#and put him in a tupperware two sizes too small to make him keep living on earth

[windowsillbells]

before reading the novel, if someone gave me a selection of lines from zhao yunlan talking about shen wei and asked me to say who says it, i’d say shen wei. it’s unbelievable how obsessed zhao yunlan is. and tbh, relatable! at least shen wei has been in the know about it since the beginning, always keeping track of his feelings and of kunlun’s lives, but kunlun has spent 5000 reincarnating and constantly feeling incomplete for reasons that he can never pinpoint, finally he gets the missing piece, i would be obsessed too!

#this is also fueled by my own personal headcanon #that kunlun's novel story is like body horror #because he explicitly asked shen wei not to do anything to him and just live a good life with the gifts he gave him #and shen wei went and basically forced his essence in the equivalent of a too small container #he took an already mangled kunlun (missing various parts of body and soul) #and put him in a tupperware two sizes too small to make him keep living on earth #that has to hurt my man #that is a kind of suffering that only a god can endure #and kunlun has been turned human #this is almost like. lovecraftian horror #how can a human come to terms with such a great suffering? #such a great loss?? #a human shouldn't be able to feel godly pain #i would think it fucks deeply with your brain/heart/soul whatever #and at that point #if i had to choose between that kind of suffering/loss #and simply being content but wasting away like shen san #i'd also choose like shen san #guardian #guardian novel #guardian hc #zhao yunlan #weilan #shen san extra

[fanficimagery]

Pretty Baked 1/2

When you decide to move and open up a shop in Charming, California, the local motorcycle club that runs out of Teller-Morrow Automotive practically adopts you and introduces you to their world.

PART ONE | PART TWO

Words: 8K Author's Note: Sons of Anarchy!AU. No Clay. I'm sorry if you like him, but he intimidates me more often than not lmao. And as much as I love kid fics, I've decided against Abel existing in this imagine. Just go with it.

When you were just fourteen, there was an unfortunate accident which claimed your parents' lives. The life insurance money for both of them was split between you and your brother, but neither of you could touch it until you turned eighteen. Your brother hit eighteen first and immediately left the care of your uncle, spending his money without a care in the world. And no matter how much you and your uncle told him to spend it wisely or invest, he didn't listen.

So when you came into your money, you asked your uncle for help. He helped you invest most of it and then you used a small portion of it to help put you through school. You went to school for a business degree, and when you graduated you used the recipes your uncle's girlfriend showed you to open up a small bakery and coffee shop. You only made and sold a few select items, and the coffee you brewed was plain. Many businesses sold fancy, expensive drinks, but you wanted to keep it original. The elderly locals of the small Texas town you grew up in adored you for keeping the prices affordable and in return they made Pretty Baked one of the best breakfast joints to eat from.

Over the years you slowly expanded on Pretty Baked, bettering your uncle and girlfriend's lives since they had looked after you for years. But then your brother started coming back around, asking for cash here and there when he couldn't make ends meet. And against everyone's wishes and your own better judgment, you gave him the cash.

You quickly grew tired of Texas and your brother's entitled attitude towards the cash you earned for a living, so you started looking for a place elsewhere to set up shop. You don't know what made you look into California, but you did and you looked for a small town that could possibly use a little boost.

Charming, California, in your eyes, was the perfect candidate. And after searching for buildings for sale, you found one that was within a decent price range, as well as a small three bedroom house too. So after leaving your uncle in charge of Pretty Baked's Texas location, you moved to Charming to open up your second location.

More worried about your living situation first, a few friends helped you load up a moving truck that your uncle would drive to California for you while you drove your Ford Explorer. Those same friends also made the drive with you, your two Great Danes, and your uncle, and they helped put together your bed and drop your dog's mattresses in one of the spare bedrooms before wishing you luck and leaving you to your own devices.

Furnishing your house was easy since you didn't care for anything fancy and everything you wanted was fortunately in stock there at the stores. You had new sofas, another queen sized bed for the third room, a kitchen table and chairs, a coffee table and a TV all delivered in one day. It took you a couple of days to get everything put together and on the day you've had your new refrigerator installed, you're surprised to hear your doorbell ring as you're in the middle of making a grocery list.

Your two Great Danes erupt into chaos, rushing the door and barking.

"Knock it off!" You shout. Immediately the dogs stop barking, coming to heel as they walk around you so they can see who the guest is as well. You sigh and then paste on a friendly smile as you swing open the door. The woman standing there is easily in her 40s, rocking a black skin tight long sleeve shirt whose sleeves are sheer, skin tight jeans that are tucked into knee high black heeled boots with a tupperware container in hand. Her brunette hair is curled and waved to perfection, blonde highlights added in here and there. All in all, she's one smokin' cougar. "Hello."

"Hiya, sweetheart," she drawls, amusement lacing her tone. Shit. She definitely caught you ogling her. "Name's Gemma. My son lives a couple houses down from you and I thought I'd welcome 'ya to the neighborhood. I brought you some treats."

You wince as your dogs immediately respond to one of their favorite words, their deep woofs making even you startle. Whirling around, you raise your pointer finger at them. "No!"

"Holy shit," Gemma exclaims.

You mentally laugh, knowing your two Great Danes paint a menacing picture. Both are pitch black with their ears clipped. Both have dark brown leather collars, silver plaques pinned to them with their names and your information on them in case they get lost. "She means treats for me, not you. Behave!" Once your dogs settle, you turn back around. "Sorry about that. I'm YN and the two bodyguards are Grimm and Reaper."

Gemma's eyes immediately sparkle. "You're joking."

"Nope."

She laughs. "I love it."

"Thanks." You stand there for a split second before you remember your manners. "Oh shit. Come in!" You say, gesturing her inside. "Sorry for not offering sooner. And sorry about the mess. I just had my appliances put in today."

"It's not a problem." She walks in as if she owns the place, heels clicking. You smile as you see her pat each of your dogs heads, obviously looking around as she makes her way towards the kitchen. "Wow. Place looks great."

"Been in here before?" You ask as you follow, Grimm and Reaper following behind you as well.

"Yeah. I thought my son would like this place, but he preferred something smaller."

You huff. "I would have to, but my dogs are my babies. I needed room for them."

"Oh yeah?" Gemma places the Tupperware container on your table, taking a seat. She looks you up and down before you take your own seat, smirking at you. "So where does Charming's newest resident hail from?"

You arch an eyebrow at her. This was probably the town's biggest gossip, but you didn't have anything to hide. "From an equally small town down in Texas."

"Reason for the move?"

"I'm opening up a second location for my bakery."

"Really?" She drawls. "Tell me more."

You chuckle at her. "You want my whole life story, don't you?"

"Well, aren't you a smart girl?"

"Fair enough. I'd wanna know all about the newbie too." You sigh, reaching for her Tupperware of treats and popping open the lid. Chocolate chip cookies are inside, and you readily bite into one, groaning in delight. "These are good." You shove the rest of the cookie into your mouth and then wipe the crumbs off on the bottom of your shirt. "So, uh, my parents died when I was young. My uncle and girlfriend raised me and my brother, but my brother split as soon as he was of age and came into possession of his share of our parents life insurance money."

Gemma scoffs. "Typical."

"Yep. Anyway, when I came into my portion of the money, I invested most of it and put myself through college. Afterwards, I opened up Pretty Baked. My uncle's girlfriend had some fruit kolache recipes that she taught me so we excelled at that. Then over time, I added in sausage kolaches, other various doughnuts and simple coffees since nowadays all everyone sells is the expensive shit."

"Good for you." She genuinely seems impressed. "So your business did well then?"

"It did. So well, in fact, that I was able to better my uncle and his girlfriend's lives as a thank you for stepping in when my parents died. But then I wanted a change in scenery, so I looked elsewhere to set up shop and Charming met the criteria I was looking for- small, but loyal."

"And you plan to keep this shop exactly like your Texas location?"

"Oh yeah. I'm gonna have to keep my menu very small right now until I can hire staff that knows what they're doing, but eventually- if business does well here- I hope to expand the menu to everything I sell down in Texas."

"Well I, for one, can't wait to try what you have to offer."

"Thanks. It's gonna be a while since I still have to order all the appliances for the shop, but I can make you a tester's tray to try a bit of everything."

"Yes. I love that idea." Gemma's phone vibrates from within her pocket and without even looking at it, she says, "That's my cue. I should get going."

"Oh. Okay." You stand up at the same time she does, tutting at Grimm and Reaper when they move to follow. "Thanks for stopping by."

"It was my pleasure, baby girl." She reaches into her back pocket, pulling out a business card and handing it to you. "My family and I own Teller-Morrow Automotive here in Charming. If you need anything or want to drop off some snacks, call the office. I'm the one who files all the paperwork and handles the phone."

"Yeah. I will." You smile at her, opening your front door and stepping aside so she can walk out. "It was nice meeting you, Gemma."

She smirks over her shoulder. "You too, baby. And if you do stop by the shop, bring those precious dogs of yours. I have a feeling my boys would love them."

The following day you finally get to go grocery shopping after having let the new refrigerator cool off overnight to make sure it was working properly. It was, so now you're anxious to stock it and your cabinets.

You manage to get everything you want, plus some snacks you're sure you don't need but desperately want, and load it all up into the backseat of your vehicle. Then after locking the doors, you take your basket back inside to go buy the dog food next.

An employee helps you get two large bags loaded into your basket when he sees you struggling, but unfortunately gets called away before he could help you out to the parking lot. Groaning, you head out by yourself and walk over to your Ford Explorer. Pressing the button for the hatchback to open, you wait until it's fully up before trying your luck with the too heavy bags.

You've only managed to get the first bag halfway out of the basket and on the edge of your trunk space when the basket starts to roll back, and you curse as you try to stop it with your foot. Stuck in an awkward position, you curse again. "Fuck my life."

There's a snort behind you. "Need some help there, darlin'?"

The voice is quite pleasant so you don't bother rejecting the offer. "Yes, please. Fuckin' dog food weighs a ton and I'm just one tiny person!" A man walks around to be in front of you, easily taking the bag of dog food from you and loading it. As he works, you quickly check him out- dirty blonde hair slightly slicked back, blonde facial hair and what appears to be some sort of motorcycle club vest over a plain white tee. As he loads the second one, you smile at him. "Thanks."

"No problem." He smiles and you do your best not to swoon. "I'm Jax. You new around here?"

"YN. And yeah. Just got in a few days ago."

He nods and then gestures to the dog food. "You gonna be good getting that off at your house?"

"Probably not." You chuckle. "I'll just back up to my garage and pull them out. I'll slide them into a corner or something."

Jax chuckles. "You sure? I don't mind lending a helping hand. We, here in Charming, look out for our own."

"Being in a new place and all, I should say no, but I'm from Texas where we help out anyone and everyone," you say. Shrugging, you then tell him, "Fuck it. If you're offering, I'll definitely accept the help."

"Well alright then. What's the address? I'll follow you on my bike." You rattle off your address to him and are surprised when his eyebrows raise to his hairline. "No shit? I live on that street too. In fact, I think I'm only a few houses down."

Something in your mind clicks and you give him a quick lookover once more. "You related to that hot, yet very intimidating woman that goes by Gemma?"

Jax barks out a laugh. "That's my ma. She introduced herself to you already?"

"Yep." You grin. "Brought me cookies to butter me up for my whole life story. I caved." Your blonde companion snorts and you shrug. "I couldn't help myself. She's really hot."

"Should I worry about you chasing after my ma?"

You shake your head and shut the hatchback. "Nah. I only appreciate good looking women. I don't sleep with them."

"Good to know." Jax's blue eyes sparkle and you curse your luck. Figures mother and son would be smokin' hot. "So should we get going?"

"Yeah! I have groceries in the backseat that I need to get home too."

"Well alright then. Lead the way."

After putting the basket away, you jog back to your vehicle and buckle in behind the steering wheel. The drive to your house is pretty short and you park in your driveway while Jax parks in the street. You open the hatchback and then walk around to open the back passenger door, grabbing as many bags as you can.

Jax manages to get one bag of dog food lifted up onto his shoulder and he readily follows you to the front door.

"Guard your nuts," you muse.

"What?" You smirk at his expression, throwing open the door and immediately step aside. The deep, menacing woofs don't startle you this time and you laugh at Jax when his jaw drops upon seeing your dogs rushing him. One arm holds tight to the bag of dog food and his free hand immediately covers his junk when Grimm noses his crotch. "What the fuck."

"You're new and you have their food. They're easily excitable."

"They're intimidating as hell, but not very good guard dogs."

"Wanna bet?" You grin and then look at your dogs. "Boys, sit!" Immediately, the Great Danes back off of Jax and sit, staring at you. You then point to the front door. "Guard." Your dogs get up and sit by the door, ears sticking straight up and not moving a muscle. You look back at Jax. "Walk towards the door."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Jax takes a moment to consider it before he takes three steps towards the door and both your dogs stand, growling menacingly at him. "Alright. I get it. They're good guard dogs."

"Damn right they are." You then look at your dogs again, softening your voice. "Alright, boys, go play." Their tails immediately start wagging and then they're off, rushing off into the house.

"Those are some smart dogs you have," Jax says, following you into the kitchen.

You place your groceries on the counter and then open the pantry door. "Put the dog food in there," you say. "And yeah. Grimm and Reaper are the best."

"What did you just say? What are their names?"

"Grimm and Reaper." Jax laughs. "Why is that funny? Even Gemma found amusement in their names." He turns around and it's then you take notice of the grim reaper on the back of his vest. "Oh. Is it like the mascot of your club or something?"

