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fairykazu · 4 months

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WARM SMILES & HOT COCOA FT. KAZUHA contents // meet-cute, reminiscing on memories, blooming est. relationship, strangers to friends to lovers, feminine reader masterlist

if there was any season, you'll ask kazuha which he'd liked the most, he would pick winter in an instant. although, if you asked him before dating him, he would say autumn. he would clarify first that he loves every season, but autumn is his favorite because of the weather being not too hot or too cold and how the leaves are crunchy.

you've asked since the season your boyfriend would always reply with was autumn. it was his go-to season. so when it was a sudden change you wanted to ask why and why did he say "you have changed my brain chemistry!"

who taught him this???

finding it strange, you thought otherwise but he insisted that you did. you snorted quietly as kazuha persistently asked you why you reacted that way. "it's because you've liked autumn for so long, i don't understand why you would change it all the sudden." kazuha wrinkled his nose a little out of confusion, sitting down on the brown couch as you draped a blanket over him.

he kept you closer to him, eventually, you were pulled into his lap as he replied, "not because of how much it snowed so you could build a snowman and catch the snowflakes on your tongue. nor the reason to ice skate or drink hot cocoa without looking crazy. it was the season when i met you."

you hid your small smile into kazuha's neck, he could feel the smile against his skin. "why are you hiding your face from me? my beautiful girlfriend?"

"stop being corny, kazuha."

"sweetheart, im not being 'corny', im being honest."

˚₊ ❄︎ (flashback)

today was a disaster not only it started to snow, your blind date, which hu tao went out of her way to set up, stood you up. now you're freezing your butt off in the snow that's at least two or more inches tall, thankfully, there was a bookstore next door. trudging in the snow, the windows displayed books littered around all over two white shelves on both sides. if you could, you would just admire and stare at the display choosing which book you'd read but it's not the time nor place for it.

the bell rang when a blonde guy opened the engraved oak door for you, you thanked him as he walked behind you. a gust of warm air hits your ruddy cheeks, you felt as if heaven came to you just to kiss you with warmth. you stood on the outskirts of the bookstore, shaking off the snow off of you. leaving the small cluster of snow in a corner, you walked through the bookshelves filled room. as the overhead lights set a warm setting, you went to the cafe that was placed in a corner of the bookstore. it was basically like a barnes & nobles.

although your spirits about your blind date shattered into pieces, this barista at the cafe somehow revived not only your pride but also your heart. "hello, miss, welcome to the cozy corner cafe, as you can see, we are placed in the corner of the store." he nervously laughed at his own joke. even though, it wasn't really funny, you laughed along too.

he visibly relaxed as he continued to speak, "what would you have today?"

"um, this is such a hard choice," you looked briefly at the menu, which was, written on the chalkboard. maybe a tad too tiny. should you go basic and say a hot chocolate? or something else to energize you like a coffee?

"miss, if you're having a bad time trying to choose then tell me what you like and i'll try to concoct a drink for you."

"i don't know about that." you replied, tapping your foot lightly out of sheer anxiety. "sure, you're cute but how would i know if you wouldn't throw a 'potion' in there." you have no idea what the hell you're saying, this guy is so cute and you feel like you're fumbling.

thankfully, he didn't make a comment on the potion joke, his ears turned a slight shade of red, "you can trust me. if you don't like it, you can order something else and i'd throw a cookie on the house."

letting out an exhale, you questioned, "on the house? really..." you squinted at the namecard plaque. "... kazuha?"

"yes, really."

"if you say so... i like my drinks a tad bit sweet but not kid in a candy store sweet, you know? just something warm."

"okay, one mystery drink for a cute girl coming right up."

˚₊ ❄︎ (end of flashback; present time)

even though some of the parts of your point of view of the story was true. that wasn't how kazuha had seen it.

you pulled away from his neck, "what do you mean it didn't happen that way?"

"because it didn't!" kazuha insisted.

˚₊ ❄︎ (flashback)

when kazuha was restocking the romance section of the bookstore, his friend, heizou, pulled him into the cafe's region. "kazuha, it's your shift."

kazuha wrinkled his nose in confusion as heizou grabbed kazuha's apron from the back. tossing the fabric to kazuha, in which, he caught.

"what? i didn't have a shift at the cafe today?" suddenly a light bulb was lit above him as heizou sheepishly hid his face. "...wow okay, pushing me to do your job, aren't you."

˚₊ ❄︎ (end of flashback; present time)

"okaay," you said, interrupting kazuha's storytime. "obviously, i wouldn't know this part of the story."

"i know but this is backstory and for context!"

"okay, okay, continue."

˚₊ ❄︎ (flashback cont)

heizou cried, kazuha thinks that he could even see tears starting to form, "im late to my blind date, dude!" the brunet nervously laughed. "it started at 2. it's freaking 3 right now."

kazuha snorted quietly, "so your date thinks you stood her up."

heizou placed his hands on his head, stressing out a little, "...yes and our mutual friend even planned it out. think of that one romance book but me and a pretty girl next to me."

kazuha rolled his eyes as he tied the apron's strings behind him, "why would a pretty girl be with you?"

the green eyed guy rolled his eyes, "ok, kazuha, but seriously, i gotta go. i didn't know restocking books would be so long." that was because he never memorized how to do it more efficiently.

"ok but like who would fill in my spot at the register?" the cafe is owned by their friend named kokomi and since it was winter season, she strategized to have her conventionally attractive employees not only to attract more customers being eye candy but also, she had a soft spot for meet cutes. "did you even tell kokomi you had a date today."

"umm thoma and no..."

"this is completely on you. but yes, ill fill in your spot as long as you can get thoma here." kazuha replied as heizou frantically gets his phone from his pocket, texting the assumingly blonde.

"done, he says hes on the way." kazuha nodded as heizou quickly grabbed his coat from the back, dashing out of the door. by the time the door's bell rang, thoma arrived and so did a new customer.

---

as kazuha was prepping for another customer's drink, they asked for helpful yet oddly detailed drink. it was something with peppermint, vanilla pumps and something... something sweet flower extract? ok, maybe he forgot the order but if they like it regardless, it's a win. "the sweetest drink ever for..." he read out the name. "sucrose?"

a green haired girl walked up to him; a messenger bag filled to the brim with various books. one of the pockets of the bag had different bookmarks and little knickknackeries. she adjusted her glasses, taking the drink from kazuha's hand, "thank you, um, kazuha?"

"no problem, sucrose. please come again!"

then the most beautiful girl he ever laid his eyes on walked into the cafe, a little soaked from the snow from outside. just one look from her and his heart would be out of his chest. oh, wait, she did... oh GOD, kazuha's heart is gone, leaping out of his chest, simply dissipating as you bore into his eyes. oh god, he thought, i think her beauty gave me an instant lobotomy.

as his heart jumped back into his button up covered chest, as it tried to cause a resurrection to his brain, he opted for automatic mode, "pret-" he cleared his throat. oh my god, i almost blurted out "pretty girl". he winced at himself a little. "hello, miss, welcome to the cozy corner cafe, as you can see, we are placed in the corner of the store." maybe, reviving back his brain wasn't a good choice.

he nervously laughed at his own joke, oh my god, this is the worst. i am fumbling! he thought as he frantically needed to put his hands to work. grabbing a cup from the stack and waiting for you to say your order but thankfully, you laughed at his joke too.

"um, this is kind of hard?"

kazuha was trying his best to "ball" out his embarrassment but also wanting to talk to you more, "miss, if you're having a bad time trying to choose then tell me what you like and i'll try to concoct a drink for you."

noticing you fidget a little, he instantly knew he just fumbled right there. please don't leave, please don't leave

"i don't know about that." you replied, tapping your foot lightly out of sheer anxiety. "sure, you're cute but how would i know if you wouldn't throw a 'potion' in there."

oh my god, she called me cute. he hoped you couldn't tell that he's now raditating with pure joy, his ears flushed a little. as for your joke, he was assuming a "potion" would be like poison, kazuha tried to reassure you, "you can trust me. if you don't like it, you can order something else and i'd throw a cookie on the house."

letting out an exhale, you questioned, "on the house? really..." you squinted at the namecard plaque. "... kazuha?"

she knows my name!!

"yes, really."

"if you say so... i like my drinks a tad bit sweet but not kid in a candy store sweet, you know? just something warm."

"okay, one mystery drink for a cute girl coming right up." he turned around after saying that, praying you didn't cringe like he did when he realized he just said that. peeking to the other side, you didn't!!! you were just as flustered as he was.

he quietly whispered to himself, "A WIN!!"

˚₊ ❄︎ (end of flashback; present time)

after hearing kazuha's side of the story, you get why he change his favorite season from autumn to winter. you had heard that before you even want to change your favorite season from (fav season) to winter. just kidding, luckily, your initial fav season has been winter so beat that kazuha!

"wait, heizou had a blind date and supposedly stood them up?" you asked as kazuha squinted to the side, trying to remember.

"yes, he did."

"oh my god, remember when i said that my blind date stood me up?"

"well, sorry to admit it, but im glad." you chuckled as he tried to explain himself. "'cause if he didn't, i wouldn't have had the most wonderful, out of this world, running out of words to say to describe you because your beauty if indescribable girlfriend and don't you dare call me corny for speaking my truth!"

#astronetwrk #genshin impact x you #vidia's 23 xmas event #kazuha x reader #kazuha genshin impact #genshin impact kazuha #genshin kazuha #kazuha genshin #kazuha smau #kazuha #kaedehara kazuha #kazuha x you #x reader #genshin impact #fem! reader #kazuha x fem reader #kazuha fem reader

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swansong-if · 3 months

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I have a bias Towards achillean Odile x MC, so maybe them talking about books together? Or them playing in the snow? Or just them being cute with each other.

not strictly achillean because i prefer keeping my requests general but here's some quick winter fluff with Odile that lowkey got me in my feels about xem...

❄

Laughter bubbles in your chest as another snowflake falls to rest on Odile’s jaw. It stays there for a while, unperturbed by the unnaturally cool skin, and for one exhilarating moment you think it will never dissolve. But then it does, its crystals melting into a single tear. You watch with a sigh as it trickles down Odile’s neck, and xe shivers a bit.

More snowflakes follow. They settle on xyr hair, on the tip of xyr nose, on xyr pale lips, or they add to the faint freckles on xyr cheekbones like a flurry of butterfly kisses, and they linger there as if time is freezing just to allow the encounter. And then they vanish again. The whole time, Odile doesn’t move. It’s as if xe’s trying not to spook them, transfixed by the show. Xyr dark eyes gleam silver, and it dawns on you: xe’s been trying to make the snowflakes last longer, probably focusing xyr magic to slow the rush of xyr blood. Quite the reckless move, for something so trivial. Your brows furrow.

“Is this your first time seeing snow?” You know, as you speak, that your guess must be right.

Odile blinks a few times, almost reluctantly, to shake more snow from xyr lashes. Xe looks like xe’s been caught doing something mischievous– if xe could blush, you suspect xe would.

“Mhm,” is all xe offers, and you have to purse your lips to keep them from curving into a grin.

You’re a child of snow, raised in a land where winter is king among the seasons. All of this, the blinding white of the landscape, the puffs of air leaving your lips at every breath, or the sting of cold on your fingertips and how it gnaws at your skin, it’s familiar to you. But Odile has lived all xyr life hidden in an enchanted forest and has never known ice and frost.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” You make sure to school your smile into something softer, knowing rather than teasing. Xe regards you for a second and then smiles back faintly.

“Very.”

When you reach out to slot closer to xem and cup xyr face in your hands, xe lets you without a complaint, wrapping xyr arms around you almost out of reflex. “Are you cold?” You ask a bit worriedly, because while xe still looks as pristine as a marble statue there is a faint vein of purple to xyr complexion that’s almost ghoulish.

“We should go back inside,” you try, but you don’t make it past the first step because xe stays firmly rooted in place. What– Xyr face suddenly buries in your chest, the curve of xyr nose against your collarbone, and this time you do laugh.

“No.” The answer is barely audible, squished against the thick pelt of your clothes.

“You don’t want to go?”

Another hum. “No.”

“We can warm up next to the fire, together.”

Your voice comes out dripping with honey, as if trying to coax a child. Odile’s reply, however, is as stubborn and petulant as the previous ones; and an equally definitive ‘no’. Xe raises xyr head to meet your gaze and your heart almost skips a beat at the sight of xem, eyes glossy from the frosty winds and a small frown softening the angles of xyr face.

Childish has never been a word you used to describe Odile, but as you watch the vaguely pouty curl of xyr lips, it is the only one you can think of.

“Just a while longer,” xe pleads, and no power in the world could ever help you deny xem. You nod, and xe smiles. More dazzling than the winter light. Xyr hands find yours and manoeuvre them until they rest on xyr cheeks again, almost as if to say ‘warm me up’, and you shake your head fondly, letting your thumbs rub circles across xyr jawline.

Odile sighs, xyr eyes briefly shutting in contentment. Then xe opens them again and tilts xyr head questioningly; you know what xe’s asking without having to hear it. Your lips find xyrs barely a second later. If it’s warmth xe needs, you will gladly share yours.

Neither of you notices the snowflakes quickly melting on your faces as you kiss slowly.

#asks #anonymous #odile faerydae #ss: scenarios #ss: official

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xxforestfairyxx · 3 months

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Indiana Snow

an: We've just had our first snow of winter and everything looks so pretty! In honor of the first snow, here's a winter Eddie one-shot, a product of my boredom! Hope you enjoy it! (NOT related to 'The time before')

blurb: Andrea Emerson is back from college, but not even a week into her winter break, Hawkins receives a freak blizzard. Her brother, Gareth, has recently suffered an injury and calls in his bandmate to aid Andrea.

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The snow was coming down in small, sticky clumps when I woke up on a chilly morning in the middle of December. I could feel the blistering cold through my socks as I walked down the creaky stairs, trying my hardest to not wake the rest of the house up. I made my way into the frightfully cold kitchen, where a note taped to the fridge caught my eye.

Wanted to get out before the snow started. There are sandwich materials in the pantry. Josie's food is in the fridge. Love, Mom

Right on cue, I could hear my sister's tiny footsteps padding down the stairs. She came around the corner into the kitchen, her hair sticking out in every direction while she rubbed her eyes. "Hi, bubby," I said, picking her up and kissing her on the cheek. She was only two but had recently figured out how to climb out of the crib. "Hi, Andy," She sighed and laid her head on my shoulder sleepily.

Josie and I spent the rest of the morning making breakfast and coffee while watching the snow out the window.

Eventually, Gareth came downstairs, befuddled by sleep, and had breakfast. He glanced out the window, immediately refusing to shovel any snow. He sprained his ankle a week ago anyway, so I wasn't planning on him doing much. "I will take Josie out to play, though," he exclaimed, his statement punctuated by an excited squeal from Josie. I sighed heavily, marching to get my boots and coat on.

