Tumgik
#Rosie needs a cute flower store
coffeestarsbooks · 2 years
Text
Still got a bit of work to do on the flower shop (I need to fill the interior and then put some flowers and plants around the outside), but the space is shaping up nicely. Behind the shop is the entry to the forest path up to the mountain and windmills, and to the right is the town marketplace.
Tumblr media
25 notes · View notes
Text
Fake Plastic Trees (M.H Sneak Peek)
An aspiring florist, a problematic rockstar and a meet-cute straight out of "Nottinghill". What could possibly go wrong?
Here's a small Sneak Peek of my up and coming Mini-Series, "Fake Plastic Trees"! What do you guys think of it? Also, fair warning, this isn't really proof-read... Enjoy!
Matty was stressed out. First of all, he had just finished recording with the band and was starving after not eating the whole morning. And second of all, he was in desperate need of a gift for his dear Mum.
Hurrying down the streets of the quiter part of London, his eyes darted around in search for a florist. 
He stopped in intrigue as he read: Fake Plastic Trees — and below it, windows full of blooming, fresh flowers and plants. How ironic, he thought to himself as he giggled and walked across the road, into the small boutique.
"Hello! Welcome to "Fake Plastic Trees". If you need any help, let me know." a voice rung out, in tune with the chiming of the bell that announced his entrance.
Matty bid a quick hello and thanks, before browsing around the store. He quickly realized how helpless he actually was, overwhelmed by the amount of selection the store offered. Flowers and Blossoms from everywhere, with exotic names and appearance, some looking to be straight out of a Sci-fi movie.
"Don't think I would go for those if you're looking for a Mother's day gift." Matty heard a voice speak behind him, slightly startling him.
"Hm?" he hummed out and turned around in confusion.
"The orange lillies you were looking at. Beautiful, I know. The meaning? Not as much..." she elaborated with a grin on her face.
He opened his mouth to ask further, but was quickly shut down when he saw who was speaking to him.
Gleaming eyes, a crooked smile, slightly freckled skin leading to a pierced nose and a small dimple on the upper-left cheek. She looked like the first day of spring, with a septum piercing.
His brain short-circuited as he kept closing and opening his mouth, blubbering out a "Why?" after an embarassingly long wait.
"To keep it short, it symbolises hatred and disdain. So, unless you have a complicated relationship with your Mum, not my first choice." she explained with a small laugh at the end because of his antics, he really seemed out of it when he first caught sight of her.
"That's definitely not the type of vibe I'm going for... Anything you would recommend?" he chuckled out in slight embarassment, a rosy hue dusting his ears.
"Maybe another colour variation? Pink lillies for example! They symbolise femininity, admiration and love, often the one between parent and child." she ranted excitedly.
Seeing someone talk about something they genuinely loved was one of the most adorable things in Matty's eyes. He could listen to her going on and on about the mysteries of the flower language all day, if it meant seeing that grin and dimple.
To be continued...
32 notes · View notes
purplevortexx · 1 year
Text
Mixed Up Match Up
summary: in which you meet someone new and don’t realise you could have met him long before you did.
pairing: robert ’bob’ floyd X reader
warnings: ROBERTA
words: 3.7k
a/n: some cute Bob fluff for you all, enjoy! Feedback is always appreciated! 🫶
Also… ROBERTA IS BACK BITCHES!
tag list: @call-sign-jinx @shrimping-for-all
✨add yourself to my taglist(s) here✨
“Roberta, I’m here.” You yell as you step through the familiar blue front door armed with a black cat in one hand and your bag in the other.
Placing down the meowing ball of fluff in your arms, you watch as your bundle of black fur disappears round the corner into the kitchen, no doubt searching for her favourite person. You hear a slight clatter, followed by a call of “Y/N honey I’m just baking, come through to the kitchen dear.” You follow the path that your cat, Donut, has taken and are greeted with a delicious smell as you enter the kitchen.
Looking across the room, you see that Donut has comfortably perched herself on the windowsill, fluffy tail waving lazily as she receives scratches on her stomach from Roberta who is mumbling loving praise to the little black cat. “Smells delicious in here!” You tell Roberta in greeting.
“Thank you sweetheart. My grandson’s coming over later, I’m making cookies for him. Chocolate chip, his favourite.” You take a breath in, waiting for the words you know are coming, “He’s still single you know, lovely boy, and he’s in the navy. He’s a-“
“Provider, my baby boy.” You finish for her, having heard all about Roberta’s grandson multiple times before.
Roberta rolls her eyes at you but presses on, “I’m sorry Y/N but I really think you should meet him. And wouldn’t Donut just love another parent!”
“Roberta,” you chastise her affectionately. “I already told you I’m ok as I am. If I meet someone I meet them, I don’t need you setting me up with your grandson.” You turn, making your way to the front door. “Plus Donut hates everyone that isn’t you or me.”
“But-“ she starts, following you out into the hall. You turn slightly. Only then catching a glimpse of her apron donning the phrase ‘your opinion wasn’t in the recipe’ You chuckle at the apron before opening the door.
“Bye Roberta, I’ll be back around 5 for Donut, don’t let her out with the chickens again” you say, bidding her goodbye.
-
The walk to your flower store is thankfully pretty short so you get there within plenty of time to set up for opening. When the alarm on your phone chimes, telling you it’s opening time, you’ve already completed 2 arrangements that are due to be picked up that afternoon as well as another to sit on the display table. Humming contentedly to yourself, you carry the display arrangement to the table and place a price card on it before heading out with your signs and keys. Grabbing the rubber door stop from behind the counter, you prop the door open before pulling your signs out onto the sidewalk. As you move through the doorway, the bottom of one sign catches the doorstop, pulling it from where it is nestled under the door. Your eyes widen in panic as you watch the door start to close on you. Unfortunately there’s nothing you can do but prepare to feel it hit you in the face.
You screw your eyes shut in preparation but then you hear a voice “woah, I got it.” And then… nothing. You open your eyes slowly and are met by the sight of your saviour who has a soft smile and rosy cheeks. He pulls the offending door wide open and grabs one of the signs from you. “You ok?” He asks and you nod dumbly.
It takes you a few seconds to find your voice. “Uh yeah thank you.” You place the remaining sign in your grasp in its place before grabbing the one from the handsome stranger and settling that down on the other side of the door. As you turn to go back into the store, you notice the stranger move to walk in behind you.
“Oh were you needing some flowers?”
He nods eagerly. “Yeah, for my grandmother.” You wonder fleetingly if Roberta’s grandson would buy her flowers but shake off the thought as the cute guy in front of you continues talking. “I’ve been away working for a while and she always likes it when I get flowers for her when I visit.” His explanation nearly makes you swoon and pretty sure you may have just met your dream guy.
You ask him a couple of questions about what kind of bouquet he wants to buy including a price range and preferred colours which he answers readily. It’s hard to keep yourself focused as you keep meeting his eyes when you glance up to ask another question. Each time your eyes meet his own blue ones he offers a small smile, his cheeks slowly becoming more red.
“Ok,” you say, snapping yourself out of whatever cringy haze this guy has put you under. “So I’m pretty busy today but your order should be ready by tomorrow morning. You tell him “you can pay for it now or on collection, it’s up to you.”
“I’ll pay now,” he says, pulling out his wallet and you nod, putting the total through the register.
“Can I take a name for the order? Just a first name is fine.” It’s not like you’ll forget him in a hurry but it never hurts to be professional.
“Sure, it’s Bob.” He tells you, shy grin still fixed on his face.
“Well Bob, thank you for saving me from death by door.” You chime, raising your eyebrows in amusement.
He chuckles, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “Oh it’s nothing really, the worst you woulda got is a black eye.”
“Well in that case, thank you for helping me avoid a black eye.” You say and he chuckles again in response. You’re pretty sure Bob has no idea you’re attempting to flirt with him.
“Anytime,” he pauses, eyes dropping to your embroidered apron “Y/N”. You feel the corners of your mouth turn up as he says your name. You fall silent, attempting to avoid Bob’s bashful gaze so as not to embarrass yourself further.
Reprieve from your situation comes in the form of your phone’s ringtone blaring out on the counter. You mutter an apology to Bob before grabbing the device and holding up to your ear. “It’ll be ready tomorrow morning.” You tell Bob once again and he nods in understanding.
“Alright, thanks Y/N.” He says, and with that he gives you a parting nod and leaves you to answer the incoming call.
True to your words to Bob, you do in fact have a really busy day at the store meaning you only get to Roberta’s to pick up Donut just after 5:30. You’re already apologising as you walk in the door. “I’m so sorry, I’m late!” You’re greeted with the sight of Roberta sat on the couch with her husband next to her reading a book and Donut sound asleep between them, claws seemingly digging into Jerry’s thigh.
Roberta waves your apology off. “Not to worry dear, these things happen. Although you did just miss my grandson.” You roll your eyes.
“Roberta, for the last time, please stop trying to set me up with him!”
Jerry sighs softly from next to his wife. “Honestly Roberta, let them live. Who knows, Y/N might already have a lover hm?” You cringe at Jerry’s choice of words and shake your head.
“Only me and Donut,” you confirm your relationship status, giving a pointed look to Roberta. “Just the way I like it.” At the mention of her name, the little black cat hops up from where she’d been asleep on the couch between the Floyds and jumps happily into your arms as if confirming your statement.
Roberta just chuckles, taking a sip from her glass of wine. “We’ll see honey,” she tells you. It creeps you out the way she does that. It’s as if she knows that you met someone you kind of like. You’d write it off as a coincidence but it’s happened before. The day after a particularly disastrous date you’d had a few months ago, Roberta had asked you how it went despite you never telling her about it in the first place.
“I swear she’s freaking psychic.” You mutter under your breath, hiding your face in your cat’s fur, quiet enough for Roberta not to hear.
She does however notice that you have said something, “what was that dear?” She asks and you shrug and shake your head.
“Nothing, just talking to Donut” you reply, stroking the purring ball of fluff in your arms who lets out a soft, contented meow. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” You say, giving a soft smile to Jerry and a small wave to Roberta.
Before you can leave though, Roberta stops you, “oh honey I completely forgot to tell you, Jerry and I are meeting up with some friends tomorrow so I won’t be able to watch this little angel.” She confesses, moving to stand next to you and lay a hand over Donut’s head.
“Little angel my ass,” Jerry mutters, turning the page of his book. “Scratches me any chance she gets that little demon.” Roberta hits her husband lightly on his shoulder as a means of chastising him but he just shrugs and returns to his book, still muttering about ‘that darn cat’.
At the thought of donut having to come with you to work tomorrow, flashbacks from the last time she was in the store plague your mind. Now Donut is generally a very well behaved cat but she tends to get bored quite easily so before Roberta started watching her every day, she had to come with you to work. This resulted in many flowers being eaten and a few displays ripped by tiny kitten claws. It did cease slightly when you brought a bed and toys for Donut to entertain herself throughout the day but when it came close to closing time, and you putting things away, she’d more often than not find something to rip to shreds.
You make a mental note to dig out the spare cat bed from your spare bedroom, along with some toys and pack some food for Donut tomorrow. “It’s alright,” you tell Roberta, “you guys have fun. I guess Donut’ll just have to stay in the store with me all day tomorrow.”
And with that you bid them farewell, giving your cat-sitter a light hug on your way out.
The next morning is more hectic than usual. You had called your mother the night before, asking if she was able to have donut for the day but she declined, stating her new boyfriend was allergic to cats. You’re almost convinced he’s posted on Facebook about having 2 cats before but opt not to get into an argument with your mother about her boyfriends non-existent cat allergy.
After dragging out various cat supplies and sorting them into bags you’re ready to leave for work- albeit 20 minutes later than usual. Not stopping at Roberta’s helps you catch up some lost time, meaning you’re not as late as you first thought but you’re still rushing once you get to the shop, armed with a wriggling cat and all her supplies.
Thankfully, it only takes you a few minutes to set up a corner for Donut for the day, leaving her bed just behind the counter. She slinks tentatively towards it before settling herself in and falling asleep nearly straight away. You sigh in relief, at least she doesn’t seem to want to destroy your store today.
As it’s nearly opening time, you unlock the door and put the signs out before grabbing your diary and opening it to your ‘to do’ list for today.
You quickly get lost in the tasks at hand, barely hearing the the bell attached to the shop door when it chimes softly a couple of hours later, signalling someone has entered the store. “I’ll be out in a minute!” You yell, spotting a shadow of figure stood at the counter.
“Take your time,” the customer hollers back. You stand on your tip toes, straining to reach the tissue paper on the top shelf that would look perfect wrapped around the bouquet you’d just put together for Dotty who lives next door to your mother. You manage to grab the paper and quickly finish off the arrangement before heading out to the front of the store where you’re greeted with a strange sight.
Bob is stood at the counter, which in itself is not all that odd considering he has an order to pick up. What perplexes you is the fact that he’s scratching a purring Donut carefully behind her ears and she’s not attempting to dig her claws into his arm. You’ve lost count of the amount of customers Donut had injured in her time being with you but for some reason she’s decided that Bob is worthy. Not that you blame her of course, he seems pretty worthy to you too- maybe Roberta was right about Donut needing another parent.
The bespectacled man looks up as you make your way to stand behind the counter, noting the way your eyes widen as you take in him stroking your cat. Your bewildered look between him and your feline causes Bob to panic and pause his petting of Donut who leaps from the counter to sit neatly on his shoulder. “Sorry, she just came up to me, I should’ve asked!” He explains, wrapping his hand around Donut’s middle, ready to remove her from his shoulder.
“No you’re fine!” You assure him and he lowers his hand “it’s just she’s never like this with anyone else, she literally hates everyone.” You tell him, chuckling at the sight of Donut happily perched on Bob’s shoulder, tail swaying and tickling the back of his neck.
“Well in that case, I’m honoured.” He says, scratching the chin of the purring ball of fluff. “Does Roberta Floyd watch her at all? It’s just I swear this is the same cat that I saw yesterday.”
You nod in confirmation, reaching out yourself to pet Donut, who is close to falling asleep. “Uh-huh, Donut here goes to Roberta’s when I’m working. She’s out today so it’s ‘bring your cat to work and hope she doesn’t destroy your store’ day for me today,” you ramble, watching as the corner of Bob’s lips turn up at your words. “How do you know Roberta?” You ask. It’s likely Bob’s a new neighbour or maybe related to someone who is. All the scenarios of his connection to your cat-sitter run through your mind but you aren’t prepared for the real reason he knows Roberta.
“She’s my grandmother,”
You nearly faint on the spot. Bob, wonderful, cute, sweet Bob is the grandson Roberta has been trying to set you up with. “Seriously?” You ask, the borderline panicked tone of your voice waking donut from her nap on Bob’s shoulder causing her to jump off the man and walk out of the room.
Bob scratches the back of his neck nervously, “uh…yeah?” It comes out phrased more as a question from Bob, who is thoroughly confused by your reaction.
“Oh my god,”
“Everything ok?” Bob asks, unsure what to do about your current state.
“Uh yeah… it’s just” you cringe inwardly, trying to find the best words. “Um, I’m pretty sure Roberta’s been trying to set me up with you for months.” You say the last sentence with haste, ripping the proverbial band-aid off quickly. “I mean, unless you have a brother?”
He nods quickly, “Um I do have a brother but he’s married so…”
“Right, well I guess it is you she’s been trying to set me up with then” you confirm, rubbing a hand over your arm nervously.
As he takes in your words, Bob turns bright red and his eyes become comically wide. “Oh my god, that makes so much sense.”
“Wait what?”
“I always get her flowers when I come home to visit. She asked me to come here specifically this time, said you do the best flowers in town.” You scoff in disbelief and Bob carries on talking. “They really are the best in town though,” he says weakly, looking down at his shoes and your cheeks start to heat up at his bashful compliment.
“I can’t believe this,” you state, running your hands over your face, unable to grasp that Roberta has meddled this much in both yours and her grandson’s love lives.
Unfortunately Bob takes your statement as you being pissed off at him, which is the furthest thing from the disbelief and slight amusement you’re actually feeling. As such, the bespectacled man in front of you continues his admittedly cute rambling.
“I am so sorry!” He tells you earnestly, his hands wringing together anxiously as he speaks. “She likes to meddle and I promise I didn’t know but I don’t want you to be freaked out so I can just-“
“Bob!” You cut off his rambling by taking hold of both his shoulders
“Yeah?”
“It’s ok, I know you had nothing to do with it.” Bob deflated in relief, “I’m not even mad!” You say and he cocks his head to the side in confusion.
“You’re not?” He asks, in awe that you’re taking this so well. “She basically parent trapped us,” he mutters and you bite your lip to keep a laugh from escaping.
Bob catches sight of the mischievous sparkle in your eye and smiles himself. “What?” He asks,
“I mean you’ve gotta admit, she did get it right.” You say quietly. Bob clears his throat anxiously, and you really hope you’re not getting the wrong end of the stick. You remove your hands from his shoulders, watching as Bob flinches at the loss of contact. He follows your arms with his gaze and in an unexpected move, slides his hands down them until they’re grasping your own.
You glance down to your joined hands and chuckle softly, rubbing your thumb over the back of Bob’s hands. You both stand there, staring at each other intently until Bob breaks the silence with a gentle confession.
“Y’know… uh… I was going to ask you out today,” he admits, face growing redder by the second.
You squeeze his now clammy hands in reassurance. “You still can.”
“Would you want to grab a coffee or go to dinner or something? With me of course. You can bring Donut, I love cats! And dogs… and any animal really! But polar bears freak me out… and butterflies. Once when I was little I-“
“Bob.” You interrupt his sweet rambling again, fondness coating your words. “We can talk about that over dinner yeah?”
“Really?” He asks, dumbfounded that you’d actually want to go out with him.
You nod in confirmation, “uh-huh. Say tomorrow at like 8?” Bob’s eyes widen, trying to process the fact that you agreed to a date with him, even after he told you he’s afraid of butterflies. “You pick the place, I’m fine with pretty much anything.” You tell him and he nods.
“Uh… sure sure, I’ll uh get right on that.” He says and you pull your hands away from his to reach over the counter for your phone. You hold it out to him expectantly and it takes him a few seconds to realise you want him to put his number in.
“Sorry,” he mumbles, cringing at the fact his ability to act like a human being has seemingly gone out of the window. You just shake your head and smile fondly as he types his number into your phone. He doesn’t realise the way he’s acting right now is exactly why you find him so endearing.
He hands your phone back to you with a shy smile, “I guess I should leave you to work then huh?” He says and you nod.
“I guess so,” you reply, taking a step forward so you’re close enough to press a small kiss to his cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow Bob.”
He grins, “yeah, I’ll text you.” He says and goes to leave your store.
“Uh, Bob?”
“Hm?” He turns back to face you, smile dropping to a look of embarrassment when he spies the bouquet of flowers in your arms.
“Don’t forget Roberta’s flowers.” You call, holding back a chuckle as Bob takes the flowers from your grasp. “Goodbye Bob,” You say, keeping your eyes on him until he’s exited the store, giving you an awkward, dorky wave as he leaves.
Dinner turns out to be amazing and one date turns into two which turns into many, many more as time passes. Eventually you both know you need to come clean to Roberta, which means admitting to Bob’s grandmother that she was right which the stubborn part of you doesn’t want to do.
When you and Bob decide to visit his grandmother together one evening, you walk into her house hand in hand so there’s no mistaking what you are to each other. When you enter, the meddling woman claps her hands together in glee, eyes widening in pure joy when she sees your hands entwined. She goes to speak but before she can you jump in. “Not a damn word,” you tell her and she pulls her fingers up to her lips miming keeping them zipped.
In true Roberta fashion however, she does not stay quiet the whole evening. It’s not as if either you or Bob were expecting her to but it makes you feel slightly sheepish when she says, “now wouldn’t this have been so much easier if you’d have let me set you up weeks ago?” She asks.
“Grandma!” Bob chastises and she just shrugs.
“I’m just sayin’ Y/N didn’t have to nearly get knocked out by a door in order for you two to meet.” She says, placing a hand on her hip.
You see Bob’s mouth open and close, trying to find words to fight back but he can’t find any. You sigh, looking at Roberta fondly and deciding to take one for the team. “Okay fine Roberta , you were right!” A smug smile takes over her lips, “but we got there in the end! It was a bit unorthodox sure but we’re here now right Bob?” You throw the conversation to the man sat next to you who nods, looking into your eyes with pure adoration.
“Wouldn’t change it for the world,” he tells you, bringing your hand up to kiss the back of it.
You smile at the gesture and look up to where Roberta is watching your romantic exchange and decide in that exact moment that you wouldn’t change a thing either.
241 notes · View notes
cinnameownsweet · 29 days
Text
what lies in store?
(reupload!)
word count: 1,303 pairing: hiyotoast warnings: none!
summary: kai and hiyori go on a quick shopping date!
"Come, Kai-chan! this Hiyori Tomoe will treat you today~" Once again, Kai was being dragged along by his sweet, but dramatic boyfriend. "Hiyori, this really isn't necessary... This is the third time this week you've decided to take me out!" He was trying to slip his hand out of the other's, but his grip was surprisingly strong, and he couldn't weasel out.
"Oh, don't be like that!" Hiyori stopped and turned to face him, smiling. 'God, he's pretty, but he can be so demanding....' Kai thought to himself. "It's only natural for a boyfriend to want to spoil his beloved, no?" "Th-that's true, but--" "Then off we go! I know a cute store you'd absolutely love!"
'But that's not needed!' He WOULD have said if he wasn't interrupted. Oh well... He knew he had good intentions, and he really couldn't get mad about that. So, off they went. Walking together hand in hand... Ah, this reminded him of the time they shared together -- before ES.
"Hey, Hiyori?"
"Yes?"
"This is kinda nostalgic, right? We used to go out like this all the time."
"Mm, now that you mention it, yes! I couldn't help but feel like this has happened before."
Kai shyly looked down to his feet with a smile. This really did remind him of the past. Oh, things were way less high stakes back then. Now with Eden in the public domain, with tons of fans-- He knew it was taboo for a producer and an idol to be in love, but at the same time, it was kind of thrilling.
"We're here!" Kai looked up and examined the shop. It had some flowers outside, and a banner strung inside the display window. It showed off various cute mascots, and he immediately thought of Midori. The display window also had various plushies. Cats, dinosaurs, dogs, and even some surprisingly cute kappa were all huddled together in a pile. He couldn't help himself from running up to the plushie exhibit, which prompted Hiyori to laugh a bit. "See?"
Kai beckoned him to come inside, but he didn't wait for the other at all. He stepped inside, and even more cute things surrounded the space. He did his best to hold in a squeal, though he did let out some tiny squeaks. Like lightning, he ran from one place to another, checking out the various stock.
"Eek They have sanrio things- Ah, cinnamoroll!"
"Oh, look here, Hiyori! This flower plushie is soo cute! Ah, and cuddly too..."
"Stickers! Aahh, so many! So cute!"
After some time, he finally settled down, finally able to absorb the atmosphere of the shop. "Fufu, you're so cute, Kai-chan." Hiyori sneakily pulled his lover into his arms, effectively startling and freezing him. He smiled as he watched his partner frown in embarrassment, soon wiggling out of his arms.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry~ Please don't be mad at me. Every time I see you, I can't help but tease you a bit." The brunette let out a defeated sigh, maybe a groan, and nodded tiredly. "It's fine. Pay me back by helping me choose gifts, then?" "Of course! This Hiyori will do his best~ Good Hiyori!" Some quick laughs were exchanged, and then they started perusing the shop.
"Ooh, keychains might be good... What do you think?" He held up some with sanrio characters on them. "Oh, how cute! This one is especially adorable. It looks just like me, see?" The mascot he was referring to was Kerropi. Indeed, there were some similarities. "I can see it! You're both green, have rosy cheeks... And a nice smile!"
"Ah, you flatter me!"
"Hehe! I'll get this one for you, then. Hmm... What about everyone else?" He held up a Kuromi keychain. "What about this one for Ibara?"
"Mmm... I can't see it. But I think he'll like it regardless!"
"Alright! I'll get this for him then! I think Nagisa would like Tuxedo Sam, and for Jun.... Mmm..."
He stared at the Usahana, Kirimichan and Pocchaco keychains. It was impossible to choose just one...! Surely Jun would like them all? but it'd be unfair to get more of them just for him... Argh!
He shoved them into Hiyori's arms, desperately begging for help. "Hiyori, please help me!" It took a moment for him to process the sudden request, but even so, he'd do his best to fulfill it. Gift-giving was his specialty, after all!
