassment. He really shouldn’t be asking for things right now, especially when he only wanted these colors because he was feeling a little insecure. That’s not a good enough reason to be spending money on glitter they were never gonna use again. 

“I--Um, nevermind, sorry,” Peter said, his hands shaking a little as he reached up to put them back. 

“What? No, Peter, I was--”

“There you two are!” Pepper said suddenly, making them both jump and turn in her direction. She made her way over, Rhodey and Morgan trailing behind. “What’re you doing over here?”

“Well the kid’s twisting my arm into getting us some pretty ace glitter,” Tony responded, and Pepper glanced at the bottles Peter was still holding. Peter grimaced inwardly, wishing Tony hadn’t said anything. He didn’t need Pepper to explain to him they can’t just buy whatever he wants just because he’s a little upset. 

But she wasn’t angry with him. She snorted, rolling her eyes at Tony’s pun. 

“Well if you two get your pride flag then I want mine too,” she said, reaching over and grabbing some pink, purple, and blue bottles, the colors of the bisexual flag, and throwing them in the basket with the pack of ornaments. The knot of nervousness that had formed in Peter’s chest instantly unraveled, and he suddenly felt a lot more at ease about putting his own bottles of glitter in the basket. 

“Hey don’t forget mine!” Rhodey said, reaching for the pink, yellow, and blue bottles, the pansexual pride flag, and putting them in too. 

“Oh, you guys need the polyamorous flag too!” Peter chirped, snagging the blue, red, and black bottles of glitter. “We can use the gold paint back at home to put the pi symbol on it too!”

All three parents smiled warmly at him, and Rhodey reached forward to ruffle his hair affectionately. Peter remembered when Pepper and Tony had first started dating Rhodey, they’d been so nervous to tell him because they were scared he wouldn’t like it. Peter was only about ten when they told him, and he could tell they had been very worried. Peter colored a picture of the three of them holding hands the next day, and hung it up on the fridge. He found out later that Tony had given it to Rhodey, and Rhodey keeps it in his wallet now, taking it everywhere he goes. And when Rhodey eventually moved in and got married to Tony and Pepper, Peter was extra enthusiastic in helping him get settled, to make sure he felt welcome. 

Peter’s always done his best to make sure his parents knew he loved them, and accepted them just the way they were. 

But Peter was suddenly snapped out of his memories by Tony’s voice. 

“But what about Little Mo’? We can’t have her feel left out!” he said, gazing down his daughter by his feet. But Morgan suddenly held up a large colorful bag, showing off the contents to her fathers, mother, and brother. 

“Pom poms!” she squeaked happily. The bag was filled with hundreds of colorful pom poms of varying sizes, some of which were definitely too big to force into the ornaments, but Peter knew that wouldn’t stop Little Mo’ from trying. 

“Oh yes, you forgot, Dad,” Peter said, scooping up his little sister and resting her on his hip. “The ‘P’ in the acronym doesn’t just stand for Pansexual and Polyamorous, it also stands for Pom Poms.”

“Oh yes, that’s the new one isn’t it?” Tony said with a snort, now sorting through the glitter in the basket to get rid of repeated colors. 

“Yup. Maybe I can get MJ to design a pride flag for it,” Peter said with a smirk. 

“I’m sure she would do so happily,” Pepper said, taking the pom poms from Morgan to put them in the basket, and kissing Morgan's head. “Now why don’t you and your Dad get back to the car and buckle Morgan in while your Papa and I get everything checked out?”

A few minutes later Peter walked out of the store with his sister and dad, and Tony was buckling Morgan in her carseat. 

“Snug bug?” Tony asked her as he adjusted the straps of her seat. 

“Snug bug,” Morgan confirmed with a giggle. Tony smiled and booped her nose, before drawing out his phone and opening up a game. 

“Wanna play on Daddy’s phone?” he said, handing it to her and helping her put in the headphones. Then Tony moved back up to sit in the middle row of the van, where Peter was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“You never let me play with your phone when I was little,” he said bluntly. “I’m sensing a favorite child has been chosen.”

“Pfft, is that another one of your spidey powers? Your Spidey Sense get upgraded along with your suit?” Tony asked with a roll of his eyes. “No, I just needed her to be distracted.”

“What? Why?” Peter asked with a frown. 

“Well, it seems my other bug isn’t so snug,” Tony said, looking at Peter pointedly. 

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“What’s up kiddo? You seemed a little worried back there,” he said. 

“I did? When?” Peter said, hoping to wiggle his way out of the conversation somehow, stall until his Mom and Papa got back. 

“When you were asking about if you could get the ace flag colors. You know I was joking right? I wasn’t actually considering saying no to you, I want you to be able to show your pride however you like,” he said gently. It seems Peter wouldn’t be able to get out of this one.

“No, yeah I know that, it… wasn’t you I was worried about,” Peter said with a sigh. “Part of it I guess was uh, well you know how I get guilty asking for things. I didn’t want to make you spend money on me.”

“Ya know for the child of a billionaire you sure worry about money a lot,” Tony said with a smirk. “I don’t mind spending money on you. You’re important to me, and I have the ability to do it, so I like to. But, you already know that, and I have a feeling the money wasn’t the only thing bothering you. Am I right?”

Peter’s face turned even redder and he glanced out the window to see if his Mom and Papa had come to save the day. 

No such luck.

“I uh… Flash said something the other day. Bothered me,” Peter muttered. 

“What did he say, kiddo?” Tony said, reaching over to squeeze Peter’s hand. 

“…he said nobody would ever want to date someone who was asexual like me. That no one would wanna be in a relationship with someone who wouldn’t, uh--” he glanced at Morgan to make sure her earbuds were still in, “--‘give them any’.”

Peter looked down and picked at a loose thread on his jeans, avoiding his father’s gaze. 

“Oh Peter, I’m sorry. That’s not true, there are plenty of people who will love you just the way you are,” Tony said, smoothing a thumb over Peter’s knuckles. 

“Yeah, I mean I-I know that in the back of my mind--I mean you’ve got two people who love you, and you’re ace like me, so--so I mean I’m sure I’ll find at least one person, it’s just--” Peter broke off with a sigh. “What if… What if I find someone who’s okay with me being ace, but they’re not nice in other ways? What if there’s only one person who’s okay with me being ace, and it turns out they like, I dunno, hate that I’m Spider-Man? Or they’re even abusive or something? What if the only person who will ever like me is someone who’s bad?”

“Peter, nobody really ever has just one person they’re compatible with. I learned that when I fell in love with Rhodey,” Tony said with a soft smile. “There’s going to be more than one person who’s okay with your asexuality, just like there will be more than one who isn’t. There will be people who are okay with it but are terrible in other ways, just as there will be people who aren’t okay with it but are amazing in other ways. 

“And of course, that means there will be people who are just bad for you overall. People who aren’t okay with your sexuality and are awful. But that means there will also be the opposite! There will be people who will be fine with your asexuality, and are also kind, and funny, and will have qualities you love. 

“Humans are complex, you’ll never meet one that’s exactly the same as the other, and yet we have the ability to love so many different people, in so many different ways. It’s part of why I fell in love with both Pepper and Rhodey. I love how unique they are. 

“Like you said: two people who are so different from each other, and yet they both fell in love with an asexual person like me. And neither of them are terrible, obviously,” Tony said, and Peter laughed, finally looking up at him. Tony smiled and gave his hand a final squeeze. “Basically, of the hundreds of humans your age in New York, I doubt there’s only one person who would be good for you, and even less likely that the only people willing to date you are abusive and awful. It mathematically doesn’t make sense. Throw in the fact that you’re the kindest kid I’ve ever met, and I doubt there’s an asexual-accepting human in the world who wouldn’t wanna date you.”

Peter laughed again, leaning back on the headrest as his chest filled with relief. 

“Thanks,” he said quietly. “I dunno what I’d do without you to help me with all this stuff.”