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What a great way to start winter break. Not even three days back from college, and already freezing my butt off while shoveling snow. I wasn't making any good progress either, barely getting the steps clear enough to get out of the house without falling over.

About half an hour into shoveling, I heard a voice behind me. "Hey, stranger." I turned to see Eddie, clad in a winter jacket, holding a snow shovel. The snow whipped around us, leaving snowflakes in his hair, which was held back in a ponytail. He looks like an angel, I thought. The idea bounced around in my mind briefly before I banished it. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "I came to help," He said, motioning to the shovel.

"You guys sure did get a lot more snow than we did at the trailer park. That probably has to do with how many cars drive up and down those roads. It's so much... prettier here." He said, looking out in our yard. Our house was nothing to look out for, nothing notable. It was small, with barely enough space for all of us. I made a slight noise of agreement before getting back to shoveling, Eddie following close behind. "Jesus, this snow is packed. I think what you need for Christmas is a snowblower," he exclaimed. I laughed mildly, watching a grin break out across his face.

"Can I ask you something?" I said, heaving snow to the left of me. "Shoot," He replied. "Were you actually 'In the neighborhood' and just happened upon me?" I asked. He let a few moments pass before heaving out a long sigh. "Not really," He finally answered. "Your brother called me." Bingo. "Oh." Even I could hear the disappointment bubbling in my voice. I'm gonna kill that brat.

"But I'm happy to do it. What other day do I get to spend with a college girl?" He grinned at me. "Shut up," I said, trying not to let him see me smile at such a stupid joke. "Well, tell me about it. How is college going?" He asked. I sighed. "It's good. I like it; it's just so... much. The schedule is really intense." I explained. "Geez. Sounds rough," he said. I was also tempted to ask him about school, but I knew there wouldn't be much to say. I could tell he took a hit on his self-esteem each time he had to repeat senior year.

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"Well, it looks like we're about done here," I said. After almost two hours in the snow, we had finally cleared the driveway and the sidewalk. He held his hand up for a high five, which I missed by about a mile. We both let out awkward laughter, eye contact slipping away. There was another minute of awkward silence. "Hey, I think we've got some hot chocolate inside," I suggested in a singsongy tone. "Hell yeah. I'm freezing my balls off," he said, letting out a chuckle of laughter. I walked past him, smiling, and let us into the house.

We shed our coats, boots, and scarves by the front door and entered the kitchen. Eddie followed me as I went through the cabinets, grabbing various supplies. Josie came running over, and I picked her up, cradling her in my arm while the other stirred cocoa powder into a few mugs. "Josie, you remember Eddie," I said, turning her to face Eddie, leaning against the counter next to me. He waved to her. "Can you say 'Hi'?" I prompted. She waited a few minutes while smiling at him and then said a slow 'hi.' He shot her a grin and returned the greeting. She giggled and hid her face in my neck. Me too, girl. Me too.

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The following afternoon was very calm, with Eddie and Gareth escaping to the basement to practice a little one-on-one. We drank our hot chocolate at the kitchen table, laughing the whole time as Eddie or Gareth cracked a joke.

"Why in God's name would you call Eddie, of all people?" I asked while shutting the door behind the cold. "Well... um.... I thought he would be the most willing?" He said, scratching his head. "And why is that?" I asked, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "Because the guy loves you! I mean, do you really not see it?" He exclaimed. I scoffed. "Come on. Is there any other guy in this town who would subject himself to a day of manual labor just so he could spend time with you? He was practically begging me to give him an in like this." My heart thumped in my chest, and I could feel my cheeks blooming with heat. "Shut up. He does not," I said, walking down the hallway back into the kitchen. "Seriously. He doesn't shut up about it. It's a little weird, sometimes, to hear the kind of shit he says about my sister," He said. I focused on doing the dishes, pretending not to hear him. He sighed and finally gave up, walking down the hallway.

My mind continued to race in all different directions. He likes me? How is that even possible? I mean, we never even talked to each other, even though he was best friends with my brother, and we were originally supposed to be in the same year. It was all just... weird. Besides, I've been away at college for the past year! Sure, he was cute in high school and possibly even cuter now, but why would he ever have feelings for me?

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#stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things headcanons #eddie munson #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson oneshot

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rosileeduckie · 4 months

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Mean, but Sweet

After all this, I don't know, the naughty list doesn't seem so bad...

Patton can be very mean, if it makes someone else happy 😈💙

Potential warnings: none. Sanders Sides, Janus/Patton tickle fic.

A Squealing Santa Christmas gift for @trashyswitch! Hoping it's worth the wait, and wishing you the happiest new year! 😊😘 Thanks so so so much @squealing-santa Hypah our hero for hosting this year!! Lots of love for everyone who participated; congrats everybody!! ❤❄

Word count: 6,406

~*~

There’s something very attractive about winter. The season is uniquely deep and dark, and Janus can’t help but thrive when there are shadows aplenty, easy to hide in and hide things in. A societal expectation to make nice with everyone also leads to the hilarious sight of people performing their “best life” routine by lying through smiling teeth and juggling a million more responsibilities that, no, they definitely don’t need help with. What could he say, it all made Janus feel very at ease, in the presence of deceit wrapped in pretty paper.

But, then, he wasn’t so cynical this year. He blamed his cohorts for melting his too-small heart over the course of the year to the point where he could now appreciate the whimsy that twinkling fairy lights give to a chilly winter evening. Still dark, but warm, too.

Metaphorically and literally warm–it was not quite a winter wonderland outside the house. Still, the lower temperature and earlier sunset and merry decorations and seasonal flavors in Janus’ mug and the obnoxiously patterned and colored sweater on his body really did make it feel like Christmas. Certainly, the Mind Palace could have been nestled in a snow globe setting if the Sides so desired, but they were partial to their host’s house in Florida. It wasn’t a white Christmas, but it was cozy and homey and–Janus could begrudgingly admit–nice.

Janus was skillfully juggling two mugs as he walked into the living room. In one hand, he carried a peppermint mocha in a plain red vessel, simple and hot. In the other hand, he held a mug covered with scenes of snowmen decorating a pine tree with little birds. The contents of that mug were just as extravagant and sweet: gingerbread spiced hot cocoa completely obscured beneath a layer of marshmallows, whipped cream, and sprinkles.

When Janus set the dessert in a cup on the coffee table, Patton looked up and smiled, his eyes really sparkling under the lights of the room’s opulent tree beside which he sat. The mug was just the newest addition to Patton’s station at the coffee table. Before him were a few sheets of notebook paper, a quill and ink, and a desk lamp and extension cord, which Janus stepped carefully over to sit on the couch just behind Patton.

“Aw, Janus!” Patton beamed, setting down his quill to reach for the mug. “Thank you!”

Even if the gap was seeming to narrow these days, Janus couldn’t help but marvel at how different he and Patton were sometimes. What an easy but incredible show of trust; any of the other Sides would have asked Janus what he wanted in return for such a thoughtful and good deed. (He would have answered “nothing,” but whether or not that was true, who could say?) “Not a problem,” Janus replied, taking a sip of his own drink. “How’s the naughty list looking this year?”

Patton giggled. He had a mustache of sweet fluff on his lip as he set down his mug and drew his quill. “Oh, I can’t say about that. But I do know Santa will have lots of ideas as to what to get you kids if you DO stay on the nice list.” He dipped the quill tip in his inkwell, humming with an audible grin. “Of course, I can’t imagine why you WOULDN’T be on the nice list…”

Janus crossed one leg over his knee and tapped his foot in a subtle but delighted rhythm. “Patton, lying at this time of year?” he tutted. “That nice list is slippery, you know. And lying around me, no less.” Janus leaned forward enough that the hissing chuckle that spread his lips into a smile could tickle Patton’s ear. “Is that my Christmas present?”

Ducking out of reach with a snort, Patton replied, “It’s not lying if I believe you all deserve the best gifts.” He turned to give Janus a boop on the nose with the fluffy end of his quill. “And it’s NOT the gift I have written down, I’ll have you know.”

For a moment, Janus’ eyes caught on the feather–a beautiful thing of blue and iridescent greens and purples that felt as soft as it looked–but curiosity shook him free, and he looked past the writing tool, blurring the beautiful colors as he focused his gaze on the page of just-dry ink. “It’s not?”

“Hey now!” Patton threw out his arm and leaned to one side so as to block Janus’ view. “No peeking!”

Undeterred, Janus didn’t fall back, just snickered and looked at Patton levelly. “What? I hardly need to know what you think I need for gifts.” He rested his chin in his hand, batting his eyelashes and tapping his cheek with his index finger. “But, say, what if I need ideas for our gift swap with the others? You know how hard Logan is to buy for.” (Untrue; Logan wasn’t hard to buy for, just irritatingly specific, which took out all the fun of surprising someone with their gift. Janus did love a good surprise.)

Eyes narrowed, Patton considered this before shaking his head and turning back to his makeshift desk. “No peeking,” he reiterated firmly. “Sensitive information here, for no one’s eyes but Mr Claus himself.” He paused, musing, then smiled. “Or his secretary. He is a busy guy.”

Janus nodded with a humoring hum. He sipped his coffee, nonchalantly scooting on the couch to be closer to Patton. If the scribe noted the movement, he didn’t mind, even leaning back against Janus’ calf and continuing to write. Janus waited a moment, then another, letting Patton’s guard slowly fall. The snake was hardly invested in letters to Santa Claus, but he did enjoy teasing and getting a rise out of Patton. And, who knows, maybe Janus would end up with someone with a scant wish-list and need a gift idea or two to fall back on. When the air felt calm enough to chance it, Janus leaned forward to peek over Patton’s shoulder.

Quick as a cobra, Patton had whirled around, brandishing his feather quill at Janus. “AH!” he admonished, tipping his head to one side and flashing a warning smile. “You better watch out.”

“You better not cry,” Janus replied with a smirk, leaning back a bit with his hands and mug raised placatingly. “Or what, Patton dear?”

Patton’s lower lip puffed out thoughtfully, and he hummed, clicking his tongue a few times. Janus waited, eyebrows raised and lips crookedly elevated. Then, Patton’s scrunched up thinking face relaxed before brightening into a big smile. He didn’t answer Janus’ question, just turned back to his list. Moreover, he didn’t move away but stayed close enough to be leaned up against Janus’ leg and, potentially, surely, observed by Janus’ looming eyes. The risk was worth the reward, and it would have been punishment to both of them to move apart. (It was nature for a Side, however deeply buried; even the prickliest of them liked company and a cuddle. And pushing their luck.)

Janus took a long sip from his drink and sighed, opening his mouth exaggeratedly wide both because it felt nice and because it tended to freak out any Sides who saw. He leaned forward, reaching purposely past Patton to set down his mug on the far side of the coffee table, securing for himself the perfect view of Patton’s cursive scrawl as well as the ideal perch to view it from, his chin resting upon the soft sweater fabric of Patton’s shoulder. Actually, it was cozy enough there, warm and soothing to the tune of Patton’s breathing and humming, and hard enough to read Patton’s handwriting from that distance, that Janus was content to close his eyes and not even try to peek. So he jumped a little, blinking in confusion, when Patton spoke again, but not quite to his current companion.

“‘And what do I ask of you dear Janus? Well, Santa, that’s quite simple. For my dear Janus, I want him to get the biggest and best–’” Patton paused, striking through the last word of his dictation with a flourish. “‘–the WORSE lee mood for Christmas.’”

Patton glanced sideways at him and smiled when Janus snickered. His head bobbed a bit atop the pleased wiggle that shook Patton’s shoulders. It wasn’t exactly a difficult thing to ask for for Christmas. The Sides, different as they could be, could all find fun in being tickled or making someone else laugh, so moods longing for one or the other were not uncommon. Sure, Virgil was more likely to be yearning for an onslaught of gentle belly tickles, whereas Remus would be more often found with fingers twitching in hopes of digging up screams from between someone’s ribs, and Logan could slide back and forth along that scale in a second. But still, it was a safe bet that someone in the Mind Palace was hoping to be or happy to be tickled. Because even if, somehow, no one was actively in a lee mood, one could pretty easily be teased out. Janus fell in the middle of the chaos, fluid like Logan in the part he was ready to play–tickle monster or squealing victim–and not one to be easily teased into a mood–not to be knocked over with a feather, so to say. Sure, seeing Patton twirl his feather quill thoughtfully and being actively threatened with a lee mood–not even being tickled, just infected with the desire to be–may have flustered Janus well enough, but he was cozy enough where he sat to weather the attack. So he only smiled, smug, closing his eyes and staying cuddled up, however awkwardly leaning, up against Patton’s shoulder.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have been so trusting.

“‘The kind of lee mood that makes you feel so warm and giddy and fuzzy,’” Patton went on, and Janus could hear the big smile around his words, “‘like just thinking about being tickled makes you feel tinsel between your toes and snowflake soft feathers on your belly. I want him to be so happy and flustered that he can only giggle and hiss and do that cute thing where he shakes his legs and taps his feet.’”

They didn’t live in a place with snowy winters, but Janus felt a phrase often used in that region come to mind: deceptively sunny. It was the scenario when one looked out the window to marvel at a beautiful winter landscape, blanketed in crystalline snow and brilliant beneath a crisp blue sky and bright sun, only to step outside and take in a breath that felt like a crackling snap in the lungs. Sunny, but cold. That was Patton. Warm, friendly, happy, but, just beneath, positively wicked. Freezing cold and sharp under a pretty sun, a hot spiced drink under sweet white fluff. Janus felt his stomach turn, swoop like at the drop in a roller-coaster, and burst with a blizzard of butterflies. He couldn’t look away from Patton’s quill as it bobbed, scrawling teases into paper that Janus was suddenly jealous of. Okay, maybe he was easier to tease a mood from than he cared to admit.

And perhaps Patton could read his mind, because he conveniently exclaimed, “‘Oh, and teases! Yes! He needs to get all the teases that make his cheeks go red and his scales change color!’”

Janus’ scales were certainly not doing anything of the sort when Patton paused in writing. He pursed his lips, smiled, and jumped back into his letter.

“‘And, you know, I think this mood’s gotta last until Christmas day, so maybe you can send him some tickly dreams in the meantime, too! Maybe twelve days of them would be fitting?’” Patton’s tongue poked between his top and bottom teeth as he giggled. He cleared his throat, donning a more serious face for continuing his letter to Santa. “‘If that’s too much, don’t worry about it; I’d be happy to take some of the work off your hands. I’m actually writing this letter to you with a beautiful feather quill I got for my birthday–Roman said he just knew I’d get a kick out of being fancy while writing letters. But it’s a beautiful plume, my favorite kind of teal blue and so soft to the touch.’”

‘Writing’ was a stretch; Patton wasn’t even touching the pen to the paper anymore, just twirling the pretty thing between his fingers. It was as long as a hand, with the non-writing end fanning out into a subtle fluffy curl. Its fibers seemed to float lazily as Patton waved the quill around, and Janus imagined they were so delicate as to not even be felt–until they found a place so sensitive on the body that they wouldn’t be ignored. Janus’ usually dark eyes and slitted pupils were bright and dilated, focused so on the gossamer feather that he took little note of Patton looking sideways at him, watching his reactions, with a grin.