"Let me see." He examined the keychains carefully, adding up the pros and cons and simulating responses in his head. After some consideration, he handed Pocchaco back. "Jun-kun will like this one, I'm certain! The skateboard they're on definitely reminds me of him." He watched as his partner's eyes lit up at the recommendation. "Ah, you're right! Thank you so much, Hiyori." He quickly returned Kirimichan and Usahana back to the keychain rack, and then hugged him tightly.
He patted his head and chuckled. "Of course, I'm always happy to help! Just come to me whenever you feel stuck~" He felt a laugh against his chest, and a flutter in his stomach. Sometimes he forgot how much he loved him, and the realization truly felt like Cupid had shot an arrow through his heart.
"I think that's all I'll get for today... Thanks again for your help!" "Ah ah ah, aren't you forgetting something, Kai-chan?" He stopped him. Kai looked back at his partner with a look of utter and complete confusion on his face. "Wha... What do you mean?"
"Oh, Kai-chan..." He sighed. "You're always worrying about others, aren't you? I think you should get a gift for yourself, too."
"Huh? R, Really? I mean... Is that okay?"
"...Okay? Of course it's okay! Ahh, you can be so funny at times. Here, here, I can pick some out of you if you like."
"Oh... Alright, thank you!"
They returned back to the stand, and Kai stood awkwardly as he watched his partner choose a keychain for him. He could tell that he was thinking very seriously about his decision, and seeing that made him happy. It means he truly cares.
Some time passed, and he dramatically leapt into his partner's arms, weeping crocodile tears. "What to do...!? They're all so cute, but none of them can match your cuteness!" He quickly recovered. "I simply must find something that matches your adorableness! I won't rest until I do!" Well, he'll have to when the store closes. Still, seeing that enthusiasm was refreshing... And also embarrassing.
Eventually, he picked out a keychain and a plushie.
The keychain was one of Pompompurin, and the plushie was one of a cute lamb. He tried to refuse the gifts, but he simply wouldn't budge! The perks and disadvantages of having a caring, yet dramatic and sometimes stubborn boyfriend.
With a defeated sigh, Kai wearily accepted the gifts, and the two went to the checkout. Luckily, the cost didn’t surpass his budget. Though, he knew that wouldn't be a problem for Hiyori.
They walked out of the store, smiling and holding hands as usual.
"Thanks for the fun date, Hiyori."
"No problem at all, my dear~ It was a good Hiyori that I was able to take you here. I just knew you'd love it!"
"Yeah... Sorry for being so..." He gestured, trying to think of the right words. "Reluctant about it."
"It's alright! I knew I'd get you there one way or another."
"That's... Probably true, haha..."
How they wished to spend each day together, free of work -- just spending time in one another's presence. How Hiyori wished to spoil him, and how Kai wished to snuggle up to him after a long day. Maybe one day, they can have a day off together -- no distractions, just curling up to each other, no distractions to bother them. One day, it'll happen.
taglist: @dmclr @elysiasdear @maddieinheaven @vanyasomnia. taglist form!
6 notes · View notes
redbangle · 1 month
Text
Consumer Durables Green Marketing: The Delicate Dance Between Commerce & Conscience
Walking down the aisles of electronics stores today feels more like a stroll along a leafy boulevard. Refrigerators and washing machines are adorned with stickers of leaves and flowers, while air conditioners and microwaves boast infographics about sustainable practices. Salesmen make rosy promises about water and power savings. It's not just about buying an appliance; it's about saving the earth.
The Green Marketing wave, once seen as an elite fad in the late 80s, has become an essential tool for brands in the consumer durables sector. Technological advancements and innovations have made sustainable practices more cost-effective. However, the shift in consumer preferences towards sustainability is not solely due to growing awareness and environmental responsibility. Financial pressures and knowledge barriers still influence decision-making. Most consumers prioritize saving money over saving the planet and find it challenging to discern ethically good products from bad ones. They believe that brands should take responsibility for providing sustainable solutions.
Brands now must act as Guardians of the Galaxy, navigating the highly competitive universe of sustainable consumer goods. They face challenges such as a shift in consumption towards safety (particularly post-COVID), regulatory pressures, the need to reduce reliance on finite resources, and the necessity to enhance brand image for a competitive edge.
Long copy print ads have given way to sustainability reports, cute illustrations to green certifications and labels, value for money messaging to environmental messaging, flashy plastics to eco-friendly packaging, traditional brand ambassadors to collaborations with environmental organizations or non-profits, 30-second TV commercials to educational content, blogs, and videos, aloofness to customer engagement and feedback, grand events to CSR initiatives, and manufacturing secrets to supply chain transparency.
We're all eco-warriors now, educated about the impact of our shopping habits on accountability, carbon neutrality, and reduced emissions. However, try forwarding this article to your mom, and she'll likely scoff. She might remind you of the microwave and hairdryer she bought from a smuggler's market in Calcutta 40 years ago—still running without a hitch. She might imply that they outlast your fancy double-door eco-friendly appliances that need replacing every five years. No eco-certification label or circular economy narrative can convince her otherwise. She's onto something. Product lifespan is critical to sustainability. A throwaway culture contradicts the principles of sustainable marketing, with enormous environmental and economic implications.
Products must be built to last, integrating durable materials with advanced manufacturing techniques, superior testing, and quality assurance. Robust return, recycling, and repair strategies are crucial to reducing carbon footprints and pollution from waste in the electronics and durable industries.
Some brands worldwide are leading the way in sustainability, not just in advertising or promotions, but also in design, manufacturing, distribution, and packaging.
0 notes
sapphoslavender · 1 year
Text
day 7 of sappho!
Tumblr media
oops i forgot to post these last few days! and ive already lost count of what day it is! i think its day 7? happy 1 week anniversary
umm so. what has happened.
i figured out how to replant tortimer's island palm trees, so i should be able to catch beetles soon
i began laying out my flowers, so i'll soon have pretty flower walkways!
garden store is open!!!!
which means i got an axe, and was able to cut down some poorly placed trees!
i grinded for a bunch of flowers today @ tortimer island :]
im getting the qr code machine soon!
i joined club tortimer but im probably never gonna use it because i hate multiplayer with ppl i dont know
got a bunch of house exterior upgrades
new villagers! marcel and tammy!
i opened the campsite!
ive been trying to get new pwp suggestions, but none yet :,) i'll try again tomorrow
god whenever i say pwp i think im talking about smut.
oo also, i ordered some cute stickers from amazon to decorate my 3ds with. i cant believe ive never done that ??
ok, now for some future plans:
i really need to get some new bridges because i absolutely hate where mine is placed currently. but i dont want to build a new one yet bc i want it to be a pretty one, since if it isnt, im just gonna end up wasting money by destroying it later, if that makes sense....im stingy with money both irl AND in-game!!
i was planning on making the area outside the train stop full of pink flowers, but ive instead filled it with pansies. i might go back to pink, but idk.....
also: how long does it take for fruit to regrow??? also trees take forever ???? ik im just being impatient but damn.
oo also villagers. now that i have the campsite, im excited! honestly, the only villagers of mine that im attached to rn are opal and rosie. so if anyone wants to be notified in case my other villagers move out, lmk!
and now for a nostalgia rant. in one of my previous towns, i think 2018? i had some amazing villagers that i really miss — pancetti and merengue. i love them so much! if anyone has them, please let me know because i love them!!! i miss them!! come back home, im so sorry for leaving you!!!!!!!!!
(btw, i have some old qr codes i made from 2018. the photos are kinda shitty since i took them with my phone, but maybe i'll post them here!)
0 notes
veenxys · 3 years
Text
How BNHA Boys would celebrate your birthday with you
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
⤷ Bakugou
he’s the type to wake you up with lots of kisses and take you out for breakfast. because birthday girls and boys deserve as many pancakes as they can eat. then he would take you around town; passing through all your favorite places and new and beautiful places that you have never been to before. he also gives you lots of presents - because he is in doubt which one to buy and also he wants you to know how special and loved you are.
"happy birthday, idiot…you know i love you so i don't need to say it again."
⤷ Deku
he takes you to play laser tag and sleep over at the dorms after. it would feel like being a kid again; eating way too much pizza and watching scary movies that don’t really scare you as much as you think, but you’d both have fun screaming and laughing every time someone dies on screen. he wants to distract you from the rest of the world and all of the stress you’ve been feeling lately, so he just wants to make you feel happy and carefree on your special day. <3
"happy birthday, honey" he says as he gently strokes your cheek.
"you said that like 20 times today, but thanks dear" he smiles, spreading soft kisses all over your face.
⤷ Kirishima
he is extra sweet to you on your birthday and he lets you pick where you eat for dinner. most of the time he shows his feelings for you by teasing you and playfully making fun of you, but on your birthday he just shows his feelings naturally. he wants you to feel as special as you are, especially on your birthday. even if you told him that you didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, he’d still get a present and he’d probably buy you lots of food.
"happy birthday best person in the world!!" he says as he hugs you, rocking you from side to side as you smile.
⤷ Todoroki
he would do something really cliche, but it would be cute. and seasonal. like if it’s winter he’d take you ice skating and share a cup of cocoa with you. or if your birthday is in autumn he’d take you on a cute coffee date and walk to watch all the leaves falling. if you had a summer birthday, he’d take you to the beach and buy you ice cream or if it were spring he’d take you on a picnic like seungmin in a park with lots of flowers and cute little animals.
"happy birthday my love" he says before brushing a lock of your hair out of your face; gently sliding it down your cheek before kissing you passionately.
⤷ Denki
denki gets you a store bought cake and writes something ironic (like an inside joke between you two) on it. he’d also probably consult twitter and like do all of the stereotypical couple things - like a little care package basket with a stuffed animal, a hand written note, and your favorite candy. he honestly isn’t that great at big romantic gestures, so he needs some help; but he always does his best to make you feel special and loved, especially on your birthday.
"happy birthday to uu" he sings off-key but smiles when he sees you smiling too. "i love you. babe"
⤷ Tamaki
he would take you on a picnic. he's the type to take your birthday very seriously, even if you tell him not to worry too much about it; he just wants to make you feel even more special and loved, so he would do anything to make sure you are well and having fun, and also that you are eating all your favorite food. and he definitely gives you the most thoughtful gift ever.
"happy birthday Y/n" he says as he kisses the top of your head. and you smile when you hear his heart speed up in his chest and his caresses on your arm start to get more nervous.
"thank you Tama. I love you" with rosy cheeks, he smiles; falling in love with you even more.
⤷ Shinsou
he bakes you a bunch of birthday treats to celebrate. he would probably destroy the kitchen in the process, but the effort is there. he lets you sit on the counter and taste test while he makes cookies and brownies, but he’d make you get out while he makes your cake; because the cake would be something he plans for like a month and talks about nonstop to make sure you love it. he’d be so proud of it once it’s done!
“I hope you like it” he says, smiling slightly when he sees your reaction.
“oh my god shinsou! you know i loved it! it's just amazing, thank you... so much” he smiles and goes to your side, hugging you and rocking you slightly from side to side.
“happy birthday, darling. i love you” he whispers before kissing the top of your head; happy and satisfied to be spending this special day by your side.
⤷ Hawks
he would spoil you absolutely rotten on your birthday. he would get you like a million presents and take you out for dinner somewhere fancy, because his baby deserve only the best. it might honestly be a little overwhelming, but it’s sweet and you know it’s only because he loves you so much and he doesn’t want you to feel neglected or that he might not care. that would be his worst fear: you thinking that he forgot - as if you could ever think that, considering the sheer number of gifts he’s given you).
"happy.." he said leaving a kiss on your forehead "birthday" now on the left cheek "to" another kiss on the right cheek. "my" a light kiss on the tip of your nose "love" he finally says, kissing your lips.
⤷ Dabi
dabi isn't the type to do big or exciting things on your birthday, but he doesn't want you to feel neglected either; then he would give you something small, and also a kiss on the forehead as he softly whispers “happy birthday”. but he would spend the rest of the day by your side, demonstrating that he is and will always be grateful for your existence.
⤷ Shigaraki
shigaraki couldn't plan anything outside the house for obvious reasons, but he tried his best to make this date special; he bought your favorite treats and drinks and also that game you've wanted for so long. you spend all day, lying in bed while playing, sometimes sharing light caresses that make your heart race in your chest; a light reminder of how much he loves you.
"happy birthday" he whispers in the middle of the night as he caresses your sleeping face.
Tumblr media
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ tags! @saturnmich , @tomurastrashpanda , @afairywithacrown , @kaizokuluv , @urdemonboyfie , @uravichii , @yfneccentric , @justheretoaskandread , @owl232 , @uxavity , @toodeepintofandoms , @bubble-bootie , @lolvivienlol <3
-ˏˋ taglist + masterlist + kofi! ˎˊ-
Tumblr media
1K notes · View notes
cheri-translates · 3 years
Text
[CN] Gavin’s Long Journey Date
🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for a date, 长旅之约, which has not been released in EN! 🍒
Tumblr media
[ This date was released on 8 July 2021 ]
Deers rest peacefully beside me, and birds caw from the branches.
All of a sudden, a rustling sound of flapping wings disrupts the peace in the forest.
Smiling subconsciously while tilting my head upwards, a gigantic griffin descends from the sky.
MC: Welcome back, Griffy! Have you been eating and sleeping well?
I walk up to it, burying my face in the griffin’s fluffy chest fur, letting out a happy sigh.
??: You’re only welcoming it?
Tumblr media
The voice I’m most familiar with drifts from the griffin’s back. After that, a figure leaps down smoothly.
MC: Gavin, welcome home!
With a turn of my face, I smile while giving him a wave.
Gavin is wearing simple and informal clothes. However, the extraordinary way he carries himself and the exquisite crown on his forehead could only belong to a prince.
He bows before me in a teasing manner, handing me a small bag. Even without opening it, I can smell the fragrance of pastries.
Tumblr media
Gavin: Goddess of Nature, I bring you this round of offerings. But stop sharing them with these animals. They’ve put on weight again.
MC: They’re only cute when they’re round and plump.
I retort, unconvinced. Even so, I pinch the squirrel on my shoulder, placing it back onto the tree.
MC: I have also mentioned that you don’t have to bring me any offerings. The person who made the agreement with me was your mother, and I've already accepted sufficient offerings from her.
Despite what I said, I open the little bag that Gavin gave me, grinning while taking out the pastries.
As a deity, I’m basically adept in everything within my own forest. However, I lack the skills and abilities to bake such snacks.
As such, I’m exceptionally happy whenever he brings me such food.
While eating, I continue speaking with unclear articulation.
MC: When your mother came to the forest that year with a jewel which had been passed down from generation to generation, as well as her crown your deity father once gave her...
Tumblr media
Gavin: With those items as offerings, she hoped that you’d become my guardian deity who would keep me safe and train me till I became a passable king.
When deities accept human offerings, they reciprocate by bestowing blessings onto humans. This way, a wonderful transactional relationship is formed.
Back then, a queen had brought her son of around fourteen or fifteen years of age to my forest.
That elegant and dignified lady was smiling, but there was faint worry in her eyes.
She told me that her days were numbered, and that she wouldn’t be able to watch her son grow up.
The child’s father was a high-ranking deity who was busy maintaining the earth's order and rarely showed himself.
As such, she gave me offerings, hoping that I'd become her son’s guardian deity, and to protect this small prince.
Gavin does a stretch, then removes the saddle on Griffy.
Tumblr media
Gavin: You’ve said it many times, and I remember it all. 
Tumblr media
Gavin: Instead of these things, why don’t you eat quickly? I specially bought the basket which just came out from the stove, then rushed Griffy over. The pastries won’t taste good if they get cold.
Gavin draws out his tone, but a smile remains on his lips.
I turn my head towards Gavin, who is helping me manage the medicinal plants with a practised hand. I can’t help but ponder softly in my heart.
This person doesn’t let me protect him much...
Although this half deity obtained the added protection from the Goddess of Nature, he has never asked for assistance aside from guidance.
He has always strived for the things he wanted, and would persist through failure until he reaches his goal.
Later on, this prince who excels in both learning and military skills, and can even control wind, is the one who helps me out.
He always brings me all sorts of human food and small trinkets, calling them offerings.
Tumblr media
Gavin: Why are the medicinal plants here turning bare again... did I water them too much?
I can’t help but laugh secretly while walking over to his side. Holding up those medicinal plants, I restore them to life.
Till this day, he only lets me help him in this area.
I think about how despite not having been coronated king, Gavin has long since been able to run a country.
As a guardian deity, I haven’t neglected my duties, have I?
MC: Come to think of it... Gavin, why haven’t you held a coronation ceremony?
Gavin pauses in his movements.
Gavin: Do you want me to become king?
MC: Of course.
Tumblr media
Gavin: But if I become king, it means that you’d no longer be my guardian deity.
MC: That... is correct.
Tumblr media
Gavin averts his line of sight, and he doesn’t seem to be in a good mood.
This seems to be the case every time I broach this topic with him.
Clearing my throat, I attempt to change the topic to break the awkward atmosphere.
MC: Oh yes, how many days will you be staying this time?
Gavin doesn’t respond. As though he has finally made a certain decision, he sighs deeply and lifts his head, meeting my eyes directly.
Tumblr media
Gavin: The reason why I came this time is because there’s something important I needed to tell you. I’ve decided to succeed to the throne.
The overly abrupt news leaves me dumbfounded on the spot.
Gavin doesn’t elaborate further, and continues.
Gavin: Before that, I intend to follow the ancient text and collect the rumoured offerings that deities cannot refuse. That will allow a strong deity to become my new guardian deity, to protect me, and to protect this country.
Hearing his resolute words, my heart feels slightly upset.
Although completing my agreement is a good thing, why does my heart feel empty?
He even said he was going to find a new guardian deity...
I blink a few times, unable to comprehend the feelings churning in my heart.
Gavin: But right now, you’re my guardian deity. Which is why I hope you can accompany me on this journey. Is that okay?
Gavin looks straight at me, his eyes as transparently clear as a cloudless amber sky.
Facing such a him, I can only nod.
-
Despite not yet rationalising my emotions, I reluctantly embark on this journey with him.
The first stop of this journey is the forest in which fairies live.
Looking at the first treasure recorded in the ancient text, I heave a long sigh.
MC: A crystal which can counteract all sorts of curses. It only grows at the tip of the World Tree...
Gavin: What’s wrong? Deities don’t like it?
MC: It’s the opposite. No deities have refused such an offering. To be honest, even I want it. But...
I lift my head. Looking at the giant tree which plunges into the sky, I have a bad feeling.
MC: You have to know that even though I’m a deity, I was born from nature, and the source of my strength comes from the forest and the land. Which also means...
I’m not good at flying.
Tumblr media
Likely hearing the implication of my words, Gavin doesn’t hold back, chuckling softly.
MC: Gavin! Don’t laugh! At that height, even a griffin would have difficulties flying up there. Furthermore, people are good at different-
Gavin: Get on.
Tumblr media
Gavin leaps onto the griffin, lowering his head to look at me.
The griffin releases an excited caw, its wings flapping up and down.
Faint morning light caresses the side of his face, the gorgeous rosy glow wilfully painting the azure sky.
His hair and indigo cloak roll up with the air currents, the crown on his head reflecting arc lights.
And on his face, there’s a heroic valiance even clearer and more radiant than any jewel.
For a moment, I’m left slightly dazed.
As compared to any other moment, I can clearly sense that he is no longer that little child who had his brows tightly furrowed back then.
The person before me has shed off his childishness, is sufficiently intelligent, and sufficiently mature - a person who is about to become a young king.
I always knew that he was someone worth having faith in.
But there seems to be something else in his eyes that causes my heartbeat to accelerate uncontrollably.
Likely seeing that I haven’t moved in a long time, Gavin leans over, pulling me in front of him steadily, his arms wrapped securely around my waist.
Gavin: Let’s go.
With this soft statement, the griffin, which had been anticipating this for a very long time, flaps its wings, soaring towards the azure sky.
At the same time, a powerful gale whizzes under Gavin’s beckoning.
Using the wind as wings, we fly very, very high.
Tumblr media
Gavin: I wanted to take you flying like this since a very long time ago. But I wasn’t able to find a suitable chance.
His words land on my ears amidst the fluttering sound of wind - high-spirited, clear, and without restraint.
I can hear the throbbing of my own heart, reminiscent of the bits of feathers in the air, drifting along with the breeze.
With Gavin around, Griffy doesn’t have to exert much effort, landing at the crown of the World Tree.
There is a rich display of light and colours on the dense and green treetop. Amidst the various lights, a cluster of dazzling crystals emit a tender and dream-like colour.
Gavin: Looks like this is it.
He plucks a crystal deftly, storing it in the travelling bag he carried along.
Seizing this chance, I take several deep breaths to calm the inexplicable throbbing in my chest.
MC: Since we’ve successfully obtained the first item, are we heading to the next destination? Or are we resting here for the night?
Gavin: We’ll set off straightaway. But give me a moment.
Gavin reaches out to pluck a few smaller crystals. Using a few branches around us, he weaves a simple bracelet, then clasps it around my wrist gently.
Tumblr media
Gavin: Since you like it, bring a few more back.
Just as he finishes speaking, a few fairies who were grinning among the leaves earlier rush out towards us.
Fairy A: Congratulations! May the fruits of the World Tree protect the two of you forever!
Fairy B: Congratulations on your marriage! I wish you two everlasting sweetness!
MC: Huh?
Watching as the fairies start to sprinkle flower petals over our heads, my face burns with a “whoosh”.
MC: [blushing] What nonsense are you saying?
The fairy grins while speaking once again.
Fairy B: Firstly, don’t the two of you play together often, and like each other more than others?
Very few humans enter my forest. Aside from the small animals, the only one who visits me frequently, chats with me, and has fun with me is Gavin.
As compared to those small animals which aren’t able to talk or bring me snacks, it’s true that I like Gavin a little more.
With this thought in mind, I nod.
At the side, Gavin nods too. But for some reason, the tips of his ears are slightly red.
Fairy A: Secondly, didn’t the two of you make a unique agreement with each other?
Not knowing where this is heading, I nod again. After all, I’m Gavin’s guardian deity.
At the side, Gavin does a similar action.
Fairy A: Lastly, he made a bracelet for you using the crystals of the World Tree, then put it on for you personally. Doesn’t that symbolise that you’re destined for each other?
The fairy says this matter-of-factly, and the surrounding fairies agree in succession.
MC: Wait wait wait wait, this is a misunderstanding! We’re...
The words are at my lips, but I pause.
It seems that I’ve never considered how to define my relationship with Gavin.
I’m his guardian deity, but I can vaguely sense that it goes further than that.
In the end, Gavin takes half a step forward, blocking me from the celebrating fairies.
Tumblr media
Gavin: That’s just the tradition of fairies. Humans and deities don’t have such rules. She’s a guardian deity belonging only to me.
-
The heating stove is bright red, and the sound of forging is unceasing.
??: Drink quickly, drink quickly! There are many more barrels!
The dizzying fragrance of alcohol permeates the air. Even if it’s dispelled by the breeze, it lingers for a long time.
??: You’ll only enjoy yourself to the fullest by accompanying it with the best quality cheese! Want a chunk of smoked meat too?
The bustling marketplace is rife with people hawking their wares, cheese, smoked meat, fruits and perfume. The dazzling lineup leaves one overwhelmed.
??: I didn’t expect that humans could drink as well as us! Not bad!
??: After all, he’s a half deity!
A circular table is in the middle of the lively marketplace, surrounded by dwarves who are adept in iron casting.
Aromatic mead courses through the crevices of the crowd and the small path, being sent to the table in a continuous stream.
MC: Gavin, are you sure you can still drink?
This is the first time I’m seeing Gavin drink this much. He wobbles a little while standing beside the table. Fortunately, his eyes are still sober and clear.
Tumblr media
Gavin: I’m fine. 
Gavin: [to the dwarves] We agreed that as long as I can outdrink all of you, you’d give the rarest treasure of the dwarves to me - a golden belt praised by all the deities.
Dwarf A: We never lie!
Dwarf B: Goddess, try some! 
Before I can refuse politely, Gavin has already pulled over the wine cup offered to me, drinking it in one mouthful.
Tumblr media
Gavin: I’m the one competing against all of you.
Whether it’s due to the mead or the nearby heating stove, my face grows slightly warm.
Another barrel of mead is finished, and the alcohol-loving dwarves at the table have already collapsed.
Gavin presses the wooden wine cup onto the table heavily. Arching a brow, he raises his volume slightly.
Tumblr media
Gavin: You’ve lost.
Dwarf A: Fine, you win! The belt belongs to you! But...!
The dwarf stands up wobbly and burps. In front of Gavin, he pats his own chest.
