#you DID it.... you bit him like a gingerbread!! >:'D

[dietcokegirly12]

“What'd You Do to the Eggnog?”

featuring osamu dazai

꒰ ─ ��┈ ☕︎ ⟡ ─ ・┈ ☕︎ ⟡ ─ ・┈ ☕︎ ⟡ ─ ・┈ ☕︎ ⟡ ꒱

art credit: pinterest!!♡

꒰ ─ ・┈ ☕︎ ⟡ ─ ・┈ ☕︎ ⟡ ─ ・┈ ☕︎ ⟡ ─ ・┈ ☕︎ ⟡ ꒱

synopsis: after spiking dazai's eggnog with aphrodisiacs, things get a bit...heated

word count: 1.4k

tags: aphrodisiacs, unprotected sex, dry-humping, needy!dazai, multiple rounds, overstimulation, mating press, cervix kissing, etc etc

kinkmas december 1st ☃︎⊹₊

・┈・╴⊹˚₊ 𓍢ִ໋⛾ ׂ 𓈒・┈・╴⊹˚₊ 𓍢ִ໋⛾ ׂ 𓈒・┈・╴⊹˚₊ 𓍢ִ໋⛾ ׂ 𓈒・

you knew you were in trouble the second dazai got through an entire glass. then, a second one. and he was currently halfway through his third.

you truly hadn’t meant for him to drink that much. it was supposed to be a fun little prank, one where you spiked his eggnog with aphrodisiacs, and got him all needy and flustered, before finally giving in, after teasing him relentlessly.

but, by the time you got back, he was already almost finished with the entire half gallon you made.

lifting the glass to his lips to finish off yet another glass.

"stop!" you raced over to snatch the cup away from him, causing a startled look to flash across his face.

"dazai, please don't tell me you drank all that."

“what? m'sorryyy it was so good! did you put something different in it? cinnamon?"

you swallow. “y-yeah sure. are you.. ah feeling.. alright?”

he furrows his eyebrows. "yeah? so when are we going to start decorating?"

oh right. you two were supposed to be decorating gingerbread cookies for the holidays. in all the excitement, you had forgotten, but now, with the hopeful thought that maybe the aphrodisiacs weren't as strong as you had thought, maybe it was going to be okay.

you had no idea how wrong you were.

"dazai, pass me the gumdrops."

he gives you the glass bowl filled with multi-colored, sugared drops, you quickly pressing them on to your shaped cookie.

"aww look how cute!" you gushed, adding a few last finishing touches with the frosting bag.

"phew, it's hot in here, baby." dazai fans himself, leaning over the counter as he adds candies to his own gingerbread man.

"yeah, i think it's from the oven." you distractedly pipe little swirls, not noticing when dazai's breathing gets heavier next to you.

suddenly, you accidentally squeeze too hard, causing frosting to spurt out in a clump, messing up the neat patterns you had created.

"fuck! 'samu, can you get me a paper towel?"

you should've known something was wrong the instant dazai was unusually quiet, simply turning around to do as you had asked.

but you were too busy fussing over the frosting covered cookies, frantically trying to swipe off the excess in hopes of saving them to notice.

so, when you felt the warmth of someone pressing up behind you, it startled you.

enough for you to almost drop the cookie you had been holding up, especially when that someone moaned breathily into your ear, subtly grinding against you.

"dazai?" you gasp, turning back slightly to face him.

he didn't like that, though, shoving you forward with enough force that it has you bracing your hands on the counter, mouth agape.

"fuck, m'sorry! jus'... stay still. please." the tone of his voice is whiney, and has you clenching your thighs together, already pulsing with need.

he ruts against you with an almost frantic kind of urgency, his bulge rubbing tantalizingly on your ass, as his palms come to cup your breasts, touching anywhere he can reach.

"i d-don't know why i feel like this," he gasps out. "i jus' feel hot all over an'..."

and then you can't do anything but whimper as he pushes you further, until your forehead touches the cool marble of the table, practically bending you in half.

"...you jus' look so good." his hips keep working against you, without any semblance of a pace, just rubbing himself on you as hard as he can.

"dazai.." you manage to groan out. "dazai, it's aphrodisiacs! i put aphrodisiacs in the eggnog, i didn't.. ah.. think they would work, or that you would.. hah.. drink so much."

he stiffens at your words, but doesn't halt his grinding. "oh, you naughty, naughty girl."

his words don't hold any actual malice in them, though, voice too ragged and needy for that.

"m'sorry! m'sorry!" you cry out, as his hips thrust into you harder, humping you vigorously, unable to stop himself.

"s'too late for that now. now..." he pants out. "you hafta help me with the.. ah.. problem you caused, sweets."

you squeal, as he lifts you up by the hips, thrusting your face and chest into the table roughly, already yanking down the thin, lacy panties you had on under your apron.

"samuuu..!" your face is pushed down further into the counter as he grunts above you, tugging down his own loose christmas pj pants, to press his throbbing boner against your bare pussy, slick already seeping out.

"c-can't wait.." he moans above you, hips already dragging languidly back and forth to smear his angry, leaking tip all over your cunt. "s'okay if i put it in now, doll?"

you can only whimper in reply, mouth muffled by the table you're shoved against, bucking your hips back into him as affirmation.

he groans at that, his pulsating cock already beginning to push in, stretching you out as he gets past the first tight ring of muscle, pussy greedily sucking him in for more, more.

when he finally manages to bottom out inside you, bulbous tip thrumming against your cervix, wet squelches are all you can hear as he starts an absolutely brutal pace.

"fuck! what did you put in that eggnog?" he gasps between thrusts, plowing into you so hard, you swear you can feel him all the way in your lungs.

you cry out in reply as he grabs the fat of your ass, pulling you into him harder until the harsh sound of skin slapping against skin echoes throughout the room.

"samu!" you wail. "slower! slower!"

"baby i can't!" he moans, though to his credit, he eases his hands up slightly, hips becoming sloppier with every thrust.

and you can feel your high approaching with every quickened breath you take, stomach coiling up into tight little knots as you clench harder around him, coaxing him to release.

"m'sorry... never felt like this.. ah... i n-need..." dazai's words are all slurred together, practically unintelligible in his rambling as he gets closer and closer.

and then he's cumming.

and you swear the aphrodisiacs had something to do with it, because as he fills you with spurt after spurt of hot, sticky seed, there's so much of it, it has you gasping, his cock releasing long pulses of white into your overstuffed cunt.

your walls spasm and clench around him, milking him for every last drop as your own eyes roll back in pleasure, the taut stiffness of your stomach finally letting go, your vision blurring with white, and thighs trembling.

and no sooner than a couple moments after you've come back down from your high, dazai's already spinning you around, and lifting you up by your plush thighs to fold you into a mean mating press.

you're almost dizzy as you feel the points of your knees pressing against your cushy tits, dazai barely giving you a moment to collect yourself before he's fucking into you raw at this new angle.

"one more.. m'sorry i jus' need o-one more."

"samu..!" you half-moan half-protest, clawing at him as your eyes roll back in your head.

"i know- i knowwww," he rocks his hips back and forth with desperate speed, head tilted back with flushed cheeks and sweaty, mussed-up hair curling to his forehead. "but can you blame me? it's.. hah.. y-your fault!"

you whimper, already feeling tears of overstimulation pricking at your vision, but at the same time, feeling desperately turned on by this side of dazai.

with a feral growl, he throws your legs over your shoulders, stretching you even further to take more of his weighty shaft. "n-need more.. more."

it seemed like he was trying to mold himself as close as possible into your snug cunt, huffing with exertion as he pounds into you with breath after ragged breath, chest practically laid flat against yours.

when he reaches that spot, the one that's soft and squishy and has your toes curling almost instantly, you can't even warn him.

you're cumming.

absolutely drenching him in your syrupy slick, gushing all over his throbbing cock, which in return, pumps out hot, oozing cum deep into you, voice breaking off into a whine.

you pant softly, exertion weighing your limbs down as the last few pulses of his creamy white ribbons spurt into you.

before you've even fully come back to yourself though, you feel dazai crawling up your body to mouth kisses along your neck, cock still fully erect and aching inside you. "o-one more? please?"

tagslist (ask to be tagged!): @urlocalfemcel-xx @ghostedwriting @amanoava @fluffyfrog1619 @chuuyaslittledoll @newnlovesjennie

[majoryeager104]

making chirstmas cookies with hawks and Touya? >:3

:D

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦•······················•✦ 𝐾𝑒𝑖𝑔𝑜

“Pass me some sugar?”

“you got it sweets”

kiss

“no i meant the-”

You sighed, facepalming as you leaned against the counter, unable to hide your smile as Keigo giggled like an idiot behind you. It was pointless to fight his childish romanticism, especially when you were in such a good mood that you didn’t really care to object to it in the first place.

“what? Want more?”

He chuckled, snaking his arm around your waist as he kissed repeatedly at the spot where your shoulder met your neck. You couldn’t help but giggle as well, at the absurdity of his flirtations, and the way his free hand reached for the sugar you previously requested while he showered you with affections.

You gladly took the sugar from his hand, scooping some into the bowl while he watched, resting his chin on your shoulder now with a relaxed and cocky grin.

“Can you start the oven?”

“Already did it”

You glanced back, and sure enough, he’d started the oven some time a few minutes before, because it was already fully heated and ready to bake.

“Huh. You really are the fastest man alive.”

“Oh stop it! You’ll make me blush”

You laughed, pinching his cheek as you sectioned out the cookie dough onto the surface of the tray you’d set aside. Meanwhile, Keigo had practically levitated (unsurprisingly, considering he can fly) towards the now empty bowl, holding it up, making puppy dog eyes that were directly aimed at you. How cruel. ”can I have the leftover cookie dough in the bowl? Pretty please, pretty?”

You slid the tray of cookies into the oven, glancing back at him with a smile and a roll of your eyes. It’s hard to refuse when he’s being so damn cute.

“can’t say no can i?”

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑦𝑎

“Hey I can cook these easy”

“why are you trying to set everything on fire?”

At that question, Touya gave you an odd look, as if the answer was plain. It technically was, but you were honestly wishing it wasn’t.

“‘S my favorite pastime”

“thats insane”

“obviously”

At this, you couldn’t help but let out a laugh, which, conveniently, is exactly what Touya had been trying to earn, as he watched you cut out the little gingerbread cookies- stars, hearts, and the traditional little stick figure-esque cutouts.

He smirked, having an idea to tease you further. He wasn’t great at baking and all that, but he could sure as hell drive you crazy. He lifted his index finger, carefully torching one of the cookies while you weren’t looking.

It was seemingly done within a few seconds, in fact it looked a bit crispy around the edges. He swiped it from the tray, moving around behind you while you were busy rolling out more dough.

“Try this.”

“huh-”

before you could object, or really grasp what was going on, he’d already slid the cookie into your mouth. You looked at him, taking a bite as you realized what he’d done, while he looked on with a cocky grin. “Seriously? I mean, it’s good, but was that necessary? I have an oven”

he chuckled, leaning on the counter next to you as he ignited his index finger once more. “Where’s the fun in that? You use me as a heater all the time, might as well use me to bake cookies too?”

“Use you?”

“Consider this me volunteering.”

You laughed again- another score for Touya, in his opinion- as you looked over at him. “Fine, you can bake the cookies” you turned back around, before stopping and looking at him once more, raising a finger at him and his mischievous attitude.

“but be careful not to burn them”

“once again I say, where’s the fun in that?”

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

writing that for Keigo had me giggling like crazy🤭 also Touya being an actual human oven has me wanting to make like a Touya x bakery owner reader fic lmao 🤣

[marblemoovt]

Christmas Present - Simon Riley/Reader

Masterlist

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 6.6k

Warnings: Fluff with a smidge of hurt/comfort because of misunderstandings.

Summary:

After dating for three years, you get to finally spend a Christmas together with Simon. Things go sideways when he misunderstands your decision to grow your family.

------

You bounce on the balls of your feet. “I have a present for you.” Leaning close to Simon’s ear, you whisper, “you’re a father, now.” The poor man bluescreens on you. His eyes are wide and vacant. You run into the bedroom, your head peeking out the doorway with a grin before disappearing again. You present a wriggling Doberman puppy with a shiny red bow wrapped around its midsection. “Meet our baby!”

Simon is gone. Fuck.

Note:

Hello!! I am so happy I am finally done with this. I really wanted to get this finished in time for Christmas, but I failed to do that. Between work and procrastination, it's hard to get any writing done.

I hope this fluff heals all your souls as it did mine, consider it a belated holiday present :D

Happy Reading! ヾ(•ω•`)o

─── ⋆ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡⋆ ───

Was it an impulsive decision? Completely. Was it more of a Christmas gift to yourself than to Simon? Definitely—but how could you resist those eyes?!?

Let’s backtrack a bit. It’s a few days before Christmas. You’re among the general population who do their shopping last minute. Simon isn’t due home until tomorrow, and you want to cook him something nice for dinner. The holiday season never fails to awaken your craving for cinnamon and sugar. You plan on making mince pies and gingerbread cookies for dessert. The cookies also double as a gift for a party that’s happening on Christmas. 

It’s a small party with his coworkers and their families. You practically pestered poor Simon until he gave into your whims, which didn’t take much effort. He grumbled about wanting to stay home to cuddle with you in front of the fireplace, but you pointed out that he could do that at the party. 

Simon will complain and exhibit his apparent allergy to large social settings, but you think he secretly enjoys it. He isn’t keen on interacting with people he’s unfamiliar with. But to exist in a room full of people he likes, who are having a good time… you always notice how his eyes soften. 

That’s your take on it, anyway. Simon is difficult to read sometimes, especially when he’s spacing out. But you like staring into his eyes, deciphering the hidden meaning in their depths. You find the rich coffee colour gorgeous, and he always looks away when you remind him about it. It’s funny watching this giant man try to make himself appear small; he takes up too much space. 

Your lips spread into a fond smile, and you adjust your clothes, the oversized hoodie swallowing your figure. The faint scent of bourbon and cedar still clings to the fabric, and you inhale deeply. Tomorrow. Twenty-four hours. Then you’ll be reunited with the man you love. Oddly enough, this will be your first Christmas together despite dating for three years. Simon was away on a mission for the other two, and a bouquet was always delivered to your doorstep on Christmas morning. The first one consisted of blue salvias, lavender, and forget-me-nots. The second bouquet had red salvias and white carnations. You pressed a few to keep in a scrapbook and dried the rest. The preserved bouquets are in a box you keep in the closet to protect them from the sunlight.

You grab the last item on your shopping list and head to the checkout. Once everything is packed in your car, you decide to warm up with a cup of hot chocolate. There’s a cafe nearby within walking distance. There also happens to be an animal shelter on the way. Sometimes you just can’t resist looking at all the animals, and you often have to force yourself to leave empty-handed. 

But today feels different. Maybe it’s the holiday magic in the air, but when you reach the dog section, all the air is knocked from your lungs. In the first kennel is a small Doberman puppy. And her rich coffee eyes lock your limbs in place. 

A worker notices your interest and walks up to you. “That’s Phantom. All her brothers and sisters have already left for new homes. She’s the smallest of the litter, and that seems to be the main reason no one has adopted her yet.” The puppy wags her little tail at the mention of her name. Your heart melts under the gaze of her eyes, which appear too large for her head.

“Because she’s smaller than her siblings?” you ask. It sounds silly to not adopt a dog based on appearance. Health concerns you could understand, but colour and size? Heck, you would be ecstatic to just have a dog. Although size could be significant depending on your living situation. But still, to not adopt this sweet pup because she’s too little is ridiculous.

The worker’s lips twist into a sad smile. “There are many reasons why people will overlook an animal, and they don’t always make sense.”

Your attention remains fixed on Phantom. Her brown eyes never leave your figure, observing you silently. “How long has she been here?” you ask. She still looks relatively young. You don’t think she’s even half a year old yet.

The worker shuffles through a clipboard hanging next to Phantom’s kennel. “We rescued her mother while she was still pregnant. Her whole life, it seems. The entire litter wasn’t available for adoption until two months ago.” They pause and glance at Phantom with furrowed brows. “Puppies normally get adopted quickly, but she hasn’t been lucky” The sentence sends a hollow pang in your heart that settles heavily in your gut.

“Could I meet her?” you whisper, the words constricting in your throat. You wet your chapped lips and haul yourself out of the deep chocolate ocean.

“Sure.” The door to the kennel is unlatched, and the metal hinges swing with a creak. Phantom sits there and watches you. Afraid to make sudden movements, your remain still and quiet your breathing. She stands up and pads slowly towards you. You crouch down and leave one hand, palm facing up, in front of you. As Phantom draws near, her nose twitches. She eyes you and nudges your hand with her snout. You grin at the wet, ticklish sensation and bite back a laugh. Slowly, you scratch the underside of her chin before moving down to her chest and back.

There’s a gentle woosh of wind, and this time you can’t hold in your delight any longer. A chuckle rumbles through your chest, and the sound of wind grows louder. Phantom licks your fingers and barks. It’s more like a tiny yip, and you are screaming on the inside.

“I think you’re coming home with me,” you mumble and pause. “How am I going to explain this to Simon?” You can picture the disapproving look on his face.

You fill out the adoption papers and exit the shelter with a very excited puppy. Forgetting about hot chocolate, you go to the pet store and buy the basic necessities for Phantom. When you get home, you manage to carry everything into the house while holding onto the leash. Fortunately, Phantom isn’t a puller. She walks beside you nicely and even moves out of the way to avoid the bags of groceries and presents. With great difficulty, you unlock the door and push the handle down with your elbow. You set the bags down and slip off your shoes, shutting the door with your foot.

Phantom immediately begins sniffing around, circling and tangling you with the leash. You laugh at her enthusiasm and reach down to unclip the leash from her harness. With the sudden removal of weight, Phantom bounds across the floor, bumping into furniture and smelling anything she can reach. It’s funny because she’s sniffing so intently that it’s audibly heard—loud too. Her nose twitches, and she buries her snout into a heap of fabric on the ground. One of his shirts you keep on the sofa as a little Simon blanket for when you binge-watch. It must have fallen when you dozed off last night. You accidentally skipped two seasons because the autoplay didn’t stop.

“Let’s find a spot to put your bed.” You grab the circular, foam dog bed and head towards the bedroom. Phantom trails behind you with the shirt sleeve between her jaws. You chuckle and hold the rest so it doesn’t drag across the floor. She doesn’t let go, and it turns into a leash of sorts. The master bedroom has a King size bed. A big bed for your big man. Phantom could definitely fit on it, but you don’t want her to develop a habit of sleeping there until you check that Simon is ok with it. He doesn’t like to share, especially when he has to share you. You place the dog bed next to the bedside drawer. Close enough that Phantom won’t feel left out, but far away enough that she won’t get stepped on in the morning in case you or Simon forget. 

She tugs the shirt with her toward her new bed. You let go, and it falls in a heap and buries the puppy. “Simon blankets are comfortable, aren’t they?” you ask. She lets out a small ‘woof’ and wiggles her head out from underneath. Your smile stretches wide. “Let’s get the rest of your things sorted.” And so you spend the rest of the evening storing toys, placing bowls, everything you could think of when one adopts a puppy. Phantom keeps you company and entertains you with her silly antics. She’s already picked a favourite out of all the toys you bought her, and you silently squeal that night when she curls up in bed with it. You snap a picture, fingers itching to send it to Simon. But you’re not quite ready for his wrath yet. 

In the morning, you awake to scratching and whimpering. You bolt upwards, eyes darting around the room before landing on Phantom at the door. Stumbling out of bed, you rub your eyes and shuffle to the backyard door. Phantom trots outside and sniffs around before settling in a corner to pee. You lean against the doorway and watch as she continues to explore, wrapping your arms around yourself. The familiar cacophony of twitters and chirps starts up. Phantom pauses and tilts her head at the bird feeders set up in the old oak tree. She doesn’t bark but observes silently. 

“You’re a lot quieter than I was expecting,” you mumble. At your whistle, Phantom glances one more time at the birds before heading back inside. “Did you have fun?” Her tail thumps against your calves. You turn into the kitchen and measure out some puppy kibble for Phantom. 

Once she starts eating, you make breakfast for yourself. A simple toast with butter and a fried egg. As the egg is cooking, your phone buzzes against the counter. You jump a little, and even the crunching of kibble pauses for a few seconds before resuming. Glancing at the screen, you see the notification is a text message. The skull emoji sends you grappling for your phone. 

Simon💀: ETA 3 hours from now. Have you eaten yet, poppet?

You bite your lip and grin. Can’t he just say what he means? Your thumbs fly across the screen as you type your reply. 

Poppet🧸: I’m cooking breakfast now. Do you want me to pick you up from the airport?

You hit send and attach a picture of the stovetop. The egg is nearly done, so you turn off the heat, and the toaster clicks a beat later. Your phone tickles your hand, and you eagerly read Simon’s response. 

Simon💀: You got the appetite of a mouse. And negative. I can take a taxi. 

You chuckle and make a mental note to look for the car keys later. 

Poppet🧸: Ok, I’ll pick you up in 3 hours. 

Then you put your phone in silent mode and place it on the counter screen-down. You grab a plate from the cupboards and transfer the finished egg. Rummaging through the fridge, you locate the butter and decide to treat yourself to some marmalade today. 

After eating, you still have 2 and a half hours until Simon’s plane lands. Which leaves you roughly an hour until you need to drive to the airport. With the spare time, you prepare the gingerbread dough since it needs time to chill in the fridge. You combine all the ingredients together and cover the dough in plastic wrap. When you shut the fridge door, Phantom is there beside you, staring at you with her big brown eyes. 

You end up googling a recipe for dog-friendly gingerbread cookies. 

You now have an hour left to get to the airport. Phantom is gnawing on a cookie when you leave her in the bedroom. You bought a kennel last night and didn’t set it up until earlier. Shutting the bedroom door, you grab the car keys off the counter and head outside. 

The weather is dreary as usual. It hardly snows in the winter, but the overcast skies look ready to cry any minute now. You drum on the steering wheel along to the song on the radio. The car hasn’t quite warmed up, and you tug your jacket sleeves down. Your phone goes off again, and you pull over to read the message.

Simon💀: Landing in half an hour.

You switch to the navigation app, and there’s no way you’ll get there on time with the current traffic conditions. Shifting gears, you apply more pressure to the gas pedal than is legally acceptable. Each time you glance at the digital clock in the car, your anxiety spikes. You still clutch onto the belief that you’ll make it on time. The second the next hour passes, the pool of dread in your stomach overflows into the rest of your body. Suddenly it’s too cold and too hot at the same time. You fiddle with the thermostat and turn up the radio, hoping Mariah Carey will drown your irrational thoughts. 

The road sign for the airport comes into view, and you lean back into your seat. Your knuckles regain colour as you loosen your grip on the steering wheel. Changing lanes, you head in the direction of the parking lot. After parking, your shoes thwap against the wet pavement. Walking through automated doors, the buzz of the airport fills your ears. Squeaky wheels from dragged luggage. Thousands of footsteps are accompanied by the indistinct chatter of an entire building of people. But all that noise fades to the background when you spot him. You’re well-trained in the art of Simon spotting, a skill his enemies would be envious of.