Patton sighed dreamily. “‘I bet it would feel so nice tracing down Janus’ neck or around his belly or along his hips. Or circling every scale he has.’” When he smirked at Janus, he would have seen the scales on his face flushed a dark brown-gold. “‘Maybe what I should actually ask you to bring is a good tickle session for Janus on Christmas, and I can do the teasing the twelve days before. Whatever you decide, please know that I am a very good judge of character, and I know that Janus has been SO good this year–’”

Janus’ stomach did another giddy loop-de-loop when Patton chuckled and adjusted his glasses.

“I suppose you’re right, Jan; I should be honest, shouldn’t I?” Patton winked, and Janus’ face may have been warm enough to toast marshmallows on. “‘I know that Janus has been VERY naughty this year, and, so, deserves only the sweetest, meanest, most thorough lee mood, teasing, and wrecking that he’s had all year. And, if your present to me is that I get to deliver this for Janus, I certainly wouldn’t complain. Sincerely yours, Patton.’”

Patton’s smile didn’t falter when Janus stood abruptly from his seat, but his eyebrows did rise expectantly. “I’ve finished my coffee,” Janus answered before Patton could ask. “If you’ll excuse me.” Clutching his half-full mug tightly in his hand, Janus skirted widely around the coffee table and death sentence of a Christmas list. He stopped short at the bottom of the stairs, turning to give Patton a forcibly cool nod. “Thank you for your company.”

After a few startled blinks, Patton snorted and held a hand to his rosy freckled cheek. “Signed, sealed, delivered,” he said to Janus with a grin and a shake of his head. “It’s a little too late to try and get on the nice list now~”

Janus fled calmly up the stairs, ears flushed at the last sight of Patton waving the feather quill to him in farewell.

~*~

The teal fluffy feather was all Janus could see, later–minutes? hours? days? he really couldn’t say–when he lay buried beneath his duvet, trying to pat the heat and smile from his cheeks. The trick really was not to think about it, all the lovely teases Patton had wished for him, but how could he do that when that damn feather was running rampant in his brain, dusting all his thoughts to make them tickly. He had just finished his coffee, too, so he couldn’t even hope to drift off for a cozy little nap. It’d be just his luck though; he’d probably get a dream that would fluster him awake or the second he awoke.

With a huff of a sigh, Janus threw off the covers. If the call was coming from inside the house, there was no point in hiding; if his mind was the monster, a blanket wasn’t going to save him. Besides that, the heat of his sweater and flushing cheeks was beginning to make the bubble of space between his blanket and his bed feel like an oven. He sat up enough to free himself from his sweater and dropped it off the side of the bed and onto the discarded blankets before falling onto his back. If his mind was going to torture him, at least, his body could be comfortable.

But, Janus’ mind sang unhelpfully, now he bore even less protection if some lovely monster slithered down the chimney to leave tickly stardust in his socks and pin him to his bed and–

The pillow previously behind Janus’ head was wailed frustratedly into before it, too, was thrown off the bed. Janus forced himself to take a long, slow breath, burying his fingers in the fabric of his sheets. Okay. Clearly, the lee mood was too grand already to try and wall completely off. Trying to ignore it (and ultimately failing to do so) was just making him irritated. But then, he was too worked up and embarrassed to act on his wants, to ask for it. The very thought was mortifying. Maybe there was a safe middle ground. Maybe he could let the dam leak a little, let the thoughts trickle in. He could handle that, he wouldn’t drown. (He would be dramatic, but he wouldn’t drown.) Surely, he could let himself think about it, a little. Patton had already infected him with the feather fever, after all. Janus figured he might as well try to enjoy it.

Breathing came slower and easier when Janus brought himself to that compromise. He could close his eyes, rein in his agitated leg twitching, wade gently into the pool of his mind.

The image of the quill came back to his mind, and he welcomed it, accompanied it with soft touch from his own hand. As the cerulean feather twirled about, dancing amid the sugarplum visions it had made of his thoughts, Janus traced his fingertips over his belly. With his eyes shut, he could almost pretend the feather to be the perpetrator of the feeling, the gentle swishing back and forth along the border between skin and scales. It was a lovely feeling that made his stomach--just beneath the light show of beautiful sensation--ache with longing.

What else could he imagine? Patton had given him a few cheesy seasonal teasing suggestions, which was kind since Janus wasn't the most creative of the Sides--not the least, but not the most. Janus pictured tinsel, silver and shimmery and soft, threaded between his toes and sawed delicately. His breath caught for a moment, and his toes scrunched against the imaginary sensation. How tauntingly on the edge of feeling.

What else could he imagine? Through his closed eyes, he could see the feather swirling gentle but relentless loops around his belly and scales. He could see the tinsel under his toes. He could see Patton’s smile, his fingers curling and uncurling above Janus’ quivering abdomen. Just a little closer…

Janus sat up, burying his flushed face in his hands. Twelve days of anticipation like this would be its own torture.

A knock to the rhythm of ‘Jingle Bells’ sounded from his door. Janus gave his red cheeks one last chastising pat, floundered for a moment on where to lay his limbs to act natural, and settled on resting his hands on his knees. “Come in.”

When the door opened, the first thing to enter was the bright red and white of a Santa hat, followed by Patton’s merry smile. “Hey, kiddo! You busy?”

“Depends,” said Janus with a hollow scoff. “Did you need more help planning holiday torment, or did you want to bake cookies or something?”

Patton snorted, wiggling his shoulders proudly as he fully entered the room and shut the door. He clasped his hands behind his back, swaying his hips forward and back. “Mm, a bit in between,” Patton decided. “Mean, but still sweet.”

Janus swallowed, trying very hard to bar the dam of his thoughts to keep his hopes from running away from him. “Oh?”

“Well, Santa got back to me,” said Patton, leaning back against the door and crossing his arms with a big sigh. “I know, no time wasted; he is a professional, after all.” He shook his head and smiled sadly, but his eyes were sparkling. “But he said that even he couldn’t make a lee mood and wrecking as wonderful as I asked for in such a short turnaround. So!” Patton adjusted his hat and stood tall, beaming. “He said I should most certainly fill in!”

For someone whose thoughts had just been flooded with elated relief, Janus’ mouth was quite dry. He wouldn’t have to wither away the winter waiting. Patton’s hands and feathers and tinsel and smile were near and real. Janus felt a funny mix of gratefulness and annoyance, seeing as how Patton had been the one to drop him into such a state in the first place. But then, he was too excited already to be annoyed. “Oh,” he said again.

“If you’re not busy.” Patton took a step further into the room.

“Well–” Janus started to say.

“You don’t look busy,” said Patton. Two more steps took him to the edge of Janus’ bed, where he stood, head cocked and smile crooked. “You look like you were expecting me.”

Such rare smugness from Patton was enough to snap Janus from flustered to–well, he was certainly still flustered, but also–indignant. His mouth hung open, and, when no words miraculously filled the empty space, Janus stuck out his forked tongue.

“Don’t be naughty,” Patton chastised with a giggle. “I wrote you a song. May I sit with you and sing it for you?”

Janus nodded, pushing himself up with his hands so as to scoot back and make room for Patton on the bed, but Patton stopped with a gentle hand on his knee.

“Lie back and get comfy,” Patton instructed with a grin. “It’s not a short song.”

His sweater and blankets had already been tossed to the floor; Janus had neither protection nor a saving excuse when the heat in his face spread to his ears and down his neck. He lay back, resting his hands on either side of his head, and, mercifully, Patton commented on neither Janus’ flush nor his eagerness. Instead, Patton whistled a little yuletide carol, climbing onto the bed and kneeling over Janus’ legs. He didn’t settle yet, but turned his torso toward the foot of the bed and tugged off his Santa hat, holding it behind his back and out of Janus’ sight. But Janus could still hear as the hat was held open and its previously unseen contents came tumbling out, rattling like cartoon pots and pans fell onto the sheets. Janus had a guess as to what the hidden pile may have included, but he couldn’t fathom how Patton had managed to hide such a trove so impossibly under his hat. Said hat was placed on Janus’ head as soon as Patton had turned to face forward again, the puff of it being booped on Janus’ nose. Janus' face scrunched up in feigned distaste and fruitless effort to keep from smiling anticipatorily.

Patton adjusted himself to kneel fully and comfortably on Janus’ legs, reaching behind him for a moment to neaten up the mystery gifts from Santa’s hat, then faced Janus once more with a smile. “Alright.” Leaning forward a bit to hunch his shoulders and flex his fingers, Patton began to softly sing. “On the first day of Christmas, I count on my merry lee~”

Janus let out a groaning chuckle. Of course, Patton would come up with the silliest teasing twist on a seasonal song. A song which–Janus realized, derision turning to giddy panic–often had twelve verses that only got longer. He yelped, startled from his thoughts by a sudden whispering soft sensation swirling over his lower belly, and came face to face with the evil feather that had started the whole ordeal. Patton circled the teal feather around Janus’ navel, grinning at the smile straining to be free from Janus’ bitten lower lip.

“A giggle button on his belly~” Patton set the feather by his knee and reached behind him with both hands. “On the second day of Christmas, I count on my darling lee…” And, instead of grabbing a new tool, Patton scribbled his fingers up and down Janus’ soles, prompting a squeal and buck from the man. “Two wiggling feet,” Patton sang, before swinging his hands back in front of himself to dance upon Janus’ stomach once more, “and a giggle button on his belly~”

Second verse cleared, ten more to go. It was too late for Janus to curb his smile–the thing had taken off and spread its wingspan across his cheeks–but he could keep from laughing, he could. He had to. Because, of course, it wasn’t just ten more verses in single phrases; it was ten verses consecutive to all the verses that came before. Janus’ mind was too scrambled to do the math on how many teases in total he was about to endure–he was excited to endure.

“On the third day of Christmas, I count on my dashing lee…” Patton fell forward, hovering above Janus nose-to-nose and grinning. The heels of his hands came to rest on Janus’, his fingers sliding up Janus’ palms until their digits were parallel and easily intertwinable. Janus didn’t know whether this move was a moment of mercy early on or of false security, and he tried to hold Patton’s hands and take as deep of breaths as his cantering heart would allow. Patton squeezed his hands once before curling his own fingers inward. Janus’ eyebrows furrowed in confusion before shooting up in realization, just in time for Patton’s nails to scratch delicately along the palms of Janus’ hands. “Three pairs of twitchy palms~”

Janus snorted, and he would have blamed the tickling, if anyone had asked. No way, no way, was Patton going to get him to unfurl his other two sets of arms into a visible and tangible state. Even if doing so would gain Janus four more terribly ticklish spots to be doted upon… No. He would not so willfully participate in his own demise.

Most all his resistance dissipated into delighted terror when Patton drew back, aiming his wiggling fingers behind him until they touched down to rake Janus’ heels. “Two wiggling feet~”

Janus held his breath and clenched his jaw. He’d already let a little laughter sound loose; even if it was a relief to do so, it was too early in the marathon to let himself go. Wasn’t it?

“And a giggle button on his belly~”

Poor Janus arched his back and threw his head into the mattress as Patton’s fingers danced around his stomach, trailing long slow paths from the bottom of his ribcage to the top of his hips and back up again. On the second trip, Patton changed techniques, using one hand for featherlight skating down Janus’ sensitive skin and using the other for just a bit rougher scratching down his scales. At last, the giggly dam crumbled, and, albeit through his grinning teeth and scrunched nose, Janus began to laugh, a hissing breathy happy sound.

Patton hummed, pleased, and sung on. “On the fourth day of Christmas, I count on my cutie lee…” From where his hands splayed on Janus’ waist, it was easy as fruit cake for Patton to slide them around until he was holding Janus in a hug, warm but made menacing by his nails sudden scurrying into Janus’ lower back. “Four spine-y squeezes~”

Grabbing at his hat to hold himself still, Janus cackled, shoving his back down into the mattress in attempt to make the spot inaccessible for Patton, but to no avail. Still, he didn’t even have time to get used to the sensation before the song went marching on. Patton gently pried Janus’ hands free to scribble into his palms, fell back onto his legs to skitter down his soles, and bowed forward to dig into the soft flesh of his stomach.

“On the fifth day of Christmas, I count on my love-a-lee…” The flurry of movement from the last verse had paused, and Patton lay, for a moment, his cheek still on Janus’ panting midsection. Janus kept his guard up, though. Haggard as he was, he felt vindicated when he saw the mischievous twinkle in Patton’s eyes immediately before he took a big breath and blew a vibrating raspberry in Janus’ belly. The hilarious and heinous weapon was matched in volume by Janus’ wail of laughter. “Five raspberries!” Patton lifted his head, beaming. Janus shook his head, too breathless to form words and soon swept up once more in a tidal wave of howling humor as Patton planted one, two, three, four more raspberries on Janus’ tummy. It certainly didn’t help that all the Sides had slight stubble growing recently; the scratch of Patton’s peach fuzz, especially on Janus’ scales, made for the most awful raspberries he’d probably ever felt.

No rest for the wicked; Patton’s song carried on. Janus, through quite brutal a memorization process, was starting to get used to the pattern mentally, but not physically. The jumping from spot to spot was too sudden and speedy for him to get used to anything, so all he could do was brace for what he knew was coming next. Four scribbles down his spine (and shoulders, which Patton did not need to be so mean as to target), three pairs of palms subject to little but effective scratches, two feet menaced this time by that damn blue feather, and one belly button turning pink from aching laughter and attention.

“On the sixth day of Christmas, I count on my dearie lee… six ticklish armpits~”

Another pause, during which Janus gulped giggly breaths before cracking an eye open. Like spiders cut loose from their webs, Patton’s hands descended, diving into Janus’ uppermost armpits with clawing fingers.

It was good that Janus had already let his laughter loose, because, when the newest bout of cachinnation rocked his frame, he needed all his resolve to hold his arms still. His grasp was white-knuckle tight on his arms and hair, and his laughing grin was wide enough to make his cheeks burn from the ache of exertion as well as the heat of elation. And then Patton took the elevator down to the next floor of terribly ticklish underarms. Janus’ elbows strained to flap, and his head whipped back and forth, shoving one chortling cheek and then the other into the bedspread. How long could this verse possibly be?

Another brutal raspberry to his belly amidst the armpit assault prompted a shriek from Janus. He couldn’t verbalize how unfair it was to double up on spots, and Patton’s explanation was hardly sympathetic. “Five!” Patton crowed, burying his face in Janus’ stomach to deliver vibrating lips and nuzzling stubble with each syllable. “Rasp! Ber! Ries!” For as much effort as Janus was using to keep still (aside from his thrashing laughing head and heaving stomach), he was startled at how easy a time Patton had muscling him halfway onto his side. That was definitely why he squealed, and not because Patton had finally moved down to scribbling into his lowest armpits with one jumping hand and feathering his lower back with the other.