Dwarf A: There’s... there’s something even more... important that I must do! Axe! I want to make an axe - the best axe - and give it to my beloved lady!
While saying this, he runs and staggers towards the forging stove. The dwarves in the surroundings cheer him on and whistle.
MC: What’s happening this time...
The dwarf is inebriated, but his limbs remain deft. He holds up a hammer and picks a chunk of steel which has been scorched red. Then, he begins hammering it with clanking sounds.
Dwarf A: Half Deity! Come here!
Dwarf B: Come and make something too!
The dwarves are rowdy, and they bring Gavin over to a forging stove, teaching him how to forge weapons.
I head over curiously. Gavin seems to think of something. He glances at me, a smile surfacing on his lips.
Tumblr media
Then, he holds up a chunk of mithril and gives it a detailed look, as though visualising the shape he wants to carve it into.
After a while, Gavin picks up the iron hammer, hammering in a decisive manner.
Sparks dance in the air, and the flames from the stove are exuberant. The clamour and sounds of hammering are incessant, bringing the celebration of the marketplace to a climax.
Dwarf A: Done!
Cheers erupt from amongst the crowd. That drunk dwarf raises the axe he had forged, then runs towards a small stall in the marketplace.
Dwarf A: This axe is for you, my beautiful woman! Please marry me!
Even from across the marketplace, the loud voice of the dwarf drifts over clearly.
Dwarf B: Hahahaha! Not bad!
The dwarf at the side chuckles so hard that he isn’t able to straighten up. He takes several deep breaths to calm himself down, then turns around to speak to Gavin.
Dwarf B: Half Deity Lad, you too. Your skills are pretty good for a beginner! If you have a beloved lady, don’t hesitate. Just propose directly!
At the other side of the marketplace, the proposal succeeds. A brand new celebration and banquet has already begun.
I don’t bother about the joy which is about to drown us. I simply look at Gavin.
Perhaps he’s drunk a little too much. Right now, he’s staring fixedly at the short staff he forged, a look of contemplation on his face.
What the dwarf said earlier echos in my ears, akin to a mystical magic spell.
Looking at Gavin, I find myself wondering if he’d give that short staff to me.
Would he smile while looking straight into my eyes, or would he avert his gaze in embarrassment?
I’m left dumbfounded by these inexplicable thoughts.
Perhaps I’ve also drunk a little too much.
-
Early the second day, we bid farewell to the dwarves, preparing to continue the journey.
MC: I didn’t think we’d witness a wedding. It’s a pity that we couldn’t hear more about how they met and got to know each other.
Tumblr media
Gavin: Mm. I’m also really curious.
MC: It’s rare to see you interested in such topics.
Tumblr media
Gavin: After all, meetings are special things to me. Meetings and keeping each other company are very beautiful things.
Gavin’s tone is gentle, as though he’s recollecting his most treasured memories. Pale gold sunlight illuminates his eyes, which are even more dazzling than the most expensive jewels.
In this short trance, a fleeting yet unrealistic thought burrows into my mind without notice.
I shake my head forcefully, and decide to say something to distract myself.
My gaze quickly sweeps around the surroundings, then locks on a target.
MC: Gavin, do you still remember how we met Griffy?
As though he didn’t expect my sudden question, Gavin blinks a few times, then strokes the grown-up Griffy, chuckling as he speaks.
Tumblr media
Gavin: Of course I remember.
Tumblr media
Gavin: Back then, my mother had already passed on for a few years. And that deity father never appeared. 
Tumblr media
Gavin: Perhaps because of those things, I had a pretty bad attitude towards you during that time. Sorry.
Till this day, I can still remember that period of time.
His amber eyes, which always sparkle and shine, were dyed with a heavy grey. Even his hair, which always sticks up, had drooped listlessly.
But it’s precisely because I was always by his side that I understood the heartbreak and struggles he faced during that period of time.
And I rejoiced that at the very least, I was there to keep him company.
I walk towards him, reaching out to tousle his hair. Gavin leans down and comes slightly closer to me, a peaceful smile on his face.
Tumblr media
Gavin: In short, I came to the forest one day.
Tumblr media
Gavin: It was raining that day. I walked to the vicinity of your small house, and discovered that you were taking care of a small, stray griffin which had wandered here from somewhere.
Gavin: You’re a goddess, but you didn’t care about yourself, and only cared about shielding the griffin from the rain.
Gavin: You treated its wounds and fed it, while getting drenched by the rain yourself.
Along with his depiction, memories surge into my heart, and they are dyed with a hazy colour of rain.
MC: I recall how you shielded me from the rain with a large leaf. Back then, I was thinking about how rare it was to see such gentle moments from you.
Tumblr media
Gavin: Since then, I...
Tumblr media
Gavin’s voice grows softer and softer. He turns his face away a little unnaturally.
MC: Since then?
Gavin ignores my question. He simply clears his throat and hands me something.
Tumblr media
Gavin: MC, this is for you.
Accepting it subconsciously, the cold and smooth texture of metal causes me to hold my breath.
It’s the short staff he had personally forged yesterday.
His emblem is carved on the body of the staff, and a quality gem is mounted at the tip.
MC: This is...
Before I can say anything, Gavin hurriedly explains.
Tumblr media
Gavin: I’m a human, so I don’t follow the traditions of dwarves. In the culture of humans, giving a handmade gift to someone is a form of etiquette to express gratitude. So... this is a thank you gift. Thank you for teaching me so much, and for taking such good care of me.
MC: I... I see!
Gavin speaks calmly and appears utterly composed.
Accepting the short staff, I turn around to pack my items. Recalling the image that surfaced in my mind earlier, my face burns again.
Clearing my throat, I ask Gavin a question tentatively.
MC: Gavin, according to your customs, what would you give to your bride?
Tumblr media
Gavin: I’d craft a ring personally.
While saying this, he takes my travelling bag and fixes it onto Griffy’s back. Then, he picks up the ancient text to confirm our next destination.
MC: When that time comes, I’ll definitely pluck the most beautiful flowers in the forest and make a wedding bouquet for your bride.
Holding a wedding and having a partner - these are things worthy to be happy about.
But when I said this, I found that I couldn’t bring myself to smile.
It’s as though my heart is drowned in deep water. It feels acrid, and there’s also a tightening in my chest.
I’ve lived for a very long time on this land, witnessed the construction and destruction of many kingdoms, and experienced battles and peace since the ancient times till today.
Yet, I’m unable to understand the feelings I’m currently experiencing, and what they signify.
-
After that, we head to many other places together.
We cross the dessert, fly over the ocean, scale the highest mountain peak, and head to the deepest abyss.
We dance in a sea of flowers along with the odes of travelling bards, and bargain with a gigantic, greedy dragon.
The treasures in the travelling bag increase in number. Every treasure obtained makes it increasingly clearer that this dream-like journey is about to come to an end.
On an unknown empty island, Gavin and I sit side by side on the shore, watching as the waves at our feet lap against the rocks.
Looking at the pearl head ornament Gavin just gave me, my voice comes out hoarser than expected.
MC: What will you do once you become king?
Tumblr media
Gavin: Quite a number of races are interested in humans. Perhaps I could try broadening trade. I also have to revolutionise the senate.
He talks about his responsibilities earnestly - from commerce to ruling the country, from art to food.
Gavin’s dead seriousness tickles me to laughter.
I console myself with the thought that even after he becomes king and I’m no longer his guardian deity, our relationship wouldn’t change that much. 
Gavin suddenly stops mid-speech, as though deliberating something.
Tumblr media
I turn my head, only to see the reddened tips of his ears.
Tumblr media
Gavin: Also... I want to marry the lady I like and make her my queen. This way, I can always be with her.
Gavin looks afar off, his gaze gentle, as though he can see his desired future.
For some reason, I want to rush towards that future with him.
And I suddenly realise what that acrid feeling twirling around in my heart is.
Without realising it, my feelings for Gavin have been intertwined and encased by a sense of possessiveness.
I don’t want him to have another guardian deity, nor do I want him to give these treasures we’ve collected together to another deity.
Most of all, I don’t want him to put a personally crafted ring on the finger of another lady.
The sea breeze rolls up tiny, light blue flowers on the beach. They dance in the air, floating towards the ocean.
At this moment, all the clamorous emotions and feelings quieten down, and are crowned a name and definition -
All of this is called “liking”.
-
The journey is about to end.
Griffy returns us to the ground.
Looking at my forest and at my little courtyard, I feel as though everything happened a lifetime ago.
Tumblr media
Gavin: It’s nice to be home.
Gavin retrieves the travelling bag, then pats the fence at the door.
Tumblr media
Gavin: Wait. Why do the medicinal plants look even healthier than before I left...
I tug onto Gavin before he can check on the medicinal plants.
MC: The journey has already ended, and you’ve collected sufficient treasures. Are you going to succeed to the throne after this? Looks like my agreement with your mother has been fulfilled.
Gavin: That’s right. But aren’t you going to let me rest at your place and have a drink of water?
MC: You have quite a number of things to handle after this. These treasures need to be offered to the deity. And you also have to... marry the lady you like. You should take action quickly and settle these things at one go!
I give him a stern expression, trying to conceal the childish impetuousness in my heart.
Tumblr media
Gavin: Do you think the deity will really like these?
Gavin doesn’t leave. He stands in place, his words bringing with them a smile.
Looking at the full and bulging travelling bag, I feel tremendously envious.
MC: Of course. Who was the one who picked them with you? All right, go and offer them to your new deity. Who are you looking for? I could put in a good word for you so he or she would give you a little more blessings.
My voice grows softer and softer, and my gaze flits around.
Gavin: If she’ll like them, I can put my mind at ease. 
Gavin speaks softly, but doesn’t respond to my question. He takes the travelling bag, placing the treasures we’ve collected on the grass before me.
The crystal from the top of the World Tree, the golden belt crafted by the dwarves, the unwilting flower from the deepest part of the desert, the coral from the deepest oceanic trench...
Aside from the recorded treasures, there’s also cheese from the dwarves’ marketplace, a headscarf from sea nymphs, sun-dried jerky from the giants, and other miscellaneous items.
These items were brought along with Gavin because I liked them.
After setting down the last item, he takes half a step back.
Then, he gets down on one knee, tilting his head upwards to look at me.
Tumblr media
Gavin: Goddess of Nature, I give you all of these offerings. Please bestow blessings upon me, protect my country, and crown me.
Gavin: And please make a long-lasting agreement with me, to become my queen, and to keep me company.
Gavin: Till death do us part.
Gavin looks at me, his sentiments and tenderness condensing into honey coloured amber.
Sunlight filters through the leaves, landing on his face like a kiss, making his eyes bright and glittering.
MC: [blushing] I...
Before I can respond, Griffy caws happily, giving me a nudge from behind, causing me to fall into Gavin’s arms.
MC: [blushing] Griffy! I didn’t raise you to be this big so you could do that!
I grumble, pretending to be stern. Then, I close my eyes defeatedly, burying my head in Gavin’s arms, not wanting him to have a clear view of my blushing face.
Gavin’s soft chuckle and his breaths land on my ears, akin to the first tender breeze in early summer.
Tumblr media
Gavin: I used to worry that the reason for our interactions was due to that prior agreement. 
Gavin: Once the agreement ended, you would no longer have a connection to me. 
Gavin: I was troubled by this for a while, and also tried to delay that day from arriving. 
Gavin: But one day, I made a decision. 
Gavin: Instead of holding on to that past agreement, why don’t I make a new vow instead.
Gavin tilts his chin towards those treasures.
Gavin: But I don’t want you to simply be a goddess who responds to my prayers.
Gavin: This journey was meant for you to understand that my feelings for you aren’t simply the dependence humans have towards their guardian deities.
Tumblr media
Gavin: I just don’t know how effective it was...
Gavins speaks, averting his gaze.
Recalling the hints and occasional bashfulness during the journey, I finally understand everything, and my face turns incomparably red.
MC: [blushing] Right from the beginning, you already...
Gavin coughs softly.
Tumblr media
Gavin: So, are you willing?
Watching as his eyes draw increasingly nearer to me, it’s as though a pot of honey has been overturned in my heart, and all the flowers seem to be blooming at the same time.
I lift my hand.
Tumblr media
MC: I’m the deity who controls the land, forests, and all the animals.
MC: I hereby make an agreement with you-
The forest seems to respond to my words. Birds outstretch their wings, trees rustle, and the land releases a faint humming sound.
Light flickers at my fingertips, akin to a sprouting bud as it flows and spreads over Gavin’s crown.
MC: I will always protect your kingdom. May your land be forever fertile, and may your kingdom forever be peaceful.
My power weaves my words into an unbreakable vow between us.
As a goddess, these are the strongest blessings I can give to him.
With a small smile, I continue speaking. Softly, I give him the blessings from me as MC, and also my response.
MC: I will also share my life with you, and my power.
MC: I will accompany you for a long time, until the destruction of the earth.
A light blooms, encasing us within it.
Gavin doesn’t speak, and simply looks at me.
I recall the day we saw the sea together, and recall the fluttering light blue petals, and the gaze he had when he stared afar off.
I’m guessing that his gaze has finally found a dwelling place.
The rays of light around us gradually recede, and the vow is established.
This isn’t a lengthy ceremony, nor does it involve complicated steps.
But we have cast a connection different from before - one which is unique in the world.
Having used my powers, I lean into Gavin’s arms, looking at the same sky together.
MC: Aren’t you going to say something?
Tumblr media
Gavin: Erm... you really looked like a goddess earlier.
There doesn’t seem to be a change in or relationship. However, there’s a certain sweetness in our dialogue.
MC: I am a goddess! Wait, that’s not what I was referring to. May I invite Your Majesty, who has obtained the goddess’ blessings through his own strength, share his thoughts with us?
Gavin pretends to ponder over this seriously.
Gavin: I just remembered that there’s one thing I haven’t done. I plan to make another trip to the dwarves’ nation.
MC: Did you forget something?
Gavin pulls me up, and we stand together. He pats Griffy, getting it ready to set out.
Tumblr media
Gavin: I mentioned before that I’d personally craft a ring for my queen.
Gavin: You also promised that you’d pluck the most beautiful flowers in the forest to make a wedding bouquet.
Gavin: I look forward to seeing it when I return.
Tumblr media
🐦 MOMENTS 🐦
Tumblr media
Gavin’s Post: If griffins really existed, they'd probably feel quite nice.
MC: Would a griffin’s fur feel like a bird’s or a lion’s?
Gavin: ...I have never thought about this question.
-
Gavin’s Post: If griffins really existed, they'd probably feel quite nice.
MC: If only we could rear one!
Gavin: We might need a larger courtyard to let it build a nest.
-
Gavin’s Post: If griffins really existed, they'd probably feel quite nice.
MC: I really want to bury my face in it...
Gavin: Even though we don’t have a griffin, we could ask Flyer if its willing.
Tumblr media
🐦 Calls: First ll Second
🐦 Support the cafe by dropping by the tip jar!
164 notes · View notes
butwhyduh · 3 years
Text
Work Calls
Tumblr media
Kyle Rayner x batsis!reader
Summary: their date is interrupted by what else but superhero duty. No warning. It’s fluffy.
Kyle grinned as you swung from a grappling hook across the city. There was no way he’d ever tell Batman but the man kinda went off on grappling hooks. He flew with the ring, easily keeping up with you. You gave him a glare with no heat and started to show off a little. Flipping and dipping in a way that had Kyle staying close for fear of you actually falling. On the last building, you swung low and landed on the ground, hoping you looked graceful.
“I could have given you a lift,” he said landing beside you. “But then I’d miss the show.”
You laughed. “That would have been tragic. Come on. This is my favorite coffee shop.”
The coffee shop owner with tiny purple dreads barely blinked at two masked people entering her store. The atmosphere was like a good witch’s shop in a children’s movie. People that ranged from soccer moms to witches to distinguished professors and college students sat around on mismatched chairs and bean bags. Large shelves that reached ceiling high had clear glass jars full of coffees and teas and spices. Each one was carefully labeled and organized. The counter beneath them housed multiple hot water and coffee making instruments. The whole place smelled warm. Pretty perfect for almost constantly cold Gotham.
You walked up to the counter and ordered your favorite coffee/tea. The lady behind the counter used a stool to reach in the needed jars to get what she needed for your drink. She took Kyle’s drink order next.
“Large black coffee,” he said and she started making it without hesitation but you turned to look at him.
“Really,” you said with a grin. “You even order coffee like a cop.”
“Not really. I order coffee like,” he looked around as if you didn’t already make sure you were both out of listening distance from everyone. It was cute. “My day job.”
“Which is?” You prompted. He looked around again and used his ring to make a writing pad. That’s how he was going to tell you so no one could overhear? Bruce would be proud of that level of paranoia.
“An artist,” he said drawing the cup in your hand in a rough sketch and showing you. “Usually comics. And freelance too.”
“Nice picture. That’s an interesting day job,” you said, genuinely surprised by his answer as his coffee was handed to him.
“You?”
“Philanthropy,” you answered as you pulled him to a tiny far table where no one could hear you and you had a good view of the exists. Gotham wasn’t safe, even for a vigilante and green lantern.
“That’s a job? You’re like wealthy then,” he kinda stammered. That was even cuter.
“I mean, you do know who my father is. I run a bunch of charities with his money. It’s the least I could do, you know?” You said with a shrug.
“Not really. I barely make enough to give to charity,” he said with a very awkward laugh, playing with the stem of the coffee cup. “I’m making myself look really great on this date.”
“This is a date?” You teased and his eyes widened a little and you laughed before he could start talking. “I’m just teasing. You’ll have to show me more of your work. You know, I’ve been needing a logo for a benefit coming up and I don’t really know any artists...” that was a lie but who cares?
“Really?” Kyle said taking a drink of his coffee.
“Hmm yep, but I need to know how that plain black coffee is,” you said and he smiled at you. He had a cute smile.
“It’s good. There’s this place in New York that’s better,” Kyle said and you laughed, leaning across the table a little towards him.
“I take you to the best coffee place in Gotham and you tell me that New York is better. I should leave you in one of Gotham’s streets without your ring for that,” you said and Kyle leaned more towards you. There was barely a foot between you both.
“I’d probably die. Or get poisoned. Or kidnapped for no reason. Definitely mugged,” Kyle said in a conspiring whisper. You nodded.
“Definitely mugged. You’re in that suit and kids could probably still take your wallet. Good for a lantern but you’d make a terrible bat,” you whispered back. Kyle reached a hand across the table to run his fingers across the back of yours.
“You’re really pretty. Even in a mask,” he told you and you flushed. Innuendos and playful flirting you could do all day. Outright saying what you thought was not a strong suit for you. Kinda par for the course of being raised by Batman and all. Kyle noted how flustered you looked and thought it was cute. Tough bat thrown off by one little compliment.
He held your hand in his and leaned even closer to where you were almost kissing. You couldn’t help but look at his lips. Slightly full and rosy next to his tan skin and looking soft. Just as you were about to close the distance between you both, some sort of alert system went off for him. He groaned and pulled back.
“Work calls,” he said with a grimace. “Sorry,” Kyle said handing you a green rose created by his ring.
“I know this will disappear the second you stop thinking about me,” you said.
“Then it’ll be there all day,” Kyle said with a sly grin. You smiled despite yourself. “Thanks for the coffee. Call me,” he said and numbers searing into the flower above your hand.
“Sure,” you answered, watching him go.
281 notes · View notes
harfanfare · 3 years
Text
Aether x Reader || Glaze Lilies
Tumblr media
"This one is delicious too," you said, swallowing another piece of the dish. “Paimon would probably create another stomach for these miracles.”
Aether chuckled softly as he bites off another piece of hot roll filled with traditional Liyue-rich stuffing. “I guess even that is not enough when the competition is the Sticky Honey Roast that Amber offered her.”
You smiled in response.
Late fall in Liyue was a beautiful time of the year.
The city was always full of red and gold colours like towns straight from fairy tales, but in this time, when the leaves have already turned dark orange and the air was carrying an aroma of seasonal seed cookies, Liyue looked even more breathtaking.
You were sure that it was Amber who made it possible for you to go somewhere on Aether's day off from doing… everything. Normally, you would be sitting in some restaurant watching Paimon heartlessly ordering all the dishes from a menu without looking at the number of zeros of each price.
But when Amber heard you mention dates accompanied by beautiful, falling leaves, she blushed as the flame of pure determination appeared in her eyes. In the evening she appeared in front of Paimon and offered her to go out to the city for one day.
Oh, if she only knew how much it will cost her...
"[Name], stay close to me, or I will lose you in this crowd." Aether gripped your hand tighter.
"Getting lost in such a big city would be romantic, wouldn't it?" you giggled.
"Getting lost and being found in the wrong place and time wouldn’t be," he replied. “Every city is much more dangerous when the night comes.”
You turned into another street to finally reach the viewpoint in Liyue.
You could see a lot more from there, but less people could see you. Who would twist their neck to see two little dots on top of a mountain?
"It's going to rain soon," Aether nodded at the clouds, which were moving quickly toward the city. He clicked his tongue. “If we don't want to get wet, we should be getting ready.”
"Oh, isn't that Aether?"
You turned around to see a girl approaching you two.
She was gorgeous—her long blonde hair waved in the breeze as if it existed only to be an effect for them. She had every girl's dream figure, bright, sparkling eyes, and rosy cheeks.
Perfect girl.
And the perfect person to compare yourself with to create a trillion complexes about your body.
She had a very charismatic, attractive aura around her, but the way she behaved towards Aether was slowly starting to bother you. Of course, it might just be some kind of funny, totally wrong prejudice against her, but ...
“[Girl's name]?” Aether muttered, not noticing your pleading gaze saying: ‘let's get out of here.’ “—What are you doing here?”
"I was just passing by," she laughed, her voice soft, pearl-like. “I couldn't go without saying hi, haha!” Then she looked at you and fixed you with a stare. It wasn't a cold look, but it wasn't friendly either. “And who is that?”
"Ah," Aether shook his head, as if only now remembering that he had not come here alone. He put his hand around your waist. “This is my girlfriend, [Name]”
“I didn't know you had a girlfriend! You always have to be so mysterious?” Aether rolled his eyes at her words, even if he smiled slightly. Then she turned to you. “Could I kidnap him for a moment? I need help moving my luggage to my new apartment.”
She grabbed his hand without waiting for your answer, as if it were a rhetorical question. As Aether released his hand from your waist, you felt as if you were left alone in a foreign land.
“I'll be back in a minute!” After these words, he turned to the blonde and at an equal pace, they turned around the corner of some house, behind the wall of which you could see an extremely high pile of boxes.
"It probably won't be a minute," you sighed.
You leaned against the railing and stared at the toes of your shoes, telling yourself that you should have opposed her. Would that be selfish? You've been dreaming about a date with Aether for so long, without third parties, and now that the moment has come, it turns out that someone will take from you your boyfriend anyway.
Five minutes passed... eight minutes... ten... thirteen...
After fourteen minutes, you got up and decided to check how much was already packed. Some of the super-heavy boxes seemed to be gone, but that was up for discussion since there were dozens of them here.
You couldn't find a familiar face in sight. Did... they just leave you here? More likely, they were just carrying some luggage into one of the nearby houses, but you couldn't knock on every door to find them—it would take hours.
You felt yourself slowly breaking down.
You knew you were a little (a little very much) jealous of this girl, but more depressing was the fact that this was going to be yours and Aether’s day. COMMON. Now you thought you were the loneliest person in the universe.
"I'm not going to get upset," you repeated aloud, trying to motivate yourself to leave this place. "I'll go... I’ll go somewhere and have a good time... alone."
With a quick step, as if you didn't want to think about this anymore, you turned back and followed the alleys you and Aether had previously travelled. You came to the food stores that you had only glanced at before, but you didn't have time to taste anything else because you were in a hurry to get to the viewpoint.
It is true that you ordered take-out rolls, but the whole range of different types of food seemed very tempting despite the filling bread.
And the smell of such highly seasoned dishes was tempting—very much.
"Sorry," a young girl approached you after you shoved a piece of meat into your mouth. You swallowed it quickly, almost choking on it. “Would you like to buy some flowers?”
“…Why not?” you replied.
The girl put the money in the pocket of her dress. Instead of putting a flower on your hand, she came closer and gently braided a glaze lily into your hair near right ear.
"Here you are," she replied and looked at you. A smile beamed across her face. “You look really pretty!”
"Thank you," you replied. You noticed that this was the last flower in her basket, and because of that, the ten-year-old girl seemed proud of herself. She walked away, thanking again for the purchase.
I think that one more on the other side and all would be perfect...
