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seitmai · 3 months ago

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Many thoughts, as always lol

You thought your first week back at work went pretty well. You only cried five times. Bradley only threatened to retire early seven times. You only called your parents in a panic twice. And you only fell asleep in your office once.

A win is a win 🤷🏻‍��️

When you offered him the pizza box with an innocent smile, he shook his head. "I already had four slices," he whispered. "I'm not trying to get a dad bod already." You pressed your lips together and said, "I have a mom bod." "You're perfect."

🥺🥺🥺

"Yes. I want you to ask for it." Bradley took a step closer to you as he grunted, his hand flexing at his side before inching toward the fly of his jeans. "Okay," he rasped before licking his lips. "I want to undress you." He swallowed hard, pupils blown wide. "And I want you to warm my cock with your perfect pussy while I suck on your tits." "Oh my god," you gasped, already squirming with need as his words washed over you. "That was a lot more descriptive than I thought it would be." His cheeks grew pink as he took another step in your direction. "You wanted me to say it."

The six weeks didn't change anything between them 🤭😏

"Jesus," he groaned, finally pulling his body a few inches away from yours. You wobbled a bit when he helped you stand, and you could feel his cum dribbling down between your thighs. "That looks so pretty. I can't believe you wanted us to use condoms." He shook his head and muttered, "The creampies are just too nice." Then he opened the pizza box, stacked up the last two slices and devoured them as he followed you to bed.

This is so Bradley, including the little post sex snack of cold left over pizza 😅

"Don't mention it, Lieutenant Commander," he replied with a wink as Jake set down an overstuffed diaper bag and some toys. While Cat was wearing her dress whites, Jake opted for a tuxedo, and frankly it was startling to see him dressed that way.

Jake's already getting a feel for his wedding look 🤭

"Not very long ago," Cat said with a smile. "Just a few weeks. His first word was 'Mum'." "His second word was 'Dad'," Jake added, giving his girlfriend some side-eye. "It was," Cat said quietly as Jake took Rose from your arms.

Aww I love that for Jake and Cat (even though she's still a little reserved)

"She would never spit up on her godfather," he drawled, tickling her belly until she made a cute gurgling sound. Bradley silently goaded his daughter to do just that, but to no avail.

Haha this rivalry won't ever end 😂

"Yeah, I heard," Bradley replied, mopping up Rose's mess at the same time he tried to burp her so she didn't do it again. "I'm just in the middle of a huge betrayal at the moment."

He is as BG said soo freaking dramatic 😂

Listening to you read about a spy princess with magical powers was something new for him, but Bradley loved your voice so much. As soon as you finished he whispered, "Will you read it again?" You looked up to see both children sound asleep on him and smiled. "You really want me to? Because neither of them are listening." "I want you to."

🥰🥰🥰

"Yes," he replied, clearly proud of himself. "Your mom sent me a foolproof recipe for blueberry muffins, and I think I fucking nailed it, Sweetheart." "Don't swear in front of the baby," you murmured, kissing him a little awkwardly with Rose strapped to the front of him. "Thank you. This is really sweet."

So cute!! Is Bradley now gonna come into his baking era after the cooking era? 🤔

You watched him run his fingers through his hair a little nervously before he turned toward the refrigerator which was still covered in ultrasound photos. "It's not fancy or anything like that. I didn't even know you could make them fancy when I started it the other day. Which is just silly, because there's a whole aisle dedicated to it at the craft store, but I didn't realize that until I got there, and then it seemed too complicated."

When he said "whole aisle at the craft store" and "too complicated" I knew he was talking about scrapbooking 😅

"Uh," he whispered, handing you a yellow binder, "it's a scrapbook." The cover said Happy Mother's Day in silver letters with your name at the bottom, and when you opened it, the first page was covered in photos of you holding Rose. Tears welled up in your eyes as Bradley said, "Like I said, it's not the best, but I tried. I think I should have found a prettier binder-"

So cute and thoughtful 🥹🥰

🤭🤭🤭

Your words hit Bradley in the chest as he took the photo. He had never celebrated a single Father's Day in his life. Well, none that he could remember. Certainly Carole had made a huge fuss over her husband with Bradley when he was tiny, but he had no memory of any such things. As far as he could recall, there was nothing related to the holiday in any of the boxes you and he sorted through in his storage unit in Virginia. There was no tangible evidence.

🥺🥺🥺

Bradley wrapped his arm around your shoulder and pressed his lips to Rosie's soft cheek over and over again as he tried not to start crying. He'd become an overly emotional mess since his little girl arrived, and sometimes he wasn't sure he was well equipped to handle all of these feelings.

I LOVE that he is so in his feelings since he is a dad 🥰

Aim for the Sky Part 21 | Rooster x Reader

Summary: Bradley hadn't really celebrated Mother's Day since Carole passed. It was a strange thing, trying to wrap his head around all of the emotions he felt as he watched you and Rose together. He wanted these feelings to last forever.

Warnings: Fluff, angst, adult language, lactation kink, smut, DILF Roo

Length: 3400 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Reader

Aim for the Sky masterlist. This was written to accompany my series Is It Working For You? along with a bunch of my one-shots and other series, but it can be read on its own! Check my masterlist for the reading order.

"That could have been a lot worse," you said on Friday night while you sat on the couch and ate pizza while Bradley walked Rose around, trying to get her to fall asleep.

"You're right," he whispered, kissing her hair. "I only cried twice." You laughed as Rose's eyes fluttered closed and stayed that way. She already looked so much bigger to you than she did a few weeks ago, even though she still looked tiny compared to your husband's biceps in his undershirt.

"You're killing this dad thing, Roo," you told him as he slowly headed for the hallway to put her in her crib with Tramp at his heels. There was still some room temperature pizza left for Bradley to enjoy with you before it was time to head to bed yourselves, but when he strolled back into the living room, you could tell exactly what he wanted.

When you offered him the pizza box with an innocent smile, he shook his head. "I already had four slices," he whispered. "I'm not trying to get a dad bod already."

You pressed your lips together and said, "I have a mom bod."

"You're perfect."

He spoke with conviction and finality, and you weren't going to argue with him about it. "Are you ready for bed?" When he shook his head again, you asked, "What do you want to do then?"

"Are you going to make me ask for it?"

You watched his gaze dip down to your chest and stay there for a beat. It was unbelievable how much he could turn you on when he wasn't even touching you. Every fiber of your being was telling you to take your shirt off and give him what he wanted, but the reassurance he readily gave you was too hot to pass by.

"Yes. I want you to ask for it."

Bradley took a step closer to you as he grunted, his hand flexing at his side before inching toward the fly of his jeans. "Okay," he rasped before licking his lips. "I want to undress you." He swallowed hard, pupils blown wide. "And I want you to warm my cock with your perfect pussy while I suck on your tits."

"Oh my god," you gasped, already squirming with need as his words washed over you. "That was a lot more descriptive than I thought it would be."

His cheeks grew pink as he took another step in your direction. "You wanted me to say it."

"I did," you said as you wrenched your shirt over your head. Then you reached for his zipper, and as soon as you had his cock free, you took him between your lips.

Deep, guttural grunts filled your ears as you licked and sucked, enjoying the feel of his big hand at the back of your head while he said, "Now you're just giving me a bonus, Baby Girl."

You pulled him free, saliva strands landing on your chest. "I can stop if you're not into it."

His eyes went wide before narrowing. "Get that smart mouth back on my cock."

You did as you were told, overwhelmingly turned on by him, but he didn't let you give him head for too much longer. He knew what he wanted. It was what he always wanted now. He wanted your breasts.

"Let's go, Sweetheart," he coaxed, pulling you to your feet and stepping out of his jeans. His undershirt was the next thing to go as his cock bobbed, glistening with your saliva. "Let me have it."

He sat down on the couch, staring at you as you took your time removing your shorts and underwear. You watched him rub his thigh as he panted your name, voice laced with desperation as he reached for you. Then you let him have what he wanted. His cock was thick in your hand as you guided him through your wetness until you were sinking down around him.

"Oh fuuuuuck," he breathed as you came to rest on his lap with him fully seated, and then his mouth found the bead of milk leaking from your nipple, and you let yourself enjoy every sensation. Soft lips, eager tongue and harsh mustache. "You're so warm," he muttered, burying his face between your breasts before sucking on the other nipple. "So fucking warm."

You raked your fingers through his hair as your pussy pulsed around him. The delicious feeling of being so full was punctuated by his tongue licking sloppy stripes along your chest like he couldn't get enough. When he wrapped his hands around your waist and held you tight so he could push himself even deeper, your head dipping back in pleasure as you whined.

"I'll make you come," he promised, circling your nipple with his tongue. His thumb found your clit and started stroking you as he sucked you dry. You were exhausted now, but you were so close, and you couldn't help yourself from bouncing in his lap. "Fuck," he growled, and you knew he was done. He came inside you, still rubbing your clit, and soon you bounced along through your own orgasm with your husband's face buried between your breasts.

"It was just a suggestion!" you laughed. "I don't mind taking the pill."

He shook his head and muttered, "The creampies are just too nice." Then he opened the pizza box, stacked up the last two slices and devoured them as he followed you to bed.

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"I can't thank you enough for this," Cat said as she handed Jeremiah to Bradley. The two and a half year old was still waking up from his nap. Bradley was so used to holding Rose, it was shocking how much heavier and bigger Jeremiah was than his own child.

"Where's Angel?" Jake asked, bypassing Bradley altogether. "And where's my goddaughter?"

"She's feeding Rose," Bradley replied with a grunt.

"I'm coming!" you called from the nursery, and everyone perked up, including Jeremiah, because Tramp ran out of the room behind you.

"Dog!" Jeremiah said, pointing down at the floor.

"Hey, little dude! Good job!" Bradley told him, kneeling so he could pet Tramp. "Since when did he start talking?"

"Not very long ago," Cat said with a smile. "Just a few weeks. His first word was 'Mum'."

"His second word was 'Dad'," Jake added, giving his girlfriend some side-eye.

"It was," Cat said quietly as Jake took Rose from your arms.

Bradley knew the other pilot wanted to be Jeremiah's dad in the worst way. He talked about the little boy all the time, spent as much time with him as he could, and bought him more stuff than he could ever use. Maybe once Cat and Jeremiah moved in with him, she would start to budge on the rest of it.

"Careful," you told Jake as he started to bounce Rose. "She didn't burp yet."

Bradley smirked, because burping the baby was his job, and he loved when you saved that task for him to do. But Rose had a bit of a reputation now. "She'll spit up," Bradley warned, eyeing Jake's pristine tuxedo.

"She would never spit up on her godfather," he drawled, tickling her belly until she made a cute gurgling sound. Bradley silently goaded his daughter to do just that, but to no avail.

"We need to leave," Cat informed Jake. "The ceremony starts in an hour, but I need to be there before that. And you need to find a place to sit with Uncle Bernie."

She kissed Jeremiah in Bradley's arms, and then she headed for the front door as Jake sarcastically muttered, "Fantastic. Uncle Hondo still hates me on principle." Then he handed Rose to Bradley as well so he was left juggling both kids. "Thanks for watching him, Bradshaw."

Then he was gone, and Rose promptly spit up on Bradley's shirt. "Are you joking right now?" he asked his daughter as he knelt again to set Jeremiah down. "Nugget. We've had these discussions. I'm your dad. You're supposed to like me more than you like your godfather."

But you were all worked up now as Jeremiah said dog repeatedly and chased after Tramp. "Did you hear that, Roo? Jer calls Jake his Dad!"

"Yeah, I heard," Bradley replied, mopping up Rose's mess at the same time he tried to burp her so she didn't do it again. "I'm just in the middle of a huge betrayal at the moment."

"You're so dramatic," you told him, tossing him the burp cloth you left on the island earlier. Then you took Rose and said, "Go get changed, and I'll read everyone a story."

Bradley had to chase Jeremiah around for almost an hour before he started to show signs of fatigue. He knew quite a few words now, and when Bradley tried to teach him how to say Rooster, it came out as Woo. He was currently reaching for Bradley and saying, "Woo, up," which was actually the cutest thing.

"Does this mean we're finally ready for story time?" he asked, picking up one of Rose's storybooks that ended up on the coffee table. "Book?"

"Book," Jeremiah confirmed, and Bradley settled on the couch with both kids.

Listening to you read about a spy princess with magical powers was something new for him, but Bradley loved your voice so much. As soon as you finished he whispered, "Will you read it again?"

You looked up to see both children sound asleep on him and smiled. "You really want me to? Because neither of them are listening."

"I want you to."

So you humored him by reading it out loud a second time and doing all the voices. Bradley yawned as you finished.

"It looks like all three of you need to go to bed," you mused, standing and stretching.

"Babysitting is a breeze," he murmured, patting Jeremiah's head gently. "It's like I know what to do now. Oh, and Rose is going to need to eat soon."

Like clockwork, she started squirming a bit, and you plucked her out of his grasp before she could really start fussing. Then you whisked her away to the nursery while Bradley watched an episode of Real Housewives with Jeremiah snoozing and thought about how nice it was to have two kids around. Eventually he stood up to get your Mother's Day gift ready to go.

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When you woke up on Sunday, your breasts hurt so much, you could hardly stand it. You reached for Bradley, but he wasn't in bed. Squinting, you were able to see the alarm clock, and you sat up in bed so quickly, you were dizzy.

"Ten o'clock!" you gasped, shoving your glasses on your face. You jumped out of bed, holding your chest as you ran into Rose's nursery to find that room completely empty. "What is going on?" you called out as you made your way to the kitchen.

"Hey, Sweetheart," Bradley said calmly with a smile. He was wearing Rose in the carrier on his chest, and there was some delicious looking food on the counter. The room even smelled nice. "Happy Mother's Day."

"Why didn't you wake me up?" you asked, rushing to check on Rose, but she looked completely content. "Isn't she hungry?"

"I fed her a bottle of your breast milk from the fridge," he said, leaning down to kiss you. "Ready for breakfast?"

You stood there, taking deep breaths as your heartbeat started to slow back down to normal. "Yeah," you whispered. "I need to nurse her soon, because my nipples feel like they're on fire, but I'm starving." You realized, not for the first time, that your husband had absolutely everything under control. "Did you make those?"

There was a plate of slightly misshapen muffins, and another with avocado toast. There was fresh coffee and a yogurt parfait and a vase of yellow roses.

"Yes," he replied, clearly proud of himself. "Your mom sent me a foolproof recipe for blueberry muffins, and I think I fucking nailed it, Sweetheart."

"Don't swear in front of the baby," you murmured, kissing him a little awkwardly with Rose strapped to the front of him. "Thank you. This is really sweet."

"I just want you to have a perfect first Mother's Day. I've been thinking about it all week. The roses are from Rose, obviously," he said, gesturing to the vase.

"Homemade breakfast and flowers. Sounds pretty perfect to me, Roo."

"Well, I have something else for you, too." When you looked up at him with a muffin in your hand, his cheeks were tinged a little pink. "Eat first. It's nothing that exciting."

But you knew it would be. Everything he did was exciting. Or at the very least, abundantly sweet. Even the avocado toast had a little ramekin of hot sauce next to it, because he knew you liked to drizzle it on top. And you realized the muffins were arranged in a heart.

After you took a few bites of food, you asked, "What's my other gift? I can't wait. I really want it."

Something was hidden on top of the refrigerator, and he reached for it as you asked, "What is it, Bradley?"

"Stop it," you gasped, setting it on the counter so you could kiss him again. "It's the most wonderful thing."

Your fingers were in his hair, lips working against his, and Bradley's big hand trailed down along your back. "You like it?" he managed between kisses. "Seems like you like it."

"I love it," you promised him, "and I only saw one page."

You gave him one more deep kiss before Rose started to squirm and fuss. "I think she's hungry again," Bradley murmured, starting to unfasten the carrier. "I'll change her diaper and get her ready for you while you look through the rest of the scrapbook."

Then they were gone, and you were left with hot sauce and muffins and page after page of photos and little notes. It felt like your daughter had been here for so much longer than seven weeks. Bradley had made copies of all of the ultrasound pictures and put them in order. "She really did look like a cute chicken nugget," you mused before turning the page to find Rose's handprints and footprints.

You ran your fingers along them as Bradley flew Rose back into the kitchen like a fighter jet, and you had tears in your eyes that you didn't even try to hide. "When did you do the handprints and everything?" you asked him. "And what are all of these little notes from?"

"I had to get sneaky last week with the ink pad," he said with a shrug. "And I always wrote little things for and about you in the Nugget Notebook. I just copied some of them."

They were the sweetest musings.

I hope my daughter is as smart and pretty as my wife.

I can't believe how lucky I am.

My wife makes me want to be an amazing dad.

You looked at him with the baby cradled against his chest and said, "There's nobody else in the entire world who would treat Rose and I as well as you do." His cheeks immediately turned an adorable shade of pink.

"I just love you," he whispered, kissing the top of her head and then your forehead as the baby started crying. "She wants her mommy."

Bradley sat on the couch with you and fed you bites of breakfast while you nursed Rose, and then when she eventually took a nap, he sent you back to bed for a nap as well. When you got up, the entire house was clean, and Bradley was playing on the living room floor with Tramp while Real Housewives was on in the background.

"She's still sleeping?" you asked, and he turned to look at you as he nodded. "Perfect. How about you give me the last thing I want for Mother's Day?"

Bradley's brow creased as he got to his feet. "You wanted something else today? Why didn't you tell me? I'd give you anything you asked for."

"I know you will," you whispered, linking your fingers with his and taking him back to the bedroom with you. Then you undressed and got on your hands and knees on the bed, and he was right there with you.

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Bradley was halfway through the Mother's Day FaceTime call with your mom when he realized his undershirt was on backwards. All he could do now was try to act natural, like he hadn't just fucked his wife until she was screaming into his pillow. He bounced Rose on his knee and smiled, thanking your mom again for helping him with the recipe for breakfast.

"Today was perfect," you said for the third time while you lounged on the couch after the call ended. Rosie was cooing and giggling as you tickled her, and Bradley had never seen anything he loved watching more than the two of you together.

He took a few candid pictures on his phone before saying, "Smile." You looked at the camera the same time Rose giggled again, and it was perhaps the cutest photo ever taken. "We can keep adding pages to the scrapbook."

"Take a selfie of the three of us," you told him, scooting closer. "And then tell me what you want for Father's Day."

Then when he met you, suddenly your parents were part of his life. Sure, he wished your dad a happy Father's Day every year, but it wasn't the same thing as having his own dad around. But now he would get to celebrate for real. For the first time. And he'd be able to remember it.

But it never seemed to bother you. All you did was make it easier for him when you didn't rush him to try to process everything that he was feeling for the very first time. As he inhaled Rose's sweet scent and kissed her one last time, he whispered, "I just want a day with my girls."

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I might just go right to Father's Day in the next chapter, and then his birthday after that. And then their mini vacation when her parents come out again. He deserves all of the sweetness! Thanks @beyondthesefourwalls

If you're reading this, thank you! I posted part one of Is It Working For You? almost two years ago! I've enjoyed writing this pairing so much, they just own my heart.

