#why must i be cursed to wake at 6am

[valleynix]

If it isn’t to spoilerly, how did reader escape Miranda?

bit of a trick answer, but they didn’t! not really-

it’s been implied Miranda has been the puppeteer behind everything, and that includes how they even got out of her lab that night. what most likely happened was that she “accidentally” left an arm strap looser than the others, and being partially mutated, Reader was able to tear their arm free in a panic and go from there :-)

(i like to think they stumbled their way to the Dimitrescus on their own, though. no bird mom involved in that particular case)

[pixarmc]

Season 3 Owl House drabble. Also posted as part of my “Drabbles in the Human Realm” series on Archive for Our Own.  Which I haven’t updated since June 19th? And maybe never again...but who knows?

“Wait is that---” “Can't be, can it?” Everyone had their eyes glued to the urgent news that interrupted the show they were watching. “I don't know how well you folks can see this at home, but this creature lurking around the Gravesfield Cemetery is sizable and appears to be looking for something. We urge everyone to stay indoors and stay away.” The shots the television crew had were blurry and from far away, but they saw all to familiar wendigo-like form with blue eyeballs covering the body: the form of cursed Belos. “How---how is he here? He was goop!” Amity exclaimed. “I don't know, but he must have found some other portal, maybe we can find out. We know he didn't follow us in.” _________________________________________________ Hunter felt a shiver up his spine. Over time, he began to feel less anxious over memories of Belos. But his first night at the Noceda household had been rough. It had been his turn to shower, and as much as he scrubbed it felt like he still had goo on him: Belos goo. He should feel relieved, the draining spell had been stopped and his “uncle” who had tried to kill him several times in the recent weeks couldn't harm him anymore. Instead he was anxious, what was next? There was always a sense of order when he was the Golden Guard: Wake up at 6am, run drills, patrol, go on a mission. Then he was on a mission for the rebellion with a time crunch to stop the draining spell. Now the excitement was over, they were in the human realm, they were told they were safe. So why did his breathing feel more labored than ever before?

He fumbled with the shower knobs to the off setting. That would have to do. He was pretty sure he had surpassed his one minute showers that he was used to taking. It was weird to have no one barking orders or alarm bells blaring to keep him on track of time. The silence felt strange in his ears. He dried off and put on the strange pajamas that Luz had handed him. They felt so soft, so alien.

And then he glanced in the mirrored medicine cabinet. “You looked the most like him.” The memory seemed to echo. He could practically feel the sensation of his bangs being flicked derogatorily. Belos had always made him keep his tuft of bangs whenever it was time to get his hair cut, had always insisted that it suited him. He fumbled around the cabinets, looking for a comb or something to rearrange the tuft of hair. He flipped open the medicine cabinet and spotted a pair of scissors. He grabbed them frantically...then paused. Did he dare? He closed the cabinet, looked in the mirror again. He saw Belos' brother and a long line of grimwalkers, all dead. A shrill metallic sound rang in the air, and then there was a new face in the mirror. He winced reflexively, but there was no sharp grip on his shoulder nor pierced skin. That was different. Maybe it would be good to be someone new. _________________________________________ A gentle squeezing on his hand grounded him back to the present moment. “Hey you okay?” Willow whispered to him as Amity, Luz, and Gus scrambled around frantically for whatever supplies they thought they needed. “I think you spaced out there for a moment.” Hunter tried to shake himself out of his trance and stand up to get ready, but Willow put a gentle hand on his shoulder to ease him back into the couch. “Hey, you still didn't answer my question. Are you okay?” He opened his mouth, but a just a gentle wheeze came out. “That's what I thought.” Willow said assuredly. “Hunter we can handle it. This isn't one of your missions, you don't have to go. You can take care of yourself this time. Besides, someone has to tell Mrs. Noceda when she gets home.” She brushed the scar on his right cheek with her thumb and planted a gentle kiss there. “I won't let him hurt you again. Promise.” She barely had stood up to get ready, when he reached out for her arm. She looked back. “I won't let him hurt you either Captain. Promise.”

[tippytopdays]

Just a Typical Morning

literally slapped a fresh coat of paint on this little thing and did some proofreading, posting here because it's not really a story i feel like belongs on my Ao3

_____________________________________________________________

A snap. A small flare of light. A hiss. The light goes out with a brief spike of pain. The scent of nicotine filling his lungs, sitting there for a moment before being lazily huffed back out. He rolled the cig between his teeth, canines catching the paper.

For once, it was a slow day. Quiet too, if the silent city ruins said anything about it. No howling of some crazy Zed in the alleyways, no rushing of cars; nothing. Then again it’s probably something like, 6AM if he thought about it, since the sun wasn’t high enough yet to count as day.

Well as close to day as it could get, he assumed. It wasn’t like he knew anything else, anyways.

Deimos gripped the cig between his fingers, watching the flecks of tobacco sprinkle over the railing. The balcony was small, granted, but it was enough. Throw on a piece of metal or two along the railing and it even made for some quick cover if there was an attack. Overhead assault was harder to avoid, especially from so high up.

The end of the cigarette glowed dimly as he inhaled, smoke trailing into the air.

He didn’t like being up this early. It was too quiet.

Normally by now he would probably be going downstairs to fetch some grub from the cafeteria with Ford, talk about their evenings or whatever else would come up. Sometimes he’d be scrambling to get his gear on to check whatever combusted in the lower levels. Of course if it was the mercs just screwing around and breaking whatever had gotten mixed up with their roughhousing then he’d get upset. Fixing that shit isn’t easy you know, but it wasn’t worth straining his voice anyways; Ford could do that for him in spades.

He sighed in a soft plume of smoke. Really, what else can you do when the hired help has to be a bunch of knuckleheads, anyways?

Whatever it was, he definitely wasn’t throwing any parties for them that’s for sure. Last thing anyone needed was those guys keeping everyone up all night by being loud as fuck.

Another drag, a slight shake in his fingers as they met his lips.

His arms hurt like Hell from having to spend so long rewiring that at this point he was surprised they were even remotely steady at all. And when he thought about it him waking up at the ass end of dawn because the comms had crashed again was probably a good reason as to why he was up so early. Digging around in cramped crawl spaces was not how he wanted to spend his day; and being tossed into a late night mission on top of it was even lower on that list.

Damn his bed seemed real inviting, early morning or not.

When was the last time he’d slept in? Or just had a day off? Sure they’d had low days along with the high ones, but when did they get an actual break where they could relax? The last time there wasn’t some kind of emergency or chaos outside their doors was at least a decade ago at this point, maybe less. He didn’t really have it in him to care much, since he didn’t keep track of the days anymore. No point to it.

More smoke filled his lungs. He really should just get some extra shut eye, rest until he felt better.

But, for some reason, he couldn’t.

He’d snapped to awareness with a cold feeling of dread weighing down his stomach. It had been so strong he’d shot up, halfway reaching for the pistol at his bedside thinking someone was there. But there wasn’t. It was dead quiet, like the moments after a bad mission.

Maybe that’s why he was outside right now. The casual air helped to mask the intent in his eyes as he scanned the skyline.

A glint of reflected light from a nearby rooftop nearly made him crush the cig in his hands as he tensed. Eyes snapping upwards he focused, but relaxed when all he found was a few familiar faces among one of the many teams patrolling the area. He snorted, smoke curling around his face.

Another pull, the cold wash of nicotine a nice cleanse to the tension in the air.

He was overthinking this.

And after all they’d been through, who could blame him really? Being constantly on the run would make anyone look over their shoulder or keep a gun within reach. Still, it wasn’t like the Agency knew where they were this time. To add to it nothing could get through the blast doors even if it tried. They’d tested those well enough for him to be certain.

It was just a very quiet night and he wasn’t used to it. That had to be it.

The cig smoldered between his lips in one last drag before he flicked the used butt over the railing. Arms raising over his head he stretched with a groan, “Damn,” He muttered, wincing at the series of pops going up his spine, “Ya’d think I’m getting old with how I crack like a handful of spaghetti.”

He was done with his morning smoke anyways.

Mobility returned to his spine Deimos rubbed at his neck he turned his back to the city, meandering back inside. Hitting the switch beside the glass door to slide it shut behind him he glanced at the clock on the comically cluttered bedside table he owned. Yep, too early for him to be this awake, if the glaring red 7:37 was anything to go by. Well mostly glaring, since his cap was haphazardly draped over it when he’d tossed it there yesterday. Or last night, he didn’t look at it then because he was too busy flopping face first into bed.

A healthy gurgling from his stomach brought him out of his thoughts.

That’s right. He didn’t eat last night either. Not really any time to when you’re face first into the ugly end of some bastardized wiring job done nearly half a decade ago. He hummed under his breath.

Was it too early to get something from the cafeteria? It was still morning he supposed; maybe some breakfast sausage would be left this time since he’d be able to get there first for once. The thought alone was tantalizing despite the exhaustion tugging at the edge of his conscious.

Did he even change after all that sweatshop work yesterday?

Pulling at the hem of his tank top he took a whiff. Yep, stunk of old sweat and probably a hint of grease; he didn’t. Pants probably didn’t smell too great either but who would check those and not come off like a weirdo? A quick sweep of the cargo pants half hanging off his hips proved them to be good enough with no obvious stains or rips.

Deimos shrugged. It was good enough. At least he didn’t stink of blood or anything, otherwise Doc would be on his ass hard. Though it wasn’t like anyone would be able to tell the difference in this sausage fest anyways. He’d be fine for a quick early morning bite.

Just needed to grab his jacket and boots and he’d be good to go.

Deimos scratched the stubble lining his jawline while he scanned the room. He’d taken off his jacket somewhere mid collapse but he couldn’t place where. He wasn’t one to lose things—most of the time at least—but sometimes it felt like they just up and disappeared. With his luck it would probably end up in a really obnoxious place like behind the bed or something. Not like that would happen since the thing was braced up against the wall in the corner so it had to be somewhere around here.

He paused when he noticed the distinctly leather looking lump laying on the floor beside said furniture.

Oh. There it is.

Approaching the bed he picked up his jacket off the floor. It still had some dust from when he’d been crawling through the vents last night as he swiped a hand over the shoulder. He grimaced at the sticky webbing that stuck to his fingers; a few cobwebs, too. Gross. Shaking it to clear out any excess dust he threw it on haphazardly, adjusting his pants once it was snugly over his shoulders. Belt tightened up again he’d turned towards the table and nearly tripped over his own boots.

Welp, at least those weren’t far either. Glad he’d had half the mind to take those off before crashing.

Cursing a bit under his breath he snatched his cap off the clock. With a quick sweep of his hand through his hair to straighten it a bit he put his hat on and sat on the bed, scooting his boots closer with a foot. Once they were laced up and buckled he got to his feet, ready for the day—or at least, the really early morning.

He glanced at the clock again. It blinked lazily at 8AM.

Eh, early enough. But the call of some sweet breakfast sausage was not to be ignored.

The moment he turned towards the door there was a series of firm knocks. He jumped, nearly tripping again as he cracked out, “Uh, yeah?” Damn that cig wasn’t enough apparently because his nerves must still be fried from that morning.

“Deimos, it’s me.”

His lips quirked a bit, confused. Normally, Doc only went after him when something broke or got jammed up again but a glance at the tablet resting on the table face up didn’t reveal a blinking light for a missed message. Unless something went wrong in the handful of seconds he’d been standing there then why was he trying to talk to him now of all times, “Hang on.” Tromping across the room he swiped his code in, the door opening with a hiss.

Doc was standing in front of his room, arms behind his back and head turned away as he kept his focus down the hall before turning to face him. He scanned him head to foot, “You look like shit.”

Deimos rolled his eyes with a huff, “Good morning to you too, Doc.” Leave it to him to state the obvious. Not like he didn’t already feel like crap in more than a few ways. He propped an arm against the door as he nodded towards him, “What’s up?”

2B stood a bit straighter, and just by his posture alone he had a feeling that whatever he was going to say wasn’t good, “Boss called in this morning, we have another assignment.”

Well he wasn’t wrong.

Deimos sighed, traces of smoke licking at his tongue as he tossed his head back, “Seriously? Now? Doc I haven’t eaten yet.” As if to prove his point his stomach made yet another unhappy glug. Both men glanced down, the tech sweeping a hand towards it with brows raised.

“I can tell.” Doc merely returned his gaze placidly, “Have you seen Sanford yet?”

He shook his head, “Nah. Haven’t left until now.” Though if he were to take a guess, he’d say the demolition’s expert would be working out somewhere.

It seemed they shared the same thought as 2B nodded, “I assume he might be downstairs at this hour. I did hear some commotion from one of the training decks.”

He chuckled a bit. Typical Ford.

“I want you to be ready within the hour, Deimos. You’ll get to eat when you get back. I’ll tell the staff in the kitchen to keep something in the oven for you.” He turned around, fully intending to leave before adding, “And also, get some washing done when you get back. You smell like a corpse.” With that he took his leave while Deimos scowled at his back.

Great. Of course it would be doc who’d notice.

Still he only sighed, punching the code into the panel to lock the door behind him. Getting his gear from the locker he had downstairs would only take a couple of minutes, and Ford should already be up if he was taking up a training room.

Just another day in Nevada, per the usual.

Things never really change.

[writings-of-a-british-fangirl]

FEBRUARY WRITING PROMPTS

all credit to @nosebleedclub​ for all the prompts; here is the original post!!

here is the master list for the writing prompts; as the month goes on i’ll be updating the drabbles here

FEBRUARY WRITING PROMPTS MASTERLIST-

1. Black coffee  Bucky Barnes x Reader; Bucky is your roommate, and finds you in the kitchen at 6am. You both need black coffee.

2. Abandoned terrace Sirius Black x Reader; Sirius returns to you after what feels like a life time. It doesn’t matter where you are a magical castle or an abandoned terrace, you’ll accept into your arms again regardless.

3. The 7:10 train Skinny!Steve Rogers x Reader; You return home from work and go to speak to your roommate: Steve. When you do find him, you know something is wrong. He’s enlisted, and he’s leaving on the 7:10 train. [PART 2: Launch]

4. Conversations in the kitchen  Bill Weasley x Reader; You wake up alone in your usually shared bed and make your way down to the kitchen to spend the morning with your lover.

5. Volatile  Ivar x Reader; After his encounter with Margrethe, Ivar is volatile and furious- and the only person he can be comforted by is you. Ivar hates being vulnerable around anyone else, but you.

6. Ivy league  Peter Parker x Reader; You can barely sleep because of nerves; tomorrow is the day you find out if you got into your dream Ivy League university. Luckily, your boyfriend is there to calm you down.

7. Nor’easter  Din Djarin x Reader; You wait out the storm with your small green son, Grogu, and wait for your Mandalorian to return back to you.

8. Hallucinations  Peter Parker x Reader; Peter hasn’t been the same since the events with Mysterio and Tony’s death, but that doesn’t mean that you’re not going to be there for him.

9. Nebula  Loki x Reader; Loki tries to do what he thinks is best for you, but only ends up hurting you more. Can he fix things under the light of the stars and the nebula?

10. Candlelight  Remus Lupin x Reader; You sneak out past curfew in Hogwarts in an attempt to get food from the kitchen. You bump into a familiar figure, and your faces are lit up in the candlelight.

11. Poppy  Captain Rex x Reader; You are pleasantly surprised when your secret boyfriend returns from his tour, and even more pleased when he has a gift for you: a red poppy.

12. Rosy cheeks  Bucky Barnes x Reader; You meet Bucky on a morning jog, and find yourself going for coffee with the handsome stranger that has blush, rosy cheeks.

13. Necktie  Eleventh Doctor x Reader; You have another close escape in an adventure with the Doctor, only his necktie doesn’t make it.

14. Launch  Skinny!Steve Rogers x Reader + Steve Rogers x Reader; PART 2 of The 7:10 Train. You launch yourself into writing to Steve as soon as you get the letter from him. And, also suprise him with some photos to show how you really feel.

15. Diary  Wanda Maximoff x Reader; Part of you knew you shouldn’t be reading Wanda’s diary... The other half had to know how she felt about you.

16. Baby blue Ivar Ragnarsson x Reader; Even when you should be mad at him, you can’t help but notice how blue Ivar’s eyes are... Baby blue.

17. Hotel room Dean Winchester x Reader; You have to pretend to be married to Dean for a case, and your feelings for him are only brought closer to the surface when there’s only one bed in the hotel room.

18. Cold water  James Moriarty x Reader; You had been out of the game for a while but a particular case- a particular clue draws you back in. You know its the work of Moriarty; you just don’t know why he wants you by cold water.

19. Snowdrops Thranduil x Reader; It’s your wedding day and you can’t help but think today is perfect, especially with your favourite flower (snowdrops) braided in your hair.

20. Class differences  Steve Rogers x Reader; Howard introduces Steve to one of his socialite friends and Steve can’t help but be in awe of you- despite the class and wealth differences.

21. Homesick  Bucky Barnes x Reader; You enjoy spending time with Bucky, but can’t help but wonder if he misses the 40s: if he’s homesick.

22. Angel wrought 10th Doctor x Reader; Your adventures with the Doctor never cease to amaze you. You appreciate the moment of silence to appreciate it even more.

23. Flicker Bill Weasley x Reader; By the flicker of your candle light, you head downstairs because you can’t sleep. Much to your delight, your boyfriend finally makes it home from a late shift.

24. Sunday morning  Winter Anderson x Reader; Every Sunday morning, you can be found spending time with your best friend and long time crush, Winter. However, the cult gets in the way of that.

25. Playground  Din Djarin x Reader; You had missed your small green son ever since you let him go. Today, you were finally seeing him again: you hoped he was having fun in his Jedi school and playground.

26. Before sunrise Vision x Reader; You have been struggling with the aftermath from Ultron, and you find comfort in the unlikiest of places.

27. Bookends  Loki x Reader; You visit Loki in his cell after his invasion of Earth. Everything has changed and you feels worlds apart.