You glanced at the setting sun and concluded that you could give Aether a similar lily. Wouldn't that look cute on him? There was still some time before it will get completely dark. Even the rain clouds that had previously seemed to be crossing the sky at an alarming pace now seem to have stopped.
You finished eating and walked briskly towards the Danyu Ruins, hoping to find some pretty lilies on your way.
The silence, or rather the sound of the wind and the leaves rustling against each other, were the only thing that accompanied your footsteps since you left Liyue. It seemed relaxing at first, but now that the skies were a deeper blue than orange, you concluded that a travelling companion would not be a bad idea.
“They're here!” you finally found two lilies that glistened slightly in the dark. You collected them quickly and turned to head back into town.
…You were surprised when you encountered many, many roads, each of them unfamiliar.
"I should have left a trail of breadcrumbs," you joked, though panic had already paralyzed your legs.
Your problems were not diminished by the fact that you heard mad laughter near you. You felt your heart leap into your throat, tears welling up in your eyes as a figure emerged from behind the bushes.
Abyss mage.
You have heard about them from the stories of Aether, who sometimes told you about his adventures when you tried to bandage his wounds with a bandage, herbs, or other medicines.
As soon as your heart was beating, so quickly the magician saw you. He teleported a meter away from you and you started running.
Faster, faster, faster.
Before you ran a hundred meters, a mage appeared before you. You didn't even have time to stop when he waved his hand, and a large ice crystal formed in front of him. Huge and pointed towards you.
Almost as soon as it was launched, a certain force pushed both of you backwards. You felt pain in your left leg, but somehow you didn't fall. Strong arms held you and made you be in a comforting, familiar embrace.
You looked up to see Aether running towards the cliff to finally jump, open his gliding set and take you two away from the icy monster.
You didn't say a word to each other all this time.
As soon as you touched the ground, you stepped out of his embrace, as if feeling that you had abused his closeness too much. Instead, he grabbed your wrist, turned to face him, and initiated a long, passionate kiss.
He didn't pull away until you both were breathless, and your cheeks were burning like hot coals. You couldn't say you were cold anymore.
“Why?” He took a deep breath. However, his voice still trembled. “Why didn't you wait for me? If I did not make it on time—"
“I was waiting for you!” You interrupted him. You bit your lower lip as you tried to contain the tide of frustration. “It's you who disappeared somewhere. You went somewhere with that girl. I already thought you weren't coming back.”
Aether, an intelligent boy, immediately paraphrased your words "I was maybe jealous". At the thought, he smiled apologetically.
"Sorry," he said, scratching his neck. “I accidentally dropped a box on her leg and, oh, it was hard to treat someone who screams in pain before even a finger touches them…”
"Oh," you felt a deep flush of embarrassment coming up to your cheeks. Indeed, the previous redness of the cheeks did not disappear, but now it only preserved their shade for the next minutes. “I'm really sorry. I left you, put you and myself in danger, just to find some stupid flowers...”
For the third time since finding you, Aether hugged you tightly. He planted a kiss on the top of your head. You stood for a few minutes in pleasant silence, cuddling tightly to each other, and finally, you both relaxed completely.
You took the tangled lilies out of your pocket; one was practically worn out, but the other seemed to be in good condition. You dropped the massacred one, and you tried to straighten the petals with your fingers.
"Turn around," you told him.
He did it without batting an eye. You ran your fingers through his hair and braided his plant into a braid.
Out of the corner of your eye, you thought yours, still artfully arranged, flashed a pleasant blue light as Aether examined his looks.
"It suits you," you said. You both decided to go back to Liyue and spend the rest of the night there. You held hands all the way back.
"You too," he replied. "We are complementing each other very nicely now with these flowers ...and also without them," he added with a smile.
"So, you still think getting lost isn't romantic?" You looked at him from under your lashes.
“Still. I wish I could have you with me without any excuse that you will get lost.”
258 notes · View notes
simluvbot · 3 years
Text
Enhypen as dates they would take you on <3
Tumblr media
tags: gn!reader, established relationship au, fluff, bf! enha
members: all members !!
wc: 400-800ish for each member ?? this is very long uh I’m sorry I got carried away
a/n: hi, welcome to my first piece of writing on this blog 😁😁 I tried to write so that these matched the members and their personalities the most! Also as this is my first post any interaction is so cherished 🥺 but anyways,, I hope you enjoy :D
open to read
Heeseung
he would take you to so many fun places!!
Your dates would consist of going bowling together, theme parks, a walk in the park — you can count on having a fun time with heeseung!
He would just want to impress you );
He’s be always so attentive to you and remember even the littlest of details about you
You’d be in a shop together looking around and he’ll tap your shoulder, showing you a lace shirt that you instantly fall in love with
It’s just your style!
You’d ask him how he knew you would like it, to which he would simply mumble  with, “you told me a few months ago that you like shirts like this.”
You’d just stand in shock like :ooo
Not even you remember telling him that ):
Please he loves you so much, if it’s something that you tell him you like or don’t like, he’ll immediately store it in his memory! He wants to know so much more about you 🥺
Your dates are definitely what you look forward to whenever you see him!!
As much as you love fun day outs with him, you also love your chiller night dates at him <3
Meeting each other late at night after practice? A must!! No way can you let your hee go home alone when he’s the last leaving the practice room after a long day ):<
You would often surprise him by showing up at belift at ungodly hours, and as much as he would scold you with a light frown for coming to see him when it’s already half past midnight,,
You still always catch that small little smile he has whenever you do surprise him hehe
to be aware of just the fact that youre there? is enough for him. you ground him and its especially those spontaneous dates youll throw upon him and inevitably show him without the words uttered that you care for him and you love him? 
those are secretley his fave (: but he doesnt have to tell you that - youve already guessed :D
But at the same time on those late night after-practice dates he just wants to make sure that you’re not staying up too late all the time just to make sure he’s doing okay after practice, his y/nnie needs their sleep too ):
And what you’ll do together? Eat ramen of course!!
Although these little late night dates with him usually dont last no longer than an hour, he still treasures them so dearly in his heart ):
Hee sometimes needs a lot of love and assurance, even if he doesn’t mention it
And you’re the best at making him feel better instantly 🥺
but we seriously cant forget about your daytime dates too! each date of yours is always filled with so so many jokes and giggles that your hearts burn with longing for the other whenever you part ways ):
i can see that he’ll even store the memory of your dates even weeks after they’ve happened - he’ll store those memories of you; all in his heart (and the polaroid he took of you in the back of his phonecase 😳) and tucked close.
Jake
as for dates, to me he seems the type to be into really spontaneous and random things!! He’d love going somewhere fun or just simply randomly travelling with you without a destination!
He especially loves to sneak out of the dorm late at night and meet you at you and his favourite park.
It’s located at the top of a really tall hill, and you’ll both spend hours sitting on the swings, chatting away with little care for the rest of the world or the time as you both simply giggle at each other’s jokes and contentedly talk about anything and everything; watching the city lights glow from hundreds of metres below you
He’d offer you his jacket when the temperature drops by a few degrees suddenly
You’d be like no!! It’s okay you should also stay warm, I’m okay 🥺
But then because he is such a sweetheart he’d huff and sit next to you on the swing, making the single-seater far too cramped as he tries to supply you with his body heat if that’s the only way that you’ll accept not freezing to death 😠
But then you’ll both slip due to there not being enough space for both of you on the wing, and your both fall flat down on your butts lmao
You’d both freeze, staring at each other blankly on the floor
but then you’d both crack up and laugh for the longest time — hushing each other in-between giggles from the fear of maybe you were being a bit too loud and could wake some people up?
But then you’d both fall into giggling messes once again as you blame each other for causing the other to fall down ):
You’d eventually sit together huddled on a bench, sitting in silence and simply staring out at seoul’s twinkling night lights as you share his leather jacket: heavy and warm as it drapes across you and his’ shoulders
But eventually you’d both finally head home! — your eyelids soon growing too heavy and both of you afraid of accidentally falling asleep at a park at 1am lmfao
idk why but i can just see a lot of late-night dates with jake,, such as
baking cookies together at 1am???? probably has happened twice already in your relationship aha 😁
honestly you both spend so much time together casually that you end up arguing on whether that time where he randomly showed up at your house wanting to make relationship bracelets together was really a date or not lmao
he is also so <3 so incredibly sweet too though uGH. he is a sweetheart and like heeseung he will remember every little detail of you which will be useful for when he comes up with more date ideas in the future (
on dates such as eating at a restaurant together he will always bring you flowers like the gentleman he is.
it’s kinda funny because when youre both on a date together alone with no other people around you both become complete crackheads
but when meeting in front of others he acts so mature and serious suddenly lmao ?? 
but honestly he just trusts and loves you so so much that he doesnt even feel like he needs to act a certain way or try to become someone complteley different on a date just to impress you
but its okay because you love the duality of jake sim <3
someone get me him pls. i want one </3
Jay
With jay, shopping dates ??? yes of course (;
he’d simply love taking you out either down a road with many well-known clothing brands or maybe even the mall, entering several clothing stores with you
he never mentions it, but its obvious how much he simply adores seeing you wear the clothes he picks out for you :D
oh and matching couple outfits are obviously always chosen whenever you go out on these fashion dates!!
he will pick out a selection of items he thinks will look good on you, and - to admit it to himself: he does a pretty good damn job
tell me why this boy will get so flustered whenever he sees you walk out of the changing room,, looking so pretty in what he chose for you ??
he’d also one day surprise you on a date with matching couple bracelets :D
you’ll get so excited and he’ll get so shy and try to hide his smile as you compliment how good his sense of style is !! and as much as he denies the fact that he’s blushing you luckily do manage to snap some pics as evidence of the rosy colour in his cheeks hehe
and especially earlier on in the relationship, he’ll always try his best and prepare cute little dates for you both )): and the members would tease him to DEATH for how unbelievably soft and considerate he is when doing things for you when he is so cranky towards them lmfao
chill dates (:
walking in the park together, getting ice cream, going for late night drives and listening to music together </3 with jay it never has to be complicated
Just as long as he gets to be with you, talk with you and touch you then that’s more than enough for him (: he just likes to be in your company
and Idk why I can just see this but he wILL have playground dates with you. dont question it
Because like ?? hanging out on the swings or climbing frame of a kids park at 11PM when there’s no one else there but you both?? Talking and swinging quietly next to each other? very romantic to me hmm
Yes <3 
he will stare at you as he silently swings a back and forth a little; brushing the hair out of your face and looking at you with so so much love in his eyes it’s unbelievable
he especially loves just relaxing with you. watching a show on the tv together while cuddling and staying close to each other is something he loves
hearing your giggles and listening to you talk while engaging in teasing banter where he’ll pretend to think the things you say are stupid by scoffing and rolling his eyes when in reality his heart is swelling and he’s trying so hard not to laugh at how cute you are? 
shut UP
those are definitely one of his favourite types of dates with you
he’ll constantly try to impress you and will be willing to try so many different things with you
i can see him as either being openly interested about going on typical couple dates together such as painting or eating at romantic restaurants,, or every time you mention something of the sort he’ll be groaning at yet another mention of the ‘couple bucket list’ you had created lol
but actually he’s secretly really excited for that couple mug-painting session you booked for you both. but he will never tell you that 😳
in conclusion, with jay it really never has to be something complex for you both to enjoy your dates <3 he just loves being in your company, even if its one of those nights where you both share no words between the cuddling and content sighs and various little soft kisses he presses to your forehead.
sunghoon
with sunghoon gOSH
whatever you two get up to, it’d be so so soft and gentle and perfect and just ):
he would always ask the members what to take you out on as a date and you bet his naver search history would consist of questions like ‘what does my s/o like’ and ‘where should i take out my partner on a date’ lmao
he just wants to make you happy and comfy ):
dates with him are usually really cute!! Like going to cafes, going ice skating etc!
But you’d also love those dates at home with him, giggling shyly as you both sit together and watch a film 🥺
he LOVES those dates! he always gets so shy whenever he comes over and it takes him a little while to get comfortable enough with you to even hold your hand pls
So when he one day pulls you in closer from where you’re sitting side by side on the couch,, bringing you closer and tucking you under his arm ??
You’re so so surprised, and you feel your heart clench a little at how gentle he is with you and how he’s finally opening up ):
And from then on,, he only will become more and more comfortable with you!!! To the point where he’ll start pouting a lil when you don’t snuggle up next to him on the sofa like you usually do );
So cuddle dates with hoon? Yes you bet they’re his fave!!
and then when its quickly approaching your 100 days anniversary, he’ll be wracking his brains for so long trying to decide what to do for you
but then it will hit him like a light bulb switching on!
he’ll suddenly remember you mentioning this specific thing that you really liked and would want to do one day, and guess what he would plan for u both!!
he’d prepare 💔💔 a picnic 💔💔 for you 💔💔
ugh youre so lucky
he’d text you the day before your anniversary telling you to expect to go on a date with him the day after and to dress up prettily :D
he’d wake up super early on the day of the date, preparing all of your favourite foods and meals into a cute lil basket ):
and when you finally both meet at a really rEALLY pretty secluded area that you somehow had no idea existed despite you living in the area for so long - you’d maybe start tearing up?? 
because your boyfriend is so so sweet and you never saw this coming from him at all ): 
and he’d just stand there shyly in front of the picnic he set up, hand at the back of his head and looking down; cute lil blush tainting his cheeks from how nervous he is!
but then you’d run over and give him a big, big hug, exxclaiming how much you appreciate what he did for you and how youre so so incredibly sorry for not bringing him something as well to celebrate your anniversary (you were dying inside fo guilt please!! how could u forget to get him something when he went out of his way like this for you )):  )
but he’d simply shake his head, smiling and not minding at all
because if he gets to see you happy, gets to see those twinkling eyes of yours that just stare up at him with so so much love before bringing him in for a sweet kiss - then he simply doesnt mind at all.
r u crying at this like i am lol
sunoo
sunoo absoloutely adores you.
and he cant stay away from you !! lmao
you’ll leave after a date and ten minutes after youve arrived you’ll get a text from him saying how much he already misses you and wants to see his bun again ):
but its okay!! because y’all would meet up again really soon again :D
sunoo really doesnt mind what you both do together, he just loves being in your company !! if he’s doing something with you, its certain that he will have so much fun and be so so comfy!
you often like to go to cinemas together, watching a film
film/drama marathons are also something that you both do very very often as a date! he loves it when you hug him tight and throw a leg over his as you both lie down in his dorm bed/your bed, watching something on your laptop
he is very very cuddly and whenever you both do have cuddle dates/sessions (which is all the time btw) he’ll like it when you absentmindedly play with his fingers or stroke your hands through his hair soothingly
and then he’ll complain and whine when you stop lmao
seriously though, without a question if either of you meet at either his dorm or your house - its always:  ‘so what are we gonna watch?’
he also likes doing very very cute couple-y activities with you! of course he does,, youre his baby ): 
(he’s more YOUR baby actually - but he doesnt need to know about that shh hehe)
funfair dates where you will go on a ferris wheels and eat cotton candy together? sharing a kiss when you reach the top? yes! and so is going to those sets designed for couples to take cute photos together as a lil photoshoot!
he is so so sweet with you ): 
and has it been mentioned yet that you’ll go on food dates? this is a very obvious date you both do very often !! 
going to food markets and trying out different street foods from different vendors? yes.
having mini dates at the korean convinience store late at night where you’ll both sit by the window and eat tteokbokki & ramen together? yes.
its all honestly really really chill, but he also knows when to be serious when he needs to (:
he’ll take you out to the your favourite restaurants often!
and whenever youre celebrating something he’ll take you to a really good and famous restaurant with mouth-watering food, and you’ll be left wondering for the longest time how on earth he managed to get a seat in since its always so booked
or ordering take-out is good too :D
in conclusion (because i just realised how long this is help 😭): dates with sunoo are always a variety of fun activities which always leave you feeling tired yet so, so happy and content at the end of the day !!
he loves you so much <3
Jungwon
Since you both go to the same school, a lot of your little dates are actually spent there
He’s pretty shy with you at times,, but when you’re both alone it’s then that dates with him are usually so so goofy and silly; days filled with his teasing and your eye rolls and giggles.
Meeting at the rooftop before school to simply talk and giggle and drink chocolate milk? Yes.
Staying after school for small study sessions in the library? Yes.
With jungwon, you’re not able to see him as much between school and him being an idol, so every little moment together means so much to both of you ):
To me jungwon also seems like a cuddler!!! cause like?? Have you seen him ?? Tell me he doesn’t look so soft 
So, dates at home when he’s free where you can both cuddle together in your bed while eating and doing homework? They’re so so cosy,, and definitely your favourite kinda dates!! not to mention that your parents absolutely adore him too
With jungwon, lots of lil spontaneous dates are definitely his and yours trademark (‘:
He’ll turn up at your house randomly with a grin and dimple poking at his cheek, holding a bag of convenience store food and asking you if you want to go on a date with him even if it’s 10pm and dark outside lmfao
And then he’ll take you to an arcade!
You’ll be the only ones there and he’s keep flexing about how he’s going to win you this cat plush from the claw machine because he says it looks like him
He’d try several times and end up spending almost 8,000 won on the machine trying to win you this plush and at this point he’s already making up several excuses about how oh, ‘it’s rigged’ or ‘give me one more chance I will get it this time!!’
You’d giggle at how he grows flustered, gently asking him if you could have a go for fun, sighing and with him and agreeing on the fact that the claw machine is definitely rigged
You’d complain together; scolding the machine and asking it to please be nice and stop ruining your date when it’s then that the claw actually picks up a plush and you’re both like ;oo
You’d both stay stood in shock as the cat plush is dropped into the receiving box, before laughing loudly
He’d stand there flustered, blush tainting his cheek before he just walks away 🚶🏻‍♂️
You’d quickly pick up the cat plush and chase after him, giggles tumbling out your lips
and uhm after that you beTTER go check up on your boy and see if his ego wasnt too damaged by that 😤
so of course you’d wrap your arms around him from behind, tucking your face into the back of his neck ): and pressing gentle kisses where you know he’s ticklish until he finally relents, a small grin and dimple lighting up his face
and phEW because you thought he was upset ): but he laughs and says youre better at the claw machine than he is so,, all good dont worry !! 🥺
It’d end up being him taking the cat plush home, which you both name ‘jungwon-two’ because of how much it actually looks like him 😭
Expect many references and inside jokes to that date and jungwon-two in the future
and tbh you love dates with won so so much. theyre so fun plus they’re always secret.
and whenever you’re out doing whatever the hell you both get up to,
It’s like there is no one else in the world. It’s just you, and him, and the blooming you both feel in your chests.
Niki
I don’t know but I can just see niki as being so romantic
You’re both young, and although niki is the biggest dork and always likes to play around and make jokes 24/7 - he’s also so mature compared to the other boys your age
So would he take you out to a date where he’d set up classically romantic candles and rose petals for you both to eat at for your 1 month anniversary? Yes ):
And you’d be so speechless and shocked as you blush quietly and thank him before he‘s accidentally knocking over his glass of water all over the table cloth and you’re laughing out loud
But expect every other date with him to be filled with so so much food and comfort!
He’d feel so comfy around you, and really the only word he thinks is perfectly able to describe you is home. He thinks you feel like home to him.
So he’d show you all of this favourite things, the things closest to his heart and you can’t help but feel your own heart clench at how much you adore this boy
He’d take you out to traditional Japanese restaurants and show you his favourite foods from back home and teach you the customs of how to eat sushi
You’d 100% be so so interested and excited whenever he reveals to you a vulnerable part of him, and he’d stare at you so lovingly as he kisses your cheek, blushing and smiling like the 15 year old he is
Ugh ): niki ):
Dance dates!!
You claim you can’t dance to save your life LMFAO (or maybe you can 😳?) but he only grins shyly instead as he takes you to a small dance studio he rented (he didn’t want to take you the belift building where there would be other people - he’d want you to feel completely comfortable).
You’d simply stand there with your mouth dropped open as you watch him freestyle to a random song he put on like it’s nothing
You’d spend the day getting taught some moves by him and although you’re sure you look like a cat getting electrocuted, he still smiles and  nods and even claps, giving you compliments and teasing remarks
Overall, dates with niki are so so fun and goofy and perfect. You feel your heart swell every time he takes you out on another little adventure, feeling so complete and carefree between his warm hugs, jokes and words that he has to say to you
(’:
276 notes · View notes
exosmutfactory · 3 years
Text
Six Phases FINALE Pt 2
Tumblr media
Originally posted by tipannies
Who knew it nearly took 6 months to win your heart, and 6 phases for Baekhyun to lose his mind.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3  P(1) P(2) | Part 4 P(1) P(2) | Part 5 P(1)  P(2) | Part 6 P(1)  P(2) —– P(3)  P(4) —– P(5)  P(6) | ♬♩♪♩ FINALE P(1)  P(2)✓ (also on AFF)
A/N: Let’s give Riley the ending she deserves 💗
[ contains: smut & fluff~]
•⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •
Tonight is a special occasion, one that requires the most lethal of dresses that I own. A dress I always had my eye on yet never dared to take out from the back of my closet. I could never find the right time to wear it—until now. Because tonight, oh tonight… I have a date with Baekhyun.
I pull up the spaghetti straps of my wine colored dress, making sure that the criss-cross stripes of fabric in the front are straight. This dress is definitely too cold for the first week of December, but that's what winter coats are for. For now, I will turn side to side to admire how the bodycon shape fits well with the cutout section exposing my stomach. Party in the front and business in the back.
Straightening the last strand of my hair, I smile when my phone lights up with a notification, knowing full well who it is. His cute usage of emojis visible on the screen tells me all that I need to know. Chuckling to myself, I set down my flatiron and reply to him.
Baekhyun planned a date at his apartment tonight, subtly dropping a hint about what I should wear. Mmhm, this isn't a t-shirt and sweatpants event. Based on the new black blazer in the back of his adorable selfie that he sent me the other day when he asked me out, I got a good idea of what I'm getting myself into.
Humming to myself, I check my reflection one last time and grab my keys before heading out. Let's see which shade of Baekhyun is awaiting me today.
Strutting my way to the elevator in my rose gold heels, I smile at my neighbor when she steps out onto our floor, whistling at my choice of attire. She winks at me as the doors close. Chuckling, I check my phone one last time, typing a quick reply to Sehun with my French tip nails letting him know that I'm okay. We've made a point to catch up with each other at the end of every week, whether face to face or over the phone. Unfortunately, I have plans tonight… and maybe tomorrow too. And the day after that.
Smirking, I repocket my phone and wrap my fluffy coat tighter around me, waving to the security guard while making my way out of the building. The bite of the December air is refreshing for my skin, the heat packed into my coat leaves me slightly too warm otherwise. I look both ways before crossing the parking lot, staying aware of my surroundings. The last thing I need is any drama from a careless driver or lurking thief in the streets. These heels are too expensive to break off into someone's ass for making me late.
My car unlocks with a familiar chirp, its headlights coming on while I walk around to the driver's side. Taking one last glance at the world around me and my back seat, I climb inside and set my purse down on the passenger's side. My phone vibrates just as I start the engine, buzzing faintly against the soft R&B CD playing on my radio. With a small smile, I check my rearview mirror and pull out onto the road.
I hum along to the first track, wondering if a UN Village actually exists while navigating to Baekhyun's apartment. The Christmas lights set up on the light poles in advance bring another smile to my face. Something about this time of year always sits right with me.
Before I know it, I'm pulling into a parking space at his apartment complex, waiting for the powerful vocals of the 6th song on the album to fade away. Sighing a little, I lean back in my seat, sweeping my eyes over the parking lot as the windows start to fog up. Who would have thought that I'd be back here nearly a year later? With warmth in my heart and a certain silver haired, idiotic yet adorable man on my mind.
"I love you," I mumble shyly, holding eye contact despite my heated cheeks and racing heart.
His whole face lights up with his smile, sparkly brown eyes outshining all the stars in the sky as he cups my cheeks in his warm palms. "I love you more."
Stepping out of my car, I pick up my purse and head inside, sharing a knowing look with the familiar security guard on my way to the elevators. It feels so good to be back, the year-long bad memories vanishing with every step I take. To my home—to my heart. The man my heart calls out for like a rescued fish returning to sea.
Butterflies flutter in my stomach when I arrive on his floor, taking my time to walk down the brightly lit hallway. I wonder what is in store for me tonight. After all, when it comes to Baekhyun, anything can be awaiting me on the other side of that door. Possibilities are endless.
Taking a deep breath, I knock on the door, smiling softly when it opens seconds later only for my jaw to drop to the floor.