“Of course, kiddo. It’s what Dads are for.”

~~~

An hour later, Peter and his family were finishing up making the last of their baubles, Peter carefully painting the Spider-Man logo on his glittery asexual pride ornament. He was feeling a lot better after the talk with Tony, like a weight had been lifted off him. It even made painting a little easier, despite the fact he was awful at painting. 

Rhodey had finished about half an hour earlier, now in the kitchen making cookies while Pepper and Morgan watched Klaus in the living room. The smell of Rhodey’s cookies wafted into the dining room where Peter and Tony were still working. Peter snapped up and sniffed the air, drinking in the scent of chocolate, butter, and sugar, the signature smell of Rhodey’s chocolate chip cookies. 

Peter’s stomach gave a deep growl at the scent, whining miserably about how empty it was. 

“Wow, someone’s hungry,” Tony said, glancing at Peter’s middle with a smirk. 

“I knoooow,” Peter groaned, wrapping an arm around his belly. “I was so distracted by the ornaments I forgot to have a snack when we got home. Dumb super metabolism, I’m gonna starve to death before those cookies get out of the oven.”

“Well don’t do that,” Rhodey said, walking in with a plate piled high with cookies. “Guess you were so distracted you didn’t hear the timer go off either, huh?”

Peter wasn’t listening though. He’d already put his ornament down to let the paint dry and was making grabby-hands at the plate, practically drooling. 

“Alright alright, calm down, don’t eat too fast either, you’ll give yourself a tummy ache,” Rhodey said, handing him the cookies. Peter scoffed as he stuffed a cookie in his mouth. 

“I’m fifteen, I don’t get ‘tummy aches’,” Peter said through his mouthful of cookie. 

“Tell that to whoever got a tummy ache from eating a whole solid chocolate santa in five minutes last week on a dare from Ned,” Rhodey muttered as Peter stuffed more cookies in his mouth. 

“That was not a ‘tummy ache’, that was Extreme Christmas Celebrating.”

“It was a tummy ache. You said ‘I have a tummy ache.’”

“I did not--”

“Uhh, guys?” Tony suddenly interrupted. Peter and Rhodey looked at him, and Pepper glanced back from her position on the couch. 

“Yeah?” they all said. 

“I uh… I think we have fifty ornaments here,” he said, staring wide-eyed at the pile. Peter blinked. 

No, no way, they didn’t make that many. 

“You sure you didn’t miscount?” Rhodey said, looking at the pile more closely himself. 

“Oh I’m sure. There’s fifty ornaments here. We made fifty ornaments,” Tony said. 

“That can’t be right, each of us only made… only made…” Peter had been about to say five, but realized that was before they bought the second batch of ornaments. If they made five, and then each made another five… 

“Ten. There’s five of us and we each made ten ornaments,” Pepper said in disbelief. “How did we not realize we’d be making ten each? Fifty ornaments?”

They all stared at the pile in silence for a few moments. 

“Well, I guess the tree will be a bit crowded this year,” Peter said, taking another bite of cookie. They all laughed, then Rhodey, Tony, and Peter, settled on the couch next to Pepper and Morgan to finish the rest of the movie with them. 

Later that day when Peter had a bellyful of cookies, they decorated the tree with their new ornaments, as well as the ones dragged out from the boxes in the garage. And while it was a bit crowded like Peter had predicted, it was the best one they’d ever had, with their pride ornaments glittering in the firelight, and Morgan’s pom pom baubles adding the perfect sprinkling of color to the green branches. 

Peter had never seen a more perfect tree. 

[jmnjmnjmn]

Valentine’s Day Special | JK x Reader

Pairing: RomanticBf!Jungkook x CynicalGf!Reader

Keywords: valentine’s day, established relationship, fluff

Warnings: the reader is not Korean but speaks Korean, fluff af, swearing

Word count: around 3,500

This one was kind of rushed since I didn’t have much time to write it 😥 I hope it still is up to the usual standard and you guys enjoy it though!! I definitely did 💝 I really liked the request since much like the OC I’m not a big Valentine’s Day person. Let me know what ou think in the comments and ask tag!!

Request

Masterlist

Gliding across the uneven surface of the ice skating rink Jungkook tried to pinpoint the weird warm feeling brewing deep inside his chest. His neck hurt from twisting it every other second to stare at the girl in a long puffer coat skating hand in hand with two of her friends. He felt his heart skip a beat as he managed to steal a glance at her goddess-like face while she was readjusting her white face mask.

“If I met her during summer would I feel any different?” he wondered, trying to seem subtle in checking out the nameless beauty as she passed him by on the ice. “No, I would be charmed just as hard by her with sweat running down her forehead and a hot breeze blowing through her hair like I am now seeing her in that ridiculously big scarf wrapped around her head,” he chuckled in his head as he scanned the knitted scarf she had on. “She’s just so undeniably beautiful.”

“Fuck-” he gasped as he skated right into the plastic wall surrounding the rink.

Within seconds Jimin was at Jungkook’s side helping him up as he laughed at his friend’s clumsiness. The younger boy waved off his teasing too preoccupied with looking whether his newest crush took notice of his embarrassing fall but to his disappointment, he discovered she was nowhere to be found. Assuming she must have already left he continued to skate with his friend letting the memory of this perfect girl take the backseat in his mind.

-

Answering a text from one of his friends Jungkook kept his eyes glued to the screen of his phone as he walked to the exit door of the skating rink. Holding the device in one hand he ran the other one through his dark locks right before he collided with someone’s back.

A high pitched yelp escaped the girl’s lips as the boy’s tall frame made contact with the back of her puffer coat. The paper cup she was holding tilted in her mitten covered hands spilling all its contents onto the ground.

“Sorry,” Jungkook whined sadly in Korean but quickly corrected himself and repeated the same word in English as he noticed who he just ran into.

“It’s okay,” the unnamed beauty from earlier answered in his native language.

Overwhelmed with the sudden proximity to his mysterious crush he found himself in and the sweet tone of her voice he let the words that came to his mind spew out of his mouth without much thought.

“You speak Korean?” he blurted out.

“Yes,” she groaned, glancing at the puddle of coffee beneath her feet. “And you spilt my drink.”

The boy’s widened eyes travelled down to the remains of the beverage and he immediately felt his cheeks burn as well as his breathing becoming more shallow.

“I’m so sorry,” he muttered, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly as she looked up and into his eyes.

Her vibrant irises shined beautifully in the artificial lighting in the area surrounding the rink. Both having half of their faces hidden under their contrasting in colour face masks they couldn’t see each other’s expressions for which Jungkook was deeply thankful as his jaw dropped lower with every second he spent looking at the girl.

“Let me buy you another one,” he said, gesturing towards the stand Yn got her now gone drink from.

“That’s not what I- you don’t have to,” she stuttered out slightly taken aback by his offer.

“I insist.”

His charming smile spread from his lips to his eyes. Noticing the glimmer of hope and kindness in them Yn decided to take him up on the offer and followed him to the hot beverages stand. After Jungkook put in the order for the coffee refill he couldn’t help himself and started chatting the girl up asking all about her past, present and future, desperate to not only find out anything more about her other than the fact she was breathtakingly beautiful but also get her to give him her number.

-

“What do you want to do on Sunday?”

Jungkook shifted on the bed with his eyes glued to the screen of his phone. Next to him, his girlfriend was frozen in a similar position. Her head was hanging low as she scrolled through her Instagram feed.

The relation between the two was rather new, they’ve only been dating for a little over two months. However, as the mid of February was coming up Jungkook couldn’t stop his mind from coming up with different scenarios on how they’ll spend their first Valentine’s Day together.

Traditionally in Korea, the love focused holidays are gender-specific. February fourteenth was for celebrating boys and the same day of March was for girls. Nevertheless, Jungkook didn’t want to wait another thirty days for a perfect excuse to have an extra romantic and cheesy date with Yn.

“I don’t know,” she murmured playing with one of the strings of her hoodie. “What do you want to do on Sunday?”

The boy smirked, taking her intonation of the words as a prompt. He set his phone down and rested his chin on her shoulder bringing his lips close to her cheek.

“Take you out somewhere fancy and spoil you all day long,” he purred before laying a quick peck on her warm skin.

“I like the sound of that,” Yn chuckled reaching her hand to intertwine with his. “Why Sunday though? Can’t we go out on Friday or something?”

“What- but Sunday is Valentine’s Day,” Jungkook stuttered surprised.

“It’s- oh, I totally forgot about that,” Yn murmured far from sounding anything close to interested.

“You forgot about Valentine’s Day?” the boy scoffed with a soft chuckle as his eyes travelled up and down his girlfriend’s profile. “How?”

“It never held much weight in my mind,” she explained. “I always thought that love should be celebrated every day and not just on some special occasion.”

Amused by the girl’s disinterest in the whole ordeal Jungkook felt a smirk grow across his face. His relationship with Yn was still new and fresh there were still so many things for them to learn about each other and he loved getting to know her.

“Hm,” he hummed.

“What?” she asked, glancing at him briefly.

“Nothing,” he answered her quickly knowing it’ll get a rise out of her.

“What?” she repeated, discarding her phone and turning to face him as they laid on the bed together.

“Nothing,” he said fumbling with her fingers in his hand. “I just think it’s stupid,” he smiled hearing her inhale sharply at his bluntness. “Of course, love should be celebrated every day but Valentine’s is a great excuse to celebrate it extra hard.”

“You must have hit yourself ‘extra hard’ on the head if you think so,” Yn laughed, knocking her index finger on his forehead.

Instead of pushing her hand away like he would if it was one of his Hyungs doing the teasing gesture he grabbed her wrist pulling it up. With one more swift movement of his hips, he was laying on top of the girl. He held her hands above her head as he towered over her with a teasing grin.

“Wait and see. I’ll prepare something so extra hard you’ll start wishing it was Valentine’s Day every day.”

“Is that a threat?” she giggled and he lowered his face to hers making their lips meet in a passionate kiss.

“You’ll have to wait and find out,” he said smiling after their mouths parted.

“I’ll wait but don’t get your hopes up.”

-

“Stay over,” Jungkook purred into his girlfriend’s neck as he hugged her from behind.

Yn stopped in her tracks, her hand already on the doorknob, letting herself enjoy the warmth of his chest against her back. The boy’s hands travelled down the sides of her body before resting right over her stomach.

“I don’t like sleeping with all of your Hyung’s in the apartment,” she giggled as her fingers grazed over the skin on his forearms lazily. “I feel that they don’t approve of it,” she added half-joking.

“They’re fine with it,” he pressed hoping to change her mind. “They just don’t like when we’re being loud,” the girl turned in his arms with the speed of light.

“You said no one heard us!” she whisper-yelled referring to one especially steamy night they spent in the boy’s bedroom a couple of weeks back.

“Namjoon might have heard something,” Jungkook chuckled seeing how startled he managed to make her feel.

“Jungkook!” she hissed trying to push him away but that only made him tighten the clasp of his hands behind her back.

“It’s no big deal,” he said smirking with amusement while Yn rested her forehead against his chest in resignation and utter embarrassment.

“For you, it isn’t,” she murmured, keeping her head hanging low. “I’m never coming over again.”

“I guess we’ll have to hang out at yours then,” the boy proposed before letting go of her to gather the things he might need for the night. “I’m tired and I will not fall asleep without cuddles tonight.”

Yn crossed her arms over her chest. A teasing grin made it’s way onto her pretty face while she watched her boyfriend stuff a pair of sweatpants into his backpack.

“You’re tired and you’re going to take the forty-minute subway ride to mine at” -she checked the time on her phone- “eleven at night?” Jungkook straightened up raising his brow at her.

“Don’t be silly,” he said, wrapping her hand in his and giving her forehead a quick peck. “I’m driving us.”

-

Yn batted her eyelashes lazily as she opened her eyes hearing the sound of a picture being taken. With sleep still fogging up her vision she slowly made out her boyfriend's frame. Jungkook lied on his side facing her with his phone in his hands. He smiled at the smaller version of his girlfriend visible on the screen before him.

“You look so pretty in the morning,” his voice was still a little raspy from just waking up. “I wish you stayed over more often so we could wake up together,” he whined sweetly, pulling on the hem of one of his t-shirts she wore to bed the night before.

“Sorry, babe,” she murmured letting her eyelids fall again. “I’m not going to show my face at the dorms ever again,” Jungkook scoffed out a weak chuckle at the sound of her dramatic statement.

“But your apartment is so far away from the studio,” he complained jokingly, scooting close enough to her so their legs intertwined.

Yn opened her eyes slightly to steal a glance at the boy. His lips were a little chapped, his hair a total mess splattered all over the pillow yet she found him nothing short of breathtakingly handsome. She reached her hand from under the covers and brushed some of the dark locks of his hair back from his face before leaning in and placing a quick peck on his lips.