28. Up the mountain Stever Rogers x Reader; PART 3 of the 7:10 Train; He knew he had to say good bye but he just didn’t understand why it had to hurt so badly.

~~~

WANT TO REQUEST A CHARACTER FOR A CERTAIN DAY?

request here [in my ask box]; undercut is all the fandoms i write for!!

AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER- All seasons, most characters

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DIVERGENT- Movie and book characters

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MARVEL- Avengers (Spiderman will be the Tom Holland version), X Men (all movies), Guardians Of The Galaxy, Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Daredevil

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TEEN WOLF- All series, all characters

THE 100- All series, all characters

THE HUNGER GAMES- All movies/books, all characters

VIKINGS- All main characters

[lymmsweb]

Hello, I don't know if you watch Jujutsu Kaisen and if you don't, please ignore this. If so then, can you write a scenarios for Fushiguro Megumi (cause I am a simp for this man) comforting his s/o who lost his elder sister from a curse which leads her to join the Jujutsu Tech High to seek revenge (she is powerful because they did said that the more negative energy you got, the more curse energy you will have) but felt deeply hurt and alone for her sister death. I do hope this wasn't too much. Thank you for reading!

I love him so much too! And i do write for jjk, I’ve written for Megumi in the past. I turned this into hcs since I’m dumb enough to not know what the fuck scenarios are, but if you wanted a fic or something like that, request me again and I’d be more than happy to turn it into a something like that <3

Also I’m so sorry that this has taken me almost 2 weeks to get to :(

Megumi Fushiguro comforting his gn!s/o who lost their sister, and feels lonely headcanons

⚠️Very minor spoilers i think, like with Itadori ‘dying’ in ep 5⚠️

Tw: Mentions of Death/Loss of a family member

Don’t worry about waking him up, he doesn’t mind you waking him up when you need some affection

When you came to him in his room, holding back tears he immediately rushed to your side and pulling you into an embrace.

He’d drag you onto his bed, and ask you if you wanted to hug him or just hold his hand. All he wants is just for you to be comfortable.

Hugging him:

(scroll down to see an alternate scene where he would hold your hand, just incase you don’t like hugs)

You two would be in the posting when you’re in his lap, facing him. It’s easier to hug you in that way

He’d hug you gently and play with your hair, probably a tear or two down his cheek because of how much it hurt him to see you in pain. Although you probably wouldn't notice it.

He honestly doesn’t mind you crying on him, he’d just whisper how much he loves you and how grateful he is

As you explain to him about your dead sister, he remembers you vaguely mentioning her. How the memories of you and her crossed your mind almost each day.

He’d just let you talk, even if you start rambling, or if you just say incoherent words, he’ll let you.

Your hatred for curses, was unmatchable. You were able to protect yourself and protect the others with ease. You just simply held no mercy for curses. Always working hard just so nobody else gets taken away from you, even Gojo would be worried about you at times.

Megumi has always seen you ruthlessly kill (or exorcise idk) any curse that came your way. He never questioned you, because when ever he brung it up, you’d manage to avoid the question.

When you explained to him that you were hurt & lonely due to her death, he felt a bit disappointed in himself. Feeling hurt after death was normal, being a bit lonely too was okay. But as your boyfriend, he was supposed to pick up on the subtle clues, he was mad at himself for not realising that you were in pain.

After you calmed down, to a point where he felt it was his place to talk, he would ask questions about your sister. What her eyes looked like. What her hair was like. What she would do in her free time. He would try to paint a picture of her in his head, if she looked anything like you, she would be gorgeous.

If those memories make you sad to remember, he wouldn't push you to describe her.

Although he would force you to sleep with him that night (not sex, but like actual sleeping), just so he could whisper to you how much he loves you and that is normal to feel those emotions.

Holding his hand

When you expressed that you were uncomfortable with hugging him in the state that you were in, he'd respect your boundaries, just holding your hand and rubbing it softly. He would keep his eye contact with you, just so you know that he isn't about to disappear.

As you would explain why you join Jujutsu Tech, because you wanted revenge, after all, they were the ones who took your sister away from you. As much as he sympathised with you he also felt pity for all the curses you killed (or exorcised idk okay, I didn't pay attention to the terminology), it must have been a painful death. The hurt in your watery eyes pained him.

He would squeeze your hand gently when you said that you felt lonely, losing a family member is hard, after all he did lose Itadori once. If the death of his friend broke him that much, he just couldn’t fathom how much you would be hurting at the moment.

He would do the same as the hugging scene, he would ask about your sister. Asking about her appearance and your favourite memories with her. If you didn't feel like describing her at the moment, he would suggest sketching her, it doesn't even matter if you were horrible at drawing. He would draw Itadori when he was mourning for him, he's a horrible artist but nonetheless that was his way of coping. It also helped him remember his face, because he would try to get all his details down.

Megumi would ask if you wanted to sleep with him (again it’s not sex, like actual sleeping).

If you decline him on his offer you bet believe when you get back to him room, he’d be trying ti comfort you through text. But he wouldn’t be good with his words, atleast that in itself might make you.

If you said yes, he would let you chose which position you wanted to be in, and asking you where you felt comfortable with him touching you.

A/N : I downloaded Grammarly half way through this because it was 5 am(it’s now 6am), and it works- who ever made this app free thank you so much

As I’ve said it’s 6am, sorry if there are any mistakes :(

[ceo-of-daichi]

Characters ~ Iwaizumi Hajime x Fem!Reader

Summary ~ Iwaizumi has a big crush on you, but has no idea how to talk to you without panicking. Oikawa offers an easy solution, will you find out about your secret admirer? Will you accept his affection when you find out?

Genre ~ Fluff

Warnings ~ Swearing

Word Count ~ 1.8k

A/N ~ So here it is as promised... a fic that isn’t about the loml Daichi! Had fun writing this though, want to dedicate this to @iwaxme as like a late birthday fic? Its the least i can do for you babie❤️ Hopefully i do him justice🥰 Thank you @karasu-hoes for proof reading my fic!! I really appreciate it!

Hearing the familiar squeak of volleyball shoes as you walked up to the gym was like music to your ears. You had missed this crazy bunch over the summer break. You weren’t really involved with the Aoba Johsai boys volleyball team, however you enjoyed occasionally popping to their practices. Being good friends with Watari the rest of the team welcomed you with open arms. Walking through the gym doors, Oikawa instantly noticed your presence.

‘[y/n]-channnn’ You rolled your eyes so hard you almost lost them in the back of your head, as he skipped over to you.

‘What do you want, Oinkawa?’ Throwing him a slight smirk as you made your way over to Watari.

‘Rudeeeeee [y/n]-chann’ He whines while making his way back to the other 3rd years slightly dejected.

Chatting to Watari as usual during their break you noticed an unfamiliar pair of eyes on you, usually it was just Oikawa being his weird flirty self however these weren’t his eyes, they seemed to bore through you.

Slowly turning around you locked eyes with Iwaizumi, why was he staring at you? Did you have a stain on your uniform that you didn’t know about? Luckily the minute you looked over at him he turned away, a slight pink tinting his ears. You were confused, however you brushed it off continuing your conversation with Watari. Meanwhile Iwaizumi was having an internal argument with himself, when did you get that pretty? Did that happen over summer or has he just not noticed you in this way now? Finding himself lost in thought for a good 5 minutes before snapping out of it, he had to talk to you…

Practice ending at usual time, you grabbed your stuff and got up off the bench. You were ready to walk home with Watari as usual, but before you could shout at him someone else wanted your attention.

‘Hey, [y/n]’ Iwaizumi started fairly confidently as he jogged across the gym to you.

‘Hm? Oh hey Iwaizumi what's up?’ Turning towards him and greeting him with a smile, suddenly he struggled to form a sentence, his face turning bright red. You were smiling so brightly it completely made him freak out inside, you were even more beautiful up close. Not used to feeling like this he began to panic.

‘Oh i was… i-i was just grabbing this…’ Mad at himself that he pussied out as he bent down to pick up a towel from the bag. 

‘Okay… well i’ll see you tomorrow’ As you walked off to Watari, Iwaizumi was mentally cursing everything. A simple conversation, that's all it was yet he couldn’t even do that.

Luckily for Iwaizumi, Oikawa saw the whole thing. Or at least Oikawa would say it was lucky for him, seen as though Iwa-chan clearly needed some help flirting.

‘I think that is the worst i have ever seen you talk to a girl Iwa-chan’ He said, flinging an arm around his pissed looking friend.

‘Like you could have done any better shittykawa..’ He huffed, trying to calm his blush down, that was still adorning his cheeks.

‘You clearly like her, let me help you!! I can wingman you!’ Oikawa stated excitedly, although Iwaizumi wasn’t too happy with this arrangement he agreed. He needed some help if he was going to get you to notice him. The worst thing was, he craved your attention, getting you to notice him or at least laugh and be happy due to him was his main focus.

Waking up late the next day, you started to panic. Refusing to be late to school, you jumped out of bed, throwing your uniform on and basically sprinting to school. By the time you got there you had about 10 minutes to spare, sighing as you started making your way towards the lockers needing to swap some of your books around. Opening your locker you noticed a loose piece of coloured paper falling to the floor, you definitely did not put that in there. Unfolding it carefully and reading the contents you face lit up in a bright smile.

‘Look Iwa-chann she's smiling and might even be blushing slightly!! I told you it would work!’ Oikawa whispered to his friend from around the corner. Iwaizumi poked his head around the corner smiling at the sight before him, Oikawa was right. Your cheeks were lightly dusted pink and you had a huge smile on your face. Seeing you like this because of him made his heart beat out of his chest. 

‘Come on Shittykawa lets get out of here before she notices us’ He had to stop himself skipping off he was that happy.

You peered around after you finished reading the note, no one looked suspicious or like this wasn’t their normal routine. The note was sweet even though it was only a couple of lines long, it was signed anonymously though. You calm down your blush as you head towards your classroom, your mind not being able to focus on anything apart from the note. 

After that you could not concentrate, your mind was clouded with curiosity. Would this happen again, or was it a one time thing? Was it a boy who sent it or a girl? They must know you because how would they know your locker number..? Your friends could tell something was off but everytime they questioned it you brushed them off, saying you were just spaced out.

At practice that afternoon, as you sat on the bench as you do almost every practice, you started to catch eyes with Iwaizumi more. Giving him small smiles here and there. Has he always been that attractive? The answer was yes and you knew it, but somehow looking at him now, the way he gave you a slight smile as he was practicing spikes, it was like something had changed. Shaking your head and smiling, not like anything would happen between you both, he was way out of your league. Plus you now had a secret admirer, and if they kept leaving you notes… You would have to figure out a way to find out who they were.

For the next week Iwaizumi left short and sweet messages every morning in your locker just to see your reaction. You were still clueless who it was, and he didn’t want you to find out any time soon, what if you were disappointed it was him? He couldn’t take his mind off during practice...After all, you were extremely pretty, and he was just Oikawa’s second to girls like you. He started to get angry just at the thought, wanting to throw a volleyball straight into the back of shittykawas head. But he refrained from doing so as he spotted you walking into the gym.

~ A Couple of Weeks Later ~

This is it you thought to yourself as you woke up at the bright and early time of 6am. You were going to catch the person who had been leaving notes in your locker, for the best part of 3 weeks. Packing up all your school books, you got changed and started your walk to Aoba Johsai. It was chilly out, so much so that you could see your breath in the air. Speeding up so you could get there faster, you spotted someone walking in front of you. Fairly tall and muscular built, he was wearing what looked like your school's uniform. Wondering what he was doing heading to school this early, it suddenly hit you.

Dropping back slightly, hoping he wouldn’t notice, you began to match his pace. Making sure not to lose him, as you suspected when he got to school he went straight to your locker. Slipping something inside. Due to his winter coat you couldn’t see his features, cursing you decided to follow him as he walked off. Praying he would go to the library or something to study, however where he went surprised you.

Ducking behind a corner as he walked through the double doors to the boys gym, no way. He was one of the volleyball boys? Impossible… He wasn’t tall enough to be Oikawa, plus he would never do something like use notes. Who could it be? Unless… You shook that thought instantly out of your head. There is no way Iwaizumi, the ACE of the volleyball team was leaving you notes.

It took you 10 minutes to gather up the courage to walk into the gym and confront whoever it was, but eventually you peaked your head through the double doors. Your eyes went wide as you locked eyes with Iwaizumi, you both just standing there staring at each other in disbelief.

‘I-Iwaizumi… you’ve been leaving notes in my locker?’ You couldn’t help but sound surprised. Blushing he started to slowly make his way over to you.

‘And if i did?’ A hint of worry tinting his tone.

‘I would say…Why me?’ This was something you were genuinely curious about, he must have girls flocking to him. Why you?

Your face started to flush as you realised he looked slightly confused by your question, like there was an obvious answer you were missing.

‘[y/n]... You're smart, funny, intelligent, you never take Oikawa’s shit. Hell most girls would be falling to their knees if they even got a fraction of what you take of him… And most of all… your beautiful’ He stepped closer cupping your cheek and looking into your eyes. When you didn’t reply, mainly because you were caught up in his eyes, he panicked.

‘A-Are you happy it's me?’ He drops his hand back to his side, waiting to hear the worst.

‘You are kidding right Hajime? I’m just… You're too good for me…’ On one hand he was completely imploding inside at the use of his name, it rolled off your tongue perfectly. On the other hand, he hated the fact you didn’t think you were good enough for him, even though in his eyes, it was the other way around. 

With that, he lifted your chin with his hand, getting a sudden boost of confidence, he pressed his lips against yours softly. You froze for a second, unsure of how to function, but soon enough you kissed him back, moving your arms around his neck. His lips were soft, and you enjoyed the kiss while it lasted. It wasn’t long before he pulled away a small smile on his face.

‘Is that enough proof that you are good enough for me? More than good enough for me… your perfect…’

Tags ~ @bb-noya​ @vventure​ @stcrryskies​ @iwaxme @ardorwrites-hq-mha @sugawarasimp @super-noya

[eulaties]

FRUITS BASKET FIC RECS ★ GENERAL ★ #13

fics that have an asterisk (*) in front of them are my personal favorites! also, all of the fics listed are completed unless otherwise stated.

NOTE: these are general fic recs for fruits basket, but a lot of them center around yuki sohma.

this list was last updated on 12/30/20.

if you want yukeru fic recs click here

if you want yuchi fic recs click here

***the less i know the better • yuki & haru, one-shot

SUMMARY: "haru is quiet. he thinks he’d describe himself as quiet, even though sometimes he gets loud—very, very loud—but for the most part, he’s quiet. the only person he knows who is quieter than him is yuki.”

TAGS: first love, bittersweet ending, canon-compliant, pre-canon, one-sided pining, angst, hurt/comfort, contains anime spoilers, read this if you want to cry, yuki’s childhood, mute yuki, haru’s perspective

NOTES: one of my all-time favorite fruits basket fics! i remember first reading this at 1am and crying a lot. the way the author writes is so compelling, and you really feel all of the emotions haru has and its just,,,,so much angst. also, this fic fills in all of the gaps from canon and provides an insight on why yuki was haru’s first love. that said, if you are looking for a fic where yuki & haru end up happily in a relationship together, this is not the fic for you. (like i stated before, it follows canon.) 

CW: implied child abuse, yuki has self-destructive tendencies

*poor fake • yuki & kyo, one-shot

SUMMARY: “kyo and yuki cook an egg together.”

TAGS: weird conversations you have with your sworn rival at 6am, slight yuki/kyo, open-ended ending

NOTES: according to the author’s note, this fic is inspired by takaya’s tweet about how yuki holds the same feelings for kyo that he did when they first met.

CW: recreational drug use

vigilante • gen, one-shot

SUMMARY: machi finds herself cornered. tohru orchestrates a rescue mission.

TAGS: mentions of yuchi and kyoru, fluff, tohru fears no one, humor, friendship

perfect peace • yuki & tohru, one-shot

SUMMARY: "yuki, you are my best friend. best best best friend, ever." or, tohru and yuki have a little bit too much to drink.

TAGS: friendship, fluff, humor, background kyoru and yuchi, just really wholesome, post-canon

*we’ve come upon this place by lost ways • yuki & kakeru, one-shot

SUMMARY: “yuki doesn’t know why he agreed to this. he hates hiking. he knows what it’s like walking around the forest for leisure. there are mosquitoes that bite at your feet, bugs that fall into the collar of your shirt. you have to plow through an endless sea of foliage partially wet from the rainstorm two days ago. there’s mud on your feet, and sand in your hair. he can go on and on. and yet here he was, climbing up some mountain trail with the one of last people he’d willingly go on any outdoor trip with.”

TAGS: friendship, fluff, humor, hiking, just them having fun

*that which we call a rose • machi & kakeru, one-shot

SUMMARY: "mother calls him the manabe boy, when she's feeling charitable, or among decent company. otherwise he's 'brat' or 'devil's spawn,' or whatever insults she can come up with in the moment. 'the other child,’ if she's feeling cryptic. machi doesn't call him anything at all. why would she?”

TAGS: found family, sibling bonding, angst, canon-compliant, parts of the fic take place pre-canon, childhood trauma, background yuchi, character study

weekend • gen, one-shot

SUMMARY: “a saturday call from a dear friend.”

TAGS: post-canon, time skip, kyoru, yuchi, humor, canon-compliant, domestic fluff, friendship

*against all odds • yuki & kyo, multi-chapter (3/?)

SUMMARY: “kyo expected a lot of things when he finally came face to face with the rat. he didn’t expect the first words out of the other boy’s mouth to be ‘i like your hair.’”

TAGS: childhood, kyo and yuki friendship, fix-it, eventual kyoru and yuchi

NOTES: this fic is unfinished but i really love the idea of it :) i always thought that kyo and yuki would’ve been great friends if the circumstances were different! the writing is also really good and everyone is in-character.

please don't put your face into your hands • yuki & kyo, one-shot

SUMMARY: “in which kyo wakes up from a nightmare and yuki is the only person he can talk to about it.”

TAGS: hurt/comfort, light angst, unlikely friendship, nightmares, post-canon, canon-compliant, mentions of trauma

*things better left unsaid • yuki & kyo, one-shot

TAGS: angst, nightmares, arguing, childhood trauma, hurt/comfort, tohru makes an appearance near the end, eventual fluff, happy ending

late nights with riceballs • yuki & kyo, one-shot

SUMMARY: “yuki and kyo had an unexpected late night talk while making riceballs.”

TAGS: post-canon, canon-compliant, manga spoilers, friendship, bonding

*ribs • yuki-centric, multi-chapter (6/6)

SUMMARY: “five times yuki laughs freely (+1 time he holds it in)”

TAGS: 5+1, fluff, found family, humor, everyone roasting shigure, everyone’s happy, soft fic!!

sometimes • haru-centric, one-shot

SUMMARY: “sometimes he wondered if the black was really a part of him, or something else. something the curse brought with it. he couldn't tell.”

TAGS: character study, introspection, light angst, the yuki/haru in this fic can be interpreted as platonic or romantic

*must be love on the brain • kyo/tohru, one-shot

SUMMARY: “he glances over at her, and his amber eyes shine when under the light of the moon and the stars and the city. his lips are quirked up in a crooked, boyish grin. he looks so beautiful that it cuts her somewhere inside. or: tohru has a secret admirer. everyone reacts to it accordingly, except for kyo.”

TAGS: unresolved romantic tension, mutual pining, both of them think their pining is unrequited, fluff and angst

[sneezingpotatoes]

Merry (LATE ASF) Christmas xD

Over a year late, but... You know?😂😂😂 I come baring gifts! xD Gotta keep my word no matter how long it takes lmao

Okay so I got my ex-best friend to draw Draco for me xD LOL She’s vanilla and doesn’t know about my kink so I had to kinda sneakily ask her to add the blush and stuff lmao BUT FOR THE MOST PART, this is my OC Draco xDD She did a good job with it! That’s him feeling all sickly in the story xD I might get her to draw my other OC’s too! If you want her to draw for you too or see what else she drew, her instagrams are: @ixreikoluxi and @ixreiko_luxi ((Just dont message her anything kinky LOL but she does do commissions on anime art!)) Also I tried new things in here... And there’s a lot that be happenin in this fic so hopefully it’s a good read lmao xD 

ANYWAYS MERRY (LATE ASF) CHRISTMAS AND ONTO THE FIC XD I think it’s around 15k words OvO ENJOY

December 23rd

 A soft murmur slips past Draco’s ears through the darkness of sleep, earning a sleepy snort and a shift on the couch from the sleeping drunkard. The murmur wasn’t loud enough to fully wake the hungover excuse of a man resting on the couch, but it did plant the seed of a weak headache into his temples from the lingering alcohol flowing through his veins.

“...co ... Draco! Wake up, please.” 

The gentle shaking of his arm causes Draco to slowly stir awake. The rugged man lazily blinks a few times, trying to get his eyes to focus through the dim light on the face hovering above him. He winces as he’s greeted with a sharp churning in his stomach from his heavy alcohol consumption the past few days, cursing at the situation entirely.

“Shit. Wahtimeisit..? Wahdoyouwant?” His voice was deep and groggy from sleep, words slurred from his mind and mouth both sluggish and still trying to register and function at the thought of being awake so early.

“It’s 10 ‘till 6am. I need you to do the Christmas shopping for me while I’m at work today.” The gentleman firmly instructed. Shit. He had forgotten about that. The rugged man audibly grunted, rubbing the sleep out of his tired eyes. “I left the shopping list and some money on the table. Do not forget about it, Draco. I mean it.” His voice was strict and bold, leaving a mark on Draco’s deafened pride. The gentleman locked the door behind him and was gone before Draco could even attempt to respond. 

“Could’ve at least turned off the fricken light, jeez.”

He groaned, dreading the long day of shopping he had ahead of him. Every time Reuben had asked him to go to the store for him, it was always at least a four-hour endeavor, seeing how Reuben always had items on the list that he had never heard of, and the nearest shops around his area were all unheard of and he had no idea where any of the items were. Even if he did go shopping on a regular basis, he was sure that he would still be lost in each of the supermarkets. Christmas was in two days, so that meant that everyone was out and about, doing their last-minute Christmas shopping, just as he was about to, seeing how he had waited nearly a month to even think about the list. Yeah, Reuben had warned him about this multiple times, that’s why he had made the list ahead of time, but Draco didn’t care. Well, he didn’t care until now. The rugged man cursed to himself just thinking about the long shopping list and having to deal with crowds of people. Why did he have to do all the damn shopping, anyway? ‘It’s not like you do anything all day, anyway. You just lay around or go to the bar and get drunk. The least you could do is help out around here and go to the grocery store.’ He could hear Reuben’s nagging voice already engraved into his memory. They’ve had this conversation once before, and Draco hated to be reminded of it. He sighs, shoving away the memory and slamming his eyes shut, trying to return to the peaceful slumber that he had been rudely awoken from.

4 hours felt like minutes according to Draco as he was rudely pulled out of sleep by warm licks to the tip of his nose. At first, he shoves the clever feline back away from his torso and rubs his freshly licked nose, sluggishly trying to go back to sleep. Absinthe returns a couple of seconds later, gently sitting on his chest with a soft ‘meowrr’ that makes the rugged man bat an eye at the creature.

“Jesus Christ, cut it out, will ya!?” The man grunted, remembering that he was supposed to feed the feline two hours ago, and that he probably wouldn’t hear the end of it with Reuben when he got home. She speaks again, hopping onto the floor and stretching outward near her food bowl. “Alright, alright already. Shaash, I’m goin’.”

Brain still foggy from sleep, the rugged man brought himself to his feet, releasing a loud, well-needed yawn that forced his jaw to slack all the way open as he headed into the kitchen, feeling the patient feline watching his every move. He takes the can of cat food from the cabinet and sluggishly places the food in the bowl, having Absinthe instantly begin to eat the protein packed meal.

“You’re welcome, little bastard.” He mumbled as he watched the feline scarf down the mushy substance, gliding a gentle hand behind her ears. “Must be good, huh?” It was odd. Draco normally judged Reuben for speaking to his feline like an actual person, but it was actually quite soothing to say the least, as it brought a wry smirk to his face. Obviously, he wasn’t going to tell Reuben that. The black cat abruptly stopped eating and peeked her head at the man crouched directly behind her, purring when he rubbed the right spot. He gave her one last rub before getting up to grab a change of clothes.

He called an Uber after taking a decently long, hot shower and eating a slice of cold, leftover pizza from the fridge for breakfast. Reuben was the only person with a car around here and he had taken it to work today, so he felt that an Uber would be the better option at least. The rugged man scoops the money from on the table into his pocket, grabs the shopping list and heads outside into the freezing winter air.

***

The sky was a nice dark gray, not doing the sun any favors with providing any warmth or sunlight really. There was a cold, gentle breeze that would occasionally brush through his dark black bangs and hug his neck and chest, forcing him to pull up his short jacket collar as much as he could in order to shield himself from at least some of the coldness. This would be one of the moments that he missed his trench coat and fedora the most. Reuben had made him throw the old things out entirely and get a completely new wardrobe about a week after he had moved in. He couldn’t complain; he didn’t much care about having to wear new clothes, he just wanted to keep his fedora and trench coat if anything. The sound of car tires sloshing in a puddle of rainwater catches his attention as it appears to be his Uber driver. The driver waves at his direction, beckoning him to come over.