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pollyna · 2 years ago

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Flufftober 2022

I promised myself no angst for a couple of days, like not at all, so let's try this lol

These are just prompts, i can't promise i'm going to write a single story past this point, considering that it was supposed to be for october and not november but who knows.🤷🏻‍♀️

1. Wearing Each Other’s Clothes: It's starts with a shirt with a dumb print on and it doesn't really ends anywhere. (Goose/Slider, sharing clothes during the years);

2. "You’ve told your parents?": To my granma 'lie, but yeah. I told her. (Halo/Phoenix, Nat's granma and her sweet tea are the reason Callie doesn't want to come back);

3. Thick as Thieves: Penny knows them all and Sarah loves to gossip. (Penny Benjiamin & Sarah Kazansky, forties are the new twenty and all the shit none of them believes in);

4. Supporting Silly Quirks/Hobbies: Mickey likes to collect the smallest action figures of his favourite characters. 'Ben likes spending the day walking around. It's a win win. (Fanboy/Payback, 'Ben has to remember Mickey to put sunscreen on at least four times during the day, it always gets a kiss after);

5. "Oh no, you’re a Morning Person!": Neil is a morning person, Bob is really not. (Bob&Omaha, how to work around a new queer platonic relationship and make your partner stay in bed after six);

6. Candles, Lanterns, Fairy Lights: Amelia loves fairy lights, and Charlie knows the perfect place and what to buy her for her birthday (Charlie & Amelia; charliepenny implied);

7. Movie Marathon: Ice likes sci-fi, Slider never saw one. The cinema, three streets from the Academy, offers the perfect opportunity to remedy that. Mother Goose offers caramel popcorn and witty comments. (Iceman & Slider & Goose, academy era)

8. Shooting Stars: Carole takes Bradley to see the stars when neither of them can sleep (Carole & Bradley)

9. Game Day (Sports): they can't decide which one is the best time, in normal times, but when the Navy is playing? all hands on deck and fuck the Army ('86 class and their barbecue)

10. Love Language: Learning ASL is probably more complicated than all the math he does when he's flying. But the way his husband smiles at him when he sings back good morning makes all the work feel like a walk in the park (Icema/Maverick; post-cancer arc);

11. Poetry, Art, Music, Craft: Fritz likes to paint, and a small gallery decided to expose some of them, the daggers put their best clothes to go and see it. (Fritz & the daggers; they are the bestest of friends; found family);

12. "You kept this?": Mav puts his scarf around Ice's neck during a deployment in the middle of ocean because Tom forgot his. Twenty years later, Mav finds the scarf again, in on of his husband's drawers. (Iceman/Maverick).

13. Secret Family Recipe: Ice teaches him how to make his famous pie which becomes Bradley's comfort food. (Iceman & Rooster; father-son relationship);

14. Truth or Dare/20 Questions:

15. Accidents don't just happen accidentally: Warlock is always sitting in the seat to Bernie's right. Doesn't matter how full or empty the class is (Warlock/Hondo; au- university);

16. "I hate you" – "I love you too": Cyclone would like to not be part of it, but apparently he had to assist to the strangest love declaration of the world (Hangman/Rooster; poor Cy);

17. Animal Shelter: the story of how Hollywood and Wolfman ended up adopting a turtle. (Hollywood/Wolfman, retold by Sunny because it's funnier this way);

18. Soulmate AU: They don't need to look down to know they found each other (Iceman/Maverick; enemies to lovers);

19. Hot Chocolate: Carole likes to treat herself with a cup of hot chocolate sometimes. She likes even more to share it with Goose and Slider. (Carole/Goose/Slider; domesticity; good days to celebrate);

20. Bedtime Stories: Chipper as the wildest bedtime stories for Bradley and Goose doesn't know where he takes them (Chipper & baby Bradley; Goose);

21. Kiss for Good Luck: 2011 and Mav is going to fly away in less than thirty seconds. Tom takes the first step and says "i'm going to kiss you for good luck", Mav laughs and kisses him a second time. (Iceman/Maverick; first public kiss after the DADT was repealed);

22. "Have you heard?":

23. POV Outsider: Charlie is sorely confused by the scene in front of her. (Slider/Goose/Carole; they're dancing together, ain't that complicated lol);

24. All the Hugs: Javy is the one who gives the best hugs, but sometimes Javy needs to be hugged too. (Coyote & The Daggers; they're going to hug all javy's problems away);

25. First Dance: The song is cheesy and Nat's cheeks hurt for how much she's smiling (Phoenix/Halo; just married).

26. Blankets: Logan takes a particular blanket with him everywhere he goes and doesn't share it with anyone. Than Brigham, his posh name and his even posher callsign, comes around and Yale just pass it like it's nothing. (Yale/Harvard; cuddling);

27. Reunion: They meet in the middle of sky, Mav on his plane, Ice, Carole and Goose on a cloud. It feels like getting home (canon top gun: maverick; while going down mav sees them all and spends time with them; mav&goose&carole; mav&ice);

28. Picnic: Sunny invites Chip out for a picnic, and they end up sharing their lunch with a dog (Sunny/Chip; a cute doggo);

29. Leaves: Javy's mom has an impressive collection of leaves crown with Jack and Javy's name on. (Hangman & Coyote; childhood friendship; Javy's mom)

30. Dear Diary: , today I saw the most beautiful man on the face of the Earth with the worst moustache someone could have ever thought about. (Carole/Goose; first meeting)

31. A Sweet Treat: Halloween is his favourite holiday for two reasons: his uncles' crazy costumes and candies! (baby goose+ flyboy uncles)

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ronnie-azumane · 4 years ago

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Haikyuu guys as stuff my dad did

This idea has been in my brain for a while, so I'm writing it out. Hope y'all enjoy :)

CW: idn, its pretty wholesome

Daichi answers your frantic phone call home expressing that you forgot your backpack and laptop for college when you went home over the weekend. Expressing that all of your notes are in the backpack, he decides to wake-up extra early Monday morning and make the 2 1/2 hour drive to your university, then drive all the way back to your hometown to go to work.

Sugawara came up with the best hiding spot for you while playing hide and seek at your 7th birthday party. He squeezed you in-between the back of the couch and the back couch cushions. Then, he sat in front of it to conceal the awkward lump it made in the couch. It took the others 30 minutes before giving up and telling you to come out.

Asahi asks you to style his hair for a zoom meeting he has later that day. After some deliberation, you both decide to do a mohawk style. He braces himself as you run off to get the brush, hairspray, hair gel, and hairdryer.

Nishinoya still wears the Annoying Orange shirt you got him when you were in 3rd grade. It's faded and has a giant picture of Annoying Orange on it, which faded from popularity in 2010, but he still wears it. In public.

Tanaka makes the dumbest jokes while in the audience of your colorguard/dance competitions. For example, he asked your mom if he should shout "Go get 'em George" to the group of girls performing to confuse everyone. Another favorite joke o his is to chant "the worm, the worm,, we worship the worm" while the previous team is carrying out their floor.

Ennoshida talks with you as you make one of the biggest changes in your life. Midway through your second semester at university, you determine that business is not for you, however, you do not have a backup plan. Talking with him, you end up changing your major to Geography, and now you love every second of it.

Kageyama drinks the milk out of you cereal. You hate the taste of milk by itself, but you don't want to eat dry cereal. To not waste milk, he drinks it after you finish eating your cereal.

Hinata fails miserably when your mom tells him to reapply the medical glue on your forehead. The day before, your sister threw a wooden block at you, causing a major tear in your head. Your mom took you to the emergency room, but they were busy and it was a school night, so they told her to just take some liquid band aid (which we called glue) and close the wound. Your mom told him to replace the glue, and he took ELMERS GLUE and placed it on the open wound. It hurt like a bitch.

Tsukishima takes you to go see the museum of natural history once a month. He knows you're the odd girl out of your class that would rather play with dinosaurs than dolls, so he takes you to see the dinosaur fossils. He also gets a discount because his place of work donated a significant amount of money and resources to one of the exhibits.

Yamaguchi helped set up your setup once you moved to zoom university. He attached your laptop to a monitor his job had extra, so now you feel like a badass whenever you use the two screens.

Oikawa out of nowhere invites all his high school friends over to stay the week at your house. A trip that probably should have been planned in weeks, even months, is planned in just a weekend. Everyone ends up sleeping on air mattresses and blankets on the floor due to your mom just finishing up replacing the floors in the house (she was not too happy with the sudden trip, but was welcoming anyway)

Iwaizumi makes you watch Godzilla with him whenever it's on TV. Some of his fondest memories include receiving Godzilla themed ornaments from his mom ever Christmas. He also unironically watches those cheesy fan-made Godzilla fights on YouTube for hours on end. Man just likes Godzilla.

Hanamaki and you wear funny hats to a volunteer cookout. The organizers told every one to wear a hat so that their hair didn't get in the food, but you two take it a step further. You wear a banana hat while he wears a hotdog hat.

Matsukawa taught you how to make all kinds of breakfast food at a young age. Whether it was a simple as a fried egg or as complex as French toast, he worked with you until the recipe came out perfect.

Kyotani scares the other parents off when it comes to the silent auction selling the class are projects. Now the shelf you and your kindergarten classmates fingerprinted flowers and bugs on sits proudly in your closet holding crafting supplies.

Ushijima scolds you for leaving the lights on. Most parents do that already, but he takes it to a new extreme. Your mom explains that he would never turn the lights on in his apartment when he was in college and would simply get his homework done before dark. Sometimes, if he had something to do, he would light a candle to finish something up.

Tendou recalls a story in which he stole a bus battery with his buddies to power an air conditioned tent at boy scout camp. He also recalls the year he and his friends tried to build a pool in the wilderness at the same count, only to get caught and reprimanded for it before filling it with water which totally had nothing to do with a camp counselor finding it and having a Vietnam flashback

Goshiki watches anime with you. He always acts like he is uninterested in whatever show is on, but he soon gets super into it and it will be the only thing he talks about for a week.

Kuroo sits at the table with you until 2am working on that math assignment you have been struggling with. You've definitely run out of tears to cry, and had to redo the assignment twice, but he is guiding you through the answers

Yaku isn't a fan of all the pets you and your mom have collected over the years. I mean, in his defense, at one point we had 8 cats an 3 dogs. However, he is also super cuddly with them, always giving them nose boops and belly rubs.

Kenma plays Xbox, Wii, and the ds with you. He doesn't find the bulk of the games you play with him entertaining, but he is willing to run through LEGO Star Wars with you. His personal favorite to play is Mario Kart and he doesn't let you win >:(

Lev is trying to convince the family to let him take the position in Alaska with higher pay. When mom raised the concern that the long winters wouldn't do well for your mental health, his counter argument was, "Yeah, and that sucks, but hear me out. We could have a pet Polar Bear." We didn't move to Alaska

Bokuto was definitely the most enthusiastic dad at the girl scout father daughter dance. He twirled you around in your pretty little JC Penney dress and made sure you two were the center of the dance floor. At one point, he lifted you above his head with each foot in a hand like a cheerleader. Truly terrifying.

Akaashi drives out to the 24-hour pharmacy to pick up some cold medicine when you couldn't sleep due to a stuffy nose. He also checks up on you every hour when you are coughing with some mysterious disease (due to the lack of tests and priority of the high-risk, I will never know if I had Covid when I got sick in late March)

Aone gives you the biggest hug after you get released from the graduation ceremony. He isn't the best with words, so this hug speaks so much to you.

Terushima has been taking you to Mardi Gras in New Orleans since you were a baby. He doesn't care that it's mostly an adult party, he believes that everyone in the family should enjoy a good ol' Mardi Gras

Atsumu carries you on his shoulders all the time when you're small. He just thinks it's the cutest thing.

Osamu makes sure to host a crawfish boil every year. Whether its the neighbors, family, both, or just the household, you can expect some good, spicy crawfish with corn and potatoes whenever he cooks.

Kita teaches you how to drive a stick shift. He's frustrated that you cant move three feet before stalling, but then realizes that the issue was that you were in third gear, not first. He is now impressed that you were even able to start moving at third gear.

Sakusa takes you along with him to work. His job is full of tough men, so when they see him with you in a little blue dress-up tutu and a plastic tiara on your head, their hearts just melt.

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whoslaurapalmer · 2 years ago

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11, 23

11) what’s something neat you’ve learned while doing research for something you were writing? also, how much do you worry about doing research in general?

all the deep-sea fish i learned about for kit and dewey talking in folding mirror!! my favorite really is the cookiecutter fish, bc i think it's absolutely charming, and horrifying, that it bites in a circular shape. but i think barreleye fish, with the massive, tube-shaped, reflective eyes, are the most neat. i am still 100% terrified of the ocean, but i think weird fish are just delightful now. and i wound up researching all those fish bc i came up with the phrase 'oceanic intrigue' and i thought it sounded fun, but i knew NOTHING about deep-sea fish, which seemed like what oceanic intrigue would mean, so i had to learn about some fish. took a couple hours over a morning and lunch googling fish.

so if there's like, something i'd like to know more about, bc i think it will make a scene go smoother, bc i DON'T know a great deal about it, then yeah, i'll do a little bit of research. because there's a lot of stuff i don't know! and little details do matter, a lot of the time!! i googled stuff about cigars for writing columbo, i'll look up distances between one place and another to see how long it would take a character to get there, interiors of buildings i haven't been in, layouts of different places, i'll seek out real life places i can get to to get an idea of what certain kinds of buildings could look like. a little about yaks for babybea fic, some airplanes for parent trap au to try and replace the concorde, bc they don't exist anymore, although i wound up just leaving it in, food recipes, new musicians so i don't always use the same ones, details about the varied thrush for the peaks birdwatching fic. sometimes you research for a starting point, sometimes you research to add details you didn't know.

but i did google mouse behavior for a small wip, and then, decided to disregard some of it, in order to make the fic Just A Cute Time. sometimes, that happens too.

oh, most notably, i did google something like 'large plant person could hide in' to come up with jacques hiding in a boxwood. yes, a boxwood could get that big. well, especially if you like, scrunched down in it, too.

i'll do character research too, for fic. if it's the first time i'm writing a character, i'll go through canon for details about them and see what i can do with those details, what i can headcanon off of that, what canon already has in terms of worldbuilding and what i can do with it.

23) how do you deal with writers block?

i think a lot of times it's just a matter of needing to take a step back and reset your brain for a while. go do something else. take a walk, make a sandwich (or the meal of your choice), bake something, play a video game, do a puzzle, do a hand craft. write something else in an entirely different format. like, don't go starting AN ENTIRELY NEW STORY, but like, try writing a poem, or something you don't usually do. in high school i used to write random haikus, about stuff in my room, just to write something short. make lists, Of Things, unless lists are stressful. maybe go back over your notes, if you have notes for what you're writing, see if you need to make More notes. read something else, read something new!!

often, what makes me the most excited about writing and creating and makes me want to do something is reading something really well done, like a book i really liked or a fanfic that i thought was perfect or a fascinating character take. good writing makes me so thrilled to go out and make my own words. (but also, bad writing makes me INCENSED to go out and write something better.)

sometimes, it helps to talk things out with somebody else!! even if the person doesn't know anything about the story. sometimes just saying the words Out Loud help focus them in your brain. i wind up going 'okay mom bear with me for a hot minute. i'm going to describe this plot bc i am having a hard time.' and five seconds in i say 'OH SHIT' because i've figured something out, just from saying it out loud and trying to explain it. even just talking out loud by yourself can help!!

but, other sometimes, you gotta just start putting words down. even if you don't know what possible word you could start with, or where you could go, and you feel like you'll never figure it out, you just gotta put something down. because, then you have at least one word or one sentence that didn't exist before. that you created!! it might not be perfect!! but something new exists now, instead of nothing!! sometimes you really do just have to drag the words out, one by one.

#thank you mayo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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astringofmadhousefloozies · 3 years ago

Text

Hobbies and Holidays, Or The Halloween Fic

Yes, I know it’s June. I just like Halloween, man. Yuu’s quiet dedication to the finest of holidays sours when confronted with assholes who fuck around for clout.

Contains coarse language, attempted violence, sexuality and nerds being nerds. As always, if you enjoyed it or have any questions, let me know! I like talking with people.

~*~*~*~

"What's cooking?" Ace, cheery as could be, walked his way up towards your set up on the Ramshackle front lawn. "Is it curry? I hope it's curry."

"You might not want to stand downwind." You poked at the bubbling mess on the propane stove, sweat rolling down your back. A beautiful August day, perfect for your project. This sure as hell wasn't something you wanted to do indoors.

"Whaddya mean by that?" The breeze shifted towards him, and he turned an impressive shade of green, stumbling back with his nose covered. "What's in there?"

"Mice. I told you to keep upwind." You went in with a hand strainer, and scooped a pile of tiny bones onto a ratty towel.

"Why are you boiling mice?"

You mirrored his are-you-goddamned-stupid-or-something face back at him. "I wanted the bones. I went to Sam, but he said he's not allowed to order in dermestid beetles after last time, so I gotta do it the old-fashioned way."

"That's absolutely disgusting,” her said, the disgust and disbelief plain on his face.

"Don't we all know. Grimm fucked right off when the ghosts showed me the mouse graveyard."

"And your first thought at a pile of rotten mice was 'ooo, free bones' like some kinda crazy necromancer?"

"Yup." You scooped out another pile of bones. If you left them in there too long, they'd simply dissolve like in a cooked fish. As it was, you'd have to find a way to strengthen them. Maybe dip them in resin?

"Why am I your friend, again?"

"Because you feel responsible for me."

"Yeah. And you're fun when you aren't being weird and doing shit like taking cemetery pictures."

"I'll stop taking the pictures when I stop finding good grave iconography."

"Yeah, weird. I'm going to leave you to be a gross little maggot by yourself today."

"I'm not eating them."

"They're stewing in a pot."

"To get the meat off!"

"Yeah, whatever. See you at supper. I hope you don't stink."

"We'll find out, won't we?" you muttered, sotto voce, but he was already gone.

~*~*~*~

It was a beautiful day in September, and you heard him far before he knew you had. When you turned to look at Idia, floss wound around your fingers, he started. "Is my stealth that bad?"

You gave him the ghost of a smile. "You're not as quiet as you think you are." He hasn't cottoned on that you can hear what's in his headphones, if they aren't set just right on his head, and you aren't about to tell him. The face he makes when you pick him out so easily was too good to lose.

He nodded, fidgeted, looked at the spread on the table. "What are you doing?"

"Well, she's got to dry. So I'm working on this pattern until the top coat goes on."

'She' was a currently eyeless, disembodied head, that you'd picked up along with her body in a second hand store for a pittance. You'd unstrung her, scrubbed her clean, and now were putting on a face to match her sweet if imperious expression, a bratty princess of a girl in miniature. You hadn't realized you'd liked dolls until you'd seen her. But, when you had, your breath fled your throat in the same way it had only once since coming here.

He looked, but knew better than to touch. He did a little bit of craft work himself, mostly model painting, and wasn't about to muss your hard work. "She's... nice?" He didn't quite get the appeal, despite having two vinyl dolls you knew of stowed carefully in their packages under his bed. When you'd asked, he just muttered that they were anime characters and didn't come out except for photos because something something collectibles something resale value. Boys.

"I could do better. But it's enough. Thank you for letting me borrow the painting set up."

"Y... welcome." He squinted at the embroidery, finally noticing something. "Are those bones?"

In the center of each withered, poisonous blossom in your embroidery hoop, you'd stitched a tiny vertebra to serve as the center. "Yeah?"

"Why?"

"Why not?"

He wasn't ready to push it any further. "If you want..." He hesitated, and stumbled, and you waited until he just brought out his tablet to tap it out on a screen instead. "You can come do that in Board Game Club, if you want. There's a window. Azul shouldn't mind."