“Get used to the drive. I refuse to be in the same apartment as Namjoon. It’s too embarrassing,” she said, hoping the slight chuckle in her voice masked the fact she really did feel ashamed that someone heard her and Jungkook going at it.

“Ah, you’re being silly,” her boyfriend sighed, finding her discomfort very amusing. “If anything he’s lucky he heard us-”

“Stop it!” she squealed, punching his shoulder jokingly.

Jungkook broke out in a mixture of laughter and fake cries of pain. He wrapped his arms around the girl pulling her onto his chest as he turned to lay on his back. Forced to face him Yn smiled cheekily before laying a peck on the tip of his nose.

“What do you want for breakfast?” she frowned hearing his question.

“This is my house. I’ll be the one cooking,” Jungkook rolled his eyes with the cutest bunny-like smile plastered across his face.

“But I want to be nice to you,” he groaned.

“Be nice and tell me what you want to eat,” the girl giggled while pushing herself up to straddle his waist.

As she sat up with her hands resting against the boy’s chest she could feel his racing heartbeat. She opened her mouth to joke about it but the words never came out. Her smiling expression was replaced by a slightly surprised one when an alarming smell made its way to her nostrils.

“Is something burning? Jungkook’s eyes widened and he abruptly pushed her off his lap.

Yn yelped falling onto the mattress as her boyfriend cursed loudly already in the other room. She stood up from the bed and when reaching for a hoodie to throw on to cover herself from the cold she noticed a bouquet of white roses set on her vanity in a clear vase. Without much time to investigate the matter, she left the flowers behind and rushed after the boy.

Right as she stepped outside the bedroom she was practically in the kitchen. What agents liked to describe as a cosy open concept apartment Yn prefered to call by its real name - a tiny flat with a closed-off nook for a bedroom and everything else but the bathroom piled onto each other in the only actual room in the place. She cracked open one of the windows to get rid of the smoke that came out in large clouds from the strange-looking device Jungkook was fanning off with both his hands on the kitchen counter.

“What is this?” Yn coughed, waving her hand in front of her face to get rid of the smoke.

The boy shot her an apologetic stare before going back to trying to pry open the toaster-like device. Yn looked around the area confused but her next questions got caught in her throat as she noticed the transformation that her apartment went through when she was still sound asleep.

The low coffee table was set for two. Cut up fruit, whipped cream and other goodies were put out next to the neatly arranged plates. Next to the small TV burned her favourite scented candles and the screen was lit up with the Netflix logo on black background.

“Jungkook? the girl asked, turning back to him. “Jungkook?” she repeated, watching him pick at a burnt waffle with a fork.

“I’m sorry,” he sighed, dropping the utensil into the sink. “I tried. I really did,” he whined tiredly, running one of his hands through his messy hair. “I got you this- this waffle maker,” he chuckled nervously, gesturing to the device on the counter.

As their stares met Jungkook noticed how soft Yn’s eyes seemed. The overwhelming warmth radiating from her loving expression made him relax his tensed up shoulders. He exhaled loudly when she walked up to him, putting his hands in hers and jumped straight into explaining the whole situation.

“It started with our first date,” he said and started recalling the events of that night.

After exchanging numbers in the ice skating rink Jungkook didn’t waste time and texted Yn the same night, asking her out on a date. Pleasantly surprised by his forwardness the girl agreed to see him the following week. The two ended up taking a long walk through the city and doing a cafe marathon, sharing multiple desserts from ice cream, cupcakes and coffee, to waffles. The last ones Yn raved about for a good twenty minutes after eating, praising the taste and the choosing of toppings.

“You said you’d love to have your own waffle maker and eat Nutella waffles at home,” the boy murmured, looking at their intertwined fingers. “So I got you one and wanted to surprise you with a cute ass breakfast but I got distracted and- well, you see what happened,” Jungkook whined dropping his forehead to her shoulder.

He felt defeated and embarrassed but somehow the feeling of her fingers grazing over his knuckles slowly made him feel better. Yn reached one of her hands up running it through the hair on the back of his head. Looking over the boy’s shoulder she noticed the waffle he tried to save earlier.

“Heart-shaped waffle maker?” she whispered with a grin as she eyed the burned dough on the counter.

In response, Jungkook simply groaned and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. The girl giggled running her hands up and down his back.

“Heart-shaped waffles for breakfast and a bouquet of white roses,” she said shaking her head lightly. “What did I do to deserve this?” 

She felt the boy smiling into her neck before he straightened up to look into her eyes. With his hands resting on her hips and his eyebrow raised teasingly he stared at her for a couple of seconds, waiting for her to put two and two together.

“You know what day it is?” he finally asked, trying to push her thoughts in the right direction.

“Sunday,” she answered with suspicion lining her voice.

“Hypothetically,” -a knowing grin spread across his face gradually- “if I didn’t fail poorly with the breakfast and we were about to sit down to eat perfect heart-shaped waffles and you got a beautiful bouquet of roses from me to start the day and I put on your favourite movie-”

“Didn’t you say that you would rather bite your foot off than watch-”

“Don’t interrupt me,” he shushed her, pursing his lips. “In that hypothetical scenario would your hypothetical self change her mind about the significance of Valentine’s Day?” Yn’s lips parted as if she was about to say something but she couldn’t find the words.

“You sneaky little- you- you didn’t even mention it-” she finally stuttered, smiling at her boyfriend with nothing but endless appreciation in her eyes.

“Would she change her mind?” Jungkook repeated, showing off his teeth in a bright smile.

“I don’t know,” Yn whined teasingly.

“Oh, come on. My hypothetical self tried so hard,” he fired right back.

“If I agree does it mean I’ll have to give you a romantic surprise for White Day?”

“We’re so backwards,” he laughed at her logic.

Fourteenth of March, more commonly called White Day, is a holiday when people give reciprocal gifts to those who gave them gifts received on Valentine's Day. In Korea, the tradition has it that it is first girls gifting chocolates to boys in February and next month it’s the guys’ turn to return the favour.

Yn wrapped her arms around Jungkook’s neck bringing his face to hers. Among the overwhelming smell of burnt waffles, she could also smell vanilla extract that she now tasted on his lips. She smiled realising he must have tasted some of the raw dough while cooking.

“You know that after this I will torment you into making every date so special?” she purred against his lips.

“You won’t have to do a thing, baby,” he answered right back, making her heart flutter.

“Ah, how are you so perfect?”

“I was just born this way,” she rolled her eyes at his comment.

“And you ruined it,” she pushed him away lightly before starting to run away to jump over onto the couch.

“Hey, I was kidding,” he called after her. “Come back and kiss me or at least say my plan worked.”

Yn giggled as Jungkook caught up to her. He snaked his arms around her from behind pulling her in and started peppering her neck with sloppy giggle-filled kisses. The girl twisted in his embrace and pulling on the hem of his t-shirt she placed a brisk kiss on his lips.

“I still think that love should be celebrated every given day but I do like Valentine’s a little better now,” she admitted with a smile.

Seeing the jokingly unsatisfied grin on Jungkook’s face she rolled her eyes again, knowing she’ll have to praise him harder to earn a real smile.

“It worked, alright?” she chuckled, pushing his hair up from his forehead and he leaned into the touch. “It holds a special place in my heart thanks to you.”

The boy ran his gaze across her face feeling just as stunned by her beauty as he did the first day he saw her. His lips curved into a small smile as he tried not to focus on how overwhelmingly lucky he felt thinking about the fact she chose to be with him and him only.

“You know what?” he asked and Yn hummed, raising her brow at him. “Screw Valentine’s. You hold the most special place in my heart.”

[manggaetteokkie]

Why 2HA adaptation might not be as bad as we think...

Okay so BL novel “The Husky and His White Cat Shizun” (chinese title: “二哈和他的白猫师尊”) aka 2HA is getting a live adaption which will be called “Immortality” (“皓衣行”). I know that usually, fans of original works are less than excited about this kinds of news and with good reasons. The issue is that those who buy the IP rights to a novel simply see its popularity and think that they can profit off of it without actually trying to understand the reason behind its popularity. Too often, BL fans see themselves forced to endure any of the following: 1) sex change of one of the male leads, 2) creation of a random female love interest, 3) turning a happy end into a bad end, 4) adding a bunch of scenes unrelated to our main pair that ends up dragging the series, 5) turning romance into brotherly affection... the list goes on and on. Sometimes, companies think that as long as they film any two guys together and sell a bit of physical touching here and there, fans will jump on it like rabid dogs which... is kinda stupid because, y’know, we have eyes (and standards) too.

So obviously, with the unprecedented popularity that came with the release of The Untamed, even more producers are starting to see the potential of danmei (BL) novels and with it came an onslaught of IP rights being bought and adapted. The list is pretty extensive, with some big names that I’m sure anyone who’s even slightly in the Chinese BL novel community has heard of before. Of course, included in that list, with the casting for the leads done and filming underway, is 2HA.

Quick overview of the story for those of you that don’t know: the story is set in the POV of the “gong” (top), a character named Mo Ran (also known as Mo Weiyu) who is the disciple of Chu Wanning, the “shou” (bottom) of our story. In his original life, Mo Ran had become the Emperor of the cultivation world through slaughter and tyranny, with the only one ever coming close to stopping him being his shizun, Chu Wanning, who eventually lost his life trying to stop him. After achieving the top by committing pretty much all crimes and sins known to men, weary and tired, Mo Ran decides to take his own life and ends it all. Unexpectedly, instead of dying and going to Hell, he transmigrated to the first year he became a disciple. As a thirty-something man in the body of a teen, he decides to do things right this time around and save the one he couldn’t save the first time around. As he goes through life a second time, truth after truths reveal themselves, with the biggest surprise being that the Shizun he hated so much in his previous life, and who Mo Ran thought hated/scorned him, actually turned out to be protecting him the entire time. 

Mo Ran, in his past life, was powerful, cruel, merciless and arrogant. There was nothing he could not obtain and he knew it. He was cynical, had a very jaded view of the world and was kind of unstable (lots of mood swings and temper tantrums). After his rebirth, he still maintained some of the arrogance and cynicism, but is more mischievous, confident and cheeky. He is very much like a husky, looks kind of scary and big, but can be extremely loyal to the ones he recognizes and can be a bit dumb sometimes. Chu Wanning on the other hand, is an unflappable person with a frost-like exterior, but a heart of gold. Basically, he cares a lot but it’s easier for him to look like he doesn’t than to voice his feelings. He gets embarrassed easily and covers his embarrassment using anger. He is extremely strong, likes peace and quiet, and always abides by the rules. 

Their relationship is kind of complicated. Initially, Mo Ran was in love with a fellow disciple called Shi Mei (despite the word meaning junior female disciple in Chinese, it’s actually the name of a male character). In the original timeline, Shi Mei died and that was the start of Mo Ran’s decline. After his rebirth, Mo Ran decides that he will do everything in his power to prevent Shi Mei from dying again. Don’t be mistaken though, Shi Mei is NOT the male lead. You’ll see as you read more that despite being in love with Shi Mei, Mo Ran is pretty obsessed with Chu Wanning because their relationship was kind of... complicated in the original timeline.

This is pretty much the premise for the story, but do be warned that it goes much deeper and darker than what you might expect (it’s rated R-18 for a reason). So why exactly am I writing all of this? To put it simply, I just kind of want to hype up the series and its adaptation a little, or at least, pique enough interest to give the live action adaptation a chance. Not gonna lie, when I heard 2HA was getting adapted, I was pretty skeptical because how. Mo Ran and Chu Wanning had a pretty physical relationship in the pre-rebirth timeline and that’s partially where the obsession that Mo Ran feels towards Chu Wanning stems from. There’s just basically a lot of unresolved sexual tension between them throughout the novel that I simply couldn’t see getting adapted. However, after thinking about it and reevaluating things from a low-expectations-standpoint, I think it might actually be possible to film something close enough to the original work. Here are some of the factors that influenced my opinion:

First, the series is set to air for 50 episodes (just like The Untamed). Why is the number of episodes important? Because it will determine how closely the adaptation will follow the original story and how much random stuff they can fit into it. Let’s take a step back and evaluate: 2HA’s novel has 311 chapters + extras while MDZS has 113 + extras. Obviously, people might have an issue with the number of episodes (”How are you going to air the same amount of episodes for a series that’s thrice as long??”) but I think it’s a good amount. Why? Because it pretty much guarantees a solid pacing that’ll keep the story moving forward without stagnating. I don’t think there is too much to worry in terms of too much source material being cut because quite a few chapters are R-18/romantic lining scenes that would not have gotten adapted anyways. Once those get deleted, I think 50 episodes is an acceptable amount.