It’s hard to describe. When you know someone well—and utterly adore them—you can recognize them with just a glance. That’s how it is with Simon. He always blends into whatever environment he’s in, but that unmistakable warmth that blooms in your chest and pools comfortably in your stomach. It’s like your body has been trained to recognize him.

So when your heart flutters at the brooding, hooded figure in the corner of the cafe, obscured by a potted plant, you know you’ve found him. Rich chocolate eyes meet yours, and they soften ever so slightly. You head to him, your feet stumbling over one another as they bicker over which pace to take. He opens an arm out, and you start running, flying across the ground until you crash into him. Simon steadies you with an arm around your waist. His hands rest on your hips, and he pulls you closer. Bourbon and cedar fill your senses, and you melt into his chest. 

“Been a while,” he murmurs into your hair, inhaling the comforting scent of your shampoo.

You do your best to hug him back and squeeze with all your strength. “I missed you too.”

He pulls back and cradles your face in his hands, drinking in every line and curve. His thumb brushes against the slant of your smile, and his eyes crinkle at the edges. You lean in and peck where his mouth would be. His fingers tighten their hold, and he narrows his eyes at you. Someone drops their bags, and the loud thumps send his eyes snapping in the direction of the noise. He looks back at you, then around the airport, and releases your face. His hand drops and pinches your waist, and you know he’s smirking underneath the baklava. 

“Ordered a drink for you,” and he nods at the table beside him. “Got thirsty waiting and thought you could use one.” You pick up the cup and sniff the lid. The scent of chocolate and whipped cream fills your senses, and you catch the faintest whiff of cinnamon. Taking a sip, the hot chocolate coats your tastebuds with sugar and spices. A small groan escapes your lips, and your fingers curl around the warm paper cup.

“Traffic was terrible,” you say, thinking back to all the vehicles on the roads. It didn’t help that an accident occurred and slowed everybody down.

Simon glances at the watch on his wrist and taps its face. “Half an hour late. You would be terrible at evac,” he muses. There’s a lilt in his tone, so you roll your eyes and take another sip of hot chocolate. Another wave of sweetness rolls down your throat, and your stomach buzzes pleasantly with warmth. 

You shrug your shoulders. “Lucky I’m not in the military then.”

Simon stares at you and says, “What a blessing.”

Hot chocolate dribbles from the corner of your mouth, and you wipe it away with your sleeve. “Oh, shut up, Riley. I bet I would make a damn good soldier.” You straighten your spine and give him a mock salute.

His eyes never leave you, and the silence stretches for a minute or two. “I like the way things are. It’s dangerous out there; don’t need to be lookin’ out for you too.”

The curve of your smile flips. “What? You think I’d be dead weight?”

“Not what I meant,” and he reaches out a hand to you, but you shrug it off. 

“Whatever. Let’s go. I’m not paying for another hour of parking. The airport prices are ridiculous.” You take a sip of your hot chocolate. There’s a bitter aftertaste on your tongue.

The drive back home is silent. Neither of you bring up what happened earlier at the airport. The radio is on low volume. Instrumentals of classic Christmas carols play. There’s that feeling of being watched, but your eyes remain on the road. You focus on the nice saxophone solo and not on Simon. The rhythmic tapping of his fingers begins to irk you a little. Still, no words are spoken.

His gaze continues to sear into your flesh, and just when you’re about to implode, Simon speaks first. “I’m sorry,” he says. You don’t respond, only turning off the radio. “What I meant was I don’t want to fear for your safety.” He pauses, and you hear him take a deep breath. “I like knowin’ you’re safe—at least safer here than if you were out on the field.” You pull over the car and shut off the engine. You face him, mouth glued shut. His eyes are glassy, and his brows are drawn close together. “Poppet, I can’t lose you,” and a tear falls. You scramble to unbuckle your seatbelt, clambering over to the passenger seat. Straddling his lap, you pull him into a fierce hug.

The most powerful man you know is clinging to you like he’ll fall apart with a single blow. Like a boat in a storm, desperately trying to survive the waves battering against its hull. You pry your lips apart and force the words to claw out of your throat. “I’m sorry that I lashed out. I haven’t seen you in 3 months and 10 days, but who’s counting?” A watery chuckle gurgles in your throat. “The point is, I’ve been pining like a fool, and when I heard those words, it made me feel like you didn’t miss me at all.”

Simon shakes his head and pulls you closer to his chest. “I’ve seen you flay men alive with a single glare, never mind what you could be capable of with some proper training. But to think about you dyin’ on a mission? ‘specially when I could have saved you? It would ruin me.” He strokes your hair, and you stare into his deep, brown eyes. “And didn’t miss you? That’s a load of bollocks. Poppet, you are constantly with me here,” he points to his head, “and here.” He places your hand over his beating heart. The pulse beneath your palm is erratic. “You’re mine, and I can’t lose you; I refuse to. You’re not dyin’ before me, you understand?”

You exhale and stretch to kiss his forehead. “I’m not going anywhere, Simon. There will be no death for either of us for a long time if I can help it.” His shoulders slacken, and you wipe away a stray tear from his eyes before it has a chance to fall. “I know it deep down in my bones, but it’s just nice to hear you say it sometimes. That you love me or miss me.”

“I missed you, poppet,” he murmurs into your hair.

You mute your chuckle with his shoulder, and he shudders from the vibrations. “It sounds disingenuous when you say it after I tell you to,” you say,

Simon huffs, “Bloody hell. I was tryin’ to be romantic.” Your fingers trail the edge of his baklava, and when he remains still, you roll the fabric up to expose his lips. He watches you with dark eyes. You cup his face with both hands and kiss him. It’s short and bittersweet. As much as you want to continue, you don’t want to stay on the side of the road any longer. If you’re unlucky, a concerned passerby might knock and ask if you need assistance. You would then proceed to die of embarrassment.

So instead, you pull away and whisper, “Are we ok?”

His eyes scan your face before lingering on your lips. “We are if you give me another kiss,” he replies. You lean in to kiss him again, and his hand cradles the back of your skull, keeping you in place. Every time you draw in air, he finds a way to steal it from your lungs. Your head spins from the lack of oxygen, and you don’t even notice the little moans and whimpers you let out. His beard rubs against your skin, and his lips are addicting. Thick fingers dig into your waist. The hand on your head is removed, and you pull away, panting. He gazes at you through hooded lids, pupils swallowed by black.

“I can’t drive the car if you keep me in your lap,” and you wrap your fingers around his hands, prying their grip on you. He relents, and you climb over to the driver's seat. You turn the key in the ignition, and the engine roars to life. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Simon reaching a hand out to you. There’s gentle pressure on top of your head, and you realize that he’s smoothing out your hair. He doesn’t say anything but does one last pet that trails his hand down to cup your cheek, stroking your skin with his thumb before pulling away. Your face already feels cold with the absence of his touch.

Clearing your throat, you turn on the signal light and continue the drive home. As you get closer to your destination, you grow more nervous for multiple reasons. 1) You have no idea if Phantom destroyed anything while you were gone. 2) You don’t know how Simon will react to Phantom. 3) You don’t know how upset Simon will be if reason 1 turns out to be true.

When you arrive, Simon holds the door open for you. You thank him and head inside. He follows after you, and the wheels of his suitcase clack when they catch on the bottom of the doorframe. The house still has traces of cloves and nutmeg in the air, a reminder of the gingerbread dough chilling in the fridge. Simon shrugs off his jacket and drapes it over the couch. Unable to hide it any longer, you decide to show him Phantom right away.

You bounce on the balls of your feet. “I have a present for you.” Leaning close to Simon’s ear, you whisper, “you’re a father, now.” The poor man bluescreens on you. His eyes are wide and vacant. You run into the bedroom, your head peeking out the doorway with a grin before disappearing again. You present a wriggling Doberman puppy with a shiny red bow wrapped around its midsection. “Meet our baby!”

Simon is gone. Fuck.

You sigh and place your child down, watching her sniff the jacket her father left behind on the couch. Nibbling on your bottom lip, you grab your phone. This is not how you wanted tonight to go. You send a few messages, but Simon doesn’t respond to a single one. Although you can see that he’s read them, which pisses you off. He couldn’t have gone far, and you still have the car keys. The closest place nearby that isn’t a house is the small market square, which contains a grocery store and several self-owned businesses. Your boots pound against the pavement,  and you dash through the streets. You reach the square and scan your surroundings. You spot him exiting a store and run up to him.

“Simon!” Your lungs burn, and your heart is rattling in your ribcage. Simon stares at you with wide eyes. His arms reach out to steady you.

“I’m sorry for leaving, poppet. When I heard, I knew I had to,” Simon says. He looks at the ground, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

You pant, catching your breath as the winter air stings your throat. You lick your chapped lips and begin to speak. “Simon, I—”

He cuts you off. “But no matter what, I will always—”

You interrupt him because you need to clear up the misunderstanding now. “Simon, I—”

“It’s alright, poppet. I would never—”

Your frustration reaches a boiling point. “I ADOPTED A PUPPY!” Flames engulf your entire face, and you’re positive there’s steam rising off your head. A few passersby stop walking at your outburst, and you shrink beneath their stares. Simon shields your body with his large frame and smooths your wind-ruffled hair. “Simon, I adopted a puppy,” you repeat.

“A puppy?” he rumbles, low and soothing.

You nod and smile. “Yes, a puppy. The cutest one I’ve ever seen.”

He raises a brow. “Walks on four legs, barks, and has a little tail that wags?”

You chuckle. “Last time I checked, yes.”

Simon sighs and leans into you. “I’m a fuckin’ idiot. We left the poor pup all alone,” and he holds your hand and leads you home. 

You struggle to keep up with his long strides. Simon slows down when he notices you falling behind. “She. She’s all alone,” you say.

“Did she come with a name?” he asks.

You answer with, “Phantom.” Simon gives you a deadpan stare. “Why are you looking at me like that? I’m not messing with you. That’s her name,” you insist. 

“So I suppose it’s all a coincidence?” he snorts. 

You tilt your head. “Is that so hard to believe?”

“I don’t believe in coincidences.”

Squeezing his hand, you chirp, “Then it was a miracle. A Christmas miracle.”

“Poppet, the only miracle I’ll accept is when you walked into my life. Anything else is the harsh reality we live in.” You falter in your steps, stumbling forward when Simon doesn’t notice. He looks back at you, and time freezes. Deep brown eyes gaze upon you fondly, and a chill washes over your body. Behind the indifference is a tenderness reserved only for you. He brushes his thumb across your hand and tugs you into his side. His arm rests around your waist for the rest of the walk home.

You pause in front of the house and tug on his shirt. “I know you said you don’t like pets because they’re a big commitment, but I promise you’re going to love her,” you say.

His chuckle is hollow. “I think you overestimate my ability with animals. Not a bloody chance will she like me,” and you can hear the grimace in his tone.

You unlock the door, and Phantom greets you inside. She circles you and Simon, sniffing your pants. You grin and crouch down, accepting the sloppy kisses she gives you. Phantom races off to the living room, and you find her burrowed in a heap of Simon’s jacket. She must have pulled it off the couch after you left. Simon says nothing but watches the puppy with amusement.

“Go play with the puppy while I bake the gingerbread cookies,” you say, disappearing around the corner. 

Simon trails after you. “Barrin’ me from the kitchen already? I’m a great helper.”

You scoff and block him from entering further. “No. What you mean is you’re great at eating all my cookies before I get a chance to decorate them.” You wave your hands and push him out of the kitchen. His hulking frame budges with remarkable ease. “Now, shoo. I need enough for the party tomorrow.”

Simon raises his hands in surrender and plants a kiss on your head before heading to the living room. You take out the dough from the refrigerator and flour the counter. You roll the dough out until it’s about an inch thick before using cookie cutters in various holiday shapes. Lining a baking sheet with parchment paper, you transfer the cut cookies. You collect the scraps of dough and reroll it.

Simon’s head pops into the doorway. “Poppet, what’s this?” he asks. The plushie of a cartoon ghost with a skull mask looks microscopic in his large hands.

You gasp, “That’s Phantom’s favourite toy! The store was having a clearance sale on all their Halloween stock, and it reminded me of you. I have a picture of her cuddling with it in bed.” You move to grab your phone from your pocket, but your hands are covered in flour and dough. “I’ll send it to you after I clean up.”

Simon says nothing, cradling the ghost plushie to his chest with a newfound tenderness as he returns to the living room. Phantom’s excited yip greets his footfalls, and your smile nearly splits your face into two. You continue cutting out more cookies, ending up with multiple trays worth.

As you place a few trays into the oven, Simon passes by. His footsteps are silent when he typically stomps around to alert you of his presence. He stops when you catch him leaving.

“And where are you off to?” you ask, setting the timer on the oven, careful not to accidentally turn the heat off instead.

Simon shrugs and says, “On a walk,” with an air of indifference.

“Will you carry Phantom in your arms the entire time?” you ask. Phantom’s tail thumps against Simon’s lower abdomen. He’s carrying her like a baby, and she looks at you with her tongue lolling out. “She has a leash, Simon. Use it.” You point to the hooks on the wall where the jackets go, Phantom’s leash being the newest addition.

He looks at the leash, Phantom, then back at you. “Her little paws might get tired,” and he waves one of her paws. 

You shake your head, holding back a grin. “She’s a lot tougher than she looks.” You haven’t told Simon, but anyone with eyes can see that Phantom is small for her breed. 

There’s a glint in Simon’s eyes. “Yeah? Must take after you, then,” he comments. Phantom barks in agreement. You stick your tongue out when he turns his back to you. “I saw that.”

“Saw what?” You feign ignorance. 

Simon grabs the leash and clips it onto Phantom’s harness. He looks at you and shakes his head at the Cheshire grin on your face. “Saw you bein’ a cheeky little thing.”

“I don’t have a clue what you’re on about,” you say with a shrug. “Could you pick up some icing sugar on your walk? I’m running low.”

Simon nods and walks out the door, Phantom trotting dutifully by his side. You bite your lip and lean against the counter. God, you love watching him walk away. 

While the cookies bake, you pass the time by window shopping online. Specifically dog products. You’re in the middle of reading the product description for dog thongs—who invented these anyway??—when the front door unlocks. Your finger zeroes in on the little ‘x’ to delete the page from your phone. You check on the cookies. One batch is currently on the cooling rack, while another is in the oven.

Phantom zooms into the kitchen, snout turned upwards and twitching madly. Cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg fill the air. You can almost taste the spices on your tongue. Crouching down, you give Phantom little scritches behind her ear, and she tilts her head to give you easier access. Her hind leg twitches, and you chuckle. Heavy thumps and the creak of wood travel through the kitchen, and a shadow is cast over you. Glancing up, you see Simon holding a bouquet.

You stand up and accept the bundle of delicate red and white flowers. Bringing your face closer, you breathe in their sweet scent. The soft petals tickle your nose, and you resist the urge to sneeze.

He sticks his hands in his pockets and shuffles his feet. “Did you think I would forget?”

You rub the petals between your fingertips; they feel like satin. “I wasn’t expecting any since you’re home this year,” you confess. You assumed the bouquets were an apology for missing Christmas. The edelweiss and peonies will make a lovely addition to your collection. 

Simon rubs the back of his neck. “Don’t like ‘em?” And the low baritone of his voice pitches. 

A soft smile spreads across your face. You embrace Simon and rest your head against his chest. His heart races, rattling loud like a machine gun. “You silly man. I love everything you give me,” you reassure him, and the gunfire ceases. 

Your head rises and falls with each breath he draws. “Just makin’ sure,” he rasps, combing his fingers through your hair. His hands trail down to your waist and leave your body. You notice him inching towards the cooling rack on the counter. 

You smack his hand away and scold him. “Uh uh. Keep your hands away from my cookies. And don’t use your sneaky ninja skills to steal one. I will know if one of them goes missing.” Simon is not above using his military experience to snatch baked goods. He got away with it once, and you’ve made it a personal mission to never let it happen again.

“But there’s so many of ‘em. Nobody will complain if you show up with one less,” he grumbles.

You sigh, “Fine, but only because you won’t leave me alone until I give you a cookie.” He adjusts his baklava. There’s zero hesitation when he reaches over and amputates the arm of a gingerbread man. “Hey! You’re getting crumbs in my hair.”

“Sorry,” he mumbles with a full mouth, brushing your hair gently.

You remain in his arms, breathing in the sweet scent of bourbon mixed with his musk. Crunching fills the void of silence in the room. You look around and notice it’s only the two of you. “How’s Phantom?” you ask.

Simon glances in the direction of the living room. He hums, and the vibrations tickle you. “Out like a light. Walk must've tired her out,” he answers.

You plant a kiss on his chin, and his eyes soften. His fingers squeeze your hips. “I’m almost done. I’ll join you two in the living room soon,” you say.

He nuzzles the side of your head. “Don’t be too long,” he says, pulling away and caressing your cheek. You lean into his touch and nod, pressing a kiss to the palm of his hand. The crinkles around his eyes mirror yours. Simon nabs another cookie and darts out of the kitchen before you can stop him. You sigh and shake your head, looking for a vase to keep the flowers in.

Another twenty minutes pass before you’re done. You slide the last tray of cookies out of the oven and set it on the stovetop to cool. Remembering Simon, you pull off your oven mitts and check up on him and Phantom. You pause in the doorway, smiling to yourself at what you see. Simon is watching the tv, his eyelids drooping shut and snapping open every few seconds. He’s lying on the couch with Phantom curled up on his chest.

“I knew you would love her,” you whisper. Wide brown eyes lock onto your figure, and Simon sinks into the couch after seeing it’s you.

“A little help here?” he grunts. You stifle a chuckle at his current predicament. 

“Can’t move a puppy, Lieutenant?” you tease. 

He rolls his eyes at you. “Haven’t you heard of the saying: let sleeping dogs lie?”

You scoop up Phantom, who barely stirs from her sleep. Simon scoots further in and turns onto his side, patting the empty space beside him. You lie next to him with Phantom sandwiched between the two of you. His strong arms lock around your waist and prevent you from rolling off the edge. 

The next few minutes are spent in silence, exchanging looks and gentle touches. Simon’s words catch you off guard. “Life without you is like the night sky without stars; empty and fuckin’ miserable to look at.” You drown in endless pools of black, seeing your reflection stare back with wide eyes. The silence amplifies the pounding in your ears. He speaks with such sincerity and conviction that you feel it with every fibre of your being. 

Your lips twist into a smile, and you say, “I love you too.”

He rests his forehead against yours. “Merry Christmas, poppet.” His fingers draw random shapes on your back, eliciting a shudder from you.

“Merry Christmas, Simon,” you whisper, lips grazing against the fabric of his mask. He makes a content hum and watches you with an affectionate gaze. The fireplace crackles and tiny snores come from Phantom. The scent of gingerbread wafts from the kitchen and infiltrates the living room. Cozy. You feel cozy.

Simon stretches and groans, “I’ll be back. Need to make a quick trip to the loo.” He crawls over you, careful not to wake Phantom. The puppy twitches but otherwise gives no other indicators of consciousness. You reach for the tv remote and browse for a show to watch, already missing the heat of his body.

Simon goes to the bathroom and shuts the door behind him. He tugs the baklava off and rubs a hand over his face. From his pocket, he fishes out a small, velvet-lined box. He rushed to pick up his order when he heard the news.

His phone chimes, and he opens a message from you. There are two pictures. The first is Phantom curled up in her dog bed with the ghost plushie. His lips quirk, and he swipes to view the second photo. His heart stutters, fingers clutching the phone tight. It’s a miracle the screen protector doesn’t shatter. The second photo is a selfie of you and Phantom cuddling where he left you. There’s a goofy smile on your face despite your worried eyes drifting toward the sleeping dog. He can see the slight furrow in your brows—fuck do you make him soft. Now there’s a new addition to your family, and the pup proved him wrong when he thought he couldn’t grow softer. A tightness overcomes his chest, and his vision swims. 

And suddenly, he’s scared. Because somehow, in this fucked up world, he found you. A random variable in his life that he has no control over. He’s terrified you’ll be ripped away from him like everyone else. That’s why he needs to do this. Needs to tie you to him forever so that there’s always a piece of you with him. Definitive proof that you are his. The night sky was a cheesy line, but he meant every word. He doesn’t want to come home to an empty apartment anymore. To count down the days until the next deployment. To worry about what terrible thing comes next. To function in life on autopilot. 

Simon Riley is entirely aware of how much he loves you. And he’s terrified of how to prove it.

He exits the bathroom, one hand fidgeting with the box in his pocket. 

“Bloody fucking hell.”

─── ⋆ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡⋆ ───

End Note:

This thing honestly grew a lot bigger than I was expecting. The party mentioned above is definitely a party with the 141 and vaqueros, and I headcanon it to be the first official introduction between the reader and everyone. In that universe anyway.

Also, I totally did not plan on ending it with a possible proposal, it just kinda happened lol. Have fun imagining because I don't think I'll write it.

I do have an idea for a single-dad Price fic because we all know that would make such cute fluff. It was originally going to be for the holidays too, but I'll probably modify the story to work without it.

I'll see you guys at my next hyperfixation! (。・∀・)ノ

Reblogs are appreciated!

[littlemessyjessi]

"Gingerbread Dragon": A Holiday Stranger Things Imagine: Eddie Munson x Plus Size Reader

Stranger Things Holiday Imagine 

Eddie Munson x PS Reader, Plus Size Reader, Reader

Use of Y/N bc the other choice is a full character on my part and ya’ll would never even see this because hyperfixation reasons. 

Reader is fem identifying because, listen, I just think girls are lovely and this is my creative outlet.  I have bi tendencies and if I’m pairing with a dude, well, I need both.  And this is my tumblr so feel free to scroll. No hard feelings.  

Also, brief mention of dr*g use (pot).  This should go without saying that if you are under 18… Have a lovely Holiday Season and all that.  Wish you well and everything but scram.  This is no place for children so hit the bricks.  *she said as a loving auntie would…  But seriously, get lost until you’re an adult. 

……

…….

Eddie was a fairly easy going guy most of the time. 

Or at least he liked to think he was. 

He did his best. 

Tried to be nice to people. 

Some took it well, others didn’t. 

He didn’t have many true friends in this world but for the few that he did have he tried his best to make sure they knew he appreciated them.  

He knew he had a reputation but his friends knew this about him. 

It was no secret. 

He thought he was accepted as he was. 

Which was why it left him scratching his head when no one showed up for the D&D meeting the last week before school let out for Christmas break. 

Y/N, who may as well have been his girlfriend for all intents and purposes because Eddie didn’t pay any one else any serious attention when she was around,… was nowhere to be found at all. 

He hadn’t seen her all week…. which was very odd for the two of them. 

Usually, they always met up in the woods after she got off work because, frankly, she needed to chill out and Eddie always had flower. 

And Eddie also thought she looked absolutely magical when she was stoned and had that glossy look in her eye…. but whatever. 

 But this week?  

Nothin’.  

Nowhere to be found. 

I mean, he knew she was alive.  