"Everyone around here and other MC's associate the reaper with the Sons of Anarchy." You nod, understanding their amusement now. "It looks like Fate brought you here."

You snort, pushing off the counter and heading for your door once again. "If you say so." Your cell suddenly rings and you pull it out of your pocket, frowning at the name that flashes across it. You silence the call and then shove it back down into your pocket.

"Boyfriend?" Jax guesses, watching you carefully.

"Nah. Brother." You shrug. "I'll call him back later."

Jax doesn't say anything else as he follows you outside, grabbing the other bag of dog food while you grab up even more groceries. Once everything is inside, you turn towards Jax who is crouched and scratching the necks of your dogs.

"So thanks for everything," you tell him. "Those bags of dog food would have been an issue for me."

"Anytime, darlin'." He stands, flashing that annoyingly pretty smile of his. "So I guess I'll see you around then?"

"Of course." You escort him to the front door so you can see him off. "After all, Charming is pretty small."

Over the next week, you spend a majority of your time cleaning up the shop that is set to become Pretty Baked's second location. Gemma had stopped by to check out the building and offer any help should you need or want any, but the work kept your mind and hands busy so you were perfectly content doing all the work by yourself. Then before she had left, the two of you traded cell phone numbers and you promised to call her soon to let her know you were heading over with breakfast goods.

You call in the orders for all the kitchen equipment you're gonna need, as well as tables and chairs and any artwork you can hang on the walls. The tables, chairs and artwork are going to come in within a week, but the kitchen equipment is set to be delivered within three weeks.

So in the meantime, you make good on that promise to Gemma one morning. And after making sure she's going to be in the office at Teller-Morrow Automotive by at least seven in the morning, you wake up at five in the morning to start baking.

You only have the stuff, and the time, for cheese sausage kolaches, as well as apple and raspberry kolaches. You have a bag of the special blend coffee beans that's really popular back in Texas, so you make a pot for Gemma to try and to get her opinion on it. You're not sure how many people work at the auto shop, so you figure ten each of the sausage, apple and raspberry kolaches should be good enough. Then after pouring the entire coffee pot into an enormous thermos jug, you grab a stack of styrofoam cups and whistle for your dogs.

Grimm and Reaper get put up in the backseat and the trunk space of your vehicle, and you load up the goods in the front seat with you. It's seven forty-five by the time you're pulling out of your driveway and find yourself on the way to Teller-Morrow Automotive.

When you pull up to the auto shop, Gemma waves you down and directs you to a parking space. You're not surprised to see various motorcycles parked alongside the side of the building or the few bikers groggily walking around.

"Well don't you look all bushy-tailed and bright-eyed," Gemma muses as you hope out of your vehicle.

"I've been up since five," you say. "And have had about five cups of coffee."

She huffs in amusement. "Did you bring your babies?"

"Of course." You open up the back door. "Let's go, Reaper." The Great Dane hops down, circling Gemma before sniffing her hand and taking a seat next to her. She smiles, scratching between his ears. "Grimm, you're next buddy," you say as you open up the hatchback. Grimm joins his brother and you slam the door shut, walking over to your passenger seat to bring out the goodies.

"So what'd you bring us?" Gemma asks.

"Cheese sausage kolaches, as well as apple and raspberry," you tell her. "Also brought some coffee for you to try."

"Excellent. Let's sit down at the picnic tables. I'm sure some of the guys will find us there."

"Okay. Are my boys good to explore?"

"Sure thing." As you and Gemma settle down at one of the tables, you set everything out. She sits, eying the goods as you take off the lids. "So what do you recommend?"

"Personally I love the sausage kolaches," you tell her. "It's good, especially if you're in a rush."

"Alright. I'll try one of those." Gemma grabs one, arching an eyebrow at the size of the sausage wrapped in a puffy breading. You shrug and she takes a bite, and you nervously watch as she chews and chews before swallowing.

"Well?"

She grins and takes another bite. "Not what I was expecting, but it's good. Especially considering it's breakfast food."

You exhale with relief and then fill one of the cups with some coffee. "Try this. It's one of the blends I brew and sell. I don't have sugar or milk, so you'll have to drink it black."

Her nose wrinkles, but she accepts it anyway. "I don't like my coffee black, but I guess I can try it since you took the time to brew it."

Gemma takes a drink and you smirk when you see her eyes widen. "Good, right?"

"Oh, honey, please tell me you have more of this stuff stocked somewhere in your house?" Gemma takes another drink, savoring it. "I don't think I can wait until your grand opening."

You chuckle. "Don't worry. This is my favorite. I have lots at my house."

"Whoa! Whose fuckin' horses?!" You turn around and watch a curly-haired individual, guarding his crotch and pushing the faces of your dogs away from him.

"Tig!" Gemma shouts. "Come here." The individual in question looks over, running a hand over his face as if he'd just woken up before heading in your direction. One of your dogs shoves his nose into Tig's stomach and he winces, attempting to shove him away.

You and Gemma chuckle, but you end up whistling sharply to get your dogs' attention. They perk up, awaiting a command, and you snap your fingers before pointing at the asphalt next to the picnic table. "Lay down." They trot over to do as they're told and then when Tig drops into the spot next to Gemma, you smile apologetically. "Sorry about that. Grimm and Reaper love greeting new people."

Tig sits a little straighter. "Did you just call them Grimm and Reaper?"

"I did."

Tig slowly smirks and Gemma introduces the two of you. "Tig, meet YN and her children. They just moved to Charming. YN, this is Tig."

You nod at him. "Hello."

He nods back and, before Gemma can tell him to try anything, he grabs one of the apple kolaches and shoves it in his mouth. He groans and you grin, and he grabs another before pouring himself some coffee. "Gem, where did you get this stuff?"

Gemma smugly grins at you. "Our newest resident and friend here makes them. She's opening up a shop pretty soon."

Tig groans some more, grabbing a sausage kolache this time and eating half of it in one bite. "Sweetheart, if you truly made these I'll be your first customer."

"I did and I'll hold you to it." You slowly grin at him.

"Do you know when the grand opening will be?" Gemma asks.

"Yeah, it's-" Your phone suddenly rings and you cringe, apologizing to them while quickly pulling it out. Seeing your brother's name, you silence it and set it down on the table top. "So, uh, the grand opening will be probably in about two months or so. My usual hours are from five thirty in the morning until two in the afternoon, but for the first day I'll probably open at noon until five so no one has to worry about waking up super early for something they've never tried before."

"That's smart," Gemma says.

The roar of motorcycles catches your attention and Gemma waves them off. "It's just Jax and a few others. They had a run a couple of days ago, so they're just returning."

You nod as if you understand what a run for them means, watching as the four men disembark their bikes. The tall man with a full beard and a beanie adorning his head is the one who nudges Jax and gestures in your direction, and you smile when you see recognition dawn on the blonde dreamboat. Grimm and Reaper notice him then, whining and twitching as if they're about to disobey your earlier command.

Rolling your eyes at your dogs, you grin and glance back up at Jax. "Guard your nuts!" You shout, laughing when Jax seems to brace himself and then cover himself. The other three men with him look curiously at you and the second you utter, "Go!", they freeze when the two Great Danes leap up and bound towards them.

"Holy shit!" The brown-skinned man with a mohawk exclaims. "These dogs are huge!"

Grimm and Reaper happily greet Jax before trying their luck with the other three, and you snort when two of them get noses to the crotch.

"You met my boy?" Gemma asks.

You glance back at her, nodding. "At the supermarket. I was having trouble with the bags of dog food. Jax offered a hand." She looks pleased about that tidbit of information, but before either of you can say anything, the men are joining you.

"Hey, YN. What are you doing here?" Jax takes a seat next to you, straddling the bench to your left while the bearded biker takes a seat on your right. Both men each have a dog interested in them.

"I brought some stuff over for your mom to try. She and Tig are fans."

He smiles. "Oh yeah? What'd you bring?"

Someone groans and you look over at the mohawked man who's clutching a styrofoam cup in his hands. "Goddamn that's some good coffee."

The other two men you don't know take that as their cue to reach for something to eat and drink, and Jax shakes his head at them. He makes introductions for you, gesturing to Happy, Juice and then Opie who's sitting on your other side. You smile at each of them and then at Jax when he grabs something to eat. Each of them are surprised and practically eat everything you've brought, and it's Juice who asks where you got the coffee from.

"I, uh, I have it flown in for my shop," you tell him. "Pretty Baked is still a couple months away from opening, but I got a few bags of the coffee at my house. I'll bring a bag so you guys can have some here."

"Pretty Baked?" Opie asks, lips twitching.

"My bakery," you tell him, chuckling bashfully. "I might have been a little stoned while brainstorming name ideas. My uncle thought it was hilarious and now I'm opening a second location here in Charming."

Your phone vibrates on the tabletop and once you see the name, you silence the vibrations. "You can get that," Gemma says. "That's the second call you've ignored."

"It's fine." You shake your head, grinning. "Just the brother." Out of the corner of your eye, you see Grimm set his big head on the table, staring at Happy who's shoving a pastry into his mouth. "Grimm! Head off the table." Grimm whines, but does as he's told. Only to plop his head on Happy's knee. "I swear they're better mannered. I just have a feeling that Happy fed him and now he's kissing his ass."

The table chuckles. Your phone vibrates again and you swipe it off the table, silencing it and shoving it into your pocket.

"Alright. Spill," Gemma says.

"Spill what?"

"You know exactly what. Why are you dodging your brother's call? You runnin' or something?"

"Not really." Your vague answer doesn't sit well with anyone and you sigh when you realize the whole table is expecting more. Glancing at Gemma, you ask, "So remember how I told you my brother split with his half of the life insurance money?"

"Yeah."

"Well when his half ran out, he came crawling back when he realized my little shop was bringing in some cash. He asked for money to make ends meet and I coughed it up."

Opie huffs. "Big mistake."

"Yeah, well he was my brother," you say in defense of your actions. "Everyone warned me not to, but I didn't listen. And then soon enough the cash I gave him went from paying his bills to paying for his drunken benders and hookups." You reach for one of the last remaining pastries and take a bite out of it. "Anyway, I finally put my foot down and stopped giving away my money. He had the audacity to call it family money as if he worked his ass for it and eventually I got tired of his pestering. My uncle gave his full support of me leaving Texas and here I am. The phone calls are probably just my idiot brother only now realizing that his personal ATM is no longer within a five minute drive."

"I'm sorry, baby," Gemma says. "That's no way to treat family."

"Yeah."

"You worried he'll come looking?" Jax wonders, gaze concerned.

You glance at him, shaking your head. "Nah. And if he does, I'll just have to deal with his nagging. I'm good."

You sit around a little while longer before the guys have to go. Jax squeezes your shoulder before he takes his leave, everyone else welcoming you to Charming before filling up their cups one last time, petting Grimm and Reaper, and then heading into the building connected to the garage.

"They like you," Gemma muses once it's just you and her again.

"They were probably just exhausted after whatever run they got back from and were grateful for the fuel."

"If that's what you want to think."

Your phone vibrates in your pocket again and you sigh. "I should get going and finally deal with my brother," you say. "We should do this again."

"We will. Keep me updated on your shop as well. If you need any help, you have my number."

Over the next couple of months, Gemma stays true to her word and helps you out around the shop. Even the Sons of Anarchy show up, doing some heavy lifting when your kitchen appliances finally arrive. Then after the shop was put together, you knew you couldn't do everything on your own. So after putting flyers out around town, you took a chance on hiring two newly graduated teenagers just looking for some easy money during their gap year- two teenagers who didn't cower at the sight of the Sons, but still talked to them with the respect that they showed everyone else.

The day of Pretty Baked's grand opening in California, you drop off Grimm and Reaper at the auto shop where the club's prospect Half-Sack happily takes over care for them for the day. Chibs, Bobby, Juice and Happy wish you luck, and Gemma rides with you to the shop to get ready. Emma and Todd, your teenage help, are already sweeping and wiping down the tables and counters when you get in.

At five minutes 'til opening, you glance out the front windows and are surprised to see a small crowd gathering.

"Chin up, sweetheart, and smile pretty," Gemma says as she slides an arm around your shoulders, leading you towards the door. "The local paper is here too. They want to do an article on Pretty Baked."

"Oh my god," you quietly groan.

Emma and Todd laugh, the two of them following behind you. Gemma squeezes your shoulder before stepping off to the side, and your two employees stand on either side of you. The small crowd quiets down, the only sound being the click and flash of a camera as you decide to address them.

You give a small speech, thanking them for coming out and giving your little shop a chance. The local paper's photographer asks for a picture of you and your employees posed in front, and then you're opening the door and welcoming everyone inside.

You have three different flavored sausage kolaches and four different fruit kolache flavors for sale, as well as three different blends of coffee. And while you dealt with the food sales, Emma and Todd handled the coffees since you taught them how to brew them properly. You weren't surprised that the sausage kolaches did well, but you were surprised with the fruit sales. Apparently the strawberry and cream cheese was a big hit, as was the coffee that some of your elderly visitors loved because of the low prices.

At around three, you find yourself in the kitchen making another batch of fruit kolaches. Pretty Baked was doing well and you were excited, as were the teenagers manning the front for you with Gemma keeping a watchful eye over everyone coming and going.

Just as you placed three trays into the oven, there's a knock on the back door. You frown, heading towards it a bit warily, but the grinning face just outside the small tempered glass window makes you sigh and roll your eyes.