“So, where we headed?” The uber driver asked as Draco entered the back seat.

“Just to the local shopping center up ahead. I put the damn address in the app, why are you asking me? Do your damn job.” He muttered, eyeing the long list in his hand. He’s sure that the driver said something back to him, but he wasn’t listening; He was already in a bad mood and had to prepare himself for the long endeavor ahead of him. 

The closer they got to the shopping center, the more Draco started to get annoyed. There were so many cars in the street, driving slow for what Draco thought was both to look at all of the Christmas lights and decorations hanging up on all of the lamp posts and just from the amount of people in the area period. There were so many people walking on the sidewalks with their families, friends, partners and just some walking solo; He was kind of glad that he hadn’t driven here himself. It would be hell to find a parking spot anywhere, and just hell to get out of here. He grunts to himself, noticing a few people wearing face masks that were walking along the sidewalks as well. He had forgotten that this was the perfect weather and season for people to get sick. It was probably the perfect place to get sick too, seeing how there were just so many people brushing up against one another, touching all sorts of the same products and just overall breathing the same air in general. The driver pulled over in what seemed to be the middle of the shopping center, having a giant Christmas tree on display to his left with so many bright lights and Christmas ornaments dangling from all of the branches. That seemed to be the hot spot of the entire center, seeing how there seemed to be a ton of families crowded around the tree, whether they were taking pictures in front of it, sitting and chatting, or just hanging out around the area. He paid the uber driver and exited the vehicle, instantly starting to make his way towards the nearest supermarket so that he could get out of this mess as quickly as possible.

Draco was hit with a little bit of relief when he entered the store, feeling the heat instantly wash over him as he grabbed his handheld shopping basket. It was short lived though as he saw how long the checkout lines were, and how many people were still shopping down every isle in the store. He briefly sighed, shoving all of his aggravation aside. He knew that he wasn’t going to get anything done fast if he just kept moping about the situation.

It took about an hour of roaming down every isle a few times, bumping into and being bumped into a good handful of times and scanning over the shopping list at least 30 times before Draco was sure that he had gotten a good selection of items off of the list and made the executive decision to check out. It didn’t matter which line he chose; each line was so long that it was stretching into an actual isle, causing multiple people to have to cut through every once in a while, just to get to the other side of the store. He picks the closest line to him and decides to start waiting now rather than later. Why does everybody have to be out shopping right now anyway? He thought to himself, feeling his arms starting to grow tired from carrying the heavy basket for so long. 

It wasn’t long before other shoppers began to slowly file in behind him, causing him to feel slightly uneasy from how close they had to stand in order to be out of the way of other shoppers. What made matters worse was that the person behind him sounded like he was under the weather and Draco didn’t want to be anywhere near it. The thick sniffling that was heard from behind him made Draco internally groan. Damn it, he hated this so much. The regret was really starting to sink in now. At this moment he wished that he had went shopping right when Reuben had made the list. There’s a chesty cough from behind him that makes Draco turn his head slightly enough to see a young man sniffling helplessly into the palm of his hand. He rolls his eyes, feeling like he’s stuck in his current position. He knew that he always had an option to leave the line, but he had already waited 10 minutes and he didn’t want to be there any longer than he had to. The shuffling of feet in front of him caught his attention as he followed suit and scooted forward a couple of inches as the next customer was being serviced. There were only two customers in front of him now, and he was actually standing inside of the gap with the chip racks and soda coolers; He was nearing the light at the end of his tunnel. He knew that he could wait a couple more minutes and put up with this a little while longer. That was until…

“Hh… Ah’TSSCHiuh!!” 

The loud sneeze from behind makes the rugged man flinch, feeling a gust of air and cold spray instantly hit the back of his neck. He slowly turns around completely this time, bringing a hand up to wipe where he had felt the sickly spray come in contact as he was greeted by a young man with short brown hair, sniffling and wiping his nose onto his jacket sleeve.

“Oh, come on, man! Are you freggin serious?!” Draco yells, feeling disgusted and aggravated at the stranger. The outburst causes a handful of eyes to veer over to their direction. The younger man could only give a sheepish smile in return, feeling way beyond embarrassed and nervous of what the rugged man would do.

“I, uhh… I’m sorry, man! It’s just allergies! ‘Tis the season, right?” The young man said with a pleading smile and nervous laugh, trying his best to ease the rugged man over. Allergies my ass. His voice sounded thick and strained just from that apology alone, and Draco already knew what this meant. He looked like a walking germ cell; ain’t no way that’s some goddamn allergies. 

“Un-fucking-believable.” He muttered, looking at his hand in disgust. He was furious way beyond comprehension, but he didn’t want to cause a bigger scene than he had already. For this kids’ sake. The young man pulled out a pack of tissues and handed him one with a shaky hand. “Where the hell was this at before you fucking sneezed on me?!” His voice was loud with anger again as he snatched the tissue out of the man’s hand and wiped his own in disgust. The younger man quickly fumbled into the packet again to grab his own tissues as his eyelashes began to gently flutter shut. 

“Ah’TSSCHiih..! Ih‘TISShiEW!!” 

The cans and bottles in his handheld basket clanked against each other as the young man jerked forwards, diving into his hand full of tissues as his bangs bounced off of his clammy forehead with each itchy explosion. He would’ve crashed into the chip rack if not for the kind stranger behind him. Draco was relieved when the customer in front of him was beginning to load the belt with his items, allowing him to scoot up some again. It was short lived though, when the young man also scooted up behind him, sniffling and coughing so close in his ear it felt like he was practically shoulder to shoulder with him.

Finally, after a few more minutes of waiting, it was Draco’s turn to quickly checkout and instantly leave the store. The cold air greeted Draco once again, but he didn’t care this time. He was just happy to get out of that store and separate himself from that walking germ infestation. His arms were already starting to get tired even though he had two more stores to visit; He just wanted to go home honestly and take another hot shower to cleanse himself. It was about a ten-minute walk to get to the next store on his list. The fresh air was really nice, but it was awfully cold and starting to loosen up his sinuses. He had to sniffle every few seconds just to try and prevent his nose from leaking onto his numb upper lip.

His second shopping experience was pretty similar to the last store, minus the disgusting event, but the process went by faster than he had thought it would, and for that he was grateful. He peered down at the shopping list once again, having a wave of relief brush over him from seeing the small handful of items that he had left to get: Cranberry sauce, Asparagus, wait… Proscouittio? What the hell was a proscouittio? The rugged man sat down on the nearest bench, allowing his arms to rest by setting down all of his grocery bags onto the cold concrete as he pulled out his cellphone and dialed up the pediatrician.

“Hello? Draco?” The smooth and concerned voice of the gentleman was heard on the other end of the phone.

“Yeah, it’s me. What the hell is a pro… scouittio?” The rugged man asked, voice still coated with irritation from having to be out shopping. He snuffled twice into a curled knuckle, giving the underside of his nose a quick wipe after feeling a faint burning at the back of his sinuses from the cold air. A light chuckle is heard on the other end from the gentleman.

“It’s prosciutto, not proscouittio.” Reuben corrected through a light snicker. Draco snarled, irritably bringing his phone closer to his mouth. 

“If you’re going to laugh and make fun of me, so help me God I swear I’ll hang up right fucking now and blow this money at the nearest bar in sight.” His voice was dry and grim, causing Reuben to stop his chuckling instantly. The rugged man snuffled thickly again, lifting up his arm to briefly rub his leaky nose along his jacket sleeve this time. 

“Okay, okay, calm down. There’s no reason to get all riled up.” Reuben’s voice had a naturally childish glee to it today that forced Draco to ease up a little, even if he didn’t want to. “It’s a thinly sliced ham. Very delicious. You can find it at Scardello deli a little way east of the Shopping Center. Oh, and Draco, make sure you’re reading all of the ingredients carefully. My parents are coming over and it has to be correct.” It was hard to pay attention to Reuben, seeing how his nose would not stop running no matter how many times he wiped at it. He had to keep sniffling to himself in order to barely keep the leakage at bay. He audibly sighs, as he felt his inner nostrils begin to tingle from the cold air just enough to make his chest bounce with a muted hitch.  “—And a block of Gruyère cheese from the deli too, please.” There was a moment of silence before Reuben realized that he had been talking to himself for the past few seconds. Another muted hitch escapes from Draco as his nose and lips began to quiver uncomfortably from the subtle itch. 

“Hehh…” He could feel his eyelids start to droop closed and his shoulders begin to rise from the third inhale that was audible this time and forced him to bring up a shaky hand to squeeze his nostrils shut with his thumb and forefinger. 

“Hello? Draco? Are you there—" The hitch only sounds like a soft grunt to Reuben as he is unable to hear clearly since Draco instantly pushed the device deep into his chest as he jerked forwards twice.

“Kxxnt… Hhuh-… Eh’GSXnt!” The first sneeze was weak and soft enough to go unnoticed, but it made the gentle tingle in his sinuses rattle, causing the second sneeze to sound a bit more agitated and loud enough to get picked up on the line.  

“Oh? Bless you, Draco. Are you alright?” Reuben asked, voice clearly coated with concern. The rugged man barely caught the sentence as he brought the phone back up to his ear, sniffling a handful of times into his curled knuckle.

“Yeah, ‘s just cold as hell out here. What were you talkin’ about?” Draco muttered, massaging the bridge of his nose with chilled fingertips.

“I said I need you to pick up a block of Gruyère cheese from Scardello’s Deli for me while you’re out. I must’ve forgotten to put it on the list.”

“Jeez, I need a drink.” Draco groaned as he massaged the bridge of his nose in irritation of the new item added to his list this time.

"Tell you what: I'll pay your bar tab for all of the hassle you're going through today, even though all of this could've been avoided had you listened to me." Reuben offered, mumbling the second half of his sentence in a matter-of-fact manner. Draco didn't care though. He was sold on the 'pay your bar tab' part.

"You've got yourself a deal then." 

“Good. Oh- And Draco, be safe out there. Don’t stay out in the cold for too long. Make sure you’re keeping wa--” 

“Tch.” Draco instantly ended the call after he irritably smacked his lips, ignoring the pediatrician’s advice. He didn’t need to hear something he already knew and was well aware of. Reuben wasn’t his parent. He knew how to take care of himself. The rugged man quickly stood back up in a huff and headed straight for the second to last store on his list. 

The next store that he needed to visit was a fresh produce store. Reuben was very picky about the ingredients that he needed. He always wanted it to be organic and to be from a certain brand, which was very annoying and very time consuming to find. If he had been lazy and just brought home a random brand of the product, he knew that he wouldn't hear the end of it from Reuben. Draco didn't know why the hell he cared so much, seeing how it all tasted the same to him anyway. What was the point? It was all food; one just costs more than the other.

The list was growing shorter though, and it only took him about half an hour to find the ingredients that he needed, and checking out was a breeze. The only place he needed to visit was Scardello's Deli. He was glad that this was his last stop though. He was growing rather hungry and decided to take this opportunity to grab him some lunch with the leftover grocery money, if he had any.

Upon approaching the Deli, his heart instantly sinks from how many people are inside of the deli, and just from seeing all the tables outside being filled as well. For a brief moment he had forgotten that it was almost Christmas and that the piles of people showing up to this Deli wouldn't be an exception. Scardello's was also a popular Italian deli, famous for their tasty, high quality ingredients; seeing this many people here on an average day wouldn't be surprising either. You'd be lucky if you didn't have to wait in a long line that extended outside of the store.

Draco quickly stepped in line, wanting to save his place before someone else had the chance to and began the waiting game for the last time. He was happy, seeing how after he was finished shopping here, he could finally go home and he also had free alcohol on his waiting list. It wasn't too bad though. He enjoyed the scent of freshly toasted bread and the savory scent of spices that were infused into the meats. This was the best experience he had today for waiting in a long line, even if he had handfuls of groceries in his hands.

After waiting for about 20 minutes in line, it was finally his turn to order and he was relieved. There was a big glass full of different types of meats on display in front of him, all looking very delicious, but he points to the specific type of prosciutto that Reuben had asked for, along with the block of Gruyère cheese. The cashier nods to the rugged man and repeats the order back to a couple of workers that were slicing meat in the back as he pressed a few buttons onto his register.

"Prosciutto di Parma. Good choice. Delicate to the tongue and sweet to the taste." The woman behind him stated as she approached the meat display and stood beside him. She held her black suitcase to her side as her long, white lab coat flapped behind her as she turned to study the rugged man standing in front of her. "Hmm... You don't look like the type to eat anything close to prosciutto... Who sent you?" She mused, chuckling to herself as she saw the confused, and now irritated glare on Draco's face. The rugged man furrowed a brow at the lady, feeling offended by her choice of words. ‘Look the type’? The hell does she mean by that? 

Her long, brown hair seemed to flow vibrantly behind her back, naturally complimenting her dark, purple orbs while she looked at the display case full of meat. She was actually very beautiful in Draco's eyes; he had to force himself to shift his gaze so that he didn’t end up staring for too long.

"I gotta $62.60 for a Prosciutto Di Parma an’ a Gruyère ." The cashier stated through a heavy Italian accent that instantly snagged Draco's attention and brought him back to reality. Over $50 for just some damn meat and cheese? What has the world come to, he thought to himself. 

"U-uh, yeah, and I wanna add your uhh... Italian Sub. That should be cheap enough at least." He muttered, dazed by both the woman still hovering over his shoulder and the price of the meat as he fumbled into his pockets for the leftover grocery money. 

"Ey, Giuseppe, put his order on my ticket." The woman stated as she gently grabbed his hand in order to prevent him from scrambling for the lose bills in his pockets any longer. “Grazie mille amico mio.” Draco gave the woman both a confused and disapproving look in return but she brushed it off as she placed her own order on top of his. 

“Nessun problema. Qualunque cosa per mia sorella!” The cashier replied with a smile as he typed away on the cash register. 

"The hell d’you think you’re doing, lady? I have the money to pay, you know." Draco muttered to the woman with shattered pride after she had placed her order. The cashier had told them to stand over to the side as they began preparing their food.

"Mm-hmm. Oh I'm sure you do." She said with a flirtatious grin. Draco couldn't tell if she was joking or if she was just being sarcastic. Or both. The childish tone of her voice reminded him of Lirin a bit, and made him unintentionally release an agitated sigh. "Nobody in their right mind walks into Scardello's with pocket change."

"Listen, lady, pocket change or not: money is money. Don’t give a rats ass about how it looks." Even though she was very beautiful, her beauty didn’t seem to filter Draco’s mouth nor his personality. He could care less, really. She could’ve been Beyonce in a two piece and he still would’ve said the same thing. 

"Hm. Touché." She muttered, giving the rugged man an approving nod before giving him a light punch in the shoulder. “Can you not call me lady though? Don’t you know how rude that sounds?” 

"Do I look like a fuckin’ mind-reader? I don’t know your name, lady.”

“The name's Sicily." Her response came out awkward sounding as she fought to keep herself from actually socking him in the shoulder again. “Gaash, do you kiss your mother with that potty mouth?” 

"Don’t you ever mention my mother ever again, you got that??" He mutters intensely, having the cashier interrupt their conversation with two bags of food in hand. 

She awkwardly thanked the cashier and gave him a tip before leaving the Deli. Draco followed her outside over to a wooden bench a few steps away from the Deli as she sat down and separated the food between both of them.

"Y’know, you’re being kinda rude to the person that just bought all this food for you. Here." She said as she gave him the bag with freshly purchased food inside. "That one's yours." Draco accepted the bag in silence as she taps the bench and invites him to join her and have a seat, in which he distantly accepts. The two sit in silence for a good few minutes before Sicily decides to cut through the tension. “I didn’t catch your name earlier...” She mumbled into her sandwich before taking a bite out of it. 

“... Draco, I guess...” He replied annoyed, only staring at his sandwich rather than eating it.

"Well, Mr. Draco... You’re an asshole, you know that?” She stated through a soft chuckle after hearing Draco release a loud, obviously aggravated grunt in response, “An attractive asshole, I might add. And honestly, you just have the manliest resting bitch face I’ve ever seen--” 

“What the hell are you getting at here?” 

 “You wanna know why I paid for your meal? I just wanted to make that sour face at least a liiiittle bit sweeter, you know?” The rugged man gave a perplexed look towards the woman sitting beside him. It felt weird hearing a woman speak so openly and without a filter just like him. 

“...Shut up...” Draco half-muttered after an exhausted sigh, before finally taking a bite out of his sandwich. 

“You’d like that wouldn’t you? Too bad. I’m not a sheep. I don’t follow orders.” She mused with a dorky accent, surprisingly earning an unexpected chuckle from the rugged man. He wasn’t expecting such a resilient response. He had to admit, she was a cute, quirky, and geeky person that made his heart flutter the more he talked with the woman. 

The two sat on the bench oddly enjoying each other's company and eating the delicious Italian lunch for about half an hour. Even though it was really cold outside, it didnt matter to them. It felt like Draco was genuinely having a great time with Sicily and he didn't want it to end. You might even say it was a first date at that. She seemed to be the only person that could get underneath his thick skin and actually make him chuckle, multiple times at that. Wait a minute, what was he thinking? It couldn’t have been a date. They were simply just having a decent lunch together. That was all. 

The half hour feels like seconds as the time flew by, though. They had already finished their lunch and Draco knew that he needed to get back and put the groceries away. Sicily seemed like she had her own plans to get back to as well, seeing how she was the one who had cut the event short. She did feel awful about ending their moment, so she paid for his Uber and waited with him until the Uber arrived to take him home.

***

Draco had an odd, empty feeling resting in his stomach as the Uber pulled up to Reuben's home. He was glad to be home and to have all the shopping finished; It felt like a huge weight was lifted off of his shoulders, but he still missed the company of Sicily. He thanks the driver for the ride after he collected all of his belongings and started for the front door, heaving all of the groceries along with him.

Draco raises a curious brow as he sees Reuben's car in the driveway. It was out of the ordinary to see Reuben's car here at this time, because he normally didn't come home until late at night. The rugged man adjusts the bags in his hands, dismissing the fact of the car being there only to be halted by a stray dog crossing his path in the driveway.

The dog looked like a black and brown German Shepard, but it had a deep cut along its left eye and it was faintly shivering from the cold winter air. Once Draco made eye contact with the canine, it slowly sat down and wagged its tail, patiently waiting. For what, Draco had no idea. He had seen this dog before. Multiple times at that. Reuben would always chase the dog away with his shoe whenever he saw him on the porch, but Draco never understood why. The rugged man cautiously approached the injured creature with a struggling hand to scratch behind its ears and the dog instantly dropped its mouth open and let its tongue hang out, clearly enjoying the attention and feeling of affection.

"You like that, dontcha boy?" As if in response to Draco, the dog barked and hopped up to place his paws onto the rugged man’s chest, trying to lick his face. Draco chuckled at the friendly creature and gave it a hug as he couldn't resist the poor, abandoned animal. He knew how being cold, lonely and abandoned felt and how much value was in the slightest amount of affection. He wasn’t fast enough to dodge as the canine licked his cheek a few times. "Okay, okay, down boy! Get down!" He had to force the dog down, seeing how the canine was overly excited from the rugged man and his attention. "What’s your name, anyway?" He muttered, trying to find a collar or dog tag on the animal, only to find nothing. The stray dog sat in front of the rugged man with excited eyes. It was hard for Draco to look back at the poor animal, but he knew that he couldn't take him into Reuben's house. The pediatrician had mentioned that he disliked dogs with a passion; for what reason, Draco had no clue. He gave the dog one last good rub and slipped past him in order to get to the front porch. The dog only sat in place, watching the rugged man as he stood on the porch, glaring back at the stray dog with guilt. “... You know what, fuck it.” He says as he grabs a slice of the prosciutto and tosses it to the stray dog. Immediately, the dog grabs the meat and runs into the grass, tearing the meat up and swallowing it savagely like he hadn’t eaten in a while. ‘You enjoy that, little buddy.” He whispers before sliding into the house. 

***

Draco released a light sigh as he was relieved to be back home and outside of the cold. Before he could enter the kitchen to set down the groceries, Reuben arose from the couch and greeted him with a cheerful grin.

"Welcome back, Draco. I assume everything went well?" The gentleman grabbed a few of the bags from the rugged man and led him into the kitchen.

"Yeah, but- wait, why are you home right now?" Draco asked, confusion coating his voice, as he sat the bags on the counter and began to take all of the items out. Reuben gives a slight chuckle as he takes the empty bag from Draco and throws it in the trash.

"I couldn't have you here while I wrapped up all the Christmas gifts, now could I?" He said, pointing at the elegant Christmas tree that now had multiple gifts resting underneath it. Draco rolled his eyes, aggravated at the fact that it would’ve been a whole lot easier if Reuben would’ve taken him to the store in the first place. “Oh, relax, would you? I thought I’d find you wearing an ear-to-ear grin from the clean slate you now have at the bar!"

"... Fine, just whatever... There better be a flask full of booze under there or you're catching fists." He falsely allowed the joke to slip off of his tongue, forgetting that he wasn't outside with Sicily anymore. Reuben doesn't mind though, and takes it as him finally getting into the Christmas spirit. "What's with the sweater?"

"Oh this old thing? You like it?” Humors Reuben as he stretches out the sweater in order to show off all the glowing Christmas lights and decorations on it. The rugged man only gives a disgusted look in disapproval at the ugly thing. "It even lights up, s-see?Ihktsh!" Reuben furrowed a confused brow as he barely caught the abrupt sneeze into a curled knuckle, feeling an overwhelming itch force entry into his sinuses and cut his shirt viewing short. 

A sharp, breathy inhale was the only thing Draco heard before he looked over to see Reuben twitching forward with each rapid sneeze, catching them with the top-side of his hand. "Hih-Ktsh! Hihktsh! Hh-Hihh! Hih'KSsh! HuhISsSCH'ue!!" The power of the tickling sensation was so strong and abrupt that his lungs didn’t know how to function properly with the irritant fighting in his sinuses.

He knew the feeling of this type of tickle. It wasn’t from sickness, nor from hay fever, and his house hadn’t been dusty enough to irritate him the past few days, so it could’ve only been one other thing.  A handful of muted gasps escape from the gentleman as he could feel his sensitive nose trembling in agony. 

“Hh-have youhh beenn playi’gw-wihh-hih! Wid dohh-gs??” The pediatrician struggled to ask between hitching breaths as he grabbed a few tissues from off of the counter with one hand and pinched his nostrils closed with his other hand. 

“Yeah, so what if I did?” Draco fired back, defensively as if the stray dog were under attack by the evil pediatrician. The gentleman only blew his nose in return, shaking his head from how intense the tickle was becoming. He instantly shuffled backwards after he blew into the handful of tissues for a second time, foolishly trying to expel the irritant as quickly as possible, only to rattle the irritant around and get hit with the full force of the tickling sensation. He coughed and fanned at the air as if doing so would remove the irritant that forced his nostrils to instantly tremble in aggravation. He could feel his body rejecting the irritant fiercely as his eyelids instantly slammed shut once again and his chest visibly bounced from the rapid, overwhelming breaths his body felt were necessary to take between each desperate sneeze he lazily caught in the handful of tissues. The sudden irritant caught both him and his body off guard as it physically tried to process what the devil Draco had brought into his presence. 

“D-Dr-a’KSh!Ihktsh!! Huh’kSsh!! I-Ihssh’uehh-hih! HihH’ksh’u!!… I-Ih-hhehh-HH…” Reuben barely squinted his eyes open to share a struggling glare with Draco, trying his hardest to speak but failed miserably, getting lost in his own sea of rapid hitches. The strength of the irritant forced the pediatrician to instantly jerk forwards into the damp handful of tissues with rapid, itchy explosions. 

“Hihktsh! Kshnt! IhKTSH-tsshIISsh! AlleH-Hh’Issh…! T-tIDSh’ue!! Hehh…D-dohhgs-s Hhgh-ihkssh’u! hHAH-ESsh’uekgshu! IH’KGshIEw!! Iksshu! Kgshu-IKGSshu!” The gentleman's body trembled with each sneeze as he struggled to take in a breath of air. He had foolishly tried to speak in-between the fit in vain as he had cut himself off with the rapid, tumbling sneezes. 

The rugged man gives Reuben a questioning glare as he released four more tired sneezes in-between desperate nose blows and irritated coughs into his handful of tissues. He didn't know that Reuben had a dog allergy; He also hadn't played with the canine for that long either, so he was confused as to why Reuben was having such a reaction.