Baekhyun... with his silver hair parted to the side, wearing fucking brown eyeshadow. That new black blazer of his has buttons on the ends of the sleeves, sitting perfectly on his broad shoulders. But the real sight to behold is lower down on his body, starting from his half-buttoned black shirt showing his honey-toned chest. That view alone could send a woman into a coma, but then he had to tuck his shirt into a pair of snug leather pants. The belt around his hips shows off the curves of his waist and those damn black heeled boots are back again.
I don't even care that he can see me practically drooling—I already know what's on my menu for tonight.
"Hey," He smiles charmingly, taking my breath away.
I take a moment to compose myself, peeking at him from under my eyelashes with a smile of my own. "Hi, B."
His eyes and smile soften. "Come in, it's cold out." He steps aside to let me in, closing the door behind me.
Humming softly, I relish in his alluring cinnamon scent. "Not really," I mumble distractedly, thinking of how much warmer I feel at the sight of him while he helps me take off my coat. The way his breath hitches has a smirk quirking at my red painted lips. "What are we having tonight?" I inquire, glancing over my shoulder at him.
Baekhyun's eyes immediately shoot up to mine. "D-Dinner," He coughs, trying to cover up his flushed face behind his hand.
"Oooo," I walk further into the apartment, following the spicy aroma of food and making my way to the kitchen. "Okay. What did you order in?"
"Actually," Baekhyun's citrus shampoo floats in the air when I reach the doorway, staring at the set table with wide eyes. "I made it myself," He mumbles shyly, the cool plastic of the flower pinned to his blazer brushing against my back.
"Holy shit…" It's a fucking feast. Fresh salad, crunchy garlic bread, and the most appetizing platter of spaghetti that I've ever seen in my life. Not only that, the single-lit candle in the middle of the table has my heart and below squeezing in earnest. This cheeky little hopeless romantic.
"The meat is turkey-based," Baekhyun perks up after a few moments, walking around to place used pots and pans in the sink. Busying his fidgety hands with moving everything off of the counter. "I bought hot sauce but didn't put much because I didn't know if you'd like it spicy or not."
Walking further into the room, I rest my hand on the back of a chair, watching him with a lick of my lips.
Baekhyun continues occupying himself with everything in the kitchen, not even noticing when I slowly approach him. "The toast is on the softer side and I have some sweet tomatoes in the fridge-"
Fuck it.
I grab him by his jacket when he turns around, tugging on him so hard that a few buttons pop off and scatter around on the floor.
Baekhyun gasps, stumbling a little before bracing his hands on the surface behind me, the dishes on the dining table rattling under our joined weight. "Riley-"
I smash my lips to his, kissing him with fervor, backing him up until his back presses against the counter. I'm relentless with tugging and biting down on his bottom lip, capturing it between my teeth. He moans right into my mouth when I part his lips, sucking hard on his tongue.
The audible smack of our messy kiss echoes around the walls of his apartment, steadily building up tension in my stomach and the ache between my legs. Baekhyun softly huffs and puffs for air after a few minutes, pulling back to catch his breath with rosy, lipstick-smeared lips. "D-Dinner-"
"I'd rather eat something else," I utter lowly, rubbing my hand down his chest. My eyes flicker back up to his wide orbs just in time to catch him gulping, his warm brown eyes darkening significantly.
He looks at me for a long moment, hesitation vivid in his body language. I step closer, cupping his cheek before pressing my lips to his, gently coaxing his soft lips to dance with mine. Baekhyun takes a deep breath before wrapping his arms around me, the caress of his hands over my exposed skin leaving goosebumps in their wake.
This, I muse, shivering in delight when my body is fully pressed against his, is what has been missing.
He grows more daring the longer our lips lock, his warm hands sliding up the back of my thighs and venturing under my dress, bunching up the fabric. His fingertips teasingly slipping between my thighs has my pussy quivering, my own palms tugging on his tucked in shirt to feel more of his skin. Baekhyun grips my ass before spinning us around, hoisting me up onto the counter while I tangle my hand in his hair, my lips still glued to his. I moan when his fingers land on my clothed core, welcoming him between my parted legs.
"You're so wet," He breathes, a look of awe on his face. Sweat is already dripping down from the edges of his hairline, casting his skin in a dewy glow under the dancing candle lights.
"I'm not the only one," I murmur, tapping the back of my fingers on the bulge in his snug pants.
Baekhyun groans, pulling me into another kiss, making me gasp when he tugs me closer to the edge of the counter, his hardon right against my heated core. I shiver, wanting to widen my legs and close them at the same time when he rolls his hips, the thin fabric of my lace thong doing nothing to conceal his erection from my throbbing clit.
Our loud moans and sloppy kisses fill the air, the temperature rising in the room with every roll of his talented hips. I tighten my grip on his hair, gritting my teeth to hold back the tension building between my legs. 11 months has been way too long for me to not be intimate with someone like this, but looking up at Baekhyun's already fucked out face, I wouldn't have it any other way.
With shaky hands and quivering legs, I reach down to undo Baekhyun's belt, flinging it out of my way before pulling his zipper down. My hand slips a few times when he moves my thong to the side, sliding his middle finger into my greedy core.
"Ah…" I pant, tilting my head back as he trails searing kisses down my neck. "Fuck." The feeling of him inside of me after so long has me squeezing my thighs around his waist, fighting the wave threatening to fall over me when he finds my sweet spot immediately.
"So good for me," He murmurs, sucking my earlobe between his teeth. He slips in another finger when I finally pull his cock out of his boxers, swirling my fingers around his tip and stroking him in my firm grip. We speed up as we pant into each other's mouths, too turned on and drowned in pleasure to keep up with our kiss.
"Fuck, baby." He pulls back, cheeks flushed a pretty red hue, "C-condom-"
"No time for that." I shake my head, digging my heels into his lower back only to pause, narrowing my eyes at him. "Unless-"
He shut me up with a kiss this time. "No." He murmurs, meeting my eyes, his firm grip tightening on my hips. "No one else but you."
I am surprised by his answer, but I just nod, letting him continue. I might not be able to read Baekhyun like a book as he says I do, but I know he doesn't fuck around when it comes to his health. Let alone when it concerns the pretty, thick dick he has. Brushing his hair away to look into his eyes, I part my lips only for my breath to hitch, blushing at the feeling of him aligning his cock with my entrance.
"May I?" He murmurs, resting his forehead on mine.
The annoying throb between my legs has me clenching my teeth. "If you don't-" I gasp, clutching onto his shoulders as he slides in to the hilt. The burn of him inside me after so long is more than I expected.
Baekhyun pauses to let me adjust, pressing a chaste kiss to my lips that just makes me spasm around him. A gasp escapes him in turn, his slender fingers digging into the soft swell of my hips. "Easy, baby." He strains, voice deepened in lust.
"Easy for you to say," I grumble through gritted teeth, my back arching when he circles his hips. He presses flush against my goosebump-covered skin, giving me warmth as he starts up a comfortable rhythm, spreading my legs as far as the counter will allow. I can't help but gulp, leaning back against my braced palms. Just the view of his stunning body fully dressed beside his unzipped leather pants is messing with my head, let alone his cock pressing every spot within my walls that drives me insane.
Baekhyun pulls out, and before I can say anything, I hear his knees hitting the floor. Silver locks of hairbrush against my inner thighs moments before warm, wet sensation brushes against my clit.
"Mmm," He moans, tightening his grip on my thighs when I jolt. He pulls me even closer to the edge of the counter, placing my legs over his shoulders, "Come here."
All I can manage to do is tangle my fingers in his luscious locks. Hopefully they are strong enough to sustain my knee-jerking tugs when he drags his lips over my core, sticking his tongue into my hole and taking my folds between his lips. Baekhyun is just… gentle, slurping and smacking his lips against my throbbing core without a care. He's taking his time down there as if he has all the time in the world. I feel bad for my arousal dripping onto the counter and all over his chin—it's embarrassing, but it's never been this… this good.
"So sweet," He murmurs, sliding his warm palms up my waist.
Trying my best not to succumb to the coil in my stomach, I risk a glance down at him. The sight of his tongue poking out from between his coated lips to caress my swollen nub in the gentlest of ways has me tensing up—even more so when his brown eyes flicker up to meet mine.
"Baekhyun." I pant, tugging harder on his hair.
"Come on," He breathes, gripping my hips when I start to tremble.
"B-Baekhyun." It takes everything in me to hold on, bracing myself against the counter. "I want you inside…" I throw my head back when he slips a finger inside, quickly followed by another.
"Give it to me." He demands, so softly in an airy tone, his breath hitching at a particularly hard tug on his roots. He's damn near pleading for it and it's driving me crazy. "Come all over my face, baby."
Yeah, there's no winning this fight. With his lewd words and soft lips wrapping tight around my clit, rolling it around inside of his mouth with his tongue, that's it. Game over. How I managed this long without falling over the edge by the works of his mouth is a mystery within itself.
Baekhyun doesn't stop humming and massaging my clit with his lips until I softly push his head away, closing my shaking legs. He stands back up, sliding his hands up my thighs and leaning in for a kiss. It's different from the others we've shared tonight, filled with a certain hint of gentleness and love that matches the yearning and adoration in his sparkly brown eyes.
"Fuck, Riley." Baekhyun pulls back, cock twitching in my hand when I rotate my wrist. He cards a hand through his hair, chuckling in disbelief. "You are driving me crazy."
"Yeah?" I drawl, wrapping my thighs around his waist. "Come show me crazy."
"I'm not gonna last…" He admits, looking worried.
"How long do you plan on loving me, Byun Baekhyun?" I demand, tucking my index finger under his chin for him to face me.
Baekhyun's eyes dance like shimmering orbs of light. "Until my last dying breath."
"Well," I breathe, butterflies fluttering my stomach when his words settle in. "I'm sure we can fit in plenty of rounds until then."
The sweetest smile forms on his handsome face before his brows knit together, biting his bottom lip when I pull him back inside, digging my heels into his back.
"Don't hold back," I whisper into his ear, brushing my lips over his neck. Baekhyun takes a shaky breath, pulling away until only his tip is in my sensitive core. The bruising grip he has on my hips is the only warning I get before he plunges back inside. 
Baekhyun doesn't hold back in the slightest. He sets a fast, near brutal pace, lifting my hips to slam inside of me at an angle that has me screaming his name, clinging onto his clothed shoulders for dear life.
"Fuck, baby." He groans, his steady rhythm taking on sloppy, shallow thrusts. The squelch of our joined bodies stirs up an unexpected heat in me. "I'm gonna-"
"Yeah," I breathe, locking my legs around the back of his trembling thighs. My heart and pussy clench in earnest at the expression on his face.
Baekhyun pants, sweat dripping down his forehead and falling off of his jaw. The flap of his jacket exposing his chest with his shaky movements. "Can I-"
I lick the salty sweat from his heated skin, sucking harshly where his collarbone meets his gorgeous neck. "Inside me, B."
He groans the loudest one of the night, hiding his face in my neck as he pounds into me. His cum spills deep inside, hot and messy. The warmth of it triggers my own release. I have to bite down on his shoulder to contain the uncontrollably loud moan that's ripped from my throat with his final gentle thrusts.
Baekhyun slows down to a stop, his chest flushed to mine while we try to regain our breath. The smell of sweat and sex permeating the air has me giggling breathlessly, running my fingers through his damp hair.
"Fuck—baby," He mutters, hurrying to pull out. "Your dress."
"It's-" I moan, biting my lip when he slides his fingers back in.
"Where's a towel," He frantically looks around, the most comically concerned expression on his handsome, dewy face. "There it is! Ah, it's too far away... I'm sorry, baby-" He stops when I wrap my hand around his wrist, slipping his cum covered fingers between my lips.
"Take it off of me," I whisper, staring right into his dilated eyes.
"You'll be cold," He murmurs, looking between my eyes and my mouth sucking on his fingertips.
"Then warm me up," I purr, wrapping my thighs back around his waist.
Baekhyun's jaw drops, his cock already stirring against me. I reach down to take him into my hand, rubbing my fingers around his tip. "You'll be the death of me." He groans, tangling his hand in my hair and pulling me into a searing kiss.
Hours later, we're curled up in bed. My head on his pillow with his hands in my hair.
"W-Will you stay the night?" Baekhyun whispers, brown eyes no longer showing signs of tiredness.
I smile, completely in love with this new side of him. Baekhyun, in all that he is, is the most beautiful man in the world. "Of course, baby," I murmur, tracing random shapes on his honey skin.
He perks up with the most beautiful smile growing on his face, gently pulling me closer until my head rests on his chest, his fast-beating heart a dead giveaway to how happy he is. I kiss over his heart, looking up into his shimmering brown pools of love. Is he...? Gently swiping my finger under his eye has a tear falling down his cheek. And another. And another…
"You mean everything to me," He breathes, arms and legs tangled so much with mine I don't know where he ends and I begin.
I smile, falling asleep to the beat of his steady heart and the security of his warm arms. "You mean the world to me."
•••
Time goes by so fast when you're happy and in love, turning even your hardest days into nights that you want to remember. Just having that person you love the most by your side, through thick and thin, for better or for worse, makes all the difference in the world.
—The only downside is how agonizing time passes when you are apart.
I pop my bubble gum with my chin resting in my palm, humming and tapping my pen on my desk. After catching up on a day's worth of paperwork, (blame my procrastination… and spending the weekend at Baekhyun's,) I'm bored, impatiently waiting for noon. There's only one way to fix this mood before I'm in a slump for the rest of the day, and looking at the home screen of my phone, I plan to arrange that very soon. 
As soon as 12:00 pops up on the clock, I tap the first number on my speed dial, pressing my ringing phone to my ear.
"Hello?" His honey-smooth voice flutters over the line.
"Baekhyun." I apply a fresh layer of lip gloss to my lips, tucking away my hair to make sure my diamond earrings don't get tangled. "Are you free for lunch?"
"Yeah." He mumbles distractedly, shuffling papers filter through the call before a door shuts.
"Come over." I demand, hanging up. Pushing back from my desk, I walk over to my vanity table, straightening out my black lace, sleeveless bra from under my robe. It's mid-Spring again, already hot enough to wake me up in the middle of the night when I don't sleep with my fan on. The perfect excuse for what I have planned for my "week off" of work. I don't care how many business meetings I have to host from the comfort of my own home.
The doorbell rings just as I'm smoothing down my hair, checking my reflection one last time in the mirror. I make my way out of my bedroom and into the living room, pulling the door open with haste.
Baekhyun stands on the other side with wide, frantic eyes, dressed impeccably in a black suit with his slicked back silver hair the slightest bit ruffled. "Riley, what-"
I yank him inside, crashing my lips to his, pressing his body to the door before it slams shut. His scent surrounds me in seconds, vanilla-scented clothes with traces of smoke. The rich citrus of his soft hair and the hint of musk on his skin from a long day of work. My hands are undoing his tucked in shirt before he can get a word in.
"Riley." He grunts, holding me close as I trail messy kisses down his gorgeous neck. I walk backwards to the couch, toppling onto it with him following me.
"How long before your next meeting?" I murmur, pulling him closer by his tie.
Baekhyun visibly gulps, brown eyes darkening significantly before they flicker back up to mine. "They'll survive." He chuckles, licking his lips, leaning in for another frenzied kiss.
Tumblr media
Yeah, Baekhyun wasn't kidding about him being a workaholic—which I already knew, but damn if it isn't annoying sometimes. He's more busy stressing over the new designs for his clothing line than helping me plan his 27th birthday party. All my subtle questions to find out what he would want have been futile. It's just been him typing on that damn computer of his for hours.
I go around spraying the plants in his office, talking sweetly to each of them to make sure they get enough Co2. Their droopy leaves need some perking up with the sheer amount of gloom coming off of Baekhyun's furiously typing form.
He abruptly stops, sighing loudly for the 100th time today. "I should give up."
"Nooo," I pout, walking behind his chair to wrap my arms around his neck, taking a small peek at the rough sketches on his computer. " Keep going, don't give up now."
Baekhyun smiles tiredly, pressing a kiss to the back of my hand. "What do you know about that, hmm?"
"A bit." I smile softly, lightly resting my head on his. "Things may seem shaky now. Just out of reach. No longer within your control." Twirling his hair around my finger, I smile to myself. "But that's okay, it means you are being challenged. And a challenge conquered to the best of your abilities will do you a lot of good." I close my eyes, basking in his presence and comforting scent. "So keep going, you'll never know what you are capable of until you reach the end."
My eyes snap open when Baekhyun suddenly spins around, staring up at me with wide, teary brown eyes. "B-" I wheeze, not expecting him to pull me into his arms, hugging me like a lifeline. "Baekhyun…?" I try again, growing alarmed when his tears wet the front of my shirt.
He only holds me tighter in response, his chest silently heaving against mine. I slowly wrap my arms around him and gently tangle my fingers in his hair, pressing a kiss to his ear.
He's adorable, in every way, shape, and form. Ugh, I'm going to end up in a love-induced coma one day with the way my heartbeat always skips when I'm around him. No matter if I'm meeting him for lunch or if he comes to work across from me at my desk when I'm chasing deadlines, I wouldn't change a thing for the world.
—Except maybe his sense of timing things.
I startle awake, clutching my racing heart with unsteady breathing. The details of my nightmare slowly fade away, but it does little to calm me down. Feeling a sense of urgency, I clumsily search around for my phone. I'll text Baekhyun; I need to make sure he is okay.
My eyes squint at the bright screen of my phone, not expecting to check it in the middle of the night, let alone the notification I find there.
*
Baekhyunee💘💕🥺💓😘
Thursday, 2:34 am
Riley
//
Hlep
//
I nee d u
//
*
I fly out of bed like a bat out of hell, rushing over to his apartment, nearly hitting three pedestrians on the way. Parking hazardly in the first empty parking spot I find before jumping out and all but running to the fourth floor. I pound on his door loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood until he opens up, revealing bloodshot eyes and a can of beer in his hand.
"Baekhyun, what's wrong?" I pant, resting my hands on my knees and frantically looking him over. He mumbles something unintelligible under his breath. "What?" I demand, trying to catch my breath.
"I-I just..." He mumbles sluggishly, slouching his shoulders with sadness in his puppy eyes. "I just miss you."
My frantic heart softens. "Get inside and sit down." I demand, pressing a kiss to his cheek before closing the door.
I love this man so fucking much. Even if he annoyingly wakes me up sometimes at 2 to 3 am, I'd run over to his place with my baggy pants and sleeping cap in a heartbeat.
•••
June rolls back around before I know it. This time, however, I plan to decline Jongin's offer to participate in the dance competition again. But to my uttermost surprise, he'll be taking Kyungsoo instead. For tap dancing.
???
Just how multi-talented is Baekhyun's group of friends? Spare me some of that energy, please?
Speaking of friends, Chanyeol's tall figure invited us over to his house today, the mansion that he used to share with Baekhyun and Jongdae.
—I have a grudge against him right now though because he literally called Baekhyun in the middle of the night to challenge him to some video game duel. The comical way his face changed when he saw me glaring at him from the corner of their video call though. By the end of their conversation, an invite was extended to me and Sehun too. It's "best friends" night, and boy do I have a lesson for Park Chanyeol. Lesson one: never underestimate a woman on a mission. In work, life, or on the playing field.
"Damn, man," I mumble, looking wide eyed at the huge flat screen TV and various game consoles around the room. "Leave you alone with the mansion for 2 years and you stocked up your mancave to the finest degree."
Chanyeol flicks a few buttons on the wall next to the door that dims the lights, letting the bright TV and a few arcade games illuminate the room. Baekhyun's eyes twinkle brighter than anything else in the spacious room. He goes over to chat with Chanyeol while I stand in the doorway with Sehun.
"Hey," I whisper, nudging him. "Remember when you used to stream your games back in the day? And the pink hair?"
"Oh yeah." Sehun chuckles while I notice Chanyeol perk up out of the corner of my eye. "I had a setup similar to this back at home." He stuffs his hands in his pockets, taking another look around. "Less impressive though," He mutters, crinkling his nose.
Chanyeol quickly walks over. "Number one victory royale?" He asks, eyes wide. "King of the south-bound?"
"Moisty mire extraordinaire...?" Sehun inquires, eyes widening as well. 
Chanyeol stares him down for a long, hard minute, and then raises his hand. "Truce?"
Sehun smirks, gripping Chanyeol's hand firmly in his. "Truce."
I blink, more than confused. Baekhyun catches my eye and just winks.
Tumblr media
Originally posted by exo-stentialism
I'm having a huge dilemma—no, a midlife crisis. All hell is about to break loose and I'll be in the center of it.
Baekhyun asked me out on a date—I know, I know, listen! 
He asked me out on a date… with barely any hints on what to wear.
He didn't say, "wear whatever you want," when I called him earlier. He told me to, "wear something nice."
Nice?! Nice. That's all I got while he remained tight-lipped about his own outfit. At least give me a color, man!!!
So, here I am, swiping clothes left and right in my closet like a madwoman until my eyes land on the perfect dress. One of sheer beauty and elegance.
A white, off the shoulder, hollowed out strapless mini dress with floral patterns from start to finish. The sleeves are made completely out of lace, the ends resting beautifully on the back of my hand. I smile at my reflection in the mirror, keeping my makeup light, only focused on enhancing my features. My phone buzzes just as I recap my eyeliner.
Your chariot awaits.
Giggling, I quickly type up a reply, tucking my phone into my clutch while wondering what this 'chariot' could be. Baekhyun sure does fancy using these cheesy words lately it seems.
Strutting down to the parking lot as gracefully as this dress will allow, I feel thankful for the warm summer night air. Bugs and I, when I'm wearing a dress like this, I need all the warmth I can get.
A blue jeep pulls up and honks at me, confusing me for a second because it isn't Baekhyun's Audi until they roll the passenger window down, revealing Jongdae's ever-bored face.
I blink a few times. "...What kind of low budget uber is this?"
"Yah!" Chanyeol loudly protests, barely overpowering Jongdae's rambunctious laughter. He glares at the brunet clutching his stomach.
"Hop in, Cinderella." Jongdae chuckles as the car doors unlock. 
I carefully climb into the back seat, readjusting the hem of my dress.
"Someone got all dolled up tonight." Jongdae grins, shooting a teasing look back at me.
"Ubers don't talk much, Dae." I point out, watching the city lights fly by while Chanyeol pulls off and navigates us down barely familiar roadways. "Where are we going?"
Chanyeol meets my eye in the rearview mirror. "Where do you think?"
"If I didn't have your mother's number on my speed dial I'd call the police, Park," I grumble, resting my elbow on the car door and my chin in my palm. Jongdae's laughter quirks a smile on my lips while Chanyeol continues driving with furrowed brows and a grumpy frown on his face.
After a while of speeding cars and the radio quietly playing, a certain blue building catches my eye. "Where are we?" I perk up, my eyes widening at a sign in the distance. "Is this...?"
"UN Village," Jongdae supplies.
"Step on the gas, Yeol."
"I-I'm not sure you want to do that, Riley." Jongdae tries to diffuse the situation, his weary features flickering over to the competitive expression forming on Chanyeol's face. "You could get motion sickness and-"
"I thought you were the fastest on the road, Yeol," I fake pout, subtly making sure my seatbelt is secure. "I guess I was wrong."
"Oh yeah?" The tall oaf counters, bursting for a challenge at this point.
"Riley," Jongdae tries again when Chanyeol sits up straighter, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. "Don't-"
I curl my lips up into a shameless, cheshire cat grin. "Betcha."
My back thuds against the seat when he accelerates. Chanyeol weaves in and out between other vehicles on the road like no one's business. Thankfully the traffic is light tonight and we are taking a lot of unpopular backroads. Heaven knows what would happen if he did this in the heart of Seoul.
Jongdae holds onto the passenger car door and the back of Chanyeol's seat for dear life, the reflection of him in the mirror looking a little green against the bright city lights. By the time Chanyeol slows to a stop, he's leaning his arm across the dashboard, tucking his head between his knees.
"Never," He croaks out, gasping for air. "Again."
Chanyeol's triumphant smirk has me holding back a giggle. I direct my eyes out the window to avoid Jongdae's disgruntled glare.
"Ha! You call that fast?" I grin, hopping out of the car on wobbly legs. "My Grandma can drive better than that."
"Riley," Jongdae pipes up weakly, holding his stomach while Chanyeol's nostrils flare, big brown eyes ablazed. "Don't encourage him, he isn't your ride home."
I begin to rebuke, but pause, noticing an odd building in the distance. "What the…" It's a giant white structure with a curved entrance, another one of those intricate places that the Hannam-dong architects must have loved to build here. "What kind of building is that?"