You push open the door, shaking your head. "You do know the front door works perfectly well, don't you?"

Jax steps in, shutting the door behind him and following you into the kitchen. "Yeah, but then I'd have to stay out there like a normal customer and not be able to keep you company back here."

"Aw. Such a charmer, Mr. Teller," you muse in your best southern accent. "I'm the one from the South. Aren't I supposed to be the one charming your pants off?"

"You tryin' to get me out of my pants, darlin'?" His eyes sparkle and you throw a dish towel at him when his words make you blush. He laughs.

"You're cute," you admit, shaking your head in amusement and sliding over a tray of done pastries for him to snack from. "But I know a losing battle when I see one."

"Losing battle?" His eyebrow arches, but his gaze is set on the pastries before he chooses an apple kolache.

"Mhm. From the couple of parties I've been invited to, courtesy of Gemma, those women- what do you call them, sweetbutts?- have all laid claim to the president." He scoffs, filling his mouth with food. "And let's not forget the ex who's been circling, pissing off your mom every other day."

Jax frowns as his eyes snap to you. "Tara? She botherin' you?"

"She's not bothering me," you tell him, chuckling softly. "I've just seen her around a couple of times out and about in Charming. She seems perfectly capable of checking her vehicle all on her own, but the second a kutte is within sight distance, she acts like an oblivious female who has no idea how to change a tire." You shrug. "Your mom saw it on one of our shopping excursions and called her out. There was a whole yelling match about old heartbreak and manipulative cunts."

"Jesus." Jax groans quietly. Then quickly collecting himself, he apologizes. "I'm so sorry you had to deal with their bullshit."

"Don't worry about it. I might not enjoy being dragged into drama, but I do love to watch it unfold. And your mother," you trail off, laughing. "She's the biggest shit stirrer I've ever met. I love it."

"You and my ma are going to be trouble, aren't 'ya?"

"Who, me?" You set your elbows on the metal tabletop, clasping your hands together and then setting your chin atop your clasped hands. Batting your eyelashes, you say, "But I'm just a lil' 'ol bakery owner from Texas. I don't got a mean bone in my body."

Jax snorts. "Bull. I heard how you southern women politely insult others by blessing their hearts or some shit."

You laugh and push off the table, heading to the sink to wash some dishes. "I'm still not getting into a catfight over you, Jackson. My fighting days are over."

"Yeah? We'll see about that."

His words make you freeze, and when you glance over your shoulder his smirk is enough to get your heart pounding.

Stupid Jax Teller and his pretty smile.

Over the next few months, Pretty Baked did excellent for being in such a small town such as Charming. In fact, it did so well that you were able to expand the shop's menu pretty early on, adding breakfast sandwiches, doughnuts, and bagels to it. People only had good things to say about your shop and work ethic that no one really said a word about you associating with the Sons of Anarchy. At least not to your face they didn't.

Surprisingly, Gemma became a constant fixture in your life. You got to know the Sons of Anarchy, most of whom you came to adore, and their clubhouse became a second home for Grimm and Reaper when you needed a dog sitter or one of the men wanted to hang out with your two beasts. You knew there was more to their motorcycle enthusiasts' schtick, but you never cared to figure out exactly what it was that they truly did. You got to hang out in their clubhouse, much to the sweetbutts' displeasure, and confuse the hell out of everyone when you and Jax would flirt but never take it any further than that.

Soon all anyone can talk about is the Taste of Charming, but you opt out of putting up your own booth since you wanted to enjoy the festivities before participating the following year. The various businesses around the small-town set up booths, either selling food or handmade goods to raise funds for their shops and/or the local schools. It was very family orientated, so you spoke to the Chamber of Commerce who was putting on the small festival to make sure it was okay to have your Great Danes with you. And after making sure they were well behaved and would be on leashes, they granted you your request.

After stuffing a backpack full of necessities for your dogs to look after them and pick up after them, you dress comfortably in a tank top and shorts, and drive out towards the center of town. And when you find parking, you clip on Grimm and Reaper's leashes, and take off exploring. Many people ooh and aww over your dogs, and you're very grateful that they're well behaved as strangers pet and ask to take pictures with them.

After you've explored and spent some cash at various booths, you find your way to the Teller-Morrow Automotive booth where Gemma is serving up bowls of chili.

"So this is the infamous chili I've been hearing about, huh?" You muse. You transfer both leashes into one hand, reaching over to grab a tortilla chip from Juice's plate to dip into his own bowl of chili. He squawks and you grin, tasting the chili for yourself. "Oh. That's good."

"Told you." You glance over at Gemma as she smirks. "Now do you wanna get your ass behind this booth and help out?"

"What do I do with Grimm and Reaper?"

"Hand them over, gorgeous. Uncle Tig wants some quality time with his nephews."

Laughing, you shake your head as the eccentric biker takes the leashes from your hand, proudly marching off with your dogs and Juice in tow. Then turning back to Gemma, you say, "Let me just wash up and then I'm all yours."

Since half the booths set up are selling food, there's been a portable washing station set up. You walk up to it, washing and sanitizing, and then putting on gloves so you can handle the food.

Gemma ends up taking a backseat to her own booth, filling up the bowls while you deal with the people. And with you at the front of the booth, it's a bit of a shock that more people stop by.

"Typical," Gemma scoffs when there's a lull in the crowd. "I serve the food and we just get our regulars who have no issues with the club. You serve and everyone suddenly flocks to the booth."

You grin at the moody woman. "At least the club is pulling in some cash. Maybe this time you can actually beat the Fire Department."

Gemma glances at the booth in question, sneering at the firefighters who are grilling it up next to the police department's booth. "Yeah. Maybe."

You chuckle and then get back to work when a couple more individuals walk up to try the chili.

"What are you doing working the booth?" You glance up at the question, smiling at Jax standing there in his kutte, white tee and jeans. "I thought you wanted to explore."

"I did and then I decided to try your mom's chili. She roped me in."

"She's good at getting people to do her bidding."

You shrug. "It's fine. Tig and Juice took the dogs off my hands, and I was happy to help." Jax steps aside as a customer walks up, watching you smile and talk to the customer as politely as possible. "Where's everyone else?" You ask once the customer has walked off with their food.

Jax leans against the booth, accepting a bowl of chili from Gemma before dropping a bill into the tips container. "Around. Bobby volunteered at the dunking booth to raise money for the school, so Chibs and Happy are spending their cash trying to dunk him." You laugh. "And Opie's around here somewhere with his wife and kids."

"And then there's lil' 'ol you walking around all on your lonesome," you tease.

"I wouldn't be alone if someone would abandon their duties to a certain booth and walk around with me."

"And leave Gem all on her lonesome?" You gasp. "Never."

"Jax, leave YN alone," Gemma says. "She's the only reason all these new people are approaching the booth. Go bother someone else."

He rolls his eyes, grinning all the while. "Whatever you say, ma." Then looking at you, he winks. "I'll come back for you later. Don't leave."

"Yeah, yeah." And before Jax can leave, you say, "Hey, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"In my backpack, there are some collapsible bowls for Grimm and Reaper. Can you take them to Tig so he can give them water? I'm sure he's fed them anything he can get his hands on around here."

Jax chuckles. "Sure thing, darlin'."

After a couple more hours, the crowds start to thin when the sun dips in the sky and Gemma decides to call it a day. She has Half-Sack and Juice clean out the pots and utensils, and then has them dismantle the booth to stash away in the van while they continue to make their presence known around the festivities. Gemma sticks around Bobby as he counts the money the booth made, so Jax pulls you away to have a bit more fun. He tucks you under his arm so your arm closest to him slides around the back of his waist, and then the two of you are off browsing booths that are still standing.

There's a booth dedicated to the Elementary School that's selling friendship bracelets and other beaded bracelets that have different charms on them. The black beaded bracelets catch your attention, and you carefully peer at what charms the bracelets hold.

"Oh hey," you say when one bracelet catches your attention. "Look at the little skulls." You reach for the bracelet in question, stepping away from Jax so you can look for more. Every small bead on the bracelet is black, with the exception of a single white skull charm sitting in the middle. "I'm taking it."

Jax grins. "You a fan of skulls?"

"I'm a fan of lots of things," you tell him. There's another black beaded bracelet, but the single charm on this one is an iridescent lotus flower charm. You gasp in delight, excited when you find a second lotus flower bracelet so you can gift to Emma. Then grabbing a blue threaded friendship bracelet for Todd, you hand over the four bracelets to the booth attendant so you can purchase them.

"Seven dollars," the woman kindly tells you as she places the bracelets in a small paper bag.

And before you can reach into your pocket for the bit of cash you were carrying around, Jax hands over a ten dollar bill while grabbing your bracelets in return. "Keep the change, sweetheart."

The woman blushes as she stutters out a thank you, and then Jax is steering you away as he hands you the paper bag. You gently shove your elbow into his side, shaking your head at him. "You didn't have to do that, but thank you."

"Of course." He smirks down at you before once again you find yourself under his arm.

You walk around a bit more, buying candy apples for both yourself and Jax, and then Jax buying you a flower crown that has cascading multicolor ribbons that would go down your back from the florist booth. You spot Tig when you're walking around, happily chilling with your dogs still so you leave him be. And then when you make your way back to Gemma, she's looking far too smug while staring at the glowering members of the fire department.

"What's going on?" Jax asks.

Bobby looks up, chuckling. "Guess which booth just put an end to the fire department's reign of smugness?"

Jax laughs. "No way. We finally made more money than them?"

"Sure did," Gemma muses. "And we got our favorite little baker to thank for that."

You blush when she smirks at you, but before anything else can be said, someone's talking into a microphone atop a stage in the middle of all the festivities.

"Attention Charming residents," a man says, "this year, we decided to add a little more fun competition to the schedule and give out a little extra cash to the businesses who keep our little town on the map." Many people whoop and cheer. "It's a game of karaoke. Each booth vendor can send up one person to play for them and the winner will take home an extra five hundred dollars!"

As the people cheer, your jaw drops. "Holy shit."

"You can say that again," Bobby says.

"The karaoke game is a Finish the Lyrics game. We're going to play ten songs- songs that can be from any year or may be entirely from this year, no one knows except the one in control of the music- and the first to buzz in and sing at least ten seconds of the song gets a point towards whichever shop they're playing for."

"Fuck," Jax swears. "Who do we have that knows at least every genre of music?"

"There's Juice," Bobby grumbles. "He's into all this new age shit."

"Nah. He's into all that alternative shit. I doubt they'll play enough of it for him to pull out a win."

You chew on your bottom lip, not saying a word as you glance at the stage. Emma, the teenager who works for you at Pretty Baked, is standing behind a laptop and tapping keys here and there. When she glances up, she meets your gaze and smirks. She winks and then gestures to the microphone stands being set up on stage, conveying she thinks that you should play. You sigh and then glance back at Gemma and Jax who are still conversing about the extra cash when some of the boys from the fire department and police department pass by, knocking their shoulder into Bobby.

"Better luck next time, biker trash." Someone from the fire department sneers.

"Looks like we're gonna surpass your shitty little auto club again with this win," another one says.

Jax lunges for the fireman, but suddenly Happy and Chibs appear out of nowhere, catching him. The men from the fire department and police department laugh, heading for the stage.

"Are these the only participants joining us up here?" The man in charge of the game says. There's only three contestants standing around- one from the PD, one from the FD, and a teen girl from the florists booth.

You catch Emma's eye again and she gestures to the contestants, widening her eyes to urge you to play. You close your eyes, raising a hand as you shout, "I'm in!"

To be continued..

#jax teller x reader #jax teller imagine #sons of anarchy imagine #soa imagine #sons of anarchy #soa #jax teller #gemma teller morrow

[buckyhoney]

𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: this will probably be my last chris fic for a bit, i kinda have no motivation to write for him at the moment... inspired by golden hour by kasey muscgraves, this is very self indulgent too, i love writing fics like this

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: domestic!chris evans x reader

𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐬/𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤/𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 & 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝!

𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭/𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐬!

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: fluff, domestic shit, cheeky ass smack, thats it, sorry for any missed typos!

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: 562

The empty glasses are placed in the sink, next to the dishes. The counters are whipped clean, and the leftover roasted potatoes and steak are stacked in the glass tupperware in the fridge.

After the long week, neither of you could manage to dress up and walk out into the spotlight again. Opting out for the quieter setting of your much-needed date night, moved to the living room.

All the stresses of the week were put aside for a couple hours while the two of you get time alone together. The comfortable silence and occasional yawns signal the end of the night- even the stove clock says nine forty-five.

"Come on, bubba." While whistling to Dodger, you turn off the bluetooth speaker and the lights.

The hallways leading to the bedroom are plastered with frames- pictures of friends and family. The minimalistic decor and personalized touches made the home feel warm and relaxing- something both of you craved.

The pup lays on the plush bed at the foot of the bed frame. Chris plugs in his phone and hands your purse that he grabbed on the way to the room.

The faint glow from the end table lamps cause your eyes to fall heavier and make you yawn. Chris walks into the on-suite bathroom turning on the shower, while you follow close behind.

Discarding his t-shirt and sweatpants, Chris opens the shower door before stepping inside.

The banter begins, recapping the night- retelling your favorite moments from the stand-up comedy specials and reruns of sitcoms you both enjoyed.

Laughing throughout the entirety of his shower and your nighttime hair care and skincare routine- reminding you that bedtime was your favorite part of the day.

Both of you unwind from the day and relaxing on the bed or on the couch.