He’d heard several people mention her here and there but he had yet to lay his eyes on her …. and he was kinda getting bummed about it. 

Did he do something? 

Was she mad at him? 

He was certain that she was clueless to the fact that he was a hopeless sap for her but he very much was and…. it bothered him to think she was upset with him. 

When everyone bailed on him today… that was the extra punch to the stomach. 

He sat there for another fifteen minutes before he packed his shit and just gave it up. 

He was on his way towards his van, tugging his jacket around him a little tighter as the cold wind bit at his cheeks, when someone slammed into his side. 

The unruly mop of hair told him it was Dustin. 

“Henderson, where the hell have you been?” Eddie snapped perhaps a little harsher than he meant to judging by the quick backstep Dustin did. 

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! But you gotta come quick! It’s Y/N!” Dustin said, eyes wide as dinner plates. 

Eddie’s blood ran cold. 

He knew something was up when he hadn’t seen her all week.  

“What? What is it? What’s wrong? Is she hurt? Where is she, man?!” he said, all but lifting Dustin off the ground as he grabbed his shirt. 

Eddie, despite being a lovable goofball  about seventy five percent of the time , was actually quite strong and it took almost everyone who actually knew him by surprise whenever it came out of him. 

“I’ll tell you on the way.” Dustin said.  “Let’s just go!” 

Dustin was sure Eddie broke every single traffic law there was on the way there and nearly took out another car as he skidded to a halt in the parking lot. 

He didn’t even close the door as he blasted out of the car and took off running towards that familiar jacket. 

Y/N had barely registered who’d turned her around before Eddie wound his arms around that plump cushy body of hers…. and seared their lips together. 

Eddie pulled away for a second with intentions of explaining himself and asking questions but he never even got his forehead pressed against hers before she was pressing kisses against his lips again. 

Eddie, of course, fell right into said kisses because HELLO, his dream girl was kissing him.  

“Ugh, guys, gross. Come on.” Dustin said once he had shut the door that Eddie left open and finally caught up. 

Eddie opened one eye and then somehow seemingly narrowed it as well at the teen currently grinning at him. 

“Listen, Henderson.” he said between kisses. “You made me think.”  *kiss* “That she was seriously injured.” *kiss* “And I nearly killed us both.” *kiss*  “to get here and now-” 

He broke away from her kisses but didn’t go far. 

Eddie chuckled a bit to himself at the situation before he looked into her eyes, “Honey, as much as I am loving this sudden attention from you, and trust me, I am.  Oh, how I am.”

He all but moaned when she grabbed him by the jacket to bring him in for more kisses, “Babygirl, I definitely, definitely, definitely want to continue this but I’m gonna need some answers here and Henderson’s gonna need an ass kicking.” 

Y/N smacked her lips together, tasting Eddie’s cigarettes and those little cinnamon candies he’d been eating lately on her tongue. 

He nearly fainted at the sight of her tasting him on her lips… and clearly liking it. 

“Dustin, what did you tell him?”  she said, tilting her head and cocking that wide hip of hers out. 

Eddie bit his lip watching her do it… because man, could she do it and damn, did she do it well.  

He fidgeted, “Well, uh, you see, he might not have… and we kinda forgot to tell him that-” 

Y/N let loose a long suffering sigh, the dropping of her shoulders causing her jacket to slip and expose her skin. 

Eddie, ever the opportunist, swept in to place a kiss there before covering her back up again. 

She gave him one of those sweet Y/N smiles, he flushed like a tomato and she smirked to herself before turning her gaze back to Dustin.  

“You forgot to tell him about the change of location?” 

“Yep.” 

“And you panicked at the last minute?” 

“Uh huh.” 

“So he sat there thinking everyone ditched him?” 

“...Yeah.” 

“And you decided to tell him what exactly to make him roleplay as a NASCAR driver?” 

“... well, I mean…” 

“Dustin.  I’ll not be asking again.   But I will tell you that there dungeons and dragons themed christmas treats in there and the grand finale is a gingerbread dragon and if you don’t tell me the truth within the next three seconds then-” 

“I told him you were jumped and bleeding in an alleyway and the paramedics said you only had an hour to live!” he erupted. 

She blinked. 

Hard. 

Very hard. 

Then she arched a brow at Eddie. 

“And you believed him?” 

“I didn’t ask anymore questions after he said you were in trouble.  I just got in the van.” he admitted, not meeting her eyes and suddenly finding the pavement very, very interesting. 

Y/N smiled and tugged Eddie closer by his shirt again to press another kiss to his lips…. that tugged up into a smile. 

“Well, this was not how I envisioned this night going nor was it how I envisioned us revealing our feelings to one another.  However, I will definitely take it.  My knight in shining armor.” she smiled… and Eddie nearly turned to goo at the sight. 

“Eddie, sweetheart, you haven’t seen me much this week because I was planning a holiday D&D party for the last one before Christmas break.  I told Dustin to tell you this Saturday.  New location.  I was handling food because the restaurant where I work at? Well, the owners had a family emergency.  They had to go back to their home country two weeks early.  They’ll be gone for a month.   The food would’ve spoiled.  So I thought….” 

This time it was Eddie pulling her in for another kiss, “I love you.” 

She blinked at him in surprise.

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Too soon! I’m sorry!” he panicked. 

But she just pulled him in for another kiss, “I love you too, Eddie. Now come on,  I have literally made you a gingerbread dragon, D&D themed Christmas food and there is an unspeakable amount of Italian food in there that must be eaten tonight.   And everyone has to take home leftovers because I already took an unholy amount of spaghetti to the homeless shelter.   And I’ve already fixed Uncle Wayne a plate.” 

“Merry Fucking Christmas to me!” he cheered and squeezed the squishy woman in his arms.  “And thank you for this.  For everything, you know.”  

“Merry Christmas, baby.” she smiled and Eddie all but fell to his knees at the term. “Thanks for the kisses by the way.  Definitely made my night.” 

“Oh, I come with a steady supply of those, babe.  All at the low, low price of… be my girl?” he asked hopefully. 

His cheeks were pink and those dark eyes looked like he was almost scared she might say no. 

As if. 

“Be your girl?” she pondered comically.  “I’ll be your girl but you gotta be my most favorite boy in the whole world.” 

Eddie’s grin was massive. 

The big grin that crinkled his face and made his eyes sparkle and Y/N swooned just looking at that beautiful boy. 

She thanked whoever was responsible for making the both of them for leading them to one another. 

“And no one thanks me?  I got him here!” Dustin said, effectively ruining the moment. 

“After you nearly gave him a heart attack and made him sit there all alone when I told you to tell him nearly a week ago!” Y/N chastised. “I bet he sat there with his heart broken thinking we all left him!”

“Yeah, I did.” Eddie pouted. 

The little shit was fine (better than fine actually) but he was definitely gonna milk this because he knew Y/N and he knew how she doted. 

He was definitely getting a piece of that action especially with his new title in her life. 

“Aw, my poor baby.  Come on.  Let’s fix you a plate and have a little cuddle.” she said, coddling him. 

Dustin shook his head and rolled his eyes but his mouth dropped when Eddie gave him that mischievous grin over his shoulder. 

The little shit. 

…….

…….

….. 

Hello, loves!  I hope you enjoy this holiday content! 

Hope ya’ll are having a great day! 

Love you. 

— 

Permanent Taglist:

@thickemadame

@toomanyfictionalboyfriends

@blackirisposts

@alisoncdariel

@therealmrshale

@thegreatirene

@angelus320

@thedarkwinterrose

@m-rae23

@shycupcakealissa

@minshookie29

@kelly-fushiguro345

@vj21

@btsiguess-kpop

@abc-abc1234-a

@pinkcherrybombs

@speedyhandsbonkpalace

@sunnysidesblog

@milkshakelol

@poopypantsmcgee666-blog

@lyn-g

@glassesandthunderthighs

@tacobacoyeet

@owenniasstars

@adventuresofnight

@queenlexusloverofbts

@leah-halliwell92

@amethyst09

@kalliravenne

@sullybot

@disneymarina

@mother2monsters

@maxis140403

@fortunecookiesworld

@lathalea

@skyys-universe

K, Love you, Bye!

[idanceuntilidie]

Baked with love

Yan gingerbread man x gn reader

I drew Flynn it will be at the end of the post <3

There are no warnings this time :3

Requests are open :D or you can just ask about the oc I don’t mind.

Once upon a time there was a very old bakery, it was ran by a witch. It was very famous for its amazing sweets that were just too good to be true.  

The kind words and compliments weren't enough for the witch, she had feared her bakery will be overshadowed. To make sure that wouldn't happen she decided to create living pastries and cookies. 

It took her weeks, to perfect the recipe and design, it was finally time for the first ever living cookie. 

So, she created the gingerbread man, and that was the last time anyone had ever seen her. 

There was an old bakery around the corner, quite popular if you have to admit. For a good reason, the lady that worked there did absolute wonders. 

She had a talent for baking. Today you decided to visit her and maybe buy few things. When you walked to the bakery instead of an old lady you met a stylish young man. When you went inside the bakery you could almost feel the magic that was probably present there. The smell was so welcoming and sweet, for some it felt like home, and it was hard to not agree. Though the interior of the place reminded you a little bit of your grandma's house. Small but cozy. Your eyes scanned briefly the delicious baked goods that laid out in the display, freshly baked blueberry and chocolate muffins caught your eye first. Then there was the best-looking apple pie you had ever seen, next to it were colorful macaroons, and so much more. 

It made your mouth water. 

There were new things also, you never knew Miss Sugar knew how to make candy. 

 When you were done eyeing up the treats that laid in front of you, you looked up, and instead of meeting the famous old lady you met a young man. His eyes widened, face getting slightly red. 

 "S-Sorry I did not mean to disturb you" 

he bashfully looked away. You chuckled at that, reassuring him that it was okay. 

 You took a closer look at the young man in front of you. He was dressed in such a fancy manner, wasn't he scared his clothes would get dirty? 

He wore frilly creamy blouse with fur? it was a very special look, but it looked well with the red bow and deep brown dress pants. Are those candies in his hair? Maybe they are charms, but boy do they look so real. You saw that he was looking at you again, but this time he tried to avoid eye contact. 

"Sorry for staring-" - you started rubbing your neck. 

"Nono it's okay really, you aren't really the first to do so..." 

"That doesn't make it okay, where is Miss Sugar? I thought she was the only oe working here?" 

He straightened his posture, for a second, he looked unsure what emotion should he show. He looked away; his hands rubbed his face. It took him a bit to face you again, his face filled with sorrow.   "Oh, dear you don't know? My aunt left us few days ago"   That sentence left you speechless. You didn't know Miss Sugar for that long, but she was such a nice lady and you felt really bad. Some part of you wished you visited the lady more. 

"I am so sorry for your loss..." 

He placed his hands on his chest, closing his eyes he said it was okay, when he opened them again, he smiled sweetly. 

 "Well now I am the owner and baker now, what can I help you with today?" 

 "I was wondering if you had f/p?" 

 "We sure do hang on" - he chirped and smoothly went to the room in the back. 

You smiled; glad he is dealing so well with the loss of his aunt. It looks like he enjoys the job too. You look around again, he didn't change the decorations maybe he had a sentiment for it? 

 "Here you go!"  

His cheery voice broke you out of your thoughts. 

 "Thank you uhhh?" 

 "Flynn"  

 "Thank you, Flynn, just a warning you will be seeing me around very often" 

 Flynn placed his hand on his forehead and dramatically sighed "Oh poor me" before laughing, you joined him soon enough. 

You paid for your treats and said your goodbyes with Flynn. 

 You were true to your word; you visited the boy almost every day. You two bonded quite fast. Flynn was very sweet, and when you were hanging around with him you felt so safe.  

Though the only weird thing you noticed was that every single time you asked him for something, he always went to the backroom to bring your goods. Flynn always knew what to bring you, sometimes it felt he knew you better than you yourself. 

 You sometimes wonder why the baked good he brings you have such weird ginger after taste. 

But it's okay it's probably nothing right? 

[crystalninjaphoenix]

The Christmas Special - Part One

Paranormal Preteens AU: Episode Twenty-Six

A JSE Fanfic

I absolutely did not intend this adventure to be a two-parter but in retrospect of course it is, a lot happens. It's Christmas Eve and the guys have varying feelings on it. Chase and Schneep are excited for their family Christmas party! But JJ and Marvin are not as enthusiastic about stuff. Fortunately, it looks like things will be a bit exciting for them as JJ gets a visit and gift from a pair of strangers. This chapter is a lot of setup for the next one and it's still 7200 words. That should tell you all about how excited I am for this! :D Hope you guys enjoy!

More of this AU | From the Start | Read on AO3 at CrystalNinjaPhoenix

++++++++++++++++++++

Over the next few days, relatives from Chase and Schneep’s extended family started pouring into the small town of Hollewych. They would always stop to say hi at the house before going to the hotel they were staying at. Chase had forgotten how overwhelming it was to see everyone in the same location. Or maybe this was just the first time he really noticed how many people were in his family.

By the time Christmas Eve rolled around, everyone from Mom’s side of the family had arrived—save for the ones who weren’t invited. But though Mom assured Chase that he invited his dad’s side of the family, he hadn’t seen one of them stop by yet. “Flights across the ocean are really hard to get around Christmas,” she assured him. “They probably couldn’t afford it. At least we’ve got cards from most of them.”

Even with her reassurances, Chase couldn’t help but feel disappointed. There was one person he’d really been hoping would show up who hadn’t yet. He was still hoping to see him, though! Maybe he would show up on Christmas Day.

But at least there was stuff to do to distract him from that! Mom and him made gingerbread houses with Schneep, who had never done it before. They showed some of the visiting relatives around the city—Grandma and Grandpa said the nearby church was prettier than any they had back home—and Mom even offered to take the two of them caroling, though they both declined since it didn’t sound interesting. The living room had been decorated and the tree had been put up back near the beginning of the month, but Mom went shopping with both of them so they could buy ornaments for themselves.

“It’s a tradition we’ve always done!” Chase explained. “I get to pick out a new ornament for the tree every year. Mom said that it’s so when I grow up, I have ornaments for my own tree. It’s only fair that you get one too.” This year, Chase picked out an ornament in the shape of a skateboard. Schneep looked at a bunch of ones, almost overwhelmed by how many there were, until he settled on one that looked like a rocket ship.

On the 23rd, it snowed overnight. Mom said that the weather predicted a lot of snow tomorrow and on Christmas too, so Chase insisted that they do fun outdoor stuff today before the storm really rolled in. So, after Mom made some calls, the three of them headed down to the park to meet up with some other family members.

“You should really join in and stuff,” Chase said to Schneep on the car ride there. The two of them were sitting in the back together instead of Chase being in the front. He wasn’t sure when they started sitting together in the car. But he knew this wasn’t the first time. “I don’t think any of the kids in the family really, uh, got to know you much before. Jordan is your age I think. Maybe he’s a year younger.”

“We are the same age, Chase,” Schneep said, grinning.

“...well not exactly,” Chase said defensively.

Schneep laughed. Then he looked out the window at the street. The glass was starting to fog up. “I do not know.. . I think I would not enjoy snowball fights and snow angels. I do not like the cold.”

“Uh well when you move around a lot you don’t feel as cold,” Chase said. “That’s like... science. And also like—Bella and Jordan and the twins and the girls probably don’t know you too good. They might think you’re, like, a nerd.”

Schneep nodded. “I am a nerd.”

“You know what I mean!” Chase sighed. “They won’t know that you’re cool.”

Schneep smiled. “Thank you Chase. But I... I-I do not know if...” He sighed. “I am not good with other kids.”

“You get along with the Jacksons and Jackie and Stacy just fine,” Chase pointed out.

“That is true. But the family feels... different. I should know them, but I feel I do not.” Schneep looked down, kicking his legs for a little. “Chase, can I... ask you a... question? You do not have to answer.”

“Uh, sure.” Honesty, Chase wasn’t sure how to respond to Schneep’s issues, so he welcomed the change.

“Why did your papa leave?”

And now he regretted it. “I... I-I don’t really know,” he said quietly. “Mom and Dad were... They said that they ‘fell out of love’ and that it wasn’t because of me. So... that’s why, I guess.”

He never knew if he believed what Mom told him, though. He often heard the two of them fighting upstairs while he was in the living room playing video games. They didn’t shout, but their voices still carried. He would sit there with his game paused, listening to Mom throw around words like “irresponsible” and “dismissive” and, most importantly, “a bad example for Chase.” Dad would say things like “uptight” and “pressuring” and “it’s not a big deal.” They were fighting about him, in some way. About... how they should take care of him? Something like that. So... he knew it wasn’t really because of him. He hadn’t been a bad kid or anything. But sometimes he thought that, maybe if the two of them didn’t have a kid at all, none of the fighting would have happened.

“We’re here,” Mom announced. Chase jumped in surprise. He forgot she was driving the car for a minute. He wondered if she heard any of what he said.

“Uh—cool!” Chase said, quickly opening up the car door before the car even fully came to a stop. “Come on, Schneep! We can figure out something for you to do!” He undid his seatbelt and hopped out.

“Alright, alright, I am coming!” Schneep undid his own seatbelt, then scooted along the car seat until he was able to climb out the door. “I will follow your lead, unless it is too cold.”

To his credit, Schneep did try to join in, but he clearly wasn’t enjoying the snowball fight so Chase assured him it was fine if he wanted to just sit next to Mom. He did that for a while, but evidently just sitting on a bench was too cold, so he got up again and started walking around, kicking up the snow. Until he decides to make a snowball of his own. And to see how big he could make it by rolling up. Chase soon left the snowball fight to help him, and suggested they make it into a snowman. Schneep had never done that, so Chase took it upon himself to teach him. Soon, they had a three-ball-tall snowman and the other cousins were competing to see if they could make a taller one. In only a couple hours, most of the snow in the park had been rolled up into an army of snowpeople of varying heights and designs, and all the kids were shivering. Mom lured Chase and Schneep into leaving by promising to get them hot chocolate from Zelly’s on the way home.

All in all, Chase thought this was a great start to Christmas. And judging by Schneep’s smile, he thought the same. Tomorrow, the party would begin. Chase couldn’t wait.

++++++++++++++++++++

It was hard to ride a bike through the snow, so JJ ditched the bike on the way back and instead walked alongside it. Christmas Eve morning was cold and crisp. JJ needed a big winter coat to keep warm.

Mam and Dad didn’t know where he was, for once. And he relished that fact. He’d snuck out early that morning, asking Marvin to cover for him if anyone asked. “Huh? Where are you going?” Marvin had asked. JJ just replied that he wanted to be alone for a little bit, and that was hard to do while in their house. Marvin blinked, probably not entirely understanding why JJ would want that right now, but he nodded and said he’d pretend JJ was still in their room if anyone asked. JJ ran into Granmam for a moment when getting his bike, but she said nothing, only smiled and wished him a happy holiday.

Even when biking, the doll followed him. His bike had a basket in the front—he’d wanted it so he could put his bag there, but he’d deliberately left his bag behind for once, only taking the cell phone in his pocket. Nevertheless, when he let his attention wander to the side for a bit, the doll appeared in the basket, wearing a small version of his winter coat. Frustrated, JJ shoved his coat into the basket, hiding it from view. He tried to forget about it for the rest of the bike ride. But eventually he had to get off and walk.

He hadn’t been fond of Christmas for a while. When he was younger, he remembered it being so exciting, but over time, both he and Marvin got tired of seeing it everywhere for two months straight. And, just like with their birthday, they both became... aware, over time, of how... their parents got them different things. And how it was never really what they wanted. That really killed their enthusiasm for the holiday. And also, the two of them were never too keen on the celebrations their parents insisted on. Church was boring, opening presents took too long, and dinner was good but always a bit awkward. All of this, combined with the doll issue he’d been facing recently, and he’d almost been dreading Christmas. He just... he had to get out of the house for a little bit. He had to think.

But he couldn’t stay out all day. Not just because it was cold. He didn’t want to make Marvin cover for him all day. And lunchtime was approaching, which is when Mam and Dad would start to ask the most questions. He had to get back before then.

He turned his bike onto the street where their house was, walking down it towards home. A couple cars passed by, but besides him, there were no pedestrians on the street. No, wait. That wasn’t exactly true. He could see a couple of people lingering near the front of one of the houses.

...That was his house. There were people standing in front of his house.

JJ stopped walking for a moment, freezing, unsure what to do. Who were they? Part of the Circle? He stood in place for a moment until the cold started to bite at his coatless arms, and then he started to walk again, mind scrambling to come up with what to do if some of the Circle people tried to command him to do something.

But... no, wait. The pair of people weren’t adults, they were just teenagers. About Jackie’s age, maybe a bit older. The Circle wouldn’t let teenagers join, would they? So it’s probably not them. But still, that begs the question: why were a couple of teenagers hanging out by his house? Were they friends of Jackie’s? JJ couldn’t remember what Jackie’s friends looked like off the top of his head, but he didn’t think this was them.

As he approached, he noticed something. One of the teenagers was speaking in sign language. Huh. That was... unusual. He’d never heard of any teenagers who knew BSL. And while he clearly didn’t know everyone who spoke in sign—that was just absurd—he couldn’t help but think that he would have heard of someone like that. If only from other teachers in school mentioning it. There was only one secondary school in Hollewych, after all, all the kids would be taught there eventually.

He gave the two teenagers a look-over as he kept walking closer. They were both guys, both with dark hair. One was wearing a lot of black, with sleeves that had white stripes on them, and even a streak of black in his hair. The other was wearing a blue t-shirt over a white button-up, and had some sort of necklace or pendant. He was soon able to hear and see their conversation. “...won’t be any, like, consequences for this?” asked the one in black.

If we’re very careful, the one in blue replied.

“I dunno, like, it sounds a bit risky.”

Well we’re already here.

“We can just fucking leave. It’s so easy to not do something.”

Look, honestly, I think there will be more problems if we don’t do this. It’s going to start opening up questions if memories don’t line up, you know?

“Hmm... yeah, I gue—oh shit!” The one in black saw JJ approaching and jumped in surprise, staring at him with blatant shock. The one in blue spun around and looked at JJ with that same expression.

JJ walked up next to them, looking back and forth between the two teenagers. Now that he was closer to them, they looked a bit familiar. He wasn’t sure where he knew them from, though. Maybe he just saw them around school? He decided to be blunt. Why are you outside my house? he asked.

“Uh—well, uh—” The teenager in black hesitated. “...fuck, we didn’t actually come up with what we were gonna say.”

The one in blue laughed. Maybe YOU didn’t, but I’VE been thinking about this for a while.

“Well of course you have, fucking...” The one in black started to grumble.

The teenager in blue reached up and took off his pendant, briefly looping his arm through it while he signed. This is going to be very hard to believe, but we’re here to help you. You and your friends are currently dealing with a group called the Circle, right? And some annoying guy named Anti?

JJ started. How do you know that?

It’s hard to explain, and I don’t know if you’ll believe us, anyway, the one in blue continued. But we really are here to help. We know that something is going to happen tonight. This could help with that. He held up the pendant.