"I'll join you after I gear up and put the sealant on her. Thank you for inviting me." You gave him your best, most dazzling smile. "You know how much I like when you include me in your stuff. I know it's not always easy for you; how shy you are and all."

He squeaked and looked away, and you continued. "I should be there in about an hour. Make sure Azul doesn't keep up trying to wager me in chess. I can't fucking play worth a damn and he knows it."

He smirked. "He likes easy marks. Maybe try and get goo-"

You flicked a bone at him, and it hit him square on the nose as he yelped.

~*~*~*~

Welcome, October. Coolness and colour, a certain something on the breeze that felt like a home you'd never let go. Even if it hadn't quite hit the dorms the same way as they main area of the school. (Those little fairies that ran the weather machine didn't seem to believe in seasons for the dorms, or perhaps Crowley gave them a chewing out after the spring?) In amongst the Heartslabyul roses, you'd think it was still summer, and you weren't one to let a day of warmth go.

"Oh, in this chapel of ritual, smells of dead human sacrifices from the altar..."

"Stop that."

You looked up at Riddle, who'd found you in your secluded corner. "Why?"

"You can't sing and the lyrics are awful."

"Is there a rule against that?"

He nodded. "The queen gets to approve all music."

"Ah, of course, mine rosen liege. My petaled monarch. Emperor Rosa." A collar appeared on your neck, and you did not slow down. "Cardiac Sovereign. Dauphine De la Coeur. I can do this all day, Riddle; that collar don't do shit cause I ain't magic."

The colour was high on his cheeks. "Is it your job to annoy me?"

"Oh, you got me. I wake up and spend every moment thinking 'How do I best piss off Riddle Roseheart? How about I stand outside his door and blast nightcore from a boombox?' "

He narrowed his eyes at you. "Stop joking."

You laughed. "Yeah. I only do that with Shoenheit."

That managed to get a bit of a smile out of him. "Why are you being a pest over here, and not at your own dorm?"

"I'm just doing crafts, man."

"While sitting on the grass."

"Yeah, man. Won't be any grass to sit on soon enough. Made sure to not be on the croquet grounds or anything."

He looked at the mess of foam and ribbon around you. "What are you even doing?"

You looked down, and back up at him. "Crafts?"

"More specifically, before I kick you out for being awful."

You held up a padded frame, that you were carefully wrapping a satin ribbon around the many bars of it. "What does that look like?"

He just glared instead of admitting he didn't know, so you got to your feet and held the frame over your chest, the shape clarifying by being pressed over what it mimicked. "It's ribs. It'll tie on with more ribbon. Might put beads and stuff on it too."

He looked for a beat before nodding. "For later this month?"

"Indeed."

"... Continue, then. But be quiet!"

He was nice enough to remove the collar before he left, but not nice enough to leave it off as soon as you resumed singing to yourself once you'd assumed he was out of earshot.

~*~*~*~

"Hey, Lil?”

"Yeah?"

You looked over the riot of cheery pumpkins and Far East aesthetics that had sprung from your lawn. "You should've asked me, first."

Lil smiled at you. "But then you would have said no."

"I wouldn't have. But," you guestured to the papier mache dragon, "Really, my dude? This isn't what I would have picked at all. I'm not going to match."

"You're working on a costume? Already?" He lit up. "What's it going to be?"

"You'll see."

"Do I get a costume?"

You looked down at your not-cat. "Grimm, I didn't think you'd want one."

"I do now!" He scrambled to your shoulder and tugged at your hair, wailing. "Costume! Costume!"

You rolled your eyes. "Stop that, before I sell you to Lil to practice recipes on."

~*~*~*~

Grimm was no help. He changed his mind every few minutes on what he wanted. At least your incorporeal roommates were a sweet help, finally gearing him up with a hat by the beginning of the week.

"Do you still need one, Yuu?" The middling ghost, the one neither plump nor skeletal, seemed concerned.

"No, babe. I've been working on this since..." August, you think. "I'm good. I hope I can get a week out of it. I could at least do a different face each day."

Realization dawned across his face. "That's what that was for? I see. I guess you won't need..."

Oh, he made you a costume. Layers and layers of rotten gauze from the curtains, a spindrift take on the bedsheet ghost.

"Hey, I can use this, don't worry. Can you stoke the fire? I've got to dye this to match, I'll need some water boiled."

~*~*~*~

There's too many fucking people. You don't know any of them, they're loud, and they cram in wherever you need to go. But their fussing over you, their asking for pictures is nice. If only...

"Hey, are you lost, kid?" You lean down and reach a hand out to a fearful-looking six-year-old. "I can help you find someone who can help?"

He promptly burst into tears and collided into Floyd as he ran away.

"Hey there itty bitty. You need an adult? Hold on." Even with Floyd... being Floyd, he was a hell of a more welcome sight to the kid, and soon had him balanced on a shoulder to yell for his parents. "Who's under all that?"

"Your favourite shrimp, you overgrown string bean."

Floyd make an o of surprise and flicked the veil up. "It is you under all that! See, kid, She's not scary. She's pretty."

The kid simply eyed him dubiously before going back to trying to wave his parents down to get away from these lunatics.

All your hard work paid off beautifully. A mass of bones, beads and decay, a beautifully jeweled skeleton crowned with a fine halo of gold-and-bone spines and dried flowers. You rattled gently with every step, eyes staring out from a painted skull. They only thing you regretted was Riddle catching you earlier. Even if he hadn't intentionally steered it that way himself, everyone would assume you'd intentionally went to match Heartslabyul. Even more, now that you'd turned those curtains into a veil, even if you'd stuck all the bone and garnet drops you could onto the edges.

"Thank you, Floyd." You leaned up towards the kid. "Didn't mean to scare you, little darling."

The kid just stared at you in fear, and fortunately his parents came along to claim him, leaving you and Floyd by yourself.

"Shrimpie~" He'd scooped you up to replace the kid in his arms before you could protest. "You're so cute like this! Let's go to the alchemy room."

"What's in the alchemy room, Floyd." At this point you were used to him just... hauling you wherever. And you’d found that if you went along with the lighter end of it, he took you seriously when you said no. Weirdo he was, he'd at least gathered that you'd hang out willingly if he didn't push it.

"Oh, well you look so nice! You'll look much nicer in the water tube than the dummy we have in there."

"There are several reasons that can't work, Floyd. Least of it is I only breathe air."

"You're a ghost right now, you don't breathe at all."

"This outfit would not survive a dunking. I'm not sure it'll last the week if I don't repair it every night."

He kept smiling at you. "Even better! Wearing nothing at all on Halloween! Everyone would take even more pictures."

"Yeah yeah, and you have nothing at all in your room if I want to speed that up." You flicked his nose. "Put me down and we can walk over and check how it's going."

"Excuse me?" A stranger. "Can I take a picture of you and your boyfriend like that."

"I'm not her boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend. Go ahead though."

~*~*~*~

"What are you working on?"

Idia's voice was slightly muffled under the pumpkin head. "People kept calling my projection 'cute'. Idiots! They don't know the true fear of Pumpkin Hollow. So I'm adjusting the projection mapping so it's less cute, and more accurate."

"Hm. It seems fine to me as it is."

"You would think that. You don't care if there is a cuteness to things that are scary."

"There's beauty and sweetness in even death." You thought for a moment. "This is for that series you sat me down for? You got mad when I played with the toys?"

"Those. Are. Collecta-" he stopped when he whirled on you, faltering into silence. You really wished you could see the face he was making, he made such sweet faces, especially when he looked at you. You craved them, wanted him to look only at you with those expressions.

You smiled at him. "There's no use in leaving a toy in a box! I don't buy anything I don't intend to play with."

"Ah. Errrrrrrrrghhhmmm." He turned back to his work, took a deep breath, and turned back around. "You watched them, would you give me feedback?"

"Sure. Could you lean down a little?"

He did, and you carefully pulled off the pumpkin, revealing - nothing. No head at all.

You laughed. "Turn that off."

"Why?"

"I just opened your box. Time to play."

He made a strangled noise and started back, looking this way and that. "Right now? Anyone could come in!"

"Just for a moment! How can I give you a kiss if I can't see where I'm aiming?"

His head flickered into view, with a face full of mischief. "... Just one?"

~*~*~*~

"What happened to your makeup?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, model boy." You looked Vil up and down. "You're actually pretty hot like that. It's a miracle."

"Of course you would only find me attractive when I look like a corpse." He rolled his eyes hard enough to sprain. "Do I need to go lie down in a glass coffin too? Stay very still while you actually work up the courage to touch me?"

You snorted. "You wish I would touch you, you overblown jackass."

"With you looking like that? I'd die."

"Bite me, asshole."

"You'd like it if I did."

Your tone grew playful. "Is that a promise for later?"

"Ugh." His shudder was too exaggerated to be anything but an act. "Go ask your ugly little playmate for a bite, we all know what gross shit you get up to."

"You're just mad it's not you."

He pointed a perfectly manicured nail at your painted nose. "You're just mad I want nothing to do with you."

"Then why are you even talking to me?"

"I- why am I talking to you. Go away."

You did, but not before pulling on his cape to wrinkle it.

~*~*~*~

You had a dreadful feeling things were about to get worse. Call it intuition, or paranoia. But with any luck, that would change after a good night's sleep.

(It did not.)

~*~*~*~ These fuckers were getting exhausting. What a grand idea, picking unknown flowers to stick in your hair for selfies! That wasn't an excellent way to come down with a hideous case of contact poisoning at all. You had to swat one girl's hand away from a bed of monkshood, reciting symptoms of aconite poisoning at her until she stalked off in a huff.

And futzing around with the decorations! The only reason you didn't outwardly congratulate Leona on trying to rip apart a bunch of tourists was that murder is supposed to be bad, no matter how irritating and disrespectful the murder victims were. Even you knew better than to go around fondling random ears and tails!

(That's why you'd made the anatomy books in the library your friends. Far more polite than going up to a fellow student and saying, "May I feel around your skull for a few hours to satisfy my scientific curiosity? No one at home has ears like that and I'm very curious about the underlying muscle structures." )

Better see what's going on everywhere else.

~*~*~*~

You got up in tiptoe and lightly touched his arm. "Hey, Floyd?"

"??? Yes, Shrimpie?" His face instantly brightening, he dropped the absolutely delighted Magicammer he'd had pressed to the shelf and turned to you, leaning in as you crooked your finger.

You whispered in his ear, "Why waste magic on them when you can do so much more with your fists?"

He shone like the sun as he pressed his cheek to yours in lieu of something more intimate. "You always know just what to do."

~*~*~*~

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE."

The crowd of idiots instead turned on you with flash photography. "Another ghost! This'll get so many likes!"

"I MEAN IT!" Blinking away the spots from your eyes and casting all good sense to the wind, you grabbed a fire poker from inside your bedroom door and started swinging. They laughed and clapped - and only stepped back when you got the damned thing stuck in the wall while taking a swing.

"What an excellent show!" And more. Fucking. Pictures. How in the fuck Vil deals with this shit without murdering everyone in a hundred-foot radius, you'd love to know.

"I SAID-" yank "GET THE FUCK-" yank "OUT OF MY HOUSE!" The force of finally pulling the poker from the wall sent you careening onto your ass, and Grimm only stopped long enough to laugh at you before resuming his own ineffective charge. You stumbled to your feet, muttering. "Stupid little mother fucking fucking fucking fucking fucking fucking..."

"Oh, it's a chase game! Let's go!" And they all fucking scattered into different rooms as you watched them in disbelief.

"I am going to kill everyone in this building and then myself for good measure."

~*~*~*~

"Leave."

"Aren't you going to scare me, Miss Ghost?" This last idiot was joyfully skipping around a bedroom that you'd had the ghosts empty out, nattering into her phone. A livestream, you think.

You're in you goddamned pajamas. "Sure. We don't use this room because the floor's not sound. Get the fuck out and leave before you fall through to the next floor."

The girl instead started to hop in place. "Oooooo, so scary! You'll have to try better than that!"

You rushed her. You probably would have throttled her (and wound up with a new ghostly roommate in the process) but as she backed up, your leg went through the floor where she'd weakened it, which left her cackling.

"You weren't kidding! Bye now!" And she just fucking left you there like the wretched asshole she was.

~*~*~*~

"I'm so sorry, Yuu."

"Nothing to be sorry about, Mal."

He rested his head on your bare knee and looked up at you. "If I hadn't picked your home as a stamp location, people wouldn't be invading this dorm, and you wouldn't have been injured."

"You fixed me up, didn't you?" He was the one who had pulled you rightways, and shut the scratches on your leg. Of course, he could have left your socks on to do that, but hey, those had been fixed too. You reached down and put your hand on his cheek, rubbing circles by his eye while he stared up at you like an adoring dog.

"This was supposed to be fun for you, so you could have a perfect Halloween."

"That's still a few days away yet. There's still time. And hey."

He blinked up at you as you leaned your face in close, flushing faintly as you did. "Any luck, we'll all make it to November without assault charges."

~*~*~*~

"Yuu?"

You subconsciously growled like a rabid animal as you turned to Lilia with your eye twitching.

"By all the queen's powers." He shrank back. "You alright?"

"Magimons broke the lock on our bedroom and shook her awake last night." Grimm was, by some miracle, in a better mood than you; content to be a comforting weight in your arms and be your anger translator.

"They took," you added, "my groceries."

Lil looked at you in blank shock. "What about the wards on your doors?"

"That's for magic, not fucking morons with no sense of personal space." If you made it through 'til November without actually biting someone's throat out and getting put down like a mad dog, you'd be sincerely surprised. "You of all people should know that."

"Hey, I put them back up after I drop in. You want to go sit with Malleus today? I think you need it."

"Nope. If I snap at him he'll take it to heart. Or just kill everyone who's not staff or student because they upset me."

"No he wouldn't."

"We both know he would."

"He would not because that would be bad press for the kingdom."

"... well, damned if I ever though I'd say this, but thank god for politics."

~*~*~*~

You stare at the empty plinths as everyone started yelling and scrambling. You look to the rubble of the statues, the bases, to Cater, and back to the rubble, nudging what may have once been a staff with you toe.

"And it's not even for a fucking political movement."

~*~*~*~

"Yuu, if we can get rid of the magicam monsters, we can have the party!" Grimm smiled up at you, all sharp teeth and blue eyes. "Aren't you happy?"

You didn't have the heart to tell him that at this point, you'd rather they'd just cancel everything and simply sleep through till All Saint's. Fuck your costume work. Fuck the party. Fuck everything. If you see another jack o lantern you will smash it. Fuck this holiday. You're so tired.

"Yuu, do you have ideas on how to drive the magicam monsters away?"

You stared past Cater's ear because you didn't feel like looking anyone in the face. "Tried to brain a few with a fire poker. Th'just thought it was funny."

This was met with the sound of air sucked through teeth, and a warm hand on your shoulder. "Come with me please!" And Ortho pulled you away with the force of a vaudeville hook.

"You're having a very bad time!" So sweet, so earnest. Right now he was the only person here who could be that chipper and you not want to put their nose out the back of their skull.

You gave him a weary smile. "What was your first clue, honey."

"She keeps kicking in her sleep. When she sleeps. And she's all snappy and horrible!"

You gave Grimm a single light warning shake. "Shut up, Grimm."

"Would you like to stay over so that you can rest properly?" He was hovering directly in front of your face. "Maybe if you're somewhere you won't be woken up, you'll feel better."

You raised an eyebrow and stared over at Idia, who was trying very hard to pay attention to both your conversation and his. "Shouldn't you clear that with someone first?"

Ortho rolled his eyes, the effect on his little boy face frankly hilarious. "Oh, he'd be so upset you have you over. Deeply so. He wouldn't get a wink of sleep with you there." He leaned in. "Except he would, because you wouldn't do anything to keep him up with me there, would you?"

You wheezed. "You think so little of me, Ortho."

"I like you very much even if what you both get up to is gross."

"Of every boy in this school, Yuu. You picked that one."

Ortho glared down at Grimm. "That is my brother you're talking about."

"Stop it. Can we check back in?"

~*~*~*~

"So we're going to run round and scare the piss out of them?"

Jade nodded. "That is the idea, yes."

"... Can I help?"

"Of course, Yuu." Jade smiled his smile that didn't reach more than a millimetre beneath his eyes. "But we've agreed you can't have any blunt objects. For everyone's safety. And the school's reputation, of course.."

"... Yeah, that's for the best."

~*~*~*~

"Can you guys watch Grimm for the evening?"

"Of course." Mal beamed at you from his seat on the Ramshackle steps. "Where will you be that he doesn't want to be?"

"I don't like the horse."

"You ride horses?" Idia was sitting between Mal's legs as Malleus carefully arranged the bright hair into a high ponytail.

"Epel taught me." You paused for a minute. "Do you?"

"Mother made me learn. I haven't in years."

"Makes sense." He didn't like the outdoors, after all. "Mal, how'd you convince him to let you touch his hair? He only lets me do that in private."

"It will look nicer coming out of his pumpkin helmet if arranged higher." Mal crooked his mouth and dragged his lacquered nails along Idia's scalp, making a soft noise when Idia gasped, shivered and abruptly stood up.

"Nope nope nope nope no more of that-"

"May I at least put the elastic in?" Mal held up a black band. "It's fireproof."

He instead snatched it and ran for the library as fast as he could without cracking the armour. You and Mal watched him leave.

"Hm."

"Mal?"

He was still watching the blue light vanish into the distance. "I think I can see the appeal." His dreamy smile gained a sharp edge. "What a delicious sound."

You snickered. "God, I know, right? You should hear some of the other ones I've got out of him."

"You're both disgusting."

~*~*~*~

You hadn't worked out an actual story for this one, just your ghostly roommates and Grimm telling everyone to leave the statues alone. But some asshole, wearing aviator shades and the ugliest piecemeal hoodie you'd ever seen, mounted a plinth to start taking selfies. And once that started, more got the idea, and joined him, trying to nudge the statue away to make room.

So, that's where you came in, pulling into sight at the end of the drive, in tarnished gilt and rotten splendor, jeweled Death on a pale horse.

Sunglasses looked at you and froze, before snapping another picture.

Fucking pictures. You're so sick of pictures.

You snapped the reins and nudged your heels, and who knew anyone on two legs could move that fast? Though potentially being run down by a warhorse was great motivation to move thine arse, as it were. And, thank god, everyone else booked it out the gate after him.

It only took a little maneuvering to lock the gate while still up on a pale horse named Beans, and now? Time to take him to his stable and go the fuck to sleep. Maybe through past tomorrow. Fuck Halloween.

~*~*~*~

You were riding your merry way when a familiar voice called out to you. "You dropped some loot!"

"What did I lose, Idia?" His little speakers mimicking the clang of armour were working overtime as he jogged up beside you. Once he reached you, he held up... a shoe.

"Huh." You looked down, and you had indeed lost a shoe while charging down a bunch of Magicam-obsessed assholes on a warhorse. "Thank you." That's when you gave Idia a level gaze, and stuck you leg out at him.

He swallowed back his noise of shock, and shaking, took your stockinged foot and slid the shoe back into place.

"Good boy."

He was turning from shell pink to a deep red that rivaled the roses in Heartslabyul. But that didn't mean he didn't know how to keep playing when emotions were high. Before letting go, he leaned down and kissed the top of your foot.

Now it was your turn to go red; a wonder the painted skull didn't simply melt off of your face.