"I'm a-allerhh-hih... Hahh...! Ihktsh!! Hheh'kssh-ISshu! 'EDSh'ue!! Ekgsh!! IsshShishh! IGSSch'uh! Hahh... Allergigk do dogs." He congestedly tried to explain again through disruptive hitches. 

Draco could see the pediatrician's pink tipped nose still twitching from the irritant lingering about as he dabbed away the allergic tears that started rolling down his cheeks with the side of his hand. He gave a sly smirk to himself, finding a hint of pleasure in seeing the arrogant pediatrician looking so vulnerable. It was nice to see Reuben knocked off of his high horse for a bit. 

"Well in that case, I want a dog." Draco humored to the pediatrician as he watched him still trying to catch his unsteady breath.

"Hah’KGshn! Ihgsh! Kgsch! H-how consihhderate o-of... Ih-Kgsshn! Hh-huh... youhh." His speech was still shaky and broken from the faint hitches riddled between his words. He blows his nose once again in an attempt to blow out the irritant that had entered his nostrils, but it does nothing but dampen the tissues further in his hand.  

 The gentleman irritably tells Draco to finish putting away the groceries and to throw his clothes into the washer as he left the room to take some allergy medicine, already beginning to feel miserable. He also couldn’t help but give a little chuckle to himself, finding the whole situation to be quite humorous. He only wondered how bad it would be if Reuben were to actually encounter a dog in person. 

The hot shower that Draco had been waiting for all day finally came and went, leaving him with a strong feeling of relief and relaxation. It felt like ten pounds had been lifted off of his shoulders, seeing how he still felt disgusting from that irritating encounter at the store. Reuben seemed to be feeling better as well, since he had stopped sneezing when he got out of the shower. He had to admit: The Christmas vibes were definitely present from both the nicely decorated Christmas tree and all of the decorations Reuben had been putting up all over the house. It was his first Christmas with the pediatrician, and it felt like it was going to be a great one at that.

December 24th

The loud clank of a pan serves as a rude awakening for the rugged man as he flinched awake from the couch. He tries to open his eyes but instantly slams them shut with a heavy wince from the blinding living room lights. A few light coughs escape from his grasp as he sluggishly wiped the sleep from his eyes. He felt groggy today. Groggier than usual. He releases a sluggish snuffle in an attempt to clear the wall of congestion that must’ve built up overnight. 

“Evening, Draco.” The lanky gentleman greeted from the kitchen, adding water to a pot before placing it on the stove top. “A pleasure to see you awake. I surely thought you were going to sleep the entire day away.” The rugged man remained silent as he blindly reached for his flask from off of the coffee table and instantly began consuming the alcoholic beverage, only to choke on the burn in his throat. That was strange. He thought that he was used to the burn of a little Whiskey. “How many times have I told you to stop drinking in the morning?” The rugged man winces, trying to clear his throat of the itch and now faint burn from the alcohol.

“Mornin’ to you too, asshole.” He muttered dismissively, hearing his own voice sound a little scratchier than usual. “HhUh-TDZSSH...!! EHh’GTSZSHh’UHH!! GOD--!! Damnit!!” He barely catches the first loud sneeze into the cup of his hand, almost spilling his flask from the force of the second loud sneeze that shakes his entire core. He yells a swear, feeling the most torturous burn scrape his raw throat from the loud morning sneezes. 

“Ah. Lovely.” The sarcastic tone from the gentleman earned a pained chuckle out of Draco as he struggled to choke down another swig from his flask. “I’m expecting company over soon. I’d recommend getting dressed and presentable.”

“Dressed and ‘presentable’? Screw off.” Reuben only sighed in return, not in the mood to put up with Draco’s shenanigans. A mild yawn escapes his lips as he glares at the clock resting on the stand. “3:30pm? Shit.” He mumbled as he rubbed a hand across his face in an attempt to wipe the sleep away as he got up to join the pediatrician in the kitchen. There were a lot of different foods scattered across all of the kitchen countertops with other food items cooking on the stove as well, and he was sure that he saw something baking in the oven. “Why the hell are you makin’ so much food?” Reuben abruptly stopped cutting the vegetables on the cutting board and sat his knife down in order to share a confused glare at Draco. 

“Draco, my family is coming over for the Holidays, remember?” His heart instantly sank after hearing those words. He had forgotten about Reuben’s family coming to visit. He dreaded this day as well because it was going to be the most awkward day of his life, which was probably the reason he had forgotten about it in the first place. “You do remember, don’t you?”

“HhUH-EGTSsh!! Y-yeah, sure. When are dhey cobin’ a-adywayhh? IH’TIZSSCH'ugh!! Shidt.” He asked between the forceful sneezes, dismissively trying to hide the fact that he truly had forgotten about his parents coming over. The gentleman raises a concerned brow at the second pair of harsh sneezes and gives the rugged man a quick gloss-over. 

“My blessings. Are you feeling well, Draco?” The pediatrician doesn’t hesitate to shove a cool palm underneath the man’s disheveled bangs and atop his clammy forehead out of his routine pediatric habit. “You look exhausted. Then again, when don’t you look exhausted?” Draco flinches and knocks away Reuben’s hand in return, before taking another swig from his flask. 

“’M fine. Your snooty parents must be talking about me already.” He humored, but not really. He didn’t want to offend the gentleman, but they both knew it was obvious. Reuben brushed off his comment, not disputing it either, seeing how Draco could’ve been right. His parents were a bit snobbish and he wouldn’t be surprised if they actually were talking about him right now.

“We agreed on 4pm, but knowing my family they’ll probably be knocking on the door any minute now. That is why I’d strongly advise getting dressed.” The rugged man leaned against the countertop in silence for a moment, trying to find at least someway to get out of this pickle he was forced into. 

“Why the hell do I gotta act all nice and prissy just to impress your damn parents? It ain’t like we gettin’ married.” He irritably muttered into his opened flask, dreading the evening he had to prepare for. The pediatrician took a moment to compose himself, trying not to let the stress of the day wash over him and cause him to say or do something he didn’t intend to. 

“Draco, can you please just wash up and get dressed? Don’t make this difficult. You can leave for the bar right after, I don’t care, just don’t embarrass me, please?” Draco gave the man a questioning look. He hadn’t heard the pediatrician ask him to do something in this pleading tone ever. It was... different. A bit concerning. 

“Whatever...” He grumbled, silently slipping out of the kitchen and leaving the pediatrician to continue cooking the feast in kitchen.

He had to admit that he was a little nervous about meeting Reuben’s family. If his family was as arrogant and uptight just like he was, it was going to be a long evening. Especially if Reuben was acting this way about his parents, something was definitely going to go down. He did seem like the type to have parents with high expectations and standards, which Draco knew that he wasn’t qualified for. Even though Reuben was how he was, he didn’t want to leave a bad impression on his family, but he couldn’t make any promises either. He knew that he was going to have to prepare himself to probably listen to his parent’s brag about how much money they make and how proud they are to have a Pediatrician as a son. He released a long sigh as he collected a some-what clean outfit, completely ignoring the pressed suit and tie that Reuben picked out for him, and headed into the bathroom. 

***

Draco took his time in the shower, not wanting to leave the bathroom at all and face a room of strangers. He already started to feel slightly worse from when he had woken up, seeing how his nose had begun to leak and itch more profoundly and his throat was really becoming agitated. He could already hear a few unfamiliar voices carrying into the restroom that made him uneasy. He was a complete stranger getting dumped into a family meet and greet. He knew that he would feel out of place and like he didn’t belong but there was no way to escape. All of his guests had already arrived and were chatting up a storm in the other room. He could make out Lirin’s high pitched voice, which gave him at least a little bit of comfort, but the other few voices made him release a tense sigh. This was going to be weird, but it was better to hurry up and get this over with now.

Draco slowly opened the bathroom door, deciding that it was time to leave the steamy bathroom so that the stuffy, warm air could stop making his nose leak so damn much. He carefully peered down the hallway, instantly being greeted by unfamiliar faces. There was a man with brown hair and glasses in a dark suit, looking like an older version of Reuben just with stubbles on his chin that was having a conversation with a mature woman, looking young for her age, with long, luscious brown hair; They looked like they had professions related in business or sales.

“Speak of the devil, that must be the man of the hour! My son here’s been tellin’ me all about ya!” The man in the suit said with open arms as Draco approached the group. He instantly pulled the rugged man in for a tight hug that took the breath away from him and caused him to cough over the man’s shoulder. “Don’t be shy! We’re all family here.” After a brief moment, he finally let go and gave Draco a good look over. “You look well! Seems like you’ve made yourself right at home.” The rugged man remained silent, unsure of how to respond to the sudden change of tone from his last sentence.

“Oh, don’t mind him, honey.” The woman said as she straightened up Draco’s shirt. “Donovan’s always been such a hard-ass to all of Reuben’s new friends, haven’t you, Donny?” She said, abruptly giving Donovan a death glare. “My name’s Colette.” Before he could even reply to the woman, Donovan stepped closer to Draco with judging eyes.

“I just don’t want my son to have any bad influences or distractions. You know how it is.” Draco took an uncomfortable step backwards, feeling the tense atmosphere weighing on his shoulders. He already felt like he was being pulled in both directions from both parents. The rugged man froze, feeling like the dark glare from Reuben’s father was judging his every move and action. He curses internally, feeling his nose start to run again, knowing that he can’t do anything about it at this moment.

“Dad I’ve told you countless times, he’s not a distraction. I’ve been doing just fine even with him here.” Reuben said through an irritated sigh as he stressfully massaged the bridge of his nose. Donovan instantly approaches Reuben with a stern voice, clearly not fond of the entire situation. It seemed like none of his words were getting through to him.

“Mmm. And just how long does this Draco plan on staying here?” The rugged man forcefully took this opportunity to turn around and grab a few tissues and wipe his nose, before the leakage had the chance to become visible. A hint of relief crosses over him as he quietly blew into the tissues. It was a soft enough blow to the point where it didn’t draw any attention away from the conversation.

“Ease up, darling. It’s Christmas. We came down here to enjoy the holiday with our son and niece. Besides, Draco looks like a responsible young man. If our son says he’s fine with him being here, leave it at that.”

“Yeah, Draco is SUCH a RESPONSIBLE young man.” Lirin childishly chimed in, hugging Reuben loosely from his side. “You should see how RESPONSIBLE he is when he’s drunk.” She smirked. Draco bit his tongue, trying his best to catch himself from saying an angry remark. Just hearing her sarcasm made him clench his teeth.

“Is that so…?” The voice of a clearly intrigued and curious woman fills the room as Sicily enters the house and locks the door behind her. “We’ll have to grab a drink later.” She flashes Draco a charming wink that makes him instantly look away.

"Sicily, darling! We thought you wouldn't be able to make it! What a pleasant surprise!" Colette exclaims in surprise as she embraces the woman. “Is that alcohol I smell on your breath?”

"Mom, relax. What are you, a police officer? It’s Christmas!” Sicily’s entrance cuts through the tense atmosphere as she gives Donovan, Reuben and Lirin a hug in greeting. “Anywho, don’t be shy now, Draco, was it?” She gave the rugged man a playful nudge in his side as she pulled him over onto the couch. Draco doesn't fight her as he allows himself to be forced down onto the couch, feeling both relieved that he got snatched away from the demonic man, but also, dare he say 'happy' to see Sicily for a second time. "Some parents, huh?" She says after observing Draco's facial expressions. "I know. Dad can be quite the handful. Just make sure mom doesn't get a hold of any wine, or that could be a real shit-show." She giggled to herself as she kicked off her boots. “Last year, mom had a liiiiittle too much of the holiday nog and almost broke all of my drinking glasses. Wanna know how? She was throwing them at pops for losing 10 grand in one of his stock investments.” Another, louder giggle erupts from Sicily, earning a darted glare from Donovan towards Draco. 

“Um, excuse me everyone. Dinner is almost ready, so if you all could please relocate to the dining room…” Reuben muttered, placing the dinner rolls on the table.”

  ***

“Honey, this looks delicious!” Colette exclaims, looking at all of the food Reuben had prepared. It did look delicious. How one man could make so many different dishes all by himself beat Draco. He did a really nice job with everything, but of course, he wasn’t going to tell Reuben that.

“Let’s dig in!!” Lirin exclaimed before instantly chowing down on her over-piled plate. She was the first to make her plate before anyone else cold even touch the food.

There were so many silverware and differently sized plates on the table and it made Draco squirm internally. It felt like he was being setup. He and Reuben both knew that he didn’t have any knowledge about dining etiquette, or any etiquette in general. Hell- he doesn’t even know the name of anything that’s on his plate! He’s sure that everything on the dining table was fancy and had a L or Lu in front of it. He wouldn’t be surprised if Reuben’s family called their glasses of water: L’agua. 

The rugged man watched as all of the family members delicately picked up their proper utensils and began to elegantly cut and eat the food on their plates. It was like he was in the realm of gods and goddesses and he was the only human in sight, attempting to mimic their custom. Even Lirin somehow managed to mask her gluttony. It was hard to even think about eating, seeing how he could barely survive the coldhearted looks that Donovan was darting his way. He could tell that he was subtly watching him, waiting to see which utensil he would pick up first and judge him if he grabbed at the wrong one.

“Aren’t you going to eat, Draco?” Reuben’s mom gave him a concerned look as she noticed he hadn’t touched his plate. “Your food will get cold soon. It really is good, I promise!” 

"Mom? Please." She whispered, feeling insulted. "Hey Draco, wanna blow this joint and go get some drinks? Lirin tells me you're a real drinker."

“I thought you’d never ask…” He replied with a nervous laugh, giving Reuben almost a puppy dog look of ‘please let me leave, this is my only escape.’ His parents tried to talk them out of it, but of course, Draco can’t be talked out of consuming alcohol.

***

 The music being played from the piano at the back of the bar rang blissfully in their ears as they entered the bar. It wasn’t too crowded, surprisingly. A soft aroma of alcohol filled the air as the two slowly approached the counter. There was a nice Christmas tree set up near the piano that lit up the room, with a male bartender wiping out a glass behind the counter.

“How can I help you?” The man said as he tossed the towel onto his shoulder and sat the glass down onto the rack.

“Let me get two shots of Bourbon for me and my friend here please.” Sicily ordered as she took a seat on the bar stool. The bartender nodded in understanding as he grabbed a bottle and started pouring the alcohol. Draco hesitantly sat down in the stool beside the woman, still tense and a bit uncomfortable with going into a bar with the pediatrician’s sister. “Relax, I just want to loosen up and have a couple of drinks with you.” She muttered, pulling out a cigarette from the paper carton and resting it on her rose red lips. She shared a short glance with Draco before it was awkwardly broken by the rugged man pretending to clear his throat.

 As the night went on, the fuzzier his head was beginning to feel. He had only had 5 shots and he could already feel himself starting to get a little more than tipsy. It was weird; Usually he could down more shots than this without feeling a buzz this early on. He could hardly think, let alone keep up with what Sicily was saying, not like what she was saying mattered, anyway. Draco was sure that she was one shot away from being completely plastered, seeing how her cheeks were flushed and her words were so slurred that it was a challenge to understand a word coming from her.

“It’s nice to let lose every once in a while, and take a break from all this classy shit.” She says, hoping to break the tension while allowing a long sigh to escape from her lips, causing a stream of gray smoke to bounce off of the counter-top and disperse into the air.

"You're tellin' me..." Draco muttered, grabbing the shot glass from the bartender and immediately scarfing it down like it were a dose a vicodine. "I could barely manage back there."

"Yeah..." Sicily distantly mutters, glaring down at the shot glass in her hand for a moment before irritably scarfing it down as well with haste.

“HhH’EGJISCH…!! ‘EGSSCHIUH!!” The rugged man dove forwards over the counter, holding his glass of whiskey away from him in vain so that hopefully it didn’t spill when he jerked forward with both of his itchy explosions. “O-oh shit! *hic*” He yelled with a breathy chuckle, finding humor from both Sicily’s laughter and the discovery of a small splash of alcohol that had spilled onto the counter from his glass. Sicily had toppled over onto the drunk man’s chest in laughter, struggling to breathe from how hard she was laughing. Draco’s own laughter abruptly stopped as the burning in his nostrils was still intense and flaring about.

“HhUH…!!” He sloppily leaned backwards with a deep inhale, barely able to stay upright from the weight of Sicily leaned so close up against him. He can feel his nostrils trembling in irritation from the burning as he slams his eyelids shut and dipped forwards again, slamming his glass onto the counter-top.

“Hhih…! Hhg’TIZSSCH’uhh! *hic* h-HUhgDzZSSCH’uhgg!!” His reflexes aren’t in tune from the alcoholic fuzziness as he is slow in turning his head away from the drunk woman. The first sneeze flies over Sicily’s head and lands on the counter-top, but he is able to partially turn his head over to the right and aim the second slurred mess of a sneeze towards the ground. Sicily shrieks in surprise from the two loud sneezes, feeling his chest tense up and shove her forwards, but she instantly smothered her chuckles into her hands as she pulled away from Draco and took a sip of alcohol from her shot glass. The rugged man brings up a sluggish, curled knuckle to lazily wipe underneath his faintly twitching nostrils, only to feel how moist and leaky they had been.

“Sh-shidt… Hheh…” He tries to cup his hand in order to lazily cover the disgusting mess on the lower half of his face, but before he can even ask for a tissue, his chest inflates quickly, forcing him to lean back once more with a disturbed grimace on his face. “

Sicily sloppily reaches into her purse, fumbling over herself as she takes out her handkerchief and shoves it into his cupped hand.

“Pineapple!” Sicily yelled abruptly, before he could even finish the oncoming sneeze.

“HhUHh’G-ghhn…?” The forceful hitch is instantly interrupted as his fuzzy and sluggish brain tried to wrap his mind around the randomness of the word pineapple. He sat there for a moment, confused, still waiting for the impending sneeze but the tingling in his sinuses had slightly died down to a quieter itch at the back of his nose.

“Ahh YEP, works everytimee.” She tiredly mused, downing her last shot of whiskey. Two hiccups escaped from her mouth once she downed her last shot and she giggled to herself before she flipped the shot glass upside down onto the counter.

“I use’to do thaht with Reuben when he’ws younger. That boy hadth’ most sensitive nose I’d ever seen. Once he start’d sneezin’ there was no goin’ back. ‘less you yell ‘pineapple!’ a’the right time. That’ll do it.” She muttered, fighting the effects of the alcohol that were trying to make her pass out on the counter-top.

"Hey... I wann' tell you somethin' an... An' you bettnot l-laugh..." The rugged man rubbed his face, feeling his mouth and tongue gradually becoming numb. It was definitely weird. He was feeling a lot of things tonight, both good and bad. He looked at Sicily with tired eyes, watching her back rise and sink with each breath she took as she rested on the counter with her head faced down in her arms. She grunted softly, as if signaling to Draco that she was still listening. "I... I r-really like you, you know tha?"

"Oh, that's nice. Me too." She muttered, giggling softly in her folded arms. At that moment, Draco's heart flew out of his chest as he struggled to sit upright.

"I'll have the ramen too. No eggs..." She weakly reached out to grab Draco's arm and shook it gently, "Please no eggs. I don't want eggs." He sighed and rolled his eyes, realizing that Sicily must've been talking in her sleep.

   December 25th 

“Hhg’tdsszhh! ‘Egsschh!!” The two tired sneezes were lazily stifled and released into the air as he shuffled around covered in his soft blanket in which he wore like an oversized jacket. He gently scrunches his nose around, feeling the tickle remaining at the same strength. He was lifelessly lying on the couch, too fatigued to do anything. Too exhausted to even sniff away the wetness leaking from his sore nostrils. What was the point? He had been sniffling and snuffling all night; every time he sneezed, the wetness quickly returned anyway. He was so congested to the point where it sounded like he was inhaling pudding every time he took a breath. The room was still dark, besides the random flashing lights of the elegant Christmas tree in the corner of the room. He audibly winced from the pressure pounding in his head with the pulsing of his veins. Drinking alcohol all day probably wasn't the best call, he had to admit. He felt so worn out and tired but he couldn't fall asleep; Not even the word Christmas could bring his spirits up. He snuffled lightly, too exhausted to even sniffle as hard as he needed to. His body tensed up reflexively as a shiver crept down his spine, forcing his body to quiver every once in a while. Blankets. N-need more blankets. A-and huhh-

“Draco…? Are you up?” The soft, sleepy and tender voice of Sicily cuts through his suffering as he can just barely see a thin figure slowly approaching from down the hall. She slowly made her way over to the couch and noticed the poor, sickly body lying there in pain. Her sleepy expression changes instantly to concerned when she observes the sick body closely. “Draco, you look horrible!” She exclaimed in an intense whisper, not trying to wake up the sleeping pediatrician. She held his clammy cheeks and frowned, giving them a smooth rub with her thumb to clear the sweat away. “You’re boiling! And-- Oh...”

"Ehh'hoOo! Hh-hih- HIH'gdzssh!" He can feel his cheeks start to blush a light pink as he barely realizes that he had sneezed on Sicily's neck and chest; He wanted to pull away but he was too exhausted and fever struck to do anything.

“HEH'Ssgk! ’M-m alrigh’. ‘ll jus’… Jus’ do the sleep. EEH'HooOgk! Hih'gSHUHhgk!Tiredhh…” He muttered, finding it complicated to compose the proper sentences and to communicate in general. At this point, he had partially given up stifling, forcing his sneezes to sound like a mixture of a cough and a mild yell. Sicily gave him a worried look, finding it odd to see a person so delusional and out if sorts. She was too worried to feel disgusted.

“Hey, Draco! Wake up! I ne...ed you t.. sta... Awa... Ke..!"

Draco wasn’t sure what dimension he had stumbled upon, but he couldn't hear or see Sicily anymore; He felt like he was asleep but at the same time, he wasn’t sure if he was. The blackness around him began to swirl into a spiral as if he were entering a portal, and before he could comprehend what was happening, he was back home in his old house. All the lights were off in the house but the single overhead kitchen light, which severed as a homing beacon to the rugged man. There was a tall, slender woman that stood hovering over the stove, humming an all too familiar tune.  

“Mm?” The woman slowly turned around to face the rugged man as if she were moving through molasses. The crimson locks resting beneath her shoulders dangled behind her back as she gave him a pained smile. “Just in time for dinner. Have a seat.” The bags underneath her eyes were complimented with a subtle dark circle, indicating that she had been overly exhausted and worn out for days on end. “Dinner’s almost ready.” 

“N-no, I...” Something isn’t right. Before he could do anything, the creaking of the front door catches his attention.

“M-mom...?” His words came out sluggish and muffled, as if he were moving in a time warp. With each hesitant step he took, the world around him blurred and swashed around, colors blending and smothering each other like dye on cake batter. The single word that he spoke seemed to echo for ages and bounce off of the walls and floors with a weird reverb like they were in a mutated cave. 

“You heard your mother, boy.” A dark tone from behind brings a boil to the blood flowing throughout Draco’s veins. He knew that voice all too well.  “Sit like a good dog.” 

“You...” He clenches his fists, feeling all of his uncontrollable anger rising to the surface.

“Draco. Draco, get up! Draco--!?”  He could barely hear the screams of his mother behind him as he was too busy dashing towards the figment of his father with a bawled fist, ready for a solid punch.

“I’LL KILL YOU!! YOU FUCKING MONSTER!!!” His own battle cries begin to drown out the loud crackling of the now roaring fire engulfing the walls and flooring. The dark, bulky body in front of him kept a cool smirk on his face, even in the given situation, which angered the rugged man and the fire even more.

“Draco, stop it!! Draco--!!!” The fear-filled screams from his mother began to cut in and out, almost mutating into the worried screams of the pediatrician.“Draco!!! Stop! Wake up! Blast--, he’s not responding!” Reuben yelled as he was holding on to Draco’s arms.

“We need to get him into some cold water, NOW! Start the bath!” Sicily nodded and darted for the bathroom, immediately starting to fill the tub with the coldest water she could. "Draco, you're hallucinating! WAKE UP, DAMN IT!" There was a slight shakiness to Reuben's voice as he struggled to pin the rugged man down. He had been in situations like this before and seen it plenty of times, but something about seeing Draco in such a broken state filled the pediatrician with more than just a little worry. 

“I-I’ll fucking--... Kill you... I swear it...”  The rugged man exhaustedly muttered, trying to punch the air but failing, since Reuben was holding him down in place.

"Reuben, the tubs halfway full!" Sicily yelled from the bathroom. The pediatrician signals for her to come and help him drag the sick corpse into the bathroom, in which she doesn't hesitate to do.

He was a tall, heavy and sickly thing. It took them a while to get him off of the couch with him fighting the two while weakly kicking and punching at the air as if doing so would hurt his invisible enemy. You could imagine how tough it was for them to force him into the bathroom, let alone the freezing bathtub.

"Help me get his shirt and jeans off..." Reuben muttered to his sister as he forced the rugged man to sit down on the toilet lid.

"W-whahd are yhou d-doig, pervert?!" Draco yelled, eyes sluggishly tracing the room and barely staying open. "G-Gedhh... HEH'Gdzsshiew!" The sneeze sprays the pediatrician’s pajama shirt as he temporarily flinches in disgust, but he doesn't let it bother him. He's in pure focus mode, as a trained pediatrician should be. "EHHgtsshnk!! Thad's whad you ged, b-bast.. bah.. heh-"