"You could join me, ya know!" Chris laughs, rinsing out the shampoo from his hair.

"I would, but I already showered this morning!" You laugh, applying the last bit of your moisturizer.

"Not fair! We haven't showered together in a while!" The comment makes you chuckle to yourself, as the last time the two of you showered together was only a couple days ago.

Chris turns the dial and turns the water off.

"Next time," You smile as you peck his lips.

The towel hangs loosely around his hips as he walks into the closet. Drying off and putting on a fresh pair of sweats.

When walking behind you to go to bed, Chris couldn't help himself. His palm found itself on your ass, giving you a cheeky smack.

"Keep those hands above the belt!" You playful call back, putting away the rest of your things.

Chris laughs as he climbs into bed, situating himself against the headboard with the array of pillows of various sizes surrounding him.

Changed and ready for bed, you join Chris underneath the covers. Your eyes seem heavier as the light on his end turns off and the exhaustion hits you.

The small light from your phone is all that is left as Chris reaches over you to turn your light off for you.

"Bedtime, you have to be up early, you need sleep." He says, motioning to your phone- that's barely hanging from your fingers.

Yawning, you turn around to place your phone on the end table.

"C'mere," He mumbles, pulling your body towards his.

#chris evans #chris evans smut #chris evans x reader #chris evans fluff #chris evans x female reader #chris evans imagine #chris evans drabble #chris evans angst #chris evans headcanon #chris evans blurb #chris evans x y/n #chris evans x ofc #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers #steve rogers smut #steve roger blurb #steve rogers x female reader #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers fluff #steve rogers headcanon #steve rogers angst

[selfindulgentpoorlywritten]

Surprise

Okay I’m soooo late, I’m sorry! This is my submission for @antoineroussel ‘s Summer Fic Exchange! I managed to dislocate my shoulder (again) and then get myself and half my house sick in the last week, so I’m so grateful for Demi and Emma’s patience <3  @leafs-forever , I hope you enjoy!

Rating: T (language)

Pairing: Kirby Dach/Reader

Words: 1599

Warnings: None

Summary: You and Kirby get ready for the NHL Awards.

Luckily, you had started getting ready before Kirby got home. You’re used to getting ready beside him, but it takes you longer to prepare for a fancy event. Getting dolled up isn’t as easy as people make it out to be.

By the time he gets home, you’ve already showered and are in the process of doing your hair. You keep it simple, just cleaning it up a bit and putting in some product to make it shine for the cameras. You can hear Kirby moving around, hanging up his bag and probably grabbing a glass of water. With the amount of water that boy drinks, you’d think he’d live in the bathroom.

“Hey, baby,” he greets when the two of you meet in the bedroom. He plants a lingering kiss on your lips, smile soft and relieved as he looks into your eyes. That look never fails to make your heart melt, touched by the way that he feels relaxed and safe around you.

You’ve been together for quite a few years, which is probably how you move around each other so easily. He strips and throws his clothes into the hamper on his way to the shower, and you take the opportunity to smack his ass as he passes by. He jumps and tries to give you a scolding look, but the smile glued to his face gives him away.

Needing to shower multiple times in a day has made him quick with it, so he’s out in time to zip your dress. You’ve already put your jewelry on, just a classy silver necklace-bracelet combo and a few different sized fashion rings. You like the way that they sit at different parts of your fingers, highlighting your hands and making your fingers look long and elegant.

You had tried to convince Kirby to wear something interesting, rather than just a plain black suit. It had kind of worked. The suit was still black, but it had a black satin trim with a subtle pattern that gave the whole look a little something special. The NHL Awards is supposed to be a fancy event, so he didn’t want to do anything too crazy.

You’d been to the award ceremony a couple times before, when teammates and friends had won honors. This was the first time Kirby himself was getting one, and you’re beyond proud. The Art Ross was a huge deal, and it was amazing to have Kirby officially alongside the likes of Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux.

Once your dress is zipped, you head back into the bathroom to do your makeup. You know it’ll have to be a bit more dramatic and involved to show well on the cameras, so you take your time to get it right. You chat with Kirby through the door as he finishes air drying on the bed, sharing about your days as you usually do when you’re both home.

He’s half dressed by time you finish your makeup, fanning your face to make your setting spray dry faster. You head out into the kitchen to get yourself some water and kill a few minutes until Kirby finishes dressing and doing his hair.

“Can you grab my cufflinks, please?” He calls from the bathroom, “They’re in my bag.” You shout back an affirmative, making your way to the entryway.

His bag hangs next to yours, so you take it down, sitting on the floor to root through it. While your bag is organized neatly so that you can find things easily, Kirby’s backpack is a disaster. You take out clothes, push past empty Tupperware containers, finally finding a velvet box all the way at the bottom. It isn’t until you’ve pulled it out that you realize it’s far too small to be a cufflink case. Plus, you see an appropriately sized box leaning against a notebook at the bottom.

First things first, you grab the larger box to check inside. The cuff links are there, so you set it aside to bring to him. You take a few deep breaths to calm your suddenly racing heart. It doesn’t work. The weight of the small box in your hand feels immense, and lifting the lid is a Herculean effort.

The ring is silver, or maybe platinum or palladium. There are two gemstones as the centerpiece, a garnet and sapphire, entwined with a twisting infinity symbol that morphs into the band. His and your favorite stones, tied together perfectly. It’s beautiful.

That motherfucker.

Yes, you’re happy that he’s planning to propose, ecstatic even. Kirby is the love of your life, and you’ve intended to be with him as long as he’ll allow, ring or not. But yeah, the ring is a nice assurance.

Back to why he’s an asshole. He’s had this ring in his bag for who knows how long. Are you mad that he hasn’t already proposed? No. That he’s given no hint that this was coming? Nah. You’re mad because the ring you got for him has been sitting in your underwear drawer for weeks, and this jerk was going to beat you to the punch. Steal your thunder. Well, he’s got another thing coming.

You’ve been waiting for just the right moment to pop the question, and if you’re being honest with yourself, you’ve been procrastinating out of anxiety. Yeah, he’s your soulmate, but there’s still that annoying bit of fear that he could possibly say no. You’d thought about proposing tonight after the ceremony, or maybe behind the scenes after he received his award. You can’t seem to remember why you decided against it.

You pocket the ring box and shove everything back into his bag. Maybe you shouldn’t have sat on the floor in your dress, but you can always have Kirby dust you off if needed. Before you go to him, you open your top drawer as quietly as you can manage. You know exactly where the box is, so it only takes a second to grab.

Your heart is nearly beating out of your chest as you take another steadying breath on your way to the bathroom. He turns to you when you enter, hair fluffy and suit slightly rumpled. Even after all your time together, he still takes your breath away.

“Thank you, love,” he says when you hand him the cufflink case. He turns back to the mirror to check his hair one last time, before looking down to focus on getting his cuffs properly buttoned. You take a step to the right to ensure that you’re out of his line of sight, carefully adjusting your skirt as you go to one knee.

“You ready?” he asks, turning to where you were just standing. His left hand freezes where it’s tugging his shirt cuff into place, mouth falling open slightly when he sees you on the floor. You raise the box in your shaking hands, forgetting everything you’d been planning to say for the past month.

“Yeah,” you say instead, “I’m ready.” You open the box to present the ring, hoping you don’t sweat your makeup off in anticipation.

“Me too,” he replies, smiling as wide as you’ve ever seen. You’re glad that you don’t have your heels on yet, because you spring up from the ground to wrap him in your arms. Your smiles make kissing difficult, but you can’t seem to stop, anyway. You bury your face in his neck after, glad you’d used a lot of setting spray. A makeup faceprint on his suit would be kind of funny, but probably wouldn’t look the best.

“So, do I get that ring at some point, or?” Kirby teases. You punch his shoulder lightly.

“I don’t know, do I get an official yes?” you quip back, already taking the ring out of the holder.

“Yes, you do,” he says confidently, “And yes, I do.” You have to kiss him again for that one. The ring fits perfectly when you slide it onto his finger, hoping he can feel the garnet embedded into the inside of the black band. He kisses you once more afterward, and you can tell he’s squealing with joy on the inside just as much as you are.

“I have to go grab something,” he says, pulling away, “You’re not gonna believe this.” He doesn’t get two steps away before you grab his hand, turning him back toward you. You pull the second ring box out of your pocket, going for a smug smile but probably just looking like a dork.

“You mean this?” you ask, reveling in his shocked expression. Now it’s his turn to punch your shoulder, laughing brightly.

“You’re the worst!” he says, grinning nevertheless. He snatches the box out of your hand while you laugh.

“Turn around,” he orders, “I gotta surprise you too!” You only laugh harder at that, barely able to force yourself to settle as he turns you by the shoulders to face the opposite direction. Once he says “okay”, you turn back to him, giving the most over dramatic performance of your life as you act surprised. You’re both laughing too much for him to get much out, though you’re sure he had a planned speech too.

The ring sliding over your skin is an amazing feeling, but nothing compares to the way he wraps his arms around you once again, resting your foreheads together. You lose track of time looking into his eyes, amazed that you’ve somehow managed to find someone so perfect for you.

Now you have to call your mom so she doesn’t find out through an article. Oops.

#kirby dach imagine #nhl imagines #RI #andis coping mechanism #this is the only time I will ever write for the hawks #please do not ask me to write for them #this is a special circumstance 😂

[5-seconds-of-bucky]

December (Part 1)

A/N: Here’s my fic for @wondershawns winter writing challenge! It’s kinda Christmasy but not like a ton so do what you will with that information. Anyways, happy reading! Please let me know your thoughts! There will be a part two (and maybe three 🤭)

Summery: Shawn’s in love with you, his best friend. When Connor starts giving you the same looks he does, Shawn worries that he might lose you to someone else. 

Word count: 3.9k+

Warnings: Swearing, angst

Prompts: The smell of freshly baked cookies and “You know you’re in love with her, right?”

Shawn lit another candle as he waited for everyone to show up at his condo. It set the perfect comfy mood for the small gathering he was hosting. There was a batch of cookies in the oven, the lights on the Christmas tree were on, and various holiday decor was strewn throughout the condo. It was the first day of December, his favorite day of the year: cookie night.

Every year, Shawn hosted a small party where everyone exchanged cookies and hung out until they ate so much they couldn’t move. It was one of his favorite Christmas traditions and he looked forward to the day all year long.

He was getting snacks out when there was a sharp knock at the door. He couldn’t even put down the bag of pretzels he was pouring into a bowl before the door was slammed shut and Brian appeared from around the corner.

“Good lord, how many candles do you own?” he asked, vaguely gesturing to the numerous candles scattered around the kitchen.

“Not enough to keep away that stench of whatever you brought in. What is that?” Shawn replied, scrunching up his face.

“Deviled eggs.”

“Gross.”

“You said to bring food to share. This is my food in a shareable size.” Brian insisted, sliding the plate of cookies Shawn made out of the way so the platter could be in the center of the counter.

“First of all, get that disgusting thing away from my cookies.” Shawn took the platter over to a far away corner of the kitchen. “And second of all, you’re the only one who likes that crap so there was no reason to bring so many.”

“You said shareable-” He was cut off by the ring of the doorbell, making Shawn laugh.

“Would you look at that. Someone has manners and rang the doorbell,” Shawn commented as he made his way to the door. “Y/N, great to see you! Thank you for using the doorbell like a decent person.”

“Hello!” you said from behind the tupperware containers piled in front of your face. “I brought cookies!”

Shawn chuckled as he took the top three containers from you, revealing a bright smile and the top of a Christmas themed sweater. You looked over his shoulder and saw Brian eating something while staring at you with a blank look on his face.

“Brian, what is that?” You stepped inside and Shawn closed the door behind you.

“Deviled eggs,” he said through a mouthful.

“Gross.” You made a face similar to the one Shawn made just minutes before.

“You’re gross.”  

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him either,” Shawn said, nudging Brian out of the way with his shoulder and leading you to the kitchen.

“Holy shit, how many cookies did you make?” you asked, wide eyed as you took in sight of the insane amount of cookies covering the counter.

“Less than I was originally planning, actually,” he laughed. “Quality over quantity, right?” He turned around right as the cookie timer went off, grabbing some potholders and taking the tray out of the oven.

“I mean, I’m not complaining.” You put your tupperware down and reached for a snickerdoodle, knowing that if you were going to eat your weight in cookies, you might as well start early.

“Hands off. We have to wait until everyone’e here.”

“How did you even know I was grabbing one?”

“We’ve been friends for seven years. I’d be more surprised if I didn’t know you were grabbing one.” He turned off the oven and turned around to see that you had already eaten half a snickerdoodle.

“Brian’s eating eggs.” You pointed to Brian, who’d taken a seat at the table and was distracted by something on his phone.

“Nobody else is going to eat that shit though. The cookies are to share.” He gave you a knowing look that did absolutely nothing to make you feel bad about what you were doing.

“I guess I’ll just put it back on top of the pile then,” you teased as you slowly moved your arm to put the half-eaten delicacy back on the plate.

“Disgusting! Finish the damn cookie, would you?” Shawn rolled his eyes playfully and moved the plate away from you, knowing that you’d want to sneak more when he wasn’t looking.

The doorbell rang as you made a face at Shawn, who was busy trying not to laugh as he moved the cookies from the oven to a cooling rack.

“I’ll get it.” You shoved the last bite of cookie in your mouth and dusted your hands off on your jeans.