“Four spiney squeezes~”

It was small but a mercy still that Patton didn’t make Janus release his ironclad grip on his own arms for the next stanza, settling instead on brushing that evil plume along his forearms and into the crooks of his elbows. (The song’s alignment to Patton’s actions had been askew from the start anyway, but Janus was having too much fun to nitpick.)

“Three pairs of twitchy palms~”

Perhaps unintentional, but there was another brief respite for Janus in the few seconds between Patton pulling back from his upper body to reach back for his feet. Very brief, maybe long enough for one guffaw to have a longer inhale than the rest before tumbling once more into wailing laughter as Patton’s fingers scribbled into his arches.

“Two wiggling feet~”

Patton pounced forward and giggled when Janus snorted amid his laughter, only to place a teasing kiss on his stomach.

“And a giggle button on his belly~”

If Janus wasn’t half-past loopy already, he would have marveled at Patton’s masterminding. This session was pure psychological evil. Janus was all heightened nerves and anticipation; after the reveal of what spot would start the new verse, he technically knew what was coming next, but he was still awash in thrill and terror, like he was experiencing each spot anew.

He also would have applauded six ticklish hands for Patton’s composition skills. Once they’d gotten to the tenth verse, it was a very smooth and terrible line up from Janus’ toes to his knees to his thighs to his hips. The next, eleven, was not so limited in its geography but its choreography, but Patton performed it wickedly. That beautiful quill was the star of it, and Patton made use of his ‘eleven feather swishes’ to waltz up Janus’ tummy, across his chest, dipping into his armpits, to his neck and ears–eleven was so many swishes. If he’d had the wherewithal and malice for it, Janus would have thrown Patton six calling birds for his villainy.

The echoes of the last verse and laughter lingering in the corners of the room, Janus lay, limp and gulping air through lingering giggles, eyes shut and an utterly relaxed smile upon his lips. Patton lay as well, still and content, his cheek resting on Janus’ stomach and his index fingers tracing the scales on his sides.

“How ya doin’, kiddo?” Patton asked with a sigh, chuckling when he received only a happy hissing exhale in reply. “I’m glad.” He sat up, tapping a little tune on Janus’ tummy and biting his lip. “You think you got it in you for one more verse?”

Janus’ eyes scrunched further shut, and he giggled at the mere thought of Patton’s proposal. He peeked through one eye and nodded.

“Okay.” Patton’s soft, fond smile sharpened into something sinister. “But, you know, darn it, I think I’ve forgotten the words. Do you remember them? Think you can sing it for me?”

Janus snorted at that. Yes, an excellent idea, let the snake whose brain had been reduced to happy goopy goofy mush come up with the words to the teasing song that had been his detriment. Don’t let him sink fully into elated sleepiness, make him force himself to stay awake enough to bear a bit more, draw out the session a little longer to make it truly the best Christmas gift… Upon deliberation, Janus could see the appeal. Mean but sweet, indeed. Janus pulled himself up, physically and mentally, assuming the familiar position of bracing his own arms and coaxing his mind from the edge of sleep. He’d certainly heard the verses enough times to know the words. He cleared his throat, voice hoarse and happy from laughing so long. “On the twelfth day of Christmas, the tickle monster gave to me: twelve heaving ribs– PATTON!”

The newest rendition of the song had been softer, wavering a bit, compared to Patton’s more confident and lilting tone. Well. It had been quieter, until Patton had unleashed hell upon Janus’ ribs. Vibrating, scratching fingers followed the furrows of the bones, left to right, and then raked down them like a washboard. Rinse, repeat.

Oh, Patton had been going easy on him all this time. That whole marathon thing had just been a prelude to the real event: the sprint.

“Yes, Janus dear?” Patton grinned. “Go on, just waiting for you to sing the next bit and tell me where to tickle!”

OH, not even a sprint–a sprint implied pushing it to the limit for a short time. This pseudo-sprint’s pace was to be determined by the man whose legs had been jelly for the past ten minutes. So it could have been a short time, if Janus let his shrieking, snorting laughter overtake him, or it could take as long as it took him to think coherently while being tickle tortured. A very, very long time. He really must have been on the naughty list.

Like with the previous, Janus had barely crowed out the next verse before Patton had that damn feather darting everywhere it could reach, his neck and ears and stomach mostly, until it could fly back to saw between his toes for the tenth day of Christmas. The feather flipped to scribble the quill end under Janus’ toes as Patton’s other hand squeezed up until it reached his knee. Nine. Both hands dove in to spider and scratch his thighs. Eight. Then to massage their thumbs into his hips bones. Seven.

Janus was a gay mess of exhausted but elated guffawing and kicking feet and flapping elbows. He could barely get out the words to direct Patton where to tickle next. If he’d been asked to lead a verse earlier in the session, he might have mucked up the order a bit on purpose to make it easier on himself. That option was out the window now, as he could hardly keep up with calling out spots as Patton was actively tickling them. He was swept up in the speed and brutality of the menacing of different spots, all scribbling nails and stubbly kisses. Patton was laughing with him, cheeks red from the upped pace of the activity and smile wide and beaming from getting to make Janus feel so happy and safe. He was jumping and falling between spots on the final countdown, half leading and half following Janus’ howling hymnal. With one final raspberry to Janus’ navel, the both of them collapsed in a cuddly heap, Patton rolling off Janus' body to hug him properly.

Eyes heavy and chest heaving as he took slow, deep, relaxing breaths, Janus gave Patton a boop on the nose with the Santa hat that sat crooked on his head. “Merry Christmas, meanie.”

“And a sweet New Year,” Patton giggled, reaching over the side of the bed to grab the duvet and wrap them both up in it for a well-earned snuggle.

#tickling #squealing santa 2k23 #squealing santa #mine #ro writes #ticklish!janus #lee!janus #ler!patton

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thepaperpanda · 1 year

Text

An Icy Adventure || Steven Grant x fem!reader

Masterlist ❄

Summary: One winter day, you decide to surprise Steven with a little ice skating lesson

Warnings: none

Word count: 1592

Author: Rouge

A/N: today’s prompt: go ice skating on a frozen lake

You loved winter. There was something crystalline about winter, those brilliant rays that revealed every snowflake's uniqueness. You were surrounded by puddles that became temporary skating rinks and your thoughts were secluded within your favorite woolen hat. There was anticipation of the joys to come in that wonderland of white, in that frozen water-world, of learning new ways to move gracefully over such a landscape.

When Steven agreed to stroll in Hyde Park, to the Serpentine, you felt overwhelmed with happiness.

You chose a thick, woolen sweater with a reindeer theme, a fitted, black, strapped shirt beneath it, and thick, high-waisted jeans for your date. Black leather, high-heeled winter boots, a thick, brown jacket on top and your favorite black, woolen hat with a fluffy pompon completed your outfit.

Steven looked around at all the snow that had fallen last night. Although it wasn't much, it gave the place a certain winter charm. Despite the cold, it wasn't that bad for him, especially when he was you. "Y/N!" He smiled and waved at you. "Isn't it pleasant to be all bundled up and cozy?"

After climbing your tiptoes, you told Steven, "Yes, I am," and placed a brief kiss on his cheek; Steven was taller than you. Immediately after, you grabbed his gloved hand - you had gifted him with a pair of woolen gloves made of Egyptian cotton with a floral motif that he wore a lot when the temperature dropped below 5°.

Trying to cover your ears with your hat, he worriedly inquired, "You sure you aren't cold? I don't want you to catch a cold.

"Steven, you are being silly. It's not that cold today, and we're going to move a lot," you replied, pointing at a backpack on your back. "I brought some things that might help us though. I also made you a tea, I have it in a thermal mug inside."

He smiled and kissed your gloved hand, saying, "You are my little angel. Nevertheless, I am worried about you."

Due to your flat's proximity to Hyde Park, the stroll was quick and easy. "Wondering what activity I've chosen for us?" A smirk spread across your lips.

A soft shrug was given by Steven as he chuckled. "Although I am sure it is wonderful, I'm a little wary of your idea due to your eagerness."

While walking past the snow-covered bench, you stopped, put your backpack on it, and slowly unzipped it, letting Steven peek inside. In the backpack, there were two pairs of skates. One pair was white and larger, and the other was black, shorter.

The two pairs of pretty skates made him blink; of course you mentioned your little hobby in the beginning of your relationship, but he felt lost now. "Love, those are beautiful, but are you going to invite someone else? I mean, I see two pairs. You skate, but I don't." Seeing your smiling face, Steven paused. So that's what you were planning. "I love you a lot, Y/N, but I can't skate. I prefer my limbs to remain intact."

As you cupped his face in your gloved hands and rubbed his cheeks with your thumbs, you said, "I know you're a little concerned, but I want you to trust me, nothing will happen to you, and we'll have a great time!"

"I can't even tie those bloody skates right," he shook his head, looking at you. "In all honesty, I'd rather just watch you."

"Let's make a deal: I'll skate first, and you'll watch. I'll show you a few steps, and if you feel okay, you can try as well."

"I like the sound of that,” Steven agreed.

"Despite the fact that skating on ice seems intimidating, if you have the right equipment and a little patience, you can learn how to do it!" You told Steven as you led him to the frozen lake.

On the frozen surface of the lake, several people were already ice skating.

Playing with his hands, Steven questioned, "Aren't you afraid the ice will break? Or that you'll break a leg or an arm?"

On the edge of the frozen lake, you sat in the snow, you pulled out the black skates; after that, you started putting them on, replacing your winter boots with them. "No, Steven, because if I thought negatively, I would draw bad luck. That's why I think positively," you replied. "There were almost three weeks of bitter cold, don't you remember? The ice is thick enough to support the weight of a very well-built man."

In response, Steven nodded and continued to play with his hands. "Yeah, yea, I bet you're right, luv."

His attention was drawn to the way you tied your skates. He mumbled a quiet 'bloody hell' and then sat next to you. In a nervous giggle, Steven pointed at the skates and asked, "Can you help me with those? Kind of like Cinderella..."

Disbelief filled your eyes - you never expected him to actually try ice skating with you! As you reached into your backpack to retrieve the other pair of skates, a quiet giggle escaped your lips. "You will be my Cinderella, and I will be your Prince Charming. So, my lady, please take off the shoes and put them on. Once you are done, please let me know and I will lace them up for you."

Steven removed his shoes and took skates from you to put them on with blush on his face.

When he nodded at you, indicating he was ready, you knelt down and started lacing the skates. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a little stressed, but I'm fine overall."

"Do you remember what I told you about stress?"

While you helped him get up, Steven murmured, "I know it's bad and I shouldn't let it eat me alive, but you know me. Wow! How do you even walk in those?"

As a first step, you showed him how to fall safely. During your presentation, you told him, "Falling is part of the sport, so it's natural to fall. If you fall with the right technique, you won't get injured. When you anticipate needing to fall, bend your knees and squat into a dip position, then fall sideways, leaning forward, and place your hands on your lap. When you fall, roll over onto your hands and knees."

Steven watched and listened, trying to remember everything you said. Maybe Marc could use a bit of the know-how to make their body a bit less bruised after another chance behind the wheel. "Okay, noted. Let's hope I won't need them, but I'll keep them in mind. So... Uhm... Shall we?" Grant asked, taking your hand.

When he took his first step on the ice, you helped stabilize him while holding strongly to his palms. You grabbed his hips as soon as his leg started sliding forward. He soon added a second leg and grabbed your shoulders, holding them rigidly. "Straighten your back, breathe," you instructed.

Following your instructions, Steven nodded, somehow managing to stand straight. "Look at me! I'm still standing."

A lot of praise was given to him and then you instructed him on how to move on ice. "March two steps forward and let your body glide forward slightly. Repeat until you feel comfortable. This is called gliding."

As he complied with your instructions, Steven said quietly to himself, "Two steps... Let your body glide." Upon realizing he wasn't falling on his butt yet, he chuckled. "Look at me! I'm doing it!"

"Congratulations! My good boy!"

Sadly, Steven's happiness lasted only a short while because as soon as you finished your praise, he fell right on his butt.

You couldn't stop giggling, but as soon as you attempted camel spin by spinning one leg and your upper body parallel to the ice - you lost your balance and fell on your ass as well. "Oh, bollocks!"

As Steven struggled to get up slowly, he exclaimed, "Aha?! You see? That's what you get for laughing at me?! I bet it will hurt tomorrow."

After the unfortunate fall, you felt a burning sensation on your tailbone, but your heart was full of joy - Steven was getting the basics in no time and was doing very well for his first time on ice. "It's almost certain to me that the student will surpass the master soon, my dearest love!" You sent Steven the warmest smile while slowly getting up.

A shy smile danced on Steven's lips as the blush crept over his cheeks, turning them red within a blink of an eye. "Oh, love, no, this will never happen, I assure."

Slowly, you glided towards him and wrapped your arms around his neck. "My love for you will never change, Steven Grant, even if you won't become a figure skater."

Steven tilted his head and took one of his gloves off, tapping your nose gently before saying, "And I love you just as much, Y/N, even if you always select dangerous activities for our spare time."

As the two of you shared a passionate kiss, you gently pushed off Steven, loosened your knees just a bit, glided backwards and slowly started to spin, spreading your arms slowly.

He could only glide forward slowly, just as you taught him while observing you; all of your movements were so gently and weighted, and you were moving lightly like a petal of a rose dancing in the wind.

Steven realized at this exact moment that his love for you was immeasurable.

#steven grant #steven grant x reader #steven grant x you #steven grant x y/n #moon knight #moon knight x you #moon knight x reader #steven grant fluff #steven grant drabble #steven grant fic #steven grant one shot #steven grant fiction #moon knight fic #moon knight writing #moon knight drabble #paperpanda winter writing event #writers on tumblr

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blueberrybladelemonade · 5 months

Text

Winter's Warmth

aka Cae's

❄Winter Special❄

Summary: Going outside with Peppino as the first snow of the season falls, freezing hands and fluffy antics ensue.

Contains: Good morning snow and quality time together, ice skating (poorly), mentions of that one song everyone seems to hate (you're wrong if you hate it lol), Hand holding and kisses, Fluff.

The chill of the morning lingers, the tips of your fingers tingling as you stand in place. With another shiver you shove your hands into your coat pockets, tilting your head to look down the street as you wait. Everything as far as the eye could see was covered in a white glittering blanket of snow.

A breath in then a puff of smoke escapes your lips as you exhale.

Thick clouds caused the sky look darker and calming. The early sunlight was soft and casted everything in a comforting grey as it peaked through the clouds. It barely warmed the back of your neck though, as another breeze seemingly chilled you to the core.

You're snapped out if your thoughts at the sound of the door swinging open. You watch as Peppino turns the lock, jostling the doorknob to ensure it wouldn't open. Satisfied with this, he beams, making his way down the steps to you.

You smile at Peppino, wearing his jade green jacket along with the the cozy blue scarf you bought for him. Your neck prickles again at being exposed to the icy breeze.