~*~*~*~

"Shrimpie~"

You took a breath and prepared yourself. Scoopsies was inevitable.

True to form, Floyd had his whole conversation with you in a bridal carry. "We're gonna have the party!~ We chased them all away!~"

"That's..." Honestly, despite all the rage and pain this week had caused, you were rather happy about the news. "Nice."

"Ah - where'd your face go?" He leaned in, and you stopped him from getting too close with a finger pressed to his lips.

"I didn't feel up to wearing everything." Your embroidered gown and painted skull was replaced with a simple back veil and black dress. "I kind of hate this whole holiday right now and I'm ready to kick the next pumpkin I see."

He nodded, kissing your fingertip as he did. "I can help you after. But we need this all for the parade." He brightened. "You should paint up and get on the horse again for it!" He smiled, full of dreamy fondness and not a small amount of hunger. "I heard what you did to the magicam monsters... I wish I could have seen."

"Hey, I heard you didn't do too badly yourself." You leaned in conspiratorially. "Anyone pee themselves?"

He smiled like the sun post-eclipse. "Yup!"

~*~*~*~

Epel had been nice enough to help you kit out Beans in a fancy black harness, so in amongst the crowd of costumed students, you were both equally eye-catching. And hell, pictures weren't so bad right now. People were keeping a distance, murmuring to each other as they aimed their cameras. You thought you were getting a dirty look or two from Vil for stealing his thunder, but he had himself on the prow of a ship! It wasn't comparable.

"So," you said, leaning down a little, "How are you handling this?"

Idia looked up at you, you thought. "The mask makes it easy. They're looking at the costume, not me."

"I'm glad it helps. I wish you'd take it off, but you being comfortable is more important."

"What? You want me to ruin the effect by taking the mask off? Clearly you have no respect for the holiday." His voice had the sweet, bubbling quality that came when he was excited and happy, and it warmed you to hear it.

"Oh, no, of course not. But why would I want to taste a plastic kiss,” you said, reaching a hand down to run the trailing ribbon of his hair through your fingers, “when I could taste you instead?"

You had to give him credit, he only faltered for a moment before continuing. "Right now? In front of everyone?"

"I would if you'd let me, right now." You lowered your voice. "And worse."

He stifled a groan and only walked funny for another ten minutes.

~*~*~*~

"I thought you didn't like horses." The stables were in sight, but Idia had turned up, surprising you.

He rolled his eyes, and held his arms out. "Dismount, fair maiden."

What.

"I mean it. Your Pumpkin Knight awaits."

You shook your head, voice soft. "Baby, no."

"I'm trying to be romantic. Like your novels."

"Idia."

He stared back at you, sour-faced. "What."

"I outweigh you by at least sixty pounds."

"I can do this. I carry Ortho around all the time."

"Ortho's chassis is mostly fibreglass and aluminum. I can carry Ortho. I think Grim could carry Ortho."

He took a step forward. "Do you want me to leave you on the horse or not."

"His name is Beans." But, you managed to dismount into Idia's arms, where he stood stock-still and trembling.

"Kkc."

"Babe? Put me down before your back goes out."

His knees gave out first, and he crumpled beneath you as you both yelped.

"You alright?"

"hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

You crawled off his chest and he could actually breathe again.

"Better?"

After a few breaths, he managed a weak smile. "Maybe kiss it better."

Beans beat you to it, snuffling at Idia's face to make sure he wasn't dead.

~*~*~*~

You are not much of a party person. You like them, but the ideal party is a few friends hanging around in the same room, chatting at a reasonable volume and then going home to go the fuck to sleep. This was a little much.

But you know what this party had that you hadn't seen in what felt like years? Cute girls. In cute costumes! You've been flirting your ass off, with decent success; it turns out that the Magicam Live you did with Vil weeks ago had paid off in the form of smiles and fluttered eyelashes as girls crowded around you to hear tales of how fucking obnoxious you could be in this school and get away with it because you had friends in high places.

At least, until you caught something out of the corner of your eye, and you stopped. "Hey, I gotta check on someone - raise your hand if you like boys. Okay, you see -" You stopped and pointed at your poor, unsuspecting target. "With the blue-black hair and the painted spade? That's Deuce, he doesn't know how to talk to girls worth a damn, so give him some slack. But he's a sweetheart, you won't regret it."

"What about the redhead?"

"Ace is a prick but he's delightful. Chat him up too." With that, you went to check on Idia, huddled into a corner after an attempted force-feeding.

"You alright, babe?"

He nodded. "They're too much. But I'm alright now."

You leaned back against a nearby chair, looking him up and down. "You sure you aren't going to eat anything? I don't think anyone's going to care too much if you have your face out."

He remained completely still, and you realized you could hear a faint whirring. "Idia. Have you been using the robot double all evening."

"... I swapped out ten minutes ago."

You made a noise and he flinched. "I was going to swap back in after it calmed down!"

"... No you weren't."

"Okay, no I wasn't. But I was there for a while. I have proof, I brought plates back with me."

"You could have just told me. It's been a hell of a lot for you, I know what you're like."

Idia - well, his robotic avatar - shrugged. "If you're going to lecture me... come by and do it here."

You stopped. "You really want me to yell at you in person?"

"I want you to come by. If you want. You can stay as long as you want... if you want. I have snacks, and movies, and games that even you could play."

You snorted. "Oh, the siren call of a fucking nerd trying so hard to woo his chosen..."

"I changed my mind actually, you can't come."

"Aww."

"... That's a lie." He paused. "You can even take the Yume Twins out."

Those vinyl dolls he never let you touch. You throw your veil back and kissed the stupid plastic pumpkin head. "It's a date."

~*~*~*~

"Yuu?"

You peered at Malleus from around a stack of Tupperware. "Mal?"

"You.. enjoyed it all, despite everything?"

"Despite everything." You hefted the stack towards him. "Would you like to help? I want to grab stuff from the party that'll keep at room temperature."

He absently flicked a finger, sending the dishes swirling around to settle in a stack in midair, before placing a hand on your shoulder. "I have a... request."

"Anything," you said, and you regretted saying it as his breath hitched.

"Would you..." His voice faltered, and instead he simply wrapped you in a tight embrace, leaning down to bury his nose in your hair. You could feel him, chest heaving, scenting your greased hair through tulle, murmuring something against your scalp.

"Malleus."

He stopped, but did not move.

"No spells."

"You would not forgive me if I tried." You could feel his smile against your hair.

"I would not." You pulled back enough to look at him, and nearly froze at his besotted gaze before he schooled it into his more usual face. "Mal, you know you only feel this strong because I'm your first friend, right?"

"Does it matter? It is sincere."

And that makes it so much worse. "You know I don't feel about you like that."

"..." The grief that flickered across his face was enough to shatter a stone heart. "To stand with you and hold you is enough."

And they said fairies can't lie. They could, they were just terrible at it.

"You said you were going to ask for something?"

"... Not anymore. I doubt you would give it."

He vanished into thin air in a swirl of wind, and the Tupperware clattered to the steps, the spell holding them gone.

~*~*~*~

The nice thing about Idia's room is that, being a prefect, he had an attached bathroom to scrub the paint off of your face. It was a monochrome murder in the sink, splatters of grey with the occasional pinprick of red where you'd disturbed the new bumper crop of pimples from painting up as a skull for a week. Thank fuck that was over with. Even if the day proper had been lovely, the events of the week had thoroughly soured you on Halloween.

"You alright?" Idia poked his head in, long since divested of armour.

"Yup. How'd you get that shit off so fast? You got a suiting-up machine hidden somewhere?"

"It's less complicated than you'd think. Cosplay magic."

"That's nice. Unbutton me."

"... wha."

You looked at him via the mirror, meeting his wide eyes and shimmying in place. "Unbutton me. I can't reach them all myself."

"How'd you get that on every day?" He hesitantly walked behind, eyeing the row down your back as though it would burn him at the touch.

"I have roommates, remember?"

"Mmh." He finally undid the first three, before flicking his gaze back to yours in the mirror. "A... Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't ask, otherwise." You kept looking, as he took a breath and resumed. "Idia."

He paused.

"Keep going, I'm just going to chat at you for a bit." Two more. "You know I..." How to phrase this. "I don't intend to stay mint on card forever, you know. You can take me out and play."

He twitched, but kept going. "Maybe I don't want to damage you. There's only one of you, after all."

"I'm not so breakable." You had one side of you face completely clear, the other still smeared grey in the creases. "Would you rather stay mint condition, yourself?"

"..." He took a moment to gather himself, staring at the exposed skin of your back. "Maybe I want to... admire a bit. Get to know my- your- Uh."

You waited with a soft smile, until he found the words. "No one said you have to play straight away when you take something out of the package. Right?" He placed an experimental hand on the expanse of flesh between bra band and waistband, and did not draw away.

"Right."

"... Maybe I just want to hold you a bit before we play."

What a sweet boy you had. "Take all the time you need to. Even if we never play like that, I like you. Spending time with you is what I want."

You could see the motes of pink flickering through his hair. "Can I hold you now?"

"Of course."

He slid his hands under your dress, around your waist - then grabbed your soft, flabby tummy in both hands and squeezed. "Soft~"

You squealed with laughter. "What are you doing?"

"It's bare skin that's neutral territory," he huffed, before hugging your back to him and resting his chin on your shoulder. "And it's warm, too."

"Not so much as you. Keep me warm, will you? It's getting so damned cold at night."

He buried his face in your hair. "I can do that."

~*~*~*~

You woke to someone banging at the door.

"Son of a bitch." You managed to free yourself from Idia's sleeping grasp and make it to the door as a familiar voice started up. "Shroud, your tin can brother's already helping with clean-up, if you skip out because of a stupid game I will-"

You opened the door and looked levelly into Vil's face, which twisted in surprise. He gave you a once over (unshaved legs, mussed hair, boxer briefs from the men's section and a blue-black striped shirt that was clearly not yours) and then peeked over your shoulder at Idia (dead asleep, smiling faintly, possibly naked under the blankets). He kept looking between the two of you with increasing disbelief and horror, until he stepped back, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Good for you."

"Thanks." Your face still hadn't changed.

"It's twelve thirty. If you're not both out helping clean up by three, I'm telling everyone."

"That's not much of a threat."

"Maybe to you. Shroud!"

Idia shuddered awake, bleariness washed away by terror as he saw Vil in the door and covered himself in the blankets.

"Be out helping cleanup by three or I'm telling everyone exactly why you're late." With that, he stalked off and you shut the door, mirroring his nose pinch.

"Dramatic bastard, ain't he? Even when he's being nice."

"How is that nice?" He only stopped shivering when you sat back down on the bed.

"Two and a half hours, Idia."

He blinked at you.

"How much can we do in two and a half hours?"

Realization dawned, and he started snickering as he dragged you in close.

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland fanfiction #idia shroud #malleus draconia

23 notes · View notes

reyesstrand · 4 years ago

Text

let your heart be light

tarlos & firefam dynamics / teen+ / 2.6k

To be fair, TK wasn’t sure what to expect for his first holiday season in Austin. But he has his dad, he has his team, he has Carlos—and it’s enough.

@911giftexchange for @teaamfreewill — i hope you enjoy this AJ, and have a happy holiday season!!! 💗

ALSO AVAILABLE ON AO3!!

“It just doesn’t feel right without snow.”

Paul looks at him with that ever-present, all-knowing look in his eyes, before letting out a sigh and nodding. “You’re telling me, New York.”

“Like,” TK starts, fully aware that he’s gravitating into rambling status at this point, but he can never stop himself. He rests a foot on the bottom rung of the shopping cart, leaning his weight against the handle as Paul analyzes the nutritional facts on two different brands of steel-cut oats. “It doesn’t feel like the holidays without at least one storm that makes you question your existence.”

Humming in agreement, Paul puts one package back on the shelf and tosses the other in the cart, before hesitating and grabbing a few more of the pale-blue bags before they're good to move on to produce. When there's a comfortable lull in conversation, both of them crossing items off the list his dad's very carefully crafted for the bi-weekly shopping trips, TK lets his mind drift to holidays past.

His parents wanted him to grow up with both the tradition of celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas, but as he grew older, Decembers tended to blur into every other month. He'd always call his mom if he was working late, smiling down at photos she'd send him of her attempts to perfect her grandmother's recipe for sufganiyot, always making his stomach rumble. And, even if she was out of the city at the time, she'd always send him a box of homemade pastries and a card with a lengthy message inscribed inside that'd make him feel warmed from the inside out. And his dad would always make him at least come for a dinner on the twenty-fifth, even if dinner was just takeout eaten straight out of the cartons while they watched the Christmas parade he always recorded.

They were simple traditions, but they were theirs.

In Austin, TK's slowly getting used to calling it home. The snow thing had been the first to strike him, because while he's seen his fair share of strange Texan weather, not waking up to white covering every surface and bitter cold nipping at his skin has been throwing him for a loop.

"Earth to TK," Paul says, tossing him a bell pepper. TK catches it, rolling his eyes playfully at his friend. "We should start figuring out a place and time for the Not-Christmas dinner."

"Carlos offered his place," TK says, without thinking. Paul just grins at him.

"That seems to be going well, huh?" Paul asks, hip-checking TK as they walk side-by-side to the checkout. TK feels his face go warm, though he busies himself with adjusting the rolled sleeves of his black t-shirt, printed with the 126 crest over his heart. Paul just musses up his hair before ducking out of grasp for retaliation, sidling up to the cashier and offering his big smile at her while she begins to ring them up. "I'm happy for you, kid. We all are."

TK does smile at that, because it's the one shining light in all of this. He hadn't been sure what a holiday season with a new boyfriend would be like, especially when every single one of his friends were also friends with said boyfriend, but they've all been relatively tame. No shoving them under the mistletoe yet, which TK guesses is only a matter of time.

"Anyway," Paul says, and TK sticks his hands into his pockets, suddenly glad Marjan isn't here to poke at his pink cheeks.

"Anyway," TK agrees. "Carlos did offer to let us use his place, though. He suggested the twenty-second, so that way people could still go see their families."

"The twenty-second it is," Paul smiles, already typing the date into their group chat, followed by five question marks. Because Carlos thought ahead for these things, TK knows they're all already going to be on one of their twenty-four-hour off periods; Carlos works that morning but will be home by noon, and as long as TK has detailed instructions, he won't have a problem starting the food early.

A small knot forms deep in TK's chest, even though he knows there's still two weeks before the proposed group dinner. He just thanks the cashier after paying with the credit card his dad gave him before they left the station an hour ago, and they head back out into the sunny, barely-cool, snowless, December afternoon.

***

TK's just hanging up with his mom, absently kicking at a rock in the lot just outside the bay doors, when he feels someone creep up behind him.

He doesn't even blink, though, because he smells sandalwood and tangy citrus and is smiling before he feels familiar arms settle around him. He tells his mom I love you, too, and stuffs his phone in his pocket and leans back into Carlos' touch, for half a moment, before turning in his arms and pressing their foreheads together.

"Did you know you're impossible to shop for?"

TK grins, and presses a quick kiss to the corner of Carlos' mouth before pulling back enough to look him in the eye. "What a welcoming statement after not seeing each other for twenty-seven hours."

Carlos rolls his eyes affectionately, and tightens his hold around TK's middle. "I missed you, Ty."

"I missed you too," TK grins, cupping Carlos' face between his palms and finally closing the distance between them properly. "But I do take offence to that. I'm perfect in every way."

Carlos huffs a laugh against his mouth and presses in for one more kiss, before scraping his blunt nails against the fine hairs at TK's nape. "Believe me, I know, sweetheart."

He feels a pleasant ripple shoot through him, and TK's struck again by the fact that he gets to have this. He's close enough to see the flecks of gold in Carlos' warm brown eyes, and he wonders how it's only been three months because he feels like he's known him forever. He thinks of decorating with Marjan today and the sudden pang of homesickness that he couldn't quite explain.

"You okay?" Carlos asks, because he can read even the most microscopic of his expressions like the back of his own hand. TK covers it up with a smile.

"Yeah, of course," TK brushes his thumb along Carlos' jaw, before standing back, dragging his hand down the length of Carlos' arm so he could grab his hand and tangle their fingers together. "Come on, I'll buy you dinner."

"My prince," Carlos plays along, hand over his heart, but there's still a look in his eyes. He runs his thumb over the backs of TK's knuckles, and when TK squeezes his hand tighter, he gets a small smile in return.

***

They'd realized sometime between Thanksgiving and the first of December that they'd have to celebrate as a team, this year.

The non-denominational, coined-by-Mateo "Not-Christmas Dinner" idea was agreed upon pretty quickly, and TK is beyond excited to start creating new traditions with his family. But he's struggling, is the thing. He wouldn't ever mention it to anyone because he hates stressing them out, and though he has no urge to do anything stupid because for the first time in a while he's happy—like, really fucking happy—he can't help but to feel like everything has to be perfect.

It boils down to this: he misses his mom like crazy, even though she stayed with him and his dad for a couple weeks back in September when he was still healing. He's finally getting back on track with his dad, after long nights of hashing things out about his childhood. And he and Alex never did much for the holidays save for giving each other a couple gifts because they could never work out how to spend an equal amount of time with both of their families—which, in hindsight, is yet another element of the two and a half years TK lost to the man he thought was his soulmate—but now with Carlos he just wants things to be special. They already have plans to visit Carlos' mom and sisters on Christmas Eve, and Owen had lovingly coerced Carlos into a Strand family dinner on Christmas Day.

It just feels like a lot.

"Hey, are you okay?" Marjan asks, bumping his shoulder with hers as she strolls into Carlos' kitchen. The twenty-second kind of crept up on TK, and now he's here, attempting to hold down the fort while Carlos makes a last-minute trip to the store. His kitchen's a homey space, and, like the rest of his boyfriend's place, it's tastefully decorated with garland and candles and little angel statues that have been passed down through his family. There's a photo of the two of them on Carlos' fridge, pressed together at a pumpkin patch they'd spent a date night at back in October, and TK gets a little lost in the memory. Marjan has to nudge him a little harder to get him to snap back into it. "TK?"

"Oh, hey," TK smiles at her, and goes back to making sure that the green beans don't stick to the bottom of the pan. She claims a burner of her own to keep her tagine warm, leaning back against the counter with her arms folded over her chest.

"You're spacing out a bit," Marjan says, and when TK keeps his eyes trained on the vegetables he swore he could handle, she just makes a small noise and places a hand on his shoulder. "You've been a little quiet lately."

There's a pause, where neither of them say anything, before Marjan drops her voice a little and adds:

"Hey, you know you can talk to me, right?"

"I'm just—" TK shakes his head and bites at the inside of his cheek, turning down the heat to try and kill more time.

He doesn't know how to tell her—and the rest of them—that he's both so thankful for this family he's found and so, so terrified of messing it all up. Thankfully, he doesn't have to; there's a knock at the door and Marjan offers to get it, leaving TK alone with a soft smile. He sighs, and closes his eyes for a long moment.

***

After food has been served, and gifts have been exchanged, they all sit around Carlos' living room. The conversations overlap like they always do, and TK sits comfortably under the glow of the light from the tree and the warmth of Carlos' arm thrown over his shoulder. He's slowly picking at a piece of Grace's pecan pie, and he knows he should just let himself get lost in the moment, but he can't. He taps his foot at a staccato beat against the floor, and even when Carlos throws him a questioning look and settles his hand on TK's knee, he doesn't stop.

He finally excuses himself ten minutes later.