“Y/N!” Connor said once you opened the door, hands holding a small box of cookies he’d obviously bought at the store. He brought you in for a quick hug and shuffled into the condo. “Good to see you!”

“Good to see you, too! Long time, no see.” You followed him to the kitchen and stood back and he greeted Brian and Shawn.

“Store bought cookies?” Shawn looked at Connor with disbelief. “I said BYOBG. Bring your own baked goods.”

“At least he bought the good ones,” Brian said as he placed his plate in the sink.

“See, I put in some effort,” Connor said. “Ooh, deviled eggs!”

“Hey, those are mine!” Brian swatted his hand away from the plate.

“I thought they were to share,” Shawn said matter of factly.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think any of you actually liked them.”

“Sharing is caring,” was all Connor said before he popped one into his mouth. All Brian could do was grumble something about how much he hated it here.

----

Two hours went by before Shawn realized that he forgot to get goldfish: an essential snack of every gathering at his place.

“Shawn, how could you forget the fucking goldfish? It’s the second most important part of the cookie extravaganza!” You exclaimed, dramatically throwing an arm over your forehead as you huffed in frustration. “I just might pass away from this travesty.”

“Yeah, Shawn. How could you?” Connor asked jokingly from his spot next to you on the couch. He placed his arm around you and rubbed your shoulder comfortingly. Shawn’s eyes squinted the slightest bit at the sight of it, a sudden urge of protectiveness coming over him. Since when did Connor get to do that to you?

“I am simply devastated.” You leaned into Connor’s shoulder, pretending to cry.

“Don’t worry, Y/N. I’ll get you some goldfish.” Connor stood up and grabbed his keys off the coffee table.

“My hero!” You jumped up from the couch, a cheesy smile on your face.

“You sure you want to drive all the way to the store for goldfish?” Shawn asked, trying his best to mask the sudden jealousy he was feeling.

“I mean, the store’s five minutes away. It’s no big deal.” Connor shrugged, grabbing his coat and tossing yours to you. “We’ll be back in no time.”

You waved goodbye at Shawn and Brian as you walked out through the door Connor opened for you. You sent a wink to Shawn before closing it, making his cheeks go pinker than their usual tint.

“Smooth,” Brian commented once he heard the start of the car engine outside.

“Shut up.” Shawn chose to bury his face in his phone rather than walk into the conversation he knew was coming. It was the same one they had every time you made Shawn weak in the knees.

“You know you’re in love with her, right?”

Shawn kept his eyes on the game he was playing, knowing that this was going to end the same way it always did: Brian telling Shawn about every little thing that makes it obvious that he likes you and Shawn telling Brian about every little thing that made him think the exact opposite.

“She literally winked at you and you looked like you were about to pass out. Not to mention, you looked hella jealous once Connor got within a foot of her.”

“She called him her fucking hero for getting gooldfish. Since when are they even that close of friends?” Shawn grumbled.

“You could’ve offered to go get some.”

“I didn’t get the chance to before he did.”  

“Well stop gumbling. Connor’s not gonna steal your not-so girlfriend so get over yourself and let the two responsible adults get their goldfish.”

Shawn mimicked the last part under his breath and Brian took it as a sign to stop talking and let Shawn sulk. He would realize sooner or later that you were just as in love with him as he was with you.

Twenty minutes passed and Shawn started to feel a tinge of worriedness seep into the back of his mind. The store was literally three and a half minutes away so was it really taking you 14 minutes to find goldfish?

Brian seemed completely unbothered by the amount of time the other half of the party had been out. Whatever video he was watching was apparently much more interesting than the whereabouts of Connor and Shawn’s not-so girlfriend.

23 minutes. Still nothing.

Shawn put his phone on the coffee table and ran a hand through his hair. “What’s taking them so long?” he asked, hoping that the concern in his head wasn’t as clear in his voice.

“They probably had to get gas or something.”  

“That doesn’t take that long though. They’ve been gone for almost half an hour.” His foot started to bounce.

“They’re 20 years old. I’m sure they can handle themselves.”

“I’m gonna call Y/N.” His phone was pressed up to his ear in less than twenty seconds, anxiously waiting for you to pick up and laugh at him for being so worried. That’s all he needed: to hear your laugh.

“Yo,” you said as you picked up the phone, already knowing the exact reason as to why Shawn was calling.

“You guys are taking a while. You alright?” You could picture him pacing around the living room as Brian sat there and did nothing. Brian tended to be more rational in these kinds of situations (not that you minded Shawn calling, though).

“We’re fine,” you reassured him. “The store was out of goldfish so we had to go somewhere else. Guess they took a play outta your book.”

Shawn sighed in relief. “You almost back?”

“Turning onto your street right now. See you in a minute, Mr. Protective.”

“Alrighty.” He hung up to tease you, knowing how much you hated ending phone calls without saying goodbye. His phone rang almost immediately and he smiled to himself.

“You bitch. You didn’t say bye.”

“Bye.” He hung up again, laughing as he heard a car door slam shut.

The door to his condo opened to reveal you holding a giant tub of goldfish and a very pissed off look covering your features.

“You are the actual worst person ever.” You glared at him and sat down next to Brian, opening the tub and eating a handful before offering some to Brian, who stuck his hand in without a word. Your friendship with Brian was a strange one, but Shawn had to admit that your wordless communication when food was involved was impressive.

Connor appeared in the doorway, chuckling when he saw you staring straight ahead, like you were in a trance, as you ate the fish one by one. “Let’s get this party started for real this time!”

Shawn didn’t miss the look of adoration in Connor’s eyes as he looked at you.

---

The rest of the night felt off to Shawn. Maybe it was the twelve cookies he ate earlier or maybe it was the fact that he could not tear his eyes off of how close you were to Connor.

Usually, you and Shawn were attached at the hip. That’s just how your relationship was: heads on shoulders and hands on the smalls of backs; platonic. Seven years of friendship meant that you were quite comfortable around each other. Too comfortable, almost. The line between platonic and romantic was blurred for the two of you, and it only seemed to get blurrier as you spent more time together.

But tonight was different. Tonight, you were all over Connor and Connor was all over you. Not like how you and Shawn usually were, but more than what basic friends would be like. You were never like that with Brian. Why were you like it with Connor?

He kept his thoughts to himself until he was grabbing a glass of water when Brian came out of the bathroom.

“You alright?” Brian asked. “You look a little mad.”

“Yeah, I’m . . . I’m fine.” He stared straight ahead, watching as water filled the glass.

“You sure? You’ve been cold to Y/N all night. That’s pretty unusual.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not acting cold. I’m being room temperature”

“Okay.” Brian gave him a look as he walked away that made Shawn think that maybe he hadn’t been hiding his jealousy as well as he originally thought.

I’m not acting strange, he thought to himself as he took a sip from his glass. I’m not even jealous. It’s her life. What do I care who she hangs out with?

His thoughts were disproven as soon as he walked into the living room and almost spit out the water in his mouth. Jealousy and hurt surged through his body as he saw you lying asleep on Connor’s lap. Since when were you that close with Connor? And since when did Connor look at you like that? Why was he giving you the same longing look that Shawn gave you every time you turned around?

“You guys look tired,” he said, nodding to the clock that read 12:23 p.m. “We should probably call it a night.”

Brian and Connor hummed in agreement and Shawn tried his best not to stare as Connor softly shook you awake. He turned to go back to the kitchen and grab the tupperware full of leftover cookies you divided up earlier to take home.

You sleepily stumbled over to Shawn as Brian and Connor got their coats, leaning against his side for a second before taking the container from his hands.

“Thanks for the party. It was a lot of fun, even if you forgot the goldfish.”

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that,” he chuckled, wrapping an around you and squeezing you into him. “But I’m glad you had fun. I did too.”

“We need to hang out soon. I feel like it’s been a while since it was just us, you know?”

He nodded in agreement, already thinking of the next free day he had to do so. “You need a ride home? I don’t want you walking back by yourself this late.”

“Oh, Connor’s gonna take me so you don’t have to go out of your way. Thank you though.”

“Oh, okay.” Hard as he tried, he couldn’t hide the disappointment. Taking you back home was something he cherished, even if it was slightly inconvenient. “Text me when you get home, alright?”

“You know I will.” You pressed a kiss to his cheek. “See you later, alligator.”

“In a while, crocodile.” He forced a laugh. Just like that, what had been an okay night turned into one that would plague his mind for weeks.

---

It was three weeks before the two of you hung out after the party.

Three weeks of Shawn trying to distance himself in order to figure out his feelings: ignoring texts, staying off of social media, letting your calls go to voicemail. Three weeks for him to come to the conclusion that you didn’t have feelings for him in return. Three weeks for him to believe that you had feelings for Connor.

Three weeks of you trying to close the distance he was creating. Three weeks for you to worry that Shawn didn’t have feelings for you. Three weeks for you to decide that if he didn’t want to be around you anymore, he was going to have to say it to your face.

Truth was, you thought you had made it very clear that you wanted more than the friendship you had. For years, you watched as Shawn brushed off every flirtatious comment and relative approach to something more than platonic. You were even sure that he wanted more too; That he didn’t want to sit on the line between platonic and romantic any longer. But now, you weren’t so sure.

So you showed up unannounced at his door, praying that once he opened it, he wouldn’t slam it right back in your face.

Shawn was definitely surprised when he opened the white piece of wood and saw you standing there, a bag of goldfish in your hands and an apprehensive look covering your face, but he didn’t slam it back in your face.

“Hey,” you said nervously, glancing up at the beautiful brown eyes you knew so well. “You wanna, uh, hang out?”

“Yeah. I . . . uh . . . sure.” He stepped out of the way to let you in, closing the door softly behind you and following you to the couch.

“Your house still smells like cookies right out of the oven,” you laughed.

“I’m making some right now, actually. I ate all the leftovers from the party.”

“Me too. They were gone in like three days.”

“Wanna help make the next batch?”

“Yes!”

And just like that, the awkwardness that filled the space of the last three weeks evaporated into thin air.

---

The hours flew by and before you knew it, it was seven o’clock and you needed to be getting home. As much as you wanted to keep talking, your assignments weren’t going to complete themselves.

“Alright,” you put your mug of hot chocolate down and took the Christmas llama blanket you gave him for Christmas last year off your lap. “I should probably head on home.”

“Let me grab my keys.” He knew you’d deny his request to drive you home, but it was cold outside and there was no way he was letting you walk home alone at night either.

“I am perfectly capable of walking home.”

“And it’s December in Canada. No fucking way am I letting you walk home.”

“Oh come on, it’s not even that cold.”

“Y/N.”

“We can look at Christmas lights!”

“We can do that in the car.”

“It’s more of an experience when you’re walking.”

He sighed and begrudgingly grabbed his thickest coat from the closet, causing you to jump up with glee.

“You owe me.” He grabbed a hoodie off the chair next to the door and passed it to you, giving you a look that said you needed to put it on.

“You’re the bestest friend ever!”

His smile faltered at ‘friend’.

“You could say that.”

After forcing a few more layers on you and making sure he had his phone and keys, you were out the door and starting the five minute walk to your apartment.

Maybe the cold was numbing his common sense or maybe it was the number of cookies he ate earlier, but it felt like the right time to tell you how he felt. It felt like the right time but there was one thing plaguing his mind that told him to stop:

Connor.

“So . . .” You tore your eyes from the house to your left at the sound of his voice, eyes just as bright as the lights displayed in front of it. “I see that you’ve been hanging out with Connor a lot more.”

“Yeah. We haven’t really hung out that much before but after cookie night he asked if I wanted to go around the city with him while he took some photos and I was like ‘why not?’ and we became pretty good friends.”

“You’re not into him?”

“Pfft, no,” you laughed, thinking he just made a joke. “No, I’m not into Connor. We’re just friends.”

“You sure?” he pushed, images from the party flashing through his mind. His tone wasn’t joking but that’s all you seemed to hear. “You can tell me, you know.”

“There’s nothing going on between Connor and I. I promise.” You nudged his shoulder with a grin and kicked at the snow on the sidewalk. As infectious as your smile was, Shawn couldn’t bring himself to turn the corners of his lips upwards even the slightest bit.

“Sure as hell looks like it,” he muttered under his breath. He kept his eyes on the ground but he could feel your head snap up at the comment.

“Shawn,” You stopped walking, grabbing his arm and forcing him to look at you. “I am not into Connor, okay? Never have been, never will be.”

“Really?” Shawn gently pulled his arm from your grasp. “Because he’s obviously in love with you.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Connor is not in love with me! And even if he was, how would you know?”

“I’ve seen the looks he gives you, Y/N. I’m not blind.”

“What look, Shawn? What look does Connor give me that just absolutely gives it away that he’s in love with me, huh? What obvious looks have I failed to notice for all this time?”

“I know because they’re the exact same looks I give you!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands in frustration. “And the looks you give him and not the same ones you give me.”

You bit your lip, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to escape your eyes. No, they weren’t the same looks. You looked at Connor like your friend. You looked at Shawn like the love of your life.

“I can’t do this,” you whispered, shaking your head. “I . . . I  can’t do this.” You unzipped the coat he made you put on before you left and tossed it at his feet before removing his hoodie, leaving you in just your sweater and light jacket.

You met his eyes one last time, the pain in his mirroring the devastation in yours. With that, you spun on the heel of your boot and started walking home, leaving Shawn standing there, stunned in the snow.

You didn’t get far before Shawn snapped out of his trance, realizing that you were out in the Canada cold without nearly enough protection against it.