"Don't mind him, Sicily. He'll be fine." He says, noting Sicily watching with an expression on her face that he couldn’t read, but mainly to himself to give him some sort of relief while dealing with the given situation. He bites his lip, having mixed feelings about the situation. "L-Let's get him into the tub." The two nearly shove the rugged man into the cold pool of water, causing a lot of it to be spilled onto the bathroom floor. It only takes a second of being in the freezing water for him to snap out of it and realize where he was. Reuben sighs, feeling his heart nearly beating out of its chest. He had never seen Draco in such a state before in his life, and it worried him more than any patient he ever had. “Could you use this cup and pour some cold water over him?” He says, handing Sicily the small cup. “We still need to cool his body temperature down before he overheats. I need to go ge… some water. T-towels…” Before Sicily can even say anything, Reuben darted out of the room and closed the door behind him. She knew exactly what that meant.

“I need to ge… some water. T-towels…”

She heard him repeat it in her head. The tone in his voice when he said it. The strain and slight shake towards the ending. The pause in between and after. She gripped the cup tighter in slight anger. Two loud coughs from the rugged man jolt Sicily out of her own thoughts and redirect her attention. She can’t help but give the rugged man a good gloss over. He was visibly shivering in place, causing little ripples to bang against to tub walls. He looked like a dead corpse that still managed to breathe in her eyes. His red nose didn’t even attempt to hold back the sickly fluids that dripped down onto his chin and bare chest. He was too cold and out of it to care or do anything about it. She could see a tinge of black starting to linger underneath his eyes and his cheeks looked like pieces of cotton candy against his ghostly pale skin. She dipped the cup in the water on his side until it was submerged in the water and poured it over his head. He didn’t even flinch. He was probably too dazed to even feel the cold water, she thought to herself.

“… ‘ts c-cold m-mom-mm…” He barely mutters through chattering teeth, slowly closing his eyes and leaning back into the tub. Sicily immediately drops the cup and grabs the rugged man before his back can fully sink into the tub.

“Draco! Hey-hey, you have to sit up! Look at me!” She says, voice sounding strained from pushing the rugged man forward to sit upright. Draco doesn’t respond, allowing his body to fully go limp into Sicily’s arms. Sicily grunts, barely being able to keep Draco above the water from her current position. She hunches over the bathtub, trying to find the right position to comfortably hold Draco upright, but falls forward into the cold water on top of him. She releases a heavy exhale from the abrupt submersion in cold water and immediately pulls Draco’s upper half out of the water and into her chest as if he were hugging her. The rugged man takes in an immediate deep gasp and releases a handful of wet coughs over her shoulder, shivering like a madman. The woman gives a soft smile to herself, feeling the grown mans body tremble underneath her arms. She allows her fingers to rest on his clammy back, enjoying the feeling of his body up against hers so tight and closely. She closes her eyes, feeling warm from both Draco’s body and the happiness and comfort of Draco’s embrace. It felt as if time stood still for ages as the two leaned up against each other in the tub. Draco’s body had calmed down from the event, besides the constant sniffles, and they just sat there together. Holding each other. 

“S-Sicily…” Draco’s faint whisper barely cut through the thin silence.

“It’s me, Draco.” She whispered back softly, still resting her head atop of Draco’s shoulder and hugging him. The rugged man slowly pulled away and nuzzled their foreheads together. She kept her eyes closed, enjoying the company of the rugged man. She moaned softly, feeling the warmth from his forehead rub against hers. The warmth from his fever radiated off of his face against her skin, summoning a faint smirk to cross her lips. She can feel her heart race a little from the shift in the room as she feels a cold hand rake through the side of her hair. She flinches as the cold water from his hand drip down her left side. His hot breath comforts her as she smells a hint of Marlboro and leftover booze beam closer. She can feel his shaky breaths get stronger and closer as his warm lips come in contact with hers. He gives her a long peck on her soft lips, allowing her body language to convey to him if he should stop or proceed. She gasps internally, half knowing what was happening and half not. She doesn’t fight it though, and brings up a hand to trace a line down his chest as he pulls her closer and gives her two more deep kisses. He can’t help but moan as she gently pushes his head closer to hers. It was a very intimate moment, that’s for sure. If Draco had any questions, they had all been answered right now.

He slowly pulls away and nuzzles her forehead again, allowing them both to catch their breath. Sicily’s eyes were locked onto his as she seductively licked her lips, signaling that she was ready for more. He swallows down a cough as she leans up against his chest again, but this time, pushing him back and forcing him to lay his back against the curve of the tub wall. Draco is caught off guard by this action and flinches, uncertain of what she was going to do next. He can feel his heart begin to race as she starts to give him kisses on the top half of his chest.  Once she reaches his neck, she rests her body on his and starts to give him pecks all over his face. She reaches his nose and gives it two pecks, feeling her insides start to get all warm and excited.

Her adrenaline was rushing all over for many different reasons. She knew about Reuben. She knew about him being gay and she knew about his sneezing fetish. She knew he had the hots for Draco way before he himself probably did. She knew that something was off when he said he needed to get some water. He couldn’t handle Draco sneezing on him or him being practically naked in the bathtub. She herself didn’t have the fetish, but she was overly curious about what was so appealing about it. She couldn’t knock it until she tried it at least; she was already in the mood to get dirty with Draco. It did give her a rush knowing that she had the man Reuben had his eyes on. She was doing things to Draco that Reuben would probably never get to do. Draco sneezing on him was probably the closest thing he would ever get. 

“S-Sicily I—… Hh…” He whispered weakly, closing his eyes and slowly lifting a hand to his face. She immediately grabs his wrist and shoves it back down into the water and holds his other hand hostage under the water as well.

“I know.” She says, watching his red, glistening nose twitch above her. Another peck from Sicily occurs on top of his nose. She can feel his chest rise with another weak inhale. “Don’t worry, I don’t mind. Just sneeze.” Draco snuffles twice, giving Sicily a confused glare.

“W-waih wah?” He says, trying to lift his hand again only to have Sicily press more weight down against it and prevent him from doing so.

“You heard me.” She reaches her head up to Draco’s, using her nose to lightly rub against the moist rims of his nose to try to coax out the sneeze before he can say anything else.

“B-but I ne—” Sicily shushes him and pecks him on the lips before continuing to rub his nose in different patterns and speeds. He produces two loud snuffles, sounding both thick and wet, which creates a spark in Sicily’s eye. “W-wa- HhiH… Hih! W-wahd are y-you HiHh…. Hh-doig??” He manages to say before tilting his head back against his will, involuntarily trying to escape from the induced tickling sensation on his already sensitive nose. She reaches up to follow him, giving a subtle giggle, enjoying the chase.

“Stop fighting me and just do it already.” She says as she can feel his chest practically jumping with each stuttered inhale. Cold, clear sick coats the tip of her nose as she feels his nostrils twitching up against it. She knew that it was building up in there to the point where his nose was crying and leaking sick tears for a release.

“HhuH! …. Hh-hUh! HhIH!” She tightens the grip on his wrists in anticipation, feeling slightly aroused by it all. It was like waiting for the inevitable. A devilish smile creases her lips as she watches the rugged man’s face grimace in torment. He snuffles thickly a few times in vain, as the sick just leaked immediately back down anyway; he just accepted the fate of not being able to use his hands. He felt awkward not being able to have the freedom to cover his mouth. He wanted to turn away from her but he knew that wasn’t what she wanted. He curses mentally, feeling a little embarrassed but more irritated with the pestering itch in his sinuses.

“HIH… HHIH…! HHG’TIZGSSSSCHK’ughh!” She slams her eyes shut and flinches hard, unprepared for the sudden cold spray of sickly fluids. She wasn’t sure what position she was supposed to be in for the actual sneeze. She was too intrigued by the satisfaction of him suffering with his nose to think that far ahead. But this was something… new. “H-HUhgDzZSSSGCCH’kguhgg!! ‘HEEHGSSZCHH’uhh!!!” The second batch of mist sprays her face and she can feel glops of sick make contact with her face and chest that start to slowly drip down. At first she’s disgusted, but she is oddly satisfied in a way. The third sneeze hits her back-to-back with a new batch of wetness, and by this point, she feels like she’s being rewarded for her good deeds. A subtle moan is released, more to herself as she realizes that she liked it more than she thought she would. “Eh… HehhgKSSZCHHh’kt!!” She squirms, feeling a rush when his body jerks underneath her from the harsh coughs that follow; the rattling coughs remind him of how much he feels like a pile of crap all over again. Sick was all over both of them and he knew it. It was hard not to hide all of it, especially since he didn’t have his hands to cover or wipe away at it, and his nose was practically drooling over her nose tickling his. There was bound to be a lost of discharge. He can feel his cheeks start to flush a dark red from embarrassment as he tries so hard to sniff everything away. All he wanted to do was get out of the bath and hide on the couch. “S-sorry.” He mutters between sniffles and nose twitches, feeling slightly guilty as he tried to clean himself up without his hands.

“Thanks.” She says, kissing his now sick coated lips and giving him a smile. “Now I know.” Draco pauses for a moment, surprised at what he was hearing. Was he still hallucinating from the fever?

“Huh..??” He says, overly congested, trying to clean himself up with the bath water now that his hands are free.

“Now I know that you are the one… And this secret stays between us.” She said with a final kiss before getting out of the tub. The whole time she dried herself and left the room, Draco was still sitting there dumbfounded, overly confused about everything. He didn’t know how to feel. He was happy that he pretty much made out with his newfound crush, but… What the hell just happened??? Was any of this real..? N-no… It couldn’t have been…

“… I need to go the fuck to sleep…” He muttered before sinking into the tub again

***

“Reuben, I don’t care! I wanna open gifts now!” A loud, high-pitched voice rings the ears of Draco and causes him to stir awake against his will. “We’ve waited long enough! It’ll be New Years if we wait for him to get up!”

The rugged man sluggishly cracked open an eyelid to be blinded by the Christmas lights from the tree and the fire in the fireplace. Someone must’ve moved me back onto the couch… What the fuck… Immediately he feels his nose start to run like a faucet as he tries to sit up on the couch. He grimaces when his body aches and finds it a challenge to even sit upright. He sniffles a few times, trying to stop the leakage but it does nothing but make the sick dance around in his nostrils before returning back to the same spot it was in before so he just gives up and lets it stay there, too fatigued to attempt to blow his nose or wipe it. His heart skips a beat as he notices Sicily lying on the floor right beside the couch.

“Look who’s awake!” The pediatrician says, relieved to see him up and at ‘em. “Did we wake you?” Draco only sniffles in return, feeling grumpy and too sick to respond. He just wanted it to end. And by it, he means everything. This damn cold, flu, whatever the hell that kid gave him, Christmas, this day, pretty much EVERYTHING. Just leave him alone. “You should go back to bed and get some rest if you still aren’t feeling that well, Draco.”

“I wahs tryig do before your loud ass woge be ubp!” He yelled congestedly, coughing into the blanket right after. He winces, feeling his entire body feeling sore; inside and out. It felt like his whole body would break if he coughed or sneezed again.

“Okay, okay! Everybody calm down.” Reuben says, looking more towards Lirin as she raised a fist to him. “Don’t get too riled up, Draco. Your body is still recovering.” The rugged man leans back into the couch feeling defeated and overtaken by pain. He just wanted someone to put him out of his misery.

“I… I deed sobe paid bedicinde.” He mumbles through wet sniffles, sounding clearly beat down and worn.

“I’ll get them.” Sicily says, stretching from the floor before Reuben can leave the room. He freezes for a second but then nods in acceptance for her to get the meds. She returns a moment later, with the bottle of NyQuil and pours him a cup.

“I deed like… dhree o’ dhose…” He mutters through a strained voice as he shots the cap of medicine down.

“You ‘deed’ to blow your nose.” She jokingly mocks, pouring him a second cap full of NyQuil and handing him some tissues. He snuffles dismissively and jokingly steals the cap, chugging it down and returning it back to her with a mumbled ‘fuck you’ under his breath. She giggles, feeling slightly relieved that the old Draco was starting to come back a little. Reuben distantly watches the two from the distance, feeling a little excluded and odd. He knew something was going on here, but he wasn’t sure.

The gurgling sound in the tissues grabs the attention of the entire room as Draco gives one good blow into the handful of tissues. One blow and that’s it. Fuck it. He was too tired and that single blow took the wind and force away from him. He weakly coughed a few times into the tissues and threw them onto the floor, immediately sinking back into the couch.

“Let’s do the fucking gifts so you assholes can get out and leave me the hell alone.” He mutters, voice barely audible.

***

The gift exchange was fun for the most part. Everyone was having a great time except for Draco of course. Everyone seemed happy with their gifts. Reuben bought him a brand-new motorcycle so that he didn’t have to Uber or wait for him to drive him around. Lirin bought him a book on tips for being sober. And Sicily went out and got him a new flask with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a pack of Marlboros. One thing he could say was that this was the first Christmas that he had in a long while that actually felt homie. And it was the first Christmas that he had been too sick to participate in the festivities for.

“Alright Draco. Thanks for being apart of our Christmas and opening the gifts. We’ll get out and let you rest.” Reuben says, watching the NyQuil already start to take its’ toll.

Reuben and Lirin walk out of the room, leaving Sicily and Draco together again. She was sitting beside the rugged man on the right side of the couch. They sat together in a peaceful silence, besides Draco sniffling every couple of seconds. He didn’t mind her company. If anything, he was glad that she decided to stay.

“Alright, you’re tired. Time to go back to sleep.” Sicily says as she tries to get comfortable on the couch. “Come here.” She gently tugs on his arm for him to come closer to her on the couch. He exhaustedly obliges and nearly collapses into her chest, shifting around to get comfortable in her embrace. She blushes a little, feeling his head resting on her chest. Best Christmas gift ever, she thought to herself. She closed her eyes and raked her fingers through his damp hair, massaging his scalp as she tried to fall asleep wit the sick rugged man. She cracks an eye open as she feels the rugged man shift uncomfortably in her embrace and freeze before lightly jerking forwards twice, releasing two weak sneezes aimed at the floor.

“Hhuh’kgDTzsshn! Eh’Dsschkn!” The two weak sneezes take whatever energy he had left and he doesn’t even sniffle, feeling his entire body becoming too tired to do anything at the moment. He can only release a shaky exhale and collapse into Sicily’s embrace. She smiles, feeling overwhelmingly happy at the situation.

“Merry Christmas to me…” She happily mutters to herself before joining Draco in a long, well deserved sleep. 

END. 

Hopefully it was worth the wait LOL XD A lot is going on in this fic but I like’d working on it even though I had some intense writers blocks lol xD Like I said, I’m working on like 5 different fics all at the same time hahaha so hopefully I can post those because I been writing a lot, just not all on the same fic ahaha.

[jacks4eva]

reaction to the lost hero by rick riordan

imma be honest this is a long time coming, okay so here’s the timeline we’re looking at so you understand me. i read lightning thief in middle school, dropped it and read it again in ninth grade. then i read sea of monsters, but never started titan’s curse. then for some reason in 11th grade i bought the second book in heroes of olympus and started to read it and got confused so i started to read titan’s curse and got to when percy took artemis’s place and then dropped it...again. very sad that time considering it was LEGIT THE END SO CLOSE. anyway yesterday i read the whole thing again and the battle of the labrinyth in like 6-8 hours. idk i can’t remember if i started at 10pm or midnight but i finished at 6am. anyways today i read the last olympian, and now i’m starting the lost hero. i thought it’d be funny to do my reactions.

this timeline is just funny because i have read so many books, and yet the most popular ones like percy jackson and harry potter, didn’t wanna finish lol. i still haven’t finished goblet of fire yet i read 100 pages an hour and could probably finish it in a day. anyways.

let the reactions begin

okay i’ve heard of jason but i was not expecting a pov already

woah electrocution

he’s already got a love interest what

he said the coach is 5’0 i now imagine the coach as danny devito i have no choice

piper and leo yes i recognize these names

(i’ve seen a lot of posts about percy jackson okay)

i like leo i don’t like dylan

i love the starwars reference

oh look guys we got popular girls that are racist, can they get their asses beat in this pls

dylan is also racist for smiling-asswipe

we love the cherokee representation

i hate them so much can they please leave

“i had to say something” i like coach hedge is this bad

i hope percy is the storm but i just know i wouldn’t be that lucky

ofc dylan is a racist monster

danny devito never returned :(

PLS TELL ME THESE REINFORCEMENTS ARE PERCY AND ANNABETH

who is the bulky dude

i’m sorry i’m laughing he’s a big scary dude with his head shaved and A RAINBOW TATTOO and his name is butch

oh so that’s why percy isn’t here

okay usually when reading i can form some kind of theory or connection but at this point i literally have no clue what is happening

i just knew as soon as he asked that he had abilities with fire but i was not expecting fire fingers

wow what a first impression “you should be dead”

wait so all i remember from the son of neptune was the beginning had percy alone i think and i’m not sure if he had his memory or maybe not and he was running away from monsters, so is what’s happening to jason similar to that? and WILL PERCY NOT BE FOUND IN THIS BOOK?

“That also was necessary. Long ago, your father gave me your life as a gift to placate my anger. He named you Jason, after my favorite mortal. You belong to me.

“Whoa,” Jason said. “I don’t belong to anyone.”

Now is the time to pay your debt, she said. Find my prison. Free me, or their king will rise from the earth, and I will be destroyed. You will never retrieve your memory.”

... okay theories, um a goat skin cloak was mentioned to have been owned by Zeus’s foster mother and that he owned it so the woman could either be the foster mother or Hera. If it was Hera, it would make sense that Zeus gave his son to placate her anger at his cheating or whatever. They are also trapped in Olympus, so prison would make sense. Hera was brought up a lot too, and according to wiki Hera persuaded Aphrodite to make her son make Medea fall in love with a mortal named Jason, so more than likely the lady is Hera. Their king will rise from earth could be the king from the battle of the labrynth, maybe. Or another king ya know there are so many.

Wait a minute

Something else I know about their names is Jason’s last name...JASON GRACE I thought it sounded familiar, because of Thalia Grace. Hah look at me being correct. That explains the flying and not being burnt by a lightning bolt—oh I’m stupid for not seeing it sooner.

Now just gotta figure out who Piper’s parent is.

Aha so I was right it was Hera.

Chiron not being able to give the information they need is kind of annoying.

Enceladus? So a giant offspring of Gaia, um...no bueno. Not a king tho.

“Child of lightning, beware the earth, The giants’ revenge the seven shall birth, The forge and dove shall break the cage, And death unleash through Hera’s rage.”

Okay theory time, child of lightning is obviously Jason. Beware the Earth...yeah no clue. The giants’ revenge the seven shall birth, the giants are probably the children of Gaia since that one giant was her child and it’s the seven are probably the seven half bloods from the great prophecy. The forge and dove shall break the cage, um maybe Leo is the forge since he’s hephaestus’s child (probably butchered the spelling). Doves are typically associated with aphrodite/venus, so idk about that. Maybe Piper is Venus’s child, I mean her God parent is her mom and it’d be funny since she was judging the other aphrodite kids. Also I assume Hera will kill whoever trapped her or someone involved since she’s so mad. Idk.

Could kill Drew btw.

CALLED IT CALLED IT CALLED IT IM A GENIUSSS

Wait. This woman looks like Hera, her clothes are made of Earth and she said Leo would fight her children trying to wake her. They’re gonna try to wake Gaia, which would make sense that it said stay away from Earth if she’s the Earth Goddess

I like the wolves thing because Romulus and Remus, ya know the twin boys who were raised by wolf and started Rome.

“You are our saving grace, as always. The she-wolf curled her lip, as if she had just made a clever joke”

I mean yeah his last name is grace

“She must really like this Percy guy to search for him so hard, and that made Jason a little envious. Was anyone searching for him right now? What if somebody cared for him that much and was going out of her mind with worry, and he couldn’t even remember his old life?”

so what if Percy’s just chilling at the Roman version of camp halfblood without a clue to who he is? bro.

Imagine reading this and seeing all of things I get right and wrong and wanting to slam your head into a wall.

Okay like idk why Annabeth was freaking out we kind of knew they were siblings, I mean they have the same dad. Unless this is saying they have the same mom or are twins or something. That’d be cool. That’s probably what he’s saying tbh but still, could’ve emphasized it more than “that’s my sister” like dude.

Anyway, they look very different so that’s funny.

King Boreas? uh.

Oo French

Let’s see what I can translate from the very little duolingo I did. Bienvenu, maybe a greeting. Idk which tho. Je suis Piper, I am Piper. Et c’est Jason, fils de Zeus, and this is Jason, son of Zeus. Vous parlez francais? tres bien, you speak french? good. Hey not bad, not shockingly good but considering I did the duolingo lessons 4 years ago, not bad. Vrai? Truth? Yeah I just looked it up.

Danny devito is alive!

“Leo scratched his head. “Well, I dunno about Enchiladas—”

“Enceladus,” Piper corrected.”

Leo is me omfg

DANNY DEVITO IS BACK

Arrows...HUNTERS OF ARTEMIS PLS?

“Leo stepped out next. “You’re catching me, too, Superman. But I ain’t holding your hand.”

this made me laugh ok moving on

Uh fight a sea monster? bro is Jason just Percy 2.0

“Aphrodite’s message was clear: This one needs no improvement.

And Piper agreed.”

I wonder if you can hear me squealing from hundreds or thousands of miles away

Did you miss the fact that he’s thirty feet tall— I DIED

Who slew titan k-what now? So basically yes. Percy 2.0

Okay I recognize the name Hazel, and all I ask is that she is not involved with Jason because Jason and Piper are really freaking cute.

an exchange of leaders, SO THEY DID SWITCH THEM

The way I called it

I WAS RIGHT AHA

anyways. time to read son of neptune

[jhoudiey]

Crowley and Yoru are on vacation, and as expected Crow Dad has come equipped with the best fish puns he can muster.

Full story under the cut: word count- 1990. pun count- 14

“Yoru! It is time to get up! We’re leaving right away!” Crowley had burst into Yoru’s room wearing the most hideous shirt she had ever seen,  bright yellow with what seemed to be apples and crows on it. 

“Dad… it is SO early. Don’t you have to see the rest of the students off before we leave anyway? Go do that and then I’ll get up, it is WAY too early” Yoru groaned from the mess of her bed, putting her pillow over her head to try and fall back asleep.

“Hmm. I suppose 6am was too early.. If you aren’t ready by the time everyone is gone I’m leaving without you!” She waved from beneath the covers, Crowley nearly skipping as he left her room. Yoru was pretty sure she heard him singing “vacation, vacation, going on vacation” under his breath to himself. 

***

They arrived at the Southern Seas around noon, the sun was high in the sky, a gentle breeze rolling off the water. 

“Ahhh! This is just what I needed after all my hard work on campus!” Crowley spun in circles on the beach, arms spread wide with a childish grin on his face. 

“Look Yoru! It’s sun and sand, as far as the eye can… sea!” He grinned at her

“Oh no. Please tell me you don’t plan on doing this the whole trip” She groaned, almost regretting her decision to come along. 

“Ahhhh cheer up , my sweet daughter! This trip is going to be… fintastic!” He bounded off, headed towards the hotel to drop off their bags and check in. 

“Euuugggghhhhhhhhhhhh” She begrudgingly followed, knowing there was going to be an onslaught of puns she didn’t plan for at every turn. 

***

“Today we will be diving and exploring the seafloor. I expect that everyone here is a confident swimmer, and has read the pamphlet on what to do in an emergency?”

“Yes Sir!” The group answered, Yoru shuffled nervously

“Psst, Dad...DAD… I can barely swim, why did you sign us up for this?” She’d gotten herself a pair of neon green flippers to help her get through the water, but hadn’t practiced with them much and she was not nearly as confident as the Diving Instructor wanted everyone to be.

“Yoru, my sweet child! I would never let anything happen to you, of course I accounted for you not swimming well! Here!” He handed her a small button that said “You betta believe you can do it!” with a picture of a betta fish giving a fishy thumbs up. 

“I…. dad….. Why. Why are you like this?” She stared at him, not for the first time wondering how she’d survived this long with a dad like Crowley.

“Oh, I forgot to mention, I put a spell on the button, it’ll help. Lets go!” He charged off into the water, wearing a pair of yellow flippers and a completely pointless matching snorkel. The diving instructor had given everyone a potion to be able to breathe underwater for an hour, so Yoru assumed the snorkel was just because Crowley was excited to complete the “swimmer” look. 

She sighed and followed him into the water, wishing that both walking in sand and walking with flippers was easier. She wasn’t sure how this button was supposed to work, but she figured if she could fight a giant squid underwater, she’d be fine looking at corals and anemones. Either the button was actually useful, or swimming in the sea was easier than she expected, as she was able to propel herself easily and spent a while just floating through the water. She could spend the whole vacation like this, the sea was really serene after all. She’d definitely have to ask Azul if she could visit the Coral Sea with them in the spring, though she suspected they’d all make fun of her for the need for flippers. 

“YORU HELLLPPP!!” Crowley was swimming frantically towards her, a sea turtle close behind, furiously snapping its beak. “It’s going to eat me!” 

“That looks like a personal problem” Yoru laughed, poking and prodding the various plants on the reefs, laughing when they shriveled at her touch. Between the sea creatures and her dad having a run in with seemingly every animal under water that could bite him, it was an excellent day. 

***

“I’m never going into the sea ever again” Crowley whined over dinner, cradling his bitten arms. “From now on, I’m staying in a haddock on the beach, drinking as much Coconut juice as I can get!” He grinned at her, sipping on a drink with a giant slice of pineapple sticking out of the side.