Maybe you should've worn yours after all.

Peppino leans in, greeting you with a loving kiss. As you pull away and look at him, noticing how dozens of tiny snowflakes had already dusted the top of his head and clothes. He smiles at you, both of you happy about this gorgeous view and seeing each other.

Snow crunches beneath your feet as you walk down the street together. Peppino holds your hand, occasionally looking to the side to grin at you. His hand is warm, a lovely and welcome contrast to the cold bite of the air. Gently his thumb rubs across your knuckles.

As another gust of wind blows through you, making your teeth inadvertently begin to chatter.

"It's not-a that cold Y/N." Peppino replies, laughing lightly. Though his words betrayed him as Peppino shivers as well, huddling closer to you as you both continue your stroll. Wordlessly you smile as Peppino tugs your hand into his pocket.

Everything as far as you could see was a placid white. Specks of color dotted the open fields as people strolled and trudged through the snow. The usual hum and whirr of vehicles was noticeably less as well. Either muffled by the snow or due to not wanting to leave the warmth of their homes, it was a welcome silence.

Your stagger as a particular spot of snow was deeper than you expected. The grip on your hand tightened as Peppino tugged you closer to help you regain your step. "Careful mia cara". You mutter a "thank you", wincing as you feel snow enter and melt in your boot.

Nearby you spot a bench, wordlessly changing direction to make your way to it. You and Peppino take a seat, farther from the people having a snowball fight in the distance. What you didn't expect was Peppino pull off his scarf before leaning against your head and shoulder to wrap the scarf around the both of you. He wraps an arm around your waist to pull you closer and nuzzles you. "You looked cold".

You could stay like this for hours, almost feeling glued to the bench. Or maybe that's because you started to feel numb from the waist down. Though an idea started to form in your mind as you recalled something earlier in the week.

"Call me crazy...but I have an idea." You gesture a distance away, Peppino trying to decipher where you were looking. He quirks an eyebrow, giving up at only seeing buildings that have always been there.

Though further in the distance, as he squinted through the snow, there was a massive tent in the open field.

Peppino shuddered and it wasn't from the chill this time.

Che cavolo.

* * * * *

The rink was relatively empty with ice skaters. Though the few on the rink themselves were chatting and having a good time. Outside of the barriers were sparse groups laughing over their warm drinks and snacks. You led Peppino over to the long counter towards the left of where you entered.

His feet felt heavy as he reluctantly followed you. Peppino decided that he would just watch you on the ice. There's no doubt you would be better at ice skating than him.

The cashier across from you both was a woman with mid length brown hair with a streak of blue in it.

"Skates for two please." You chirp, watching as she turned her back to you, grabbing a few things from the shelf before setting them down on the countertop. After you hand her the money, the cashier tilts her head to the side in a gesture.

“The lockers are on the far side, across from the drink stand." was all she said as you looked down at the two sets of skates, padlock, and key.

"Y/N...this is-a bad idea." Peppino balks, eyes flicking to the ice rink then back to your outstretched hand holding the skates. "You are crazy if you expect-a me to put those on"!

You remain motionless in place, offering Peppino a nervous smile in response. As if that would persuade him.

"I've only-a done something like this years ago..." Peppino continues to protest, shaking his head and racking his brain for just how long ago he had went ice skating.

"Once." He finally replies.

More silence hung in the air as you both stared awkwardly at each other. A puff of frosty breath escaped Peppino's lips as he huffs at you. "Fine. If I fall and break-a my back, you're paying my-a hospital bill".

You grin grows as Peppino finally takes the skates from you, sitting down on the bench to tie them on. Barely audible and almost a whisper you could hear him mumbling to himself "I'm-a too old-a for this shi-" You cheered more to yourself than anything as Peppino put them on, your eyes sparkling as Peppino finished tying his skates and wobbled unsteadily to his feet.

Peppino followed you to one of the openings in the barriers surrounding the rink. As the two of you entered the rink your leg nearly slid out from under you immediately. Peppino staggered as well, hand instantly gripping the fence perimeter.

"This is how I-a die. Not from stress-a induced heart attack, but from icy-a hell of slip and die." he snaps at you.

Truth be told, you were also horrendous at ice skating. How you hadn't crashed to the ground yet -in the first minute- was a miracle in itself.

Minutes passed like this, almost frozen in place as you both struggled to remain balanced. You looked down at your intertwined hands and your heart began to beat quicker. With another deep breath you took another tiny step on the smooth, freezing surface.

And then you felt yourself slip and slump forward.

"Merd-" was all Peppino got out before both of your skates shot out from beneath your feet, both of you crashing painfully to the floor. You let out a yelp as he lands on top of you.

Peppino groans then, “Mio dios! Y/N, are you okay?!” He hastily braced himself up and onto his hands, hovering over you concerned.

"Mm-fine." You rub the back of your head, shifting beneath him to prop yourself up on your forearms. In a relieved sigh, Peppino let out a low nervous laugh, pushing himself back up to sit on his knees.

"I told-a you this was a bad idea mia cara".

You rise to your feet again, helping Peppino as well. Just as he's about to stumble again you catch his arms to steady him, giving a loud snort through your nose. You both grumbled, legs wobbling as Peppino struggled to keep his balance. His eyes darted to yours anxiously, waiting for your next movement.

Your fingers gripped his forearms firmly, giving him a tentative smile as you released one of his arms. Instead you cautiously made your way to Peppino's side and took his other hand, tucking it into the crook of your elbow.

He shot you a hesitant nod as your eyes met again before your feet pushed off. Now gliding across the ice at a snail's pace.

For the next hour the two of you skated on the rink. Skate being a very loose term for the both of you. It was more appropriate to say stagger, face plant, and move at the speed of molasses on the rink.

"See? I knew we'd get the hang of t-" you felt your foot get caught, abruptly halting you and almost launching Peppino straight into the rink’s perimeter fence. He yelped but your locked hands yanked him back with a stagger.

Unfortunately, Peppino lost his own footing, colliding with you. You exclaimed suddenly at losing your balance, tripping him over as you fell with him.

"Yeowch! Y/N!” Peppino groaned, lying flat on his back on the ice. He rubbed his eyes groggily, tilting his head to see you lying beside him, on your stomach. "I-a think we should quit. I'ma going to be sore for weeks".

Face still in your arms with the ice against your cheek, you groan in agreement, giving a thumbs up.

* * * * *

You leant your head against Peppino's shoulder, looking at the moon from the porch. The falling snowflakes shimmered in moonlight, making them look like tiny stars as the snow began once more. Above, massive cumulus clouds lazily rolled through the sky, their edges a bright white from the moon they hid.

It had only gotten colder as the night crept on. In your free hands you both were holding a mug of your favorite hot drinks. Peppino gave a hum of approval as his head rested against yours. The comfortable feeling of shared warmth and company as the day drew to a close was all he wanted.

"Even in this-a snow, I never feel cold when you're close to me." Peppino mutters. You tilt your head to face him, his face illuminated by the moonlight as he smiles warmly at you.

Peppino drew his face closer, to the point you could feel his breathe down neck. You set your mug to the side and caressed his face. His skin was as cold as the snow on the ground as you let your thumb glide across his lower lip.

You meet his lips with your own in a kiss. Contrasting starkly to the icy chill around you, his lips were warmer than you imagined.

As you both part for air, Peppino nudges you to your feet. "Come on amore, let'sa go inside".

The warm rush of air that greets you as you enter his house makes you sigh contently. You follow suit as Peppino removes his jacket and sets it on the nearby table. "I'll be right-a back." He tugs at your hand, directing you to the sofa.

As you sink into the couch you watch as Peppino disappears into the hallway, out of sight. The TV was left on, albeit on very low volume. Making out the words of the song playing had your lips twitch into a smile.

I just want you for my own.

More than you could ever know.

Very faintly you can hear the crinkle of a bag and footsteps draw nearer as Peppino returned from his room.

"This is for you..." Peppino set a large bag beside you on the couch before taking a seat to the opposite side. He smiles as you open the bag, revealing a large fluffy blanket.

In an instant you unfold it and throw your arms around Peppino, draping the both of you under the blanket. He laughs before sputtering, "Get your-a cold hands off-a me!" he playfully swats at your hands.

Ignoring his protests, you attempt to put your hand under his shirt again but are stopped as he grabs your wrist. You both smile as Peppino plants a kiss against your palm and pulls you into his lap.

"I love you Y/N." He holds you just a bit tighter as he says this. In response you touch your forehead to his, kissing the bridge of his nose.

"I love you too, Pino".

Peppino enjoys being by your side and always will, you would never doubt that. As this year draws to a close, you look forward to the year ahead and also to another year of being with the one you love.

Your eyes feel heavy against his embrace, warm and loving. You feel Peppino shift until you're both laying down on the couch. His arms remaining wrapped around you, buried in your neck as you both drift off to sleep.

Oh, baby, all I want for Christmas is you

#pizza tower #peppino #peppino x reader #pizza tower x reader #pizza tower fanfic #🫐bladezfics

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dottiechan · 4 months

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TWC Secret Santa @wayhavensecretsanta ❄ - Happy holidays, @ejunkiet!

It was an absolute pleasure to create for you, I love Lizzie and Ava so much!!! 🩵 I couldn't decide whether to draw or write, so enjoy a bit of both. (BTW I seriously recommend @ejunkiet's fics of their detective OC Lizzie Quail, they're so good.) Happy holidays again! xx P.s. If you saw me accidentally post a draft of my gift to you a few days before... Shhh no you didn't. 🥲

Summary: After Unit Bravo's holiday dinner with Detective Lizzie Quail, Felix realises all the photos he took with his polaroid camera are botched.

Wordcount: 835

Warnings: smoking, Fuzzy Holidays Feels™

Too blurry. Too crowded. Mason is holding up his middle finger. Not focused on the subject. Ava appears to be sneering?

The polaroids scatter on the floor as they’re being dropped, Felix’s frustration seemingly travelling through his fingertips and into the botched pictures as they skitter across the parquet. He had such high hopes for this holiday dinner they’ve panned - he even volunteered, much to Nat’s suspicion, to help decorate the warehouse to prepare the background for his perfect winter photos. There doesn’t seem to be a single wall or piece of furniture without strings of fairy lights or garlands hanging off them - and yet somehow, he managed to mess up all the pictures he took.

“I should have just used my phone, not this stupid polaroid Nat gave me,” he grumbles, as he sinks to the floor dramatically from the sofa. He turns his head to the left, expecting a response from Mason, but aside from the shrug of a shoulder, and a puff of smoke, he’s as disinterested as always. Felix allows his head to loll right now, and peeks through the open doors into the dining room, but his other team members are too far to share in his misery. Lizzie is in the middle of a story, which has Nat’s full attention, and Ava’s full, well, everything? Attention, adoration, respect, senses, everything. They’re cute, the way they hold hands over the table, how Ava squeezes Lizzie's hand encouragingly when she trails off or gets embarrassed by her own rambling. Felix hoped he would capture a moment between them, something candid, something like right now, but he’s missed his windows of opportunity - like for instance when Ava finally allowed herself to be dragged under the mistletoe with Lizzie, but their picture was ruined by the detective spilling her drink all over herself.

“Felix?”

“Leave me alone,” he replies, but he also cracks one eye open to make sure Nat, who’s just entered the room, doesn’t lose interest in his pity party on the floor. But she’s already retreating, so he starts flailing his limbs as if he were making a snow angel in the sea of polaroids. “Please don’t leave me alone. Mason won’t talk to me and I’m embarrassed. I messed up all the pictures. I tried taking them like you showed me but I messed up.”

“They’re not so bad,” Nat says kindly as she sits with her friend, plucking the odd semi-decent pictures from the ground. “See? This is lovely.”

“Yeah, but Lizard has hot chocolate spilt on her sweater in that one.”

“Don’t call her that,” Mason grumbles, as he sweeps some polaroids off his lap - the by-product of Felix’s snow angel performance - and flicks his cigarette into the flames of the fireplace. Nat pretends not to see, but the pain flashing across her features has already made Felix feel a little better. They spend the better of the next hour going through the pictures and sorting them out, while Mason sits close-by, smoking, lost in his thoughts. All that breaks their peace is Frank Sinatra’s drawling voice coming from the record player, and the occasional laughter from the lovebirds still camped in the dining room. By the end of it, they’re left with a handful of decent-ish photographs, and Felix wastes no time sticking them into the photo album he got from Lizzie for Christmas.

There was a moment today, a moment worth capturing, one that was befitting of the old silver screen movies Nat made him and Lizzie watch, between Ava and their beloved detective. Naturally, Felix - a rotten romantic at heart - is pissed that he wasn’t able to capture it. It was a moment far better than the forced kiss under the mistletoe, a moment of intimacy, when the pair thought they were away from prying eyes. A hand under Lizzie’s jaw, Ava’s eyes fixed on the prize, wanting to kiss but being unable to take their eyes off of each other… Obviously the shutter of the camera ruined it, causing the pair step away from each other, and Lizzie to hide her blushing cheeks behind the curtain of her frizzy hair, but that’s beside the point. They were happy. Maybe happier than he’s ever seen them. Things are often so fucked up, with the odds always stacked against them, that Felix sometimes lives in the comfort of these moments. He lives in his family’s happiness, in his friends’ laughter, in Lizzie’s tight hugs, in Ava’s pats on the shoulder… If he could, he’d capture all these moments in a jar and keep them very close always. Photographs are the next best thing - which is why he’s bummed out the picture he took of this moment must be so unrecognisable that it was swallowed by his sea of botched photographs.

He’s lost in thought when Mason nudges his shoulder, a polaroid of Lizzie and Ava in his hand stretched towards him.

“Found this under the sofa. Not too bad, if you’re into this lovey-dovey shit.”

#twc secret santa #ava du mortain #twc detective #twc fanart #twc fanfic #dottiechanart #dottiechan writes #digital art #other people's ocs

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lathalea · 1 year

Text

Thorin’s Ask Box – Winter Edition!

Due to popular demand, as promised...

❄🎄👑 THORIN’S ROYAL ASK BOX IS OPEN AGAIN! 👑🎄❄

It’s the time of giving so King Thorin Oakenshield is waiting for your letters sent by the Royal Raven Post. He has taken over my ask box this week so the asks you send to me until Saturday (17th December) will be replied to by our majestic King Under The Mountain. 🎁 The winter edition is a bit different than the previous ones – if you like, Thorin can send his reply as a private ask to your inbox! 🎁

RULES:

📜Make sure you’re following me before sending your ask to Thorin.

📜 Reblog this post.

📜Max one question per ask please because Thorin is a busy king (rebuilding Erebor is hard!). There is no limit on the number of asks from one person. Go ahead and spam me!

📜 NSFW asks are allowed, but you have to be 18+ to send them. 📜 If you would like Thorin to send his reply to your ask box, let him know with this emoji 🤫 If you choose this option: 1) No anons please - the Royal Raven Post needs to know where to send the King’s letters. 2) Don’t forget to have asks enabled.