Second, the entire production seems to be solid. The rights were actually bought by Tencent who, if you forgot, was also responsible for The Untamed. With prior success, I believe that they now have a pretty solid idea of how things should be run. Also, the CGI and world-design team is the same one as for Ashes of Love, which has me pretty stoked because while CG in chinese dramas has always been a hit or miss, Ashes of Love is definitely amongst some of the best I’ve seen (see below for examples). (P.S. there are also rumours that Lin Hai, the one responsible for The Untamed’s OST, might be working on 2HA but this is mere speculation at this point.) Overall, 2HA is looking to be like the most high-profile and expensive BL adaption yet.

Third and finally, the casting.

Holy.

Okay.

This is what has me the most hyped. 

Let’s start with Shi Mei, who will be portrayed by actress Chen Yao (or Sebrina Chen).

I know I’ve said that despite the name, Shi Mei is a male. As it turns out, likely for censorship reasons, “Immortality” could not escape from the clutches of the dreaded sex change so they went ahead and turned him into a girl. While not ideal, in my opinion, it actually works out pretty nicely here. In this case, it means that Mo Ran is in love with a female character which would further draw censorship’s attention away from the fact that Mo Ran really has a thing for his beautiful shizun. While it would have been perfect if everything could go according to source material, the fact that it’s Shi Mei that went through a sex change actually works pretty favourably in the grand scheme of things. Not to mention the actress set to play Shi Mei has some good experience acting similar roles so overall, I say that I trust her.

Next, we have Chu Wanning who will be played by Luo Yunxi (or Leo Luo).

For this character, I have no worries whatsoever. If you’re unfamiliar with this actor, I highly recommend you give Ashes of Love a try. He played the 2nd lead and ugh. He’s so good at playing beautiful and elegant characters that are forced to undergo a ton of suffering and pain. Luo Yunxi used to be a professional ballet dancer so he moves with grace and his fight scenes are amazing to watch. Also, he has great control over his facial expressions. He’s able to act out characters that suffer a lot without making them seem weak or powerless. Even the way he cries can be considered both beautiful and heartbreaking.

Finally, we have Mo Ran who will be portrayed by Chen Feiyu (or Arthur Chen).

Mo Ran is an extremely complex character. From pre-rebirth’s insanity and arrogance, to post-rebirth’s hope and reservation, to post-revelation’s love and devotion, the actor’s going to have a lot on his plate. Originally, when I first googled him, I thought that while he’d manage to pull off post-rebirth teen!Mo Ran fairly well given how clean and refreshing his face looks, he’d have a harder time pulling off pre-rebirth’s arrogance, craziness and general “hardness”. However, after seeing some costume designs and makeup edits, I think that the boy might just pull it off. Also, while the actor is nowhere near as solid as Luo Yunxi is, it seems that he’s willing to put in extra time and effort (as seen by his Weibo post about how he’d been studying the source material) to make up for it. I think that with enough dedication, he might just be able to pull it off.

(Psssst! By the way, keeping this strictly between you and me, another reason why I’m such a fan of this pair is because of the height difference. I mean just look at this?? Their height difference is pretty much bang on with the novel height difference after Mo Ran grew past Chu Wanning’s height. Not to mention, don’t tell me you see this and don’t automatically picture a the big dorky puppy following his reserved and cool master around?)

So yeah, all of this just to say that it might be okay to kind of have some expectations for 2HA. I really want to keep my own expectations down as low as possible given the amount of times we’ve been burned but I want to remain hopeful that, with the success of The Untamed, it can pave the way for better and more faithful danmei adaptations, with 2HA being one of them.

[musette22]

is it weird or insensitive if I say that in really want a fic or head canon of what happened in the last 2 weeks and how chris comforted both of his boys because they both were hurting and needing it?🥺

Hi lovely! Well, I personally don’t think it’s weird or insensitive, since it’s just a headcanon or fic that makes you happy or brings you comfort - at least that’s how it is for me! But since others might disagree, and because it’s kind of a long one, I’ll put my headcanon under the keep reading tag! 💘

I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot these past few days. About how, in one of the headcanons I have in which the two of them aren’t together yet, Sebastian shows up at Chris's place out of the blue, fresh from Spain, unable to go home because crazy people know his address, distraught because of how the PR thing backfired, and knowing Chris would understand because he did a similar thing. Chris immediately takes him in, wanting nothing more than to take care of Sebastian while he’s hurting, all of his protective instincts kicking in. The three of them (Dodger, too) go for long walks and they talk (well, mostly Seb talks and Chris listens) and Seb cries sometimes, but it's cathartic, and Chris is there to hold him when he needs the comfort, even if it's sadly just platonic (OR IS IT).

And then Dodger has his surgery, and Sebastian is there to support Chris in return, distracting him while they wait for the op to finish, telling him over and over again that this is the best vet in the area, he’ll take great care of Dodger and everything will be fine. And it is, and they get to take Dodger home, and then it's just the three of them in Chris's house for weeks, quarantining and healing and just being together, apart from the occasional interviews Chris does from his kitchen. They don’t always talk about heavy stuff. They also play games and watch their favourite movies, attempt cooking together (they fail and end up ordering pizza), and they reminisce and laugh, a lot. It’s perfect, except for one tiny complication. With Sebastian suddenly around 24/7, after not having seen much of each other for a pretty long while, all of Chris’s carefully suppressed feelings come rushing to the surface, and he’s finding it increasingly difficult not just go “fuck it” and tell Sebastian how he feels, how he’s always felt – but he can't, because Seb already has so much on his plate right now, and of course there’s the slight issue of the feelings not being mutual (OR ARE THEY).

But then one day, Lisa drops by unannounced to see Chris, as she sometimes does when she’d in the area. Even though Chris usually tells his mom everything, he hasn’t told her Sebastian’s been staying with him, because he didn’t think it was his story to tell. But not that she’s here, he obviously has to tell her, so Chris catches her in the hallway before she comes in and explains to her in hushed tones that Sebastian is there and why, making her promise she won't interrogate Seb about what happened. She doesn't, but Sebastian still tells her everything almost immediately, because he misses his mom and Lisa is such a Mom with a capital M. He seems a lot lighter after, but Lisa senses Sebastian needs some air, so she sends the boys outside and tells them she’ll make some lunch. While she’s making a salad, Lisa watches them through the kitchen window. She notices how they behave around each other, how different Chris is with Sebastian than he is with his other guy friends, and all of a sudden, she sees what’s going on. She can’t believe she didn’t see it before, but since she knows Sebastian has been here for almost two weeks and nothing's happened yet, she figures maybe it’s time for a little nudge.

They sit outside to eat their lunch, Lisa and Seb with a glass of wine and Chris with a beer, and they chat about all kinds of things. As usual, conversation eventually turns to the kind of embarrassing stories moms always tell about their children, and at some point, Lisa brings up Tom Brady and how Chris always had a massive crush on him. Initially, Chris is just like "Mo-hom, it's not a crush, I just admire him!" Lisa just gives him a pointed look, looking between Chris and Sebastian, daring him – and just when she thinks she’s going to have to change the subject, Chris takes a deep breath and goes, "Now Joe from tennis, him I had a crush on." Lisa gives him her 'atta boy' smile, and then asks (even though she full well knows the answer), "What movie did you too go see again? Star Wars or something equally romantic?" And Chris is like, "Yep, and then the evening ended just as romantically when he threw up all over my shoes just as we were about to kiss, because he'd drank too much coke."

Sebastian blinks and then goes still. He stares at Chris, and Chris blushes while pretending he didn’t just confess to liking guys, too. And then Lisa turns to Sebastian and asks, "How about you, Sebastian? Any embarrassing dating stories?" Seb startles, then clears his throat and frowns, before saying, "Um, well, there was Jenna, who turned out to have a shellfish allergy when I took her to a fish restaurant…" Immediately, Chris kind of wilts, and Lisa thinks, aw shoot, well, I tried – and then Sebastian continues "…and of course there’s that time with Mark, when I stubbed my toe because I was wearing flip flops after our beach date, and then bled all over his fancy car."

This time, Chris’s head whips around to Seb, eyes wide as he stares at him, while Sebastian laughs nervously and keeps his eyes fixed on Lisa, who grins cheerfully at him and goes, "Wow, yeah, that is kind of embarrassing. I'm gonna go get some water, be right back!" She gets up, leaving Chris and Sebastian sitting at the table together.

---

When Lisa figures she’s given them long enough and peeks her head around the corner a couple of minutes later, she finds the boys sitting with their foreheads pressed together, murmuring softly to each other. Chris’s left hand is cupping Sebastian’s face, thumb caressing his cheek, their free hands clasped together on their touching knees. When Chris leans in, gently pressing his lips to Sebastian’s, Lisa smiles to herself and turns away. She finds a post it and a pen and writes out a quick note, which she sticks to the kitchen door:

It was great seeing you again, Sebastian. You make sure my son treats you right, okay? If he ever doesn’t, just threaten to tell me what he’s done and that should do the trick… Enjoy each other, my darlings, and remember to be safe...! All my love, Lisa

[youareunbearable]

Catch me not having a clue who any of these gods(?) and people are, but still sitting here like, "I ship that pretty one with the gruff one, and that brown haired one with the other(?) gruff one?" without knowing names or what this is except the fanart I see you reblog, because this fandom apparently has lots of nice art

Fam i have no idea what ur talking about or when u sent this im so sorry asfkjhfkjhf but i thiiiinnnkkkk??????? it’s “Heavens Official Blessing” or  Tiān Guān Cì Fú (TGCF for tagging stuff) its originally a chinese gay novel that is soooooooo long by the author  Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (MXTX) who wrote 2 (two?????) other novels that I know of that are also gay historical fantasy but i personally havent actually read TGCF???? im just watching the anime and looking at the wiki and reading fanfics so i have a vague idea whats going on but not really???? so i cant really give a good review BUT i LOVE THE CHARACTERS MXTX WRITES SO MUCH AFHAFKFHKFAKF IM SO SORRY IM SHIT WITH TAGGING SO U HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM HYPER FIXATING ON BUT

LISTEN

LISTEN 

LISTEN

Pretty one and the gruff one im THINKING is He Xuan (or Ming Yi/ Ming-Xiong/Ming Bro) for the grumpy one and Shi Qingxuan for the pretty one and both are kinda gender fluid?? (more Shi Qingxuan but they both change their forms to be both women and men which is Iconic and the anime put her in the TRANS FLAG COLOUR instead of her canon white and green which is ICONIC) AND THHEYRE SO TRAGIC AND HOT AND I CRY JUST THINKING ABOUT THEIR STORY LIKE AFHDFKJAFDSGS like i want to kinda read the book just for them, the two super minor characters, but i also read somewhere that their story doesn’t really have a clean ending so im also holding back from just getting Emotionally Hurt because im a cancer and i know it’ll wreck me

I think The Two Gruff Idiots are Feng Xin (dark haired gruff boy) and Mu Qing (brown haired gruff boy) and theyre both martial gods and both knew each other for over 800 years and both tried to take care of Actual Human And Heavenly Disaster Xie Lian, failed, and tried to do it again 800 years later but with stupid glasses with moustaches in hopes that Xie Lian cant figure out that they care about him but OOPS Xie Lian does in fact have the braincell of the three of them fajfafjajf 

Heres the link to watch the anime, there are 11 eps rn but it updates every weekend (I dont actually know when but i watch it on sundays) Make sure u have ur ad block on tho lol there is a manga too and the art style is TO DIE FOR like its GORGEOUS but its roughly at the same pace as the anime so eh

Heres where to read the whole thing online, just a warning its BIG AS FUCK like 244? plus extras I think?? 

I’d also recommend MXTX’s other books!

Mo Dao Zu Shi (or Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation/ The Untamed/MDZS) is both a Book as well as an Anime (the whole thing is on youtube) , a Live Action which you can watch on Netflix (look up Untamed, also a warning, the plot is a little different from the book and anime cause of uhhh censorship?? also i guess to make it more live drama friendly, my friends an i binged it and really liked it, but some of the fandom doesn’t), a manga which is not finished I think???? idk im not caught up, and a fucking chinese AUDIO DRAMA LIKE BITCH ITS SO WELL DONE but i have to stop listening sometimes cause like there is a difference between watching/reading characters kiss, and then like just hearing them, i get so embarrassed i have to skip the kissing scenes and god forbid i accidentally click on the smutty extras alfjajlfjalfjaljf u can find it on youtube, i linked the one i listen to but i havent finished it and i don’t think it’s all of it, but you can find other episodes/chapters easily