“.....” Yoru stared back, wishing that the turtle had just swallowed him whole “You can’t bait me into responding to that”

“Can’t I?” He grinned at her

“What?…. I…. no….” She realized her mistake far too late, she’d unconsciously answered his pun with a worse pun. “UUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH I’m going to bed!” She stomped away from the table leaving him alone.

“I am just so funny” Crowley chuckled to himself, far too pleased with himself for a man that got himself bitten half a dozen times by a sea turtle. 

The following days were similar to the first, Crowley spent his time napping in hammocks around the island, and Yoru spent her time at the bottom of the sea poking things. She’d looked up if any plants in these waters would be helpful for potion making, and had a list of things to try and find. The potion the diving instructor could provide only lasted an hour, but she was able to make one that kept her breathing until she rose to the surface. 

“Wow, I didn’t realize I’d get so wrinkly being in water all the time” She said, looking down at her pruned hands “Is this normal?” 

“Dolphinately normal, I read about it, in a book!” Crowley grinned at her, laughing to himself

“.........I think I’m going to drown myself now. Excuse me” she turned and headed back to the water

“Yoru! Hey! You shouldn’t joke about krilling yourself like that, you’ll make me worry!” He howled with laughter, rocking back and forth in the hammock. “I am just so so funny, I keep kraken myself up!” 

“UUGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” Yoru groaned, slowly sinking into the sea. 

Journal Entry- Vacation Day 1

We were at the beach for all of 4 seconds before dad started making puns. He must have looked up fish jokes before we came because no way his arsenal is this diverse. I was worried the sun was going to cause some problems with my legs but so far so good.

Day 2

All I want for Christmas is an end to these puns. Where is he finding all of them anyway? Someone help me. This is worse than when I ripped my wings off. 

Day 4

I think the food here is bad for me, I haven’t had an appetite for a while now. Dad says dinner every night is de”fish”ous, but I can’t seem to taste anything. Again. Fuck.

Day 7

I took a day off from swimming to try and find souvenirs. Finding things for Idia and Ortho was easy, but what do you get for merfolk when you’re visiting the sea? I wonder if they’d believe I just… forgot. I figured out what was causing my taste buds to not work and was able to fix it. Sleep a few more hours of the day now, but I have to admit, the food here is defishous. 

****

“Yoru! It’s time to wake up! Salmon said that there is going to be a live band at the marina tonight to ring in the new year!” Crowley said, shaking her leg to try and get her out of bed

“Just a few more minutes” she groaned, trying to bury herself into the covers

“Nope! That’s what you said two hours ago! It’s time! There’s still sole many things to see and do before tonight!” 

“Fine fine, stop carping me, I’m getting up” She rolled off the side of the bed and fell to the floor, accepting her fate. 

As it turned out, the day's activities were exploring a nearby ruin that she hadn’t realized was there. It was rumored to be haunted, and Crowley wanted to go see if he could talk to the ghosts or see if there was anything worth “borrowing” to bring back to Night Raven College.

“This is cool” she said poking around in an abandoned tomb in the ruins “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“Hmmmm? I did! 4 days ago, I do suspect that you may be… tuna-ing me out when I talk” he looked at her, his eyes full of mock sadness. 

“Gee I wonder why that is” she rolled her eyes. “We’re not even near the water today though, shouldn’t you be making rock puns or something?”

“..there was no book on rock puns” he muttered under his breath, hoping she wouldn’t hear him. 

They left the ruins at sundown, pockets a little more full than they had been when they entered. 

“I think I’ve got to turn in, I’m really tired all of a sudden. I can’t seem to keep my eyes open” Yoru said, rubbing her eyes to try and wake herself up. 

“You are looking a little pale, maybe if you’re that tired you should just head back home, there’s not much left to do here and you look like you could use the rest” He said it without looking at her, in fact, he looked everywhere BUT at her

“...You just want me to bring the things we just stole back to NRC before anyone realizes we took them, don’t you” she looked at him flatly, he refused to return her gaze.

“Well...that wouldn’t be the worst idea.. To be honest, I don’t know what most of these things do and they might be too dangerous to keep in the hotel” He smiled and put his hands on her shoulders “So it would be very helpful for you to bring them to my office before going to bed!” She laughed and nodded. 

***

She’d always thought that NRC was nicer at night, there was no one in the halls so she could go where she pleased. She took her time walking through the empty hallways looking at the portraits on the walls, she felt like a ghost. It was only her and her pocket full of stolen artifacts they’d have to get Professor Yule to examine when he got back, no one else. She was hit with a wave of dizziness as she was placing the last artifact onto Crowley's desk and quickly withdrew her hand. She wasn’t sure if it was because of some unknown curse or just that she hadn’t eaten all day. The cafeteria wouldn’t be open, it was almost 10pm on New Years Eve, but she’d hoped that Mostro Lounge would be. Surely Azul stayed open to serve the other unfortunate souls who stayed on campus over break. 

She meandered slowly towards the lounge, fighting the dizziness that would not abate despite her stopping and trying to center herself every few meters. She felt like it had taken her an hour to finally arrive at the doors to Mostro Lounge, but it had hardly been 15 minutes. 

“Why.. won’t the door open?” She muttered to herself, leaning against it “is it a pull? It must be” She dragged her hands over the glassy doors searching for a way to open it.

“What? Where’s the handle? I can hear people inside, so it’s gotta be open..” She pushed on the door again, leaning her head against the stained glass to stop it from spinning. “Azul I think your door is broken” she muttered under her breath trying to steady herself. Her knees buckled from beneath her, she didn’t feel herself hit the floor.

[supimjustwriting]

Existing but not Present

Flare OneShot (Featuring my self OC Francine Kirkland/Fern)

Trigger warnings: Themes of Anxiety, Self hate, Depression, Mental Illness in general

If you have been feeling anything similar to what is written below the cut or in the warnings above. Please seek help. Professional help. Yes, talking to friends can help but sometimes it’s not enough. It’s okay to ask for help and if you ever want to talk I’m always willing to lend an ear. Remember to Always keep fighting.

Summary: I can’t let people worry about me. Their feelings and safety come first. I must do everything alone and show them I’m as strong as they believe I am. Will I ever be found? I don’t want to be found. Happiness is a lie at someone else’s expense. As long as they can smile. I don’t mind dying on the inside.

Requested by @flaredarkstorm Based off the Song Purity ~ Slipknot Listen to the song Here. Warning Explicit. 

‘How long has it been since I last went out of bed?”

Everything comes in flashes and blurs. Screaming, sobs, gun shots, the earth falling beneath my feet. It’s so vivid, yet here I am just laying on my fluffy bed. God, I can’t even tell who’s screaming anymore.

A familiar ring tickles my ears causing me to look over to my bedside table. Pushing aside loose papers and the odd trinket, I groan softly from the bright light. 6 new text messages and 1 voice mails. All under the name Francine Kirkland.

Monday 10am Sup daddyo! How’s it going? I haven’t heard from you in awhile.

Monday 3pm Cinder, Sunshine and I are going for a walk. Want to come? I don’t mind waiting around the park for you. I’m sure the dogs would love to see you as well. I hope you’re eating well. Love you dad.

Wednesday 6am The cats are begging for breakfast an hour early. Send help and by help I mean cat treats. I hope your morning started out much, much better. Take care papa. I worry about you, you know.

Wednesday 6pm Having dinner with the pets! Been sneaking them all some steamed broccoli. Some have been just storing it and stinking up the house. (I’m looking at you Sunshine.) Any who. Is it alright if I visit soon?

Thursday 8am I’m taking the silence as a yes! I’ll text you an hour before I get there. Please be alive. I love you and I miss you a lot.

Today 2pm

You’re in luck! I’m running late but I’m coming for a visit alright? I apologize in advance if you’re busy. I don’t mind a hi and goodbye. I just want to see if you’re alright. See you soon! You have one unheard message. Press one to listen to them. *beep*

Wednesday xx at 6:13am

*angry meows could be heard in the background* Since my messages didn’t wake you up I thought a phone call might. *yawns*

God, I’m tired. Though I hope you’ve been well. The fur babies have been keeping me busy and the house lively.

So, I thought some noise might’ve been good for you. Take care dad, love ya.

I can’t help but chuckle and shake my head at the sight. ‘She acts more like a mother than a daughter at times. Fern really shouldn’t waste time doting on me. I know her intentions are for the best but her smile is sometimes just a slap in the face. I can’t let her see me like this.’ Shaking myself from my thoughts. I try my best to tidy myself up.

~

Around 3:30pm, a knock could be heard upon my door.

“Papa! Are you home? I brought food!” called a cheerfully familiar voice.

I open the door with a closed eyed smile, ruffling the short girl’s hair.

“How’s it been? I’m sorry I didn’t text you back. I’ve been busy,” I mentally curse at my throbbing head. Why the hell did it have to start now. I clear the lump in my throat before letting my daughter inside.

The young one quickly made herself at home, taking her shoes off at the front door before heading to the kitchen table to place her gifts.

“I can help-” “Not another word. Don’t think I wouldn’t catch you not being 100%! So, please papa. Just sit down and relax. I’ll be sure to take care of everything,” the dark haired girl gave me a playful salute before herding me to my sofa. ‘Such a mother hen,’ I thought to myself, rolling my eyes.

“My house. My rules. I’m at least gonna make the tea and then rest, alright?”

Her puffed up cheeks cause a chuckle to escape my lips. ‘Did I really deserve to laugh after everything I’ve done? Even Francine is treating me as if I’m-” Shaking myself free from the intrusive thoughts. I head to the kitchen, prepping our favourite drink. Peppermint tea.

~

Brown eyes gazed up at me expectantly. An arrangement of sweets between us, followed by two cups of steaming tea.

“So, papa. How’s life?”

‘Suffocating. My head’s been throbbing since you got here because of all the past bullshit I’ve been through and here you are smiling as if nothing is wrong. So, swell. Life is simply swell.’

“It’s going well. Same old. Same old. How are you? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Kids? New pets?” I mirror her bright smile, taking a sip of my tea. Mentally chuckling at her flushed cheeks.

“Same-Same old. Same old as well. You know I’m not one for dating anyways,” she chastised gently, stuffing her cheeks with cake. Her lips pressed into a thin line, a brow raised, “Are you sure everything is well? You always give me the same answer and it’s starting to feel scripted,” a nervous chuckle escaped Fern as she raised her hands in defense. “Of course you don’t have to tell me! I just want you to know that I’m always here for you. I know I won’t understand everything but at least talking about it could help, right?”

Finishing off my tea. I stand up ruffling away Fern’s doubts. “I promise you if anything comes up I’ll tell you. I love you Fern.”

“I love you too papa,”

~

Hours of chatter later and she’s finally gone. A breath I never knew I was holding escapes me as I watch the brunette head home.

Hot tears stream down my cheeks as I enter my cage I call a home. Slamming my fist against the wall causing it to crack.

“If only I could destroyed as easily,”

A bitter laugh escapes me as the annoying smile flashed through my head again. No matter how many times you ask. No matter how many times I tell you. You’ll never understand. All you ever do is repeat the same kind words and flash that same damn smile.“

“There’s something in you I despise. Purity” 

[littlesliceofmarvel]

Faded Memories | Pt. 2

Request/Synopsis: Reader is dating Steve Rogers, and one day something goes wrong on a mission and Steve believes she died, but she was taken in by Hydra, wiped and experimented on. Eventually, Thor saves her and the two become close as he helps her remember her life, and Steve finds out she’s alive.

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of death

Pairings: Steve Rogers x Reader, Thor x Reader

A/N: Yikes, so I am back from vacation folks! And back to posting! Woohoo! I missed you all, and I hope you’re ready for more writing! A small warning, the italics weren’t really working so part of the section that’s supposed to be in italics isn’t. Oh well. As always, gif isn’t mine and my inbox is always open! Much love, enjoy! xx

-

To say that Y/N was having a hard time coming to terms with being around the team was an understatement. They remembered everything about her, but she didn’t. She knew they pitied her, felt bad for her, and she couldn’t understand why she was cursed with this. She had been staying at the compound for three days alongside Thor, who was the only person she felt comfortable around.

She talked to the team a little bit more than when she had arrived, no longer feeling threatened by their presence. She was weirdly thankful that Bucky had been through the same experience, being able to listen to what he had to say about finding out who you used to be and how to handle having your identity stroller from you without you knowing. He told her that her fear and vulnerability was to be expected, that this was something that was going to take time, and she was grateful for him.

She didn’t trust Stark enough to use his technology, nor did she trust Wanda to dig through her mind, but she was finding herself more open to ideas than she would have been a few weeks ago. She wanted to know about her past, she wanted to understand why she felt a certain way about Steve, or why Bruce’s anger sent the team into a frenzy, or even why Natasha and Clint seemed to know so much about each other that they didn’t share with anyone. She was observant, maybe even more so than before, and she didn’t know why. All the little things that she knew she had known, she had lost in a second.

“Y/N, you know, staring out of windows at night usually means you’re contemplating something,” Thor placed a hand on the small of her back, installing himself next to her while she kept her gaze locked on the distant flickering lights of Manhattan.

“I’m not,” she shrugged, not facing him. Thor could tell her mind was swirling at a million miles an hour, endless ideas passing through that brain of hers. But, he knew she was closed off about her thoughts, and didn’t pester her about it, much to her gratitude

“You should really be sleeping,” he said with a small grin, eyes lingering over the small pout on Y/N’s face. Her eyes lacked their bright shine as she looked over the distance city.

She nodded, “I know. I just feel awful about everything.”

Thor nodded, turning to look over the city himself, “Wanna talk about it?”

She shook her head, giving him a forced smile, “No I’m going to go to bed.” He didn’t say anything else before she hopped off the window sill and made her way towards the room that was given to her. She was thankful for the Avengers’ hospitality, but she didn’t feel like she deserved it after what she put them through. She can’t imagine what they must be feeling, having their friend practically come back from the dead without a trace of memory.

Y/N opened the door to her room, shutting it and locking it behind her and making her way to the bathroom. She looked over herself in the mirror. Her hair lacked its usual bounce, the ends looking quite damaged. Scars lightly lined her jaw and down her neck. She ran her fingers over them, flashbacks of her time with Hydra running through her mind before she shook her head, not wanting to be thrown back there.

Within minutes, she was sound asleep on her mattress, dreams filled with screams and blood, the faceless bodies of the people she killed haunting her thoughts for the night.

The next morning, Y/N hopped out of bed at 5:30. It was programmed within her to wake up at the crack of dawn and prepare for the day. Hydra had programmed her like an alarm clock, making sure that there were no delays in their plans.

She sat up in bed and squinted her eyes to the doorway, a small slip of white paper underneath it. She got out of bed slowly, the cold air from her room coming as a bit of a shock, sending goosebumps to crawl up her skin. She picked up the small piece of paper and opened it up.

Out on a mission. Be back in two days. Make yourself at home. Stark, Barnes and Romanoff are still at the compound.

Thor

Y/N groaned, letting the small piece of paper flutter down on her mattress. The thought of having to go two days without Thor when she got here three days ago made her almost nauseous, not being totally comfortable around the rest of the team to spend two full days socializing with them just yet. She trusted Barnes, their shared experience being something she could base his character off of, but she had not gotten the chance to feel comfortable around Natasha and Stark just yet.

She threw on some clothes and made her way towards the kitchen, the sound of Tony on the phone leading the way there. When she walked in, he turned his attention to her and gave her a warm smile before turning back to his conversation.

She noticed a small plate with bacon, eggs, and fruits next to another piece of paper with her name on it.

Y/N,

Made you breakfast. Be back in 2 days.

Steve

She smiled, heart fluttering slightly. The past three days, Steve had been leaving her little things here and there. Food, books, things that would help jog her memory. She knew he was trying to help, and Steve wanted nothing more than to have her back in his arms and to protect her forever.

It killed him to see the way Thor’s presence brought her the most comfort, but he understood. When he found out Bucky was alive, he went through the same thing. If anything, he found it so much harder watching the love of his life go through the same thing.

Y/N folded the little note neatly and placed it in her pocket, starting to munch on the food placed in front of her. Tony had left the room, his conversation getting slightly heated, and considering it was nearly 6am, Bucky and Natasha were probably still sound asleep.

The breakfast filled her up, making her too full to really do anything afterwards, so she found herself walking towards the living room, a small book sitting on the coffee table, an early edition copy of The Hobbit. It was the one Steve gave her yesterday. She didn’t know why he gave her this particular book, but she didn’t question it.

She found herself occupied with the book for the next two hours, ears perking every time a noise was heard from somewhere down the hallway. Y/N didn’t want to admit it to anyone, fearing that Hydra was going to use this to their advantage, but she was becoming much calmer around people she didn’t know. She didn’t find herself freezing in her steps when a Shield agent would walk into the room, nor did she find herself aiming a gun to Tony’s face when he approached her anymore.

With a quiet tip-toe, she wandered over to the windows over looking the rest of the compound. Men and women running around outdoors with walkie-talkies and briefcases, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be to keep the Avengers running. The hustle and bustle down below calmed her down, making her feel like she was in the middle of a chaotic little family.

“Good morning,” a gruff voice startled Y/N, causing her to jump back slightly and hold her arms across her chest in defence.

“Bucky,” Y/N breathed out, relaxing when her eyes landed on the brunet, “You scared me.”

Bucky’s eyes widened, “Sorry, didn’t mean to.” He was up earlier than he had been in the past couple of days, but Y/N brushed it off as the fact that no one else was here so he was enjoying the silence of the compound. What she didn’t know was that Bucky had sworn to Steve that he was going to keep an eye on Y/N, make sure she was doing okay while he was gone.

Bucky silently made his way to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee while Y/N sat back down on the couch, continuing her book. Within another hour, Natasha and Tony had joined them in the kitchen, chatting away and watching the news to start their days.

The three of them went on doing what they usually did during the day - training, gathering intel, conducting experiments on suits and weapons - and Y/N wanted in on it. Thor would usually tell her to stay out of the lab, but curiosity and a feeling of almost rebelliousness got the best of her. Getting off the couch, she slowly made her way towards Stark’s lab. The sound of typing drew her attention to the corner of the room, where Tony padded away at a computer.

“Um, Tony?” Y/N’s quiet voice went unnoticed by him, so she tried again, louder, “Tony?”

Tony’s eyes snapped up from his screen and widened when he saw Y/N standing in the corner of his lab. 

“Hey,” he wasn’t really sure what to say to her, not used to her initiating conversation.

“Can I, uh, look around, or something?” Y/N seemed unsure of what she wanted to do, but with the tiny possibility of something in here helping her re-gain her memory in her mind, she was willing step out of her comfort zone. Tony nodded, not taking his eyes off of her as she walked around the room, captivated by the large holograms and the shiny equipment.

“You know-” Tony started, unsure of how she was going to react, “You used to help out in here a lot.”

Y/N took her attention away from a fascinating piece of technology and turned to Tony, an unreadable expression on her features, edging him to go on.

Tony stood up slowly, “Yeah, uh, you always had this fascination for technology, I’m not really sure where you got it from, but you did. You’d stay in here with Banner and I and pull all nighters sometimes.”

Y/N’s head was forcing itself to connect the dots, to dig through the deepest parts of her brain to find the memories that Tony was talking about, but she couldn’t.

“You don’t remember, huh?” Tony asked sadly, nodding his head and looking to the ground.

“I’m sorry,” Y/N replied, an overwhelming sense of guilt pouring through her body, “I want to. But I can’t.”

Before Tony could respond, Y/N ran out of the room, her entire body shaking with the thousands of emotions threatening to pour out of her. She couldn’t do this. Everyone else knew her, but she didn’t even know herself. With tears streaming down her face, she locked herself into her room, letting her body fall against the door. She didn’t understand why this was happening to her, what she deserved to have her memories wiped and be turned into a villain. The night that it happened, she had sacrificed herself to save the team, was that not a good deed? Why did she get punished? Why was turned into this broken, violent, dangerous person when all she had wanted was to save the people she used to call family?

She let the tears flow free, hugging her knees to her chest as the sobs wracked through her body, numbing her to the vicious thoughts swimming through her mind.

She sat there for what felt like hours before she used all the strength in her to lift herself off the ground and collapse in her bed, falling asleep within minutes.

-

For the remaining two days that the mission went on for, Y/N kept herself locked in her room, ignoring the knocks brought on by Tony, Bucky and even Natasha. They brought her food, tried to coax her into coming out of her hiding, and even tried to crack small jokes, but Y/N wasn’t having any of it. She went from being in fear of the team, to being completely guilt-ridden, and although the team was willing to slowly ease her into her life again, Y/N wanted nothing more than to be there already.

“Y/N?” Thor’s familiar voice knocked on her door on the third morning, snapping Y/N out of her day-dreams.

She walked towards the door slowly, “Thor, you’re back.”

She opened the door slowly, coming face to face with the god himself, who smelled like he hadn’t showered in months. She grimaced, leaning against the doorframe as he smiled down at her.

“Why’ve you been locked up in here?” He asked softly.

She sighed, “Thor - you don’t know what it’s like. They know me. I don’t even know me. It’s too much.” She was sick of the pitied looks and the hushed conversations when she walked in the room, she wanted things to be normal again.

He nodded understandingly, leading her into her room and closing the door behind him, “Listen, I know it’s tough, but can you accept help? Wanda’s offered to do it, you-”

“I can’t lay that burden on her,” Y/N snapped, looking away from Thor as she sat on the edge of her bed. Wanda had offered before, and had been turned down all three times. Y/N knew that it had helped Bucky clear his mind of his demons, but she didn’t feel confident enough to let someone lurk through her mind.

“It’s not a burden, Y/N, why would it be?” He hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder, but she didn’t tense up, too occupied with what Thor was telling her.

“I’ve done things, Thor,” she spoke quietly, “They made me do really, really bad things. I know these people were like my family and I don’t know if I’m ready for them to know what I’ve done.” 

He nodded, taking his hand away from her as he let her words sink in, but before any of them could speak again, another knock came from the door. Thor, noticing that Y/N made no effort to stand up, walked over and greeted Steve who stood on the other side.

“Rogers, um, can we talk?” Thor mumbled, hoping Y/N didn’t hear.

 “If you’re going to talk about me, do it with me in the room,” Y/N snapped, slightly fed up as she looked over to the two blond men standing in her doorway. 

Steve swallowed awkwardly, nodding and making his way in, “Y/N, how are you feeling?” 

She looked into his blue eyes, already feeling slightly calmer than before for some reason, “I’m - well, you know. How was the mission?” She diverted the subject, her attention now focused on Steve, Thor watching from the foot of the bed.

“Successful,” Steve nodded, smiling lightly, “We saved everyone. This one kid even came up to me afterwards and told me he has a poster of me in his room.” Y/N could feel herself smiling when Steve did, almost as if it were instinctive. She didn’t know why, but she let herself giggle slightly at his comment.

“That’s creepy,” Steve snapped his head up at her laughter, almost too shocked to respond, “How many people do you think have posters of you that you don’t know about?”

“Um-” Steve’s heart fluttered at her attempt at humour for the first time in a long time, “Well, I-” He wasn’t really sure what to reply, so he looked over to Thor before looking back at Y/N, “We thought up of a couple ways you could get your memory back.”

Y/N dropped her small smile, “Don’t say Wanda.”

“Y/N,” Steve sighed, approaching her slightly, and to his surprise, she didn’t back away, “She helped Bucky tremendously when he was going through the same thing.”

Y/N flopped herself down on the bed, “Steve, it’s more than just that - I don’t want her seeing what I’ve done-”

“We won’t discuss it, I promise,” Thor spoke up once again, slightly persistent. Y/N sighed, looking up at the ceiling and debating her options.

On one hand, Wanda could go through her mind and break down the barrier between the violent version of herself that Hydra made, and the one who called herself an Avenger. She could go back to normal, remember her relationships with everyone and connect back with her old life, which is what she wanted.

But, on the other hand, would these peoples still accept her? Would she still be able to call herself a hero once they found out what she had done? How she took the lives of people so easily, not even hesitating in the slightest? How she was willing to defend Hydra to no ends, allowing herself to be wiped and tortured to honour their name? Would they still want her?

She closed her eyes, processing this. On one way of seeing it, they had found out about Bucky’s past, that was way worse than hers, and let him stay here with them. They even let him become an Avenger. So, why should she be any different?

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

-

The entire team sat around Tony’s lab, watching with extreme intensity as Y/N was seated on a chair near the center of the room, Wanda running everything over with her one more time.