Carlos' place has a nice little backyard area, where they've all gathered for parties and after-work hangouts countless times. It's a little chilly as the sun's gone down, and TK sighs out loud and sees his breath puff out in front of him. He smiles just a little, and kicks his foot against the porch, dropping down onto the steps.

He's expecting Carlos to come after him; or maybe Marjan, or his dad. Instead it's Grace who settles down next to him, a hand splayed over her four-month pregnant belly.

"Honey," she starts, and TK ducks his head. His eyes burn, and he roughly sniffs. "TK. You don't have to hide whatever you're thinking from us."

He takes a deep breath, and scrubs a hand down his face. And then he says: "I don't want to bring down your mood."

Grace gives him one of her warm smiles. "TK, every day I'm reminded why you and my husband get along so well."

TK rolls his eyes and gently nudges her arm with his shoulder.

"Now tell me what's wrong," Grace says, and TK rubs the back of his neck before he starts talking.

He tells her everything. About how the holidays usually meant bickering with Alex. How it meant celebrating with both of his parents, sure, but also dealing with awkward dinners with their new significant others. About how he hasn't felt this good since he was a kid and he doesn't want to fuck it up.

"You could never fuck it up," Grace tells him, squeezing his hand that she's been holding between both of hers. TK meets her eyes and finds nothing but sincerity, nothing but the warmth and reassurance that always seems to be there. "Never. And know that all of us in there don't care about perfect as long as we have you, as long as we're all together. Now, I'm going to send that beautiful man of yours out here so you can talk to him, because he's been worried."

At that exact moment, they hear the telltale creak of the door opening; both of them glance over their shoulders and spot Carlos.

He moves to leave, lifting a hand in apology. "Sorry to interrupt—"

"I was just leaving," Grace says, getting to her feet and squeezing TK's shoulder for a brief moment. When she disappears back into the house, Carlos takes her spot, and wordlessly presses a lingering kiss to TK's temple.

"Ty," Carlos starts, and TK stops him in his tracks with a kiss.

"I'm sorry for being distant, lately," TK murmurs half against his lips, because even though he knows that Carlos has seen him pretty close to his worst he hates the thought of pulling him down; of making him unhappy. "I'm just—it's been so long since I've had this. And I've never had someone like you. I was so worried about not messing things up that I got in my head."

"Hey," Carlos whispers, getting TK to look him in the eye. "Please don't apologize, okay? We're all healthy, and here together—that's what matters, right? That I get to have you by my side through it all?"

Could you blame TK for surging forward to kiss him again?

When they part, TK whispers: "Thank you."

"What for?" Carlos asks, eyes glinting with confusion.

"For being you," TK says, knowing how it sounds.

Carlos shakes his head, moving to lace their fingers together.

They move in unison to press their foreheads together, and TK whispers, "I love you so much. I just needed you to know that."

"Of course I do," Carlos says, smiling into it when he kisses TK before speaking again. "I love you too. And I don't want you to feel like you have to—to hide what you're feeling."

TK just lets himself have what he wants, what he needs in the moment, and it's this: Carlos' mouth against his, again and again.

***

They re-enter the party ten minutes later, and all eyes are on them when they slip into the living room.

TK opens his mouth to make some big declaration, but Marjan catches his eye, and then Paul. Then it's his dad who dramatically clears his throat and points above the two of them.

Because, of course, there's mistletoe fastened to the doorway above them.

"I hate you all," TK mutters, to which Judd yells lies! and Paul yells something about getting on with it. So, TK does; he presses his palms to either side of Carlos' face and grins at him before closing the distance between them. There's a whoop from someone for effect, and then when they pull apart Marjan pulls him down next to her on the loveseat so he can be thrown into a conversation about fighting mall elves they'd had to deal with during a call yesterday.

Looking around the room, he realizes he had nothing to worry about at all. And, to be fair, TK wasn't sure what to expect for his first holiday season in Austin. But he has his dad, he has his team, he has Carlos—and it's enough.

#911giftexchange #tarlos #911 lone star #tarlos fic #my fic

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nalgenewhore · 4 years ago

Text

Slipping Through My Fingers - Two

masterlist - ao3 - last chapter - next chapter

warnings: none

an: this chapter’s a lil shorter than usual

Elide woke up alone, sprawled across her bed.

Groaning softly into the skin of her upper arm, she stretched and rolled over, blinking her eyes at sunny skies behind her side-by-side windows, sixth paned with rounded tops. Her gaze travelled to the canopy-esque set up she had above her bed, a simple wooden-pole square that she hung a multitude of plants from.

Lorcan was gone, and she was grateful for that. It was always awkward, waiting around for a hook-up to leave so she could get on with her day.

But Lorcan was… great. Really, he was. The sex had been amazing and he was gorgeous, truly beautiful, but it wasn’t just that. They got along well, when they were just lying in her bed, when she was sitting on her kitchen table and they were eating cereal. It was easy to laugh with him, to talk and banter with him. Elide groaned again and rolled over onto her stomach. You do not have the time for this, she reminded herself.

She huffed and got out of bed, feeling that old familiar ache between her legs and on the bruises sucked onto her skin as she shuffled into the bathroom and turned on her shower.

As the water warmed up, Elide shrugged on her fluffy bathrobe and went out to check her phone, opening the message from Nehemia, one of her new teacher colleagues. After Elide had moved from Perranth to Orynth, her sister Aelin had introduced her to her closest friends. They had all hit it off almost instantaneously and it was like they’d known each other all their lives.

She was a little less freaked out by her new job now that she knew she’d have at least one friend there.

NY: still down for brunch with the girlies?

EL: you know it

EL: 11?

NY: see you then! i’m going shopping for classroom stuff later, wanna join?

EL: gods yes - completely forgot about that whoops

Plans for the day made, Elide turned on her music and hopped in the shower, the warm stream washing away the last night and the feeling of disappointment that she couldn’t quite place.

After her shower, Elide dried and curled her hair, throwing on the red wrap dress that Aelin had made for her - it was from her newest collection and all of her friends often got the throwaways, not that there was ever anything wrong with them. Elide paired it with simple white sneakers and dropped her wallet, phone, keys, and a reusable bag into a white cross-body purse before she left her apartment complex.

It was beautiful outside, a perfect late-August day so she decided to walk the short-ish distance to the Faliq family bakery, where Nesryn worked as a pastry chef alongside her father.

+*+*+*+*+*+*

Elide walked into the air conditioned bakery to find Nesryn precariously balancing trays of mouth-watering, decadent pastries. She quickly moved, saving a plate of mille feuilles with pastry cream and strawberries from crashing to the floor. “Hey, Nes.”

Nesryn grinned, “El, thank the gods.” She blew a flyaway strand of hair that had escaped her half-up, half-down bun do. “Cute dress.” She herself was wearing a pair of flour covered overalls and a black crop top, a pair of slip-on sneakers on her feet. They walked out to the patio to their normal table, where their friends were already sitting.

“Thanks, Ae gave it to me. I’m liking the overalls look,” Elide said, setting down the tray and taking her seat beside her sister. “Gods, these look fucking amazing, Nes.” Lysandra passed her a glass filled with ice coffee as Nesryn sat down next to her fiancée and blushed under the praise.

They dug in, catching up on each other’s lives. Nesryn and Lysandra had just returned from a vacation in Eyllwe and Nehemia lamented about missing home, but Elide knew she would never actually go through with forgetting everything and moving back. The wedding band on her finger and the matching one on Fenrys’ told a different tale. Their eloping was the best decision either of them had ever made.

Elide commented on how happy Aelin looked, despite being awake and coherent before noon and her sister shyly shared she’d been seeing someone, a man named Rowan. Nehemia smiled, it seemed as though Rowan was a good friend of Fenrys’ and Fenrys had actually introduced the two of them. Aelin looked absolutely smitten and they were all so happy for her. She deserved a happy love, after her parents, after Sam…

When Elide reached for the jam, her wrap top shifted and exposed one of the dark marks on the curve of her breast. Aelin squawked and Elide flushed, sitting back down, a hand over her chest as she watched her sister splutter. “Yes, Aelin?”

“Wha- what- what is that?” The blonde reached over and used the tip of her index finger to pull back the neckline of Elide’s dress, baring the mark and the countless others on her pale skin. Elide slapped her sister’s hand away, preferring that she didn’t expose her in public. “Elide!”

Everyone else gasped, intrigued as Elide relented. “Fine! I may have met a man at Emrys’ and hooked up with him… in the alley.”

Her friends’ eyes widened as Aelin’s jaw dropped and soon enough they were congratulating her, pestering her for extremely intimate details she refused to give until they finally dropped the subject and went back to eating.

“But was he any damn good?”

Elide hummed and sipped from her cold drink, “He was pretty any damn good.”

An hour later, they helped Nesryn clear the table and carried everything into the kitchen, saying hello to her father and mother. Sayed, her father, refused to let them leave without bags or boxes, depending on the choice, of their personal favourites. He claimed they were just laying around and they played along, but they knew better.

Elide climbed into Nehemia’s car and they were off to the nearest craft and office supplies store. There was a sale and they thanked the gods. The school paid for… not enough and if they wanted their classes to be adequately decorated, they would have to pay out of pocket for a lot of it.

Nehemia taught seventh grade at their school, while Elide taught kindergarten, so her class was much more brightly coloured.

Currently, she was comparing a pack of Mr. Sketch Markers and regular old Crayolas. Nehemia glanced over at the packs, “Mr. Sketch are way better. I swear, they’ve never bled and they smell good.”

She laughed and dropped the Mr. Sketch into her cart, checking off markers on her list. “Alright… I just need some… sticker paper for desk labels.”

Nehemia nodded, “Sounds good. I really hope my stuff is hip enough.” Elide laughed again and she insisted, “Do you know how scary seventh grade girls are? I can’t have them dissing my class!”

“I think you’ll be fine, Mi,” she said dryly, shaking her head a bit. “If I had you as my seventh grade teacher, I would’ve been in love with you, 100%.”

“Aw, really?”

“Totally!”

“That’s so sweet!” Nehemia dropped a packet of thumbtacks into her basket and sighed, “Alright, I think I’m done for now. What about you?”

“Just the sticker paper and then I’ll be good to go.”

They quickly located the paper and Elide got a few packs before they made their way to the registry. She looked up as she was bagging her things in the cotton bag she’d brought, eyes landing on a tall man with dark hair thrown up in a messy bun.

She almost called out ‘Lorcan’, but he turned and she didn’t recognize him. A weird feeling sunk into the pit of her stomach. Maybe she did regret only knowing him for one night, but it’s not like she could do anything about it.

Slightly deflated, she remained mostly silent as Nehemia dropped her off. “El, are you alright? You seem a little bit…”

Elide waved her off, “No, yeah, ‘m fine. I think I’m just tired. Hot today.”

Nehemia didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t press the subject as Elide kissed her cheek and hopped out, waving when she unlocked the door of her building and slipped inside.

Sleeping with Lorcan wasn’t a mistake, she didn’t regret that, but now that she thought about it… she would’ve liked to have seen him sleeping beside her in the morning. Would’ve liked to know how he took his coffee and how he kissed her good-bye.

Making a disgusted sound in the back of her throat, Elide unlocked the door to her studio apartment and leaned back against the door in the dark, just staring at the empty space.

There was something rumpled on the floor and she dropped her bags, walking towards it. It was her dress, somehow not ripped even though they hadn’t exactly been patient when they got to her apartment.

With another groan, Elide changed aggressively in an old hoodie and sweats, ruining her curls by throwing her hair into a sloppy bun and plopped down on her bed, using the remote to turn on the TV mounted on the opposite wall.

Feeling peckish, Elide stood up from bed and walked over to the kitchen. She grabbed the box of pastries Sayed had given her, opening it up to find an Earl Grey and honey-flavoured St. Honoré, which was a layer of puff pastry that served as a base for the large cream puffs dipped in caramel, filled with Earl Grey and honey infused pastry cream, and topped with whipped cream.

Her mood lifted slightly as she cut herself a slice and read the note that Nesryn had left, letting her know that she’d been tweaking with the recipe and asking Elide to let her know what she thought.

Elide took herself and her pasty back to bed after turning on her kettle and putting a scoop of loose tea into her diffuser-ball and dropping it in a mug.

She sighed as she navigated to Netflix and clicked on a movie, already calling Aelin. Aelin didn’t get a word in before Elide was saying: “Clueless?”

Her sister agreed immediately, “Clueless.”

+*+*+*+*+*+*

@mythicaitt @tinywolfofeyllwe @schmlip-scribble @the-regal-warrior @westofmoon @empire-of-wildfire @rhysands-highlady @city-of-fae @shyvioletcat @alifletcher2012 @tangledraysofsunshine @ttakeitbacknoww @tswaney17 @ourbooksuniverse @flora-and-fae @thesirenwashere @queenofxhearts @maastrash @mynewdreamwasyou @cursebreaker29 @superspiritfestival @empress-ofbloodshed @queen-of-glass @sleeping-and-books @beccasophia95 @exersize-me-i-dare-u @thewayshedreamed @hizqueen4life

#slipping through my fingers #stmf chapter two #elorcan #elide x lorcan #elide lochan #lorcan salvaterre #kohana tangaroa-salvaterre #isa writes #nalgenewhore

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noona-clock · 5 years ago

Text

The Doctor - Part 2

Genre: Doctor!AU

Pairing: Donghyuk (iKON) x You (Female!Reader)

Warnings: None

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | Words: 2,392

Even though Claire had been insistent that you needed to call Dr. Kim the day after your visit, her fever had all but vanished by the time she woke up that morning, so you had refused -- on principle!

You hadn’t admitted that you didn’t want to call him because you weren’t interested because... that wasn’t true.

Of course, you were interested! But, like, on the most surface level. You barely knew him; you knew he was cute and smart (he had to be in order to get through all that medical school, right?) and good with kids, so yes, all of that certainly piqued your interest.

But Claire had brought up dates, and she’d even mentioned a wedding at one point -- you obviously were not that level of interested.

(Yet?)

Her doctor’s note had excused her from school for the rest of the week, though, and since your job allowed you to work from home anyway, you were kind of stuck with her for a few days. And, let me tell you, she wasn’t keen on letting up on the subject of Dr. Kim. Like, at all.

By the time Saturday arrived, you were more than ready to drive her to your parents’ house for her weekly Grandma & Grandpa Time visit. They were apt to spoil her more than you liked, but today, you didn’t care if she had an ice cream sundae for every meal and watched movies literally all day long.

As long as you didn’t have to dodge her questions and comments about Dr. Kim any longer!

Since Claire was with your parents just about every Saturday, you took the opportunity to go grocery shopping. Before you drove her over to their house, you had her write down her requests on your list. You tried to fulfill as many as you could (within reason), and you’d found this process was so much easier than taking her with you. Kids in the grocery store tended to be bored half the time and whining for unhealthy snacks the other half.

Claire, of course, still requested a lot of unhealthy snacks... but you couldn’t deny that you liked them, too. In fact, you were currently standing in front of the pudding selection, deciding if you should get chocolate or butterscotch.

You tapped your finger against your chin, your eyes darting between the two flavors, and just as you were about to reach for the chocolate (because, who are we kidding? Chocolate always wins) you heard a voice nearby say your name.

The sudden greeting made you jump a little, and when you turned around, you saw a slightly amused and slightly embarrassed...

Dr. Kim.

Of course.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said with a soft chuckle.

“Oh, no, it’s -- it’s fine,” you assured him with a faint smile. “I guess I was too immersed in pudding.”

And then you remembered he was a pediatrician. His job revolved around the health and well-being of children. And -- not that you’d really noticed -- Dr. Kim was incredibly fit himself. You doubted he spent this much time trying to decide what flavor of pudding to get.

“But Claire always eats her vegetables, I promise,” you added, only half-joking.

“I trust you,” he replied with a smirk. And then his expression became a bit more worried. “How is she feeling?”

“Oh, she’s much better,” you grinned. “Her fever was down the next day, and she wasn’t sneezing or coughing at all this morning.”

Dr. Kim leaned against his cart handle, his mouth curving into a smile that truly melted your heart. “Good, I’m glad to hear it.”

“Thank you so much, Dr. Kim, really. I appreciate everything -- especially you not making me feel neurotic for taking her in at the drop of a hat,” you told him with a gentle though slightly abashed chuckle.

“Of course, I would never judge a parent for that. Or anything, really,” he told you, his forehead wrinkling slightly. “But please -- call me Donghyuk.”

“Sorry,” you laughed bashfully, shaking your head a little. “Force of habit.”

Donghyuk nodded, letting out a breathless chuckle. “There’s really no need to thank me, though. I love my job, it’s a pleasure to help when I can.”

Okay, well, speaking of his job... You were curious enough about it to come right out and ask, even though you really didn’t know him that well.

“May I ask... what made you move here?” you inquired, hoping you sounded more curious than accusatory. Because you were!

Donghyuk lifted one shoulder in a shrug and replied, “I just wanted a change, and there was an opening at this office.”

“You didn’t know someone who lived here?”

He shook his head, and the expression on his (handsome) face made it obvious he didn’t think it was a big deal.

It certainly was to you, though. As someone who craved familiarity, especially when it comes to your surroundings, you couldn’t imagine having the courage to just up and move to an entirely new town where you knew nobody.

“I was just curious,” you assured him. “This is the type of town people don’t really just decide to move to unless they know someone here already. I’m glad you came, obviously. I’m actually very impressed.”

It was clear that Donghyuk was amused by your rambling, so you shook your head quickly with a self-deprecating grin on your lips.

“Anyway,” you sighed. “Have you had a chance to get to know the town at all?”

To your slight surprise, a bit of a bashful smile appeared on Donghyuk’s mouth, and he let out a soft chuckle. “Uh, no, actually... I went to Jimmy’s that one night I almost ran into you, but... that’s kind of it. When I haven’t been working, I’ve just been at home reading... studying medical books.”

He probably expected you to think that was incredibly lame... but you didn’t. Not at all. A studious man who took his profession seriously -- and a very noble profession at that? What could be more attractive?

...So, you went for it.

“If... if you’d like, Claire and I could show you around,” you offered, trying to ignore the growing butterflies in your stomach. “I’ve lived here since I was little, and Claire has been with me for almost two years, so we know all the good places.”

Donghyuk stood up straight, his bashful smile growing into a very pleased, excited one -- and you really weren’t sure if you’d ever seen such a cute, adorable, attractive, magnetic smile in your life?

“Yeah?” he replied. “I would love that.”

You returned his smile with one of your own, and then Donghyuk held his arm out to allow you to head down the aisle first. You began to push your cart, and when he pushed his up right next to yours, you had to admit that you were not upset about having your solo grocery store trip intruded upon.

The two of you ended up going through the rest of the store together, talking and joking about this and that -- nothing too serious, but it was truly one of the most pleasant conversations you’d had in a long time.

Before you both got in line to check-out, you exchanged phone numbers so you could arrange your town tour sometime soon. You assured Donghyuk you would go by his schedule, and all he had to do was let you know when he was free.

You tried to put the idea of driving around town with Dr. Kim -- Donghyuk -- in the back of your mind because it really wasn’t anything to be anxious about. It’s not like it was a date or anything!

But you still knew that telling Claire was not going to be fun. Because she would think it was a date.

Luckily, after getting home from the store and putting all of your groceries away, you still had a few hours before you went to your parents’ house to pick her up. More than enough time to think about how you were going to phrase it as well as how you would react to her reaction.