Its about 1 Dumb Yet So Smart gay/bi man (Wei Wuxian) who honestly tries his fucking best, fucks up everything, dies for over a decade, and then is forcefully brought back to life to solve a murder mystery with the guy who has been in Super Gay Love with him since they were teens (Lan Zhan), a bunch of teens Who Are Just Honestly Here For A Good Time And Yet (Lan Juniors, Jin Ling, and Best Boy Ouyang Zizhen ) while badly hiding his real identity from all the people he knows, including his foster brother (Jiang Cheng) who is out for blood and hunting his ass down with a whip and also Lan Zhan who is travelling with him. Also the Killer. There is a killer on the loose and is willing to murder whoever to keep their secrets. Also Nie Huaisang. I adore him and his brother Nie Mingjue, if there is one bitch u gotta remember from this summary it’s this little twink (he and his brother also have a fucking spin off movie from the live action drama THAT I HAVENT BEEN ABLE TO FIND A ENGLISH SUB VERSION AND ITS BEEN KILLING ME SINCE I STARTED WATCHING THIS SHOW LAST YEAR. GOOGLE GIVE ME MY FAVOURITE TWINK AND HIS BEAR OF A BROTHER HAVING A FUN FAMILY ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!)

My Personal Current Favourite is Scum Villain’s Self Saving System (SVSSS) which is SOOOOOOO FUNNY Like it’s not as popular cause the comic was discontinued, and the anime looks like its from 2005 with the weird 3D animation but its my current comfort media!!! 

Its basically about a spite reading millennial (Shen Yuan) who died after reading a REALLY awful popular cheesy smut harem novel (think like 50 shade series but worse cause the protag had 600 wives) and was forced into the body of a minor but important villain (the protagonist’s teacher, Shen Qingqiu) from the novel who was fated to die with all his limbs cut off and his eyes and tongue plucked out and is told he has to fix the story so its not trash, he reasonably freaks the fuck out and hugs the protagonists (Luo Binghe) thigh so hard he turns him gay without realizing. Sadly, he does have to make sure certain plot points happen, which fucks him over a lot,  and he thinks Luo Binghe still wants to kill him instead of love him cause he has the Emotional Intelligence of a Rock, but its so funny reading about him handling all the awful tropey stuff, like imagine u have to be a character in My Immortal But With Porn?????? without breaking out of character too much?? I wouldn’t be able to handle it ajhakfkfhjfj He also finds out that he’s not the only transmigrator in the novel either, but it doesn’t matter cause theyre both So Fucking Stupid Collectively but everyone would honestly die for the both of them

warning for this story though, the main relationship is a teacher/student relationship, but nothing happens until the student is in his 20s and also kinda not his student anymore cause he’s running hell??? but if that squicks u out i totally understand and offer you to PLEASE still enjoy some of this media, and instead of the BingQiu ship, I offer you the LiuQiu one, where both me and the main character cry over how a beautiful man/fellow immortal lord loves the main character so much that he literally fought every day for 5 years to be by his side and I Think Thats Beautiful and I kinda like this ship more than the main one tbh PLEASE just look at the art for Liu Qingge because i love him so much, he’s like if you took Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng from MDZS and mashed them into one beautiful man the author is trying to tell me is straight but u take one look at him And Tell Me Otherwise

[peterparkerstarker]

the kitchen pt. 2 of “the hat” au

thanks to @readysetstarker and @starkerintheparker for asking for a continuation of “the hat” and HUGE thanks to @irontransthemechanic for being my writing help. whenever i got stuck on little details, like what kind of cake it was, or what tony’s nickname for morgan was, i texted him and he somehow gave me the perfect answer, madlibs style. some of my favorite details are things he came up with, and he’s a big part of why this fic turned out the way it did.

cw/tw: daddy kink, 10 year age difference, bdsm fantasy, discussion of alcoholism

also! i intended bucky to be trans in this. it’s not a super clear thing in this fic, but i wanted to put it out there, there’s a little reference to it that you’ll hopefully catch on to.

tagging: @deliciousflapbanditfarm, @everyonelovespetey, @ironspiderstarker @missnena2194

It was Labor day weekend, and things were hectic at the Rogers-Barnes household. 

Bucky’s sister Becca had come down to visit from college, and this was the first time in months that Steve had a weekend off from work, so they’d thrown together a big party last minute and invited all the usual people.

Like always, Peter had shown up right on time, gift in hand.

He’d been greeted at the door by a very frantic looking Steve, who was amusingly decked out in a pastel pink floral apron, and had immediately been put on cake duty, helping to finish frost the three layer strawberry and funfetti cake. He had no clue what he was doing, but Steve seemed pleased with the results, even if he did rearrange the strawberry garnish a little when he thought Peter wasn’t looking.

Meanwhile, Bucky was kept busy setting out plates and forks, grumbling the whole time about how Becca should be helping too, and Steve had reminded him, in a far too chirpy tone, that she was a guest and should not be put to work.

She looked amused by that, smirking up at her big brother from over her cell phone, and called out “Hey now! Who stuck up for you when you came out to Ma? And who helped you cut your hair that first time? You’re welcome that I didn’t shave you bald when I had the chance. Show a little gratitude, will you?” and immediately went back to texting her friends, grinning at the screen. 

Bucky grumbled something about being sick of being bullied in his own home, but Steve just smacked his ass lightly and told him to suck it up and finish arranging the centerpiece flowers.

Peter had to stifle a laugh at Bucky’s petulant expression, and didn’t bother pointing out that technically, he was a guest too. He was more than happy to help with the last minute arrangements, and he especially didn’t want to get on Buck’s bad side when he was already being grumpy about it all.

Before long, more guests started to arrive, and Peter was shooed out of the kitchen, drink in hand as Steve urged him to go mingle. He caught a glimpse of Bucky miming shooting himself as he whispered, “Save yourself!” just loud enough for Steve to hear and shoot him a look of annoyance.

Peter loved their bickering, and it just went to show how much they loved each other, that they could annoy each other to no end and still be content and happy. It was cute, and he loved their banter.

He made his way into the living room, stopping to chat with Thor about his new Etsy shop, which was impressively successful, and narrowly avoiding a head lock from Carol, who was forever trying to muss up his curls. He was happy here, in this moment. Surrounded by friends, sipping on the wine he’d brought to the party, and totally in his element. 

It wasn’t often that Peter felt comfortable, especially in crowds, but Steve and Bucky’s house had a way of putting him at ease. Besides, the wine didn’t hurt either.

Unfortunately, he was stuck in the middle of a mildly mind numbing conversation with Bruce about construction on the new highway when Tony strolled in, sunglasses still on and a bottle of wine tucked in the crook of his arm. 

Peter about choked on his drink, clamping his lips closed to avoid sputtering the liquid onto Bruce’s pressed white button up. He tried to be subtle about following Tony’s movements, watching as he gave a big hug and flirtatious smile to Nat, who rolled her eyes and muttered something about it not being cute, but she smiled all the same, used to his antics.

Tony was the life of any party he showed up to. Always late, always with a bottle of Barell bourbon or some obscure, unpronounceable french wine, always lighting up the room with his easy smile, smart wit and playboy charisma. 

And it certainly helped that he was handsome. Those honey brown eyes that Peter daydreamed about... his sharp features and plump mouth. Peter tried to stay focused on Bruce’s words, but fuck, the guy could go on and on about traffic cone placement. And besides, Tony was looking too good in his tight jeans for Peter to ignore.

“Mhmm, yeah… you’re absolutely right.” he said hollowly, checking to see Bruce’s reaction. And he was grateful to see a look of approval on the man’s face. He zoned out again as Bruce started in on roundabout etiquette, and Peter was dismayed to see Tony slip into the kitchen. He wanted at least a little more time to admire the older man right now.

He turned his focus back to Bruce, who was watching him expectantly, clearly waiting for a response to an unheard question. 

Peter scrambled, not wanting to be caught in his inattentiveness, and stuttered out, “Uhm y-yeah. I think that’s right.” But by the looks of it, he’d answered wrong. Embarrassment flushed over him, but he couldn’t be stuck in this banal conversation anymore, not when Tony was still in the kitchen, away from Peter’s line of sight.

“Hey, uhm, I gotta get another drink, be right back, man,” he said in a rush, clapping a hand onto Bruce’s shoulder as a goodbye, and hoping the man hadn’t noticed his nearly full glass.

He shouldered past Scott and made his way into the hallway, steadying his breath, preparing himself to enter the kitchen. 

In comparison to the living and dining rooms, this part of the house was blessedly empty. He wondered who else was in the kitchen besides Tony, it was so quiet save for a low murmuring.

Gripping tightly onto his glass, he made his way into the room, and was surprised to only find Tony facing him, sitting hunched on a stool, phone in hand, clearly on a call with someone.

“Love you too, Mo Mo. Be good for Aunt Pepper, I’ll see you in the morning and we’ll make a big pancake breakfast together,” Tony said quietly. There was a pause, as he listened to the response on the other end, and a small chuckle, “Fine, you can have the sprinkles this time, but only if you’re asleep by bedtime. I will be confirming with Pep that you followed through on our agreement, understand?” Another laugh, warm and bright and kind. “Love you too bugbear. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Tony tapped off the call, sighing a little sadly, and then finally looked up to notice Peter, who suddenly felt like a deer in headlights.

“I uh.. needed some water.” he said lamely, and Tony nodded, gesturing to the stack of party cups on the counter in front of him. 

Peter awkwardly grabbed one, filling it with tap water and ice from the cooler. 

He felt twitchy and weird, like he didn’t know what to do with his hands, or how to hold a normal facial expression. Being this close to Tony always did that to him. It’s why he kept his distance, observed from afar. Come to think of it, he’d never really had much of a conversation with the man.

“Was that your daughter on the phone?” he finally asked, “Morgan, right?”

Tony nodded, expression easing a little. “Yeah, she’s at home now with my PA. Pepper babysits for me sometimes, mostly when she’s trying to get me to get out and live a little more. I always feel so bad leaving Morgan for the evening, but she loves Pep, so she’s more than happy to have a night of girl time without me.” Tony let out a harsh laugh, suddenly looking uncomfortable with the vulnerability of what he’d said. 

Peter took a step closer, setting both his cups on the island counter top between them, eyes falling, meeting Tony’s.

“I can tell how much she loves you. You mean the world to her,” he uttered quietly.

Tony barked out a laugh. “It doesn’t always feel like that, especially lately. She wants to play dress up and learn makeup, and having just a dad doesn’t always cut it for that. I’m lucky to have Pepper. She’s good at the makeup and hair stuff.”

Peter’s eyes softened, he was beginning to understand just how deeply Tony loved Morgan, wanted to do right by her. It was something he’d always known about the man. But here and now, hearing him talk about it, it had never been more clear, and it made him melt just a little.

“She loves you, she always will. She’s just getting a bit more independent. I can’t imagine how tough that is, to have her growing up and not needing you quite as much, but she’ll always need you, at least some. Heck, I’m 23 and I still had to call May last weekend and get advice on how to replant my ficus. She’s only 5, Tony. You’ll have plenty more years before she starts turning into a bratty teenager,” Peter encouraged.

That made Tony grin, rippling into full, rich laughter, and it made Peter swell with pride.

“Thanks Peter. You’re pretty great, you know that?” and Peter hoped Tony meant it as he said it.

He flushed, cheeks heating as he ducked his head a little. “I’m alright. I have my moments.” 

“What are you drinking?” Tony asked, and Peter was a little disappointed at the subject change.

Peter pointed to the bottle of wine he’d brought, nothing fancy, but it was nice enough.

Tony nodded, considering the bottle, and said, “I never was much of a moscato drinker, but that’s a solid brand.”

Peter nodded unsure of how to respond when a question suddenly popped into his head, and he was asking it before he could stop himself. “Why do you always bring fancy alcohol if you’re not going to drink any of it?”

Tony looked a little startled, “What do you mean?”

Peter felt heat rushing through his body, anxiety rising in his stomach. “I mean… you always make this big show of entering with a bottle of something impressive, but I’ve never actually seen you drink more than water at any of these parties.” He shouldn’t be asking, should have shut his mouth a while back, but there was no taking back his words.

There was a long, heavy pause, as Tony considered his answer.