...What is that? JJ asked, eyes narrowed.

I’ve left some instructions for you on the inside, the one in blue said. I think it’s easiest if you read those. You’ll know when to use it.

JJ frowned. He didn’t like how vague these guys were being.

“Uh... J—my friend?” The teenager in black tapped his friend’s shoulder. Or—actually they were probably family. No, they were definitely family. They looked a lot alike. “Maybe explain a bit more?”

Well how do I do that without sounding crazy or threatening? The one in blue asked.

“Uhhhh...”

Exactly.

So, you want me to take that necklace thing? JJ asked, looking at it warily.

The one in blue nodded. You don’t have to. Here. He walked over to the front door and put the pendant down, inside an empty flowerpot (Mam always said she was going to put plants in there but all that ever went in was dirt). Then he walked back over. You don’t have to pick it up if you don’t want to. The two of us will be back here around ten thirty to pick it up from that same spot. If you don’t want to use it, just leave it. If you do, just remember to put it back by that time. You should be back home by then, if I remember correctly. Understand?

JJ blinked. Back home? From what? Was he going somewhere? He didn’t have any plans to. Christmas Eve was blessedly less busy than Christmas Day. You said you knew that something was going to happen tonight, JJ recalled. How?

The one in blue hesitated, so the one in black jumped in. “Look, it’s complicated, and we don’t even know how much we can tell you before fucking weird shit starts happening. It’s greenlight stuff.”

You know about greenlight?!

“We know about a lot of shit,” the one in black said. “Now. The longer we’re here, the bigger the chance that Mam and Dad might see us. And that’ll make shit weird.” He glanced at the front windows of the house nervously.

You don’t have to do anything you do want to, the one in blue said. Not just with this situation. With any situation. You can do what YOU want. He smiled, the expression unusually soft. Things will get better with time.

JJ just stared at him. He looked at the other teenage boy. The two of them really, really looked like each other. And they seemed to know what was going to happen. No... surely they couldn’t be... A lot of weird stuff has happened but that must be impossible...

“We’re, uh—gonna go now.” The one in black grabbed the one in blue’s arm. “See you!”

We’ll be back at ten thirty! the one in blue said quickly. Goodbye! Good luck!

And with that, the two of them ran off down the street, dodging patches of ice and snow. JJ stared at them until they suddenly ducked into the gap between two houses. He saw a faint flash of green light. And then nothing more.

...Somehow, that was the strangest thing he’d experienced yet.

He turned back to the house, walking over to the rain gutter and chaining his bike there next to Marvin’s before hurrying up the front step. The flowerpot sat there. Totally normal. He crouched next to it and looked at the pendant curled up inside, on top of the small layer of dirt and snow. The pendant was silver, totally circular. After a moment’s hesitation, he reached in and picked it up, sticking it in his pocket. If he was right about who those guys were, he should probably trust them. And besides, they weren’t pushy about what they wanted him to do. He liked that. So he felt he should at least check out what this thing was.

Upon heading inside, he immediately locked onto the sound of voices from the second floor. He froze for a moment, panic surging through his heart. That was Mam and Dad and Marvin. They were talking. Did they notice he wasn’t in his room?

Granmam poked her head out of the kitchen. “Scared of the stairs, lad?” She asked. “I don’ blame ye, given the birthday incident. Want me to walk up with ye?”

JJ nodded. He’d take any support right now. He hung his winter coat up on the coat rack, then together, he and Granmam walked up the stairs to the second story.

Mam and Dad were standing in the narrow hallway, looking at Marvin, who was standing in front of their closed bedroom door. Just the three of them was enough to block the hallway going forward. “—very important that both of you know the Christmas schedule,” Dad was saying, emphasizing his point.

“Well you can tell me, and I’ll tell him, that’s so easy!” Marvin said with the air of someone who’d been saying the same thing over and over and gotten nowhere with it.

“It’s much easier if we tell you both at the same time,” Dad replied, with that same air. “That way, nothing gets lost or forgotten.”

“It’s the same schedule as every year anyway!” Marvin folded his arms. “I don’t wanna argue anymore! I’ll just tell JJ, you don’t always have to talk to him!”

“I—Now—Listen here, young man,” Dad stammered, also folding his arms. “You don’t understand the value of—”

Granmam cleared her throat. All three family members turned to look at her and JJ. “Oh, um—Yeah I forgot! JJ wasn’t even in the room!” Marvin improvised. “He went down to—to—Granmam wanted to talk to him!”

“Oh my—Mam.” The boys’ mam sighed. “You couldn’ have said something?”

“T’is is me sayin’ somet’ing,” Granmam said, chuckling. “I jus’ wanted to ask the lads if t’ere was anyt’ing they wanted to do today, and JJ was the only one who came down the stairs. But I can’ blame Marvin for t’at—I would be worried around the stairs too, in his situation.” She stared at Mam and Dad very deliberately. “Wouldn’ ye also cut him some slack?”

Mam and Dad glanced at each other, looking a bit embarrassed. “Well... we just wanted everyone to be on the same page for Christmas,” Dad said awkwardly. “It’s easiest to discuss it with the whole family.”

“You two must’ve been talking for a while,” Mam said. “What about?”

“Oh you know, all the lads’ little friends,” Granmam said, smiling down at JJ and Marvin—though not too far down, JJ realized with a start. When did he and Marvin get so tall?

“Yeah, uh—Chase is having a Christmas party tonight!” Marvin said. “And we—want to go!”

JJ’s mouth dropped open. He stared at Marvin in shock. Had he lost his fucking mind?! They couldn’t just say that! What if their parents said no and didn’t let them hang out with the others at all from then on?! Marvin glanced back at him and subtly signed, Sorry, panic.

Mam blinked in surprise. “JJ, is this true?”

JJ didn’t answer, mind scrambling for what to say.

“Come on, JJ,” Granmam urged gently.

“Yes, tell us what you feel,” Mam said.

He felt that weird spell from the doll kick in immediately after Mam said that. Against his will, his hands began to sign. I really like Chase and Henrik and Jackie and Stacy and I want to spend part of Christmas with them instead of having it all be here. And I’m scared you won’t let me go see them because you want me in pictures or something else that happens every year. These are our first real friends and I think it’s more important to be with them for our first Christmas together than it is to do more of the same things we always do that never change.

The rest of the family was dead quiet as he signed. And the silence continued even after he was done. He looked back and forth between Mam and Dad, suddenly pale. Why did he say that? Why did he say any of that? The only good thing about any of that was that the compulsion only made him say what he was currently thinking, and didn’t force him to spill all his feelings. Even so—Mam and Dad would be mad about all of that, wouldn’t they?

“...well, then,” Mam said awkwardly, glancing at Dad. “I suppose... socializing is important.”

“Bet on my bollocks it’s important!” Granmam said.

“Mam!” Despite their mother’s shocked gasp, Marvin and JJ grinned and had to hold back laughter. Luckily, their parents either didn’t notice or didn’t care enough to chastise them.

“The lad just said it was their first friends,” Granmam continued. “They deserve t’spend some holiday time with them!”

“Well surely it’s not their first friends,” Dad said. “They get invited to all sorts of birthday parties.” Evidently he didn’t realize that they hadn’t been invited to a party since they were seven. “But... I guess they’ve never gone to someone’s house for Christmas... It might be a refreshing experience. What sort of party is it?”

“Uh... it’s for his family,” Marvin said awkwardly. “So like—there will be a lot of adults there, and stuff.”

“Hmm. A lot of supervision.” Mam nodded approvingly. “Are they going to serve dinner?”

“Um... I dunno. JJ, do you know?”

JJ shook his head. Chase hadn’t mentioned anything like that.

“Surely there will be dinner, Emma,” Dad said to Mam. “Who hosts a party for Christmas Eve and doesn’t serve dinner?”

“I suppose it will be less cooking, then...” Mam mused. “Alright. If you get permission from Chase and his mother, you can go over for the evening. As long as you’re back by your school holiday bedtime.”

Marvin made a fist pump, unintentionally sending a few greenlight sparks into the air. JJ jumped, glancing around nervously, but none of the adults seemed to see that. “Thank you!” Marvin said. “JJ, call them right fu—well I mean message them, but also, I wanna talk too, so—I-I don’t know! Contact them right freaking now!”

JJ smiled a little bit. He nodded, taking the phone out of his pocket. Then he inched past everyone else in the hallway, reaching for the bedroom door.

“Oh sorry.” Marvin scooted out of the way.

“We do still have to go over the Christmas schedule,” Dad said.

Let us reach our friends first, to be sure we can go, JJ said.

“Hmm. Good point, son.” Dad nodded, smiling approvingly. He patted JJ’s shoulder. “We’ll wait to hear from them.”

JJ smiled weakly back, and went into their bedroom.

Despite him leaving the doll in his bike basket, it was sitting on his bed when he walked in.

++++++++++++++++++++

“...huh.” Chase looked at the text he just got from JJ. Then he looked up, scanning the living room. The Christmas party was going to start soon. Well, technically it already started but only Grandma and Grandpa were here so far, Grandma sitting on the sofa next to Chase and Grandpa having claimed the armchair. There were some folding chairs set up around the perimeter of the living room for more visitors, since there weren’t enough seats in the living room normally. “Mom? Where’d you go?”

“I’m in the kitchen!” Mom called.

“Okay!” Chase got up from the sofa. Grandma gave him a friendly wave as he went into the kitchen.

Mom was busy setting up the snacks. The other family members had been asked to bring some food as well, so she was leaving spaces for their stuff. So far, there was only a platter of cheese and crackers and a mound of jello. Schneep was in here too, looking at the red gelatin with fascination. “Hey, sweets, what’s up?” Mom asked.

“I got a text message from JJ and Marvin,” Chase said, holding up his phone. “They want to come over for the party. Can they?”

“The Jackson twins?” Mom said. “Sure, they can come. They have to be prepared to stand, though, I don’t think we have many seats to spare, especially if more family members show up.”

“Cool!” Chase grinned. “Oh, can I invite Jackie or Stacy, then? We can all do stuff with the cousins!”

“Sure, but you have to be prepared for them having plans of their own,” Mom said. “Jackie might be having a Christmas party of his own, and Stacy might have plans with her family.”

“Got it! I’ll message them all!” Chase started with typing a reply to the twins. Mom says yes so you can! Then he paused. “Oh, uh... when should they come over?”

“Whenever they want, don’t worry about it,” Mom said.

Chase nodded and added that. “You don’t mind them coming over, do you, Henrik?”

“Hmm? Ah, no, I would like them to be here.” Schneep tore his attention away from the jello to look at Chase. “I hope they do not feel too awkward surrounded by all our family.”

“Eh, they can leave if they want.” Chase finished up his message and sent it, then looked up at Schneep. “Why are you staring at the jello by the way?”

“I have not seen it in person before,” Schneep said. “Or not one so big. Sometimes Mama would let me have those little cups as a treat. I liked the red ones.”

Mom smiled. “Strawberry, right? That’s what this one is too.”

“Is there enough for everyone?”

“There’s enough for you to have a big slice,” Mom assured him.

Schneep smiled up at her, then looked over at Chase. “Should we have gotten presents for all our friends?”

Chase’s eyes widened. “You’re asking me that now? On Christmas Eve? It’s too late to go shopping!”

“Well I did not expect to see them until after the holidays! I thought that we could go shopping afterwards!”

Mom laughed. “Don’t worry about it, you two. At your age, you don’t really get friends Christmas gifts. But you should start to think about it soon. If you guys are really concerned about it, we could get them a little thing. Soap, maybe. Or candles.”

Chase groaned. “I don’t think any of them would like soap or candles.”

“Well, Marvin might, they seem witch-like,” Schneep said.

“Just think about it,” Mom said. “No pressure. Like Henrik said, we can go shopping after Christmas.”

Chase’s phone pinged with a new message. He checked it. Great! We’ll be there around 4 then! =)

Sounds good! Chase replied. “Mom, they’ll be here around four o’clock.”

“Got it.” Mom nodded. “Now go on and ask your other friends.”

“Yep.”

After a few minutes, Jackie and Stacy both said they would stop by for the party. Though Jackie said that he would stop by closer to dinner, and Stacy said she would come over around 3, so they wouldn’t all arrive at the same time. But that was fine. The family was also arriving at different times, though Chase knew that soon the house would be bursting full of people.

Over time, that guess proved to be true. Uncle Terry and Aunt Eva were next to arrive after Grandma and Grandpa, bringing with them all their kids. Theo and Tommy, the younger cousins, saw all of Chase’s consoles and begged him to play some video games with them. He showed them some of the multiplayer party games they had, mostly Mario Party. Bella and Jordan also wanted to play, so Chase essentially got kicked out of using his own console since there were only four players. He didn’t mind, though. It was fun to just watch them go crazy trying all the minigames.

Stacy did show up around three, shortly after Uncle Bob and Aunt Kathy. She looked around, seeming a bit lost. “Hey! Stacy!” Schneep shouted, and he and Chase ran over to greet her.

“Sorry, I know it’s crowded,” Chase said, laughing. “You can take your shoes off here if you want, or leave them on, the grown-ups like to keep them on, I dunno why. Oh! And your coat, of course! Put it in this closet!”

“Hey guys,” Stacy said, taking off her white puffy coat and kicking off her pink boots. “Is this all your family?”

“On Mom’s side, yeah, almost all of them,” Chase said. “There’s just two more coming, our cousins Corinne and Maddie and Maddie’s uhhh... what was that word, again?”

“Fiance,” Schneep said.

“Right yeah. Her boyfriend who’s gonna be her husband. So three more people.”

“Wow. Your family’s a lot smaller than mine,” Stacy said. 

Chase shrugged. “Well, like I said, this is just Mom’s side. Dad’s side is a lot bigger but they live all over.” He tried to not sound disappointed that none of them had bothered to fly out to visit them.

“We still have a pretty big family, I think,” Schneep said. “My Papa’s side of the family only had my Opa.”

“What’s that word mean?” Stacy asked curiously.

“Oh, grand-papa,” Schneep said. He paused. “I wonder if I should send him a card for Christmas... he was always very nice when I saw him. But, ah, h-he could not—His house was not good for children, so we... did not see him often.” Another pause. “I-I will ask Aunt Jess about the card later. F-for now, ah—” He looked at Chase for help.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to our cousins!” Chase said. “You’ll like Bella, I think!”

“Bella?” Stacy leaned to the side. “Oh good! I’m not gonna be the only girl here!”

The cousins immediately took to Stacy, though as expected, she and Bella bonded quickly over being the only two girls of the same age in the house. They immediately started talking about something called Bratz that Chase thought sounded boring but maybe it was a girl thing? Corinne, Madison, and Zeke arrived soon after that, and Stacy seemed happy to meet the older girls too. At one point, Schneep nudged Chase and chuckled, “Stacy looks at Corinne the same way you look at Jackie.”

“What? What does that mean?” Chase asked.

“Like they are the coolest person ever.”

“It’s not the same thing,” Chase grumbled. Though they did seem to be getting along.

JJ and Marvin showed up after that. Marvin had his cape on over his coat. “Hey guys!” Chase greeted. “Come on in! Put your coats in the closet and take your shoes off over here if you want.”

The twins did so—though JJ did so first, stiffening and following the directions robotically. “Duuude your family is so much bigger than ours!” Marvin said. “We just have Mam and Dad and Granmam pretty much.”

“Really? Wow. Stacy said earlier that our family was small.”

“Well I mean everyone is different, aren’t they? When we went to visit Jackie for his birthday he had a bunch of family there and there were more people there than here.”

Thank you so much for letting us come to the party, JJ said. Today was a bad day.

“You were having a bad day?” Stacy said, walking over with Schneep just in time to catch the sign. “I’m sorry. What happened?”

Just a bunch of stuff, JJ said vaguely.

“Oh come on, tell us!” Chase encouraged.

JJ immediately began signing. I’ve been having a bunch of bad feelings about how much this doll stuff sucks, especially with my parents always wanting me to do exactly what they say—

“You do not have to tell us!” Schneep hurriedly said. “If you do not want to!”

“Oh, shoot!” Chase winced. “Sorry JJ!”

JJ sighed, stopping his signing. See, this is what I mean. It’s so frustrating. I was getting bored of Christmas anyway but this is making everything really bad.

“It’s really shitty,” Marvin agreed.

“Well uh... maybe the party will make you feel better?” Chase offered awkwardly. “Our cousins are getting bored of Mario Party.” As he said that, Theo and Tommy started running around, eventually going upstairs. “Yeah, see?” Chase glared up after them. “Hey! You better not be going into our rooms!”

Schneep laughed. “I will go make sure they do not. You all can play video games if you want.” He headed upstairs.

“We always play video games while we’re here, do you guys have anything else?” Marvin asked.

“Uhhh we have cards?” Chase suggested. “We could do a card game? Maybe with the others?”

Marvin looked at JJ. JJ nodded. “Sounds great!” Marvin said excitedly.

The group of kids spent the next little while with card and board games at the dining room table, though they had to clear out after a while as the adults started setting it for dinner. Only then did they return to playing video games. They were halfway through a Mario Party game when Jackie arrived. “Jackie!!” All the kids shouted at once, even JJ signing his name as they all rushed over to greet him.

“Whoa! Hey, little guys!” Jackie laughed, shaking off some powdery snow from his reddish-brown coat. “There’s a storm starting up out there. I’m probably gonna be staying here for a bit longer than I wanted, don’t really want to drive in that.”

“Hey Jackie!” Mom smiled at him from the dining room entrance. “Good to see you made it! We were putting a plate out for you.”

Jackie waved. “Thanks for having me!”

“Your dad is fine with this? You don’t want to spend some time together?”

“He said he could go to a work party while I hung out here, we’ll probably be home at around the same time.” Jackie shrugged. “What are you guys having?”

They were having turkey (which Mom and Grandma had been working on basically all day), pork, mashed potatoes, rolls, some vegetables, the jello, and Aunt Kathy had brought some pies for dessert. There wasn’t enough room for everyone at the dining room table, so a card table was set up in the living room, and even then, there wasn’t enough room. The kids and Jackie decided they’d rather sit huddled around the coffee table to eat instead of fighting for space at the two tables. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but they didn’t mind.

Jackie brought his camera with him, and throughout dinner, he took pictures of the kids and the party. This continued as the party went on, with everyone snacking on the desserts and playing more games, both video games and cards.

“Oh hey, by the way, JJ, I was wondering,” Jackie said, looking at the last picture he took. “What’s that chain coming out of your pocket?”

JJ glanced down, mildly surprised. Not at the chain itself. More like, surprised at seeing it falling out of his pocket. He grabbed the chain and pulled it out, laying it on the table. It’s a weird pendant I got earlier.

Marvin blinked. “When did you get that?”

It’s a strange story... JJ told the others how he got the pendant as quickly as he could.

“Two teenage guys?” Chase repeated. “Do you know either of those guys, Jackie? JJ said they looked around your age.”

Jackie shook his head. “I don’t think so. That’s a pretty vague description of them, but I think I’d remember a guy who also used sign language.”

JJ nodded. That’s what I thought. 

Schneep stared at him. “Do... did you have some idea of who they were?”

It sounds crazy, but... I think I do. You guys have to promise you won’t laugh, but I think—

There was a knock at the front door.

“One second!” Mom called, leaving the dining room and hurrying over. 

The kids all watched, curious, as she did that. Chase had told the visitors earlier that no other family was expected to come. He perked up. But maybe—it was an unexpected visitor? Maybe from the other side of the family. Excited and curious, he got up and ran over to the front door—

But it wasn’t who he thought it’d be. There were four people on the front step outside. All grown-ups. Chase didn’t recognize three of them, but there was one he did: it was one of the doctors from the basement. One of the ones who’d almost poured Marvin’s blood into the Fissure. Chase froze.

“Oh, hey Chase.” Mom looked down at him. “Is everything alright?”

“Wh-what’re they doing here?” Chase stammered.

“I was about to ask that myself. Apparently they’re not just here to visit for the holiday.” Mom turned back to the strangers. “Is there anything we can help you with? We’re a bit busy with a party.”

One of the strangers reached into his pocket and pulled out—is that a badge?! “We need to search your premises, I’m afraid,” he said. “There’s a chance that there are dangerous goods inside.”

“What?!” Mom gasped. “Dangerous—but I’ve—we’ve never gotten involved in anything illegal!”

At that shout, many of the guests inside turned their attention to the doorway. Chase quickly ran back to the coffee table where the rest of the gang was. “What is it?” Stacy hissed.

“There’s people saying that there’s dangerous stuff in here!” Chase hissed back. “And one of them is one of the dark doctors! From the secret hospital basement!”

Marvin’s face immediately turned paper white. “Wh-what? What are they doing here?”

“I don’t know! I think they want to come in?”

“Well don’t fucking let them!”

“How?!”

“I don’t know! Tell your mom to kick them out!”

Jackie frowned. “If they have a warrant, then she has to let them in, no matter what. It’s the law. She could get in trouble for breaking it.”

JJ shivered. He picked the pendant up off the table again. Those teenagers had said he’d know when to use it. Maybe... was this the time? He just had to figure out how to open this.

After a brief talk, Mom stepped to the side, and the strangers walked into the room. “You’ll really find nothing in here, I promise,” she was saying. “Please, try not to disturb the guests. They’ve all traveled so far to be there for our family.”

Schneep looked over at the four strangers, then ducked down, dragging the others with him. “Should we go hide or something?!” he whisper-shouted.

“I think they’ve already seen us!” Chase whisper-shouted back. “It’ll look suspicious if we leave.”

Mom was still talking. “—the four of you could split up, if you want, I’m sure that will speed things up.”

The doctor frowned. “The four of us?”

Suddenly, one of the strangers turned white—she didn’t suddenly go pale the way Marvin did earlier, she turned white, hair and clothes included. And then—she bursts.

A blizzard erupted in the middle of the living room. Screams filled the air. JJ found himself flung backwards until he hit a cabinet by the TV and slumped to the ground. DVDs and games clattered on top of him. The room was suddenly freezing. JJ squinted through the white storm that was filling the room. He could see Schneep nearby, trying to stand up, but a layer of ice was spreading across his legs, sealing them together. “W-what is this?!” Schneep gasped.

Some tall figure ran forward, only to get their head snapped backwards. They fell to the ground and didn’t get up again. Ice was growing over the furniture. People were shouting in alarm as they were frozen to the floor and chairs they were sitting on.

This must be it! If there’s any time to use the pendant, this is it! JJ turned around, putting his back to the rest of the room, and fumbled at the seam he’d noticed in the pendant with numbing fingers. The pendant popped open—revealing that it wasn’t actually a pendant at all. It was... a watch? Like an old fashioned pocket watch.

A piece of folded paper fell out, and JJ quickly scooped it up before the ice froze it to the snow-covered floor. He unfolded it and read a note in familiar handwriting. Turn the minute hand back and press the button at the top of the watch to activate the power. Maximum time is an hour. You cannot use it again until you get back to the time you used it. If you concentrate, your friends will remember, too. Good luck. - You-Know-Who

Yes, with the familiarity of this handwriting, he did, indeed, know who had written the note and given him this watch.