“Y/N, wait! You’re going to get sick, or freeze, or worse!” he called out, hoping you would at least come back for the coat and he could look at you one last time. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m an idiot and I didn’t mean it!”

You didn’t turn around so he decided to go to you, picking the now snow covered hoodie off the ground and jogging towards you.

Your patience wore thinner with every step of his you hear getting closer to you.

“Stop following me!” You turned around and all Shawn saw was the absolute heartbreak held by your eyes. “How dare you accuse me of this shit when I’m obviously in love with you!”

Shawn stumbled and stopped, mere steps away from taking your arm leading you back inside where it was warm and you were safe.  

“Merry fucking Christmas, Shawn,” you spat, giving him the dirtiest look you could muster and bolting away.

He knew that he messed up. He knew you were beyond angry and hurt. That you wouldn’t text when you got home. That there was no saving this.

December is a month for hope and love, but hope as he might, Shawn knew that you had no love left for him.

December was almost over, but his mind would be stuck in it forever.

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[noladyme]

La Cuervo - Chapter 13

She is used to the biker-life, having grown into a woman in the familiar embrace of SAMCRO. A bad decision and a gun-shot later, she gets whisked off to Santo Padre, and put under the protection of another club. What is supposed to be a short stint in the Mayan headquarters just north of the border to Mexico, turns into something more; when la quervo begins to develop feelings for el angel - and he seems to return them in kind...

TW: violence, blood, drug use, alcohol, smut, fluff, angst

In the spirit of "The Crown Princess of Charming", this is a story about O.C. Nina and Angel Reyes. It is obviously non-canon, as characters who have passed on on Mayans M.C. are present in it, and others have been excluded completely. Nina is written as a cis-female, but I have tried to keep her race and looks as ambigous as possible. Should you find any of this story offensive, please let me know.

13.

Angel snuck out just after dawn; leaving Nina feeling sated, happy and loved. He refused to use the shower in the trailer, and instead headed for home; before he was meant to be back at the yard later in the morning.

It was bittersweet to kiss him goodbye, knowing that when he came back later in the day, he would be ignoring her; and probably having his hands all over another woman. The crumbled sheets on the floor were the only sign she’d not spent the night in there alone. They’d slept there, as there was only room for one person on each cot; and Angel wouldn’t let her out of his arms. Nina bit her lip and smiled at the memory of how the badass biker had clung to her like a baby-monkey, all night; as they’d lain in their makeshift nest. He’d buried his face in the crook of her neck, and made her giggle as his beard tickled the tender skin there. They’d fallen asleep like that, with her cradling Angel's head; and him with his arms wrapped around Nina��s waist.

A tired looking Bishop came out of the clubhouse just as she came out of the trailer; feeling a little more prepared for another shitty day on the lot, after having had the night she’d had. The president gave her a slight smile, before climbing onto his bike, and driving out of the gate; probably going home to get a few hours of sleep.

Riz was seated by the bar, with a mug of coffee and a newspaper. He looked at her with a slight frown on his face. “Hey, Nina… That thing about telling Bishop about the night Angel came by…”, he began. “We’re good, Riz”, Nina said. “You were just following our president’s orders”. Riz chuckled a little. “Yeah, well; it looks like Bish has been bending his own rules…”, he said, and pointed to her neck. Nina spun around and looked in the mirror, discovering a hickey the size of a small planet. “Shit! Goddammit, Angel…”, she growled. “I gotta cover this. Daniella will be here later”.

She sprang into the bathroom, and got the small makeup-kit she’d left there for emergencies there. The cover-stick didn’t do much to erase the evidence of her nighttime escapades. “You could say someone else left it, if she asks”, Riz offered, having appeared in the doorway. Nina sighed, and stomped back behind the bar. Coco and Gilly came through the door just then, ready for work around the yard. “That doesn’t make sense. I don’t go anywhere else. Who would I meet?”, Nina said. “What’s the problem?”, Gilly asked. Nina tilted her head, and let him and Coco look at her neck. “Fucking Angel…”, Gilly grunted. “She did”, Riz chuckled. Nina shot him a venomous look, but couldn’t help but smirk. “Daniella’s gonna notice. This could royally screw with the plan”, Nina said. Coco shrugged. “Nah. I got you, ma’”, Coco said. “Say it was me”. “That’s sweet of you; but I’m not sure it’ll work”, Nina said. “Sure it will”, Coco said. “Give me a sec”.

He dug out his phone, dialing up a number “Letty… No, the last microwave burrito is mine… What was that ding? You already took it, didn’t you… Fuck… Forget it. Look; Niña’s with me now”. Nina’s jaw dropped. “Not, not for real. It’s for a thing with the club… Just spread the word. And don’t touch the… You ate that too… Jesus Christ, Leticia… Just do this for me, would you…? Thanks”. He hung up the call, and shrugged at Nina. “See. Easy”. “Thanks…”, Nina said quietly; still unsure what had just happened.

They sat down for a quick cup of coffee, when EZ came in the clubhouse, hand in hand with Gabriella. The smiling girl carried a Tupperware box of deliciousness as usual, and sat it down in front of Nina. “Once you get into a place that has a real kitchen, I’ll teach you how to make those”, she smiled, as she opened the lid to reveal tamales. “Thanks, Gaby”, Nina smiled embarrassedly. “But I think you’ll realize pretty fast that no kitchen could ever make me a chef. I burnt a cup of tea once”. Coco hooked a curious finger over the edge of the box, and pulled it closer; looking pleased that there was enough for more than one. “So, you are together now?”, Gaby asked. Nina’s jaw dropped, but Coco just shrugged. “Letty works fast”, he said, and nabbed a tamale. EZ was the only one in the room that looked confused, until Nina pointed towards her hickey. “Fucking Angel…”, the prospect sighed. “She did!”, Riz called out from over his newspaper. “It’s just… pretend”, Nina muttered. “What…? You don’t think you’re good enough for me?”, Coco asked with a crooked smile. Nina laughed, and nudged him with her shoulder.

---

In the late afternoon, the guys were all busy around the yard, and Angel and Creeper had taken the truck out to pick up a load of scrap in a nearby town; which is why Nina almost screamed, when suddenly a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist, as she was bent over a box of files in the front office. Angel pressed a kiss to the back of her neck, and turned her around in his grasp. “Fuck, you scared me!”, Nina said. “Sorry, mami”, Angel smirked. “You should be”, Nina smiled. “Don’t you know I killed a guy once?”. The more time had gone by, and distance she’d gotten to the night Gael died, she was able to joke about what had happened. It was sort of cathartic. Angel ran a hand down to cup her butt-cheek. “That pussy slays me every time”, he growled into her ear, before attacking her neck with kisses. “Angel, stop!”, Nina said. “Someone might see…”.

Creeper stepped inside, and chuckled at the sight of the two of them. “Living dangerously”, he said. “Camille needs the bathroom. She doesn’t like the one in the clubhouse”. “Camille is here?”, Nina gasped. “We picked her up at Vicky’s tunnel on the way back”, Angel said. As Creeper went outside again to get Camille, Nina tried to shrug Angel off. “It’s good, cuervo. She won’t talk”. Nina sighed, and let him give her a soft kiss.

Camille and Creeper came into the office. The red-head looked like she’d been through hell and back; with dark bruises up and down her arms, and a black eye. Nina had to bite her lips to keep from crying when she saw her. “It’s back there”, Angel said, and nodded his head in the direction of the bathroom. Camille nodded, and quietly slipped by them; limping slightly. “Oh my god…”, Nina rasped. “I did that”. Angel tightened his hold on her, and cupped her face with one hand. “No, you didn’t. You didn’t do anything wrong”. “But she’s… Did you look at her?”. She looked at Creeper. “Did she say anything?”. Creep simply shook his head sadly. Angel frowned, and took Nina’s hand.

He led her out of the office, and towards the clubhouse. “She’s gonna be ok”, he said, as Nina slipped out of the scrap yard shirt. As sat down by the bar with a cigarette, Angel got her a cold beer from the fridge, and sat down next to her; letting his hand rest on her thigh. “The doc said there’s no lasting injury”. “Maybe not to her body…”, Nina said. “But what she went through…”. She took a big sip of her beer, wiped her eye of a stray tear. Angel leaned forwards, and placed a gentle hand on the back of her neck, to kiss her forehead. “We’ll fix this. And Palo’s already agreed to pay Camille for what Sala did to her”. “He wasn’t alone… And money can’t fix shit like that…”, Nina croaked. “I know…”, Angel frowned. “And at some point, we’ll make all the Vatos pay”.

Creeper came into the clubhouse with Camille, and handed Angel the keys to the truck. “I’m gonna take her home”, he said. “Tell Bish I’ll be back later”. “Yeah”, Angel replied. Nina got on her feet, and walked over to Camille. She met the woman’s eyes, and let out a deep breath. “I am so sorry…”, she said. “I can’t even…”. Camille shook hear head, and dropped her gaze. “No… Don’t feel sorry. I shouldn’t have…”. She sighed, and looked at Creeper, who put an arm around her. “Let’s go…”, he said softly, and led Camille out of the clubhouse again.

Nina took a long moment to try to gather herself. Angel came over and put his arms around her. There really wasn’t anything he could say. Nina felt the weight of the guilt for what happened to Camille weighing her down like all the barbells in Angel’s bedroom. If she hadn’t killed Gael, he would have hurt her – bad – but at least it would just have been her. “What can I do?”, Angel finally said; admitting that he was at a loss. Nina nuzzled up against his chest. “Tell me I’m not a shitty person…”, she sighed. “And tell me you love me”. Angel cupped her face, and made her look at him. “You’re one of the best and kindest people I’ve ever met. And I love you…”, he said earnestly. Nina felt a smile tug at her lips. “More than your bike?”. Angel scrunched up his face, and shrugged. “Well…”. She laughed, and punched him softly in the gut. “Ow… You share the first place”, Angel grinned.

The door opened, and Bishop and Taza came inside. “Put a crowbar between those two”, Bishop grunted at Taza. “Your girlfriend is coming in”, Taza said. Angel and Nina immediately stepped away from each other, and Nina went behind the bar.

When Daniella stepped into the clubhouse, the mood instantly changed. Angel turned to her with a smile, and kissed her cheek; while Daniella shot Nina a poisonous look. “Are you finished around here?”, she asked Angel. “Maybe we could go somewhere else?”. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and pressed against him. Angel threw an arm around her shoulder, and made her follow him over to a table. “Yeah, but I was thinking we’d hang out here”, he said. He didn’t want to go anywherewith Daniella. The blonde rolled her eyes, but finally settled on Angel’s lap – making Nina discretely grind her teeth.

She handed beers to the arriving clubmembers. Hank, Riz, Gilly and Coco came through the door, as Daniella was unsuccessfully trying to seduce Angel into taking her back to his place. Hank and Riz joined Taza and Bishop over some maps for the run the next day; while Gilly and Coco joined Angel by his table. Daniella was laying it on thick, seemingly determined that this would be the night she finally got Angel between her legs again; or at least get her head in his lap. Nina wanted to scream. She noticed the sequined purse Daniella had brought the night before; and when she saw the woman run a hand down Angels chest – her goal obviously being his crotch – Nina couldn’t take it anymore. She nabbed the purse, and almost sprang for the table. “Daniella, is this yours?”, she smiled as sweetly as she could. Angel gave her a short thankful look, as she handed the purse to the blonde. “Yeah… I left it last night”, Daniella said coldly. She took the purse and looked up and down Nina’s body, halting at her neck. “You got a little something… New boyfriend?”, she almost hissed.

Nina gulped, and felt all blood drain from her head, unable to answer. Angel looked between her and the woman on his lap; and it was clear he knew he’d fucked up with his trademark marking of Nina the night before. “I’m…”, Nina croaked. “Yeah…”, Coco said, and tugged at Nina’s wrist; making her sit down on his lap, and placing his arm casually around her waist. He gave Angel a short look. “We good?”. “Yeah”, Angel nodded, and let a smile ghost his face. “We’re good, carnal”. Daniella rolled her eyes, and let out a short, scoffing laugh. She opened her purse, pretending to look for something; but very obviously trying to get Angel to pay attention to the condoms in there. “Baby, let’s just go…”, she said.

Riz and Taza came over to the table; the latter with his phone in hand. “Palo’s coming in”, he said. Bishop and Taza were folding up their maps, and putting them out of sight. “Trouble?”, Gilly asked “Just him and Sala, so no guns”, Hank replied. “They’re bringing the restitution-money”. Angel used the opportunity to get Daniella off his lap. She grudgingly went into the bathroom to fix her make-up. “Fuck it. That’s not enough!”, he said, and checked that his gun was loaded. “You saw what they did to Creeper’s girl”. “She’s everyone’s girl, man”, Gilly smirked. “Even I hit that”. “When?”, Riz asked. “Day before you”, Gilly shrugged. Nina was beginning to get annoyed with the Mayan’s talking about Camille. “You know, women can have needs too!”, she said. “If you wanna slut-shame, how about you start with yourselves…? You share women like they’re lighters for your blunts!”. Angel gave her a short apologetic look. He’d probably had a go at Camille himself, at some point. Coco patted her arm. “We ain’t slutshaming, ma’”, he said. “A woman wants to have sex, and offers it up; that’s all good… This girl, though… It ain’t about the sex…”.

The sound of two bikes came from outside, and Nina was about to get off Coco’s lap, when he held her down. “Don’t. They won’t think to look at you, as long as you’re with one of us”, he whispered. Angel nodded softly; and after a hard look from Bishop, he put his gun back in his waistband.