“Morgan’s the reason I don’t drink anymore. I promised myself I would stop the day she was born. It wasn’t always easy, I had some slip ups that I regret. But I promised myself that I would do it for her, and so I did. As for the grand entrance… what can I say? I like to put on a show, and people don’t really notice that I don’t drink if I do it that way. There’s less questions later on… it’s easier for me.” Tony gazed at him with such clarity, like he was seeing Peter for the first time, truly seeing him for who he was. “You’re the first person to ever ask me that, I doubt anyone else has even noticed. The ones who matter know… Nat helped me a lot in the early days, Bucky and Steve too. But no one’s ever really asked me why.”

Peter let out a breath, hands shaky as he reached out across the counter to squeeze Tony’s hand, ever so lightly. “Thank you for telling me. For trusting me. That’s a great reason.”

He hated himself for how badly he wanted Tony in this moment. The man had just spilled his past about alcohol struggles and all he could think about was what it would be like to press his lips up against the corner of Tony’s mouth, to kiss him all over and soothe his pain. 

He blinked, realizing he was still holding Tony’s hand, and then realizing to even greater shock that Tony didn’t seem to mind the touch.

“You’ve got really nice hands, Pete. Really soft, but strong too, I can tell,” Tony muttered, staring intently at their connected fingers, rubbing ever so gently. 

Peter didn’t know what to say, what to do. It was like his brain was disconnected from his body, and he found himself leaning in, closer and closer over the island counter top, until he was pressing his lips, softly, gently into Tony’s. 

And then Tony was grabbing him, releasing their hands to hold on to the back of his neck, fingers tangling into his messy curls, kissing him feverishly, like he’d never been kissed before.

He’d made out with boys at parties, dated around a little, even had that stupid hookup with MJ that one time. But nothing compared to this kiss right here, this kiss with the man he’d been lusting and pining after for ages. This was heat and fire and need. So, so much need stored up deep inside him, and it was flowing out, dancing through him as he pressed himself hard against Tony, not caring that the edge of the counter was pressing painfully into his hip bones. He just needed to keep kissing Tony, because he didn’t know if it would ever happen again, and he wanted to make the most of it, wanted to have something to remember.

Wanted to look back fondly on the night he made out with Tony Stark in Steve and Bucky’s kitchen at a party that one time. 

He didn’t want to regret anything about this moment.

Eventually they broke apart, panting and flushed. Peter didn’t know what to say, what to do, didn’t know if that was it. But then Tony got up from his side of the island, and before Peter knew it, he was being pressed up against the fridge, their bodies tight and warm against each other.

He could feel the hardness of Tony’s cock jutting up against him, and it made him need it even more. Hands everywhere, his cheeks, his neck, the small of his back, and up under his shirt. 

Tony’s hands.

Roaming and exploring his body, while his lips kissed Peter’s, working their way to his neck. And then Tony was breathing gently against his ear in a way that made him groan louder than he ever had before. 

And Tony’s cock... hard and solid, hips rutting against his own, rolling and grinding and heavenly. He needed it all, needed to feel everything all at once, to be overwhelmed with it all, consumed and used up and still he wanted more. 

He didn’t care that a vacation magnet was jutting into his shoulder blade, or that the papers attached to the fridge were getting rumpled, all he cared about was the way that Tony was kissing and touching him. 

Tony was kissing him. That’s all that mattered.

And fuck! It felt good. If they weren’t surrounded by friends just 20 feet away, he would’ve stripped naked by now and begged Tony to fuck him raw on the counter, and he would have loved every minute of it, being pounded into, undone by this gorgeous, kind man. 

A wave of remembrance flooded over him, long nights stroking himself, imagining so many scenarios like this one. Tony laying him out over the hood of his car in his workshop, smudged with grease and oil, their bodies sinking into each other. Peter tied up, blindfolded and gagged and begging to come while Tony laughed and teased him. Tony fucking him senseless as he screamed out for more, wanting to push the limits of just how many times he could come, twitching and aching for more, more, more. Always more.

He wanted all that and more, but he knew they were already pushing their luck, standing here making out in the open like this. 

Gently, painfully, he pushed Tony away, not trusting himself to not go any further if they kept going at it like they had. He struggled to catch his breath, grinning and laughing, and then grabbing Tony once more to kiss him sweetly, on the lips, the forehead, all over his beautiful face.

Tony laughed, rich and deep and perfect, and held on tight as Peter showered him with affection.

“I always wondered… always thought there might be something here, something worth pursuing,” Tony said, lips pressed softly against Peter’s neck. “But I didn’t want to presume, didn’t want to be wrong. Especially since I’m so much older…”

Peter giggled and said “Tens years is not that much older, Tony.”

“It is when you’re 33 and you’re making out with a 23 year old in your best friend’s kitchen at a party,” Tony said, hands still rubbing gently up and down Peter’s back. They were unhurried, none of the frantic passion of before. Comfortable, safe... right. That’s how they felt now.

“When did you first suspect?” Peter asked.

Tony’s face scrunched up a little, trying to recall the specifics. “I had an inkling last Christmas, you got so twitchy around the mistletoe, but this summer was what really made me start wondering, 4th of July. The BBQ. You kept watching me. I think that’s when I started to know, but I was too afraid to trust that feeling.”

Peter breathed out a shaky bark of a laugh, pulling away. “That fucking hat…”

“What?”

“It was that hat you wore. The pink one… with the uh…” Peter blushed, suddenly shy and nervous all over again.

Recognition bloomed bright on Tony’s face, which only made Peter want to shrink even more. Tony leaned in close and whispered, “You can call me Daddy, Peter. Is that what you want?”

He shuddered out a too-eager yes, mortified and thrilled all at once.

“I wanna hear you say it…”

Peter steadied himself, fighting against the weak feeling in his legs and let him utter the word he’d wanted to say aloud for months. 

“Daddy.”

And fuck, it felt even better than he’d imagined when Tony grabbed him and kissed him again, hand pressed tight against his aching cock, the fabric of his jeans the only thing between him and Tony’s touch.

“Say it again, louder.”

“Daddy!” 

They were going to have a lot of fun together, Peter thought, and he’d love every filthy minute of it.

[beyond-far-horizons]

Korra, subversion of gender roles and the regressive nature of gender essentialism

This is an aside to my latest meta, the context of which was reading a fansite’s reviews on A:TLA and S1 of Legend of Korra. I started because of the author’s interesting take on the finale of S1 of Korra. He made some really insightful points but because of the vein of increasing subtle misogyny I kept picking up I was wary.

Turns out I was right when I came across the review of Epi 5/S1 and we go smack bang into not just gender essentialism but when you thought it couldn’t get any worse he digs himself into a deeper hole and starts talking about the possible ‘transgender agenda’ in Korra because Korra acts ‘like a boy’ and the guys act kinda feminine at times. Oh but then he is assured she must actually be a girl because she angsts about romance stuff. Cause you know men and boys never do that. Men and boys aren’t capable of da icky romance...

Ugh, just ugh.

Okay, this is just some dude on the internet writing in the early 2010s I know, I know. But it’s attitudes like this I really want to highlight and dismantle, hence this meta/rant/stream of consciousness, which let’s face it is basically most of my MO on this hell-site. 

It’s not just the blatant horrible transphobia and prejudice towards non-binary or gender non-conforming folk, but also has this dude never met a girl that didn’t act like a stereotypical ‘pretty girl’ before, even in the ye old days of the early 2010s?? Like we’ve had the concept of a ‘tomboy’ for ages and frankly there have always been a whole range of ways to express gender across cultures even if you set aside the fact that transgender and non-binary people have always existed throughout history in some form. (Don’t argue with me on this I study culture amongst other things and come from a family of archeologists and historians.)

Sorry to rant but the more you look at it the more it falls apart and shows how ludicrous enforced gender roles actually are esp when you consider the vaunted concepts of ‘the past’ and ‘traditions’ etc and realise that a couple of hundred years ago in Europe the height of aristocratic manliness was literally makeup, wigs and a ‘shapely calve’. I kid you not, I have been to Liverpool Museum where they have padded mens’ stockings if nature didn’t provide  - here’s the proof.

Oh no fellas! Don’t let the side down with those scrawny legs! You’re not a real man if you don’t have calves busting out of your silk stockings! Seriously it reminded me of padded bras so much.

Going back to Korra I personally love how she’s written and it still holds up today. She doesn’t fall into the trap of a ‘Strong Female Character TM’ - she still runs the whole gamut of emotions - she’s vulnerable, loving, romantic but she’s also extroverted, aggressive, coarse, athletic, confident - all traits traditionally positively associated with men. And I love that at this point in S1 she is never reprimanded for this, she’s never told to be ‘more lady-like’. The only two times that this contrast to a more ‘traditional’ girl is brought up is 1) her try-outs with Bolin revealing her bending power and 2) Bolin’s embarrassment over his burping in front of her which she promptly joins in with. In both cases Bolin doesn’t put her down or attempt to force her back into a traditional role, he is actively delighted and impressed with her. 

I cannot tell you how wonderful that is to see, especially on a kids show which is unconsciously socialising the new generation. 

Another toxic trope subverted is the competition between Korra and the ultra-feminine Asami. While I disliked the love triangle element and wish in some ways it was handled better, I do love that Korra isn’t really made to feel lesser compared to Asami in womanhood terms. In fact Mako’s vacillation between them is made more understandable because he admires Korra for her attributes as much as Asami for hers. Also the wonderful subversion that Asami isn’t going to force Korra into the usual shopping/makeover trip which is standard for this type of episodes. She recognises Korra wouldn’t enjoy that despite the fact that Asami clearly does and instead takes Korra on a joint speed-racing trip that shows Asami is multifaceted too and over which they mutually bond. 

(Also Korra’s discomfort of traditionally feminine things like makeup is not just played for laughs but turned into a plot hook as she overhears plotting due to being in the powder room. Brilliant! Korra is also shown looking pretty in her Water Tribe dress but is also deemed attractive in her usual attire and on the bending court. I personally think she is gorgeous either way. 

Both Korra and Asami represent different aspects of womanhood and they do it in I’d argue in well rounded ways. The fact the men they have intimate ties with - Mako and Bolin - also appreciate this is icing on the cake. (Also if I was getting too hetero-normative there is of course  - spoilers - the fact they fall in love later on in the series.)

Korra’s influence is also not in any way attached to her perceived level of attractiveness. Her power and the narrative conflicts that surround it comes from her role as the Avatar and a bender. I get the distinct impression that characters like Tenzin and Tarlok’s dismay with Korra don’t come from her being a young woman acting boorish (which the writers could have very easily slipped into), it’s the qualities of being youthful, boorish and uncontrollable themselves that’s the problem.

Amon as the prime antagonist also treats Korra with respect even as he seeks to undermine and destroy her. He does this to her as the Avatar - his enemy - not as a woman which makes the (spoilers) latent potential threat of assault and its real world parallels in Epi 4/S1 easier to stomach. 

So in conclusion - f**k that reviewer and Korra - carry on being awesome!

[celestialflamesme]

| MER-MAID FOR EACH OTHER | A Stashi One-shot Mermaid AU | Fairy Tail Next Generation |

Ships: Nashi Dragneel x Storm Fullbuster (Magma mermaid x Sharkboy)

Dedicated to @primaverafrog @luna-chan00 @biorckstudios18 @cxndy-stxrs and that random fact I read about sharks thriving in volcanoes.

If there was anything Nashi's dad taught her, it was this.

It was her mom that had sat her down and told her about how she couldn't play with the other mermaids and the do's and don'ts and safe spaces and creeks that reeked of danger and bad merfolk. Nashi nodded half-heartedly, too upset to barely talk back like she usually did.

But Nashi's dad, bless his soul, beckoned her to him one fine day and said, "No matter what you are and what you can do, don't hide a single part of you. Fight for what you want and what you deserve no matter how ridiculous it looks in the grand scheme of things. We'll always be here," he poked at her chest, "supporting you. Always."

Of course, turns out it was regarding a 'big, juicy mackerel' he lost to a 'dumb, fucking orca of all fish', but she liked to think it applied to other aspects of her life too.

The mer peered at the children giggling and trying to outswim each other across the reef and sighed.

As amazing as living in a volcano was, it sure was lonely sometimes.

Magma merfolk had several restrictions because of the seething temperatures their bodies possessed. Basically, if she touched a mer, they'd get burnt (super bad). It wasn't like there was a chance of that happening anyway, considering how scared merfolk were of them.

Pearl (a curious whitefish she'd come across on one of her hunts) swam in circles around her, obviously in a playful mood. She slightly smiled and brought a finger to her lips.

The children screeched as they spotted her swimming rapidly towards them and scattered away. The pinkette chortled at them.

"You'd think they'd have learnt by now, eh, Pearl?"