Someone screamed. JJ’s head snapped up. Was that Chase?! Bright greenlight was flashing through the air. Was that Marvin?! He could see a tall figure helping a small one, and a pair of pink glasses frozen to the coffee table. His own legs were being bitten by ice. He had to hurry!

Without really thinking, repeatedly mouthing the words Let my friends remember, he pushed the minute hand on the watch back about fifteen minutes. Then he pressed the button at the top, where the chain looped through a metal ring on the top of the watch—

Everything went dark. JJ felt the rush of wind around him, and something tugged on his stomach, like a rope was suddenly wrapped around it and someone yanked on it.

And then, he was back sitting at the coffee table.

“What the fuck?!” Marvin gasped. “How—what—huh?!”

“H-holy shit!” Jackie stood up and looked around. The guests at the party all stared at him, confused. “Um—”

“What just... happened?” Stacy said quietly.

Chase patted himself down, looking at his chest with alarm. “Huh?!”

Schneep blinked. Then he looked at JJ. “What is that? You are holding the—the locket thing?”

JJ looked around the room. Everything was... the same. The strangers were not in the room, and most of the plates from dinner hadn’t even been cleared up. He glanced down at the watch in his hand. Part of the clock face had turned pale green. About a quarter of it. It started at the spot where the minute hand currently was, and ended at the spot where the minute hand was before he turned it back.

Turned it... back...

This is a time travel device! JJ said excitedly.

“It’s a wha-huh?” Chase blinked.

JJ stood up. Let’s all talk about this upstairs, away from everyone else.

“Okay!” Marvin nodded and also stood up. “Come on, everyone, we’re going upstairs.”

Jackie’s eyes were wide. “Holy... oh my fucking god,” he breathed.

Quick! JJ said.

The rest of the kids all got up. Without saying anything to anyone else, they all headed for the stairs.

What just happened... had never actually happened. Not anymore. But they knew it could. Now, they could figure out how to deal with it.

Maybe this would be a good Christmas after all.

[soraviie]

spending holidays together.txt

━ type: bts x gn! reader  ━ masterlist

━ about: fluff, some angst if you squint  ━  pictures taken from Pinterest

━ a/n: I tried to make this as vague as possible but obviously coming from a country and a family that celebrate Christmas, I was a little bit biased, either way however you celebrate this time or if you're just chilling, I hope you can enjoy this little reaction regardless. Also, there might be a little continuity from previous reactions for some boys

━ previously posted on soraviii

NAMJOON: “Monie! Come here, boy! Monie!” 

Seeing only the rushing colours of the uncaring crowd, you waddled to the side and began to weep uncontrollably. Monie will get lost and die, and Namjoon will hate you forever. This was your first holiday together and you couldn’t even do this one simple thing.

And perhaps, yes, it was the three cups of Svarak talking which you’d drunk while wandering the Christmas market in Prague and perhaps yes, it was the horrid jetlag clouding your emotional state to the point where light inebriation was the least of your worries. Oh, why did you pressure Namjoon into bringing Monie abroad? Who brings a dog to a romantic getaway abroad anyway?

“He’ll get lonely,” you whined, placing your palms against Namjoon’s chest as you adjusted yourself in his lap. 

“He doesn’t understand that emotion,” Namjoon had snided, hands reaching up to grab your hips. “Or any emotion for that matter.”

“Dogs can feel emotions!” you pouted in the poor thing’s defence whilst Namjoon brushed his thumb over your lower lip. 

“I know, baby,” he affirmed. “I’m just saying he specifically doesn’t have them.”

“You’re so mean.”

Well, this idiot of course. Maybe you should have been meaner too, maybe then Monie wouldn’t think it as funny to rip away from his leash and go running off in between vendors selling gingerbread cookies and hot wine. And now be lost forever. 

“Baby?” 

Seeing Namjoon, trying to hold onto the thousands of gift bags to send home, running towards you, only made you weep all the harder, snot falling onto your jacket. 

Tossing the paper bag into the slushed snow, Namjoon took a hold of your face and fretted, like he always did, a million miles per second. 

“Are you hurt? Are you in pain? Did someone hurt you? Are your bones broken?!”

“You’re going to hate me!” you cried, earning nothing but a confused frown and prolonged worrying. 

“Why would I hate my baby?” he cooed but you fervently shook your head, evading his kiss. 

“I lost Monie! I-I lost him and they’re gonna sell him, Namjoon! Oh god, they’re gonna sell him to some mean kids as a holiday present who are going to pull on his tail and ears! Oh, God, what have I d-done?!”

“You mean this Monie?” Namjoon asked with a smile as he stepped aside and lo' and behold without the slightest hint of shame in the eye stood a white dog, his leash stretching to tie around Namjoon’s wrist. 

“Oh my God, you bastard!”

The little dog was rather displeased by the callous and unrefined way of your hugging but you paid it no attention. 

“I found him some five minutes ago,” Namjoon explained, more than a little bewildered at your outburst. “Trying to steal some poor guy’s chicken kebab.”

“And all the trip you fondled him more than me. I was but a decoration.”

“Okay, I get it.

“I mean, I bring my wonderful partner halfway across the world to the top 1 spot to celebrate winter holidays in Europe and what do I get? Nothing. They spend the entire time not admiring the splendour of a city with more than a thousand years under the belt, no, they spend that time buying dog treats.”

“Would you shut up?” you pressed a palm against Namjoon’s mouth, feeling the vibrations of his laughter against your skin. “It was our first holiday together, sorry for being emotional about failing you.”

“You could never fail me baby,” he muttered softly, taking your hand away. “Happy holidays. May we spent fifty more together.”

With a kiss against your temples, Namjoon tucked your legs closer into his lap. His apartment might not be a city with a thousand years under its belt and perhaps it did not smell of hot wine, but it was warm and comfortable, standing strong against the harsh weather of this year's winter and you were perfectly content on spending the holidays quietly in your lonesome. Either way just like he did in Prague, Monie slept the night away, only waking when needing to beg for some food.

YOONGI: “So which one is yours?”

And because it made sense, your mother removed her glasses, squinting at the TV. 

“The second one on the left.”

“What, broad shoulders with a nice smile?”

“No, mom, that’s Jin! I’m with Yoongi.”

“Is it the little one?”

After a partially amused albeit exhausted sigh, you affirmed. 

“Yes, it’s the little one.”

“He looks…nice.”

“He is nice,” you smiled softly to yourself. The broadcast ended and Yoongi’s face was replaced by a soft strumming of generic winter music. Looking out the window with a tangerine twirling between your fingers, you hoped he was at least warm somewhere in Seoul, warm and resting. As it was yesterday and as it will be tomorrow, there was a sunken pang that came when thinking of Yoongi. In times like these you wished nothing more for him to be normal, or at least a little less remarkable, for it to be ordinary enough to sit here with you, awkwardly nodding to whatever your mother said, holding your hand in his and gorging on these tangerines that you subconsciously bought for him. 

But well…life was what it was and you had to accept him. All of him. 

A ring at the door. 

“Oh!” your mother jumped, startled by the jarring sound perturbing the otherwise mellow evening. “It’s probably those damn singers!” she cursed, rolling up the newspaper as if a bunch of mitten-cladded carolers could be thwacked on the nose like a misbehaving dog. 

“I’ll get it,” you sprang to your feet, rushing to the door. “Hey, listen,” you yelled at the ringing stranger, battling with the rusty lock. “This is not a festive house so don’t expect any - oh.”

“Oh,” Yoongi echoed softly. His might be freezing red, along with his nose and his hat was perhaps so big it seemed to envelop his head as a whole, and he just might be covered in snow from head to toe as though he’d tripped and dove face down into a big pile, but to you, he was nothing but a vision. 

“Happy holidays,” he whispered and stretched out a small parcel towards you which you clutched, head pounding away thoroughly dazed. 

“You don’t even celebrate,” you muttered but Yoongi only shrugged. 

“I’m here to celebrate you, nothing mo - wow!”

Wrapping your arms tightly around his neck you began to truly ponder if wishes could indeed come true in this harsh and unfair world as someone liked to say. 

“You’re choking me here, lil’ heater,” Yoongi gasped for air but you didn’t listen, smelling in his faint cologne and breathing a heavy exhale of relief. 

“Deal with it.”

He hummed lowly, with one palm reaching to pat your back. It might have been freezing but you didn’t even notice. Unbeknownst to you neither did he. 

JIN: “It’s fine, Jin.”

Nervously, he exhaled, still twiddling with the reindeer print of his singing tie in the front seat of the car.

“I need to be perfect,” he muttered, peering through the dark at your childhood home standing in the distance like a menacing shadow of an oppressive rock face. One he had chosen to smash his head against this night. 

“You don’t need to be,” softly, you denied, kissing his cheek. Even with the ring on both of your fingers, he blushed. “But you still are. Don’t worry. As heinous as you are, you're an angel compared to my relatives.”

Because of the panic-filled tremor running up his spine it took a whole two minutes for Jin to truly register your words, during which you’d already climbed out the car, taken the largest bulk of presents in your arm and knocked on the door, fully awaiting to be greeted warmly back home for the holidays. 

“Heinous?” Jin muttered absent-mindedly before shaking himself out whatever terrible spell besieged him. It wasn’t your mother he was so afraid of - 

“Oh, Seokjinnie! How’s my favourite son-in-law doing?!”

No, it definitely wasn’t your mother, though he would appreciate she’d pinch his cheeks just a tad less. 

“So, you’re the fiance that they divorced once already.”

It was your judgmental aunts that had him sweating in consecutive nightmares for many months now. 

“Auntie A, please, let’s be civil,” you pushed yourself in front of the slowly brewing conflict. “Not on the holidays.”

“So, Seokjin, we wanted for you to be more included so we…tried to make some of your home foods.”

Jin didn’t know much of this nice woman who spoke kindly to him. She might be your second cousin twice removed on your father’s side, or your aunt thrice removed on your mother’s side… Either way, the spread on the table indeed looked far more eccentric than he was used to. And ever since you’d entered his life, it had been nothing but eccentric.

With bated breaths, the nice lady and your mom waited for his approval and cringing inside, he gave a hollow, polite smile. 

“I like it,” he vomited a bit in his mouth. 

As soft music travelled from downstairs, muffled multicolour of lights glimmered from the small window of your bedroom behind which stretched vast slopes of snow covered by dark. 

“What are they talking about?” Jin whispered, stroking your hair as you laid on top of him. Usually, he’d never liked it but you’d been more of his firsts than he’d ever thought. He could hear just the end of the conversation but the drunken drawl made the words nearly incoherent. 

“About how much they love you,” you muttered in reply, tracing absent-minded patterns on his chest. 

“Liar, liar, ugly pants on fire.”

“Hey, these pants are not ugly,” you whined and Jin hummed. “And I wouldn’t lie. Not on this season of goodwill.”

“Good will, my ass, are you not grinding against my crotch?”

HOSEOK: “Would you sit still?” 

“Sorry, my nose was just itching.”

“Well, do you want it green?” 

“No, ma’am.”

You smirked slightly before focusing back on the work at hand. Or should you say on the hand. 

Hoseok really shouldn’t be looking this good in nail polish. Especially how immediately much you wanted these fingers up in your…Well, either way the polish would be destroyed then. 

With the lights twinkling in the background and the fireplace burning, the night was swimming away into the late night with gracious, almost lulling ease. And while you drew the golden stars one by one, there might still be that treacherous minuscule pang of discontent in the lower pits of your heart, but you pushed it away. Ironically, the first night you painted matching nails it was a time much like this - winter holidays, here in snow-dusted Seoul. 

“Just say you’re disappointed,” he had sighed. 

“And what would that change?” you mumbled grimly, focusing on dragging the brush with near perfection, coating the nail slowly in all black. 

Hoseok didn’t say anything, only drew yet another heavy sigh, before laying his head in your lap. 

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. You knew this would happen - no couple shirts, no photos, nothing shared in public, nothing to ever prove that this, whatever that even entailed, was real. You knew all that but if only knowing would hurt the hollow ache taking root. You felt the weight of his stare but rather than confronting it you decided to be a coward and focus solely on painting your nails. Because that’s what mattered when the love of your life had to tuck you away in his home like a dirty sock otherwise you’ll be harassed until mental breakdown. You knew he carried that ceaseless guilt all around, so much so, that even his ever-present smile was cracking at the seams like vinyl in a cold room. 

“Maybe you can paint my nails?”

That at last had you glancing sparsely towards his side.

“You mean…like matching designs?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged, the tone sounding completely casual. Almost too casual. “I don’t mind painting my nails and…

“And I’ve never stopped wanting to have a little bit of you with me everywhere.”

“As cute as it is, I think Baloo just farted.”

Hoseok threw a heavy glare towards your old, over-fattened Grinch of a Birman only to have it returned back tenfold. 

“He hates me.”

“Just a bit. All done.”

Blowing on his nails, Hoseok glimpsed outside and you watched as his stare turned wistful, seeing the many rows of families, friends and couples all enjoying outside, trading easy laughter and intoxicated cheer. 

“You don’t regret it, do you?” he muttered, almost incoherently. “Being with me?”

You brushed a hand over his knuckles with a sad smile. 

“Our family might be small and our home might be a little quiet but it’s a good one. I don’t need anything else.”

For a second, Hoseok almost appeared stunned before his eyes softened in the glimmering lights and he brushed his forehead against yours. 

“Happy holidays, baby.”

JIMIN: As the years began to pile up, more and more you began to understand the unceasing back pain all adults seemed to complain about and even more so the sentiment behind Grinch standing on a hilltop and yelling down upon the entire city “I HATE YOU!” The hatred for you came shockingly easy, hey, maybe you were just a bad person but what was not easy was to remember that you’d lost your best friend and the man of your dreams all in one well-coordinated swoop.

Forever didn’t seem so stable when it could be killed by a few petty, anger-driven words. The only forever would be the ceaseless taunting.

If only you would have spoken more; if only he would have listened more. If only you had been brave enough to finally tell your best friend you loved him. If only you were just bold enough to believe that his jealousy was out of fear and not some chauvinistic sign of unspoken ownership. If only you’d have the guts to crawl back and apologise. If only…

If only you’d crashed into him harder and cracked your own skull in the process. Then you wouldn’t have to be standing here, in the middle of a snowing open-air ice rink, with children skating amok, evading the pleads of their exhausted parents; you wouldn’t have to be standing here looking at the stupid face of stupidly endearing Park Jimin, of his stupid red eyes that hinted at not so long before finished crying session, of his stupid mismatched hair, growing dark in the roots and still blond at the tips and most of all you wouldn’t have to be feeling the unmistakable sensation of sheer joy as you were faced with someone whom in anger you swore to hate forever. 

Guess that forever didn’t last either. 

His hands, red and roughened from the cold, shuttered to a halt, previously occupied with dusting off your coat as he’d bumped into you on the ice, hurtling you painfully through the air.

He wet his dry lips and gently ghosted those dry-ass hands of his over your elbows, wanting to trap you? Hug you?

Either way, you were pissed and the crowd as it turned could be extremely lonely. Snowflakes fell in large clumps from the blackened sky, behind which sprawled the infinite Cosmos. Infinite Cosmos! With planets and galaxies and universes beyond your comprehension so why? Why, oh why, did this man hold so much power over you?! 

“Don’t come near me,” you growled. “I don’t want to forgive you!”

Jimin being an obnoxious, catty bastard of an angel leaned into your face, so close you could feel the warmth of his breath on your nose, his own expression marred with sheer spite. 

“So I’m forgiven now?”

There were many things to hate about Jimin. How he made your heart quicken and how well he was aware of that fact. The cocky smile he wore as your face hued in unflattering shades of red. You hated how sad he looked when he was down and how it made you want to ruin the entire world for ever daring to upset him. You were supposed to be unflappable, unapproachable and yet slyly like a creeping cat he had pushed past all those finely built walls to make a home in your heart. 

“I’m angry at you!” you curled up your fists only to receive a harsh scowl in return. 

“I’m angry at you as well!” Then he smirked because, despite all your talk when his arm wrapped around your waist, you made no effort to remove it. 

“Stop doing that!”

“Oh, I’m sorry that my face makes expressions,” he rolled his eyes, pushing you closer.

Ask anyone and they’ll tell you that winter lights were pretty but they were cold, much like the sun at certain longitudes of the Earth, but currently, you couldn’t possibly get any warmer. Your back was positively sweltering acutely aware of his stable touch and the fine line you so inappropriately were skating on. Friends. Not lovers. Friends. Just friends. Not even friends now, ex-friends! Strangers! But the way he was holding you was of no strangers. Of no friends. 

Standing here in this stupid, overpriced ice rink with its stupid golden lights, you felt yourself falter, succumbing to weakness. It was all his fault! So why could you not stop the smile blossoming upon your lips?!

“Park Jimin,” you shoved an accusing finger into his chest that definitely hadn’t been getting more toned as of late. “Will you hold yourself responsible when I experience emotional malfunction?”

“Do you mean feelings?” he clarified, eyebrows wrinkling in confusion. “Because if you do, I've been experiencing emotional malfunction for a long time already. I’m the victim here!”

“And what do you want me to do about it?” 

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, but you knew that glint in the eye that had nothing to do with the glimmer of the decorations.  “Kiss it better why don’t you.’Tis the season of kisses.”

“It’s not.”

“It is now,” he growled and pushed his lips upon yours.

TAEHYUNG: Honestly, of all the crazy moments within the last year, it was this one that made you fully grasp just how wild one’s life could get. Here you were on this shaking metal box, after much snivelling and snarling to get a little piece of paper, cramped in between two sweaty dudes and travelling hundreds of miles per hour just to see someone’s son. Embarrassing. And yet you were trembling inside.

Catching a taxi, you tried not to get overwhelmed by the bustling of this foreign city and instead focused on perfecting the tied ribbon, praising the heavens that it didn’t get too smushed in your carry-on luggage. Your family were more than a little concerned and more than greatly disheartened by you skipping away across the world on winter holidays of all time but anyone with eyes could see - your heart was already long gone to that stranger in your phone.

Naturally, you didn’t enjoy seeing Taehyung so glum but the miserable reply of “Doubt so” to your misleading little “Happy Holidays, dear!” did grant you a bit of selfish cheer. He was missing you.

As the decorated trees and many overrun shops breezed past the car windows, you smiled to yourself, nuzzling into the red scarf he’d gifted you. Though when the time came to rap at his door, after getting through the apartment security, you found a sudden knot forming in your throat. What if he didn’t want you to see you? The plans after all had been seemingly set in stone - you return back home and spend the time there. What if he’d been preparing to go out with friends? What if he wasn’t even home? You’d look even more foolish after going through all this trouble. 

Shaking off the nerves, you gathered yourself and knocked before the sliver of cowardice could nestle once again. You could hear Tannie bark on the other side which was a rather good indication he was home and just a second after were elatedly greeted by the sound of slippers shuffling across the floor. You threw a wink at the camera showing his doorstep, barely having the time to jump out of the way when light speed they were thrust into your face. 

“You might get stuck that way,” you teased as Taehyung stood in the doorway, floundering for air like fish out of the water. 

“I thought you were going home for holidays.”

“Well, I couldn’t leave you all alone,” you shrugged. “Don’t say that you’re not - oof!” 

With the gentleness of a raging rhinoceros, Taehyung yanked you into his arms, swaying around as though he was hearing his favourite song. 

“You didn’t even look at your present,” laying on the bed next to him, you pointed at the still-wrapped gift perched on the nearby bedside table. With an elbow braced against his head, he didn’t even glimpse at the gift or attempted to deny the accusations. 

“I will tomorrow,” he promised quietly and you hummed, twirling the button of his loose cardigan that truthfully sat too low on his chest for your mental well being. 

“I’m sorry this probably wasn’t the best winter holiday -”

“It is,” he interrupted without blinking, tone gaining such a lilt of fierceness, you raised your head in astoundment. 

“Did your wish come true or something?”

“Yes, it did,” he answered simply. 

JUNGKOOK: Perching the laundry basket on your hip, you tilted your head to the side, curiously inspecting the green thing attached to the ceiling. You knew Jungkook had his fair share of quirks but putting herbs in the doorway… Shaking your head, you gave a resigned sigh and decided to leave your boyfriend be. But the green thing seemed to haunt you like the world’s shittiest ghost. It wasn’t enough for it to be shoved in a random corner of Jungkook’s own home but soon it invaded yours as well. Waking up, with one cheek pressed against his chest, you shook Jungkook awake, pointing concernedly at the vegetable hovering on the lamp above your head. 

“What is that for?” you inquired, confused but he merely smirked, wagging his eyebrows in nothing but the most annoying fashion.

“Why don’t you tell me?” 

“How would I know?” you grumbled, kicking a leg out of the covers, missing the affronted look Jungkook threw your way, when you missed his puckered up lips. 

As the month dragged on, you grew increasingly perplexed at how Jungkook’s green celery seemed to simply appear wherever your eyes strayed to. You were growing half convinced he had these things half a dozen shoved down his pants. 

“Yes, mom, I got the correct size,” you defended, trying to spot Jungkook’s car in the underground car park of the hellsite that was a shopping centre during the holiday rush. A black car…in a shopping parking lot...like looking for a needle in a stack of needles. Finally, seeing the correct licence plate, you drew a heavy sigh of relief.

“I’ve got to go, talk to you later!”

Upon getting in, you threw the many bags in the backseat, ready to yap Jungkook’s ears off with some overdue complaining only to fall promptly silent when seeing that piece of kale hanging from the car mirror. 

“Ehm…I don’t think it’s an air freshener, Koo,” you gently informed him and he scoffed, lips jutting out in a deeply offended pout. 

“What did I do?” you whined, receiving a dirty glare as an answer. 

“Do you hate me or something?” he glowered after turning his head to the other side and laying his chin on the steering wheel. 

“Why would you say that?”

“You’ve not given me any kisses,” he pointed glumly at his spinach.

“Why would…why would a bundle of herbs equal kisses?” you frowned, failing to see his logic. It wasn’t like it was rare but you’ve never been this confused, especially given how resentful he appeared. 

“Herbs-?” then all of a sudden he broke out in roaring laughter, startling you immediately. Clutching at his stomach, Jungkook threw his head against the seat. “Oh my god, I’m in love with a dummy.”

“Don’t call me a dummy!” you insisted. “Explain why artichoke equals kisses?”

Whatever you said set him off even further and loudly clapping, it would seem Jungkook would commit suicide by choking himself with laughter. 

“ᵃʳᵗᶦᶜʰᵒᵏᵉ,” he gasped, tears streaming down his cheeks and blissfully ignoring your budding irritation. 

“Fucking Elmo laughing ass,” you groused, turning up your nose and hissing when Jungkook pressed a wet kiss against your cheek.  

© soraviii/soraviie 2022-2023

[triviareads]

ARC Review of A Jingle Bell Mingle by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy

Rating: 4/5 Heat Level: 4/5 Publication Date: September 24th

Premise:

Adult film actress Sunny agrees to live with ex-boybander-slash-prior-hookup Isaac Kelly in his spare bedroom so she can work on the script for her new romantic holiday movie.