If you’d like Thorin to send you a private ask instead of a public reply to your ask, please add this emoji 🤫 to your ask and then pick a second emoji from the list below.

My King, I would like you to send me… 🌟 - a letter where you share a secret with me (Thorin will tell you one of his secrets)

❄ - a Dwarven winter tradition

💎 - an answer to my question (ask Thorin anything!)

💗 - a love letter (don’t forget your pronouns and a detail or two about you!) 😊 - a supportive message (should it be focused on anything specific?)

🐴 - a note from one of Thorin Oakenshield’s journeys through Middle Earth

🤩 - an ask with a question (Thorin is a curious Dwarf and wants to know you better) 🔥 - a very naughty letter (18+ only; you can send in a prompt if you like)

🎅 - a very nice gift (Thorin will send you something special if you tell him your favorite color and share something about you)

🍪 - one of Bombur’s Yule recipes (any preferences?)

If Thorin replies to you with an ask, it is up to you to decide if you’d like to keep his letter private or if you’d prefer to share it with the wide world of Tumblr 💙

The King Under the Mountain is waiting for your letters!

#have you been naughty or nice?#thorin oakenshield #thorin's ask box #winter #the hobbit #ask game #thorin #erebor #thorin imagine #thorin headcanons #king thorin #king under the mountain #thorin son of thrain #thorin fanart #send asks #fanfic #thorin x you #thorin x reader

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laudthingcat · 1 year

Note

“i’m shy”

*proceeds to send me the most graphic veiny nsfw fanart*

it's either all in or none at all

#i still have them pinned on discord #good ol' days huh #❄; winter replies #❄; winter and moots #sandy💕

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xiaojunsmintchoco · 1 year

Text

Gave you my heart — Qian Kun

pairing: qian kun x female reader

genre: fluff, best friends to lovers, fake relationship au

synopsis: a christmas family gathering, several nosy relatives, and a fake boyfriend – who knew these would lead to your wish that even santa could not fulfill.

wc: about 4.3k

a/n: hey there @meiideryz! it’s me, amelia, your secret santa 🤶🏻 I hope that this fic adds to your Christmas cheer! Merry Christmas, stay safe and have a wonderful holiday <3

⋆*̣̥☆·͙̥‧❄•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥‧̩̥·‧•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥˟͙☃˟͙‧̩̥·‧•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥❄‧·͙̥̣☆*̣̥ ⋆

"How much does it cost to rent a fake boyfriend?"

"I'm sorry what?" Thinking you were joking, Kun looks up from his coffee, an amused expression gracing his features, only to find a deadpan expression on your face. "Why so sudden?" he asks.

You groan, fingers furiously flying across the tiny screen of your phone. "You know how my family does those big Christmas gatherings every single year without fail?"

Kun nods, already putting two and two together. "Let me guess – you want to avoid the incessant questioning about why you're still single," he answers.

"Bingo". You answer with a snap of your fingers, continuing to type away on the screen. "'Is it that no one wants you?' 'Must find boyfriend fast, women got expiry date leh'," you mock your family members in a high-pitched voice, specifically the aunties, making Kun laugh out loud. "Yeah, no thanks. That's why I need a fake boyfriend – and fast. The gathering's in a week, and we’re going to some Christmas carnival".

"You could have just asked me, you know?" Kun doesn't know why, but the words just leave him and he has to summon all his willpower to stop his hands from flying up to cover his mouth. Sure, he'd been nursing a secret crush on you – but he hadn't quite dared to make any move on you, for fear of spoiling the friendship you two already had, and this was the closest he had come to doing so, albeit unintentionally.

You pause your frantic googling for fake boyfriend services and stare at your friend, unsure if you'd heard him right. "Wait, say that again?"

"I mean, I can do it for you. Follow you to the Christmas carnival, talk to your relatives, play carnival games with you guys, and that's it. Seems fine to me," Kun says with a nonchalant shrug, acting like whatever he just said earlier wasn't a slip of the tongue.

The gears in your head begin turning as you contemplate his offer. You knew that he'd be a choice selection of a fake boyfriend – he was the textbook definition of a gentleman. All the years you'd been friends, he was always the one holding doors open for you, listening to your rambles, and just simply taking the best care he could of you. In addition, he had many talents. All of this, coupled with his otherworldly good looks, make him perfect boyfriend material-

-okay, calm down now y/n, you're just friends, you gently chide yourself. But yes, he would definitely be able to impress your family, even the most critical aunties, which would hopefully get them to leave you alone for future family gatherings. Which was the whole point of you getting a fake boyfriend. In addition, Kun would benefit too since he'd get to earn some money – so win-win, right?

But there was one problem – a wish that he was more than just your friend had begun to grow, just like the blanket of snow that had been thickening since the beginning of winter. You worried that if you really were to take his offer, your feelings would only grow, and come in between the precious friendship you two had built up over the course of several years.

Then again, considering how badly you really needed a fake boyfriend, taking his offer probably would be the best option at the present point. "Alright then, if you say so," you finally decide. "How much should I pay you?"

"Ah- there's no need for that," Kun quickly replies, waving his hands in protest. "You're my friend, I should help you out".

For some reason, these words send a rush of butterflies to your stomach. Trying to conceal the dash of pink that you were sure coloured your cheeks, you bring your head down to sip at your coffee. Fortunately it works, and you properly address him again after, sending him a playful glare. "Fine. But I'll treat you to a sumptuous meal in return, you better not say no".

Kun sighs, knowing that he wouldn't be able to talk you out of that one. "Well, if you insist. Just send me the details of the gathering and we'll be good to go," he answers, whipping out his phone.

"Thank you so much, Kun," you respond, flashing him a smile of appreciation.

"Anytime". He simply replies with one word and a gentle smile.

You forward him the messages from your family group chat, all while reminding yourself that he was a fake boyfriend, not a real one, and that the line between best friend and boyfriend would still exist. At the same time, you do your best to ignore the tinge of pain in your heart that accompanied the warm feeling of gratitude.

⋆*̣̥☆·͙̥‧❄•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥‧̩̥·‧•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥˟͙☃˟͙‧̩̥·‧•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥❄‧·͙̥̣☆*̣̥ ⋆

"You two were dating? For how long?" Your brother, Hendery, queries, agape mouth giving away his astonishment.

It's Christmas Eve, and you and Kun are now in your dad's car with mum, dad and older brother, on the way to your family's Christmas gathering.

"Yeah, for about a month," Kun helps you answer when he catches sight of the panicked look that flashes across your face.

"You can pick your jaw up off the floor now," you add, taking the chance to tease your brother.

"I knew that you were close to each other, but I didn't know that you both were dating," your father hums, fingers tapping on the steering wheel. “Luckily I bought an extra ticket, just in case y/n shows up with some ‘surprise’, if you know what I mean. And she did,” he finishes, shooting you an amused look from the rear view mirror.

“Dad,” you groan, albeit goodnaturedly.

"It’s a pleasant surprise, though. Not only does Kun take excellent care of y/n, he's also a great influence on her," your mum chimes.

"Mm, I agree," your dad muses.

"Thank you auntie and uncle, you're too kind," Kun chuckles, humbly downplaying your parents' compliments.

So if we really were to date, we'd have the approval of my parents… you entertain the thought for a moment, before slapping yourself mentally. You knew that Kun was only helping you, and that a relationship between you both was not likely to be on the cards at all.

Before you know it, your family has arrived at the carnival’s carpark. “Act, now,” you mouth to Kun, hoping that none of your family picks up on the subtle cue you gave him. Kun understands, and helps you out of the car before slipping his hand into yours, and the both of you follow after your parents, over to the fairgrounds where the rest of your family is.

“Y/n! Long time no see!” One of your aunts, Auntie Diana, comes straight up to you and engulfs you in a hug too tight for your liking, which you reluctantly return. She then looks up and sees your friend next to you. “Is this your boyfriend?”

“Yes, he is. Meet Kun,” you respond, gently pushing your friend slightly in front of you so he could introduce himself to your aunt.

“Oh my gosh. Selene! Wendy! Y/n’s finally found someone, after all this time!” Auntie Diana exclaims, and two of your other aunts come rushing over.

“Hi aunties, I’m Kun. It’s nice to meet you all,” Kun introduces himself politely with a small bow.

“Wah, y/n, congratulations! Thought no one would want you, but you proved us wrong,” Auntie Wendy teases.

Your aunts then proceed to bombard him with questions, such as why he decided to date you, what your relationship goals were, and several other questions. How naturally he answered them should have been a sign of his obvious interest to you, but it wasn’t. You just played it off as him being an excellent actor.

“What do you like best about her?” Auntie Selene asks. All of your aunts regard him with the same expectant gaze.

“Well, for starters, she’s a kind and genuine person to everyone. I really admire her resilience too — for all the time I’ve known her, she’s shown herself to be tough, even through hard circumstances,” Kun answers with barely a second thought. “Her sense of humour also never fails to make me look forward to going out with her as well. I mean, there’s more that I like about her, but if I were to list them all we’d be stuck here forever,” he adds with a nervous laugh.

“Wow, you really do like her, don’t you,” Auntie Diana says. “Y/n, you’ve found a good guy, must treat him well,” she advises as you acknowledge her with a grunt and a polite smile.

“Wow y/n, you’ve got this guy all whipped for you,” Hendery, who was on the sidelines listening to the exchange, grins and reaches over to ruffle your hair teasingly yet affectionately.

“Yeah, yeah”. You casually play off your brother’s teasing as you usually do, ignoring that twinge of pain making its presence known in your heart again.

Meanwhile, Kun observes the scene, your aunt’s words ringing in his heart. Oh, y/n, if only you knew.

“Y/n-jie!” A happy shriek disrupts his train of thought. Looking down, he’s met with a tiny girl with a red backpack running to you as fast as her legs could carry her.

“Kyla!” you exclaim, bending down to receive a hug from your young cousin, who you loved with all your heart. She was one of the few reasons you decided to attend today’s family gathering, the other being that you wanted to catch up with your other cousins later.

It’s at this moment Kyla notices the boy beside you. “I’m Kyla,” she introduces herself bashfully. “Auntie Selene told me you’re y/n’s boyfriend?”

Kun’s heart melts at the sight of her, finding her adorable. “Yes, I’m her boyfriend,” he answers, kneeling down to be at her eye level. “You can call me Kun-ge,” he tells her, offering her a fist bump which she happily returns.

“Alright, everyone, we can talk more later,” your uncle decides, clapping his hands to get the whole family’s attention. “Let’s get going, it’s time to enjoy this carnival!”

You follow after your family, one hand holding Kyla's and the other holding Kun's, relieved that your fake boyfriend ploy was successful so far.

⋆*̣̥☆·͙̥‧❄•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥‧̩̥·‧•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥˟͙☃˟͙‧̩̥·‧•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥❄‧·͙̥̣☆*̣̥ ⋆

A couple of hours had passed, mainly consisting of you trying to avoid more awkward conversations with your aunts, sampling delicious carnival food with Kun (who was more than willing to treat you), going on rides with your other cousins and enjoying a long chat with them. Of course, they were curious to know more about your new supposed boyfriend, and talked with him as well. Now, you and Kun were at the dart stall, trying to win Kyla a stuffed bunny.

Eyes locked on the red balloon, Kun aims his dart at his target before throwing his dart at it with the precision of a sharpshooter. As expected, it bursts on contact with the dart. “Yay! Thank you so much, Kun-ge!” Kyla squeals as Kun hands her the stuffed bunny, before throwing her arms around his neck. “You’re the best!”

“You’re welcome,” he replies softly, the same fond smile appearing once again.

“Kun-ge, may I ask you a question?” Kyla asks, innocently batting her eyelashes as she looks up at your “boyfriend”.

“Sure, go ahead,” he replies. After all, she was just a kid, her questions would just be innocent, harmless fun, right?

“Since you and y/n jie are boyfriend and girlfriend now, that means…” she trails off, looking ahead into the distance as she considers her words. "You'll both get married, and then you'll really be my Kun-ge forever, right?" She finishes, eyes bright with all of her 5-year old excitement, glancing up at him expectantly.

"Well-" he can't lie, the question has caught him off guard, and he tries to conjure up a response quickly. "Maybe? Right now, it's too early for us to know for sure. We’ll see in the future, alright?”

“I hope that you and y/n can get married, and then we’ll be a family!” Kyla exclaims, clinging on to Kun’s leg. “I like you a lot, and I like y/n jie and Hendery-ge a lot too!”

Kun doesn’t speak, but bends down to pat her head gently. He puts together the scene that Kyla described — and his heart warms at the thought of all of you being a family. A complete, wonderful family. As he’s relishing this fantasy, a “ho ho ho!” steals Kyla’s attention. It’s a man dressed in a santa outfit surrounded by elves, giving out candy to children. “Y/n-jie jie! Santa’s giving out candy, let’s go!” Kyla yells, turns around. “Kun-ge! Hendery-ge! Let’s go!” she beckons to them with a wave of her tiny hand.

Just as Kun is about to agree, Hendery stops him and stoops down in front of your cousin. “Kyla, I need to speak to Kun-ge alone for a little while. Why don’t you go ahead with y/n-jie first?” he says, kind brown eyes meeting her gaze.

“Why? What do you need to talk about?” she asks, her five-year old self obviously not understanding. But to be honest, you didn’t either. Sure, Hendery had met Kun prior to this, but their interactions never extended beyond polite small talk. And suddenly they had things to discuss by themselves?

“Oh erm, it’s, you know, bro talk,” he laughs nervously, garbling out what he thought would be an understandable reason to your cousin. “It’s something only guys understand. Tell you what, you take y/n-jie with you, and then Kun-ge and I will find you guys later, okay?”

Though Kyla doesn’t fully understand, she simply nods earnestly, before tugging on your arm again. “y/n-jie, let’s go! See you later, geges!” she giggles, skipping ahead. Though you're curious to know what the two boys had to discuss, you decide not to pry and follow your cousin.

Much to Hendery’s relief, the adults are still engrossed in their own conversations, leaving him and Kun some privacy to talk. “You said you wanted to talk? What about?” Kun poses the question to Hendery, furrowing his brows in confusion.

Hendery says nothing, instead watching both you and Kyla run further into the fairgrounds. “You really like y/n, don’t you?” He finally says after about a minute.

“Of course I do,” Kun replies, not seeing where the conversation was headed. “Why else would I date her then?”

“You guys aren’t really dating,” Hendery calmly continues, returning his gaze to Kun. “You’re her fake boyfriend for tonight, aren’t you?”

"What do you mean, fake boyfriend?” Kun answers with his own question, feigning confusion. “We’re officially together”.

Hendery shakes his head, indicating that he doesn’t believe Kun. “Nope. Don’t even try lying. I know the whole truth. Y/n didn't want the family to bother her about still being single, so she wanted a fake boyfriend for tonight. You offered to help her, so here you are," he remarks, showing that he indeed wasn't lying – he knew the truth.