So, you drew up a hot, aromatic, bubbly bath, lit a few candles, and turned on your favorite Jazz music. The perfect atmosphere for thinking. And since you weren’t picking up Claire until after dinner, you had plenty of time to do just that.

Usually, when you picked up Claire after her weekly Grandma & Grandpa Time visit, she had something she’d crafted to show you. Sometimes it was a piece of art she did with Grandma, sometimes it was something she’d built with Grandpa; this week, it was a piece of art.

“Look at my necklace!” Claire cried as soon as you walked in the front door of your parents’ house. She barreled down the hall towards you, holding a string filled with beads and charms.

She had already made a bracelet and earrings, so now her jewelry set was complete -- a very important thing for a seven-year-old.

“Oh, look at that!” you grinned as she reached you. You gingerly scooped the necklace into your palm, admiring the pattern she’d made. “It’s beautiful.”

“Can I wear it to school on Monday?!”

“You just have to be very --”

“I will, I’ll be careful, I promise!”

Your grin widened, and then you leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head. “Yes, of course, you can.”

Claire squealed with delight before you sent her back down the hall to go say good-bye to her grandparents.

And... to be honest, you wouldn’t mind if the good-bye took a little while.

Because, even though you were pretty sure you’d figured out a good way to tell her, you still weren’t looking forward to it.

But, sadly, she was able to manage it quickly enough, and in less than ten minutes, the two of you were in your car on the way home.

“What else did you do with Grandma and Grandpa?” you asked, glancing in your rearview mirror to see she was still admiring her necklace.

“We went out for pizza, and then Grandpa made his meatloaf for dinner,” Claire told you. “Y’know, a lot of the kids in my class talk about meatloaf like it’s really bad, but they’ve never had Grandpa’s meatloaf. It’s the most delicious meatloaf in the world.”

“What, better than mine?” you inquired with a chuckle.

“Sorry, but yes.”

You weren’t sure how that was possible because you used your Dad’s recipe, but maybe it was the fact you weren’t your Dad which made the taste not quite as favorable to your daughter.

The night after you’d introduced Claire to your parents, just a couple of months after you had begun fostering her, you’d found her crying in her bed. After a bit of coaxing, she had admitted that she had always wanted a Grandpa -- not a Dad, not a Grandma, but a Grandpa. She had told you about a movie she’d used to watch at one of her old foster placements -- you’d heard from her social worker that the couple had ended up being one who obviously only did foster care for the extra money. Claire had spent a lot of time by herself, and she had found an old VHS called Grandpa’s Magical Toys. She had watched it so many times, and it had become her dream to have a Grandpa. Not even one with magical toys or one who would sing funny songs to her -- just a Grandpa, plain and simple.

You had already known by then you wanted to adopt her, but seeing her crying about having a Grandpa had been the final brick of your decision house.

Needless to say, after you’d told your Dad, he had treated Claire extra specially, and now the two were most definitely the cutest, sweetest pair you’d ever known. She loved and admired him so much that even his meatloaf tasted better than yours.

Claire continued to admire her necklace as you made your way back to your own house, and it wasn’t until you were pulling into the your driveway that she asked about your trip to the grocery store.

“Did you buy anything from my list?” she asked, very obviously trying to hold back how desperately she wanted to hear your answer.

“I did,” you nodded. “I got you strawberry Pop-Tarts, chocolate pudding, and... tater tots.”

Claire cheered with delight, and a wide grin split your lips. Even though she knew you would always get tater tots whenever she requested them (because who doesn’t love tater tots?!), she was still incredibly thrilled when you did.

“Oh, by the way,” you began as you rolled the car to a stop and put it in park. “I saw Dr. Kim at the store. He asked to make sure you were feeling better.”

“Is that all he asked?”

“Claire, please!” you laughed. “Although... I did tell him that we would show him around since he’s new here and doesn’t really know anybody yet.”

You prepared for Claire to squeal or something, so she surprised you by letting out a soft, dreamy sigh and saying, “I guess it was destiny that I got sick.”

Your brow furrowed immediately, and you turned around in your seat to look back at her. “...What are you talking about? You’re seven, what do you know about destiny?”

“If I hadn’t gotten sick, you wouldn’t have taken me to the doctor, and you wouldn’t have met Dr. Kim! And you wouldn’t be going on a date with him!”

“Okay, wait just a minute!” you sputtered. “It’s not a date! I said we are showing him around town -- as in me and you. Have you ever heard of someone’s child going on a date with them?”

Claire simply shrugged. “It could happen.”

“Besides, he’s a very busy man. I highly doubt he has time to... go on dates.”

“If you say so...”

“Enough -- go on inside and get ready for bed, Missy,” you ordered, trying not to both laugh and blush.

Claire let out a very weary sigh and mumbled, “Okay, okay, I’m going.”

But you knew you hadn’t heard the last of it. Not even close.

Part 3

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mrwinterr · 4 years ago

Text

Death of Me (Chase Collins x Dark!Witch!Female Reader) - Part 1

Series Masterlist || Main Masterlist

Pairing: Chase Collins x Dark!Witch!Female Reader

Summary: The reader is addicted to the idea of love and Chase is addicted to the idea of ultimate power – both can help each other out.

Warnings: Movie spoilers for The Covenant (2006) and The Love Witch (2016). Supernatural elements [witchcraft], dark themes [mentions of death and really bad people] and smut [18+ only please].

Disclaimer: This story contains dialogue, characters and references taken from both films. It essentially follows the plot of The Covenant with a reader insert. The reader is loosely based on the main character of The Love Witch. I take no credit for any of those elements used. They belong to the creators of the films. I just wanted to try my hand at having these worlds crossover.

Title Inspiration: “Death of Me” by New Politics

A/N: I don’t know who still reads Chase Collins fanfics, but I wanted to get this one out. This will have multiple parts. Comments, likes and reblogs are all appreciated! Enjoy!

Now entering the town of Ipswich.

It’s a bit dreary, but that didn’t bother you. It always appeared as if a dark cloud followed you. Miles and miles away from the city you last called home, driven away by another failed attempt at a relationship – you were no stranger to those – was becoming somewhat of a routine for you.

The earliest unsuccessful relationship of yours recorded was with your parents. They were hardly a part of your life to begin. It wasn’t like you didn’t try at building one with them; they were the ones that didn’t. You might as well had been invisible to them. A parents’ love was the first kind of love one was supposed to encounter, and it was to be unconditional. They simply didn’t care for their own daughter and it hurt you. Maybe if they showed you any ounce of love or what it was really like perhaps you wouldn’t be so obsessed over trying to understand it. Ironically for two individuals who expressed no love at all, you had so much of it. It was just the matter of finding the right person to give it to.

For as long as you could remember, you’d been fending for your own. So, the first thing you did when you managed to save enough money, you packed up and left your parents. The next city was supposed to your second chance, but you were so young. You hadn’t even begun to plan your own future. Hell, you were living in the car you’d purchased on your own by accepting countless odd jobs and getting paid under the table. For a few months, you had waitressed at a small restaurant, where a group of interesting people, to say the least, caught your attention.

They were regulars to the eatery and had been watching you with a purpose. They could smell you were somewhat of a troubled youth that needed guidance. They welcomed you to their inner circle and soon into their coven. Yup, they were witches and surprisingly that didn’t bother you about them. They were good people to you. You owed it to whoever these people worshiped because they helped provide you an education, shelter, food and lessons in magic – practicing spells and concocting potions – and even more so in taking back control of your own life. This was now your family. You finally felt a sense of belonging with this group.

None of them had any actual internal powers, but they each individually excelled in different aspects of the craft. They taught you how to focus on concentrating energy, using your magic, to gain results; if you could achieve that you’d be the one in control, and essentially have power over the subject. You also learned that there were different types of witches – ones that were made into witches and ones born as witches. You had never known to encounter one that was born into a bloodline, but you had been warned that they would be much stronger than you, so that alone motivated you in perfecting the craft should one come to you as a threat.

You became enamored by witchcraft. You felt reborn through it. In a sense, it saved you. On top of that, you had nothing to lose, so why not sell your soul, right? While you certainly felt loved by the witches, you still yearned for a different type of love.

The first failed relationship in which you were intimately involved in was with a guy your age at the time. Looking back at it, you can’t help but to laugh. Oh boy, what a mistake that was.

With the help of your newfound family, you were able to enroll into the local high school. Unwanted attention came with the territory of being the new girl and you were no exception to one of the most sought-after guys in your class. The next thing you knew, you were losing your virginity to him then only for him to leave you the following day. At that tender age, you thought you loved him, and you wanted him to love you. This is why it was comical. What did you know about love at 16 anyway? So impressionable and so naive.

This was the first time you experimented with love spells and potions and he was your first victim. You had been warned about messing with love spells before, but what spell didn’t come without a warning? It seemed to work, but the more time you spent with him the less you wanted to. It turned out he wasn’t in any way what you wanted at all, an even bigger mess than you were portrayed...and maybe even loved you too much. At least that’s what was mentioned in his suicide note.

His death traumatized you for the first few months and the High Priestess decided it was best you continue elsewhere. Initially, that scared you because you thought they were kicking you out, but you were bonded to them and, with another warning about love spells, she assured you that there are plenty of their kind willing to take another in, you’d just have to be sworn in all over again.

As soon as you recovered a year later, with the immense support of your new coven, you were almost an adult and ready to find the one...the new one. And this one seemed to have it going for him. He was attractive, smart and respectable, but he just had too many feelings and it turned you off. He was a fucking pussy. You swore you could still hear his sobs ringing in your ears. You wanted to love a man, not care for a child. The mental institution he ended up being committed in would be able to give him that.

You moved on fairly quickly not wanting to be reminded of the previously failed conquest, however, you should’ve seen the next one coming, but, again, you were hopeful. Third time was not a charm, it was a tragedy. Two lost individuals, one with a broken past and the other battling with substance abuse, trying to find solace in each other was a recipe for disaster. His problems were soon becoming humdrum. As if you didn’t have any problems of your own to deal with, but who was ever there for you? He constantly ached and ached for you, begged for your help. Fucking clingy. You just couldn’t bring yourself to feel remorse for him anymore. Long story short, he’s six feet under a makeshift grave. Metaphorically, he had dug it on his own a long time ago.

Determined to bounce back, you found yourself traveling to a quaint colonial town in Massachusetts. A member of your previous coven recommended Ipswich and believed you would find the one in your cards there. Not sure whether or not to believe them or if “the one” really existed and was waiting for you, the notion of having nothing to lose decided for you and made Ipswich your new destination.

You’re unloading box after box in your single dorm room, a special request you made so you could practice magic in peace, when someone pokes their head in the door you left opened. It was only open because you weren’t able to drag in some of the larger boxes inside yet and they must’ve spotted them.

“Need any help?” The deep voice causes you turn to the doorway, where a guy, who’s tall, no doubt athletic, a head full of dark hair, a hint of innocence surrounding him, greets you with a sweet smile.

“Um, yeah actually,” you reply with a smile to match the tone. You could carry your own, but why turn down the free labor and perhaps even a show. He was cute. That much you deduced from watching the way his body moved, the skin that peeked out from when his shirt would ride up as he bent down and lifted boxes of your belongings into your room.

“Oh! Please be careful with that one!” You warn seeing the box he was currently handling marked as fragile. It contained some of your bottles and they were practically sacred to you. He absorbs the warning and places the particular box gently aside.

“I’m Tyler by the way,” he says after setting the final box next to your feet and standing upright with a respectable amount of distance between you two. You introduce yourself and offer a now genuine smile. You didn’t want to fall victim to yet another nightmare of a relationship, but you kept thinking about what your fellow member told you – the one is in Ipswich and the one could be in front of you right now.

Tyler ends up staying a little longer as you expected that night and you let him. He had a presence you didn’t feel with towards the others. There was just a different kind of energy there.

The two of you were getting along just fine, but you decided to take it upon yourself for safe measures with him and sneak in a little something you made. You say to yourself maybe he’s worth a shot. And he was. You went on a couple of dates with Tyler, met his three closes friends Caleb, Pogue and Reid, but you wouldn’t consider yourself close with them; they just came with the territory. Yet that energy Tyler had around him kept haunting you.

You weren’t sure if you were losing your touch or had a typo in your spell book, but you began to notice the effects didn’t last long with him in particular. He was almost immune to it. The spells were designed to enhance qualities and features about the other person and if you noticed any trend in using love spells was that it showed one’s true self.

Tyler started to become dull to you, like there was no sense of excitement with him. Harsh, not even magic could help you. Afterall, you can’t work with what’s already there. He had his looks going for him, he was a nice boy, and he was certainly several steps above the others in bed, but he never challenged you and you began forgetting he was even in the same room as you. You could’ve sworn he was about to cry when you told him you wanted to just be friends, but he accepted it because he was whipped. No backbone whatsoever. Well, at least he was still alive.

His loss would’ve probably hit you a little different because he was still a sweet guy…and you didn’t need to be given a reason to leave Ipswich too soon. You were just getting started here. His friends didn’t even seem to hold anything against you, not that you really cared. You weren’t interested in going down the line of the Sons of Ipswich; a little history lesson you learned from Kate, Pogue’s girlfriend, whom you unwillingly also formed a friendship with by default. Apparently, these boys were a little prominent here descending from four of the five families that colonized the town. Besides, if Tyler was boring, you weren’t willing to get into the whole mama’s boy routine Caleb kept up with and Reid proved to be too obnoxious for your own taste.

A private school full of rich kids like Spencer Academy, there were bound to be more guys at your disposal. You internally praised the member of your coven for recommending Ipswich. Your conquest to find real love never wanders too far off, but why not have some fun along the way?

Lately, you kept to yourself in your dorm; biding by with your teenage life in regularly attending your classes, occasionally hanging out with Kate – shopping or listening to her rant about another one of Pogue’s jealousy episodes – show face at Nicky’s once in a while and of course practice magic. There was a party tonight near the woods and almost everyone who was anyone was going to be in attendance. You thought you could use a break after a long week.

You parked your car nearby a bunch of others and managed to spot Kate waving you down to join her. Next to her was someone you hadn’t seen before. Kate introduced her to you as Sarah, her new roommate this semester. She seemed nice. Being in her shoes not too long ago, you decided to try and make her feel welcomed.

“So, tell me. Who is who that’s here,” Sarah asks, loosening up and it’s nice to see a sense of normalcy in your life; making new friends and having a good time like a person your age should. There’s a sense of danger and risk being at this party with violating trespassing signs, a huge fire and lots and lots of drugs and alcohol with underaged teenagers.

“First things first. Him over there,” Kate starts pointing at a source of one of your disgust, “that’s Aaron Abbot. He’s a prick. He treats girls like shit; just ask y/n.” Sarah looks at you with a look of curiosity and hint of concern, but you just give her a mix between a shrug and nod letting her know you’re okay and that Kate is right.

Aaron was someone you messed with in private to test a new potion out after failing with Tyler. You’d seen guys like Aaron before. If you learned anything from the first one it was that guys like Aaron were your textbook high school jackass. Thinking about it made your blood boil. The humiliation you felt when you realized he had only pursued you because you were fresh meat and to become just a notch on his bedpost. How’d that saying go? Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice…

If there was one other thing you loved more than the idea of love, it was sweet revenge. You anticipated for it to be nasty with Aaron after you cut ties with him. No one even seemed to believe him when he tried to spread awful things about you. You had a decent reputation at Spencer. You mentally praised yourself at job well done with that one. Maybe you weren’t losing your touch after all.

You briefly excused yourself from the girls to look for a drink. You scan the perimeter trying to locate a cooler, but you become distracted when you see a hint of a flash between some trees in your peripheral. As it occurred something seemed to also blow right past you; something you only felt with when in proximity of other supernatural elements, but yet unlike any other. You look to the other attendees and realize no one noticed anything unusual. When you look back towards the direction where the light came from, you see a figure walking out from the woods.

You take a hard look at the person trying to recognize them, but you don’t. A new guy. He’s got a certain swagger in his steps, dark hair tousled and a little spiked at the ends, a sharp jawline and eyes that were too dark for you be able to tell what color they really were, and it being nighttime didn’t aid you in figuring it out.

He must’ve caught your gaze because he’s now staring right back at you. His stare is cold, and you feel frozen, even unable to turn away. And yet again, something feels different and it only gets even more prominent the longer you look at him. You try not to ponder too long about it and decide to avoid him. You concentrate enough energy on your body until you were finally able to get yourself to walk away. Not wanting to stick around long enough for anything to come out of that, you continue your quest to find a drink, not looking back.

Unsuccessful, you head back towards the girls that were clearly in a scuffle with mega bitch Kira Snider, who is actually dating Aaron and has a personal vendetta against you. How were you supposed to know he was already dating her when you were fucking with him? Poor girl doesn’t love herself enough to be with trash like that.

You notice the Sons of Ipswich have already arrived and are trying to defend Kate and Sarah. Right before a fight is about to ensue, someone intervenes and successfully calms both parties down...well sort of. Kira didn’t really take too kindly at his words and Aaron at the puke that was dripping off the back of his letterman all of a sudden.

It was him. He looked a lot nicer up close. The guys thank him for helping diffuse the situation and you hear him introduce himself as Chase Collins. You can feel his eyes on you, but before the line of introductions could get to you, the DJ is announcing the party is a bust and the cops are zoning in. Soon, you break away from the group and take off in the direction of your parked car.

You happen to notice that Sarah is struggling to get her car started. You think about helping her, but see Reid is already on it. The sons are always saving the day, aren’t they? Was your last stance on that before you drove away from the scene. The adrenaline didn’t subside until you were on a clear road back to the housing buildings.

You just about have the key inserted and are about to unlock your door when you hear a voice.

“Some party, huh?” It sounded like just a couple of steps away.

You look down towards the hallway and see Chase standing a few doors down.

“It was kind of boring,” you admit. The only thing that would’ve probably made it exciting was if someone almost died.

He laughs lightly at that and nods showing he agreed to some degree.

“You didn’t have the least bit fun at all?” He asks.

You cock your head to the side a bit for show and pretend to think, but your mind was already made up. The party was a total bust and waste of your time, so no, you didn’t have any fun at all, but you could have some fun now. Hot guy you barely knew in front of you, attempting conversation – you thought he just had to have wanted something.

“You want to have some real fun?” You challenge as you reach deep into your coat pocket and produce a custom flask. It sparkles slightly from the lights of the hallway reflecting it as you wave it around giving him a devious look.

Chase presses his lips together and brings a hand to the back of his neck to rub at it, showing some form of nervous or conflicting habit, before looking around to see if anyone was watching this happen. You’re not sure what he’s thinking, but you don’t give him much time to reply and proceed to push open your door and walk in. You don’t close it though.

You’re shrugging off your coat and kicking off your shoes when you hear the door shut behind you. You smile to yourself because he’s fallen right into your trap.

“You know, I never got your name,” he says while admiring your room. The only source of light comes from a dimly lit lamp and the strings of light surrounding the tapestry against the wall next to your bed. You always kept your secret hidden and out of plain sight in fear of someone breaking in, so as far as you were concerned, you weren't at him catching onto anything.

“It’s y/n.”

Chase nods and says he likes it. You try not to roll your eyes at that before you turn his way, throwing the flask you were flaunting earlier in his direction and then plopping down on your bed. He swiftly catches it and walks towards the bed.

“You’re trouble, aren’t you?” He teases taking a seat next to you.