My review:

A Jingle Bell Mingle was a super sexy, super touching (ha, see what I did there) raunch-com, and the perfect way to wrap up the Christmas Notch series. We've been edged by Sunny and Isaac ever since they had an off-page threesome with another pornstar (It's what Isaac's dead wife would have wanted, okay?), and I was excited to see them pick up where they left off, even with a two-year gap.

Yes, this book does start with an early bang, and I do appreciate it not only because I love an early sex scene, but also because I love when couples don't necessarily need a lot of build-up before sex, but they have ways to go before they can actually be in a functional relationship— It feels very contemporary.

So Sunny moves in temporarily to work on her holiday movie script, and gets it in her head that the only way for Isaac to regain his creative muse is.... dates. With other people. What follows is a hilarious sequence of dates including a hot mechanic, hot librarians, and a hot catty pornstar from That threesome (Isaac and Sunny are both bisexual). Obviously they're all disasters.

Also, I LOVE Sunny; she's bubbly and quite fearless, but she also has some very real insecurities where Isaac is concerned, particularly when it comes to the emotional aspect of their relationship. She also has ADHD and you see these moments of hyperfixation throughout the book, my favorite being the mystery of the mailman, WWII soldier, and his wife, and whatever they were up to back in the day.......

As for Isaac, if you're a fan of a sadboi hero, he's your man. Isaac is.... tragic, to say the least but like, in a hot way because who doesn't love a hot tragic widower? He was also celibate for two years, between the first time him and Sunny hooked up and the present which, again, HOT.

Here's where it gets less hot but packs an emotional punch: Isaac isn't over the passing of his first wife. At all. And at first, it's sweet and sometimes even funny how dramatic and overwrought he gets at times. Then you see the extent of his unhealthy coping mechanisms, namely shutting everyone out to grieve alone, and making Sunny feel reduced to a body rather than someone he can have an emotional connection with. I really appreciate how this book deconstructs that thing romance heroes are prone to doing, where they're convinced they only have one great love of their life, and they're gone now so he can never love again. A lot of romance novels have that development off-page or kind of brush over it so it can get to the happily-ever-after, but not here. Isaac is forced to confront this not only with Sunny, but also his boyband friends/former Christmas Notch heroes.

The sex:

Isaac and Sunny are down-and-ready, anytime, anywhere kind of couple, so obviously they're a fan of a quickie (see: their first time on-page), and public sex because they just can't wait (which is how Sunny ends up shoving fistfuls of cash into a photo booth while Isaac has a hand up her skirt and rips her tights). Isaac does have a bit of a STERN edge but I'd say it's less bossy and more dirty and desperate, plus loads of dirty talk.

I also like how Sunny is never super hung-up on her body as a plus-sized woman, but there's still that moment of genuine awe when Isaac picks her up and drops her on the counter of a public bathroom (another one of their more public encounters lol), and that felt so real to me.

Also, we do get the rare contemporary romance butt stuff, and it does go both ways :D ft. the return of the gingerbread-scented lotion (iykyk).

Overall:

What I love about the Christmas Notch books is that they're genuinely funny (not all romances billed as romcoms are, in my opinion), and they're sexy, sex-positive, AND body positive in a way I rarely see in traditionally published romance novels. A Jingle Bell Mingle was no different and I'd strongly recommend it to any romcom fan.

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

[noxmachinimafr]

Happy Holidays! Honestly, I am just enjoying a simple day of eating chocolates and gingerbread cookies. I received many Japanese-themed Legos to build. :D Still, I have allocated some time to 3D during the week! Because the scene in the dojo will take place only a year (or so) after the events shown in the prologue, I had to work on a younger model of Lord Han-zhu. We will thus see him when he just founded his dojo.

Of course, this outfit is way sober than the colorful ones I previously did for the dancers. But I think it fits him very well, with just the right amount of details. We can see the scar almost healed on his face, and the intact hands covered for the practice of martial arts. Very different from what he will look like 20 years later, progressively gnawn by his scars, his fears, and his anger. The dojo is now almost ready, as you can see! :D

At first, I felt overwhelmed with the tatami mat. I was not sure how to do it... I could not paint it for sure! After several attempts, I found a simple set of procedural nodes to create a pretty nice tatami mat!

I need to find a combination that would work with the roof, later. In the meantime, I started working on the last scene I need for the next episode. The small garden of the Zhu Palace. For now, I am just roughly shaping the building, by placing the items and the characters. I will have to craft a lot of plants. Usually, I managed to use hair particles to shape bushes and trees, but I am worried that dozens of plants with hair particles would make the picture too heavy. I need to do it the "old way", so manually. But the final scene will be really peaceful and cute, so I think it is worth it.

(Sorry, the last picture is a bit dark. Lighting is not set up yet)

[mrapplethorn]

Artificers that don’t use tech

One of the classes of which it doesn’t always feel like it belongs in your (or the adventure’s) world is the Artificer. Its name does not imply that though, we all know the Artificer in Dungeons and Dragons is a person that combines steampunk-esque contraptions with the magic found in most D&D worlds. An Artificer should be, according to the word’s description, a trickster or an immoral craftsman of clever devices. Confining this description to a person that uses metal contraptions to cast spells feels a bit shallow, so here are a few ideas you can use to build your next Artificer.

Art by Kris Theorin (left) and Lily Abdullina (right)

The Gingerbread Man’s Baker

Battle Smith Artificer – Cook’s Utensils

Delirious Barnsforth started out as a simple cook, working for a local noble family. Wanting more out of life, he accidently poisoned the lord and lady of the house. He fled into the forest where he met a benevolent Hag. She gave him shelter and taught him the basics of spellcasting. Delirious showed some affinity for the arcane arts, but he lacked in creativity.

Only after he discovered that there was a way to combine spellcasting with cooking did he really become a force to be reckoned with. His first ‘Steel Defender’ was a blob of dough that he somehow managed to trap a fey spirit in. These days he is known for bringing to life the famous Gingerbread Man.

How to play him

If you have spent one second on the internet, you know there are people on there that love to correct everyone that says Frankenstein when they mean Frankenstein’s Monster. Likewise, Delirious also corrects anyone that calls him anything but The Gingerbread Man’s Baker.

Every spell Baker Barnsforth casts is somehow shaped like a cook’s utensil, food, or other items you’d find in a kitchen.

Delirious, as an Artificer with the Battle Smith subclass, has a steel defender, although his is not made of steel but of dough, and in the shape of his oh-so-famous Gingerbread Man.

Art by Marcin Kulesza (left) and Dan Dossantos (right)

The Tatted Artificer

Armorer Artificer – Painter’s Supplies

Born without a shred of magic in her bones, Diana Jones studied to become an archeologist. Her interests also lied with art and painting, tattooing in particular. So, when she stumbled upon a mysterious dark fluid within a buried temple her first thought was to test it on her skin.

How to play her

Every feature, feat, spell, and ability of the Tatted Artificer is represented by a tattoo on her body. As shown in the image the spell Shadow Blade could manifest as a set of removable scimitar tattoos on your characters back.

The armor she would need to wear to gain her subclass abilities has taken the form of tattoos also.

If you play in a campaign where money has a prominent place, You and your DM have to agree on some things. Armor is a big aspect of the Armorer Artificer. Something we just replaced with tattoos. The easiest step is to keep the cost of an armor improvement but let it technically be an added tattoo.

Art by Alejandro García

The Snake Oil Salesman

High Elf Alchemist Artificer

Smoke billows from their workshop. The Healer of Harkonen goes by many names. But most people know them as Dietrich the Knife-eared Snake oil Salesman. Tall tales of their past are whispered in taverns. They speak of an elf who brought down the destruction of an ancient city with their disease-spreading elixirs. What the stories leave out however is that this simple alchemist does not work alone. They and their twin have travelled the world, fought beasts, and harvested magical components. Now they run a shop that sells miracle potions, miracle in the fact that you will never truly know what happens when drinking them.

How to play them

Dietrich or their sibling do not contribute to a fight with their physical skills. Their spells take on the form of potions, salves, and other concoctions. A fireball for example could be akin to a Molotov Cocktail.

Art by Oleksandr Kozachenko (left) and Victor Titov (right)

The Woodsman

Plasmoid/Reborn Artillerist Artificer

Once a man, the creature now only known as the Woodsman, is a hulking green figure. Raised as an orphan in a Druid Circle, his past is not well documented. His abilities are druid-like but also very alien to them. The forest is his home and the object of his protection. When provoked he breaks of pieces of himself that can act on their own and can only be described as vinelike cannons.

How to play him

The Woodsman has a lot in common with the Oath of the Ancients Paladin, you could even use the tenets of this subclass to guide you in your actions.

The spells the Woodsman casts all thematically link back to his plant-based nature.

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 43

NOOOOOO!!! No Taliesin? Not good ... no, but seriously, get well soon, mate!

The Glove? Dear gods ... feet? Even worse ... this ad is so bad even Sam's having trouble with THIS ONE ... Laura: "Oh shit!" Sam: "No, it's all right it's just acting!" I'm dead ...

Ashley: "What you don't understand is what you don't understand!"

Is Matt maybe a little overly enthusiastic with this plug? Do we care?

Liam: "Let's talk about comic books!" Bit high pitched there, boyo ...

Might be one of the most chaotic intros yet, this one.

Last Thursday Night on a Monday night of the year, it would seem. Here we go, then ...

So what's gonna happen? What was that bird thing? Is it Shithead? Is Letters' number finally up?

Laura, what did you just whisper to Ashley?

Does a 22 hit FCG? Of course it does! And it's a dookie bomb? Wait ... IT'S POISONOUS?!!!

Fearne is NOT actually naked Sam, pay attention to the art ...

Speak With Small Beasts? Hmmm, something tells me it won't work on THIS thing.

3 D10 and she only inflicts 4 points of damage ... that is a CLASSIC D&D moment right there.

Seedling! Yessssss! Sweet!

This is definitely NOT just a bird ...

Ice Knife? Okay ... whoa, and that DID IT?!!! Nice ... okay, guess it WAS just a bird.

Aaaaaaaaaaah! It lives again! Fuuuuuuuck!

IT'S UNDEAD!!! I fucken knew it!

Ewwwww, it's slimy? Bleurgh!

Matt: "It's an awkward creature." No shit!

So it's just belligerent? Fuck, this thing really IS a Shithead. Sam: "I don't know if it CAN be killed, but let's try!"

Oh wow, Laudna's unleashing Pate on it ... thus should be interesting. CAN Pate fly forever? OH YES!!! HEX THE FUCKER!!!

Laudna can now track it for 8 hours. Sam: "This is our day now?"

Pate seems vaguely heartbroken that it fled ... that's kind of tragic.

Genuine eternal torment! Evil! I think I love the idea that THIS THING is FCG's ultimate nemesis. XD This is a perfect foil for Sam.

Chetney: "Did you steal its lover?" You what?

Matt: "No it's not big enough to carry of Ashton." Oh, are they actually making this a thing or is Matt just taking the piss?

Fearne: "Accepting the darkness is actually kind of fun."

Gingerbread mug AND A SPITTAKE!!! WTF just happened? XD

Oh, so Ashton REALLY IS gone ... NOW what?

Keystone Cop City ... Travis: "This year needs TO END!!!"

Imigen Messages Ashton ... he's "following a thing" ... apparently this was Taliesin's request. Smart, but will this complicate things?

Fearne: "What if he's a part if you?" Huh?

Matt is quietly pissing himself laughing about the chaos he hath unleashed upon us ...

Laudna (gasping): "MAYBE DELILAH IS IN HIM NOW!!!"

You guys do realise that FCG is currently COVERED in horrendous shite right now, right?

Into the Seminary then ... yeah, they clearly seem to have forgotten all about the shitbomb aftermath ...

Orym is SHORT. I love it.

Vigil Quarter ...

Fearne wants to submit her credentials for the professorship ... XD I love this ... "Lots of stuff with like ... FIRE." Oh boy ...

A PRESENCE? Hmmmmmmm ...

This ... PERSON is totally giving me vibes like The Feared in The First Law ...

They're from Vasselheim? Hmmm ... Travis: "Vasselheim enters the game!"

A Judicator? Sounds terrifying ... I was right, this thing IS a bit like The Feared ... yeesh ...

Laura: "Looking for the stolen texts, 100%." Marisha: "Totally." Oh yeah, I agree.

The Nightmare version of Carrot Top ... yeah, I don't get the reference but I still understand kind of what you're on about ...

Ah ... okay, NOW I'm thinking Matt's been reading a lot Mistborn lately too ...

Ooooooooh ... this is just DRIPPING in foreshadowing now, isn't it? Mr Mercer, your signposting is showing ...

Fast Friends! HAHA!!! Nicely done.

Oh there we go, FINALLY they're acknowledging the STANKINESS ...

Carolle: "I'm not supposed to be telling you this." FCG: "I know, but it's nice to be naughty sometimes."

Sam, you sneaky little shit ... XD Yes, a walkabout would be in order right now.

Oh no, that's not suspicious at all ...

FCG: "Are we going to KILL this girl?" Laudna: "No, we're just going to get as much information as we can out of her before she HATES US."

Plurple?

Oh this is so bad, she's too nice ...

Laura: "It's like Overboard, you know?" Yes, I too find that movie somewhat problematic ...

Ah, we've arrived ... this place looks fancy ... yeah, this lot bear watching. XD

Oh this house looks quite quaint ... is that intentional? Oh, it's for a diminutive person. Of course.

Yeah, just LET HER GO. Ooh, a tip! Nice kne Orym.

Wait, was that from the fungus? Oh dear ...

Anybody home? Natural 10 ... Matt: "Perfectly average."

Okay, this place is making ME suspicious too ... is there going to be a problem here?

Are you guys SERIOUSLY going to BREAK IN right now?

Did Fearne just THROW Chetney inside? XD

At the mention of the birdbath Travis' eyes go STRAIGHT to Sam ... XD

Fearne: "Are we sure we don't just want to KNOCK?" YES!!! Exactly! Come on, guys!

The door is booby-trapped ... hmmm ...

Travis (as Chetney): "Is there any kind of guttering?" Matt: "Yes." Travis: "Damn it!"

FCG starts mowing the lawn I order to appear to be a gardener. Oh gods this is getting ridiculous ... Imogen: "What are you all doing?" Yeah, I'm with you right now, luv ...

Oh no, now Orym's climbing onto the roof ... Laura: "I can't wait for this campaign to be turned into an animated series."

And now here come the guards ...

"Just when I thought I was out they pulled me back in!"

Deception checks ... oh dear ... and everybody ACES the rolls ... okay then ... I can't believe thos actually worked ...

Imogen: "Are you guys still pretending to be gardeners?"

Black Hole Sun video ... oh yeah ...

Disturbing Presence? NO!!! What are you DOING?!!! It was working!

Hex doesn't work like that! Laura misses Hunter's Mark ...

And now Chetney is IN THE HOUSE ... this is either a good thing or REALLY BAD ...

All the bird cooing noises makes FCG flee under Fearne's skirts ... Fearne: "I'll keep you safe."

Faintest smell of sweat ... the smell of nerves? Oh gods, Matt, what the hell is THAT supposed to mean?

Booby-traps galore ... never a good sign.

Oh sure, like a disembodied voice calling out to him isn't going to TOTALLY FREAK HIM OUT if he's here? Really?

Travis: "I feel like Joe Pesci right now!" Damn, yeah, Chetney very nearly just Home Alone'd himself ...

Chetney opens the window ... and everybody is GONE!!! XD Chetney: "What the fuck?!"

Treshi Ball Change?

Chetney: "I thought I smelled body odour ... smell!"

Orym's stupid high perception again ... Laura (as Imogen): "What do your halfling eyes see?" XD

Laudna clambering in the window all creepy style is chef's kiss ...

Oooooooh ... there are TWO MINDS BENEATH THEM!!! Basement! Basement!

Fearne doing the Fremen Sand Dance ... XD

Chetney opens the desk and gets splashed by a booby-trap ... oh, here we go ... 8 points of acid damage? Yikes! And the desk is empty! Matt's glee at how completely pointless that was ... XD

Travis: "Are there Micro Machines on the floor?"

Ashley makes a People Under the Stairs reference and I sm HORRIFIED by how long it takes for anyone else to get it.

Looking for the trapdoor ... ooh, this is sneaky ... yeah, I don't think the painting actually MEANS anything. And FCG is still not getting it ... oh wait ... here we go. Sam: "It's a Delorean!"

STAIRS!!! Yay!

Orym: "We're just two invisible guys, one of us smoking." Oh yeah, that's right, Orym doesn't have dark vision ... MAGIC BLINDING SKULL!!! And now Orym is blinded!

Declaring their intentions ... is this going to prevent a fight?

Teleportation circle ... and now THEY'RE ALL JUMPING INTO IT?!!! Oh boy ...

And now the break ...

Part 2 ... what now? And are we missing anyone?

Sulfur stink ... Sam immediately makes jokes about Laura farting ...

Planerider Ryn? Oh yeah ... but that's not it ... now I'm just confused ...

The letter! Is the letter going to save the day? Oh wait, Orym's still invisible ...

Baryn? Oh dear, not trained with a crossbow! ^^;

Fearne just appointed herself the leader of Bells Hells, then ...

It WAS Ryn! Okay then!

Niles ... okay ...

Strug-a-loogaloo?

Imogen, just tell them who your mother is! Oh, she shows them her arms ... and YES they DO know her mum! I knew it! Well at least THAT defused the situation ...

A Taste of Tal'dorei tankard? XD

Otohan, yes. Very much the conversation killer ... Laudna (grinning): "She killed me! It was very intense."

Ooooooooh ... EXPOSITION!!! Glorious glorious information!

Oh man, Planerider Ryn is a HOOT!!! XD I love how excited she's getting about all of this.

It's effecting the Shadowfell TOO?!!! Oh fuck that's extra bad ...

Oh yeah, the Nightmare King! Him again ...

The furniture's moving again! Shit!

Ryn: "I'm pleased to discover that we haven't been befuddled by dullards." Should we be at all insulted, people?

Predathos ... from Beyond the Stars? Oh for ... are we going all Lovecraft here?

Wait ... so this is like The Gathering for Ruidusborn?

Sounds like Liliana's gone to the Dark Side, then. That's not good at all ...

Oh! Allies! Yes! Here we go!

Chetney: "Oh yes, I'm Planewalker Chetney. I used to ride, but ... not at this age."

Fearne is like TOTALLY embarassing Imogen with her inadvertent praise (of sorts) ... oh wow, could they actually help her CONTROL that chaotic shit?

The city ... wait, IS THAT what happened at the end of EXU Calamity? O.O

Seriously, if Predathos turns out to be Cthulu I'm gonna laugh my arse off ...

Yeah, the Shadowfell's basically like the Upside-Down ...

Rakshasaaaaaaaaaaa! XD

So not like the Acrobat and the Flea, then? Sorry this whole conversation is giving me massive Stranger Things vibes now ... XD

Yes. Definitely Jeff Goldblum vibes.

The Cerberus Assembly "bullied their way into their studies"? Yeah, sounds about right ... seriously, where's Caleb when you need him?

Yeah, maybe an army's not the best plan right now ... but friends would still be helpful. Hey, guys, call Dorian! Get him to bring Opal and Ted and Dariax!

Come on, Imogen's not THAT fragile!

Laura (singing): "From a distance ..." Damn it ... XD

Oh yeah! Fearne's nana! Yeah! Call on her too! Wait ... The Fatestitcher? WHAAAAAAAT?!!!

Is this news to Fearne? Sam and Laura: "INSIGHT CHECK!!!"

It's A LITTLE BIT of news to her? Wow, the more she talks the more it sounds like some weird conspiracy ... AUNTIES?!!!

Chetney: "Did your home have legs?" Laudna: "Chicken legs?" Fearne: "No, it was a normal home." Imogen: "That walked around?"

Yeah, Morri is totally Baba Yaga. I can totally see that one coming ...

Ira's been working with EVERYBODY. Dude's like a total chaos gremlin ...

Two weeks? Ticktock ticktock ...

Ah, the return of "time is a weird soup" ... XD

Bompers? Who TF is Bompers?

Fearne is WAY too enthusiastic about this idea. XD Imogen is gonna message her ... oh this is gonna be super awful, I just know it ...

Morri the Fate Stinker ... oh Matt, you fool ... XD

This is just getting worse by the second, is Imogen REALLY gonna message Morri?

There's no way Liliana wants Imogen mixed up in this. She loves her, she's her mother ...

Imogen messages Morri ... oh boy, that is a messy one ...

Watching Travis while Morri replies ... yeah ... that is SUPER CREEPY ... and I love how Fearne still thinks she's so cuddly ... meanwhile Imogen is TERRIFIED ...

Oh yeah, who in Vasselheim IS the problem here?

I love Niles ... XD

Oooooooh ... foreboding ... Matt Mercer, stop with the doom and gloom already, you're making us nervous ...

Back to the basement, yeah, probably best.

Teleported back. Okay, is everything okay? Oh shit ... loud bangs are never good ...

It's the feckin Judicators, it has to be ... "Smell them ... find them." Matt: "And that's where we're gonna call it a night!"

AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!! Not ANOTHER cliffhanger, not now with a 2 week wait! DAMN YOU MERCER!!!

[rove-bogge]

Rove looked to the other for a moment wondering what Ortho’s home may be like. If this boring place seemed beautiful to the other. Hands stuffed into his coat’s pocket he huffed and buried his face into his scarf as he walked the cold air nipping at his skin. It wouldn’t take the pair long to arrive in the actual town where the street became lit by frosted lanterns. Illuminating the footways and canals below making the water look like liquid gold. The air smelt like peppermint and gingerbread while the low music of seasonal songs rippled through the air in a strange electronic warble from speaker static and rumbling of vibrations. “D-do you and Idia have any traditions from where you come from?” He asked as they made their way down the cobbled streets. Each lantern had intricate designs tailored to reflect the shop or house it sat outside of. “Each year me and dad would build these lanterns outside the shop.” He mused. “I wonder if he did it this year…Want to try making one?” He asked Ortho. As he led the other through the maze of streets with a route that was so memorised in his mind he didn’t even need to look where he was going. Left…right right again then left. Soon they were outside the three story building. The large glass display panes on the front decorated with lights to welcome the season and make the store look welcoming, Bogge Haberdashery still somehow looked gloomy to him even with the decorations. Just one small cookie cutter lantern sat outside. “Well….the store could do with another one? Want to try?” He asked again, feeling a bit awkward.

let us gaze upon the stars. // @rove-bogge // continued from HERE

the young shroud had conducted himself as so, calm and quiet. such a thing might be more bothersome than soothing to someone like rove, familiar with ortho's habits.

he always had something to say, something he was fascinated with or recently learned. stretches of silence weren't common at all in his interactions and yet there he was, quiet as a mouse.

the audible crunch of snow and swift winds quickly became a fill in sound where conversation ought to be instead.

the way rove slowed his walking pattern did not go unnoticed. actually, ortho noted it quite quickly. was that for him? how sweet…

this may have not been ortho's first experience with snow, nor the town itself but his suddenly dazzled surely made it seem as such.

no matter how many times had and would see it, ortho could never imagine growing sick of the small community.

rove's inquiry brought a brief smile, though sealed away underneath his skull mask. ❝ I have.❞

but as quick as he asked, soon rove began to go on into the dullness of the town ahead.

a pause of silence. for a minute or two ortho only stared at his dorm mate.

the silence wasn't long, it was awkwardness that would make it seem so all until ortho quietly began his response.