“Your head is going to want to force me out,” Wanda repeated, “Don’t let it. Let me move around, see everything, don’t kick me out.”

Y/N nodded, her fingers shaking as she tried to steady them by squeezing her hands together, “Okay. I won’t kick you out.”

The scarlet witch nodded, giving her a thumbs up. Y/N closed her eyes, letting her body relax in her chair before Wanda worked her magic. The team looked on anxiously as the red sparks from Wanda’s fingers started surrounding Y/N’s skull.

Y/N felt it - the immediate jolt of electricity going through her head, the feeling of something swimming around inside your brain. Everything inside of her was screaming to kick it out, to repel whatever ‘evil’ was searching her mind, but she forced it back. All she could see was glowing red light as she screwed her eyes shut, digging her nails into her thighs. It felt like it did when Hydra had brainwashed her, as if her thoughts were leaving her body and becoming someone else’s.

Steve slipped his hand onto her thigh and into hers, interlocking their fingers, his heart shattering at the distressed look on her face. She didn’t hesitate to squeeze his hand in discomfort, glad to be holding onto something that wasn’t her thigh.

Y/N let out a small groan as if something was pushing up against the back of her skull from the inside.

“Sorry,” Wanda mumbled, “My bad.” 

The red lights continued soaring around her brain, her memories. Wanda forced Y/N to see what she was seeing, making visions appear before Y/N’s closed eyes. 

A man. He was dead. Blood was oozing out of a wound on his forehead and another one on his left shoulder. A little girl came running up to him, crying, asking him to wake up. Y/N could see herself standing behind the little girl, a gun in her hand as she looked down at the dead man, no emotions in her eyes. She wanted to scream, to be heard, but all she could do was watch herself with anger, this memory almost clear as day as she remembered what Hydra made her do. As she watched herself retreat, a flash of red light came over her like a tidal wave, and the dead man and his daughter were gone.

Y/N felt like she was falling, and before she could try to slow herself down, she came to an abrupt stop in the middle of Tony’s lab. She could see herself, a couple years younger than she was now, standing in a lab coat, chatting away with Tony and Bruce about something she couldn’t hear. She wanted to approach them, to be a part of what was going on, to ask them where she was, but she was glued to the floor, watching herself converse and laugh with the two geniuses, looking at peace.

Once again, the flash of red light washed over and the vision faded, being replaced by one of herself sitting against the window of Stark tower with Steve, the two leaning into each other calmly, as if their comfort was found within each other. 

“I love you,” Steve mumbled, and Y/N watched as the vision of herself smiled up at him, repeating the words.

“Steve?” Y/N found herself mumbling, looking at the two of them as they shared a kiss, the sparkling lights of New York City blending into another wave of red light.

This time, they weren’t replaced by a calm vision. Y/N could see herself cornered in a cement room, inaudibly yelling at someone as her eyes fell upon a large bomb strapped to the back of the door. This was when she was believed to be dead. Y/N could see herself crying, huddling into the corner as far away from the door as she could get. She could feel herself calling out to herself, watching as her figure was overcome by a blast of white light, and before she knew it, another red wave came over her.

Y/N snapped up off of her chair, gasping as Wanda stumbled backwards, fingers losing their red spark as she leaned against the wall. Y/N let go of Steve’s hand, shoving herself against the back, ready to scream.

“Y/N?” Tony stood up, looking down at the girl in worry as Vision rushed to Wanda’s aid.

“What the fuck was that?” Y/N snapped, standing up herself.

“Memories,” Wanda sounded out of breath, “Those were some of your memories.”

Y/N was silent, the memories almost as clear as day now. She sat back down, not trusting how shaky her legs were as she turned to face Steve, not even sure what to tell him as she replayed the memory of the two of them telling each other they loved one another. It was as if he could tell what she was thinking and made it an effort to avoid all eye contact.

“Let’s do it again,” Y/N turned to Wanda with determination on her face, “I want to remember more.”

Wanda sighed, placing her hands on her hips, “It drains me, you know? I can only do it in small doses. Another day.”

Bucky spoke up, “Wanda’s right. Another day. You need to do it in small amounts, it’s overwhelming to get your memories back in one shot. It took almost a month of doing it every day for me.”

Sighing in defeat, Y/N closed her eyes once again, letting her emotions fill her mind as she looked over her memories once more, and that’s when it became clear as daylight.

She loved Steve.

[honeymoonjin]

enjoy your stay chapter three

A/N This is a re-write of the actual chapter, which got completely deleted when I tried to get rid of a self-reblog (ugly evil tumblr) so it might not be perfect! I’ll do my best to keep in everything I put in last time (and from now on I’m going to back up my fics).

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven

ENJOY YOUR STAY ↳Boss!Namjoon, Chef!Jin, Receptionist!Hoseok, Bellboy!Jimin, Bartender!Jungkook, Accountant!Yoongi, Photography student!Taehyung ↳Some inappropriate language and cursing. Later chapters will have sexual content.

SUMMARY ↳Working the graveyard shift at a hotel isn’t the most exciting job in the world, but your coworkers are certainly happy to have you here.

CHAPTER ONE ↳Supporting your colleagues is an important part of your job description, although this kind of comfort is probably not what Namjoon had it mind. It also lands you in a precarious position when a certain someone knows more than he should.

Most days when you did your final round, Jin had long since gone. He started a few hours before you to prepare for the dinner service, then was the last to lock up and leave. Occasionally he would hang around for a bit to trial a new dish or fill out an order form, but as it was 6am, he should’ve been out for a few hours.

So when you entered the kitchen one last time for the night, and saw the walk-in-chiller door sightly ajar, with a strange snuffling noise coming from inside, your first thought was a burglar or a raccoon.

In fact, you recalled Jungkook once telling you a story about an escaped convict who once broke into the hotel to hide from the cops. Namjoon had repeatedly reassured you that Jungkook was just winding you up, but like watching a scary movie at night, you can’t help but feel unsafe anyway.

You creep into the kitchen as quietly as you could manage, and grab the broom from the corner to hold out as a makeshift weapon.

Tiptoeing slowly, heart racing in your chest, you slowly pushed open the door a little further with the end of the broomstick.

The snuffling stopped.

You froze in your tracks.

It wasn’t a pest or an intruder at all, but the mad chef himself, cross-legged on the freezing cold floor, crying into a 20 litre tub of vanilla ice cream.

The two of you stare at each other in silence for what is surely over a full minute, then you awkwardly lower the broom. With watery eyes and a puffy face, he gestures with his head for you to join him.

You hunker down into a cross legged position beside him and ask what’s wrong.

He sniffs again, miserable. “My girlfriend left me,” he mumbles. Another tear tracks down the side of his face, and he doesn’t bother to wipe it away before it gathers on his chin, and drops into the slowly melting tub of dessert. He reaches a hand up to the cabinet behind him, opens the top drawer, and fumbles around the cutlery until he produces a dessert spoon identical to the one in his hand. “Dig in,” he sighs, “it’s probably got a little bit of snot in it, but it’s still good.”

Not wanting to make him feel worse, you dip your spoon into the tub, finding what looks to be the most solid portion of ice cream in the hope that you’ve successfully avoided any bodily fluids. “Did she say why?” You ask, watching with concern as he shovels his face with another spoonful.

He swallows too soon and winces as the cold gives him a headache. He nods his head sorrowfully. “We never see each other. She works during the days at a pre-school, and then I’m here all night. She told me we were more like roommates than a couple. She didn’t even tell me in person, either, just called me in the middle of the dinner rush. I had to go back to grilling filet and try not to burst into tears like a sad loser.” He wipes his nose with the sleeve of his chef’s uniform and sniffs again.

You let your spoonful of ice cream melt in your mouth before responding, taking the time to consider the situation. “I’m really sorry that that happened to you, Jin, but it seems like maybe it was for the best.”

He moans low in his throat. “I know, I guess I’m just destined to die alone.”

You blink. “That’s not what I was going for. All you need to do is date somebody who works a night shift as well. Problem solved.”

He pauses, head still bent over the tub, and slowly turns to face you, a glimmer of hope sparkling behind unshed tears. “You think?” He sits up, licks his lips once, then leans in towards you.

“Oh!” You sit back quickly. “I was meaning in general. It wasn’t…self promotion, or anything.” You mentally berate yourself for not thinking through your phrasing before you said it.

He lets out a heavy sigh which breaks off into another sob, and reaches for his spoon again. For a few moments you sit in silence as he makes incredible progress down the massive tub. It had never really occurred to you to think of Jin in that way, but now that you were confronted with the reality of it, you noticed how good-looking Jin was, even through the tears.

He was clearly sweet and sensitive, too, if he was taking a break-up this hard.

You blame your hormones, or maybe your lack of action over the past few months, but you wait until he swallows his current mouthful, and reach out your hand, pushing his chin towards you.

His mouth opens slightly, pouting in confusion, and you just can’t resist yourself from leaning in, finishing what he tried to start just a few moments earlier.

For a second, he doesn’t respond, sitting rigidly, eyes wide open. But when you drop your spoon on the floor, and bring up your other hand to cup his palm and slide your fingers into the hair at the back of his neck, he lets out a shaky breath and leans into it.

His eyelashes flutter against the bridge of your nose when he closes his eyes, and his arm flies up, hand caressing your elbow. He tilts his head slightly to deepen the kiss, and a cold, vanilla-flavoured tongue finds its way into your mouth, the two of you groaning at the drastic contrast of temperatures.

Kissing Jin is like the first moment when a rollercoaster tips downwards, and jolts of adrenaline run through your system like livewires. In the back of your mind you can’t help but wonder how great he must be at making out normally if this is him in a post-breakup funk.

His teeth graze the inner edge of your bottom lip and nip a little, and his mouth swallows up the gasp you let out.

His warm palm slowly moves up your elbow to your shoulder, then dips down to rest against the side of your chest, thumb rubbing along the band of your bra under your shirt. He’s taller than you when sitting, and he’s leaning over just enough that you are tipping back slowly, letting his other arm snake around your middle back to keep you from falling over.

When your brain stops doing cartwheels, and you start to come back to your senses, you can hear delicate, needy whines coming out of his mouth periodically.

His hand comes back up to tip your jaw back, and his mouth falls to your neck, the chilled skin on his lips causing you to break out in goosebumps and shiver wildly.

He leaves a trail of open mouthed kisses down your neck, teeth grazing and tongue laving over the skin.

Your eyes have been squeezed shut in bliss for a while, but when you open them slightly and see the plain concrete ceiling of the chiller, you realise where you are at what you’re doing.

Your hands push against his face, using a fair amount of force to break him away from your neck and get him to stop.

Both of you are panting desperately, and the wet patches on your skin are freezing in the cold air.

“We can’t do this here, Jin, and we can’t do this now.” You huff a few breaths before continuing, feeling your heart rate slow back down to normal levels. “You’ve had a rough day, and I think you probably need to go home and sleep it off. I don’t want you to do something you will regret because you’re feeling upset right now. We can talk later, okay.”

He nods and sighs heavily, hoisting himself off the ground. He dusts off the seat of his pants, and picks up the tub of ice cream and two spoons. “I guess this isn’t exactly food safe anymore,” he ponders out loud, “I should just take it home with me.”

You hear him dump the spoons in the sink, and you get up to follow him. He’s wiped his face off with his apron, and looks a little less miserable than he did when you arrived. You look at the time on the microwave and are shocked to see that you spent over half an hour in there. No wonder your nose feels numb.

“Thank you for…comforting me,” Jin murmurs, retrieving his bag from the lockers.

“Look, if you have any problems, or you can’t get to sleep today, just call me, yeah? I’m here for you.”

He nods, but doesn’t seem convinced. “I don’t want to wake you and ruin your sleep just because I’m having a rough time.”

“That’s exactly why Mr Coffee invented his wonder drink. Don’t you worry about that, okay?”

“Coffee was discovered by an Ethiopian goatherd, actually. But I’ll send Mr Coffee your regards.” A weak smile graces his face as his eyes narrow in mischief.

“Okay, smart-ass, get some sleep.”

Without further ado, he leaves out the back entrance, and the room returns to silence. You shut the chiller door again, and hang around in the kitchen, checking out your reflection in the stainless steel of the backsplash. After a few moments to compose yourself, you push through the double doors that lead you into the restaurant proper.

And bump right into a solid chest.

You let out a little squeak and step back, ready to rattle off an apology when you stop in your tracks.

Taehyung stares down at you, a mischievous grin lighting up his face. You swallow hard, attempting to pass around him, but his hands latch onto your shoulders and hold you in place.

“You look a little worse for wear, Miss Manager. I sure hope you weren’t up to any nonsense in there.”

You shrug noncommittally, trying to ignore the rush of delight you have at feeling the warm weight of his hands on your shoulders when you try to push them up.

He doesn’t seem put off by your lack of response. “I do imagine my lovely brother would be extremely disappointed to hear that his sweet little night manager was off fucking the chef on company time.” He wiggles his eyebrows wickedly.

“We didn’t fuck!” The defence jumps out of your throat before you can phrase it better, and you clear your throat awkwardly. “We didn’t have sex. Why do you care, anyway?”

He draws his head back slightly to get a better look at you. “You’re telling me that if I march you down to Namjoon’s office and tell him I walked in on the two of you in a rather compromising situation, that he’ll believe you over me? Have you see yourself?”

You had. Even through the warped reflection on the oven door, you could see how your hair stuck up at odd angles, and your throat was lined with a trail of red.

You keep your expression neutral. “What do you want?”

His triumphant grin is something to behold.

Jimin is unbelievably hot. You know that, he knows that, the old ladies that stay at the hotel longer than they originally booked for know that. But, as it turns out, so does Taehyung.

An eye for an eye, he phrased it. His brother was so overprotective of him that he never let him bring back girls or guys to the hotel, so his only option for a good time would have to be within the hotel walls.

You were just glad he didn’t outright proposition you, although your current situation wasn’t much better.

You were crouched behind the vending machine, waiting for Jimin to leave room 7.

He was a real hit with older, single women, and he certainly knew how to milk it for all the tips he could get.

They would get an eyeful of him in the lobby, then call Hoseok’s desk however many times a day for the most mundane of chores - changing lightbulbs, showing them how the TV worked, killing a spider that had snuck into the room - all for the sole purpose to get another few moments alone with Jimin.

You were pretty sure with the amount of tips he got, that Jimin probably got paid more than any other staff member in the hotel at this point.

Finally, the door cracked open, and Jimin strolled out, turning around and saying a sweet goodbye to Mrs Ji. Her spindly little hand snuck out of the doorway to tuck a wad of cash into his belt like he was a stripper. His face flushed pink and his smile grew even wider.

The moment he shut the door, he was grabbing the cash and counting through it, pleased at his haul.

You intercepted him as he past, and he grinned when he looked up and saw who it was. “Guess what? Mrs Ji pretended she dropped her book under the bed, so I bent over to fish it out for her, and this glorious ass of mine just earned me two nights worth of work.”

“Ah, my darling Jimin, you walk the line between bellboy and prostutite so well.”

“I do, don’t I?” He flashed you a shit-eating grin, and the two of you began to continue on down the hallway to the main lobby.

You steeled yourself and took your chance. “You see that Taehyung kid around?”

“Namjoon’s brother? Yeah, he’s here this time every year.” He let out an airy sigh. “What a man.”

You raised your eyebrows. “Wait, you’re interested in him?”

Jimin mistook your surprise for jealousy, and wrapped an arm around your shoulders, bringing you in close as you walked. “Don’t worry, babe, you’re still my best girl.”

Flushing darkly from the compliment, but trying not to get distracted, you pressed on. “No, it’s just that he seems pretty into you too. You should go for it. I can cover for you.”

He hums in consideration. “I probably would, only that he’s completely off-limits.”

“What do you mean?”

“You think Namjoon would react well to me being balls deep in his kid brother?” You cringe and quickly glance around the hallway to make sure it was still empty. “Although, the danger of being caught is pretty hot.” His hand squeezes your shoulder playfully. “I must say, I like how you’re pimping me out to the hotel guests. Very dom of you. Are you sure you don’t want to cut out the middle man and just have sleep with me yourself?”

The look in his eyes tells you while he’s bantering with you, he’s dead serious. You laugh awkwardly. “I have to go pick up something from Namjoon’s office. See ya.” You wiggle your way out of his embrace and run back the way you came.

Before your shift ends, you’re knocking desperately on Tae’s door. He takes a while to answer, and when he does, it’s clear he just woke up by the bleary gaze and mussed up hair. He brightens up when he sees you, and ushers you in, clearly expecting news.

“I’ve done my best, but you need to actually put some effort in here.”

“Woah, woah, woah,” he exclaims, “is that any way to speak to the man who’s blackmailing you?”

You roll your eyes, stubbornly trying to avoid the delicious sight of him wearing only boxers and a pair of socks. In an effort not to drool over the golden planes of his chest, you make your way around the room. It only takes you a couple of seconds to take it in, but it’s so obviously his room. A couple of tripods are shoved into the skinny wardrobe, every plug outlet is swarmed with charging cables and expensive equipment, and the desk is filled with pictures and sketches. You sit down at the desk, and flick through some of the pictures as you talk.

He definitely has a talent for photography, and the photos he has taken of the hotel are absolutely beautiful. You pause on one of the hotel pool, which is closed until summer, and is currently overgrown with vines and flowers. The photo is a close up of a dragonfly hovering over the glimmering surface of the pool, with pink petals out of focus floating on the water. He seems uncomfortable with you inspecting his work, so you put them down and turn back to him.

“Jimin’s interested in you, but he doesn’t want Namjoon to find out. If you don’t make a move on him soon, he’s going to find someone less risky to get with.”

“You, you mean.” It’s not a question, and your mouth drops open. “Don’t worry, I’m well aware of the way he looks at you. It may not be obvious to you so far, but I’m a very generous man. I’m quite happy to share.”

You excuse yourself after that, not having anything else to say, and not knowing how to respond. It’s only hours later, when you toss and turn in your bed and ruminate about the stressful night you’ve had, that you realise you don’t know which one of you he was planning to share with whom.

[thebraxiatelcollection]

AU list - Accidental Marriage AU for Bernice Summerfield ( & her crew) pls?

AU List A-Z

@stillthesunkenstars and @devilfromthestars; may like this Benny/Brax ficlet ;) This was too long to do into a small prompt so kind of turned it into a small fanfic.

-

Bernice Summerfield woke up on the ground with a headache.

It wasn’t the first time she has been in this situation, no and it was not one she was proud to admit but she did not, in general, enjoy waking up on the ground. It was far from ideal circumstances and she groaned against the cold, cement floor before she opened her eyes.  

Gods, how much Draconian brandy did she drink last night? 

She winced, holding her head as she slowly sat up.  The room seemed to still be spinning and she blindly groped about her bed for her alarm clock that seemed to be ringing-or was that just the ringing noise in her head? She wasn’t quite sure but as she was groping about, instead of finding the alarm clock or the blanket, she found an ankle. An ankle that wasn’t Jason’s as she and Jason had well and truly been divorced and she was still mad at him for the Sunless situation.

She leapt to her feet in surprise, opening her eyes which did nothing to help nurse her hangover. There was a rustle on the bed and Benny managed to peak at who it was underneath the bedsheets.

Gods, please gods no-

“Ah,”  The voice drawled, showing no sign of a hangover. Of course, he wouldn’t. He was a bloody Time-Lord and they didn’t get drunk except on ginger. Bloody typical. “Gracious me.”

She cursed underneath her breath as she stumbled over her own feet and landed with an almighty crash on the floor. So much for her silent escape.

“Bernice-” Braxiatel started to say her name but it sounded too much like shouting in her ears.

“Quieter please Brax,” Benny winces, rubbing the back of her head. “Oh, my head. How much did I drink last night?”

“More than your usual amount I think,” Braxiatel comments as he sits up and oh no, he was naked from the waist up which did not help matters. “Somebody must have spiked my drink as well. My head feels fuzzy.”

“You think?” She retorts dryly as she uses the end of the bed to leverage herself up and sunk down on the edge of the bed, taking a moment to steady herself. “We’re going to suffer today.”  When was the last time she got serious hungover like this? It must have been back in her university days on Dellah at the very least.

“Go back to sleep,” Braxiatel turned back on his side, making room for herself. “Unless you prefer to sleep on the floor.”

“But-what are we even doing here Brax?” Benny protested, but she had to admit, she was still knackered. Her body felt sore and tired and her head-gods! It wouldn’t stop ringing.

“Never mind about that. It’s 6am in the morning.” He mumbled.

“Fair point,” She agrees and she reached down and managed to snag the covers, pulling the sheet and duvet over both of them as she got back into bed. “We’ll deal with this later.”

“Of course, Bernice.”

She pulled the covers over her head, closing her eyes shut tight and prayed that when she next woke up, this was all some kind of horrible nightmare.

-

Benny woke up for the second time that day and it was almost four in the afternoon and was grateful to find she did not end up on the floor again which was a nice but instead of finding her cheek against the cold floor, her cheek was pressed against a very warm torso, hearing two double heart beats in her ear. In fact, it seemed to be all her limbs had become entangled with Braxiatel’s other limbs. 

She blinked a few times, trying to adjust to what she was seeing in the darkness of Braxiatel’s bedroom.

Wait.

Braxiatel’s bedroom?

Shit. Shit, shit, shit. 

Oh no. 

Thankfully, Braxiatel was still asleep on his side, almost looking peaceful as memories started to drift through her mind from yesterday. She wanted to throttle Braxiatel for being more responsible about this but she couldn’t blame him when this was her fault just as much as his and, truthfully,  she felt rather cosy and warm here, not wishing to move any time soon.

Braxiatel looked rather handsome in his sleep, almost well rested. It was unusual for Bernice to see Braxiatel with his guard down, especially after the Veronica incident. She moved to brush a hand through his salt and pepper coloured hair when she caught side on her hand, noticing a very recent addition of jewellery there.

There was a wedding ring on her hand. A very expensive, shiny and delicate looking ring.

“Oh bugger,” She groaned and she cautiously peeked at Braxiatel’s and sure enough, there was a ring on his hand that hadn’t been there before, matching hers.

As though Braxiatel could sense her staring at him, Braxiatel flickered his eyes open. “Bernice?” He asks, dumbfounded. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question,” She half-joked,  not knowing how to bring their situation.

“You’re in my bedroom. In my bed.”

“Right...”

Braxiatel looked at her suspiciously, sensing her staring at their hands and he glanced down, seeing their wedding rings. “Ah.”

“Ah indeed.” Benny licked her lips. “Surprise may be my middle name but I didn’t expect this kind of surprise.”

“Do you remember what happened last night?”

Benny began to stretch, wanting to loosen her sore limbs. “At a guess? We had that celebration Christmas ball. We got amazingly drunk on Draconian and Ginger brandy, got married somewhere and ended up in bed.” Her eyes widened and she poked his side as a memory flashed before her eyes. “You kicked me out of bed by the way.”

“How rude of me.” Braxiatel frowns, lines creasing his forehead. “I must have drunk an awful lot of ginger. That’s terribly unlike me and I don’t usually sleep for such long periods either.”

“Lucky you. Wait, really? That explains why  I never see the Doctor sleep.”

“Really. Time-Lord’s rarely have the need for it. Sometimes, they have power naps lasting for 30 minutes every couple of years but otherwise, we rarely let our guard down.” He manages to sit up, but thankfully, kept the bedsheet above his waistline. 

“Where did we get married?” Benny manages to ask, her mind still foggy. 

Braxiatel didn’t pause, staring at their rings as he took her hand in his. The wedding rings were antique and proper, that she could tell. Even when they were drunk, Braxiatel still had a taste. 

“Space Vegas,” He replies. “In one of their elope churches.”

“Tasteful.” She says, trying to tell herself that this was okay. Everything was going to be fine. This didn’t change their friendship. They could just go about to their daily business and ignore the fact they got married whilst drunk at some space vegas wedding venue. 

“This will be interesting to explain to Bev and the others,” Braxiatel mused, running a hand through his hair, trying to straighten it out. “Especially to Jason.”

“Yes, thank you for that reminder,” She groans. “Brax, tell me the truth. You have a better memory than me. What happened last night?”

Brax pauses, thinking. “You and I left the party after taking up a few bottles of Draconian and ginger brandy to my office. Then I woke up to find you on the floor of my bedroom.”

“This is all your fault.”

“Bernice!” Braxiatel says, exasperated. “I wouldn’t lie to you about this. I know just as little as you do which is frightening.”

Just then, his datapad ping and he reached over, finding it was from Bev Tarrant, his P.A. “Oh no.”

“What...?” Benny asks cautiously and she sits next to him, looking at the screen. On the screen, their wedding announcement had been made publically on their local news station and everyone was sending in their congratulations.  “Oh no. Wait, is that Bev sending you an  eggplant emoji next to a wedding ring?”

She could have sworn Braxiatel’s cheeks turned bright red as he hid the datapad. They both knew now they couldn’t hide their marriage. It was all out in the open and everyone knew. 