“Why don’t you find out?” You sit up matching him.

He smirks while unscrewing the cap and taking a swig. You watch as his initial reaction is to cringe at its contents. His eyes wring shut, nose scrunched up, lips pressed tightly together and the rest of his expression showing his body’s response at an attempt to process the hard liquor.

“Shit! That’s fucking strong,” he comments staring at the flask as if he could see through the silver and inspect the liquid.

“Finish it,” you command, your voice was smooth but still assertive – a deadly combination. He’s almost hypnotized by your cold and striking stare, he only feels compelled to listen. You observe the way his lips shone from the liquid that coated it, the way his throat contracted when he swallowed it down and how he peeked through one of his eyes to get a look at you watching him ingest every last drop and when he’s done he lunges at you. Chase doesn’t miss a beat when his lips meld with yours.

You pull him down and closer by the lapels of his thick coat before you’re kicking at the ends of it with your bare feet trying to help you rid him of it. You momentarily feel all his weight press into you as he nimbly tries to remove the outerwear, his lips never leaving yours. You hear a click at your door and pull away from him to see if someone had entered.

You don’t see any sign of disturbance, but you could’ve sworn you heard something. Chase doesn’t let that distract you as he brings you in by grabbing the back of your neck to reconnect your lips with his. The moment he slips his tongue in to meet with yours you melt. You had to stress this one, but he was a really good kisser. You might’ve met your match as his tongue continued to show dominance against yours.

His drive only fuels you and you’re able to summon enough strength to roll over and get him underneath your body. You place a few kisses on his face and neck, running your hands down his clothed chest before you lift the end of his shirt up to reveal his toned torso and also begin planting kisses there as well.

Your fingers deftly unfasten his belt and pop open the front of his dark jeans. Chase lets out a small sigh in finding relief to the sudden tightness in his clothing. The sound of you slowly dragging down his zipper is loud. It’s only that excruciating because you’re taking your sweet time. You pull apart his pants to get a close look at what you’re going to be dealing with. The outline of his cock just with what you can make out through his boxers is rather impressive. It twitches from your hot breath due to the close proximity.

You shoot him a crooked smile before wrapping a hand around his length. He hisses at the action and tries his best to keep his hips grounded as you continue to stroke him and every now and then give a little squeeze to his heavy balls, the soft vibrations of your nails scratching through the fabric torturing him. Cute. He’s trying to hold back. So, you kick it up a notch by licking a fat strip along the base and ignoring the fabric that sticks to your tongue.

It works because suddenly Chase props himself with one hand behind him and using the other to grab yours, the one that is still gripping at the waistline of his jeans and he stares you down. This is the first time you’re getting a good look at him; at the eyes you couldn’t make out earlier and make a mental note of what color they were. He’s fucking gorgeous. Clouded with lust, you don’t even sense it but it’s almost like you’re under a spell until you feel the tight grip he has on you loosen up and he lies back down allowing you to carry on.

You sit up, between his spread legs and reach around to pull his footwear off. He instinctively lifts his hips up when your fingers sneak their way into the elastic of his boxers. You expertly pull them down along with his jeans before they’re joining the rest of his clothes on the floor.

You reclaim your position back on top, your dress draping over his exposed bottom half as you straddle him. Chase’s hands start bunching up the material to caress the soft skin of your thighs and hips before he’s tugging at it. You help him and cross your arms to pull the material over your head and leave you in your undergarments.

Chase runs his tongue along his lips and sucks in a harsh breath taking in your appearance. You love the way he’s biting his lip when you add pressure into grinding your clothed core onto his bare one; so much you want to see him draw blood. The material of your underwear is so thin, it slides off to the side with each passing grind of your hips that get sloppier and sloppier than the next, it’s now skin on skin contact. You feel the ridges and prominent under vein scrape across your growingly wet pussy along with the way the crown of his engorged cock nudges deliciously against your clit.

You’re gripping harshly at his shirt; it starts to stretch when you pull it in a downwards motion because the sensation you’ve both created from the constant gyrations causes a rise out of you. You feel Chase grab at the rolled-up material and pull it down your legs. When you’ve discarded of it, he takes over reigns this time and kicks your legs apart to make room for him.

The unseen and unspoken tension between you two was enough foreplay in itself. There’s no hesitation when he slips right into you. It’s a smooth entrance from how wet you from the grinding and the cum that managed to escape prematurely from him. There’s an abundance of euphoria that the each of you emote from the ragged breathing, provocative moans to the sting of your skin slapping.

You think this isn’t anything more than pure want, but with a snap of his hips, you feel another strange feeling blow right through you. It was like the one you felt at the party, only a little more intense, but you didn’t even have time to mull over it when he finds the right spot in you. He hits it repeatedly and he’s not missing at all.

Chase sees the spaced-out look on your face, so he starts kissing you again. Your limbs wrap themselves around his body as you tightly cling onto him. Your hands desperately rake themselves on his back, trying to hold on from the immense pleasure he’s brewing in you, but you have a hard time with his pesky shirt still on until you finally manage to pull it over his head and have him fully naked.

His grunts and moans increase in volume when your walls retaliate by clenching around him from the perfect aim of his thrusts. You bring his head up to yours and smoosh your lips together with his. Chase then hooks an arm under one of your legs and hikes that leg up higher for a better angle. It’s so good you let out a string of lewd moans that causes your lips to repeatedly pull away from his. You curse at the insane amount of pleasure that he’s giving you like none of the others have before. You even catch the stupid smug look on his face when your orgasm washes over you. You grip tightly a handful of his cheeks, your hips lifting off the bed as they press against his to leave absolutely no space in between and in the process effectively allowing him to completely bottom out. You wanted to feel every inch of him when it happened.

He places a hand next to your head to help his stance, it’s a shaky one because he’s just about ready to bust. The tempo Chase sets, so relentless, had caused your breasts to bounce out of the confines of your bra.

“Fuck, I’m gonna cum,” he warns shamelessly. The way your breasts swayed, the harsh intake of each breath evident from the sight of your stomach tightening and untightening, your legs quivering around him and the fact that you were still riding through the aftershocks of your release, your walls were helplessly fluttering around him – just watching you wrecked with the satisfaction he brought on should’ve done it for him right then and there.

“Then cum,” you dare at him, your lips brushing his with each word that comes out next, “inside me…do it.” And like a snap of your fingers, you feel Chase spill deep inside you. You open your eyes wide enough and see something unusual when you look at him. A ring of fire flashes in his eyes very briefly before he closes them from the exhilaration. Each pump of cum that shoots out of him is followed by the accompanied throb that causes the head of his cock to poke at your sweet spot again, and in doing so initiates a small tidal wave of pleasure to crash right through you again.

Once he regained some composure and control of his breathing, his eyes reopen and they’re back to normal. Guess you were just seeing stars, or fire, in him. You carefully cup at his face with both hands and absentmindedly trace along at his boyish features; from the brow line of his eyebrows to the tip of his nose. He’s a fucking work of art. A lethargic smile splays out across his mouth and you return the display of affection with a smile of your own and giving him a kiss, which he immediately reciprocates to; no tongue or fervor in it, just of sweet contentment.

While it was good, more than good, you’re too sensitive, you’re not sure if you have enough in you for a second go. Careful to not elicit another round, you wiggle your hips a bit with him still inside in hopes to get him to move off of you.

Chase slowly and cautiously pulls out, and you feel the trickle of his cum leaking out of you. He inwardly praises at the filthy sight of it all before settling next to you. As you’re about to drift off into sleep, your mind starts turning. Something about Chase made you feel strange. There was a different aura about him, and it was evoking a certain emotion from you.

A/N: This is me holding back on smut. This series is going to be quick because as mentioned, it’s The Covenant just with a reader and her own agenda caught in the crossfire...and an excuse for me to write Chase Collins smut, so if you're craving some of that then stick around!

#chase collins smut #chase collins x reader #chase collins x y/n #chase collins x you #chase collins imagine #sebastian stan imagine #sebastian stan smut #sebastian stan fanfic #sebastian stan x reader

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1-1snailxd-art · 5 years ago

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Sanders Sides oneshot fic - Magic Beans

Type: Magic au (kinda...like my own magic universe)

Characters: Logan Sanders, Remy/Sleep, Virgil (Patton and Roman are mentioned)

Relationships: I’m tagging losleep put it’s mostly platonic cause they’re roommates (oh my god they were roommates) and analogical because that’s the bit, implied royality.

Warnings: Remy swears...he said b**ch.

Words: 2032

Summary: Remy steps in when his sleep deprived roommate wants to quit magic school before even attempting to learn magic. A visit to his favourite coffee shop seems like the best way to snap Logan out of the funk he’s in.

Authors note: Look, I was sad, I watched @blinksinbewilderment stream on instagram and they mentioned a losleep/analogical magic coffee shop au (no angst) and I tried something.

General Taglist (let me know if you want on or off): @thequeensphinx @ollyollyoxinfree @celeste-tyrrell @pumpkinminette

Bonus: @aowrot did some art of Remy (click to see). I approve of his style and floating hat. Honoured to have fanart done for this little tale.

———————————————

“Girl, you know there is a bed right there for a reason.”

Logan sat up stiffly when the sound of Remy’s voice filled his tired ears, along with the crinkling of paper as he moved.

“I am…aware.” He said, squinting up at the man highlighted by his desk lamp. “I did not intend to sleep here.”

“Well, you did, and if that schedule is correct, you have class in an hour.”

Normally that comment would have caused Logan to bolt upright, but instead he slammed his head against the desk and groaned in frustration. If Remy’s statement on time was correct, he’d probably managed a maximum of 2 hours of uncomfortable sleep and was nowhere near ready to give his presentation on wand construction.

“You learning through osmosis now?”

“If it were possible, I would.” Logan mumbled into the paper before sitting up to rub his forehead. “I shouldn’t even bother. This whole thing is pointless. I’m not going to get into the magic course anyway, so I might as well give up and go to sleep.”

“Right, bitch, we’re out!”

Logan gasped and fumbled over his words as Remy suddenly pulled his chair back and pulled him up by his arm.

“Wha-where are we going?”

“We need a magic elixir to find my annoying, magic obsessed, roommate because that ain’t you right now.”

“That is ridiculous.” Logan huffed, unable to pull out of their friends firm grip. “Even if some personality changing elixir did exist, you wouldn’t be able to afford it.”

“True, but you don’t gotta bring it up.”

Remy was kind enough to at least grab Logan’s satchel as they left their tiny dwelling and headed into the town centre; leading the conversation so Logan could walk in reasonable silence. When the pair had first moved in together, they had hardly interacted beyond cleaning and rent day. Remy was either working or out at someone’s party until the early hours, while Logan filled his daily schedule with work, class and study. At one point, Remy questioned if the man ever slept or understood the meaning of free time. However, over the past month, Remy noticed a shift in Logan’s behaviour that he couldn’t ignore. Dishes were left piled into the sink more often, curse words penetrated the thin walls at all hours and he found an empty jam jar left on the count with a spoon in it. The jam was the final straw for Remy because it was too weird to be considered normal for his formally perfect roommate.

“May I ask where exactly we are going?”

The further they walked into the busy centre, the more Logan wanted to return to his room and forget the real world existed.

“I told you. To get an elixir.”

“That was a joke, so what is the truth.”

A sideways glance with a raised eyebrow was the only response Logan received as Remy took his hand and quicken their pace down the street. Rounding the corner Logan groaned as he saw the painted sign for ‘The Magic Beans’ and understood what his black jacket clad mate had meant by elixir.

“Coffee? Seriously?”

“Serious as a heart attack, babes.” Remy said, holding the door open for Logan to walk inside. “Trust me, this will perk you right up.”

“You’ve been partying with Patton again haven’t you?”

“I will not apologise for appreciating Roman’s poppin’ parties with that puffball dancing around. That kid has more energy than 100 shots of espresso.”

Shuffling awkwardly around the couch in the stores centre, Logan watched as empty cups levitated their way into the kitchen and laughter echoed from full tables and booths. Jealousy gripped his gut as he watched how effortless some of the workers made magic seem. Clearly, they had been blessed with strong magic in their families, unlike him. Remy may have been perfectly content with a magic-less existence, but Logan wasn’t. He wanted nothing more than to point his finger at a book to guide it to him, or even just be able to use a wand. Anything that would make him more than what he was.

“This way bookworm,” Remy guided Logan to a secluded booth in the far corner of the store and ushered him into the seat. “Let me introduce you to my magic elixir of life.”

“I don’t understand the allure of a beverage brewed from bitter tasting beans.”

“You’ll understand soon enough,” Remy beamed, hiding his face behind a menu.

“Doubtful. I’ve tasted coffee before and it was far from an enjoyable experience.”

“Haven’t tried magic beans then, have you?”

Suddenly Logan understood why Remy was hiding his face, because he was sure he was trying to compose himself right now. The voice belonged to a man that made Logan’s brain come to a sudden halt; eyes lined black, purple highlights peeked through black hair, and glossed lips were pulled into a half smile that Logan couldn’t take his eyes off.

“He hasn’t.” Remy cooed, lowering the menu and leaning back now he could maintain a cool expression. “Logan is a hard one to coax away from study hall and your parents don’t allow take away.”

The worker chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, giving Logan a peek of his hip as the black uniform lifted behind his apron.

“Yeah, they are very protective of our recipes. Better safe than sorry though. You just want the usual, Rem?”

“Cheers, babes. You know how I like it.”

“Sure thing. And what can I get - ah, Logan, was it?”

Worry danced across the server’s eyes when he was met with only a stare in response. Upon releasing he had been asked a question, Logan cleared his throat and forced his mind to function enough to grab a menu without showing just how shaky his hands were.

“Ah-um-yes. Logan is, well, me.” Cheeks burning, Logan cursed his sleep deprived brain for being unable to form coherent sentences and tried to read the jumble of letters in front of him. “I’ll have a…um…”

With a sigh of defeat, Logan dropped the menu on the table and hopped he didn’t look too ridiculous smiling up at the other man.

“I don’t know what to have. I’m sorry. This isn’t really my…”

“Cup of tea?” He offered, seeming to immediately regret the comment as Logan blinked back.

“…ironically, I’m not a tea fan either, um…my apologies, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Oh, sorry. Virgil.” Quickly scrapping his hand down his pants to dry it, Logan shook the hand Virgil had extended. “So, you’re a real newbie to this scene then. How have you survived studying?”

“He isn’t surviving, which is why I’ve brought him here.” Remy offered before he had to watch another awkward pause.

“Right.” Virgil let out an awkward chuckle and ran a hand through his fringe as he thought out loud. “So, coffee noob, not a tea fan, study-aholic. Do you prefer sweet or savoury flavours?”

“Oh, Logan is very salty.” Logan’s head snapped round and glared at his friend opposite him. “Girl, that look only cements my point. What do you recommend, Virge?”

“I think I’ve got an idea. I’ll be back.”

“Take your time,” Logan called after him as he watched Virgil walk back towards the counter.

“You’re so gay-ow!”

Logan kicked Remy under the table and spoke in a hushed tone.

“What the heck was that?”

“You’re smitten, kitten, that’s what.” Remy said, rubbing his shin under the table. “Thank Mama Remy when you get his number.”

“Falsehood. I’m going to kill Mama Remy while he sleeps.”

“Good luck with that, you’ll be too preoccupied to even think about me. So, what’s the most powerful wand core?”

“Phoenix feather strands with northern tree sap.” Logan replied without thought; resting his elbow on the table so he could comfortably massage his left temple. “What exactly is your plan here?”

“To find the nerd that wants to put magic into the Sanders name despite what his parents say. Should I buy a wand or make my own?”

“I seriously doubt I will ever be able to learn magic at this rate… and if you’re born with magic, and the wand is just for show, buy it; but you’ll need to make it if you’re not.”

“I think you’re gonna blow them away when you pass this course and get to make a wand. I can see you now;” pushing his glasses up onto his head, Remy gestured an invisible wand out to the side. “Wielding a wand crafted from a fallen elm.”

“Based on previous encounters, I’d say that is more likely Roman’s style. Given my birth is in the later part of the year, and my reduced sight, oak would be a much better fit.” Yawning, Logan fiddled with the corner of the menu until he froze at Remy’s laugh. “What?”

“Girl, you are going to ace that test.”

“Falsehood.” He said with more force than earlier. “With an infinitesimal amount of sleep and limited knowledge, it will be impossible for me to achieve a passing grade.”

Leaning onto folded arms, Remy locked eyes with his friend and smiled. “You just answered 3 key wand questions without batting an eye. I think you’ll be fine.”

Logan raised a pointed finger to rebut the statement, before realising what Remy had done.

“You are one bad elixir away from an evil genius.”

“I was born without magic because I would have been too much for this world to handle.”

“I will concede to you this time, but even if I do go to school, I will still need to stay awake for the test and practical examination. I don’t think I can function for another 3hours.”

“I’ve got you covered,” Virgil beamed, placing a tall dark mug in front of Remy and holding another out for Logan. “Chilled to help you wake up. Mild bean blend with a salted caramel mix; extra salt to balance out the sweet. All the buzz of Remy’s coffee, without the bitter bite and some cream on top just for show.”

“That hasn’t been on the menu,” Remy grumbled as he reviewed it one more time just in case he’d missed a new addition.

“I know.” Logan noticed Virgil shift nervously on his feet after placing the beverage down before him. “Thought I would make something special for the beginner.”

“You never did that for me!”

“Don’t act so offended. You were already a veteran drinker when you first came here.”

Tuning out the other voices, Logan glanced sadly between the clock on the wall and the personalised drink in front of him. He considered what Remy had just demonstrated and made a decision before speaking again.

“Thank you, Virgil, but unfortunately I can’t stay.” Two sets of eyes snapped to Logan as he carefully shuffled out of the booth. “Remy believes I can pass this test, but if I don’t leave now, I might not be able to even take it in the first place. I’m sorry.”

A smile crept back onto Remy’s face as Virgil grabbed Logan’s hand when he turned to leave.

“Wait…you said you needed something to help get you through the exam, though.”

“I-I-I’ll just have to…push through it I guess.”

“No. Here.” Grabbing the cup from the table, Virgil held it out for the other. “Take it with you.”

“But… you don’t do take away, here. What about your family recipes?”

“Yeah, well…this is my recipe a-a-and I want you to take it.” Cautiously, Logan took the cup and Virgil released his other hand. “Besides, when you return the cup…I’ll get to see you again.”

Logan almost let the beverage slip through his fingers in shock but nodded and hurried out of the store. Remy chuckled before carefully taking a sip of his own drink.

“The only thing that would have made that gayer, would have been if Pat and Roman were here sharing a rainbow unicorn.”

“You planned that whole thing, didn’t you?” Virgil breathed, not taking his eyes away from when he last saw Logan.

“Not entirely,” he sighed and dug into his back pocket. “I thought for sure the bitch would have paid.”

———————————————

What else have I done?

Writing masterlist / master post thingy

Check out my main blog @snail-giggles for random fandom reblogs and stuff

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thomas-mvller · 4 years ago

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Tag games x 283129

Hello everyone so uh lately i've started to be more active on my music sideblog which means i've been hearting stuff like crazy for the past couple of months aka all the things i've been tagged in has been buried under all that nonsense SO because i hate leaving things undone i thought on doing them all at once and tagging a bunch of people so they can get a little distraction by doing them (as in, not all of them but whichever they might want to do)

Again: you do not have to do all of them, not even one if you don't feel like doing so! there's a game for everyone so hey!