Pearl made a noise of delight, wading amongst the reeds. She huffed. "I knew you were hungry, you silly little fishy. Which reminds me, I have a date with destiny!"

Her best friend clicked. (Sorry hun, a mermaid has needs. Sweet, sweet protein; sign her up please!) She squinted, scanning the waters for her next meal. Her eyes registered a faint figure.

Tapping her tail thrice to get Pearl's attention, she swam ahead at a careful pace, ducking behind giant kelp to get a closer look. The figure continued its path, paying her no notice. Which was when she realised what it was headed straight for.

Pearl.

Her heart beating violently, she let out a war-cry and flexed her tail harder. Her vision saw red as she rammed into-

"WHAT THE FLIPPING HECK?!"

Both the bodies crashed into a boulder and Nashi let out a small groan, her sight blurry. Blinking back into consciousness, she tilted her head up.

She wasn't going to lie, the first thing she saw was his jaw filled with sharp canines. Her blood ran cold as she slowly, carefully, looked up only to gaze at perfect cerulean blue eyes.

She blinked. He blinked. Then the screaming ensued.

"WHAT'S A SHARK DOING IN MAGMA REEF?! AM I GOING TO DIE?! HOLY FLIPPING MAVIS-"

"WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU TACKLE ME LIKE THAT?! DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH, YOU CRAZY MER?!"

6 minutes later, Pearl floated by, unimpressed by their shrieking. The shark-guy (shark-man, shark-douche, whatever) reached out to grab her and Pearl and Nashi collectively squeaked, the latter smacking him at the back of his head. He snarled.

"I'm trying TO CATCH MY NEXT MEAL! DO YOU MIND?!" He yelled.

"YES, I MIND! PEARL IS MY FRIEND, NOT FOOD!"

"Oh dear Triton, she's one of the vegan loons...." He muttered under his breath. She clicked her tongue.

"Even if I am, that doesn't explain the fact that YOU'RE ON MY TURF!!" She retorted, and he flinched at her tone.

"I DON'T SEE A SIGN ANYWHERE!!"

Nashi growled at him, "You have 7 seconds to run before I burn you to ashes!" Which is when she noticed that she was still on top of him.

"Wait, you aren't- what?" She furrowed her eyebrows and inspected him. "You're- wha- how?"

"What is it?!" He frowned. "It's considered rude to sta- HEY!"

She frantically patted and touched his chest and arms for something, anything and let out a breath of bewilderment. "You're- You don't feel anything?"

"Well, you are a little warmer than the others," he admitted. The shark raised an eyebrow curiously, "Uh- why?"

Nashi blinked out of her stupor, then pointed at herself, "Magma mermaid."

"Oh." He blinked back. "You're not as scary as they make you out to be. Unless," he held her shoulders and scanned her (Uhhhhhhhh....) "You're a baby!"

"WHAT! NO, YOU DUMBASS!"

"So you're saying that you're old?" He teased.

"I'm the appropriate age!" She huffed back.

"Appropriate age for?"

"Uh, stuff?"

"Yeah huh."

"YEAH HUH!"

He bit his lip, fighting back a smile. "Now, what am I going to do about lunch?"

Nashi's eyes widened. "Kelpsicles, I have to hunt too!" Both met each other's gazes before he shrugged. "Truce?"

"It's Nashi, actually," she smirked.

"Cool, I'm Storm."

............

An hour later, Storm managed to piss her off again.

"What do you mean you don't like burnt fish?! It's flipping amazing!"

Storm sighed (The audacity!) "Have you even tried raw fish?"

She spluttered, "Of course I have-" At the disbelieving look he shot her, she mumbled, "Not."

"Open up then."

"Excuse me?!" She shrieked indignantly. "I barely know you! You could poison me for all-" she choked as he shoved a piece in her mouth mid-sentence.

"I don't wanna hear it," he interrupted her before she could yell at him, "So? How's it taste?"

"I still like burnt fish." She mumbled, flustered.

"D'aww, is the iddle widdle mermaid embarrassed?" He cooed. "How ador-" Now it was his turn to choke as she shoved the entire fish down his throat.

She snorted, "Now that's peak humour." He shot her the middle flipper.

.............

"Damn, the humans are at it again."

"What's new?" Storm grumbled.

Nashi's grin widened, "Wanna check it out?"

"I don't know Nash, this bunch looks- Nash?" He groaned at her figure wading upwards, "Woman, get back here!"

Nashi was too busy taking in the sun's warmth to pay him any attention the first time. The second time however, she swivelled around only to register his panicked look. The third time, she found her tail stuck. In a net.

"STORM!! FLIPPING- HELP!!" She screeched, pushing, propelling herself out, trying anything, everything. She was getting dizzier by the second.

A giant thud resonated from behind her, and the net shook back and forth but she waddled undeterred until Rip! She was free!

"Oh thank Triton!" She gasped, trying to catch her breath. The humans were yelling but she didn't want to stick around and find out.

A pair of arms wrapped around her making her flinch. Storm had a dark look on his face as he pulled her against him and swam forth, not uttering a word.

He'd rocked the boat. He'd- he'd saved her from-

"Don't ever leave my side again." He murmured against her hair.

.................

"Nash, stoppppp," Storm whined, "It's only 15 minutes awayyyyy."

"You said that 15 minutes ago! And what's the big deal anyway?" She snickered, reaching out for his fin again, only to be swatted again, "Ticklish?"

"Very much so." He raised an eyebrow, daring her to try again. "You can't stay one minute without trying to feel me up, can you?"

She spluttered and even Pearl (dumb fish!) joined Storm as he chortled at the indignant face she made.

"We're here!" He cheered, only to be tackled by a bunch of sharks. Nashi felt her breath quicken.

"Storm?" She blinked. The group turned to stare at her in awe.

"STORM BROUGHT A GIRL HOME!"

"SHE'S PRETTY!"

"ARE YOU TWO MARRIED YET?!"

"Uhhh..." What was happening again?

Storm laughed at her confusion. "I figured you'd be lonely up there so I thought you'd like to stay with my family for a change. Don't mind Kai and Gale," he shot them a look. "They're dumbasses."

"If you won't date her, I might," Kai smirked at her. She nervously smiled at him, confused.

Storm growled, "Back off, she's mine!"

Nashi choked. Even Pearl cheered as they proceeded to carry her into their coven? Cliff? Ridge maybe....

"Since when am I yours?" She inquired, bewildered.

"We'll work on the specifics later. For now," he wrapped an arm around her torso and grinned at her, "Yeah, you're mine."

.................

Bonus: (that no one asked for)

"Sing it with me, River! BABY SHARK DO DO DO DO DO DO! BABY SHARK DO DO DO DO DO DO! BABY SHARK DO DO DO DO DO DO! BABY SHARK!"

Storm grumbled, "If his first word is baby, it'll be your fault."

Nashi shrugged, "As long as it's not Daddy, I don't mind at all. Say mommy, sweetie! Mo-mmy! See!"

The tiny shark ("He loves raw fish! He's a natural predator!" Storm cheered, making funny faces at his giggling son) paid no heed to his parents, distracted by Pearl swimming in circles around him.

"Pearl, you're going to make him take his first paddle before he says Momma at this rate," Nashi warned.

"You mean Dadda."

"Momma!"

"Dadda!"

"Momma!"

"Dadda!"

"Ma- da," River giggled, clapping his hands. Both of them blinked at him.

"Well that solves that," Storm smiled.

"Yeah...." Nashi sighed. "Who's a good little sharkie? Yes, you are!" She cooed, carrying him in her arms. "I love you!" She poked at him.

"What about me?" Storm pouted. She rolled her eyes and pecked him on the lips. "I love you too, Snarky."

He flicked her on the nose.

.....................

[downwiththeficness]

A Need So Great-Chapter 4

Summary: Eva Moore is assigned to work the last year of her contract with the DEA in Colombia. She just wants to get to the end of her tenure, but she keeps getting drawn further into a string of murders in the city. It isn’t long before she’s forced to face the ghosts of her past.

Word Count: ~3,700

Warnings: Canon typical Violence

A/N: For the purposes of this story, Carrillo isn’t married--or, if you like, divorced. A/B/O dynamics are prevalent, and they come with their own warning. The overall rating for this story is Explicit, although not every chapter will contain adult themes.

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8.5, 9, 10, 10.5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21

They’re sitting at the bar again. Rather, they are sitting at a table at the bar again.  It had been a hard day for almost everyone sitting there.  Javier, Steve, and Carrillo had managed to thwart a production route at the cost of three men. Connie had watched a young mother die in childbirth, the baby barely alive.  Eva had watched from the sidelines, feeling guilty that there wasn’t anything that she could do. So, she’d suggested a drink.  One drink had turned into two, then three.

At present, Connie was standing at the juke box, looking for a selection. Eva was watching her look through the offerings, wondering if she should switch to water so that she could drive home.

“I’m telling you,” Steve said, banging his hand on the table, a wide smile on his face, “He literally pissed himself when we busted in.  Tell him, Javi.”

Javier held up his hands, “I’m not in this argument, man.”

Rolling her eyes, Eva pointed a finger at Steve, “You’re telling me that some big bad--,” she looked at Carrillo, “What did he call them?”

“Sicario,” he prompted, bringing his glass to his mouth to hide the smirk.

“Thank you,” Eva said, waving her hand a little, “Peed himself because you put a gun on him.”

Steve leaned forward, “Yes, that is exactly what happened.”

“Bullshit!”

“I’m—hey, Connie, can you get us another round—I’m not lying!”

Eva shook her head, “No, nope. Didn’t happen like that. You got no witnesses to prove it.”

“Just because I don’t have a witness doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”

“You made the assertion, Murphy, you’ve got the burden of proof.”

“Fuck off.”

“You fuck off,” Eva shot back, “All you agents walk around like you’re hot fucking stuff because you got a badge and a gun and the support of the US government, tellin’ tall tales to make yourselves look like John Wayne. I swear to God, if I have to hear one more dick measuring contest on the break room I will literally puke.”

Connie came back to the table, a tray full of...not beer.  She set it down and Eva counted enough shots for each of them, a couple salt shakers, and some cut limes. Oh, shit.  

“We have to go to work tomorrow, Connie,” Eva censured gently, despite taking the glass from Connie’s outstretched hand.

Connie scoffed, “Like you’ve never had a hangover before.”

Eva noticed Carrillo hadn’t taken one of the glasses.  She leaned over, nudging him, “C’mon, you gotta do this, too.”  When he balked, she picked up one of the glasses and held it in front of him, “We’re all in this shit together, Horacio.”

He stared at her for a moment before pulling his lips between his teeth, a reflexive movement he sometimes did when he was thinking. She wiggled the glass, smiling when he relented. The salt shakers went around to everyone and Eva licked the back of her hand between her thumb and forefinger, tapping a bit out.

“What should we toast to?” Connie asked.

“We’re toasting?” Eva asked with a laugh, “I didn’t know you could toast over tequila shots.”

Connie leveled a baleful glare at her and Eva rolled her eyes, holding the glass towards the center of the table, “Its your toast, man.”

“To catching one of the bad guys,” Javier announced.

That was good enough for the group.  The glasses made a dull sound as they clinked them together. Eva licked the salt from her hand, threw back the shot, and stuck the lime in her mouth.  She hadn’t had tequila in a long while, but the movements were still buried in her muscle memory.  Salt, shot, lime. Glancing over, she caught Carrillo pulling the lime from his mouth, tongue catching juice that remained on his lips.  She dropped her gaze, feeling her neck heat an a way that had nothing to do with the alcohol. It was becoming more and more difficult to keep her eyes off him, let alone her hands.

To keep said hands busy, she threw the rind onto the tray with the empty glasses just as Connie shot up, both hands in the air.

“Another!”

Eva could feel her brows hit her hairline, “Steve, is she like this every time she drinks tequila?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” He lit a cigarette, a smirk appearing beneath his mustache.

She watched Connie head for the bar, “Is she gonna be okay?”

“Until she wakes up tomorrow,” he laughed.

“Cool, cool.”

The song on the juke box ended and ‘Careless Whisper’ queued up, the saxophone out of place and yet Eva couldn’t imagine that Connie would choose a different tune. She turned from the bar with a wide smile, shots completely forgotten.

“I love this song.  Stevie, come dance with me.”

And there they went, Connie dragging Steve to the dance floor which, surprisingly, had quite a few people on it.  Eva watched them go, laughing.  

“I can’t wait to tell her all about this later,” she said.

Javier snorted with contained laughter, “I should have brought a camera.  I’m getting another drink, you want anything.”

Eva and Carrillo both waved him off and he headed for the bar.  

“He’s right, we should have brought a camera,” Eva said as she gestured towards where Connie was spinning Steve, pulling him in for a dramatic dip.

“We can always get the security footage from the owner,” Carrillo suggested with half a smile.

She looked at him, not quite believing, “You think he’d give it to us?”

One of his brows lifted, “We’d have to pay him.”

“We could do that.” She thought about it for a minute, “Man, that would be comedy gold at the office Christmas party.”

Connie gave a little shimmy, hands on Steve’s shoulders as they swayed back and forth.  He was acting like he was annoyed by it, but Eva had been around him long enough to know that he was secretly enjoying every second of his wife happily dancing after a hard day’s work.

Leaning forward, Eva took up her discarded beer, eyes catching on the bar.  She leaned a little towards Horacio, gesturing with the bottle.

“Looks like Javier’s trying to close a deal.”

He was talking with a pretty girl with long, curly hair.  They were both smiling, she was touching his arm. Eva had heard some of his pick up lines, she wondered if he was actually using any of them. If so, he was sleeping alone tonight.

“He’s probably negotiating price.” When Eva looked to him in question, he shrugged, “She’s a sex worker.”