"Now how do you know – did y/n tell you?" Kun responds, still shocked after Hendery's accurate retelling of your situation. Did you tell him anything? That was unlikely, since the whole point of a fake boyfriend was for you to be able to throw your family off the trail. Telling Hendery, a family member, would only be counter effective.

"Nope. Heard her over the phone," he answers, recalling the phone conversation you'd had with one of your friends last night. “I didn’t eavesdrop on purpose. She was just so damn loud,” he clarifies as Kun shoots him a questioning look.

“Okay, congrats then — you have us busted,” Kun admits with a shrug as he turns back to where a grinning Kyla stood next to “santa”, posing as you snapped some photographs of her with your phone. “But why was this so important that you had to pull me aside for ‘bro time’?”

“I wanted to ask you to confess to her”. Hendery stops beating around the bush, getting straight to the point.

Hendery’s statement sends Kun’s jaw to the ground in the next second. “What? No way!” He protests.

“Why not? Since you like her so much, might as well tell her, right?” Hendery reasons.

“I don’t even think she likes me back that way. If I were to just tell her how I really felt about her, I could spoil our whole friendship,” Kun explains, expressing his previously unspoken fears to your brother, who grunts understandingly as he listens. “I’m not throwing away four years’ worth of friendship just because of this stupid crush”.

“I beg to differ,” Hendery interjects. “She likes you too. Legit”.

“She said that?” Kun inquires.

“Well, over the phone yesterday, yes. ‘I know he’s only a fake boyfriend, but I like him so much! I’m afraid though — what if I tell him I like him but he doesn’t like me that way? I’ll ruin our whole friendship!’” Hendery remarks, imitating your tone of voice as you complained about your dilemma to your friend yesterday, drawing some laughs out of Kun.

“Wait — you’re serious?” he asks, morsels of hope beginning to appear — like the first flakes of snow falling from the sky.

“I’m serious”. Hendery replies, sending Kun a firm nod of reassurance. “Based on what I’ve heard from her, I’m positive she won’t reject you. Tell you what, can you promise me one thing?”

“What’s that?” Kun asks, curiosity piqued as he awaits your brother’s answer.

“By the end of tonight, you confess to her. I don’t care how you do it, you just gotta tell her how you feel,” Hendery states, holding out his pinky finger. “Promise to do that? I’ve known her for the entire 17 years of her existence, so trust me when I say not only will she not reject you, you'll make her whole Christmas. Besides, you’re the only guy I really trust to take care of her”.

Hendery’s last sentence warms Kun’s heart like hot cocoa on a snowy day, and it gives him the final push to make his decision as he links his pinky with Hendery’s. “Promise”.

“And remember, if she happens to reject you, though that’s as likely as the dinosaurs resurrecting from the dead-“ Hendery pulls out his own business card from his coat pocket, and hands it to Kun. “You can text or call me, and I’ll talk to you as soon as I’m free. Don’t worry, you’ve got this,” he reassures, giving Kun a pat on the back.

Kun stuffs the card in his coat pocket, feeling immense gratitude towards Hendery. If not for him, he wouldn’t have the courage to tell you how he really felt. “Thank you so much, Hendery”.

“Anytime,” Hendery answers with a smile. “Now come on, let’s go catch up with them!”

⋆*̣̥☆·͙̥‧❄•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥‧̩̥·‧•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥˟͙☃˟͙‧̩̥·‧•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥•̥̩̥͙‧·‧̩̥❄‧·͙̥̣☆*̣̥ ⋆

“AAAAHHH!” You scream at the top of your lungs as the Viking swings up with a jolt, before swinging back down. Adrenaline courses through your veins as you continue to scream in both exhilaration and fear. Kun’s screams fill your ears as well, though you know that it’s most likely from thrill and elation — through the years you’d known him, he’d proven to be very much the adrenaline junkie.

“Are you alright?” Kun laughs as he helps you off, though seeing your dazed state as you stumble off the ride concerns him slightly.

“That was awful…why did we go on that one…” you pant.

“I mean, this was part of our ‘battle plan’, was it not? Before we went I even asked you if you really wanted to go on this ride!” Kun reminds you, still laughing at your disorientated state.

The ‘battle plan’ he was referring to was the plan that both of you had come up with together to, in your words, “conquer the whole carnival”, including the remaining food stalls and rides. Your family had left, but both of you had opted to stay and continue exploring the rest of the carnival.

“You’re right”. You admit. “Let’s move on. I wanna drink hot chocolate”.

Which is how both of you end up sharing a massive hot chocolate, topped with a generous amount of whipped cream and chocolate syrup, walking around the fairgrounds together. Though this isn’t the first time you and Kun have shared drinks, this time as you take the paper cup from him and sip on the chocolatey goodness in it, you feel the all-too-familiar fluttering in your tummy again. The feeling disappears momentarily, but then returns with a vengeance when you notice how your hands are interlocked with his. Whether he realised it too or not, you would never know, but it sends a heat wave to your cheeks, causing you to subtly turn away and try to get the blushing under control. Part of you wants to hastily pull your hand out of his grip, but the other part of you can’t bring yourself to do it — as if your hand is stuck to his by super glue.

Unbeknownst to you, Kun is struggling to subdue the fluttering of his own heart as well, even more so after realising your hands were still linked. By the end of tonight, you confess to her. Hendery’s words from earlier still ring fresh in his mind. Earlier, he had made that promise as some sort of brazen confidence had come over him while he was chatting with Hendery, but it had gone as soon as it had come, which he found mildly annoying. Whatever, since I promised Hendery, I better get it done, he tells himself, summoning his determination again.

“We’ve got a last ride to go on, right?” your voice draws him out of his thoughts, and he turns to you with a small nod.

“It’s the ferris wheel, if I’m not wrong,” Kun adds. “Let’s go”.

Hands still intertwined, both of you head to the queue. There are fewer people than you expected, due to the fact that it’s getting late, which allows you both the luxury of one capsule to yourselves. Both of you sit in silence, admiring the view of the fair as your capsule begins to rise up into the air. The colourful lights and neon signs, the tents of the different food and game stalls, the sweet scent of cotton candy that wafts straight to you — you sit in silence with Kun, your hand still in his (to your mild embarrassment), soaking in all of the sights and smells of the fair. “Wonderful, isn’t it?” you remark to Kun as he raises the cup to his lips.

“It really is,” he agrees. “But you know what would make this night even more wonderful?”

“What?”

“If you could give me your heart,” Kun finishes.

A moment of silence follows as confusion sets into your mind. “I’m sorry, please repeat that? Is this…a confession?” You ask, trying to wrap your head around his previous sentence.

“…you could say it is,” he answers, turning to you slightly. This time, you catch sight of the pinkish hue on his cheeks.

Of all the emotions you feel, you don’t expect amusement to be your main emotion in that moment. But considering the cheesiness of his entire confession earlier…how could it not be? Before you know it, you’re bursting into guffaws. “Kun! Oh my gosh…you did not just…” you laugh over and over again until you’re wheezing. “Since when did you become so cheesy?”

“I…I don’t know! All I know is, I’ve liked — no, loved you for way too long, and I just had to tell you how I really feel, okay? I couldn’t keep quiet about it anymore,” Kun stutters, the embarrassment clearly now sinking in as he rambles. “Gosh, that came out in the worst way possible”.

You wipe away the tears of laughter that had gathered in your eyes, finding his flustered state adorable. Now that he’d told you how he felt — albeit in a cheesy and somewhat cringey manner — you found the courage to tell him you felt the same way too. “It’s okay, Kun. Yes, I’ll give you my heart this Christmas,” you answer, looking him straight in the eyes. You were well aware your cheeks were burning like a furnace, but you couldn’t care less. Thank God both of you had gotten a capsule alone, because neither of you would be able to handle the embarrassment of this whole confession in front of a bunch of strangers.

“Wait, you mean it?” Kun asks incredulously, eyes growing wide enough to rival dinner plates.

You say nothing, but just nod. “Yes, I love you too. Now that we know how we both feel towards each other, shall we seal the deal with…a kiss?” you suggest, lips curving into the widest smile you’ve ever smiled in your entire seventeen years of life.

“I’d love to”. Kun replies, though somewhat shyly.

You take his other hand in your own, and move towards him, and he does the same as both of you prepare for the kiss — but end up being met with a pile of whipped cream. In your excitement, you’d both forgotten about the cup of hot chocolate in between the two of you. “Ugh, talk about a double fail. First my cringey confession, and now this,” Kun laughs sheepishly, wiping the whipped cream off his nose.

“I know right,” you chuckle, doing the same. “It’s alright, let’s do that again. Before this ride ends”.

With that, the distance between both of you closes. Sparks fly in your head as your lips make contact, and an unexplainable euphoria floods over you. This was the one gift that you didn’t expect to receive for Christmas, but the best one yet — nothing santa could give you would match up to this, that was for sure. Pulling away, you both gaze into each other’s eyes with lovestruck gazes. “Merry Christmas, Kun. I love you”.

“Merry Christmas, y/n. I love you too”.

#neosecretsanta #neowritingsnet #nct-writers #nct #nct fluff #nct angst #nct scenarios #nct fic #nct au #nct x reader #nct x y/n #kun #kun fluff #kun angst #kun scenarios #kun fic #kun au #kun x reader #kun x y/n

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j-onedrabbles · 5 months

Text

First snow

❄︎ PAIRING: HAN X READER ❄︎ CW: DAD!JISUNG, FEM!READER, FOOD MENTIONS, ❄︎ WC: 1.2K ❄︎ NOTE: I got carried away…

Winter was a wonderful time. Snow falling, hot chocolate all the time.

Jisung had a couple of days off from work and it was cold out. Naturally, he insisted on doing something with his family.

“You want whipped cream on yours too baby?” Jisung asked his two-year-old.

“Yeah! And marshmallows!” She said as she did a little dance in his arms.

“What are you two doing?” Y/n asked walking into the kitchen, having just woke up

“Daddy made hot chocolate!” Soo Yun exclaimed

“He did?” Y/n asked, walking over and kissing her daughter on the cheek before kissing her husband's lips

“Morning pretty,” Jisung smiled

“Ew,” Soo Yun said

“No more hanging with Uncle Hyunjin,” Y/n told her daughter

“Go sit at the table baby. Daddy will bring you your hot chocolate.” Jisung set his daughter down on the ground

“With marshmallows!” She yelled as she ran to the table.

“With marshmallows,” Jisung repeated as he put whipped cream and marshmallows on all three cups of hot chocolate

“What do you want for breakfast baby?” Y/n asked her daughter

“Hot chocolate!” She answered

“Need something else. Mommy and Daddy have a surprise for you,” Jisung told her as he set down the mug, telling her to be careful

“Surprise?” she asked

“Mhmm. We have to drive to it though,” Y/n joined her at the table and handed Jisung his mug.

“Why drive?” she asked, not daring to pick up her mug and drinking up the hot liquid

“Because it’s far away,” Jisung told her

“Should mommy make pancakes for breakfast?” Y/n suggested

“Yeah!” Soo Yun smiled with a whipped cream mustache on her top lip.

“Pancakes it is.” Y/n smiled as Jisung pulled his phone out to take a photo of his daughter.

Y/n got up with her mug and started on the pancakes. Jisung made sure his daughter didn't burn her mouth or spill the cup. And tell her not to pick the marshmallows out.

Y/n made enough for the three of them as they sat at the table eating breakfast. Soo Yun scarfed down her pancakes no matter how many times her parents told her to slow down and chew. Blaming her excitement to go to her surprise.

“I’ll get her ready,” Jisung offered and cleaned up their plates.

“Dirty! Dirty!” Soo Yun showed her dad her syrup hands.

“Lick it off,” Jisung suggested

“Han Jisung,” Y/n warned him.

She did lick her fingers, not hearing her mom. Jisung took her to wash her hands and get her dressed. Y/n took care of the kitchen and checked on the two. Soo Yun argued with her dad about how she didn't want to wear her boots and wanted her sandals instead.

“Babe,” Jisung sighed looking at his wife

“It's cold out baby. You want your feet to get cold?” Y/n asked

“No…”

“Put on your socks, baby.” Y/n went to get dressed and pack their bags.

“She’s playing till we leave,” Jisung said as he walked into their room.

“She gets her attitude from you,” Y/n told him as he wrapped his arms around her

“You and my mom tell me all the time,” Jisung said

“Go get ready,” Y/n kissed his lips to send him off.

Jisung got ready while Y/n grabbed all their snow gear. Having bought new ones for her daughter and put them by the door.

“Where we go?” Soo Yun asked

“Would it be a surprise if I told you?” Y/n asked her daughter

“No,” her daughter replied, “I bring goka?” No matter how much Jisung tried to get her to say quokka, she still couldn't.

“Yes, but he has to stay in the car when we get there.”

“Okay!” Soo Yun agreed as Jisung came down dressed

“I’ll go put everything in the car,” he offered as he slipped his shoes on and took everything out, packing up. Y/n helped their daughter put her toys away and let her grab her quokka before they put their shoes on and went out to meet Jisung. Car on and warming up. Y/n got her in her seat and Jisung locked up their house.

Y/n put a movie on a tablet for her daughter since the place they were going was about two hours out. Didn't stop her from talking about it the whole drive.

Jisung kept his child entertained while driving them to their destination, his wife's hand in one of his the whole time. Music playing low in their car and Jisung singing along.

“Look out your window baby,” Jisung called to his daughter in the back

“Snow! Mommy snow!”

“Yeah? There snow outside?” Y/n asked

“Like like the video with daddy and uncles!”

“Less aggressive,” Jisung mumbled.

The family pulled up to a small resort and parked the car. Jisung grabbed the snow gear out of the back while Y/n unbuckled their daughter.

Jisung handed her Soo Yun’s snowsuit and accessories to get her dressed. Zipping her up and pulling her hood up. “You look so cute!” Y/n said as she kissed her daughter’s face, just making her giggle.

“Come on, let’s go get your snowshoes,” Y/n picked up her daughter and brought her to the trunk.

“Look at my baby!” Jisung squealed

Y/n smiled as she set her down on the edge and got her snow gear on while Jisung put her shoes on. Once all three were ready, Jisung locked up the car and the couple walked their daughter through the snow— which seemed like a difficult task with her little legs.

Eventually, they got to a little corner and Soo Yun took to the snow easily. Jisung rented a small sled and took her down the slopes on it—holding onto her tightly— as Y/n recorded it. Taking photos here and there.

The couple teaching their daughter how to build a snowman. Y/n did take a moment of that to make a snowball and give it to her daughter to throw at her dad. Capturing a cute video of her running as best she could in the snowsuit, holding the ball of ice in both hands before reaching her dad and throwing it at him as best she could.

Jisung just grabbed his daughter, held her close and kissed her red cheeks while Y/n sent the video to her uncles. Helping finish the snowman and then letting her play with it while they stood by. Jisung grabbed some photos then turned and pulled his wife in for some selfies.