Tagging: @havertsz @foreverbayern @germanynts @sherlockisonfire @debushit @sadiiomane10 @miasanmuller @elishamanning @abcde-fc @bbjim @littletentaclemonster @tamtam-elizabeth @minimalloss @pearfight and whoever wants to do this! if you see it, consider yourself tagged >:))

Alright, here we go:

1) I was tagged by @/tamtam-elizabeth and @/sadiiomane10 to post a capture of my lockscreen, homescreen and last song i listened to. Thank you both <3

I used to be very annoying when it came to changing my lock/homescreen so now i just don’t do that often anymore (previous to that my homescreen was a pic of lfc winning ucl OBVIOUSLY) also i haven’t really been listening to music lately but i did have a depeche mode phase like two weeks ago and this was the song i replayed the most so hey!

///

2) “Get to know me” tag

Tagged by the always thoughtful @/tamtam-elizabeth , thank you and i’m sorry for taking so long ;-; <3

Name: Cloud

Birthday: sometime in november

Zodiac Sign: scorpio

Height: 5′4′’ or 1.65 (last time i checked..... which was like seven years ago)

Hobbies: lately it has been sewing facemasks 😂 that aside i like watching movies, random videos on yt, baking and crafting sometimes

Favorite colors: black, red and teal

Favorite Book: don’t think i have one :o

Last Song Listened to: barrel of a gun by depeche mode

Last Movie Watched: currently watching prince of egypt. if that doesn’t count then ben hur 😂

Inspiration or Muse: i really don’t know what to say here 😂

Dream Job: i still haven’t given up to my goal but at this point i just want a job that gives me stability and zero worries

Reason Behind my URL: Thomas Müller (German pronunciation: [ˈtoːmas ˈmʏlɐ]; born 13 September 1989) is a German professional footballer who plays for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. A versatile player, Müller plays as a midfielde- okay no in all seriousness yess this url is bc of a football player 😂

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3) Ten songs playlist tag

Tagged by the joy that is @/foreverbayern and the always sweetest @/havertsz . thank youuuuu <3

Rules: We’re snooping through your playlist. Put your entire music library on shuffle and list the first 10 songs and then choose 10 victims.

Some months ago I made the mistake of transfering the songs i had in my old computer to my current laptop and there are some stuff that just........ should not be acknowledged so i can’t do shuffle HOWEVER i will choose ten random songs i’ve listened to/discovered this year (technically speaking is the same) so here it is:

art-i-ficial by x-ray spex

sunny afternoon by the kinks

desire lines by lush

paper cuts by incubus

pure love by hayley williams

spirit by bauhaus

no one knows by screaming trees

let’s love by suho

all we need is a dream by cheap trick

cosmonauts by fiona apple

bonus: you’re so close by peter murphy (god i adore this song)

I wouldn’t be surprised if these aren’t your cup of tea tbh 😂

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4) “Core aesthetic” tag

Tagged by @/havertsz - i’m sorry for the delay ;-; and thank you <3

rules: search your name + "core aesthetic" on pinterest, get a moodboard & select a few photos that come up

i can’t really use pinterest so i googled it instead, as you might’ve guessed this is what i got 😂

ps: i’ve been informed not to use pinterest so if you wish follow this post’s indications

ah this is so pretty, i loved doing this!

///

Tagged by @/germanynts @/havertsz and @/elishamanning to do this tag, thank you all <3

rules: describe yourself with pictures you already have saved. no downloading or searching for new ones. then tag 10 people.

if you want further explanations for each pic... ask ahead 😂

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6) “bold what applies” tag

Tagged by the always enJoyable @/foreverbayern, thank yoooou <3

rules: bold what applies to you and tag a bunch of people

- Appearance

I am over 5’5 // I wear glasses/contacts // I have blonde hair // I prefer loose clothing over tight clothing // I have one or more piercings (had three...) // I have at least one tattoo // I have blue eyes // I have dyed or highlighted my hair // I have gotten plastic surgery // I have or had braces // I sunburn easily // I have freckles // I paint my nails // I typically wear makeup // I don’t often smile // I am pleased with how I look // I prefer Nike to Adidas // I wear baseball caps backwards

- Hobbies and interests

I play a sport // I can play an instrument // I am artistic // I know more than one language // I have won a trophy in some sort of competition // I can cook or bake without a recipe // I know how to swim // I enjoy writing // I can do origami // I prefer movies to tv shows // I can execute a perfect somersault // I enjoy singing // I could survive in the wild on my own // I have read a new book series this year // I enjoy spending time with my friends // I travel during school or work breaks // I can do a handstand

Relationships

I am in a relationship // I have been single for over a year // I have a crush // I have a best friend I have known for ten years // my parents are together // I have hooked up with my best friend // I am adopted // My crush has confessed to me // I have a long-distance relationship // I am an only child // I give advice to my friends // I have made an online friend // I met up with someone I have met online

- Aesthetic

I have heard the ocean in a conch shell // I have watched the sunrise // I enjoy rainy days // I have slept under the stars // I meditate outside // the sound of chirping calms me // I enjoy the smell of the beach // I know what snow tastes like // I listen to music to fall asleep (i did that for a long time and i sicnerely don’t recommend it) // I enjoy thunderstorms // I enjoy cloud watching // I have attended a bonfire (quick story time: one time when i was 12 my friends and i sneaked into our seniors’ school anniversary activities and they lit this huge bonfire near the football field, it was nuts) // I pay close attention to colours // I find mystery in the ocean (spoopy shit) // I enjoy hiking on nature paths // Autumn is my favourite season

- Miscellaneous

I can fall asleep in moving vehicles // I am the mom friend // I live by a certain quote(s) // I like the smell of sharpies // I am involved in extracurricular activities // I enjoy Mexican food // I can drive a stick-shift // I believe in true love // I make up scenarios to fall asleep // I sing in the shower // I wish I lived in a video game // I have a canopy above my bed // I am multiracial // I am a redhead // I own at least 3 dogs

///

my god this is getting embarassing i had stuff long due ;-;

Tagged by @/tamtam-elizabeth. think you for thanking on me when doing tag games, i mean it :-: <3

How old are you?: 24

Surgeries?: one

Tattoos?: none yet ://

Ever hit a deer?: i have never seen one so... no 😂

Sang karaoke?: yeah... years ago 😂

Ice skated?: nope

Ridden a motorcycle?: had the chance but nope

Ridden in an ambulance?: nope

Skipped school?: a handful of times

Stayed in a hospital?: for a few hours

Broken bones?: nope

Last phone call?: i haven’t called anyone in ages 😂

Last text from?: my mom

Pepsi or coke?: coke but i don’t mind having pepsi

Favorite pie?: haven’t had one

Favorite pizza?: chorizo + corn + red pepper

Favorite season?: autumn

Received a ticket?: don’t even know how to drive

Favorite color?: black, red and teal

Sunset or sunrise?: both!

Favorite Christmas song?: don’t think i have one, maybe universe by exo?

Cupcakes or cookies?: uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh good q, cookies?

///

8) “find your match” tag game

Tagged by @/tamtam-elizabeth, you’re allowed to punch me in the face at this point

Rules:

Take the test

Reblog this post with what type you got

Tag 7 mutuals to do the same!

I got the Dreamer and my ideal partner would be The Innovator ?)

Seek out opportunities to collaborate with INNOVATOR types, who combine your lofty idealism with a focus on pragmatic solutions. The grounding energy of the INNOVATOR can inspire you to apply your imagination to real-world change.

that’s deep fam 😂 but okay!

///

9) “get to know me tag”

Tagged by: @/littletentaclemonster . thank you and sorry for the delay ;-; <3

nickname: cloud zodiac: scorpio height: 5′4″ / 1.65 last movie I saw: can you believe i managed to watch another thing while making this? anyway it was The celluloid closet last thing I googled: block site extension favorite musician: as of right now? depeche mode song stuck in my head: you’re so close by peter murphy other blogs: @/brltpop and @/s-lay-ing amount of sleep: as long as i can get (usually 7 or 8) lucky numbers: don’t think i have one dream job: whatever gives me stability what am I wearing: pajamas favorite food: chinese, mexican and italian language: which ones do i know? spanish and english somewhat. i want to learn japanese and german :c can I play an instrument: nope favorite song: atm is YOU’RE SO CLOSE (8) random fact: my nails usually grow sort of square except for my thumb and index fingers, they grow round for whatever reason describe yourself in aesthetic things: ?????????? idk man, messy room? loose clothes? football? cd’s on a shelf, posters on the walls ?????

///

MY GOD WHY AM I LIKE THIS?????????

10)

Tagged by @/littletentaclemonster you too can punch me in the face

Rules: Bold the statements that apply to you, italicize your aspirations, then tag nine people.

AIR: I have small hands • I love the night sky • I watch small animals and birds when I pass them by • I drink herbal tea • I wake to see dawn • The smell of dust is comforting • I’m valued for being wise • I prefer books to music • I meditate • I find joy in learning new truths from the world around me

FIRE: I don’t have straight hair • I like to wear ripped jeans • I play an organized sport • I love dogs • I am not afraid of adventure • I love to talk to strangers • I always try new foods • I enjoy road trips • Summer is my favorite season • My radio is always playing

WATER: I wear bracelets on my wrists • I love the bustle of the city • I have more than one set of piercings • I read poetry • I love the sound of a thunderstorm • I want to travel the world • I sleep past midday most days • I love dimly lit diners and fluorescent signs • I rewatch kids’ shows out of nostalgia • I see emotions in colors not words

EARTH: I wear glasses/contacts • I enjoy doing the laundry • I am a vegetarian • I have an excellent sense of time • My humor is very cheerful • I am a valued advisor to my friends �� I believe in true love • I love the chill of mountain air • I’m always listening to music • I am highly trusted by the people in my life

AETHER: I go without makeup in my daily life • I make my own artwork • I keep on track of my tasks and time • I always know true north • I see beauty in everything (sort of) • I can always smell flowers • I smile at everyone I pass by • I always fear history repeating itself • I have recovered from a mental disorder • I can love unconditionally

Water an aether huh, i don’t know what to do with this information 😂

/////////////

if you ask me i would very much appreciate it if you do the songs playlist tag bc i need recommendations thanks. Also massive apologies to the ones that were due since last year I had them in my drafts i swear!

Stay safe everyone :D

#ask games #yaay!#FINALLY #THE GUILT........ GONE #well this was fun

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babyflossy · 5 years ago

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power within you | x.mh

pairing; minghao x reader

summary; a boy comes into your shop equipped with his grandmother’s grimoire, unsure if he possess the same power and eager to find out.

genre/warnings; witch au, fluff, unedited (woops, let me know if there are any bad mistakes)

word count; 2k

playlist; background music for a shop run by witches

the shop was quiet, the soft music echoing off the walls whilst you sat at the counter, your head bobbing to the music, an old book perched in your hand. your grandmother had insisted you should learn the history of the witches from her coven and so she had given you a diary written by one from over four hundred years ago. the pages were thin and stained with time, so your fingers thumbed through it delicately.

you had almost forgotten the shop was still open until the shrill bell sounded, indicating someone had entered. your customers were varied, some were humans who came in to look around, rolling their eyes at everything aimed at witches, muttering and laughing to their friends about how it was a con. the other half of your customers were actual witches that came in for supplies, or aid in spells. when your parents had finally declared your abilities high enough to look after the shop on your own, you were overjoyed. the novelty had worn off now and you wanted to be at home, in bed, maybe watching a movie.

you tore your eyes away from the elegant cursive writing to the door, where a tall boy had walked in. he had black hair which covered his eyes and he held a hefty dark leather book under his arm. it looked like a grimoire, and an old one at that. you smiled politely, asking the question your parents had groomed you to say whenever anyone, no matter how irritating stepped through the door.

"can i help you?" he was looking around the shop, taking in the wall decorations and the shelves of colourful vials and jars. his eyes focused on you when you spoke.

"yeah, actually," he walked over with the book and set it on the counter before you. you carefully closed the diary and set it underneath the counter, turning your full attention to the boy in front of you. he opened the book to the first page, you looked at the list of contents delicately scrawled on the yellowing pages. you scanned through it, proving you right in suspecting it was a grimoire. "i found this when i was clearing out my house. i wanted to know if you could help me with it."

you looked up at him. you had thought for sure that he was a witch. the way his eyes had scanned the contents of your shop and not widening in surprise at some of the more unusual specimens. you turned the book around to face you so you could read it properly. you turned the first few pages and saw the language at the front didn't match the language on the pages. the complicated recipes and spells were written in chinese, and it took a little more concentration to read the aged words. "what specifically did you want help with?"

"well, my grandparents were witches," he started, watching your face as you read some of the spells, the way your eyes narrowed in concentration and relaxed when you recognised the words, "my parents never mentioned it to me, but i've never tried any spells." he seemed hesitant. people often were when they doubted their abilities.

"you're not sure you're a witch?" your eyes flickered up to him, seeing him already looking at you with a dark and careful gaze. he nodded and you turned back down to the book, finding his gaze too deep to match. "if your grandparents were, then it would be highly unlikely you wouldn't have some form of power. but i guess i could help."

"thank you," he smiled gratefully. this was the second shop he had been to. the elderly man in the first one had dismissed him, telling him he would already know if he was a witch, and muttered about jealous humans wasting his time.

"well, it's quiet now, so i guess now's as good a time as any." you closed the grimoire and lead him to the back of them shop, separated by a heavy dark velvet curtain. you flicked your wrist and the sign on the front door changed from open to closed. it was near closing time anyway, and you were sure your parents wouldn't mind you closing a little early to help this boy.

you set the grimoire on the chipped wood table in the middle of the room and grabbed one of yours from the shelf over the window. the boy looked around the small room. it was so typically witch like he wondered how anyone could doubt their existence if them came behind the curtain. a deck of tarot cards sat shuffled on a side table next to a deep green wing chair. the room was dark, the only light being the afternoon sun flooding in through the small window. the ledge under the window was crowded with crystals and plants and herbs bathing in the warm summer sun.

"what's your name?" you asked as you gathered a small box from under the table. you pulled a small stool out to sit on and pointed to another one he could use.

"minghao." he spoke quietly, as if he was afraid of disturbing the peaceful aura of the room. you smiled slightly and re-opened his grimoire.

"well, minghao, is this your grandparents' book?" you asked, collecting the jars from out of the box and setting them on the table in front of the two of you. "it'll be easier to cast spells if they're from your bloodline's book."

"yeah, it was my grandmother's." you nodded before setting a small black cauldron in front of him. he looked up at you with wide eyes and then washed his gaze over the substances in front of him.

"okay, so i'm gonna teach you how to make a healing draught, it's very easy and it'll be the easiest way to tell if you have any powers," you pushed some of the jars towards him. there were worn labels on the front of them. he read pine needles, dittany and helichrysum arenarum. he looked at you blankly and you chuckled slightly. "open the jars," he did as you said, laying the lids carefully down on the wood, "put some rosewater into the cauldron, then add those three."

he opened the cap of the rosewater and let some slip into the basin, the soft scent rising up. he picked up the dittany and looked into the dark jar before looking up uncertainly, "how much do i put in?"

"as much as you think is right. before witches had grimoires, they made their creations by sense, how much of this and that felt right to them," you smiled reassuringly, "if you don't know the exact method of anything, you can usually tell."

he gingerly let some dried dittany leaves into the black basin, looking discouraged as they floated on the fragrant water. he picked up the pine needles and grabbed a pinch of them before sprinkling them into the mixture, letting the remaining ones fall back into the jar. you watched on with a small smile, the measurements looked more or less perfect and you could feel the mixture buzzing with an increasing power.

lastly, he grabbed the helichrysum arenarum and finished the potion off with some of the bright yellow flowers. you smiled as he looked up in disappointment when nothing happened. you remembered when that was you. when you didn't understand the craft or how it worked. "now, to activate the ingredients, you need the spell. it's different for every witch. you use a gemstone, or a crystal to channel the energy." you unclasped your necklace to show him. a jagged piece of rhodochrosite hung from a thin gold chain. the red was striking against the dark wood of the table and the reds and pinks that mixed together looked magical in itself to minghao.

you set the necklace on the table and stood, slipping through the curtain and onto the shop floor again, heading for the tray of gemstones. it was too heavy for you to carry and so you twisted your wrist and the tray floated above your outstretched palm, moving with it. you carried it back through to minghao and he watched in awe as it floated to sit next to the cauldron.

"pick one," you nodded to the tray, the wide variety of colours and stones seeming to brighten the room. you could feel the power in them, and with time, you were sure minghao would be able to as well. "pick the one you're drawn to. it will give you the most power."

his eyes glossed over the bright stones, his eyes stopping over a smooth piece of chrysocolla. you told him the name and handed him the stone. he seemed mesmerised by the exquisite pools of red and shades of blue and green that blended together perfectly.

"if you hold it, and read the spell at the front of the grimoire. you'll eventually find your own spell, but that one will work well until you do," you flicked to the second page of the book for him and pointed at the words written in swirling characters.

you hear the soft words form on his lips, his mouth tasting the way they feel rolling off his tongue. they felt right, the way he spoke them so certainly and clearly. it was the sign of a witch, the way spoke their spells revealed a lot about their power, and their knowledge.

he watched the flowers and leaves in the cauldron melt into the rosewater in amazement, the solution turning into a brilliant yellow mixture. he couldn't take his eyes off the contents of the black basin and you chuckled at his wonder. "we need to test it now."

his eyes widened when you picked an ornate knife out of the box. "what are you doing?" he asked frantically, his hands reaching for the knife. you held it away from him.

"how do you think you test a healing draught?" you asked with a laugh, he looked at you like you were crazy, "come one, don't doubt your abilities now." before he could stop you, you slid the knife across your open palm, watching the dark crimson blood drop onto the table.

you placed the knife down and submerged your hand in the yellow solution. you could feel the tingling sensation of the power seeping into your wounds, pulling the torn skin back together and sealing the skin. you pulled your hand from the bowl and held it open for minghao to see.

"well done," you grinned at him and he couldn't stop the grin from covering his face as well. you took the chrysocolla from him and held it in your hand, "do you want it on a chain? you'll need to keep it on you now."

"yes please," he watched as you held one hand around the rhodochrosite still on the table, and one around his blue gemstone. you muttered some words in a language he didn't recognise and when you opened your hand, you revealed the blue gemstone perfectly hanging from a silver chain. you handed it over and wound yours back around your neck.

you closed his grimoire and handed it back to him before waving your hand, making the mess on the table clean itself up. the cauldron emptied itself and flew back to the shelf, the lids reattached themselves to their jars and stacked themselves neatly into the box.

you walked him to the front door of the shop and he stopped before he left, turning back to you with a childlike grin. "thank you so much."

"don't worry about it," the tray of gemstones floated back to where it was previously and his hand hesitated on the door knob. "come back whenever," he was glad you said it before he asked, "for help, or just for fun." your smile was shy and he nodded with a similar look on his face before he disappeared out the door.

you watched him walk away, a smile still adorning his sharp features as he thought about you. your smile didn't fade when you locked up the shop and walked the short distance to your house, minghao still in your thoughts. you hoped you would see him again soon, eager to teach him more to see his proud smile again.

you flicked through the old grimoires in your family library, an extra motivation to learn now you had someone to share it with.

a/n: i acc really like this so i hope you do too. also, two updates in one day, i’m on a roll. should i make a part two???

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