“No,” Eva gasped, looking the woman over to see how he could possibly know. “How can you tell?”

Horacio shrugged, “I see a lot of them in my line of work.”

“Oh?” Eva said with both brows raised.

He shot her a sarcastic look, “We arrest them from time to time.  Most of them are informants.”

“To you?”

He nodded.

“And you pay them?”

He made a noncommittal sound, but the little roll of his neck gave her all the confirmation she needed. She opened her mouth to say something and thought better of it, shutting her jaw with a click.

His eyes narrowed, “What was that?”

“Nothing,” Eva responded quickly, sipping to distract herself.

“No,” he held up a finger, moving into her space a bit, “You were going to say something and you stopped.  Why?”

She blinked, “It was an inside thought.”

His brows drew together in confusion. She felt her cheeks heat, embarrassed that she’d actually said ‘inside thought’ for the first time since she was a kid—a concept that her parents had taught her before she’d learned to filter out the sentences that should not be uttered.

“Ah,” she stalled a little bit, not quite believing that she was going to say this out loud, “An inside thought is when you think a thought that should absolutely not be said on the outside.  Like, ever.”

His head tilted to the side, “Tell me.”

“Oh, no,” she shook her head, “Absolutely not.  Were you listening? Its an inside thought, its supposed to stay inside.”

“How do you know its an inside thought?”

Eva hesitated, considering. She watched him figure out that he had an opening, his expression opening up just a little bit.

“Because people are usually insulted by inside thoughts,” she offered lamely.

“And you think I’ll be insulted by it? Or, Javi?”

She held her silence, pressing her lips together to keep from answering. He was a lot closer than was strictly necessary. Although the music was playing loudly, Eva felt herself zero in on him, focused on his every word and the shape of his mouth as he talked.

“So,” he continued, “We’ve established that you’ve had a thought that you don’t think is appropriate and you feel I would be insulted by it.”

Eva wondered if this was how people felt when he was interrogating them, somewhere between helplessly drawn in and desperate to change the subject.

She cocked her head to the side, “We’ve established nothing other than I had an inside thought and voice that they are typically insulting.”

“That’s a fine distinction,” he conceded turning a little in his chair to face her a bit more fully, “But, there’s only one way to really settle this. You have to tell me.”

Eva ran her thumb over her brow, dropping her eyes to the side and breathing deep, “I was going to say … that I was surprised you had to pay them.”

He paused, then, “Why is that?”

She was having a hard time breathing, but she couldn’t stop herself from saying, “Because, if it were me, I’d probably just tell you.”

Whatever he might have said after that was cut off by Connie sliding into her chair with a high pitched giggle. She was sweating a little, leaning hard into her husband with a wide smile. She looked happy.  Eva smiled at her, saluting with her beer.

“Nice moves, sweetie.”

“Ah, thank you! I bought, like, ten songs, so we’ll be getting back to it soon.”

As if on cue, the song changed and “We Built this City” started up. Eva shook her head, her attention snagging on Javier at the bar.  Another man had walked up and he was arguing with him, tongue rolling across the front of his teeth.  He looked pissed.

Carrillo noticed her attention straying and she felt him tense a little next to her. A few more guys had walked up.

“Aw, shit,” she said, already moving to stand as the fight broke out.

Glass shattered, and Eva circled around Carrillo to where Connie was sitting, pulling the woman with her over and down towards the bar.  She could hear voices screaming and the sound to flesh hitting flesh.  Without much care, she shoved Connie into the space between the bar and the wall, holding up a finger and leveling a determined look at her.

“You don’t move,” she said. “Not an inch.”

You say you don’t know me, or recognize my face.

A hand grabbed Eva’s ankle and she yelped as she was dragged out into the fray.  The man was average size and weight, but he had the jump on her.  He climbed over her body and had his hands around her throat before she could get her bearings.  Eva threw both hands out and into his shoulders, balancing his weight while she tucked her knees into her chest. Her hips shimmied and she was able to get her heels up. She kicked. Hard.

As hard and as fast as she could, Eva kicked him in the face until he let go of her neck.  And then, she grabbed his wrists to keep him there and kept kicking until there was so much blood that it looked like a mask of red had settled over him.  With a grunt, she shoved him to the side, wheezing and touching her neck gingerly.

Too many runaways eating up the night

Across the room, Javier was holding a guy down while Steve gave him a vicious kick.  Not far away Carrillo was dodging a punch, throwing a hard uppercut and catching the guy beneath the chin. His opponent’s head flew back with such force that Eva was kind of surprised that it was still connected.  He fell to the floor, unconscious.

Eva caught his eye and she gave a little wave, seeing his eyes flick to her right a little too late. A man wrapped both arms around her chest, caging her arms in.  Carrillo’s eyes narrowed and he was moving towards her. Eva yelled and swung both legs out in front of her to mid air.  The man struggled under the sudden weight of her body. Bend, snap, roll the shoulder. He fell over her arm to the floor, winded. She used the palm of her hand to hit at his exposed throat, satisfied when he choked.

And then he was right there with her, his scent sharp with the exertion, his hands carefully running over her arms to check for injury. Eva couldn’t help but to smile, a little dazed.

“You good?”

“Yeah,” she breathed, pushing the hair from her face. “Oh, fuck!”

One of the idiots had pulled a gun.  And, while she knew he was armed, Eva couldn’t stop the automatic response that kicked in.  She shoved Carrillo down behind an up ended table as the shots rang out. Curling over him, Eva covered her head, eyes squeezed shut.

We built this city, we built this city on rock and roll.

A few more shots and he was rolling her into the wood of the table, rising up on a knee and pulling his pistol. Eva plugged her fingers into her ears, feeling his body sway a bit with the recoil.

We just want to dance here. Someone stole the stage.

His hands slammed down on the floor as he ducked down. The table behind her scooted forward as a shot ricocheted into the far end, exposing him.

“Horacio,” she yelled, grabbing his polo shirt and pulling him back and into her chest.

The movement set him off balance and his full weight collapsed on her, pushing all the air out of her lungs. Another shot, another screech as the table moved.  Horacio pushed to his knees again, firing off another shot.  Eva looked around for something they could use that would be better cover. There was literally nothing.

Marconi played the mambo, listen to the radio.

And then she saw it, an unbroken bottle had rolled from somewhere in the bar, right next to a discarded bar towel.  Perfect.

“Cover me,” she yelled upwards, already crawling the few feet out to it.

Horacio cursed a blue streak, firing off a few rounds as she shuffled back to him, “The fuck are you doing?”

“Give me your lighter,” she demanded, opening the bottle and shoving the towel inside with two fingers.

To his credit, he hesitated only a fraction of a second before he was digging into the pocket of his khakis and handing her a silver Zippo.

“Thank you,” Eva said primly as she tipped the bottle over a bit to soak the towel.

We built this city. We built this city on rock and roll.

Getting to her knees, Eva looked at Horacio, who was eyeing both her and the bottle with a look a clear and unadulterated delight. She really, really liked when he smiled.

“Bottom’s up!”

And then she tossed it in the direction of the people shooting at them, smiling wide when it hit the mark. Fire burst forth, giving Javier and Steve enough of a distraction that they could get a clear shot.

Who rides the wrecking ball into our guitars?

Eva knelt on the floor, watching over the rim of the table as they went person by person, disarming the ones that were still alive. Eventually, Horacio stood up and she followed suit, moving to check on Connie.

She looked pissed, “I was having a good fucking time and these assholes…” She sighed deeply.

“I know,” Eva agreed, “Next time we do this at your place.  Less chance of gunfire there.”

“Tell me about it.”

We built this city.

It took an hour or two for the boys to clean up the mess, cuff a few people, and clear the scene. Eva sat with Connie at the bar, drinking coffee and watching them work.

“I saw what you did there with that guy,” Connie commented, leaning one elbow on the bar, “How did you learn all that...self defense stuff.”

Eva shrugged, “After my marriage ended I thought it would be good to learn a few things, just in case.”

Connie didn’t need to know that she’d learned it in case one of her husband’s family members decided to get vengeance.  

“Divorce?”

“Death,” Eva clarified.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, it was the best thing for everyone involved.”

Connie laughed a little, “Even your husband?”

“Especially my husband,” Eva confirmed with a smile. “Real asshole, let me tell you.”

Eyes following her husband across the room, Connie asked, “He cheat on you.”

“Worse,” Eva answered, her good mood evaporating.  

She closed her eyes and ran a hand over her face, working to right herself. She was saved by Javier approaching, a little saunter in his walk.

“The owner has agreed not to press charges for the fire setting.”

Scoffing, Eva snipped, “What’s a little fire to bullet holes?”

There were several lining the walls.  Almost every piece of furniture not nailed down to the floor was either overturned or broken entirely.  The table she’d been hiding behind with Horacio had splinters up and down it.  If she hadn’t thrown the bottle, the next round of bullets might have gotten through the wood to the other side.

“If anything, this’ll make this place more popular,” he said, tapping out a cigarette and lighting it.

Eva sighed, “Did you have to start the fight?”

He looked at her, “I didn’t start it.”

She rolled her eyes, “I’ve known you for like three months.  You started it.  I don’t know why, but you started it.”

Connie had the good grace to lift her brows and spin a little on her bar stool, sipping her coffee. Javier took a drag and shrugged.

“Right,” Eva said, hopping down. She waved to Connie, “See you at next week’s class.”

She grabbed her purse and headed for the exit, more tired than she cared to admit.  So tired, in fact, she didn’t notice that Carrillo had followed her out.

“Do you ever park closer to where you’re going?”

Eva jumped, hands coming up in front of her.  When she recognized him, she laughed a little, “Sorry, wasn’t paying attention. And, to answer your question: I like the longer walk.  Gives me time to, I don’t know, settle myself.”

He nodded, “Maybe consider parking a little closer when you know you’ll be staying after sundown. Might be safer.”

At this Eva shot him a bemused look, “I think you either shit canned or shot anyone who’d give me trouble.”

He put his hands in his pockets as he walked with her, “You’re the one who set them on fire.”

She gave him a deferential nod, rolling one shoulder, “You may have a point. But, I’d argue that my actions were justified, given that they were shooting at us. I mean, I haven’t been here long, but I’m pretty sure the cultural differences aren’t so dissimilar that—were I to be fired upon, I could be forgiven for returning fire.”

They’d reached her car, and she opened the driver’s door, throwing her purse in the passenger’s seat before turning to look at him. He was just… staring at her, hands in his pockets, looking mystified.

“What?”

He took a breath, “You took one look at that gun and threw me down to cover me.”

Eva paused, going over the memory a bit and agreeing with him, “Yeah, I did.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Don’t save your life?”

He stepped into her space, “You save yourself. Let me take care of me.”

“I make absolutely no promises, Carrillo.”

Slowly, to give her time to know what he was doing, he curled a finger beneath her chin, “You do that when you’re trying to deflect, use my last name.”

In the moment, she hated him a little.  It had taken years to develop her defense mechanisms so that she could function normally with people.  A joke here, a little sarcasm there. Just enough to keep them at a distance.  And, here he was, seeing through her bullshit.

“You are frustrating,” Eva said without any bite.

He smiled, “I’ve been told that.”

“Did they also tell you that you have the cutest little dimples when you smile?”

The laugh that followed was surprised and Eva was gratified to see that he was blushing. She curled a hand over the arm still holding onto her, fingers curling over his bicep.

“No, no one has told me that,” he said after he’d gathered himself.

She considered it, “That’s a shame.”

“Is it?”

They’d moved closer together. Eva could feel the heat from his body, the smell of him that she liked so much tinged with sweat and smoke.

She settled against the side of the car, “Damn shame.”

He ran the back of his fingers over her cheek, considering, “I’ll take your word for it.”

“See that you do.”

Horacio made a soft sound of assent, leaning down to press a soft, tentative kiss to her mouth. He pulled back, but not far, dipping down again for another soft kiss that was entirely too short. Eva’s every breath was filled with him, her skin alight. She leaned up, taking the kiss she wanted. Deeper, harder.

Hands gripping both her hips, he pushed her into the car, his weight preventing escape—not that she particularly wanted to move.  The feeling of being held almost immobile and kissed senseless was delicious in a way that made her toes curl.  She clung to him, inviting more kisses, more touches—just more.

He was the first to break away, breathing hard, “Get in the car.”

“What?”

He shook his head as if to clear it, “Get in the car before I drag you to my truck and take you home with me.”

She smirked, “You probably wouldn’t have to drag me.”

He leveled a serious look at her, “Car. In.”

“Sure thing, Big Guy,” she said, sliding into the seat. “See you at the office.”