“This was a good idea,” Y/n said as she kissed his cheek, leaning into him more for warmth.

“I vote to make it a family tradition,” Jisung said as he slipped his phone into his pocket.

“I like that idea,” Y/n smiled

“Also think we should have another baby,” Jisung added

“You miss when she was small, huh?”

“She’s talking and walking! Soon she’s going to be in school and what am I going to do?!”

“We’ll talk about it later babe. Enjoy your daughter's first snow for now.”

“Mommy I’m hungry!” Soo Yun yelled

SERIES M. LIST ❄︎ MAIN M. LIST ❄︎ TIP JAR

TAGLISTS ❄︎ @starlostastronaut @want2besomeoneelse @aylinbsx @143lix @princesspanda16 @manuosorioh @delulu18 @shaylaxo @chillichillicrabcrab23

#: ̗̀➛karmic writes #𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 twelve days of fluff {skz holiday event}#stray kids x reader #stray kids #skz x reader #stray kids fluff #skz fluff #stray kids x reader fluff #skz x reader fluff #han jisung x reader #han jisung x reader fluff #han jisung fluff #han x reader fluff #han x reader #han fluff

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vulpes-fennec · 1 year

Text

The Fae Equality Initiative (Ch. 7) 🌊

Summary: Tarquin, High Lord of the Summer Court, has sent ripples of shock throughout Prythian with his plans to eliminate discrimination against Lesser Fae. When the Night Court is invited to send a delegation to Summer Court, Elain Archeron can’t wait to show everybody what she’s capable of on her first official Inner Circle assignment. Little does she know that Tarquin has also recruited Lucien Vanserra’s assistance…

Read: Ch 1 | Ch. 6 | AO3

Viviane's POV is here! ❄

Viviane giggled as Kallias peppered her with affectionate kisses the moment she arrived home. “I missed you, Viv,” the High Lord of Winter murmured, burying his face against her neck. “I’m going to be very reluctant to let you leave again next weekend.” Viviane smoothed her mate’s snowy hair and took a moment to admire his face. White blonde hair curled slightly around his pointed ears, each studded with sapphire. His pale, angular face was almost devoid of color save for his flushed lips and icy blue eyes. Beautiful. Fifty years of us were lost to Amarantha. I’m so glad that we never stop cherishing every moment we have with each other.

“I missed you too, my love,” she responded, hugging him tightly even as he set her down. “How was Violetta the last few days?” Their daughter was just shy of three years old and her ice powers…well, they were a work in progress. Her tantrums could shock glass bottles into shattering, while her playful moods could create beautiful snowflakes. Controlling powers is a struggle with ALL Fae children, but I don’t remember it being so HARD.

“She’s sleeping right now, after I gave her a bath and read her a polar bear story…Only one temper tantrum this weekend. You missed the lovely ice sculpture we made last night. I cleaned it all up, of course.”

“As you should,” Viviane rolled her eyes, her fair skin blushing. Seeing Kallias dote on their daughter…whatever it was…it made Viviane want to yank him into bed and show him just how much she appreciated his acts of service.

Kallias’s icy eyes glinted as he sensed her suppressed arousal. “As much as I’d love to ravish you right now, my snowflake, I’m sure you have much to report.”

Viviane’s mouth twitched mischievously. “Can we do it while we are cuddling in bed, at least?” Kallias didn’t need to be told twice. One snap of his fingers removed their clothes. The next snap had them winnowed into their bed, where he swaddled Viviane in comfy blankets and fluffy pillows.

When his warm body pressed against hers and he stroked her hair, Viviane began to regale him with conference stories. She told him of the resentment between High and Lesser Fae: the Lesser Fae hated how their resources were being siphoned off to help the High Fae rebuild after the war, while the High Fae envied the Lesser Fae for being “spared their younglings” during one of Amarantha’s final attacks.

To which Kallias replied that: a) he and Viviane should revise the taxation brackets with their finance bureau, and b) the High Fae were misdirecting their envy, for the Lesser Fae suffered numerous attacks and injuries throughout Amarantha’s reign.

Viviane relayed Emerie’s experiences as a female Carynthian warrior in Illyria. That Viviane resonated with her, especially when many Winter Court nobles begrudgingly acknowledged her “presence” as High Lady.

To which Kallias replied that Viviane deserved every bit of her title after defending Winter for 50 long years. “I’m sorry if I was ever one of those males, Viv,” Kallias confessed. “For not considering that you could be High Lady, until you asked me if you could.” His blue eyes were so genuinely despondent that Viviane took his hand and kissed each of his knuckles.

“We were too busy enjoying the time we had after reuniting, Kal,” she said softly. “And you’ve always supported me after I became High Lady.” Kallias only hugged his mate closer, pressing a soft kiss under her ear. Viviane smiled at Kallias’s softness, wondering how she ever managed to reduce the icy Lord of Winter to a lovey-dovey youth.

“How’s Tarquin doing?” he murmured into her ear.

“Stressed, as always,” she replied. “I daresay he’s still adjusting to being a High Lord.” Viviane couldn’t imagine what it was like for Tarquin and Helion to take on the mantle of an entire court while powerless Under the Mountain. Tarquin, Helion, and Feyre were the other “novice” rulers in Prythian; Viviane always felt a certain kinship with them. Too bad Helion and Feyre weren’t in Adriata this past weekend.

“It’s a lot of work for one person,” Kallias sighed. “Especially with his Lesser Fae initiatives.”

Viviane perked up. “But what about us?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…you said it’s a lot of work for one person. But there’s two of us. So what if we did something similar to Tarquin?”

Kallias went quiet in a way Viviane knew he was about to say something she didn’t want to hear. “Tarquin’s ideas are admirable but…I thought you wanted to work on uplifting the females in court?”

Viviane tensed. “Why can’t we do both?”

Kallias sighed. “It just…we’re both busy with enough things already. And we have Violetta to raise…I would like to do something for the Lesser Fae in the future but it just doesn’t feel like the right time, you know?”

“We’re always busy. When is the right time, then?” He was always the more cautious one, always wanting to plan twenty steps ahead. His foresight and care kept her alive during Amarantha, but—

“Why can’t we start off small? Dedicate a memorial to the Lesser Fae lives lost in the war. Set up funds and scholarships for their communities.”

Viviane disentangled herself from Kallias, upset. She tugged a sweater and pants on, running her fingers through her messy hair. Of course he would want to start off small, she thought bitterly. All of this would hardly make a dent in the Winter Treasury.

“You saw firsthand how much planning Tarquin needs to restructure everything in Summer.” Kallias sat up in their bed, blankets falling off his muscled body. His voice was strained. “This isn’t something we can just do overnight.”

Viviane hated to admit Kallias was right about that. But how can he not care about this as much as me? This may not be urgent for us, but it sure as hell is affecting the Lesser Fae in our court! Disappointment was apparent in Viviane’s slightly forceful movements around the room. “What, we can’t be a little ambitious about helping our own people?”

“Where are you going?” Kallias asked, choosing not to answer her question.

“To see Violetta,” Viviane snapped over her shoulder as she left the room.

***

The council meeting was a tense one, more so because Viviane was still upset with Kallias. When she presented her plan for expanding the print industry, two male advisors nitpicked and questioned every aspect of it. Nevermind that the final policy was something both she and Kallias worked on. Viviane got into a verbal spat with another noble who habitually steamrolled her suggestions to the agriculture committee. As if he knew anything about agriculture, for he was one of the infrastructure ministers.

Kallias could only glare daggers at the offending council members. Viviane had made it clear she didn’t want him coming to her defense every damn time, and he had begrudgingly complied. Despite the mini argument they had earlier that evening, Viviane could see Kal’s fingers were visibly itching to flex his power and school the males into respecting her.

Viviane winnowed into Lillestad shortly after the meeting, not bothering to tell Kallias where she’d gone. The city was on the border of Winter and Summer, and on clear days, one could see the lush green lands peeking between the mountain range.

Several Fae greeted their High Lady as Viviane strode the brightly lit streets. She often sought refuge here, for Lillestad was proof that she was a capable leader. It was also proof that High Fae and Lesser Fae could live and work together on relatively equal terms.

Sometimes, she wondered what became of those relationships once things “returned to normal” after Amarantha. Many returned to their hometowns. But a good number of High and Lesser Fae refugees had remained in Lillestad, having made the border city their new home. Seeing the signs of friendship and respect as she walked through the quaint streets gave Viviane some hope that progress had not been reversed.

Snow began to fall lightly, dusting the already white streets. Viviane turned the corner, arriving at one of her favorite parks in the city. Remnants of snowmen, ice sculptures, and sled tracks were proof of younglings playing earlier in the day. But right now, it was empty.

Save for a tall figure she would recognize anywhere, standing under the golden glow of a faelight lamp. Kallias.

Vivane froze, for it was too late to pretend she hadn’t seen her mate. Kallias was still dressed in his High Lord’s finery, his high cheekbones a ruddy red and the snowflakes blending into his white-blonde hair.

Kallias approached her cautiously, stopping just a few inches away from her with a look of regret in his icy blue eyes. “Bad day, miss?” he asked quietly, breath fogging in the air. This was the “game” Viviane and Kallias had played ever since they were children. Post-fight, they interacted with each other as strangers initially, in order to hear each other without anger’s bias.

“Yeah.” Viviane chewed her lip anxiously. “Had to deal with some stodgy old males who don’t take me seriously.” Kallias’s eyes flashed with glacial anger so similar to the one from the meeting. “They don’t see me as their High Lady.”

“From what I’ve seen, plenty of Fae in these streets see you as the High Lady of Winter,” Kallias’s voice was soft.

“My friend Lucien and I visited the Lesser Fae part of Adriata,” Viviane continued. “There were so many who knew someone, a family member or a friend, who sought refuge here. They thanked me—” her voice cracked, “thanked me for taking them in, because they expected to be turned away. Because they were Lesser Fae.” Tears rolled down her cheeks as she recalled the faces of those who had trickled into these very avenues over the years. Young and old, big and small, some with fresh injuries, others who had lost everything…

Kallias’s facade dropped. He crossed the distance to his mate in a few strides and hugged her tightly. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I should have known how difficult this weekend would be for you. Instead of acting like—”

Viviane wiped her tears on his very expensive jacket. “But you were right. About how we can’t do everything at once.”

Kallias’s broad hand threaded her hair, pressing her closer. “I was thinking with my head, when I should’ve been listening to my heart. You never limit yourself, you’re never intimidated by a challenge, Viv, and that’s what I admire about you.”

“And you’re my High Lady of Winter,” he added roughly. The power emanating from his voice bowed in deference to Viviane, sending a thrill up her spine. “Don’t question yourself when you care more about our people than those council members.”

Viviane lifted her head from Kallias’s chest, hopefulness in her eyes. “So does this mean we’re following Tarquin’s footsteps…eventually?”

Kallias nodded. “We’re a team, Viv. Just like you said earlier…we can work on it together. How about we get started on the background planning tomorrow?”

She smiled at her mate. “Did I ever tell you how much I love you?”

“I love you too, my snow queen. Shall we quit our duties for the night and take a stroll?” Viviane looped her arm through his in answer. “How’s Lucien doing?”

“Hmm…his mate is there. Elain Archeron. They still avoid each other, as far as I know.”

“Interesting,” Kallias mused. “And did he tell you how he managed to free Queen Vassa from Koschei’s clutches?”

“Oh, I didn’t get a chance to ask. We were so busy this past weekend. But whatever he did, it’s quite impressive, isn’t it?”

Kallias contemplated the snowy landscape before them. “Yes. It seems the clever fox may be more powerful than we thought…”

***Tarquin***

Summer:

Send more aid to poorer districts of cities

Integrate docks in harbors

Educational reform (Day Court?)

Set up harassment reporting system by end of month

Court governance committee diversification

Spring:

Tithe → taxation (?)

Human lands/loss of the Wall → ask Lucien

Winter:

Attitudes towards females → ask Cresseida

Recognition of war’s impact → education + monuments (?)

Day:

Obstacles to leadership → diversity in hiring

Dawn:

Prejudice towards same-sex couples → covered in law, education (?)

Discrimination in craft guilds

Night:

Attitudes towards females

Prejudice towards same-sex couples

Supporting Lesser Fae-owned business → business council, merchants (?)

Great. More things to add to the list of things to revamp. Tarquin broke his gaze away from his meeting notes. Cresseida and Varian were sitting in his study, just under his portrait that was painted shortly after his return to Adriata.

Back when I was young and spritely, Tarquin sighed inwardly. It hadn’t even been a decade of proper leadership yet. Back when I used to tackle problems head on, eager for a learning opportunity. I can’t be jaded YET…I just need more HELP.

“Tarquin, you need more support,” Cresseida’s voice cut through the air as if she’d just read his thoughts. The Princess of Adriata looked relaxed as she lounged in one of Tarquin’s chairs, but her brown eyes were alert. “Give me something to do.”

Tarquin assessed his list. “Alright. I’ll task you with integrating Adriata’s schools and university. As well as the markets—that should be enough to keep you busy.” Cresseida nodded in affirmation.

“You should establish a permanent committee for managing the transition,” Varian suggested. Tarquin’s cousin was a male of few words, so whenever Varian spoke, he came with hard-hitting points.

“Are you volunteering, Varian?” Tarquin raised an eyebrow.

Varian’s mouth twitched. “Respectfully, no. There’s enough on my hands with potential civil unrest and increase in intimidations in the city.”

“Right. What’s the update on that?” Things don’t sound good if even Varian is stressed.

“We are averaging about three public brawls between the Fae at the docks each week. I suspect we are undercounting the fights that take place in the taverns. Lucien spotted graffiti on public notice boards that included Lesser Fae slurs.” Tarquin checked his notes. “The reports of discrimination from businesses has stayed the same, which isn’t that great because they’re still acting out. Also, several instances of intimidation in public spaces. Those bastards.” The Captain of the Guard loosed a rare display of emotion in a growl.

Tarquin felt like he was made out of sighs as he let out yet another depressed sigh. “Thank you, Varian. Please send your guards my thanks as well,” he said dryly. “I’ll let the treasury know there will be more overtime pay to process.” Varian nodded curtly.

Solstice is approximately five months away…that time is going to fly by fast.

“It’s good that the delegates are getting us to think outside the box already,” he mused. “We’ll continue with our regular discussion agenda for next weekend. And I’ll work on establishing a permanent committee by next month.”

“Next month?” cried Cresseida. “Tarquin, are you going to get any sleep at this rate?”

“He’ll be immune to the effects of coffee soon,” remarked Varian. “Why not ask Lucien for assistance on some of the projects? We can contract him out for some management work.”

Lucien. There’s a lot we haven’t caught up on, such as how he, Vassa, and Jurian dealt with Koschei. Perhaps he will be helpful in an unconventional way…

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Read: Ch. 8

#viviane x kallias #winter court #tarquin acotar #summer court #acotar #acotar fanfiction #elucien #tagging as elucien bc of mentions

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