"Keep walking," Chanyeol nods, gesturing to the long walkway between the tall walls. "You'll see."
Butterflies erupt in my stomach, making me nervous for a moment, but the good gut feeling I get from looking between both their expressive eyes encourages me to move forward. "Thanks for the ride, Yeol," I say softly, patting his jeep before taking a few steps back. Smirking mischievously over at Jongdae. "Sorry for making you lose your lunch, Dae."
He waves me off with a fake annoyed expression, not able to hide the curl of his little smile.
I spin around on my heels, walking through the entrance between the two curved walls. The clicks of my heels on the pavement is the only sound I hear. Following the uneven path, I crinkle my nose, wondering what the hell Baekhyun is up to this time. Got me out here walking down curved pathways in the dark.
Well, apparently the building curls all the way around to a see-through door in the middle, but that isn't what makes me stop in my tracks. It's that flash of familiar silver hair.
Baekhyun leans against the wall with his silver hair parted in the middle, twinkling under the bright lights. Wearing a white blazer, a white t-shirt and silver leather pants. The metal of his belt catches the light along with the rings on his fingers and accessory necklaces adorning his neck.
I snap my jaw shut, making my way over to him. "Baekhyun…"
He smiles warmly, little strands of hair dangling in his eyes in the most handsome way. "Hey."
"Hi," I whisper. "You look…" Eyeing him from head to toe—to those damn sexy heeled boots, I'm at a loss for words. "Wow."
Baekhyun chuckles, moving off of the wall to walk closer to me, taking me by the hand. "You look beautiful as well," He murmurs, kissing every knuckle on the back of my hand.
I feel my face heat up all the way up to my ears. I've only been out here with him for 5 minutes and I'm already about to faint from the softness blooming in my frantic heart. "What are we doing tonight?" I ask softly, not sure if I want to keep gazing into his sparkly brown eyes or look away from the butterfly-inducing adoration written all over his face.
"It's a surprise," Baekhyun supplies, chuckling at the impatient expression on my face. He brings my hand to his cheek, staring deeply into my eyes. "Walk with me?"
My heart goes into overdrive. With that look on your face? I couldn't deny you if I tried.
I nod and let him take the lead, resting my head on his shoulder. There's something about being with him at night like this. Something unexplainable and magical in the air. The soft fabric of his blazer brushing against my cheek and the light July wind blowing through his hair. He's so warm and smells so good I have to bite my tongue not to drag him back to my apartment just to curl up next to him on the couch.
Something tells me that tonight will be a special one, but really, if it's with Baekhyun, anywhere and everywhere, I'll love it either way.
I notice something out of the corner of my eye when we step out onto a sidewalk, briefly lifting my head from Baekhyun's shoulder. "Dokseodang Children's Park?" I mumble curiously.
Baekhyun hums. "This is my favorite place." His eyes sweep over the slightly aged equipment, resting a hand on my back.
Humming myself, I start to reply only for my eyes to dart over at the dirt road ahead.
Baekhyun immediately takes notice, coming to a stop at the edge of the sidewalk. "What is it, hmm?"
I look up at the annoyingly buzzing light pole. "That flickering light-"
Baekhyun snaps his fingers, and the whole world goes black for a moment, then a dozen lights twinkle in the darkness. Fireflies lighting up the night under the shine of the full moon.
"Come on." His honey-smooth voice rings, softly squeezing my hand before leading the way. I rest my other hand on his arm and watch my every step, realizing we are climbing a hill with the deep slope brushing against the front of my heels. Grass crunches under our footsteps, crickets sing their late night songs of cheer, and then I see a peek of something bright as we near the top of the hill. I gasp, nearly tripping in my haste to get a closer look, my heartbeat skyrocketing when we reach the edge of the steep hill.
A stunning table seated for two sits in the middle of the plateau, with a cooler holding an unopened bottle of champagne. Dome-covered plates are set on the white table cloth and a few candles are lit on the table. Vanilla fragrance flutters in the gentle wind as I take in the dozens of lanterns hung up in the tree above. Brightening up the area surrounded by miles upon miles of other rolling hills without outshining the moon. I even spot the UN Village sign at the other side of the park; you can see everything from up here.
"Baekhyun…"
He smiles so brightly when I look at him. "Yes, my love?"
You mesmerizing little hopeless romantic. I can only press a kiss to his soft cheek, hugging him.
"Do you like it?"
"Yes," I mumble into the safety of his shoulder.
He rests his head on mine, hugging me to his chest. "Then why are you hiding, hmm?"
"I love it so much," I mutter, fully content to stay here for a few more minutes. "It's so pretty I have tears in my eyes. I can't believe you."
Baekhyun chuckles, rubbing my back so soothingly it takes all my strength to not melt further against him. The heavenly scent of vanilla once again meets my nose; we have a date waiting for us.
Slowly pulling away, I look into his sparkly brown eyes, smiling shyly before making my way over to the table. He's a step ahead of me in an instant, pulling out a chair for me while I giggle, hiding my adoring smile and red face behind my hand. God, my heart is racing so hard I swear it's threatening to jump out and run to him.
I give him a grateful smile, my skin buzzing under the familiarity of his gentle touch when he pushes me in, his citrus and cinnamon scent perfectly blending with the vanilla while he walks to take his own seat across from me.
Baekhyun sighs softly, tilting his head with a nearly playful smile. "Ready?"
Grinning a little, I tilt my head to the opposite side, relishing in the twinkles of amusement sparkling in his eyes. "Ready as I'll ever be."
He chuckles. "On three?"
I nod, gripping the handle on the top of the dome cover with another smile.
"One," He leans closer to his dome, mischief swirling in his brown eyes. "Two."
More than amused, I play along, butterflies fluttering in my stomach under his beaming smile.
"Three!"
I lift up the dome, setting it aside while taking in the food neatly arranged on the plate. It's a Korean cuisine that I haven't seen before, full of delectable vegetables and tender meat. Watching Baekhyun take his first bite has my mouth watering for two reasons. I carefully cut a slice of beef, closing my eyes when it melts on my tongue. Holy shit, who is the chef behind this? That person needs a raise.
"Kyungsoo made it," Baekhyun smiles, chuckling when I hum at my next bite. "I have to help him out next week though," He frowns, nearly pouting. "He doesn't like doing things last minute."
Recalling the whole ordeal for Jenny's birthday, I can't help but laugh. "I know," I smile, resting my chin in my palm.
Baekhyun smiles, his nose scrunching adorable while cutting another piece of meat.
Conversation flows naturally between us, as always. Baekhyun is just like that, an easy person to talk to, but it's much different than before. He hums a lot, resting his chin on his palm while gazing at me with adoring and attentive eyes, the tiniest of loving smiles on his face. If I wasn't wearing this expensive white dress, I'd lean over the table and kiss the hell out of him.
However, the mood changes slightly when we are nearly done. He keeps tapping his fingers on the table and his foot against the leg of his chair, clearing his throat with a worried expression on his face.
"Bae?" I call softly, tilting my head at his lack of response. Tired of the constant clink of his leather boot against the wooden chair, I nudge my foot against his. "Are you alright?"
He blinks, sitting up straight at once. "Yes, love." He clears his throat again, smiling shyly. "Wanna dance with me?"
"Dance?" I look around at the grassy nature and chirping wildlife, meeting his eyes again. "There isn't any music here, B."
He shakes his head, standing up. "Yes there is."
"I-" I go quiet when he takes my hand, resting it over his beating heart. Looking up into his imploring brown eyes, I start to understand. I nod, slowly standing up as well, following him over to the empty side of the hill.
Baekhyun lifts up our joined hands, interlocking our fingers together and resting his other one on the small of my back. I rest my free hand on his shoulder, gazing deeply into his brown pools of warmth. He makes the first move, slowly stepping forward while I take a step back. The crickets chirp louder with every movement we make, growing more confident by the minute.
Melting at the way his heart beats against mine, I look up at the stars, millions and billions of twinkling lights filling up the night sky. Meeting Baekhyun's gaze again, however, reminds me that not all the stars and planets combined can outshine the sparkling light in his warm brown eyes. He smiles softly as if hearing my thoughts, squeezing my hand before spinning me around, welcoming me right back into his loving arms.
I could spend forever like this, staring into his eyes and listening to his beating heart. Just the two of us while the rest of the world fades away, nothing but background noise to our undying love.
"Look," Baekhyun perks up, looking up at the stars. My eyes flicker up, widening at the shooting star streaking across the night sky. "Make a wish," He murmurs warmly, taking a step back.
Feeling a sense of hope and childlike urgency, I whip around to face the star head on. What should I wish for? The star is reaching the edge of the sky! Sensing Baekhyun's comforting figure behind me, I have all the answers I need.
I wish… Closing my eyes, I clasp my hands together, finding strength in the soft summer breeze. For a love like this, for all of eternity. The last few streaks of the star fade away when I open my eyes, smiling softly until I remember where I am and a certain someone who is with me. Where is Baekhyun? Stiffening up, I quickly spin around in alarm, slapping my hands over my mouth at the sight.
Baekhyun: on one knee, holding up a small jewelry box with shaky hands and vulnerable. "Why do you look so scared?" He breaks the ice, chuckling nervously.
"I thought you left," I blurt, snapping my mouth shut.
He laughs fully this time. "No." He shakes his head, smiling up at me with the sweetest of smiles. "I'm right here."
I take a deep breath, nodding slowly.
"I love you," He declares warmly, keeping his eyes steady on mine. "I love the way my name falls from your lips, the soft swell of your hips, the love in your fingertips." He smiles. "How your doe eyes go wide when you're surprised. The way you curl up next to me in your sleep when I'm working at night." A little grin forms on his face. "The shy expression you get when you ask if I want the rest of your food and that little song you always sing nonstop around the house when you're happy."
I cover my face in embarrassment, peeking at him from between my fingers.
Baekhyun chuckles, continuing, "I love the little notes you leave when you make me lunch. The way you squeak when I kiss right here." He taps the back of his right ear. "Your beautiful mind and all the mischief that comes with it..." He laughs a little. "The way you nag me when I don't dry my hair and yet always end up doing it for me anyway."
"Your sarcasm and loving touch," He murmurs, sparkles dancing bright in his eyes. "The dimples you try to hide when you smile." He cracks another grin. "Your quirky mismatched socks and way of talking." He laughs warmly when I groan, rethinking all my life choices. "How red your face gets when I compliment you." He hums. "Your loud, high pitched, raspy laugh that I know you hate but I simply adore."
"Oh my god," I cover my eyes, knowing how right he is and how hot my face feels right now.
"How sexy your accent is and how sassy you get when you're angry," He murmurs humorously, giving me a knowing look. "That high horse you climb on when you don't want to admit you are wrong that leaves me frustrated and amused at the same time." He chuckles, sighing softly, his voice taking on a gentler tone. "The look on your face when you cry that makes me want to hold you and hide you away from the world."
My heart squeezes as tears spring to my eyes. I sniffle softly, fanning my face while meeting his loving eyes.
"I love everything about you." He takes a shaky breath. "Not a day goes by where I'm not grateful for you coming into my life."
He looks down for a moment, blinking rapidly before flicking his hair out of his eyes. "I know I'm not much," He mumbles. "I-I know I've done so much shit in the past that you have every right to walk out on me for. I know that you deserve way better than me." He swallows thickly, lips trembling before he presses them into a thin line. "Even with all of this, I have some promises I want to make."
Baekhyun raises his head, reaching to take my hand in his. "I promise not to run away. I promise to communicate. I promise to stay by your side through every blessing and hardship you go through." My heart pounds at the determination in his words and sincerity in his shimmering eyes. "I may not be the perfect man for you." A hint of remorse sparks briefly in his brown eyes. "But I promise to love you with all that I have—with all that I am," He pauses, holding my hand securely in his. "Until my last dying breath… If I break any of these promises you have permission to kick me where the sun doesn't shine." He mumbles in a jokingly grumpy tone, smiling when I giggle.
"I promise to love you until the end of time." His voice starts to wobble, hands shaking while looking deep into my eyes. "Please," He opens the box, revealing a sparkly, rose gold ring with matching gems lining the sides. "Marry me, and be mine."
"Yes." I choke out, tears streaming down my face when I bend down to cup his tear-streaked cheeks in my hands. "Yes. Yes! A million times yes."
Baekhyun stands up, slipping the ring onto my ring finger with uttermost care. As soon as he's done, he pulls me close, sealing my lips in a searing kiss that I gladly let take my breath away.
Tumblr media
Originally posted by exo-stentialism
"Unzip me?" I ask, peeking up at him from under my eyelashes.
Baekhyun hums and I spin around, chills going down my spine when his hands gently brush my hair out of the way, warm fingertips brushing over my cool skin. The instant relief of being free from the snug material has nothing on his quiet gasp as he slowly drags the zipper down. He steps back while I shrug off the dress, leaving it to pool at my feet before turning to face him.
His hair color looks out worldly under the favor of the moonlight; shining strands of silver and dark grey swaying with the summer breeze. The way the light reflects off his chains casts him in an eternal glow as he looks at me with those warm, brown eyes. The hints of adoration and need in those captivating orbs break me from my trance.
I take more steps until I'm standing in front of him, pushing his blazer off his shoulders and tilting my head to meet his awestruck gaze, my tone soft and warm, "Baekhyun."
He gulps, letting it fall to the floor while I rest my hand on his chest, placing the other on the back of his neck. The fast beating of his heart under my palm makes me smile before my lips press to his, savoring the taste of champagne on his tongue. I tighten my hold on him when he wraps his arms around my waist, backing me up to the bed.
I sit perched on the edge of the mattress, looking up at him when he pulls off his t-shirt, exposing lean muscle and honey-toned skin to my hungry eyes. I can't help rubbing down his chest and gazing at him from head to toe, smiling at the tint of pink to his cheeks. His leather pants join the scattered pile on the floor before he joins me on the bed, his gentle hands pulling off the rest of our clothes.
"You sure are being bashful tonight," I murmur, lightly tangling my fingers in his hair, relishing in how his warm body presses mine to the cool sheets.
Baekhyun smiles, pressing a chaste kiss to my collarbone. "Let's take things slow tonight." He meets my wide eyes with his adoring ones, pulling the covers over our bodies when I give a timid nod.
•⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •⇔♦ •
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3  P(1) P(2) | Part 4 P(1) P(2) | Part 5 P(1)  P(2) | Part 6 P(1)  P(2) —– P(3)  P(4) —– P(5)  P(6) | ♬♩♪♩ FINALE P(1)  P(2)✓
youtube
Cry with me
A/N: 
HA! Y'all thought I was going to break these two up forever. I still had the Un Village scene left!!! >:'D A lot has happened in this long asf Finale and you know, on one hand (me being me) I'm never satisfied with it, HOWEVER those last two scenes? Yeah, that's the best for me. :')
Okay I NEED TO RANT for 2 minutes. *inhale*
I have never, ever EVER had such a hard time writing a character. My perfectionism really popped out in Jackson's scenes, I swear. I tried writing about this man and it just didn't feel right because I don't know him as well. I legit spent almost a week watching Youtube videos, GOT7 music videos, JACKSON SOLO VIDEOS and fell down a rabbit hole of smut (typical smfh) just to figure out how to present him properly! I know writing is all about how you present your character and how you can make them different than the person you base them off of but holy f*ck I wanted him accurate and that accuracy kicked me in my nonexistent balls… so that up there was the final result *deep exhale*
After all of this I can safely say that Jackson is one of my favorite soloists and member of GOT7 bye-
-THE ACTUAL END NOTE WITHOUT THE RAMBLING-
We've finally made it, loves. Six Phases is completed. It's been 2 long years of writing this story. 2 years full of laughter, smiles, dance breaks, hardships and tears.
I'm writing this end note before I even finish the story that you've read above. I'm writing this little note while on hiatus. I'm writing this while in the process of working on this story so I can heal - because that is the very reason this story was created. For healing. For growth.
The Baekhyun character you all know, see, hate and love? His expressions of love are heavily influenced by IRL Jenny; my girlfriend; my heart. My coauthor; my other half.
Without her, I wouldn't know genuine happiness, vulnerability, or to know that someone can love you unconditionally. Flaws and all. Without her, I would have stopped at chapter 4 and disappeared from the writing world forever. She taught me that it is okay to be open, my loud annoying rambling self and that I deserve to follow my dreams. She has stopped me from deleting this story a hundred times. She is the reason why I opened my heart time and time again to truly let these characters' voices be heard. Their flaws and all.
Every character is a part of me, but Baekhyun and Jenny are inspired by her. I can't express how grateful I am to her without crying on you; I've cried enough happy tears while finishing this lmao SO just know that she has helped me a lot with completing this story, and for what I will write in the future.
Before I end this note that has gone on for too long already, I want to express my gratitude and love to everyone who has helped me continue and finish this story. Please don't feel bad if I don't mention you directly, I have warmth in my heart for everyone who has read Six Phases. You being here means the world to me.
Loving Mentions
Miss Kay - you seriously don't know how much you have restored my love for this story. I'll never forget the first time you reblogged SP on tumblr and your comment still brings tears to my eyes. I always thought this story was garbage and seeing how much you enjoyed reading it encouraged me to pick up where I left off. Thank you for everything <3 I can't thank you enough.
Miss Jamie - I always love reading your comments and the theories you had with each new chapter of the story. I'll never forget that Minute Man joke, I swear. I'm still laughing over it. Not to be giddy but I always look forward to your comments ^^ Thank you for always sharing your thoughts about the story with me <3
Sherlock Holmes Anon - dear, you and your THEORIES!!! I adore them all. I love all the knowledge you've brought to the table about the meaning of the colors in this story and its universe. You are amazing and everything you are studying is paying off!!! Wishing you all the best in your studies ^^ show those exams who's boss, they got nothing on you and your lovely brain <333333
My aff loves
Beau1996, alexajjang, byundipyun,
queeniexoxo, byunsugar, Taqdees,
juntar, Vish15, baeknhyu,
Baekie_18, Endzii22, ohyeahbb, Shawolgurl, bbhmystar.
- thank you for all of your lovely comments. Your words made me the happiest in the world. Every time I used to get those instant aff notifs on my phone, I'd run across my house to read them, ahhh~~~ I always love hearing from you <33333
My tumblr lovelies - thank you sooo much for all the love and interactions you've given to my story T-T I'm not tearing up, it's the cake batter in my eyes. You guys are amazing.
My beloved anon readers, tumblr and aff commenters - I'm sending you so many freaking hugs and tissues for the angst you've been exposed to XD hearing the hot tea and ideas you had for this story was such a joy. Thank you <3
I've spent hours a day replying back to you all, no joke. Every comment is precious to me and I always want to give back what you all have given me <333 I hope this story's ending was a happy one for you, I've had it planned since fall 2020 and I'm so happy to finally be able to share it with all of you.
Thank you, for interacting, commenting, subscribing, and upvoting. I appreciate all the love you've given this baby (haha) fic of mine more than you can ever imagine. This story is dedicated to all of you <3
-and oh, don't worry. This isn't the end of Baekhyun & Riley's story, this is only the beginning. <3
Thank you, can't wait to see you soon 0:) <3
~Love a million times over, Nisa
youtube
75 notes · View notes
shyvioletcat · 3 years
Note
“I moved in next door a few months ago and had no idea how enthusiastic you are about Christmas, but I mentioned I hadn’t decorated, so now you’re knocking on my door with a box full of decorations and are begging me to let you decorate” — this one seems fitting for rowaelin too! I can see Aelin being the super excited one who wants to help her cute neighbor decorate heh
Tumblr media
Day One of the Rowaelin Holiday Celebration. Just some neighbourly fluff to get us started.
~~~~~
It had been just before Halloween when Rowan moved into his new place. It was half of a neat little duplex, small garden and a stone path that led up to his front porch. He knew he had a neighbour but he hadn’t seen her until a few days before Halloween when she had been carting boxes and boxes of stuff out of her house onto her own front porch. Her long golden hair was braided back, grey puffy coat over her body, and she had given him a smile as he trudged up the stairs and it had stopped him in his tracks.
“Do you decorate?” She asked.
“I—what?” Rowan stammered, noting the colour of her eyes. A bright turquoise, all the brighter for the rosiness in her cheeks from the cold.
“For Halloween, do you decorate?” She asked again, leaning over her railing so she could see him better.
Rowan took a step down so he could do the same. “No, not really.”
“I like to go all out,” she told him. “I’m Aelin, by the way.”
“Rowan,” he replied simply.
“Nice to meet you, Rowan,” Aelin said. “Do you want some of mine, I have a lot. I don’t usually get them all out every year.” 
“No thanks,” Rowa said.
“Not one for Halloween?” Aelin inquired. 
Rowan shook his head. “Or Yulemas either.”
Aelin gasped and looked as though he had personally offended him. “Excuse me?”
This time Rowan shrugged. “Don’t have anyone to celebrate with.”
She grinned at him. “Well, I guess we’ll have to see what we can do about that.” She pushed off her railing and disappeared but called out, “I’ll make sure to keep my decorations to my side.”
Aelin had kept her word, not one strand of fake spider web had trespassed on his side of the building, the border between the properties meticulously outlined. It had made Rowan laugh. The next time he had seen her was as she handed out candy to kids, dressed like a faerie princess from a fairytale, green flowing dress and a flower crown in her hair. She had noticed him staring and lobbed a chocolate at him as Rowan walked up his path and he’d caught it. And just like that she had captured his heart. Sure she was annoying, obnoxious and a bit of a brat sometimes but there was something about Aelin Galathynius that he couldn’t resist.
Now it was the beginning of December, the air was already bitingly cold and Rowan was in his living room thinking of the smoothest way to ask out his neighbour when there was a knock on his door. Startled from his train of thought it took a moment for Rowan to respond and the knock sounded again.
He called out as he got up. “Coming!”
He opened the door and the sight in front of him was not something he had expected to see. It was Aelin, undeniably despite how little of her face was showing, but those were her brilliant eyes peeking above her scarf and under her beanie. Two boxes were by her feet and she held another one in her arms.
“Hey,” she said, her voice muffled.
“Hey,” Rowan replied lamely.
Then Aelin said something he couldn’t catch through the fabric of her scarf.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Rowan said and reached out and pulled her scarf down a little.
Aelin’s mouth was revealed and she smiled at him. “Thanks. I was saying that I know you don’t decorate but yours is like the only house on the street with nothing on it and it looks so miserable and it’s making my place look bad too. So please, please let me decorate.”
Rowan blinked once. “You want to decorate my house.”
“Yes.” There was a long pause before she added, “Please.”
“You really want to?”
“I would love to,” Aelin assured him. “But you’ll have to help me.”
Rowan did, although he made a show of how reluctant he was to actually do so. Aelin had only laughed at him and continued ordering him around. He hung lights, held ladders and did just about anything else she had asked him to. It took them about two hours to get the outside up to Aelin’s standards. She insisted there were a few things missing, but to fix that she would need to go to the store. Rowan noticed that there was still one box left on the porch.
“What is that one for?” Rowan asked, blowing into his hands to warm them up.
“Decorations for inside of course,” she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 
“Inside?” 
Aelin didn’t say anything before she ran up the steps, picking up the box on the way and went straight into his home––not waiting for any kind of invitation. If it had been anyone else Rowan would have been pissed beyond belief, but instead he just shook his and followed her in. He found Aelin in the living room, hands on her hips surveying the space. She looked severely disappointed. 
“You don’t have a tree, are you planning on getting a tree?” Aelin asked tertly.
Rowan slipped his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “No.”
Now it was Aelin’s turn to shake her head and then she was moving past him, muttering something under her breath. He managed to catch the words Scrooge, despicable, embarrassment and then she was gone. Curious Rowan went to inspect the box she had left behind. It contained various decorations and tinsel and just about every other kind of Yulemas decoration known to man. Rowan went to his kitchen to brew some tea to warm himself up when he heard movement outside, there was the sound of something being dragged up his steps and then a furious banging on his door. The person seemed to think better of it and opened the door themselves, and Rowan went to his entry way to see Aelin dragging in a long rectangular box.
“You are so lucky,” she panted, “that I decided to get a real tree this year.”
“You brought me a tree?” Rowan asked. 
“It is indeed what it looks like,” Aelin said, dragging her prize towards the living room. 
Rowan just stared. He still couldn’t believe what was happening.
“Well, come help.”
Her demand snapped him out of his shock and Rowan took over the job of hauling the box into the living room. Aelin didn’t waste any time getting the tree set up, passing pieces to Rowan so he could assemble it. 
“Okay, move it over there,” Aelin said, pointing to the window. 