The door opened, and Palo and Sala stepped inside. They didn’t seem to need an invitation anymore. Bishop stepped up to Palo, and shook his hand curtly. “Palo…”, he said, before extending the gesture to Sala. The Vato enforcer looked around the room, his eyes merely brushing over Nina for a second. Coco had been right, and Nina couldn’t help but let out a relieved sigh. Coco lit a cigarette, before gently tapping her hip, to make her get up. Apparently, greetings were finished, and she was in the clear. Bishop glanced over at her. “Beers…”, he muttered. “Where’s the prospect?”. “Date night”, Angel said. Bishop scoffed.

Nina went behind the bar, and nabbed a round of beers for the men, who all went to sit down around one of the larger tables. Bishop clearly didn’t want Palo and Sala in templo. Daniella came out of the bathroom, and Sala’s head instantly snapped in her direction. She looked a bit caught off guard, and almost ran to stand by Angel’s chair. She put a hand on his shoulder, and he reluctantly gave it a light squeeze. It was like a Mexican standoff. As Nina set down a beer in front of each biker, she looked between the man she loved; the man she pretended to be sleeping with; the woman who the man she loved had to pretend he wanted to sleep with, who also might be the snitch selling out the Mayans to the man, whose cousin Nina killed; who also happened to be at the table. The VM president sat as if he owned the place, and though not a word was spoken, his silence spoke for him. The tension in the room was thick enough to carve with a knife, and the fear was clutching Nina’s lungs in a vice grip. Fuck. Not now, Nina though; a panicked expression reaching her face.

Bishop looked up at her, and recognition struck his face. Giving Coco a discrete look, the younger biker cleared his throat. “You need me here, jefe?”, he asked. “I made plans…”. “No. Go on”, Bishop said, and Coco got on his feet; quickly stepping over to wrap an arm around Nina’s shoulders. “Let’s go, mami”, he said, and led her out of the clubhouse. Palo and Sala seemed indifferent at their leaving, but Nina still couldn’t seem to calm her breathing, and her lungs wouldn’t allow any oxygen to enter.

Once out of sight of the windows and door, Coco made Nina sit down on a crate; and she pulled out her inhaler, and took a hit. Once she was able to breathe properly again, she looked up at Coco. “Thanks… I’m sorry”, she said. “No need to apologize, niña”, Coco smiled. He looked back towards the clubhouse. “We need to get out of here, though. Those putos think we’re gonna go fuck”. Nina gave him a soft smile. “I like you, Coco; but I’m not fucking you”, she teased. “Pfft. You couldn’t handle this anyway”, Coco chuckled. “Come on. Letty’s making dinner as an apology for eating my burrito and my hotwings”.

He took her hand, and made her stand, before leading her over to his bike.

---

After a night spent in good company, a decent meal, and watching Coco and Leticia fight over a game of Uno, Nina was full; and in a much better mood. Angel called Coco at 11 pm, letting him know that Palo and Sala had left, and it was safe to bring Nina back. At this point, Nina had been exhausted; and had decided to take up the offer of sleeping on Coco’s couch instead.

Coco took her back to the yard in the morning. It was the day of the gun-run, and Angel met them in front of the clubhouse. Nina got off the bike, and looked hesitantly at him. “Clubhouse is on lockdown for the run. No outsiders”, he said, and walked over to wrap his arms around her. He kissed her warmly, before looking at Coco. “Thanks”. Coco nodded, and winked at Nina; before walking into the clubhouse.

“Who are you meeting with?”, Nina asked, as they walked towards the trailer. “Happy, T.O. and Chibs”, Angel replied. She opened the door and they stepped inside. “That’s not a lot of Sons if VM shows up for trouble”, Nina said. Angel must have noticed her worried expression, because he pulled her into his arms. “We’ll all will be fine. Even if the Vatos show up, there won’t be a fight”, he said, and stroked her temple. Nina wrapped her arms around his waist. “But they want your business with the Sons”, she said. “And the Sons won’t give it. They’re not gonna profit of killing any SOA patch; and together we’ll outnumber them, even with EZ staying behind here”. Nina looked confused, and Angel smiled; pressing a kiss to her lips. “You didn’t think we’d leave you alone here…? You might try to cook for us”. She chuckled, and kissed him back. “You never actually tasted my cooking”, she said. “No. I value my life too much”, Angel smirked, and pressed his tongue into her mouth before she could reply.

For a long moment, they let themselves get lost in their kiss, before someone cleared their throat. EZ was standing in the doorway, looking sheepish. “Sorry… Bish says it’s time”, he said. “Tell him I’ll be there in a minute”, Angel said over his shoulder. EZ left them to it, and Angel returned his focus to Nina. “This thing with Dani… I’m not getting anything more out of her. She left just after you and Coco; like she was scared of the Vatos”. “She was probably just scared you’d make her as the snitch…”, Nina grunted. “Yeah, we think so as well”, Angel said. “She’s coming by later, and I’m gonna end it”. “But…”, Nina began. “Bishop agrees. Kissing her ass isn’t working… We might have to be more drastic”. Nina felt her heart stop for a few seconds. “Angel… No, don’t hurt her!”, she said. Angel sighed heavily. “We’ll probably just… put her somewhere for a while. Keep her phone and favorite nail polish out of reach”, he said. “She’ll cave after a few nights tied to a chair in one of our storage-containers”.

Nina blew out a deep breath. “I don’t want anyone else hurt because of me… Even if it is her”. Angel cupped her face, and pressed a passionate, almost devouring kiss to her lips. “Te amo, cuervo”, he said. “You’re too good for this life”. She chuckled slightly, before turning her attention to the door. The Mayans were gathering in the yard, and beginning to get on their bikes. “Go… I’ll be fine”, she said. “Where’s your gun?”, Angel asked. Nina gestured towards the table, where the .38 was laying, next to her extra inhaler. “Good. Just in case”. He kissed her one last time, before going out to join his patch-brothers.

Nina waved them off from the doorway to the trailer, before looking at EZ; who was standing on the porch, with a Tupperware box in his hands. “Chilaquiles!”, he smiled. Nina looked seriously at him. “Marry that woman!”.

---

With both the clubhouse and the scrapyard on lockdown, Nina spent the morning following Chucky around with a clipboard. The funny little man had decided to do status-count on the scrap; a ridiculous idea in Nina’s opinion, but she humored him. Chucky liked to keep busy.

“That’s… 17,3 refrigerators”, Chucky said; after having counted the items in yet another scrap-pile. “Point three?”, Nina chuckled. Chucky pointed at a stray fridge-door on the ground. “Point three it is”, Nina said, and wrote it down. They went back towards the clubhouse, and Nina saw Daniella standing on the porch with EZ. “You’re not supposed to be here”, the prospect said. “Because you’re on lockdown? Are you forgetting I’m your brother’s woman…?”, Daniella sneered. “I come and go as I please”. Nina went to pass them, trying to ignore the blonde. “Angel won’t be back for another few hours”, she muttered. “I came to talk to you”, Daniella said. Nina halted in front of the door. “Why?”, she asked. “Girl talk”, Daniella smiled. She walked down from the porch, and towards the trailer.

EZ looked at Nina, as Daniella walked away. “I saw her coming out of the trailer about ten minutes ago. I think she was looking for you”, he said bellow his breath. “How long was she in there?”, Nina asked. “I don’t know. Bishop had me polish the table while they’re gone…”, EZ replied disgruntledly. Nina sighed, handed Chucky the clipboard, and got down from the porch; bracing herself for a confrontation.

Daniella was seated on the cot opposite Nina’s sleeping place. Nina sat down across from her, and met her eyes. “Have a seat…”, she said sarcastically. “Comfy…”, Daniella jeered, and patted the cot. “What did you wanna talk about? We haven’t exactly been friendly”, Nina said. “And we’re not gonna start now”, Daniella replied. “I came to tell you to back off Angel”. Nina swallowed thickly. “I’m with Coco now”, she said, trying for calm. “Bullshit”, Daniella replied. “I know that’s just to rile Angel up. You’re trying to get him back… Which is weird, because I thought you were going back north, with those Sons of Anarchy guys”, Daniella said. “You seemed kind of hot and heavy dancing with their president at the party. Good job on moving up in the hierarchy…". “You though I was about to dump Angel for him…”, Nina said, more as a statement than a question. “Well, you’re good at working your way up the ladder quickly", Daniella said. “A few weeks ago, you were just a hangaround; but all of a sudden, you’re doing my job… And my man". “This is ridiculous”, Nina scoffed. “I’m done with Angel. You’re welcome to him”. It chaffed to utter the words. Daniella drew back her lips in a sneer. “I’m not stupid! I saw you two the other night when I came back for my purse…”. Nina almost gasped. Racoons, my ass; she thought. Daniella raised a smug eyebrow at her. “Angel is mine. And I am not letting him go”.

Nina sighed, and shook her head. “So, what’s your big plan…?”. “Like I said, I used to have your job around here; taking care of the clubhouse, keeping the patches happy”, Daniella cut her off. “I know how MC’s work; and how to listen, while pretending not to be. I know how to get the kind of info I need, to get what I want… Also, that Sala guy talks a lot, when he’s drunk. Asthmatic prostitute? You fit the bill”. Nina fought the urge to claw her eyes out. “You killed that guy Palo’s cousin, and he seems like the eye for an eye kind of person…”. “What are you talking about?”, Nina said. “Well, he wants you dead… but maybe he’ll settle for the next best thing”. Daniella placed something on the table, sliding it over to Nina. She gasped when she saw the picture of Abel and Thomas. Looking up to meet Daniella’s eyes, she saw nothing but contempt. “Yeah. I thought that might get your attention”. “They’ll never find…”, Nina began. “Nero Padilla’s farm, in Norco”, Daniella said. She put her hand on top of Jackson’s journal. “Your brother wrote a lot of shit down. Maybe he shouldn’t have”. “You didn’t…”, Nina croaked. “No, not yet”, Daniella said. She sighed, and leaned back in her seat, arms crossed. “Look, I don’t give a shit about what they do to you; but Angel’s gonna get himself killed, if he tries to get revenge for them hurting you… So, I kind of need you alive”. “What are you saying?”, Nina asked. At this point, she was confused beyond belief. Daniella was supposed to be the snitch, but then why didn’t she just come clean about that right now? She already had Nina’s life and family in a vice grip. “You’re gonna break it off with him... You’re gonna leave, and never come back. Or… I give this info to the Vatos”.

Nina felt her heart race from fear and rage. She placed her hand on the table, fingertips grazing the handle of the .38 laying there. “You know what I did…”, she said. “What makes you think I won’t just kill you?”. In that moment, she was sure she could do it. “The fact that I removed the bullets from that gun the second I got in here”, Daniella replied. “And I have people waiting for my call. Specifically, Sala, who’s a sucker for good head; like another person we know”. “You absolute bitch…”, Nina hissed. “Yeah…”, Daniella smiled. “So, what am I gonna tell him? Am I just gonna politely decline that date he’s asked me on? Or do I tell him about two little boys, whom I have on good authority are connected to the woman who killed Palo’s cousin…?”.

Nina suddenly noticed she’d clenched her fists so hard, that her nails had drawn blood from her palms. Her Angel; her love. The thought of his hands on her body, and his grip on her heart. The way he looked at her, which made her feel like no matter what shit life threw her way, she could still be happy; because someone as special as him was in her life, and wanted her. Her nephews – Jackson’s boys. She loved those kids as she had him. She had no doubt in her mind that Daniella would make good on her promise to sell them out, to get what she wanted. Nina’s next move would be a matter of life or death to the last living link she had to her brother. It was the most difficult thing she’d ever had to do, but there was no way she could or would ever sacrifice the lives of those two little boys. She had already killed a person – no matter how despicable he was – and another had been beat and probably tortured in her name. Abel and Thomas were innocent; and they were not going to be victims on her account.

“OK…”, she whispered; her heart shattering in a million pieces as she did. Daniella looked dumbfounded. “Really? You’re gonna chose them over Angel…?”, she said. “Wow, you really don’t deserve him!”. “No. I’m choosing to do the right thing. I’m not the kind of psycho that will let children get hurt, to get what I want”, Nina hissed through her teeth. Daniella shrugged. “You have until tonight. If you’re still here past midnight… I don’t think I need to finish that sentence. Do we have an agreement?”. “Yes”, Nina croaked. “Now please leave…”. “I’m sticking around until I know you’ve done what I told you”, Daniella laughed. Nina slammed his fist into the table. “Get the fuck out of this trailer, before I stab you in your diseased cunt!”, she growled.

Daniella got to her feet, and went to leave; before halting in the doorway. “Don’t worry about Angel. I’ll take good care of him”, she smiled, walked outside, and closed the door behind her.

---

tags: @cole-winchester @doloreschanal

#angel reyes #angel reyes fic #angel reyes x oc #mayans mc #mayans mc fic #coco cruz #ez reyes

[asimpforarmin]

Not so Safe? 💛

Content: Armin Arlert x Reader, Modern AU, two dorks being awkward

Summary: You and Armin go to the beach during quarantine as a way to get away from the stressors of life, keeping safe during it.

WC: 2,123

Genre: fluff?? maybe i guess. Wholesome stuff.