❝ ….I think it's beautiful. everyone's cozy little homes down below us on campus. they have clothing stores and bakeries— the people who built this oasis must be proud of what it's become. ❞

after finishing his sentence, the shroud turned his head to face forward once again.

of course rove was hiding something, seemingly bothered by something rattling within his head. it wasn't hard to discern by any means, he knew rove well after all.

he only hoped this invitation was genuine, and not out of obligation.

[blu-joons]

CHRISTMAS A⇴Z HEADCANON ⇴ Im Jaebum

A ⇴ ACTIVITIES

The main activity that the two of you did at Christmas was walking around, you loved being around other people and admiring their festive spirit, whilst Jaebum often found himself getting a lot of inspiration from walking around too.

B ⇴ BAKING

He never saw the fascination in baking at Christmas, until the first year that he did it with you. Gingerbread was a particular skill of yours, and after trying it for the first year, every Christmas after that Jaebum would beg you to make your gingerbreads so that he could eat them, proudly taking them to work with him too so that he could show off to everyone else just how much of a talented baker you were.

C ⇴ CHRISTMAS EVE

You loved Christmas Eve and making the most of Christmas, going out for long walks before settling down with a movie to warm back up. It was the last night of festive spirit and you were always determined to make the most of it, making sure that Jaebum came along for the ride each year with you too.

D ⇴ DECORATING

It was always carnage whenever you decorated for Christmas, you liked for everything to be perfect, whereas Jaebum just put anything anywhere. He worked under your instruction when it came to decorating for Christmas, knowing that if he didn’t put the item where it was supposed to be first time around, you would just end up moving it to where you wanted it to be after he had finished placing it down anyway.

E ⇴ EVENTS

You loved trying to get Jaebum out of the house at Christmas to explore all of the things that were going on in your city. To begin with he would always be a little reluctant, but once you had got him used to the festive spirit, and the winter cold too, each night he would slowly begin to embrace the festivities that were going on around him, and even get involved with a few of the activities going on himself too.

F ⇴ FOOD

Being such a big eater, Christmas dinner was by far one of Jaebum’s favourite things about the holidays, looking forward to his dinner as soon as he woke up on Christmas morning. If you ever left anything on your plate that you didn’t want to eat, Jaebum would snatch it from under your nose in an instant. It didn’t matter who was cooking for him too, his dinner was always delicious and a highlight for him too.

G ⇴ GIFT GIVING

He much preferred to give then receive gifts at Christmas, there was never anything that he really wanted for Christmas, but if he knew there was something that someone else wanted for Christmas, he would make sure to get it.

H ⇴ HOLIDAY HOME

It was very important to Jaebum that Christmas was spent with you, he didn’t mind where in the world you were, whether it was your family, or his, just as long as you were there. Each year whenever you asked him where he wanted to go, he’d tell you that he didn’t mind as long as you were there too.

I ⇴ ICE

Going ice skating with Jaebum usually ended in a bit of a disaster, he was very cautious around the ice and reluctant to let go of the barriers. As soon as he did let go, if he wasn’t holding onto you or one of the balance toys, you could guarantee that he would be on the floor with a very sore back the following morning too.

J ⇴ JOY

Christmas was never too much of a deal for Jaebum, he was not particularly festive until he met you. You were determined to stop him being such a Grinch, and since your very first Christmas together you made sure to get him in the spirit with plenty of movies and songs played throughout December to cheer him up.

K ⇴ KIDS

Every year whenever the two of you went out at Christmas, Jaebum would always catch your eyes being drawn to the children that you saw. The way they loved Christmas was something that you adored, which he knew too, hoping one day that you’d be able to live through the spirit of your own children too.

L ⇴ LOVE

The one thing that Jaebum loved during the holidays was how relaxed you were. Throughout the rest of the year, you were always so busy, and so he was thankful when you got to spend some time off of work and with your family for a short while at Christmas so that you could stop stressing for a short while about work.

M ⇴ MOVIES

Watching movies was one of the things that Jaebum loved to do with you over the holidays, often finding a lot of inspiration from them too. They were great background for the two of you too whilst you were wrapping presents and decorating, making sure that the two of you were definitely in a festive mood.

N ⇴ NAUGHTY OR NICE

He was both naughty and nice when it came to you, he wasn’t afraid to tease you throughout the year, however as soon as you threatened to not buy him anything for Christmas, he quickly turned nice once again.

O ⇴ OBSESSION

Jaebum was obsessed with the time that he got to spend with you at Christmas, having a few days of nothing when he could do whatever he wanted with you was one of his highlights of the holidays every year.

P ⇴ PRESENTS

You were the only present that Jaebum wanted every year, but that never stopped you spoiling him. You loved buying him useful things as he wasn’t particularly materialistic, often investing in things that he could use in his studio when working on music so that he’d be able to get a benefit from the presents that you bought him.

Q ⇴ QUESTIONS

He was pretty rubbish when it came to gift ideas for the other boys especially, and so he’d always ask you for help when buying their presents and enquire if they had dropped any hints when around you for ideas.

R ⇴ RANDOM FACTS

It didn’t matter how old you got, you always wanted an advent calendar over Christmas, and so on the last day of November every year, Jaebum would make sure that he returned home from his schedule with two advent calendars in hand, giving them pride of place on your fireplace to start your countdown.

S ⇴ SNOW

Getting messy in the snow wasn’t always Jaebum’s picture of fun, however he was usually left with no choice when he was around you. If you threw a snowball at him, he wouldn’t be able to just ignore it, he would get you back and soon find himself falling around in the snow in fits of laughter too.

T ⇴ TRADITION

You always watched the same film as the last thing before you went to bed on Christmas Eve, and that was a tradition of yours that Jaebum stuck with too, even when he reached the point of reciting plenty of lines.

U ⇴ UNDERNEATH THE MISTLETOE

Jaebum loved to get you under the mistletoe, especially whenever the two of you were out and about. He loved nothing more than seeing the shy smile that would appear on your face whenever he got you by surprise.

V ⇴ VACATION

The holidays were very much a time when Jaebum wanted to be at home, maybe the week before Christmas he would suggest going away for a little while, but on the actual day of Christmas he wanted to be with loved ones.

W ⇴ WRAPPING

You were by far the better at wrapping presents, but Jaebum liked to watch you and learn to try and wrap his presents for himself too.

X ⇴ XXXX

He loved that you always got a little bit more affectionate during Christmas, you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself most of the time, loving all of the excitement that came with Christmas, you found yourself kissing him even more.

Y ⇴ YOU

You were his favourite gift, there was never anything that could top having you with him.

Z ⇴ ZZZ

Jaebum tended to fall asleep without too many worries the night before Christmas, you tended to be the one that stayed a little while longer, still holding onto quite a bit of the magic of Christmas that you felt when you were younger.

---

Masterlist

[cartoonsbyandie]

“Did you guys just invite me over to do all your work for you?” 

“I thought it would be fun, Bakaito! Just take a cookie already!”

Kaito rolled his eyes at Aoko. Of course she had taken charge of the Christmas activities this year, though decorating gingerbread men was a new one. He’d never done it before, though he was confident he’d be good at it-- piping frosting and doing magic both required a steady hand.

“What are we supposed to decorate them like?” Inspector Nakamori-- well, perhaps now he was just Ginzo-- asked, happy to let Aoko take charge. “Isn’t it just a face and a scarf or something?”

“That’s boring, dad,” Aoko scolded, tapping her chin. “I know! Why don’t we make ourselves?” She was already picking out icing bags to match the stripes on her shirt.

“Isn’t that a little creepy? These are going to get eaten.”

“Don’t be such a grinch! Besides, they’re not voo-doo dolls!”

Kaito shuddered. It’s a good thing Akako’s not here, or she’d be getting ideas from this.

Ginzo simply sighed, more than used to the pair’s bickering over the years, and knowing this was only the beginning. He debated in his head on how messy he was willing to let the kitchen get when the two inevitably started throwing candy at each other. (The usual rules, he figured. If they made a mess, they cleaned it up.) All that mattered was that Kaito had come over at all for the holidays-- it wasn’t the same without him, whether anyone wanted to admit it or not.

Merry Christmas Eve @yes-hei-i-am-fine! I’m your secret santa! :D It was nice to meet you, I hope you like your present! Added a little bit of writing to better fit with the themes you gave me, eheh. Come to think of it I’m not sure how much the drawing counts as fluff. XD

[spideyladman]

2, 5 n 26 (Christmas) about Zeke as s/i :]

Using my Cloud Dad! >:D

2. What have you been up to with [Zeke] lately? Did anything fun happen in the last couple of days?

Well, I have been doing some Christmas ornaments for the upcoming holidays. Zeke was distraught to see that. He said "It has barely been a week since Halloween and you're putting up Christmas decorations now?!"

It was sort of fun to see him dramatically say that he is doomed by Christmas while pretending to be dead on the couch. That was until Rob "accidentally" threw a bucket full of water onto them.

Let's just say that there was more chaos than there needed to be. I had to get Stolas out of the house to not see one of them throwing a mirror at the other for crying out loud!

...

Zeke won the fight though, he wasn't the one who threw the mirror- *clears throat* I didn't say anything, I didn't say anything.

5. Be honest, what was your first impression of [Zeke] when you first met them?

Well, when I first met him, he was being annoyed by a young kid with a squeaky toy. I think Zeke was so annoyed that that was the reason why they threw that toy across the room. But after the kid had left, he seemed sad. Like he was trying to tell someone something, only they didn't know who would get the message.

It did not help whatsoever that the adoption centre lady said that Zeke was a piece of hard work and she would be a bit happier to not have him at the adoption centre. That's when I found out about his age and how his 18th birthday was coming up.

I was horrified to see how a kid that was barely an adult might get kicked out of the adoption centre, and they didn't even get a proper family. The adoption centre or orphanage lady said something about them that really stuck to me. I... don't want to talk about it, it brought back some old memories of mine, and they weren't... exactly good.

Sometimes I wonder... What if I hadn't went to the adoption centre that day?

...

Uh, that sounded way grimmer than I thought it would be- Next question, please!

26. How do you two celebrate [Christmas]?

Oh, Christmas! One of the best holidays for me in my dearest opinion!

Me and Zeke love making gingerbread houses and he seems to be really happy! Sometimes I wonder if in the adoption centre or orphanage he ever had a gingerbread house. He probably never learnt how to make a gingerbread house with the way his first gingerbread house was baked (it was still delicious though), but he must have had a gingerbread house to eat, right? Hopefully...

Zeke and I also prepare some gingerbread cookies that sort of look like us and his cookies look absolutely astounding! We also check up on Rob and Stolas to see if they're not doing anything that isn't okay (Stolas looking for one of the cats on the rooftop, Rob hacking the TV to broadcast a Rickroll at full volume, that sort of matter).

Don't tell the kids this, but I buy the presents and put them underneath the tree with a happy gift card! Rob tried to look for Santa Claus once. We found him in the chimney looking like that Autism creature I see on Tumblr sometimes.

Though, I do feel a bit concerned with the way Zeke eats his gingerbread cookies. He tends to eat one of them their head first. It would be fine if he did the same to all of the cookies and not just a cookie that looks like Rob.

Overall, with the cats being happy and so are the rest of the family, I feel so happy to be with all of them. Christmases are the best time for them. Despite their yellings and occasional arguments, at least they don't go exactly too extreme. When they were living for the first year together, everything was chaotic. It still is but it's more toned and they seem to be understanding their differences, and I'm so happy they're doing that. I am so proud of this family.

[theonewiththefanfics]

Thick And Thin (one-shot)

Synopsis: He never thought his wife would ever even think about divorce. They had problems, which is why they were at marriage counselling. But he never knew her heart had broken a long time ago. And he’d been the one to break it before they even got together.

Pairing: Harry Styles x fem!Reader

Genre: aaaaaaannnnggggssssttt baby, just wanted to write something that’d rip your heart out :)

Warnings: swearing, pain, kinda depressive (??), can’t think of anything else really, but please let me know if there is, also not my best work lol :D

Word count: 7102 (let’s start off the New Year with loads of pain :) )

Italics are flashbacks

“I want a divorce.” 

           Never in Harry’s life did he think he’d have to hear those words. Not after everything they’d been through, not after all of the effort he’d been putting in to save their relationship.

           Those words had not only stunned him but their marriage councillor, the woman’s mouth open mid-word, as she tried to comprehend what was happening. Harry was fairing even worse. It was like his brain was short-circuiting, synapses broken and no longer sending any signals. 

           “Mrs Styles, I know it’s difficult,” the therapist tried to diffuse the situation. “But the reason you’re here is to avoid this specifically.”

           “I don’t remember how you smell anymore,” Y/N continued not listening to the woman, voice like a black void, but her Y/E/C eyes rimmed with tears. “Or taste. I don’t remember how it feels to have you pressed up against me or what it’s like to hear your voice. I… I don’t have anything to cling onto anymore.”

           “It’s why we're here!” he cried through clenched teeth, slipping on his knees before her, hands grasping Y/N’s in a vice-like grip. “It’s why we’re trying.”

           The laugh she let out was detached and without any love. “We tried it your way, Harry.” She’d never called him Harry before. It was always Lover. “And it’s not working for me. It hasn’t from the start. We’re… we’re so unhappy. And I don’t want that for you or for me. We deserve happiness. But I don’t think we can give that to one another anymore.” She took in a shaky breath, looking down at Harry’s hands in her lap. “When I thought of it, at first I felt horrible. I wanted to throw myself off somewhere, but the more I sat on that thought, the more relieved I felt.”

           He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, didn’t want to believe it. “Relieved?” The word felt like acid in his mouth.

           “Yes,” she nodded. “Relieved. Because this choice won’t make us hurt one another anymore. This gives us a chance to have a fresh start.”

           “I don’t want a fresh start! We said – we said through thick and thin.” He was grasping onto the last straw he could find. “This is the thin, but we’ll get through it.”

           “Harry, I already broke through the thin. And now I’m drowning. And when the thick comes, I’ll either be frozen under it and watch you walk further, or I’ll surface somewhere, and I don’t know on which side of the shore I’m gonna be on and where you’ll be. And if you try to get me, you’ll start drowning too. I don’t want that.”

           “But that’s what marriage is! Going through the tough shit together!”

“Harry… I already asked Lionel to draw up the papers. The first draft is done.”

           His blood froze in his veins.

           “When you said to sit down and write one thing that makes me happy about the relationship,” Y/N was looking at the therapist now, “about the person, I – I couldn’t. Because I kept thinking back to the start, to the beginning. That’s what made me happy. But now…” She glanced at Harry. “If there was one thing, I couldn’t do to you, not in a moment like this, is lie. I just… I don’t remember how to be happy with you.”

***

They’d started out as the cliché of best-friends-lose-contact-only-to-be-reunited-and-not-let-their-chance-pass-by-and-fall-in-love. She was ten when she’d moved in next door to him and he was twelve when he’d seen the three vans full up to the house, a little girl hopping out from one of them. Harry watched as she rushed up the doorstep and put in a key, unlocking it and a new chapter of her life with it. Little did he know she’d unlocked a new chapter of his life as well.

She was the new kid at school, and despite the fact that he was a year above, he sat down next to her at lunch.

“ ’M ‘arry,” he said through a mouthful of a sandwich. “Saw you move in yesterday.”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I’m Y/N.”

And that was the start of a blooming friendship.

On her eleventh birthday, he gave her a handmade bracelet. She gave him a kiss on the cheek as a thank you, making Harry blush all shades of pink and red.

He was thirteen when he had his first real kiss on his birthday. Y/N had simply tried to peck him on the cheek, but he’d turned his head, and her mouth had ended up on his. She’d walked away with a shy smile and ears on fire.

She was thirteen when a boy first asked her out. Harry was the first person she told him about it. That was the first time his heart broke.

When he was fifteen, he got his first girlfriend. Y/N was fourteen when her heart broke for the first time.

           And then he'd gone on X-factor and with that forgotten about her. She called him, texted him, messaged him on social media, but usually, she’d maybe get only one picture or a small ‘miss you too’ as a response. So, after a whole year apart, she gave up. What was the point of trying to save anything when he didn’t want to?

           He moved on and became an international superstar. Y/N moved on and graduated top of her class, got into her first-choice university, and graduated with a first as well. He had some relationships here and there, while Y/N had had a steady relationship since the second year of uni, but when she decided to go to a different one for her masters they amicably broke up.

           Eight years later she was sitting at a café in London, laughing with her ex-boyfriend and catching up, as he explained how what Criminal Minds showed wasn’t really what was taught in his criminology degree classes.

           “I’m still saying I dated real-life Spencer Reid,” Y/N chuckled, sipping on her gingerbread latte. “Don’t give a shit, I need something to flex with.”

           Harry had then walked inside the café, shaking off the snow from his boots when a familiar laugh he hadn’t heard in ages invaded his senses. It was almost like he’d stepped into a dream. 

           When his green eyes befell on the owner of the voice, he had to take a double-take. Somehow in his brain, he’d expected the fifteen-year-old teenager, a t-shirt of his face on her body, as she’d cheered him on when he’d gone onto his first concert as part of One Direction to be sitting in the chair, not the grown-up woman.

           He’d still checked in with Y/N through what she posted on her social media, but as much as he’d promised not to have the celebrity life sweep him away, it had. Harry sometimes had two concerts a day, and he barely had a moment to take a bite of food. And he hated to admit it, but Y/N simply slipped from his life. And he didn’t bother to put in the effort to pull her back.

           A huge wave of guilt and longing rushed through his body as he glanced at the woman, her face lit up by joy as she and the man before her continued on with their conversation.

           Someone tapped on his shoulder, making him turn around and face another customer. “You gonna order anything?”

           For a moment Harry stuttered. He could walk away without inserting himself back into Y/N’s life, but he didn’t want that. He’d missed her. Harry didn’t even realise how much he’d missed her.

           “You go ahead.” He motioned with his hand. “I’m still thinking.”

           Harry took in a deep breath and then walked towards where the pair was sitting. 

           The man’s eyes flitted up to see who was towering over Y/N, only for them to widen, and his mouth hang open. 

A sense of pride filled Harry's chest at the reaction and maybe quenched a little bit of the jealousy invading his body. He used to be the one who made Y/N laugh until she had to tell him to stop or she’d pee herself. He was back to take up the role.

           “You okay there, Dan?” she chuckled. “Don’t tell me there’s a ghost behind my back. I told him not to walk out of the flat wit –“ Y/N had turned around and almost choked on her drink. “Oh my god, Harry! Oh – hi!” She jumped up hugging him, feeling how his body shook with laughter at her reaction, strong arms weaving around her middle. “Holy shit, it’s really you!”

           “Yeah, ‘s me. Who else?”

           “I didn’t know you were back in the UK.”

           A warmth spread through his chest, as he reluctantly pulled away from the hug. “Been checking in on me?”

           Y/N rolled her eyes, sitting back down, but pulling up a third chair for Harry to sit upon. “Dan’s a huge fan.” She motioned with her head to the man. “When we first started dating, I thought he was only doing it because we used to be friends, and he hoped I’d set you up or something.”

           Harry masked the choke of envy by clearing his throat and letting out an awkward chuckle. “Hope I’m not interrupting a date or something.”

           “A catch-up date, but not a date date.” Dan lifted his brows at Y/N, who gave him a ‘don’t start this’ look to which he threw up his hands in surrender. “I’m just making conversation.”

           “You’re being annoying, that’s what you are.” Y/N flicked a crumb from the table towards him. 

           It was in that moment that it truly hit how much he’d missed, and it hit him hard he no longer knew the person who once was his best friend.

           “You’re different,” Harry said, looking over at her trying to keep the lump in his throat from making his voice break. 

           Y/N shrugged, eyes twinkling. “I mean it has been almost a decade. I do hope I don’t look the same as I did then. Otherwise, the pain of braces was of no use.”

           “No,” he chuckled shaking his head. “’S not that… It’s like you’re a different person.”

           “I grew up,” she said, sipping on the last bits of her drink. “ ’M not the same fifteen-year-old you saw last.”

           He nodded and bit his lip. But the thing was, Harry wasn’t the stupid sixteen-year-old that left the fifteen-year-old her either. This time, he wouldn’t let the chance at happiness pass him by when he could’ve had it all along. 

***

           He sat across from Y/N at the large marble table and watched, heart bleeding out in his chest as she put her signature on the papers, her attorney fishing out something from his briefcase and handing it to her under the table. He saw her shoulders shudder before she placed a maroon rectangle with a golden inscription on it in her own purse. Harry wanted to vomit. It was her new passport, where her surname no longer matched his, where he no longer existed, inscribed into the document as her spouse. 

           “Mr Styles?” Y/N’s lawyer pushed the papers his way, the pen laying atop them. “’S your turn.”

           ‘Your turn’, as if it was a game of spin the bottle or UNO. 

           “Don’t make me,” he choked out, pleading with Y/N one last time. “Please don’t make me do this. Don’t make me give up on us.”

           Her words were worse than a knife to his soul. “You can’t give up on something that’s no longer there.”

           When they’d been at the stage of negotiation, he’d kept pushing for giving her at least half of his income, to give her one of the houses they owned together, but she’d turned everything down.

           “I didn’t marry you for your money, Harry.” He’d expected her voice to be full of venom, but it wasn’t. It was sad, resigned. “I don’t want what you’ve earned.”

           “Let me give you at least something.”

           “I don’t want anything from you. If it makes you feel any better, you can donate whatever amount you wanted to give me. I don’t care. All I want from this is for you to sign the papers.”

           “And if I can’t?”

           Y/N sighed, looking down at the table. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

           That’s when her attorney had cleared his throat. “Mrs Sty – Y/L/N. Legally, according to the prenup, you are entitled to half of Mr Styles estate as well as twenty percent of all his earnings.”

           But Y/N just shook her head. “I only signed those documents because that’s what he and his agent wanted. I never asked for it or anything or the sort. Donate it, for all I care. Buy a new house, Harry I literally don’t want to know what you do with your money.” Y/N took in a sharp breath and calmed herself down. It’d been the first time Harry had heard any sort of emotion from her since she'd spoken those horrible words. “I just want this over with.”

           And now, he was at the moment of the end. He just never thought their story would end with broken hearts and ripped up futures.

His handwriting was barely legible at best of times, but right now it seemed as if a toddler had tried to forge it with how much his hand shook. When the pen dropped, so did his shoulders, and he saw Y/N’s drop as well.

           Harry’s with weight from the love lost, Y/N’s with relief, for now their broken hearts wouldn’t hurt one another no longer.

           His lawyer handed him over a new passport as well, where Y/N was no longer written as his spouse. The urge to rip it to shreds was almost uncontainable. He hated it more than the divorce papers.