“What’s wrong with it here?” Rowan asked. He’d put in the corner near the couch.
“Rowan,” Aelin said, her voice exasperated. “I thought we agreed that you would do whatever I saw.”
“I don’t remember agreeing to that,” Rowan replied. 
“It was very heavily implied,” she said as she inspected the space by the window. “Now, right here. This way it will light up your window beautifully. The final piece in the puzzle.”
There was no point in protesting, he knew he wouldn’t win this fight, so Rowan shifted the tree to where Aelin said. While she instructed him how to decorate the tree —lights, tinsel, and then ornaments— she asked his questions, about work, his family, did he like living in Orynth. They eventually got onto mundane things and ended up laughing and joking with each other as they decorated the tree. Rowan found himself being scolded quite often about putting a decoration in the wrong spot, he said it didn’t matter, Aelin said it most definitely did. 
When it was all done she excitedly turned the ceiling light off and the lights on the tree on. It really was beautiful, but not as beautiful as the smile on her face as she admired her work. Rowan was now very officially gone for his neighbour.
“I should go.” Aelin was moving toward the couch to pick up her coat. “Thank you for letting me intrude like this. It was fun.”
“Yeah, it was,” Rowan admitted truthfully.
Aelin came and stood in front of him, a sly smile on her face. “Are you standing there on purpose?”
“Huh?” His face was the perfect picture of confusion. Then he looked up.
He was standing right under a sprig of mistletoe Aelin must have hung at some point.
“I-uh, I didn’t see it… no,” Rowan stammered.
Aelin just rose up onto her tiptoes, Rowan frozen in place as he kissed his cheek, “Happy Yulemas, Rowan.”
She left him standing there, stunned and skin tingling from the brush of her lips. Then she was gone through his front door. He let her go, but he didn’t waste any time the next day when he knocked on her door asking her out on a date. She said yes.
~~~~~
Tags: @fucking-winchester-trash // @literary-licorice // @galyxsy // @tangledraysofsunshine // @highqueenofelfhame // @3am-reading // @soup-that-is-too-hawt // @aelinfire-bringer // @nalgenewhore // @highladyofthesith // @http-itsrebecca // @sleep-and-books // @alifletcher2012 // @westofmoon // @sleeping-and-books // @ttakeitbacknoww // @armixers-unite // @mariamuses // @chocolate-eating-bitch-queen // @velarian-trash // @queenofxhearts // @heroesofterrasen // @highladyofstoriesandmusic // @empire-of-wildfire // @camerooonchiu // @crackedship // @lowhangingtreebranches // @over300books // @yourwhisperingshadows // @thesirenwashere // @tswaney17 // @impossiblescissorspeachpaper // @cat5313 // @judelovescardan // @flowerspringsea // @chaoticskyy // @the-regal-warrior // @fanfictrash3000 // @blueeyes425 // @starseternalnighttriumphant // @bamchickawowow // @thehuntressofmoon // @giorgia-the-trashpanda // @flora-and-fae // @thereaderandfangirl // @illyrian-bookworm // @chemicha // @meltalgel-ig // @gay-book-nerd // @that-odd-puzzle-piece // @i-love-all-books // @in-love-with-caramel-macchiato // @girl-who-reads-the-books // @hizqueen4life // @the-third-me // @queen-of-glass // @bestmelle // @cursebreaker29 // @b00kworm // @superspiritfestival // @aesthetics-11 // @maastrash // @mynewdreamwasyou // @the-last-apprentice // @charincharge // @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln // @scarznstars // @absolute-dissapointment // @thesurielships // @df3ndyr // @trinitybailey2003 // @ladywitchling // @booknerdproblems // @rowaelin-cressworth // @sevenfreckles-for-sevenloves // @rolltide7 // @scandinavianromantic // @tillyrubes10 // @starwarsslytherin // @minaidss // @paytin77 // @jesstargaryenqueen // @anntheintrovert // @starborn-faerie-queen // @loudphantomdragon // @woollycat22 // @claralady // @perseusannabeth // @fangirlprincess09 // @maddymelv // @sierrareads // @more-espresso-less-depresso-xx // @littleboxofthunder // @empress-ofbloodshed // @booksbqueen // @rowanwhitethornisbae // @aelin-queen-of-terrasen // @alyx801 // @amandaswallowtail // @louiseleblancdiggory // @abookishfreak // @danibutterr // 
213 notes · View notes
bluebellwriting · 4 years
Text
Love Me Tender Part 3
(Note: I know Molly hasn’t been confirmed as a demon nor is she in Hell, but for the sake of the story, I’m saying that she is a demon and she is in Hell. There’s not a lot of information on the spider fam so I’m going to be taking some liberties here)
Sunday dinners at your dad’s home have always a tradition, even when you all were alive. It wasn’t religious, Lord knows if it had been you probably wouldn’t have ended up here. But when your family spends every day of their lives and afterlives meeting with mob bosses, disposing of bodies, and doing drugs, it was nice to have a reason to come together and remind each other that you were all still here. It was because of those dinners and the evenings spent cooking with your Nonna that your love of cooking came to fruition.
Oh, your Nonna. You’ve tried looking for her down here, even though you know that there was no way she was deserving of a place like this. She was a saint, the mother you deserved instead of the mother you actually had. Your mother was cold, lazy, vain, couldn’t care for her children to save her life, judgmental -- she always insisted you try whatever insane weight loss trend was popular. Nonna was kind, understanding, taught you to be tough but also how to take care of those you loved, and never tried to pit you and your sister against each other. She’s honestly the only reason yours and Molly’s relationship survived.
But when she died, you took over as the family’s cook as the only person who could actually make something without burning it. Until you yourself died at the ripe age of 23, long before the rest of your family. Your family doesn’t talk about it much, but you can just imagine what the first dinner without you was like. How sad and empty, how burnt the food must have been if there even was any.
But you’re together again and your dinners were able to survive your family’s plunge into the afterlife. Apparently, so did your family home.
As soon as you entered the threshold of the home, you and Angel were smushed into a hug by Molly.
“My darlings!” She cries. Angel and you snuggle into the warm arms of your sister and wrap your arms around her.
“How are ya, Mol?” Angel asks.
“Oh, ya know, same old, same old.”
“Are those creeps giving you trouble at the store?” You take a step back and eye your sister up and down, looking for any physical manifestation that those creepy men crushing on your sister are up to no good.
“Not since you had a little chat with them, (N/N),” she teases.
Molly’s eyes brighten at the sight of your outfit.
“Ooh! You’re wearing the new skirt and blouse! It’s so pretty on you, (Y/N)! And I know I always say this but you have a great rack girl, ya gotta show it off like this more.”
You blush brightly and cross your arms over your torso.
“Gee thanks, Molly,” you mumble.
“I don’t know how you haven’t found a man yet with that bod!” She squeals and pinches your cheeks.
“Well, since ya mentioned it...” Angel smirks.
“Nope!” You shout and storm further into the house to avoid your baby siblings.
Molly looks back at Angel with an arched brow, the question looming in the air.
You make it to the kitchen, where your father and brother are heating up the food you left here last week. You turn your nose up.
“You know, I could have made something fresh. This is all a week old! And here I thought you were going to cook for once.”
“Very funny, (Y/N),” Niss grumbles, stirring the pasta sauce you had brought over last time.
“How are ya, sweetheart?” Henroin gives you a warm hug, one that is snug and warm and reserved for his unofficially favorite child.
“I’m good, dad. Doing just fine.”
“They’re running you ragged at that hotel.”
“Which means I’m left to pick up the slack,” Niss growls. You pull away from the hug and pull your brother into a forceful hug, just to make him uncomfortable. You were the same height as Niss and a year younger, and as grumpy and infuriating he can be, you always felt the closest to him. You’d like to think he felt the same, considering he scolds you the least. Or maybe that’s just because you’re way stronger than him and you have wrestled him to the ground.
“I know, but I’m doing this for Angel--”
“Anthony,” Niss hisses.
“If he tells me he wants to go by Angel, then I’m calling him Angel.” You narrow your eyes, your irises flashing a dangerous red and your teeth grow into vicious fangs in an instant. Niss rolls his eyes but backs down, trying to hide the shiver that went up his spine.
“I still don’t see how they’re supposed to help him.”
“Neither do I but I genuinely believe that that hotel is his only chance.”
“But why do you have to be there, too?” Your father asks.
“Because I’m the only one who knows how to handle him,” you beam.
“And because she’s dating the Radio Demon,” Molly squeals as she bursts in the kitchen, followed closely by a smirking Angel.
“What?!” Your brother and dad yell.
“I am not dating the Radio Demon, right, Angel?” You stalk over to him and stomp on his foot.
“Ah! Fine, fine. But she’s got him wrapped around her little finger, don’t ya, sis?”
“What the hell does that mean, (Y/N)?” Niss growls. Your father just stares at you, his eyes empty of all emotion but his shoulders are tensed.
“It means nothing. We work together and. That’s. It.” Everyone in the kitchen is staring at you. Angel is smirking, Molly is biting her lip as she holds in a squeal, Niss looks as though he’s about to punch a wall, and your dad is still staring at you. Their eyes are like deadly sunbeams and your body is a wilting flower. You wrap your arms around yourself, wishing the ground would just swallow you up and transport you to Second Hell, or whatever lies beyond this reality. A part of you finds yourself longing for arms to hold you, to wrap around you and shield you. Longing for grey arms in a red suit to protect you.
Oh jeez, maybe you do love him.
“The sauce is burning,” you break the silence and move towards the stove. “Is the pasta ready?”
“Yeah,” Henroin says and brings a bowl of noodles to the already set table. You turn the stove off and slip on two oven mitts to bring over the pot of sauce.
“Sit down,” you command. Your siblings scurry to their seats as your dad and you arrange everything on the table.
Once you’ve all sat and filled your plates (and taken away Angel’s phone), you turn to your dad.
“So what was the big announcement?” You ask.
Henroin swallows, “Not so much of an announcement, more of a request of you and Anth-- Angel. I know this hotel has been good for you,” he says to your brother. “And it sounds like it’s been... good for you too, (Y/N). But I need you to start pulling your weight around here, especially you, (Y/N).”
“Why me?” (Y/N) you ask, sending your father an incredulous look. “I thought I told you I wanted out of all of that nasty business.”
“Because some of our partners respond better to you. You have a way with people, in the way that is below my stature and beyond anything your brother can do.”
“Dad!” Niss yells, offended.
“Shut up. Now listen, (Y/N), you can still stay at the hotel, do whatever the hell it is you do there,” he gives you a pointed look, hinting that he hasn’t forgotten the Radio Demon business.
“But when I need you to attend a meeting or negotiation,” he continues. “I expect you to be there. You owe your family that.”
You look down at your barely-picked-at-plate, having suddenly lost your appetite.
“I’m guessing you have a meeting soon that you think I’d be well-suited for,” you mumble.
“There’s an Overlord we need to do some business with and I finally convinced her to have an audience. But word on the street is that she responds better to friends or women. And since we’re not friends and I’m definitely not sending Molly--”
“Daddy, you wound me!”
“--That leaves you, kid. We’re counting on you.”
You nod your head. The conversation continues, your siblings argue, Henroin gives you details for the meeting but you let it all wash over you like a wave. You actually thought you could finally start living for yourself for once, that you could stop taking care of others. You were wrong.
---
The city is alive with the sound of laughing and screaming, but all you can think about is the meeting tomorrow with Rosie, an Overlord and the owner of Rosie’s Emporium. Your eyes are heavy from the chaotic dinner, the three times you had to keep Niss from launching himself across the table at Angel, Molly talking your ear off about some cute man who would be perfect for you, and the new weight that has been added to your shoulders. It takes everything in you not to crash the car on your way home.
When you arrive back at the hotel it’s late at night and somehow Angel has boundless energy. He prances to the door, calling out about some party he’s been invited to by Cherri.
“Angel, it’s a Sunday night,” You scold.
“And? My work doesn’t exactly require me to be up and at em at 8, doll.” He bursts through the doors and immediately goes over to Husk and the bar, probably to pregame. You shuffle your way inside after him, rubbing your temples in an effort to tame the ache developing in your head.
“Oh, darling,” Alastor sings. He dances into the lobby from the kitchen, smile as wide as ever, holding two steaming mugs. Except instead of one of his pristine suits, he is dressed in slacks, suspenders, a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a red apron. He looks completely and utterly adorable, and you’re just loving the view of his lithe forearms.
As soon as he heard Angel’s voice bothering Husk, Alastor came running to the lobby with the hot chocolate he had spent hours perfecting. His first batch was too bitter, the second far too sweet for anyone’s liking, and the third was accidentally consumed by Charlie (who is now hiding somewhere in the hotel to avoid his wrath). Plus, he had to endure Charlie’s relentless teasing. But he was certain this would be the perfect cup of liquid goodness to impress his sweetest darling. And judging by your tense shoulders and the stress in the lines of your face, you would definitely be needing something to lift your spirits.
“Goodness, did the dinner not go well?”
You released a deep, exhausted sigh, and lifted your head slowly to meet his eyes. For a moment, Alastor wonders if this might have been the wrong move. You were clearly worn out. You probably just wanted to shut yourself in your room and go to bed and not have anything to do with him and his boyish attempts to woo you. Hot chocolate, really? What was he thinking? Someone like you deserved something lavish, and you would probably scoff at something so simple as a hot drink.
His shoulders deflate at your lack of smile.
“It went about the same as it always did,” you sigh. “Siblings fighting, me saving dinner, my sister trying to set me up with some man.”
Alastor has to restrain the growl bubbling up in his chest.
Your eyes fall to the two mugs in his hands. You sniff the air and smile at the rich scent.
“Is that hot chocolate?”
“Oh... yes, it is.”
“Mm, is there any left?”
“Well of course! I made this cup especially for you, dearest!” He practically shoves the mug into your hands.
You quickly lift the mug to your lips and hope to all that is good and holy that he chalks your blushing cheeks to the heat of the drink.
“Oh, Alastor, this is wonderful. Thank you. I really needed this after the night I had.” You smile up at him, the lines in your face easing immediately. It’s enough to make the Radio Demon’s knees quake.
“You are absolutely welcome...” He pauses. The original plan was to woo you with the drink, whisk you off to a remote corner of the hotel, and attempt to confess his undying love to you. But the yawn you try to stifle almost causes him to deflate. Almost.
“Would like to talk about it, love? I’m all ears! U-Unless you’re too tired. You absolutely do not have to--”
Love. Love. You grip the mug tighter.
“Actually, Alastor, that would be lovely. If you don’t mind.”
Alastor grins.
“Not at all.”
He places a hand on the small of your back and transports you both to the library. He snaps his fingers and a fire lights up the room for you both. You flop onto the couch and Alastor takes a seat beside you, making a point to sidle up to you as you proceed to detail everything about your day.
At first you were rather restrained, convinced that the last thing this important, powerful, strong, kind, considerate, lovely man wanted was to listen to your problems. But as he asked more and more questions, he opened you up like an oyster, waiting patiently for the pearl inside.
“So now I’m meeting with this Rosie tomorrow. Something about transporting her goods across territories.”
“Rosie, you say?”
“Yes. Oh, do you know her?”
“Why yes! She’s an old and dear friend. But, um, quite ruthless towards strangers. You said you’re going alone?”
“Right.”
“Is that... normal? I mean, for you to go alone to meet such dangerous individuals.”
“Oh, yes. I’ve been doing so since I was 18 and alive.”
Alastor chokes on his drink.
“That young?”
“I grew up in the mafia, Al.” You send him a coy smile. “I’m not as defenseless as I look.”
“Oh, I never doubted that, dearest, but... to not have anyone there for support...”
“When you grow up the way I did, you learn not to trust anyone. Not fully at least, and definitely not until you know them well enough.”
“Is that right... Do... Do you trust me, then? Or have I not earned that honor?” Alastor smiles at you but within he is a mess. This is it. The moment you tell him that he’s far too dangerous, too vicious, too disgusting for you to ever let into your life in the way he craves.
“You’re on your way.” You smirk at him and the light floods back into his body. That’s a start.
“So, would you allow me to accompany you tomorrow then?”
“Oh, no, Alastor I could never impose on you like that--” He’s just being polite, you tell yourself. He doesn’t actually want to spend time with you outside of the hotel, isn’t actually concerned with whether you die at the hands of this Rosie.
“Nonsense, my darling.” He leans down, smelling the chocolate on your breath. His nose is so close to yours, your lips just as near to his. He could lean forward just a bit, feign a fall, just for one chance to kiss you like he’s dreamed.
“I would love nothing more than to be your knight in shining armor.”
You smile, “Just to be clear, if you are going to escort me, Alastor. I am no damsel in distress.” You boop his nose and giggle at the hot blush on his cheeks.
“But,” you continue, “I would love nothing more than to have your company tomorrow.”
“Well, then have it you shall, love.”
131 notes · View notes
ddwcaph-game · 3 years
Note
Could you do either "Is that... witten in blood?" or “that- that doll just spoke to me!” with troublemaker mc and best friend wayne?
Omg, I'm so sorry it took me a long time to do the Halloween prompts!
I hope you enjoy it! I had a lot of fun writing this one.
***
…and before we know it, we've arrived at The NeStore.
"You goobers go ahead," Kuya Paddy says as he pays the tricycle driver. "I'll try to be quick."
"Sure," I say. "But don't be surprised if we brought home a surprise."
"Don't worry Kuya," my sister says, giving him a quick half-hug. "I'll try to make sure he doesn't smuggle a chick this time. Even if they're cute."
I cross my arms. "It's not smuggling if the chick wanted to go in my bag willingly."
"Good luck with that," he says as he trots off into the distance.
Well, we're here at Wayne's dad's bird store now. We don't visit here too often, but since Paddy needed to buy some stuff from the talipapa nearby, we thought we'd come along and give my bestfriend a surprise visit tonight.
"Squawk!" a parrot greets us as soon as we hear the door chimes. "Ewwo!"
Usually Wayne would be coming to greet us, but it's almost closing time, so I guess the store's almost empty now. We peek around one of the isles to look for Wayne—and sure enough, something collides onto us from the side.
"OMG, hiii!"
Of course Rosie would be here. I break off from the group hug after a while, but she and my sister cuddle for a little longer.
"Heehee. I didn't know you're gonna be here. Did Tita Julie finally let you two have a pet?"
"Nope," my sister says as they finally mitose. "Kuya just wanted to see his bestie, but I'm happy I came along now."
"So…" I grin, noticing that Tito Nestor doesn't seem to be around. "What're you two lovebirds doing here alone?"
Roselyna gasps. "How did you know?"
"Wait." My sister giggles. "Don't tell me you suddenly have a crush on Wayne now."
"No!" Rosie exclaims as her cheeks turn into the same shade as the flowers on her sleeveless dress. "I mean, we were trying to chase two lovebirds that escaped before Daddy... erm, Tito Nes comes back. Maybe you can help us."
Tumblr media
"Sure. Where's Wayne anyway?"
"Waynie's at the back trying to catch Nugget Jr... He asked me to stay here in case anyone comes into the shop."
I start walking towards the back, but… "Aren't you gonna help me?"
"Oh, I'll just stay here and watch the birdies," my sister says. "I'll probably just scare the bird anyway." Well, so much for keeping an eye out for me.
I shouldn't be allowed here, but the back door is open, so I decide to go inside the unusually dark room anyway. "Wayne?" I call out, my heartbeat suddenly going tug-tug more than usual when the lights from the other room flicker.
"Shhh!"
"You almost scared me!" I breathe a sigh of relief as my curly haired bestfriend pops up from his hiding corner. I don't know why I suddenly got scared, it's not like we're tracking down a monster.
He snickers. "I heard Rosie squeal when you two entered."
"She told me you were trying to catch Nugget."
"Nugget Jr."
"Right, so what's the plan?"
Wayne grins, and well, Wayne wouldn't be my bestfriend if I didn't know what that means. He tiptoes to reach my ear and whispers. Oh, this is gonna be good.
***
With our plan ready, we hid behind some empty boxes and cry out. "Aaaah! Ate! Rosie, help!"
We try to cover our giggles as we hide, but it only takes a moment before they rush in through the door.
"Wayne?"
"Kuya?" my sister whispers as we hear her pick up the flashlight on the ground. "Why is it so dark here?"
That was Wayne's cue, so he tosses a pellet towards the other side of the room. As expected, she points the flashlight on the wall with a squeak.
"You're next…" Rosie whispers, no doubt clinging to my sister. "Is that... written in blood?"
And that was mine. I lift the bottom box slightly, and set our plan into motion. There's a silent chirp, and I'll admit, the shadow that appears on the wall is almost horror movie material.
Wayne and I stumble onto the empty boxes and fall over, clutching our red stained shirts. "Ate… Rosie… help…"
"We tried to catch Nugget…"
Nugget Jr. slowly turns around and faces them, clutching a red, broken cuttlebone on his beak and flutters towards them. "Squawk!"
The two of them scream as my sister drops the flashlight and runs away, colliding into Tito Nestor on the doorway.
"Daddy!" Roselyna squeals as she burrows onto him.
Tito Nestor opens the lights, blinding us for a moment. "Roselyna? What happened here?"
Wayne sits up as the bird dripping with red watercolor lands beside him to eat the scattered pellets. "We were trying to catch Nugget!"
I nudge him. "Nugget Jr."
Tumblr media
7 notes · View notes
daydream-believin · 4 years
Text
The Never-Ending Roadtrip (St. Louis)
summary: (pt 1) Reader joins Douxie in the quest for Nari’s safety. He’ll need company won’t he? - part 4) Doux and Reader get out of Missouri finally but not before one last stop      (part 5)
warnings: swearing
word count: 6205
a/n: im getting a smidge impatient on my planned mutual pining slow burn as you can see. mmm i want a piece of st louis butter cake. @blixeon​ gets credit for putting the douxie trying to keep y/n away from moppet!douxie idea in my head. its not a big plot point here but idk felt i should still mention it
Tumblr media
Douxie stared up at the ceiling with dry, unblinking eyes. There were many interesting cracks in the ceiling, barely illuminated by the light streaming in from the bathroom door. He was wide awake, despite not being able to convince himself to move. He was never a morning person, but once he remembered where he was, it was like someone had poured a bucket of ice water on him. Y/n was no longer clinging to him when he woke up, albeit, she was not even in the bed at all when he woke up. That had gave him a fright before he realized he could hear the shower running. Somehow, this was worse than if she’d still been there when he woke up. This meant she woke, untangled herself from him, and was probably going to pretend like it didn’t happen, since she couldn’t possibly know he stayed awake long enough to know about it. Which, while waking up in her arms would have been a little awkward, at least he would have gotten a conversation out of it. An acknowledgement. Something.
Speaking of the shower, somehow that was doing a number on him too. It was so strange. They’ve lived together for years now; they’ve shared a bathroom for years now. He’s heard her shower so many fucking times. No sweat. These feelings were making him silly. Perhaps it was this fucking room. The domesticity of it all, which was a weird thing to say when you literally lived with said person. Yet, he couldn’t stop imagining that he was waking up in His Home, listening to His Wife get ready for work in the en suite of Their Bedroom. She didn’t want to wake him, how sweet. She was always worried about him getting more sleep. He’d go help her with her hair, braid it for her. His hands would run through her soft hair as he styled it. She’d kiss him on the nose before she left to go make him a cup of coffee while he got ready. She knew just how he liked it. They’d brush their teeth together, every morning, just like they did last night.
Bleeding balroths, last night. What was he going to do about last night. His dumb heart wouldn’t just be able to leave well enough alone, apparently. Does he,,, say something? Perhaps he should wait to see if she says something. That would be,, the safer route. He knew one thing for sure though. He wasn’t going to act like he didn’t love every second of it. He’d made up his mind. His life has been way too long and lonely for him to keep this ‘it’s not like I like you’ act up. And for Merlin’s sake, he had died not even three days ago. He had almost been gone, and would have never known the love of his beloved. And family wasn’t just who you have, it was also who you’re with. And he was with Y/n. She was already his family, so why not be his family? Like he dreamed of? Yes, he was going to come clean. If she said something. Yes.
Suddenly, he was aware of a noise. Someone had just knocked on the front door of the room. Or less of a knocking and more of a rapping. Archie’s ear’s flicked, but he didn’t stir. Douxie held his breath. The rapping stopped, but now whoever it was trying to open the door. Thank Merlin he warded that thing up. It couldn’t open from the outside, he made sure of it. The door handle stopped moving. Doux still made no noise. Hopefully whoever or whatever that was had decided to move on to easier prey.