“First thing first, we need to find that marriage certificate,” Benny says, climbing out of bed. “And find out what happened last night so we can fill in the gaps.”

“Quite,” Braxiatel agrees, getting out after her, grabbing his robe. “We’ll have to search the place.”

“You don’t remember where you put it?” Benny asked in disbelief. Blimey, he must have drunken a lot if he couldn’t remember where he put an important document. That was very unlike Braxiatel. 

“Who says I had it? You could have had it,” He pipes up, heading to the bathroom.

That was true. Anyone of them could have the document and she put on the spare robe and began to search through his bedroom. And this was before she’s had any coffee. 

“Check my pockets,” Braxiatel suggests, poking his head around the door, the bathroom running hot water. “That’s where I usually keep items. Besides, if we got drunk and married at the same time, having a marriage certificate and putting it in my pockets would make sense.” He disappears back in the bathroom.

“Right, of course.” Benny rolls her eyes fondly and she began to rummage. She could do with another drink but it was four in the afternoon and she needed a desperate cup of coffee. She finally found the document just after Braxiatel came out of the shower, smartly washed and dressed as though nothing had ever happened, still wearing his ring. “Found it.”

“Good.” He nods, taking the certificate. “I’ll give you a copy.”

“Brax...” She licks her lips nervously. “This won’t change anything, will it?”

“It shouldn’t do. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I’m a human and you’re a Time-Lord.  Isn’t it against the law or something with your people?”

“Actually, no. It’s frowned upon, I admit that but times are changing and for the better back on Gallifrey. A slow, long road it is but whatever happens Bernice,” He meets her eyes, gently tilting her chin to look at him. “You are under my protection.”

“I don’t need protecting,” She says, but she was grateful for his support if it should come to that. “But thank you.” She chuckles. “You know, a Time-Lord and a human archaeologist, we make an odd pair, don’t we?”

“It’s almost as if it was meant to be,” Brax sang cheerily and presses the room service button, ordering coffee and some light lunch for the both of them. 

“At least I’m not a plant this time. But if I want to make it clear Brax.” She crosses her arms. “I don’t want to be added as part of your collection like you did with Veronica. I’m me. Your...best friend, now you’re wife. Not some rare artefact to keep in your personal collection for only you to see. Got that?”

Braxiatel nodded. “Oh Bernice,” He gives a soft smile. “You are so much more than either of those things.” He offers her his hand with the wedding ring. “Are you willing to give us a go?”

She couldn’t help but smile back. “That I am.” Sje says to both of those things and takes his hand.

A new beginning was about to start.

[cozykhaos]

A New Sun. Part 2

The day dragged as usual and it wasn’t until after lunch that I was summoned to the sixth floor, the executive offices. I took the elevator up, and it opened to a large open room. It was a whole different world up here. The flooring was dark gray concrete with sparkling inlays, a crystal chandelier hung in the middle of the room, there weren’t any windows, but an entire wall phased through scenes. Cherry blossoms in Japan, the mountains, the ocean. On and on it went, soft music playing in the background.

“Ma’am?” A brunette woman looked at me from behind a desk.

“Yes, sorry, that’s just really – “My voice trailed off as a scene of a crystal-clear lake appeared.

“Beautiful, right?”

“Very,” I bounced a little on the balls of my feet, nerves getting the best of me.

“Kit! In here please” Diane poked her head out of an office to my left. She disappeared, and the door shut once again.

The brunette frowned. “Go on in I guess.”

I entered the room, beside Diane was a handsome man I had never met before. He towered above me, even with his authority stance of his legs parted at shoulder length, arms crossed in front of him. He had a strong jaw that was shadowed with black stubble, he had a full head of thick black hair and deep brown eyes. His shirt, even though collared with a tie, was short sleeves and his olive skin glowed from being outside. I glanced over at Diane who had put on makeup today, her cheeks were rosy, lips cakey with too much lipstick. From where she was standing behind the man, she was clearly checking out his ass. Good for you Diane, good for you.

“Hi, Miss McKenzie my name is Thomas,” he flashed a smile of perfectly straight white teeth and extended his hand. I shook it and flashed a smile of my own. “Nice to meet you.”

He moved behind his desk and motioned for me to have a seat, Diane shifted nervously in her spot, still standing.

“Miss McKenzie, I know there was an issue yesterday with a –“ He paused and looked over the paper work. “Mr. Anthony Lynell, he called in and placed a complaint about you. Your first one since you started working here. That’s rather impressive.”

I didn’t respond, Thomas cleared his throat and continued. “I have reviewed the audio tapes of Mr. Lynell’s conversation with you and Miss Gould and have come to determine that he was the one out of line.”

I relaxed and handed out a folder that I had brought with me. “I did a little bit of research, in case this didn’t go well for Lauren and I. Mr. Lynell has a profile with us and the notes that have been documented are very concerning. He has been aggressive with numerous employees. Name calling, threats. He apparently tried to beat one of the service technicians with a cowboy boot. I’m surprised he hasn’t been brought to a supervisor’s attention before,” I handed over the folder and Thomas thumbed through it, a frown tugging at the corners of his lips. Diane shifted in her still standing position, was that sweat I spotted on her upper lip?

“This is very good work Miss McKenzie. I’m going to make sure I reach out to Mr. Lynell myself and let him know we will no longer be doing any sort of work for him.”

“But-“ Diane started. Thomas raised a hand, silencing my boss, then leaned forward. “I have been reviewing your file with us Miss McKenzie, I’m very impressed. When you started here you were right out of high school and working in the warehouse. Where you came up with a new process on getting new service vans set up. Before it would take us weeks to get a new van out to the field. Your process changed that to matter of days. You were then sent to warranty where you climbed into a management position in just a year and you were going to college full time. That’s where you have been the last 4 years. Our customer service scores are the highest they have ever been, and we haven’t missed a 24-hour deadline in the time you’ve been there.” He leaned back in his chair. “How would you like to be our new Humane Resource Manager?”

“But Thomas –“Diane started but she was cut off by another raised hand.

“Diane, we are all done here, you may leave,” Thomas nodded towards the door. Diane stared at him, mouth hanging open. Finally, after a tense minute Thomas got up, placing his hand on her lower back he led her to the door.

“Sorry about that,” Thomas spoke as he sat back down. “You don’t have to say yes right away, I understand it’s a lot to drop on you,” he slid a packet of paper work my way. “Look it over and see what you think, get with me in the next couple of days, my extension is listed as your point of contact,” he flashed another smile.

“Wow, uhm thank you!” I finally managed to get out. “I will back to you.”

The smile stayed as he watched me, I wonder how long he could keep it plastered on his face. I shook his hand again another round of “nice to meet you,” and I was making my way back to elevator after a wave to the brunette. Once inside I leaned against the back wall and stared at the double doors, some part of me was screaming to take the elevator to the bottom floor and start running. But this was a huge opportunity, I called this job my big girl job, but the promotion was a full-on adult job. I flipped through the paper work finding the salary and let out a low whistle, I’d be making more than double my yearly income now. The doors opened to my floor and the thought hit me, I’d be stuck here.

I set myself on autopilot and finished out the rest of my day. As soon as I left the front doors, I dialed my dad.

“Hello Sunshine!” He greeted me.

“Hey dad,” I forced a smile onto my face, hoping it came through my voice.

“What’s wrong?” Apparently, the smile didn’t work. I explained to him what had happened over the last two days and the offer that was on the table. “That’s great news, why do you sound so bummed out?”

The smile cracked, and the tears welled up in my eyes. “I hate it their dad.”

“No no, don’t cry Sunshine,” he soothed. “It’s going to be alright, do you want to meet up for dinner and we can talk about it?”

“No, it’s okay. I’m going to go home and try to unwind and calm down. How about tomorrow?”

“What is tomorrow, Friday?”

“Friday.” I confirmed

“I’ll meet you at Cal’s at 6:30?” He asked.

“It’s a date!” We said our goodbyes as I opened the front door.

I started the tub and threw my work clothes into my laundry basket. I went back to the tub and dropped in a bath bomb. I had a pillow that was for the bath that I had received as a Christmas gift a few years ago. I had thrown it in my closet and forgotten about it. After looking under a pile of clothes, a few gift bags, and an old photo album, I found the pillow still in its original box.

“Hah!” I cried out in triumph, doing a little dance when my toe stubbed something. After a string of curses, I looked down at want had assaulted me, a memory box. My mother had given it to me when I had graduated high school, since then I have only pulled it out a handful of times to add something to its collection. I brought it into the bathroom and set it on the toilet seat, I quickly installed the pillow at the back of the tub then submerged myself. I pulled the lid off the box and started looking through the contents. A piece of petrified wood from a beach trip with my dad, a program from Lost in Yonkers that I saw last year. I kept riffling through, there was something in here that was calling out to me, finally I found it, my fingers tingling as I touched the envelope. A letter my grandfather had left me, sealed with a purple wax stamp. Fingers shaking, I opened the letter and read:

My darling Kit,

If you are reading this, you must be in dire need of change.

The same thing happened to me, long ago. I’d lost sight over what mattered most in life… real connections with other people and nature. So, I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong.

I’ve enclosed the deed to that place… My pride and joy: Eos Farm. It’s located in Stardew Valley, on the Southern Coast, it’s a great place to start your new life.

This was my most precious gift of all, and now it’s yours. I know you will honor the family name, my Sunshine. Good luck.

Love, Grandpa.

I don’t know when I started crying, but the tears fell freely, and my shoulders shook. I folded the letter back up and placed it in the box. I slid into the hot water a hiccup escaping. My mind raced a mile a minute, I submerged myself under the water, my long red hair spreading out around me. I held my breath for as long as I could, counting the seconds, 14, 15, 16 … 25, 26, 27, 28, finally my lungs couldn’t take it anymore and I popped back up.

I had gone to the Valley as a teenager, I hadn’t been happy about it at first. I wanted to spend time with my friends, going to the beach, having sleep overs, going shopping. But dad insisted, saying that it would be good for me. He wasn’t wrong.

I spent my summer with grandpa, learning about the farm. Waking up at 6am to start watering, pulling weeds, and chopping wood. I would spend my afternoons in town with a group of the other teenagers that I had made friends with. We spent out afternoons on the beach, Abbigail, one of the local girls I had met, with purple hair, kind eyes and a sunny smile, we would run down the pier, hand-in-hand, jumping, the ocean rising up to meet us., Sam, who’s hair was long and down to his shoulders, with too much energy and Sebastian, his black hair short, fingers always tapping against the side of his leg. There were other teenagers in town about our age, but it was usually the four of us. How long had it been since I talked to them? Abby had reached out to me numerous times over the years, but I always at work, or in the middle of a project for work. Eventually the text and phone calls stopped. In fact, they had stopped from all my friends. I went on facebook, scrolling through my timeline, they were still out there. Living their lives, finding that perfect work/life balance. While their lives continued, dating, getting married, having babies, going out on weekends, I was frozen in place. Frozen in Joja Corporation limbo.

Grabbing my phone off the side of the tub again I dialed my dad. He picked on the second ring. “Everything okay, Sunshine?”

“I’m moving to Stardew Valley.”

I went into work Friday and let them know I was leaving. I didn’t give an explanation, just handed in the note and walked out. It felt good walking out the front door of Joja for the last time. My dad was at my apartment when I got home, moving boxes at the ready. It took the majority of Friday and the weekend to sort out things. I had to call the Mayor, Lewis to let him know I was coming, the old man sounded excited and let me know things would be set up by Monday when I arrived. I got rid of my Joja Corp clothes which were all business casual, I wouldn’t be needing them on the farm. I brought my pots and pans, packed up my computer and consoles. A lot would be going to my dad’s house, the farm house was small. From what I remember there was only two rooms. The main room and the bathroom, the main room had a small kitchenette, fireplace, table and a bed.

I didn’t like the idea of downsizing and I refused to leave my computer desk behind, I would find a place for it. Early on Monday morning I handed over the keys to my dad, since I owned the apartment, we had decided we would rent it out. We stopped at McDonald’s to get breakfast on our way out of town, then spent the next 3 hours of the drive bantering back and forth about the farm. My grandfather had passed away just after I graduated high school and the farm had been abandoned ever since. Dad had decided to come with me, he knew there was going to be a lot of work to get done. Despite that he was only in his 50’s he had been retired for a while now. He had served his 20 years in the military and then retired, doing odd jobs around town as a handyman.

               A smiling red head waved us down as we approached the bus stop. “Mayor Lewis sent me out here to welcome you while he finishes getting things ready.”

I smiled and opened the door, scooting over the middle, Robin pulled herself into the cab and shut the door. “Hey, Kit. Good to see you again sweetie!” She gave me an awkward one-armed hug. “It might be tough to get the truck in, I’m warning you now,” she said with a grimace.

“Robin! Thanks for meeting us. Is it that bad?” I looked at her. Robin scrunched up her nose and nodded. Oh boy.

No matter what Robin said, nothing could have prepared me for the state of the farm. We were jostled around in the cab of the truck as we bummed over fallen branches and stones.

Lewis existed the house, taking off his hat he waved at us.

“Holy shit,” I breathed out, earning a giggle from Robin.

“Sure, it is a bit overgrown, but there is some good soil underneath this mess!” Robin said as she hopped out of the truck. I caught my dad’s face out of the corner of my eye as he rounded the truck. It was the same as mine, mouth open, green eyes wide. “With a little dedication you’ll have it cleaned up in no time!”

“Kit!” Lewis walked over to us, making sure to step lightly on the groaning porch steps. He gathered me up in his arms giving me a hug. “It’s so good to see you again!” He held me at arm’s length.

“Hi Lewis,” I beamed up to him. “I’m glad to be back. Even though the circumstances kinda suck.”

He laughed. “They do kinda suck.”

My dad cleared his throat as he looked up at the house. “Very… rustic,” he chimed in.

“That’s one way to put it,” Robin snorted. “Crusty might be more appropriate.”

Mayor Lewis bristled. “Don’t listen to her! She’s just trying to get you to buy one of her house upgrades!” Robin glared at the old man and playfully slapped his arm. Lewis turned his attention to my dad. “I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.”

Dad shook his head. “I’m James, Kit’s dad. I dropped her off in the summer. But I usually just had her practice tucking and rolling then went on my merry way.”

Robin erupted into a fit of laughter.

“It’s nice to finally meet you. We should get going, you’ve probably already had a long day and will want to start unpacking.” Both started to go but Robin doubled back. Lewis hung out on the edges of the farm waiting for her.

“The kids wanted to come by today, I told them to wait until tomorrow. Figured you would be overwhelmed,” she waved before joining Lewis again.

Once it was just to two of us again, I finally looked out across the acres of land. It was a wasteland with broken branches, trees slouched over from past storms, the earth looking as if it had been chewed up and spit out.

“What have I done?” I sank down to the ground, dad sat next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“You haven’t done anything yet. We are just getting started.”

I looked at him and gave him a weak smile.

[wannawrite]

not my type

who?: Wanna One’s Ong Seongwoo genre: 🌸 type: bullet point

blog navigator.

University! AU 

you don’t date younger guys

but you just might ;)

thanks for requesting! this was quite difficult to write since I am a child still lol. Do note that Seongwoo is 20 in this work of fiction. ⁃ admin l

disclaimer: pictures used do not belong to me and credit goes to their original owners everything that is written here is purely fictional DO NOT READ IF TRIGGERING

~

so,,,your love life 

not that exciting 

in fact, it is facing a drought at the moment 

reality is harsh huh? 

or maybe it is because of your high standards 

1. No younger guys 

2. Must be a nice person 

3. Someone I could foresee marrying 

but none of your blind dates left you impressed

and then there’s this kid from the music block called Ong Seongwoo 

he’s just one of the guys trying to worm his way into your ‘possible boyfriend’ list 

scarily enough, his tactics were working

~

we gon throw this waayyy back when y’all met 

frat parties were never your thing

in fact, f*ck linda and this stupid party, I just want to go home and sleep 

you love your roommate and all but you couldn’t help but curse her out 

after all, she had dragged you to this party thrown by one of the music department frat guys 

and left you stranded 

in a hallway with at least 3 couples passionately making out 

tonight was not your night at all 

you hated the loud, shitty music and the smell of sweat and liquor 

appalling 

but linda was your ride here and there was a slim chance of hailing a cab right now 

you had no choice but to suck it up and rough it out 

Another issue

you needed to finish that essay on sustainable fashion before the 6am deadline 

shit 

gr8 job prof 

all-nighter? 

borrow a laptop from someone and do it now? 

what the hell 

which person would bring a laptop to a frat party? 

unless you can break into one of their rooms and take one??1?1?11

you almost slap yourself at the idea

dumb worried bitch energy 

sis is out of ideas and just wants to graduate be a little empathetic, folks 

you want to sit down on the floor and sink into a puddle of goo 

oh no 

there’s no way you are going to maintain this 3.9 GPA lmaoo

you move to wrestle Linda away from one of the frat guys 

but hollers and cheers stop you

a group of guys block your path as they welcome yet another friend 

but get this! the newcomer has a laptop case in his hands!! 

he appears to have just come from a lecture or meeting 

bUT HE HAS A LAPTOP YAYAYAYAYA

now, all you had to do was to stalk him, suck up to him and steal borrow the device 

sucking up to one of these frat boys was easy 

their brains had been bruised with bud lights so they weren’t the brightest of the bunch 

before you know it, he’s whisked away by his friends and dissolved into the crowd 

crap 

you really, genuinely, wholly, need this laptop 

They would help a fellow college student in need, right?

left with no choice, you elbow your way through  

I suppose your efforts pay off 

bc you catch him as he’s headed upstairs 

barely 

“hey!” you yell over the noise. “I-I...” 

the mystery guy only stares, quizzically 

suddenly, you’ve lost all ability to form coherent sentences 

this is embarrassing!

hE JUST LOOKING 

sis gotta calm down 

remember the real reason: laptop

“c-can i borrow your laptop real quick? I have a d-deadline tonight” 

mystery boy says nothing 

...

“What’s it in for me? If i lend you my laptop?”

he tries to remain serious but the corners of his mouth are tugging up

sneaky

desperation is pretty much flooding your body 

you wld say f*ck it but you can’t 

“I’ll owe you a favour!” you blurt out thoughtlessly. 

*crickets chirping* 

hope is slowly beginning to fade and your brain is coming up with extension excuses 

just crumbs,,,anything

Orbits gg thru with the drought

when he goes 

“okay”

JESUS THANK YOU 

he beckons for you to follow him 

oh?😏😉

“I know a better work environment than here.” 

oh. 

“What’s your name? I’m y/n, it’s my third year.” 

“Woah, third year? my name’s ong seongwoo. I just got here.” 

huh, freshman 

seongwoo doesn’t say much after

he leads you to a common study area in the enormous fraternity house 

you turn away as he sets up the laptop and everything bc privacy!!!

but the number of brain cells you have left won’t allow you to remember his login details anyway 

“thanks,” you murmur bashfully 

well, this is an expected and rather awkward situation 

seongwoo plants himself in the chair a few seats away from yours 

he pulls out study materials from his backpack 

??? hello? sis, u shld be enjoying the party downstairs ???

you try to shift your fullest attention on your project 

but!! his presence alone is so loud prominent, it’s giving you a hard time keeping your eyes off😔🤧

anyway u manage to suck it up and finish paper and submit it just in time! 

a miracle 

maybe he is your angel ;)

you turn to face him and,,,seongwoo has fallen asleep!! on his books!! 

his hair is slightly tousled and his glasses rest askew on his face 

papers flap in his face but he’s too gone to care 

the poor child is tired 

💓💖💕soft hours💕💖💓: open

gently, you tap his shoulder 

“seongwoo? hey, um, your laptop,” 

he only stirs the 2nd time you call him

Cute

groggily, he covers his face and speaks into his hands 

he mumbles something about ‘dealing with it later’

you figure it would be best if you left him alone to nap 

suddenly, seongwoo grabs your arm 

at least, he reaches for it

“I need your number to claim that favour.” 

my number ????

for half a second, your heart does pitter patters 

he’s only being objective though...

and it was you who suggested it in the first place 

sighing, you punch your number into his phone 

“okay, but use it wisely and...try not to...call or text so much...”

that sounds rlly mean >:( 

“yeah i’ll keep that in mind.” 

there’s an underlying layer of...cheekiness? in seongwoo’s tone 

your brain jumps to the first conclusion it can think of 

“I don’t date younger guys, Seongwoo,” 

rEGRET FILLS YOUR ENTIRE BEING IMMEDIATELY AFTER 

now, Seongwoo looks up and beams broadly 

“Bold of you to assume I’m interested,” he taunts playfully 

red sinks into your face and you defend yourself in splutters 

“I’m not interested in general! I’m prioritising my studies and everything else! It was just to make sure you know where we stand-“ 

futile, really 

“relax,” he replies. “Just saying, I could change your mind.” 

Cocky 

but true lol

an amused scoff leave your lips and your arms go akimbo

“I’d like to see you try, freshman.” 

~

*back to the present* 

You: really, Seongwoo. I don’t see why you can’t drop by the printing station yourself 

Seongwoo: you are seated RIGHT NEXT to it. Just fold the papers into aeroplanes and fly them over 

You: a 15-page research paper ?? That clearly says ‘do not bend’ 

Seongwoo: ignore it. Throw it over 

you never predicted this was where life would take you 

here you were, sat in the library, the table by the printing room 

and Seongwoo was seated a few tables away, texting you to collect his freshly printed document

just because 

You: Oh my god shut up you’ll get points deducted if your paper is the least bit crumpled 

You: i’ll just bring it over 

so,,,you did 

you brought seongwoo’s papers over to his table 

he had been watching from afar, lips pulled into a dumb smile

“thank you, senior.” 

boy had the audacity to say that in front of your salad 

just to tease him, you reply: 

“yeah, senior, just how I like my future boyfriend.” 

with that remark, the smile slips off seongwoo’s face and his jaw clenches

but he tries to play it off all cool😎🤧

you shoot the sweetest smile you can muster before skipping back to your table 

*beep beep*

I nearly put vibrate -

Seongwoo: that doesn’t count as using my favour card! 

your head shakes, but your mouth smiles 

it was no secret that seongwoo had a small! crush on you 

even if it was, everyone knew 

his whole frat and most of his seniors 

your friends and roommates 

the whole bloody campus 

this relationship started out with seongwoo following you on ig

then occasionally dropping a text and wishing you well 

he also hyped up all your pics 

and said hi whenever you bumped into each other 

it escalated to meeting up for brunch or a movie 

just...as friends, casually 

but you enjoyed his company and goofing around much more than some blind dates 

now, texting him was a regular 

going out was common 

and you haven’t even counted the number of times you guys met at social events 

sometimes, he made you feel so✨ special, precious, wanted by doing the smallest things 

like a tea on your table 

or going the extra mile to cheer you up 

most of the time at the expense of his handsome face 

he was always,,,there

you did find out about his feelings, though he never addressed them fully

it was fun!! to press his buttons as a friend 

“yeah idk abt dating someone younger. Wbu?” 

“Hmm. Senior year makes everyone 10x hotter.” 

thOSE WERE JOKES 

BANTER, PEOPLE, BANTER 

but...you weren’t certain if that would turn into something more 

you know, you hadn’t given dating someone younger a thought 

it never crossed your mind 

maybe it was a subconscious deal breaker 

you were always quick to bring age into making deals 

old broken deals could be made new 

the concept was incredibly foreign 

my boyfriend? younger? 

Personally, you could never see that happen 

b-but seongwoo made you sO DAMN HAPPY ALL THE TIME 

there was sunshine in his smiles

and starlight in his eyes 

ᵕ꒳ᵕ

uGh fEELINGS 

but is this attraction? 

Eventually, after many sleepless nights, up thinking about this, you made up your mind

If he made a move first, 

bc ur scared 

you would be hella open to dating him 

f*ck that ‘older people only’ rule 

(⁄˘⁄ ⁄ ω⁄ ⁄ ˘⁄)♡

[3.06am] seongwoo leaves a voicemail. He says, “hey, will you go on a date with me? I like you.”

[3.14am] seongwoo leaves another voicemail. “I’ll use my favour card if I have to. Just give me a chance.” 

anD HOLY F*CK YOU DON’T knOW HOW TO ACT AFTER HEARING THOSE 

RIGHT WHEN YOU WAKE UP 

yOur heaRT IS FLUTTERING AND YOU CAN FEEL THE BLUSH COMING 

UGH SWEETHEART YOU GOT IT BAD 

so u jump on this bandwagon and call him asap 

it goes straight to voicemail but you don’t leave one 

hehe

you know,,,to build suspense 

all day long, that’s all you can think about 

SeoNGWOO LIKES ME?

~

[8.17am] seongwoo wakes up to a silent voicemail from you 

he doesn’t know what to think of it 

he dials your number with shaking hands and before you can utter a word, he rushes, “meet me at xxx cafe at 11am” 

then hangs up 

Tumblr: 101 cafe date outfit ideas

Seongwoo arrives early and orders a drink while waiting 

he also picks out a window booth to sit at 

his nerves could eat him alive if they teamed up 

what would you say to him? 

how badly did you react to his 3am confession 

getting mildly intoxicated on Daniel’s stash was a horrible idea

he spilt all his secret uwus

the bell chimes 

and all his attention is focused on you 

your eyes land on him 

a smile graces your face as you walk over 

“I like you too.” 

“Damn, you better not be messing with me right now,” seongwoo nervously chuckles. “I know I sent you th-“ 

“Oh my god! I like you!” 

For a moment, his smart mouth runs dry, surprised 

“Oh wow, what happened to your older guys only rule?”

You smack his chest in mock annoyance

“Rules are made to be broken! Let’s not talk about that.” You turn various shades of red 

Grinning like the Chesire cat, Seongwoo teases, “And that’s the beauty of it.”