***

           They’d been dating for a little over two years when he decided to propose, only every plan he had was miserably ruined by some outside force.

           The first time he’d decided he’d do it at a romantic dinner. Harry had found out Y/N wasn’t a fan of huge romantic gestures, so he wouldn’t get on one knee and draw everyone’s attention. He’d simply take her hand in his, kiss her fingers and ask. 

           But as they’d sat at the table enjoying their meal and talking, he noticed Y/N become quieter and quieter. A frown morphed on his face.

           “You alright, Lovie?”

           “Umm,” Y/N’s brow creased even more, and she dropped her fork. “I umm I don’t know. ‘M feeling kind of funky?”

           “What’dya mean?”

           “I – “ Y/N opened her mouth but didn’t manage to get anything else out as she jumped up and rushed towards the ladies room.

           Harry quickly dropped his own utensils and rushed after her, not bothering with the yells of the woman who was looking at herself in the mirror, while his girlfriend threw up her guts inside one of the toilets.

           A member of the staff had run to see what all the commotion was about, but when he saw Y/N half inside a stall, half outside, Harry’s hands keeping her hair away from her face, he went back out and immediately grabbed the first aid kit they had in the kitchen, handing it to Harry along with a cold wet towel.

           Y/N shuddered, leaning against the stall wall sweat glistening on her face, as he pressed the damp cloth against her skin. She gave him half a smile. “Told you not to get the shrimp.”

           “I’ll get the cab, Lovie.” He smoothed away the once meticulously styled hair, which was now stuck to her damp skin. 

           But she shook her head. “Not yet.”

           “Why?”

           “Because I’m about to puke again.”

           In the end, she threw up two more times, her stomach really not agreeing with the entrée. The waiters kept apologising the whole time, and the chef had stopped cooking, the restaurant immediately taking action and refunding everyone who’d ordered anything with shrimps in them.

           When they’d gotten back home, Y/N was so tired and felt so sick, Harry could only help her get out of the dress, clean her up with a warm towel and wrap her up in her favourite pyjamas before curling up together on his bed and falling asleep, making sure if there was a moment, she felt nauseous again, he was by her side. She needed his help more than he needed to propose.

***

           He threw himself into his work like a madman. Day and night, he was either at a studio, on a filming lot, in between meetings or interviews. The media buzzed about how his marriage had fallen apart, even though Y/N hadn’t made a statement or spoken a word to anyone, and neither had Harry. But he guessed the emptiness of his ring finger gave everything away.

           He refused, however, to speak on it. As painful as it was, he was still in love with Y/N. She hadn’t chosen to be in the spotlight, it was Harry’s world, not hers, so he respected her decision to be quiet and remained so himself, save for one single post his management had asked for him to put up. It'd also been the last time he'd spoken to her.

All he received was a simple text message 'do what you have to do'.

           A couple of months down the line though, something came up, and Harry couldn’t keep his tongue behind his teeth.

           It was an article in The Sun, a photograph of Y/N plastered all over the front page with the words ‘Gold-digger Y/L/N finally seen out after divorce with Harry Styles.” He’d snatched the paper right off the stand and flipped it open, frantic green eyes scanning the words.

           ‘Despite it only being two months since the two childhood ex-best friends broke up, Y/N Y/L/N was already seen in the company of a man, sharing a drink, and giving one another flirtatious smiles. An inside source tells us, how she hadn’t even been that upset about the divorce and has been going out and having fun with many male companions, one of them being her ex-boyfriend from university times.’ 

           ‘Harry Styles, known for his time in the pop boyband One Direction and for his solo endeavours in music as well as dabbling in acting, broke everyone’s belief in true love after being seen in public without a ring. This prompted an announcement that the four-year relationship and two-year marriage to who was once his best friend had ended and the two had decided to get a divorce. Although the post showed a picture of their silhouettes holding one another with their foreheads together, and his statement showed nothing but love and respect for his then-wife, sources say Y/N had been controlling and obsessive over her then-husband and hadn’t wanted him to leave to pursue his career, stifling his growth.’

           He didn’t bother to read any further, as he pulled out his phone, calling Jeff immediately to figure out how to make all of it go away, how to do at least one thing right.

           “They’re dragging her name through the mud!” he sneered, not even caring he was bumping shoulders with people, and if the paparazzi would dare spin a story of the state he was in at that moment, he’d sue each and every one of them personally. “I have to do something. Fuck, Jeff, I love her! I can’t let them paint her like this. Y/N – “ he choked back a lump. “She never asked for this. Didn’t ask for anything. And that man – that was Dan, okay. I know him. Yes, he’s her ex, but they don’t know anything!”

           “Harry I’ve sent them cease-and-desist letters already.” Jeff tried to ease him. “But… she’s no longer your concern Har.”

           The words hit him like a bullet and ripped a hole in his chest just like one of them would. “You might still love her,” Jeff’s voice was solemn. “But Y/N is no longer yours to protect.”

           “I can’t just let them talk shit about her,” Harry whispered back.

           His friend sighed on the other side of the line. “I know. Which is why we’ll deal with it. But you have to start letting her go.”

***

The second time Harry wanted to propose was about a month later, and Christmas was right around the corner. They’d decided that Christmas Eve would be spent with his sister, her boyfriend and Anne, while Christmas Day they’d go to Y/N’s side of the family. 

Although they’d settled on one gift each, Harry had been carrying around that small box for what felt like an eternity. And it wouldn’t really be a gift, given how he’d wrap it and hang it in the tree.

“It’s an ornament,” he’d say to her, a smug smile on his lips, as Y/N would roll her eyes at him. “Just because it has your name on it, doesn’t mean it’s immediately a present.”

And then she’d open it, and would gasp, and Harry would slide down on his knee, press a kiss to her ring-free finger before asking that fateful question. 

But just like before, his plan didn’t come to fruition. 

           He’d asked his mother to hang up the little box, so there was no chance of Y/N seeing it in his hands, but what he hadn’t thought of was Gemma’s boyfriend had decided on the exact same plan of action.

           When Michal had dropped down on his knee, Harry’s sister’s trembling hand in his, he couldn’t do that to them. As much as he wanted to marry Y/N, he couldn’t take away Gemma’s moment. So while Y/N was preoccupied with looking at the gleaming diamond on Gemma’s finger, Harry plucked down the box from where it’d hung and placed it on the side no one could see, before he could put it in his bag.

           “ ’M sorry, honey,” Anne had said to him over coffee the next morning. “I didn’t know Michal would do that.”

           He’d just shaken his head, no hurt in his heart. “Great minds think alike. Our moment will come. ‘M happy for Gem. Besides, if he hadn’t done that anytime soon, I would’ve needed to have a stern talking.” 

***

           What his sister said to him made him think he had to be living in a simulation, because it couldn’t be true. Y/N couldn’t be getting married. Not this soon. Not ever. Not to someone who wasn’t him. It had been barely a year since he’d signed the death sentence to his own happiness.

           Harry shook his head. “You’re lying. Tell me you’re lying, Gem.”

           “I’m not.” Her voice broke as she said it. “I saw her at a café. Saw the ring… the man who gave it to her. Harry, I’m so sorry.”

           His mind reeled with questions he wasn’t sure he wanted answers to. Was that why she’d really divorced him? Had she been cheating on him and just needed an excuse out of their relationship to jump into the new one? He was away so much on their relationship, he wouldn’t have been surprised if someone else had swooped in and tried to win her heart.

Harry’s mind was one of the greatest things he’d been blessed him, but also one of the worst curses bestowed upon him, as it weaved a story of Y/N and the man who’d now put a gleaming ring on her finger.

           He was away, like always, doing something he could do another time. She was on her own, keeping their bed warm with just her body, fighting for their relationship on her own, while he made plans once more to go to a different part of the world and leave her behind again.

           Y/N pulled herself out of the bed, sighing and rubbing her face. She opened their closet only to be greeted with Harry’s half empty. Maybe that was the moment she decided to find someone who’d fill it and wouldn’t leave it permanently empty, Harry conjured up.

           She’d dress in a soft jumper and some jeans, a large cardigan hanging over her body and would go to a café for her morning drink. And that’s where she’d meet him. The stranger that would take her out of the lonely life she’d been living. The stranger that would make a smile bloom on her face and her heart stutter once more. The stranger who would show her the love Y/N deserved to have.

           Harry had to shake his head to get rid of the thoughts before they ventured into a worse territory.

           No. Y/N wasn’t like that. No matter what, she would never cheat on him. She had enough dignity for herself and respect for him, even though in his own mind, Harry didn’t think he deserved it. 

           Although he didn’t have a right to, nor was it the sanest move (and if someone saw him doing it, there would probably be a slew of articles), Harry got into his car and drove to where Y/N’s apartment was, and when she opened the door after hearing seven loud knocks, he stepped inside without even waiting for her to invite him. 

           “You’re getting married?”

           She crossed her arms. “It’s none of your concern.”

           “It’s been barely a year! I refuse to believe you’ve moved on so fast.”

           Maybe he was kidding himself, and Y/N truly had, but as much as their marriage had fallen apart, he did have the honour of having known her and having figured some things out deeper than others would.

           Y//N scoffed. “I was proposed to. And I said yes.” The words were like venom entering his veins. “If I wasn’t, then I wouldn’t have agreed to it. And as I already said – it is none of your concern.”

           Harry stood there, watching as she dragged a hand down her face, eyes flitting everywhere he wasn’t. It told him everything he needed to know.

           “You’re not happy,” he whispered stepping forward and reaching for her hand. “I know how you shine when you’re truly happy. This isn’t it. Why are you doing this?”

           “That doesn’t matter.”          

           Harry was so confused, at a complete loss at what Y/N was saying. “So, you’ll what? Get married to him and be miserable? Why the hell did you divorce me then?”

Y/N sighed. “Being unhappy with him isn’t as unbearable as being unhappy with you. Because with you, I know what it feels like to truly fully loved. Which is why it broke me when you stopped.”

           “I never stopped!” Harry whisper yelled, anger coursing through his veins at her words, because they were lies. “Why do you think I dragged us to marriage counselling? Why do you think I kept fighting for us? For you?! You were the one that gave up!” 

           “You weren’t there when I needed you.” 

           Harry blinked rapidly, not understanding what she meant.

           “You left me for ten years. You forgot all about me until that day at the café. Not once did you message me or call me or even send fucking snail mail. I was the one putting in all the effort, I was the one who was trying to keep you in my life, but you didn’t want it. Just like it was when we were married.”

           Rage bubbled under the surface, but he kept it at bay. That was not how he’d get Y/N back. “How?” he asked calmly. “How did I not want it?”

She scoffed shaking her head. “It was the same as it was ten years ago. With the movie, the new album... You were always at the studio or hanging out with your castmates. When I asked for you to free up one night, one single night, you didn’t come back until three AM, drunk off your ass, and I had to take care of you. I asked for one night. And you didn’t even give me that. So forgive me for not feeling like you still loved me.”

           “Why didn’t you talk to me then?!”

           “I did!” This was the first time he’d ever heard Y/N yell, before kneading her lips tightly together and then continuing more quietly. “But you never heard me. Not really. You heard what I asked, and promised to be there, but when the time came… something more important always came up. Something that always deserved to have the promise you gave me to be broken.” Y/N gave him a sad smile. “Do you remember when you first asked me out? And I said no?”

           Harry nodded. “You said that we just got one another back and didn’t want to have anything rip us apart again. Didn’t even want to chance it.”

           “And you said it was exactly why I should give us a chance. That we’d finally found one another again and shouldn’t let the opportunity go…” She tilted her head. “Guess we should’ve listened to me. I included.”

           He couldn’t believe her. “Is that really your takeaway here? You were right?”

           “But I was.” Y/N shrugged. “Look at where we are now. You forgot me for basically ten years.” She shrugged, stepping away. “Give it some time, and you’ll forget me for the rest of your life. Besides, we’ve not known one another longer than we have. So, it shouldn’t be that hard.”

           “Why did you then? Go out with me?” Harry swallowed the lump in his throat. “Get married to me?”

           For a moment Y/N just looked at him, Y/E/C eyes boring into his green ones. “Because I’d once again convinced myself I was important to you, just like I did when we were teens. And in my head, I had dreamt up that maybe I’d be important enough for you not to forget me.”

***

The third time did the charm though.

           They were both sleepy, under the covers of Harry’s bed, eyes barely keeping open as they were determined to finish Elf.

           Y/N had her cheek pressed against his chest, bare body next to his naked one. She hated sleeping in pyjamas (unless they were staying over at one of their parent’s places,) because she said it made her feel like the clothes were suffocating her. Harry didn’t like sleeping with pyjamas because all he wanted was to fully feel the skin of his lover next to his. 

           Snow fell behind the large windows of his London penthouse apartment, covering the city in a white blanket. It rarely snowed there, so he watched with warmth in his heart as the flakes fluttered to the ground.

           It was all so calm, so serene, that Harry realised that’d been the moment he’d been waiting for. No need for fancy dinners or present it as a loud gift. Being together was a gift enough.

           “Lovie?” he asked, nose hidden in her hair. “You awake?”

           All he received in answer was a small hum. She was on the verge of passing out, but this was the moment, so, he whispered the question, voice so low as if he was asking the dark to marry him not Y/N.

           He couldn’t look at her, afraid of what she might say, afraid she might say no, think back to the times he wasn’t there for her, think of all the reasons why he wasn’t good enough for her, and would only bring her sorrow. 

           “Lover.” Her voice was as soft as a summer’s morning. “Look at me. Please.”

           It was one of the most frightening things in his life, as he did so. 

           Y/E/C eyes met green. What he saw on her face allowed his heart to calm down a little.

           “Is the Sun the closest star to us?”

           That he hadn’t expected. “What?”

           “Does it rise in the East and set in the West?”

           “Y-yes?”

           Her hand cupped his cheek, and he melted against her. “Then why are you asking me a question you know the answer will be the same as to those?”

           “Can I put the ring on your finger then?” He was more excited than about anything in his life.

           Y/N shook her head, bringing his lips to brush against hers. “Don’t need a ring. Just need you to kiss me.”

***

           The wedding was far away from the city so that no one from the press could even think about following her or her entourage. The guest list was small, compared to the three hundred people Harry’s and her wedding had had.

           Anne had told him not to go. He wasn’t invited, and neither was she or Gemma, for obvious reasons. As much as Y/N loved them, she knew it’d hurt the two women, but it would hurt Harry more. So seeing her stepping out of the car, dressed in a cream wedding gown, a veil covering her face, made flashbacks appear behind Harry’s eyelids.

           She’d worn an off-white gown before as well, dusty rose to be exact. And Harry’s bow tie had matched it. Y/N had never liked the thought of wearing white at her wedding. 

           “Listen, if it’s white, I’ll most definitely spill something on it,” she’d told him as both of them had been flipping through some wedding magazines. “You know me. But if it’s some other colour, there’s a bigger chance no one will notice when that happens.”

           It didn’t seem right to him. It was like a bad fever-dream like he’d had that one time, and Y/N had had to listen to him babble about the hallucinations dancing in front of him because of the high temperature.

           Her gaze remained on the ground, or maybe on the bucket of white roses in her hands. She hated white roses.

           A woman in a pale blue dress straightened out the back of Y/N’s dress and the train of it, and he watched as her mother came to stand beside her daughter, giving her an elbow to grasp onto.

           All he wanted was for Y/N to be happy, and it hurt to think it wasn’t with him because Harry believed it was supposed to be him. 

           He took in a shaky breath and got out of the car just as Y/N had walked up the steps and disappeared behind the double doors.

           It was going to be him.

***

Harry knew he wasn’t the best husband in the world. He was away for a lot of time, and as conceited of an excuse it was, his job did entail going out to parties, mingling with other people living the high life, and being seen with certain celebs.

           Y/N was never one for it. She always supported Harry, but she didn’t like going out and spending time with people who didn’t care for her existence. Well, maybe they did, but only in a sense that she’d been the lucky bitch who’d snagged up the Harry Styles.

           But if there was something Harry did was love, and he loved wholeheartedly, which is why it absolutely destroyed him when he’d gotten back home one evening and heard Y/N crying in their bathroom.

           She’d never tell him, but it was because no longer did his pillow smell like him. Harry had been away for so long, that the essence of him that’d soaked into their sheets was no longer there. And it broke her to pieces.

           When he’d get home, he’d be so tired, he’d crash on the couch, only tiptoeing his way into their shared room to go to his closet and get some clean clothes in the morning. He’d look over at his sleeping wife and allow a blissful smile to bloom on his face at the sight.

           He was so lucky to have Y/N back in his life. He was so lucky she’d accepted him and fallen for him as he’d fallen for her. He’d silently move over and press a kiss to her temple, before going back down and off to work once more. Only he wouldn’t see the dried tears on her cheeks.

           So, when he’d found her curled up in the tub, hands in her hair, face hidden by her knees, frame trembling like leaves in a storm, he instantly dropped to his knees, ignoring the sharp pain shooting through his bones, as he pulled Y/N into him.

           “I can’t, Harry,” she choked out, shaking her head. He knew it was bad. She never called him by his name. “I can’t do this. I’m so alone. Even when you’re here, I’m alone.”

           Harry had had his heart broken before, and always he wondered afterwards if someone took it out of his chest at that moment, what kind of a sound would it make. Or maybe it wouldn’t. Maybe it’d be as silent as the tears running down his face at Y/N’s confession.      

           “Maybe,” he swallowed harshly trying to keep his whole body from shaking, from showing the fear her statement instilled in him. “Maybe we need couple’s therapy.”

           “What?” her eyebrows had shot up to the middle of the forehead.

           “Y/N, we’re clearly having problems. I – I know I need to work on things, but you’re also not telling me how you’re feeling. Maybe we just need some help.”

           She didn’t really know what to respond. In her mind, Y/N had somehow conjured up an image that if she ever got married, they’d be happy. Sure, they’d fight and have rows, but they’d always be able to work things out on their own. Not once in her life, did she ever think she’d need to go and see a marriage counsellor to help her save her marriage.

           Her own parents much like Harry’s had gotten divorced. Hers had tried therapy. It’d been their last resort. It didn't work. So, when he’d mentioned it to her, that’s what made her decide it was truly over. 

           Y/N nodded, bringing him in for a hug, and felt his body melt into hers with relief.

She’d try, for Harry, but her mind was already made up.

***

           So he stood outside the doors, listening for the line of ‘if there is anyone who opposes this union speak up now, or forever hold your peace’. His hand grasped the handle, ready to push, but… he couldn’t. He’d ruined her happy ever after once before. He couldn’t do that again to her.

           Tears streamed down his face as he pocketed his hands and ventured away from the ceremony. The ceremony where the love of his life was promising to cherish someone else, to fight through thick and thin with someone else, to make someone else happy, while her own happiness suffered.

           Harry sat in his car, waiting for her to exit, a smile on her face as she’d hold the hand of who now was her husband. That'd be the moment he'd let go of her. But when the doors sprung open, she was alone, hands clutching onto the front of her dress, as she rushed down the steps and back inside the car she’d arrived in.

           For a second he sat in his vehicle, stunned beyond belief at what had happened, at what, as horrible as it sounded, he hoped had happened. When a man, hand in his hair ran outside as well, the same woman in the pale blue dress rushing out with him, Harry knew.

           He was basically a madman on the road, breaking almost every possible law as he tried to catch up to the car Y/N had jumped in. 

           His mind raced with the possibilities of where she could’ve gone. The airport, her family’s summer house in Winchester, honestly anywhere in the world, but Harry shut up his mind, and allowed his heart to make the decision.

           It didn’t seem like Y/N had premeditated fleeing from her wedding, which meant she’d need her stuff. And that meant going to her apartment as quickly as possible before someone came to look for her.

           The way he parked was probably illegal leaving the car basically in the middle of the road, but Harry didn’t care much as he frantically rushed up the steps of her apartment complex. He was scared that if he knocked, she wouldn’t open, thinking it might be someone from the wedding, but he didn’t need to be afraid of it, as he saw Y/N, her hair still styled as it had been for the ceremony, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, a suitcase in hand exiting from the flat.

           “Why didn’t you do it?” he breathlessly asked, startling her and making her drop the keys.

           Y/N’s eyebrows furrowed. “What? What are you doing here?”

           Harry stepped closer, hand cupping her cheek, insides trembling from all of the emotions coursing through his body. “Why didn’t you do it? Marry him? Why didn’t you say yes?”

           “I – “ Y/N choked on her words. “I couldn’t say yes. It didn’t feel right.”

           “Why?”

           “Because it wasn’t you, I was saying yes to.”

           That was all Harry needed to kiss her like he'd done once before. And this time, he wasn’t going to let her go. He’d made that mistake twice. He would never repeat it again.

           “I love you,” he cried through a laugh. “I love you. I love you. I love you. And I’m never letting you slip through my fingers ever again.”

           “How can you even think about loving me again after what I did to us?” she asked, pulling away from his lips.

           Harry chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re talking like I ever stopped. Through thick and thin. It’s what we promised. Think and thin, my Lovie."

***

           A sixteen-year-old Harry and a fifteen-year-old Y/N laid outside in the grass of Harry’s garden; eyes trained onto the dark night starlit sky above. It was the day before his life changed forever as did hers.

           “Do you believe in soulmates?” Harry asked, trying to catch a glimpse of a shooting star.

           Y/N scrunched up her nose. “No. I don’t think I do. And I don’t think I want one.”

           “Why not?”

           “What if they’re old and in their thirties? Or dead?”

           Harry snorted at her response.

           “And you?” Y/N turned her head to look at him. “Do you believe in soulmates?

           He bit his lip and nodded. “I think I do. I think it’s two people who’ve been brought together, and no matter what happens will find their way to one another. Through thick and thin.”

"And what if one of them breaks the other's heart?"

"That's the thin." He looked at her. "And you don't give up then. It's when you need to love them even more."

Tags (crossed out wouldn’t take):

Everything tags: @lumelgy @palaiasaurus64 @supernaturalbaesduh @breezy1415 @crazy--me @thatawkwardlittlefangirl @sea040561 @staryeyedgirl @deathbyarabbit @s-c-a-r-e-d-po-t-t-e-r @reblogger-not-a-blogger @m-a-t-91 @dalilx @i-need-a-hero-i-need-a-loki @maladaptive-ninja-returns @averyrogers83 @in-the-end-im-still-trash @gallifreyansass @dewy-biitch @avxgers @unlikelygalaxygiver @magicwithaknife @ollyoxenfrees @bnhvrdy @tvwhoresblog @celebsimagines @thatkindofgurl​ @sj-thefan​ @teenwolflover28 @lestersglitterglue​ @im-squished​

Harry Styles tags: @sarcasticallywitty15​ @breezykpop​ @girlboss99​ @harrystylesdoesntknowiexist​ @alliyjane​ @sirtommyholland​

A/N: Happy 2021 everyone! Hopefully things are better this year, and everyone stays safe and sound.

P.S. my tags are always open :)

P.S.S. please don’t repost my fics on other platforms without specific written permission. Reblogs are a okay :)