Y/n combed her fingers through her wet hair. It was the best she could do at the moment. She’d try and braid it back while it was still wet, so it wouldn’t get even worse. Y/n pulled on the same clothes she’d been wearing for a week. Well, actually she had been wearing a medieval dress for most of it, but still. She looked in the mirror. Not bad for someone on the run. But they did need to make a shopping trip. As much as Y/n did not want to waste an entire other day to a store (thanks Kmart), and didn’t want to spend more of their small savings they were living off of, they did need some things. Backpacks to keep their few belongings close, one more set of clothes each so they could have something to be wearing while they wash the other set, maybe some pajama pants would be nice, although nonessential, a couple of toothbrushes that weren’t the motel provided ones, plus a tube of toothpaste, soap, a hairbrush, phone chargers, some emergency food that wouldn’t spoil, some reusable water bottles, a fucking first aid kit even, lots of stuff. It’s not like they were able to pack for this trip. Hell, they should probably get Nari an outfit that would cover up her, eh, forest spirit-ness. Her running around in leaves isn’t exactly helping their conspicuousness. Despite Y/n not wanting to add to that list, she sure was getting cold in her short-sleeved top. She needed a jacket. She’d been borrowing Douxie’s a bit for the last few days, but if she just stole it then he would be cold. She needed one of her own, she supposed.
Y/n walked out of the bathroom. Archie and Nari were still snoozing, but Doux looked like he was awake. He sat up as soon as he realized Y/n had come out. He looked, troubled. And he had every right to be, she thought. He had just suffered the loss of his mentor and died himself. He had been blankly staring at the ceiling when she’d first came into the room. He probably had so much on his mind. Thankfully he had Archie and herself. They’d be there for him, she’d make sure of it. It’d be best to give him some more time to think, though. She didn’t want to push too hard. He’d tell her if he was struggling, she was sure of it. He’d been so open lately. And they’d had plenty of talks in the past about not expressing frustrations in their lives. He hadn’t been too open with her when they first started living together and it had made being roommates stressful at first. It wasn’t a problem anymore though. They’d worked through it, and it had even brought them closer.
She told him it was his turn for the bathroom now. He looked like he wanted to say something, but then quietly nodded as he got out of bed and headed for the shower. Strangely, this inn stay has been the most normal things had been all week. It was almost like they were home. She was back in her routine of waking, getting ready, telling Douxie it was his turn to get ready. He was so sweet, he always let her have the bathroom first. So chivalrous, although, she had a sneaking suspicion it was more of his excuse to sleep in a little longer.
It was nice, living with Douxie. It was the first time she’d been on her own. Or, well, not on her own per se, since Douxie was there, but at least away from her aunt. Her aunt had practically raised her, but that didn’t mean she was too grateful for it. She felt guilty about that last part, but not too guilty. Her aunt was pretty cold. It was clear that Y/n was just a charity case to her, a beggar who wouldn’t be looked at twice if not for blood relation. She hadn’t even bothered telling Y/n about their family’s magic until Y/n had stumbled face first into it herself. And even then, she only taught Y/n a minimal number of spells, just enough to control it, so she could successfully hide it. Didn’t need some troublesome untrained wizard ruining the family name and scaring the party guests. Y/n didn’t even know that wizards were pretty much immortal at a certain point until she noticed it herself. The people she had grown up with were all out there getting their pretty adult faces, and she was stuck with a baby face. Her aunt only told her once she questioned it. She was well past being nineteen now, but was going to be stuck like this forever apparently. What a great way to live.
Of course, she was absolutely thrilled when she found out her new roommate was in the same boat as her in that department. It was serendipity. The whole thing with Douxie was perfect, really. She had heard through her friend who worked at Hextech that someone had put up a roommate ad flyer on the company’s bulletin board and she called right away. She hadn’t been having any luck apartment hunting. She couldn’t afford rent on her own with her bookstore job, and Arcadia Oaks wasn’t exactly a college town teeming with people looking for roommates. A wizard roommate would be perfect, and the price was right. So imagine her surprise when said new roommate also turned out to be her boss. Y/n hadn’t even known he was looking for a roommate, let alone that he was a fellow wizard. His old roommate, Jack, had gotten married and moved out last month, he told her. Y/n was surprised at how very easy it was getting into this agreement too, Doux already knew her so he didn’t even interview her. And she didn’t have to worry about new person awkwardness. It really was serendipity. Of course, it hadn’t been all rosy, as mentioned before, but they were really groovin’ together now.
Y/n stretched out on the bed. She could hear the water running through the wall. It had been so awesome living right above her job. She got to sleep in, and she’d get ready, eat some breakfast, and be able to instantly step into the bookstore. She’d never be late ever again. Or she never was late again. That was a depressing thought. But hey, bright side, now they could have all the fun of starting up a new bookstore. Perhaps she could convince Douxie to add on a tea shop this time too. One that had cute little round tables with pretty gingham table cloths and flower vases, filled with flowers that they grew themselves in the pots on their balcony. They’d make sure the new bookstore had a nice window that was meant for a display but they’d leave as a place for Archie to sleep in and make snarky comments as he watched the people go by. Douxie could paint the letters on the signs and window, he was great at that. It’d be a task, but truly, they had to remake their bookstore. Even if not in Arcadia. A new bookstore they could fill up with love, that’d be an idea Y/n could hold on to.
Stars, she loved their bookstore. She loved the smell. She loved the peaceful homey vibe. She loved the man who owned it. Whoops, forget about that last part. She even loved the quirky characters it drew in. One time, she encountered this really crazy lady, and she wasn’t even sure if this lady was real or if she dreamt her, since she was the only witness. But Mordrax’s miracles, was this lady something. It started normally enough, Y/n picking up the store’s landline.
“GDT Arcane Bookstore! Please state your grievances.” She knew in the back of her mind that she was the only person who found her dumb jokes funny, but she still made them to brighten up her own day. Also to piss off Hisirdoux with her unprofessionalism. He made the same passive-aggressive ‘I’m disappointed in you’ face every time. It was fun.
“Yes, Hello. I would like to know if you carry any children’s books.”
“Yes ma’am, we sure do. A whole section.”
“Great. And are you child friendly?”
“Are we-, child friendly? I-, Yes I suppose we are ma’am.”
“Perfect. And you’re open until eight?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Thank you, young lady.”
The whole phone call was odd. Y/n wasn’t too jazzed about being called ‘young lady’ either. She had mocked the lady as soon as the phone call ended, but she shrugged it off, and had forgotten that the whole thing had even happened as she went about her day. Then, at about seven, this lady rolls up. She was dressed to the nines but like, in an old rich person way. Long fur coat, black dress underneath with pearls around her neck. On one arm, she had a fancy purse covered in the logo of a fashion brand Y/n wasn’t going to admit she recognized. In the other, she carried a large porcelain doll, the size of a five-year-old, which was dressed in a frilly pink dress that remined her of the dresses her aunt used to make her wear. When Y/n greeted her, she recognized the voice as the strange caller from earlier. Y/n got the feeling that some sort of shit was about to go down, and couldn’t wait. If only Archie was here.
Fur coat lady sat her doll down on the old loveseat in the sitting area and asked Y/n to keep an eye on the doll while she went to go pick out some books. Emily could be so mischievous sometimes, she told Y/n. She assured fur coat lady that she’d watch Emily like a hawk. The doll’s painted eyes stared into Y/n’s soul. Fur coat lady came back far longer than Y/n was comfortable with. She asked Y/n if Emily had been a good-mannered girl. Y/n just nodded, not sure if she should be encouraging this, on second thought. Fur coat lady then preceded to read the doll nine children’s books in a row, pausing in between only to ask the doll if she had liked it. Y/n was too baffled to even tell this lady to scram, we aren’t a library, you know. It crept closer to eight, and Y/n was actually dreading what was going to happen when she’d have to kick this lady out, but thank the stars, fur coat lady starts telling her doll about how it was close to its bedtime so they couldn’t read any more stories, aww darn, and they had to go now. She thanked Y/n as she walked out of the door. Y/n flipped that closed sign behind her and quickly retreated upstairs for the night. She’d go make a cup of tea to relax her nerves after that encounter. Y/n had plenty of other wild stories of people who’ve stopped by their bookstore. It was great for conversation at parties.
Y/n loved parties. With Douxie came all his friends, and she didn’t mind that one bit. They were always over whenever Doux had time off. It was so nice; it kept their place lively. Y/n cooked and baked a lot, it was one of those skills her aunt insist she have, and having so many mouths to enjoy her food felt good. And whether it was band practice or game night, she was happy to play hostess. Douxie’s friends were fun to talk to. She suddenly had the freedom to invite her own friends over too. Having so many people around all the time had helped her loneliness big time when she first moved in. Her aunt’s house may have been big, but it was empty. Her aunt threw a fancy party a month, but none of the people there were people worth talking to. It was so cold. Their apartment was warm.
Honestly, as insane as it was to think about, Y/n couldn’t see herself ever leaving Douxie to live on her own anymore. At first, this arrangement was supposed to be a temporary thing until she could find a better job and go off on her own. But somehow along the way, ‘the apartment we share’ became Their Apartment, and the bookstore that she happened to operate with him became Their Bookstore. It was nuts, and also the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to Y/n. It was the home she’d never had. Douxie and Archie were her family. Way more so than her aunt ever was. It was beautiful, magical, marvelous. She no longer worked, she just lived. Hell, she couldn’t even remember the last time Doux had formally assigned her a shift. She was just kind of always there. Which she was glad to do. She loved it. And when it was time to stop working, she’d just head upstairs and get to spend even more time with her favourite person. That is, if he wasn’t on one of his bistro shifts. She felt so safe and cared for. She no longer felt alone.
If Douxie wanted to make that, how you say, a little more official, Y/n wouldn’t be opposed to that. She had a hunch that he had some sort of feelings for her, if his recent actions were anything to go by. Although, just like she didn’t want to push him about the angst feelings, she didn’t want to push him in these feelings either. He’d tell her when he was good and ready. Slow and steady wins the race after all. Besides, if she was wrong and he didn’t have feelings for her, she’d definitely be tossing this good thing they had going out the window directly into the dumpster. She had to admit though, waking up this morning cuddled into him was the loveliest way she’d ever woken up in her life. She could get used to that.
She wondered if Douxie would be a wedding person or an elopement person. Not that she expected him to marry her. But it would be nice. She rolled over and found her phone on the nightstand. There wasn’t any harm in looking at some wedding dresses, right? Just in case. Y/n listened to Nari yawn and shuffle over to the bed. She opened an arm for the forest child who snuggled in, curious at what Y/n was looking at. Y/n tilted the phone for her to see. Nari really liked the poufy dresses. She’d point excitedly to the one’s she thought were pretty while Y/n scrolled. While Y/n wasn’t a fan of big frilly stuff herself, she had to admit, those poufy dresses would make her feel like Cinderella, which was never something she’d have thought appealing, but somehow it was. There were some really gorgeous not poufy ones also, and even a cool black one. Some that Douxie might like too. Y/n leaned more towards those, but wasn’t gonna tell Nari that. The veggie lady sure was having as much fun as her right now, surprisingly. Hopefully she wouldn’t blab any of this to Hisirdoux though.
Speak of the devil, he came out of the bathroom and sat on the end of the bed. Y/n quickly closed the app she was scrolling through. She sat up, taking Nari with her. Archie yawned and stretched, after sensing movement in the room. He moved from the chair into Douxie’s lap. After giving Arch a good scratch behind the ears, Douxie turned to Y/n.
“So, what’s today’s itinerary?”
“I-, wait, why do I have to be the one who decides what we do?”
“Because you’re the one who likes to have a plan when it comes to these things.”
“Fair enough.” Y/n pulled up google maps. If she had known she would have to do this she would have done it while he got dressed instead of fantasizing about their wedding. “Okay, so as much as I hate to say this, but we gotta go back to the store today.”
Douxie groaned as he laid back. His still wet hair was gonna dry funky like this, but he didn’t care. “Fine. We’ll do that in Illinois. We gotta get out of this town before anything else.”
“I agree,” she paused, seeing something that caught her eye. It would be frivolous, but she couldn’t help herself from asking “Ooh! Can we stop in St. Louis?”
“St. Louis?”
“Yeah! It’ll be fun, Douxie. We can go sit in those cafés that people go to in the black and white movies, we can go take a cheesy tourist picture of us by the arch thing, and I’m really craving some St. Louis butter cake now.”
Doux laughed. “Okay, but only for a few hours, Love.” The least he could do was let her have a little down time to relax and have fun after this hell week. Highly populated cities were good for throwing off their scent too.
“Thank you,” she went back to her map, snickering, “And we’ll stop in Effingham to shop.” She snorted.
“Effingham?” Douxie said it correctly, in his proper accent, which was not as amusing.
“Effing. Ham. Baby.” He rolled his eyes.
They booked it out of that motel and out of that town. Douxie all but tossed the room key into the creepy innkeeper’s hands as they rushed out. Back on the boat, safe at last. He ran a mental headcount once they boarded. Y/n always held Nari’s hand when they went places, so they wouldn’t have to worry about her wandering off, but it still made Douxie feel better to go over his tiny mental list and make sure they were both still safe and with him. Archie, he didn’t have to worry about as much. Even if the cat-dragon wandered he’d always come back. He could track Douxie by scent for a hundred miles too. Y/n had a habit of getting lost, though. He had to keep an eye on her. He didn’t need her and Nari off in fairyland where the Order could find and abduct them at any given time.
Douxie’s hair had still been damp when they set off, but the wind took care of that for him. Sure, wind-tousled bangs were in, but not bangs tousled by real wind. He was sure he was rocking it though. He could pass it off as something he did on purpose. People already thought his relatively tame style was outlandish, they’d just think the messy hair was part of the look. His only qualm was Y/n. He didn’t want to embarrass himself to her any further. His Camelot self already inflicted so much damage in that department this week. That moppet with a man bun had messed up spells, quoted sappy poetry to her, bragged about being Merlin’s apprentice, and even tried serenading her with his lute in attempts to impress her. It was mortifying. He had spent the first part of their Camelot adventure distracted by having to keep Y/n away from his younger self. It was not good for the whole ‘save time’ mission. Thankfully, he had Claire there with him, who had agreed to help him once she had buggered the information out of him. Thank Merlin for nosy teen girls. Claire was a godsend.
He had to admit, he was a smidge disappointed that she didn’t bring up the cuddling. Y/n hadn’t even made a joking reference to it in passing. He would have to bring it up then. But when, how? It wasn’t exactly something that would come up in natural conversation.
He watched her, hanging over the ship’s railing again. They passed a field with some cows and she made sure to point at them and say cows. He smiled at that; Y/n always managed to make him smile. He could recall how bad he had felt when Jack left and he thought he was going to have to fire her, his only employee, to keep up with rent. He had asked Zoe if he could put up a flyer in Hextech in a desperate attempt to find someone before that had to happen. And low and behold, among the three answers he got to the ad was miss L/n herself. It was an easy decision really, and it took away the uncertainty since he knew she was someone that he already liked. As a bonus, Y/n didn’t have a familiar of her own that might fight with Archie, because let’s be real, as much as Douxie loved Archie, the dragon-cat wasn’t afraid of stepping on toes. Although, it did feel kind of strange to give Y/n her paycheck and then for her to hand a little more than half of it back to him on rent day. But it just worked.
He remembered the first time he walked by the fridge to see that not only had Y/n added some fridge magnets to the kitchen, but she had taken the time to write a message to him. It, um, was sort of a rude note, meant to tease, an inside joke. Which he thought was funny, he just wished Zoe hadn’t seen it. It was hard to explain, and Zoe never let him hear the end of it. Archie got a kick out of it too. Y/n would switch the message almost daily, and it never failed to make him smile. He still had to deal with his friends seeing them and teasing him about it, but he’d never change her magnet jokes for anything. They would stay there until she replaced them with equally embarrassing messages meant just for him. It felt sweet to know someone was thinking about him enough to come up words meant to make him laugh on a daily basis.
They had just passed by a town called Eureka, which meant they were coming up on St. Louis. Good. Douxie couldn’t wait for lunch. He had the appetite of a winning fat bear these past few days. Probably the stress. That butter cake Y/n had mentioned was sounding so tasty. He could almost smell it. What Douxie hadn’t considered when he agreed to this was that the magic flying ship couldn’t go through metropolitan areas. Well, it could, but it’d be seen. So despite his growling stomach, he wound up taking the ship around the entire concrete jungle of Missouri, staying in the forested areas. He figured he could park the boat over in Illinois, just outside of St. Louis. This added a whole other hour to the trip than he was expecting, but now at least he knew to take large cities into consideration when choosing routes.
After hiding the boat in a heavily wooded area, the four took the bus into downtown. So when Y/n said she wanted to go to an old café from a movie, she had meant a very specific old café from a specific movie. She had told him it wasn’t a big deal and there were plenty of other cafes, but Douxie was gonna get her there by golly. And he did. The happiness written on her face was worth the extra bus miles. And wow, this café had some delicious food. They had salmon, which Archie enjoyed a little more than usual. Said something about paying himself back. As if he paid for anything, being a cat. That St. Louis butter cake did not disappoint. Archie was pretty fond of the cake too. It was too sweet for Nari, though. Y/n savored every bite. Doux watched her, while he ate his own, and it was so cute how smiley this was making her. He’d learn the recipe for this cake so he could make it for her once they got… home.
Douxie was still trying to shake off that depressing thought when Y/n finished up and was already trying to get the move on. Not without getting a picture first, of course. Not satisfied with just the scenery of the café itself, she begged Douxie to pose for her in various spots around it. He obliged, despite his scruffy appearance. She didn’t think he was that scruffy, and what was better than pictures of her favourite person in a cool place she’d always wanted to go. She also snapped one of Archie to post to her cat insta she secretly kept of him. Douxie knew about it, and contributed pictures to it himself, but neither of them were about to tell Archie he was internet famous as archie_the_emo_kitty. These pictures were going to hold good memories in them. All pictures do.
There was one more photo Y/n wanted to get. Silly cliché tourist picture with the gateway arch in the background. She wanted at least one of just her and Douxie, after the group photo. She’d have to somehow get one of Archie too, since she wasn’t about to pass up the chance to make a pun in the caption about Archie being in front of the arch. As she pulled Douxie close to get the picture, she got an idea. She asked him if they could get just one more. He was holding the phone since his arms were longer so he was able to get better angles with them both in it. He agreed, happy to do anything to keep that grin on her face longer. This time, when he leaned down to make their faces closer together, Y/n gave him a kiss on the cheek. The shutter snapped. Look, she wasn’t going to push, but she could nudge. Y/n pulled away and grabbed the phone to look at how it turned out, so cute, and Douxie just stayed there, leaning over, still as a statue, with wide eyes.
“Did you just- k-kiss me?” He didn’t so ecstatic. Maybe she was reading him wrong after all. Okay, time to deny.
“Yeah, it was just a cheek kiss, Doux. It was a cute pose for our picture, see,” She showed him the picture. A perfectly captured moment where they looked so happy. Where her lips would forever be on his still burning face. “Friends do it all the time.”
“Oh. Ah, okay.” That sounded disappointed, and his face wasn’t the picture of joy before, but now he just looked crestfallen. Okay so she wasn’t reading him wrong before. Good to know. She’d,, have to fix this now. She casually grabbed his hand and laced their fingers. That got him looking back up from the ground.
“C’mon, we’ve got about ten minutes to catch the next bus.”
~ ~ ~
Effingham was a quaint place. Y/n had only chosen it for it’s funny name, but it was surprisingly pretty okay. It was home to the world’s largest cross. Which would be cool, for it’s target audience, Y/n supposed. And they had a train depot. Fun. And exactly one singular popular restaurant. Which wasn’t that much more than Arcadia had, Y/n had to give it to them. They were in this tiny little mall, to see about finding some spare clothes. Y/n stopped dead in her tracks to gawk at a store that’s sign identified itself as Rural King. She tugged Douxie’s hand.
“Oh we gotta go in there.”
Douxie took one look at it and shook his head, “Are you really going to drag us into a hunting store just because it has a silly name?”
“No, I guess not,” Y/n took one last look at the place, “Can I at least get a pic of you posing in front of it?”
“Fine.” Douxie suppressed a grin as he complied with her silly request.
Once they got into a real store though, Douxie leaned over to Y/n to tell her something without the clerk hearing. “Oh, I’ve been meaning to tell you, I’ve got an appearance modifier spell I’ve perfected over the years. We’re not actually here to buy anything, just get some inspiration.”
Y/n nodded, fascinated. Well, that’ll take care of the extra spending problems. Now came the fun part, finding a new look for Nari. Speaking of whom, she was over at a rack, trying on those fake fashion glasses without real lenses in them. She looked really cute in every pair she tried on, and they helped obscure her face. Good. She really took a liking to this square tortoiseshell pair. Y/n took a mental note. It was going to be getting cold soon, and plants tend to freeze in the cold, so they took the veggie lady over to go check out the winter coats. Nari picked out a puffer that looked pretty comfy, but she didn’t like that it was red. It reminded her of Bellroc. Douxie assured her that the one he’d make could be any color she liked. Not surprisingly, she wanted it to be green.
Y/n just decided on a simple outfit for herself, consisting of a black and white striped long-sleeved tee, a black short sleeve tee to layer over that, and a classic pair of jeans. It was easy, comfortable, and didn’t draw much attention. A band kid staple too. Nari wanted to be similar to Y/n and also decided on a striped tee and jeans to go under her coat. Now they just needed to find her something to contain that gorgeous head of grass. Y/n glanced over to see Douxie trying on a cap in the hat section. Perfect. They’d make her a hat. It’d be a big hat, but nothing too much.
Douxie actually did buy a couple of backpacks from the shop. Y/n was a bit confused but he told her how for some reason he couldn’t enchant something that was technically an illusion itself so he had to buy physical bags since he wanted to enchant them to be infinite vessels or something. Y/n nodded. This was interesting. She was pretty good at the magic she did know but it was mostly by instinct. No one had really taught her the technical side of it like this. She never really knew how stuff worked, just that it worked. They headed to the dollar store after finishing up with the clothing, which surprisingly, this little mall had in it for some reason. They quickly found all those necessity items they needed and got out of there fast. They were burning daylight after all.
Once back at the boat, greeted by Archie who was glad they came back within a decent time this go around, Douxie got to work. First, he enchanted those backpacks. Y/n watched his every move, fascinated, and taking mental notes. He stuffed the supplies into the bags, making sure each had emergency food and medicine just in case they’d ever get separated. The first aid kits were a great idea, considering he didn’t know much healing magic himself and Y/n could only do a temporary pain relief spell. Having stuff to bandage up wounds in their bags made Douxie feel slightly better.
Y/n filled Douxie in on the specifics of Nari chosen disguise, and he set to work on that. It came out pretty cute. Nari liked her new duds, taking her time to look over herself. Y/n handed the veggie lady her phone with the front facing camera on so Nari could use it as a mirror. She really liked that. Y/n snickered at Nari trying out different angles.
He moved onto Y/n. He didn’t magically fairy godmother her like he did the forest child, he just made her a spare set of clothes to go in that backpack. He made them according to her request, but paused at the tee shirt. “Do you want me to put a logo or something on this?”
Y/n twirled her hair around her finger. “Hmm. I’m thinking, Ash Dispersal Pattern. They’re my favourite band, ever heard of them?”
Douxie laughed as conjured up the tee. He picked one of his favourite designs from past merch. It could be considered vintage now, but it wasn’t that long ago to Doux. He fancied the idea of getting to see her in his merch a lot more now. She did have one of their tee shirts back in the bookstore, but she didn’t wear it often as it was in rotation with other band’s tees. He didn’t have competition anymore, it seems. He grinned as finished up.
“Anything else?”
“Yes, actually. Now that I know you can just magic up clothes for yourself, I would like your hoodie.”
“I can make you a hoodie like thi-“
“No, no, I want the one you’re wearing, thank you. It’s warm and familiar and it smells like you.” She said half-joking, half-serious. “It would make me feel safer.”
Douxie couldn’t believe what he was hearing. In fact some part of him thought he may have just daydreamed that. He wordlessly forked over the hoodie. She took it merrily and put it on, giving it a sniff for good measure. Now he really was daydreaming.
“Thank you, Dewdrop!” Oh, he had a pet name now. He’d hadn’t heard that one yet. Frisky people had called him all sorts of strange and embarrassing things over the centuries. But this one was a first. He guessed it was a play on his name. Dewdrop, ay? That was so soft and sweet. A shiny little dewdrop, the first thing you see in the morning. Ah. It seems that miss L/n was plotting to kill him. She was succeeding.
92 notes · View notes