Warnings: None

A/n: This is my first fic on this account and also the first one I’ve written in a long time, so this might be bad, idk. Btw check out this playlist: https://youtu.be/1_2lm4tS9N4 It’s really nice and I listened to it while working on this. Ok bye-

You were bored, just slouching in bed late at night waiting for something to happen. Since quarantine hit, you really haven’t been able to see your friends, well not without a screen. You’ve been keeping up with your closest friends, Connie, Sasha, and Armin, and playing Minecraft with them when you don’t have (or don’t do) your schoolwork. You’ve been missing actually hanging out with them though.

So you decided to group message them about it, see if they wanted to go do something, taking safety precautions of course. Turns out Sasha’s mom wouldn’t let her go anywhere because she was worried for her, and Connie was staying with family out of state. But Armin could come.

You moved to private messages to talk to Armin about it, so you don’t spam the group chat or make Sasha and Connie jealous.

“Hey, are you free on Friday?” you asked.

You quickly saw him typing back to you, “Sorry, no, but I can do something on Wednesday or Thursday.”

You sat up a bit, “Alright, either one works for me.” You had that equivalent of awkward silence between texts where neither of you know what to say. “Which one do you prefer?”

He responds after a moment of thinking. “Wednesday’s fine. What do you wanna do?”

You thought it over for a moment, not actually expecting to get this far. “I know that ice cream shop down the road’s open. We could get some ice cream and head down to the beach for a while and just screw around if you want.”

“Sure. Which ice cream shop again?” He questioned. Armin lived not too far from you and had been over a couple times.

“That one we pass when you come over. Taking a right from my house it’s on that corner, a few shops down from the gas station.”

“Oh that one! Ok.” He responded.

“Did you get your bike fixed?” You asked. You all had bikes and would go places on them before the whole virus thing happened. Thing is, Connie crashed into Armin after hitting a pothole and totaled his front spokes.

“Yeah, it’s all ready to go. Do you have a cooler?”

“I know there’s one somewhere in the garage that I can find and clean out.”

“Alright, I’ll see you Wednesday?”

“Definitely.”

You were excited to see at least one of your close friends during the pandemic. You set your alarm for tomorrow, which was Monday. You only had to wait until Wednesday to see him.

~~~~~

Wednesday rolled around soon enough and you had just finished the last of today’s schoolwork. You packed up a backpack with some extra snacks, water, and some bandages in case either of you fall.

You texted Armin “Hey, where do you wanna meet?”

“I can just meet you at the ice cream place if you want.”

“You sure? That's kinda far from where you are.”

“I’ll be fine, it's not terribly far.”

“Alright, well I’ll see you there.”

“Cya,” he signed off.

You put your phone in your backpack, before dusting off that old cooler, filling it with ice, and putting it in your bike basket. You set out for the shop feeling good. You haven’t been outside in a while, and feeling the wind against your skin felt perfect.

You went down the road a ways, pulling up into the shop’s parking lot. You pulled your bike over and leaned it against the curb with the kickstand, and waited for Armin.

About 10 minutes later, the blond comes into view, pulling into the lot, spotting you, and heading over. You look up at him, pulling your mask up as he does the same. He wipes his brow as he’s hauling his bike over. “Hey, how are you?” he asks, looking down and putting his kickstand to the curb.

Your smile, “Good, how about you?” In all honesty you were great now that he’s here. You haven’t seen him in person for around 11 months and you’ve missed him.

He looked back up at you and you could tell he was smiling even under his mask.

“I’m fine, happy to be outside,” he sighed.

“Hey, your hair’s a little longer,” you pointed out.

He blushed a tiny bit, “I’ve only gotten it cut once during this and now since everything’s reopening, my mother’s scared to take me to get it cut again. The only reason she let me come on this trip was because it’s contactless.”

“I see, well either way it looks cute,” you reassured him.

He let out a small laugh, “Thanks.”

“Anyways,” you say, going up to the front of the building, “what flavor do you want?” You put some gloves on before reaching for your wallet.

“I’ll just have the cookie dough.” Armin pulls out his phone to pay that way.

“Hey, I can pay for both of us if you want,” you say, looking over at Armin.

“It’s fine, I have my own money,” he politely declines.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s my pleasure,” you say, taking money out of your wallet, enough for the two of you. “What size do you want?”

He puts his phone back into his pocket, looking up at the size chart. “I’ll just have a medium.” You nod and go up to tell the person at the counter your orders. A few minutes later, your orders are in the window. You hand the cashier the money, then take off your gloves and grab your ice creams. You put the bowls in Tupperware and then in the cooler.

“You ready to go?” You ask Armin. He nods, clicking his helmet back into place and getting on his bike. You get back on your bike too and the both of you head out.

It’s another 10 minutes before you get to the beach. It isn’t the best weather for this kind of visit. It’s overcast and a little bit foggy, but it’s still a nice place to hang out.

The both of you lock your bikes up and take your ice cream out of the cooler. You hand Armin his dessert and open your own.

“Wish the weather was better,” you commented, looking up at the grey sky.

“Well if the sky’s not clear, that means less people will come,” Armin points out, looking over at you. You nod and look around for a spot to sit down. “We could go over there,” Armin suggests. He’s pointing at a couple boulders decently spaced apart up on the hill away form everything.

“Ok,” you say. You both start going over. There’s no one else at the beach besides a few random people chilling at the shoreline. Armin hops up on the boulder to the right and you get on the left one.

“Thanks for paying for this,” Armin sheepishly says, taking a bite.

“It’s no problem, I’m happy to,” you say. God, you wish you could hug him. Quarantine’s been horrible to your social interaction, plus you may have an inkling of attraction to him. Even to just hold his hand would be ethereal. But you can’t. You need to stay safe, and you don’t know if he feels the same about you.

“So, um, how’s your week been so far?” He inquires.

“It’s been okay. Hating school as usual, but besides that I’ve had a good time keeping up with you all,” you say.

He takes another bite before speaking, “If you want, I could help you out with your work if you’re having trouble.” This wasn’t the first time he offered, but you felt like too much for agreeing last time.

“I’ll think about it, I’m managing alright for now though. How about you? How’s quarantine been treating you?” You ask him.

“I’ve been able to keep up with things for the most part, but it does get tiring. It’s good to finally get out of the house again.” You nod and both of you just sit there for a moment, eating and looking out at the ocean. You couldn’t see that far out because of the fog, but what you could see was nice.

The waves slowly crashed against the sand and rocks while you heard gulls above you. You cherished this moment, as simple as it is. Even if your feelings were unmatched, he was still your best friend. You get butterflies whenever he’s around. He makes you happy and anxious in the best ways possible.

Armin looks up before taking out his phone. “Looks like it’s supposed to rain in a bit.”

“That’s a bummer, I wish we could stay out here longer,” you say.

“We can always come back. I’m still free tomorrow.” You perked up at his suggestion.

“Same, we can do that,” you quickly reply. He nods his head in agreement.

“Same time?”

“Sure.” You both went back to eating for a moment. “We should  do this more. This is fun.”

“I do quite like this. It’s relaxing to take a break every now and then,” he says.

The two of you keep talking, about home, friends, hobbies, school, etc, when you felt a raindrop on your cheek. You look over at Armin, who looks up at the rain.

“Guess it’s time to go,” he says, slightly frowning. You stand up, getting the trash from your ice cream and start walking over to the trash can. It’s under one of those buildings that look like metal car awnings, but with benches and the board that shows the directory and rules of the beach. Armin follows suit.

“We really should have checked the weather,” you say, disposing of your trash, “I don’t feel comfortable with either of us biking in the rain on the road like this.”

Armin throws his trash away, “We’ll be okay, it’s not a whole lot,” he says. “Besides, you can call someone if you don’t feel comfortable.”

You sit down on a bench, looking on your phone. “Looks like it’s not supposed to stay for too long. We could just stay here for a while if you’re okay with it.” He sits down next to you and nods. He looks between you two and sees the small gap.

“Sorry,” he says as he moves further away.

“Hey, it’s okay,” you say. You want to tell him how you feel, you really do, but if he doesn’t feel the same, you’re afraid things won’t go back to normal.

You start to say his name at the same time he speaks, which causes you to both chuckle. “You go first,” he says.

“Go ahead, I’ve already forgotten what I was saying.”

“That quickly?” he smiles.

“Apparently.”

“Well I- I don’t know how to put this properly, but…”

“But what?”

“I want to do this more often, and I know you already said that but I really miss hanging out with you.” He looks over at you, waiting for your reaction.

“I miss you too,” you say. You felt your cheeks darken as your face warmed up. You look over at him, he was just the same as you. That gave you the confidence you needed. “I really like you, Armin.”

He looks up at you suddenly, “You mean like, more than friends?” he asks you nervously.

“Yeah. More than friends. I have for a while but I just haven’t said anything.” You look away until he says something, not wanting to face him as he’s making up his mind, but he answers almost immediately.

“I do too! I- I mean I just didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure if you felt the same.” You felt your breath hitch in your throat, wanting to say something, but you just didn’t have the right words.

“Well, um, we should definitely do this more often then,” you finally say, giving him a smile.

“Do you uh, want to hold hands?” he asks shyly.

“Should we?”

“It’ll be fine as long as we wash our hands when we get home.” You nodded and stuck out your hand. He took it as he moved a bit closer to you.

You two just sat there for a moment, taking everything in. The rain, each other, the sounds coming from the road. Even though it seemed so new, it felt good. It felt right. Armin started speaking again, talking about how he’s been thinking of this moment for a long time. You smiled and continued the conversation for a decent half hour, still clasping hands.

You finally heard the rain let up and the sun began to shine through the clouds.

“You want to go down to the shore for a bit now?” You asked him.

“Of course,” he said. You got up, taking him by the hand down the hill.

#aot #aot x reader #snk #snk x reader #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #attack on titan x reader #shingeki no kyojin x reader #armin arlert x reader #armin x reader #fluff? i guess

[royalbloodedbastards]

self-para // bitch, please

DATE: Saturday, September 18, 2021 CHARACTERS: Kieran and Jack ABOUT:

"Don't you feel degraded? As though you're the inferior one, succumbing to his every will, tending to his every need?"

Jack blinked twice. "He's a dog."

"Even more so," Kieran added. "Look at the size of him. You could be his destroyer, and yet here you are with a handful of his feces."

Jack grimaced up at Kieran. "Have you ever loved?"

"Yes, myself, constantly."

"Ew," Jack groaned. "It's not about the... I don't know, the servitude. That's just, like, part of the deal. It's about the comfort and love that the dog gives you. The companionship." Lil' Jack barked, almost as if in agreement.

"Fascinating," Kieran muttered in response, rubbing his chin in contemplation.

"I don't know why I have to explain this to you. You of all people should get it."

"Why so?"

"I mean, you're lonely as fuck."

"Eat your words, hermit."

"Pfft," Jack spat with a laugh. "Tell me I'm wrong. Weren't you the one who texted me to hang out for the last three days?"

"I felt pity for you," Kieran defended.

"Sure."

"I have plenty of other friends with whom I could have spent my time, you should be thankful."

"Name three that aren't related to you."

"There's the friendly airhead with whom I tan in close proximity," Kieran listed, putting up one finger. "And Alec, whose energy could compensate for two whole people. So there."

Jack rolled his eyes. "If you really had that many friends, we wouldn't be hanging out now. I mean, we don't even like the same things. You just got to know me because of Parker."

"Isn't it good that I branched out?"

"I mean, yeah, I guess." Jack glanced down at his dog, who was very intently examining a fallen acorn. "How about this—I told Elaine I would farm-sit for her tonight while she makes an overnight delivery. I was gonna bring Lil' Jack but he honestly doesn't like sleeping anywhere outside of my bed. Would you be down to dog sit him tonight? Just like keep him company, feed him at 8, and then you can leave once he falls asleep."

"Me? You want me, who just verbally eviscerated you as a dog-owner, to watch your dog?"

"Yeah," Jack confirmed with confidence. "Lil' Jack is, like, the chillest dog I've ever met. And he's a little bitch, just like you. You'll get along great."

Kieran flashed a middle finger.

"Come by at six." Jack tugged on his dog's leash and started back toward his cabin.

"I didn't agree to this," Kieran called out.

"See you later!" Jack sang.

-

"What the fuck..." Kieran stood with his mouth agape at the nearly empty refrigerator. A bag of white bread, a pint of white milk, and a mason jar of white yogurt were all that occupied the top shelf. The only color that occupied the space was a sliced-up steak in a Tupperware marked 'LIL JACK'. Kieran gave the dog, sitting beside him in anticipation, a nasty side-eye. "How is it that the only real food in this house is reserved for you?"

He watched in disdain and amusement as the dog lapped up the small pieces of steak off the floor.

Had the privilege of living with Parker colored Kieran's perception of how common folk actually ate? Was it standard practice for dog owners to live in starving conditions while their animals feasted like kings?

'To feast on meat while my servantly owner starved,' Kieran pondered. 'Then to make him pick up my excrement with his own hands! The lowly remains of my fine dining and a reminder of his servitude to me!'

Kieran laughed and shook his head. "Wow," he whispered down at Lil' Jack. "You really are a little bitch."

-

"Why are you still here?"

Kieran's eyes flickered open. The room was dark with the TV still going in front of him. Lil' Jack was curled up on Kieran's lap and Kieran's fingers were curled up in Lil' Jack's fur. A smug grin formed on Jack's face.

"Well, look who's getting along."

"Alright, fine," Kieran admitted. "I did find his company to be quite comforting."

"What did you do?"

"I fed him his dinner—which was pitiful to find, by the way—then sat on the couch and watched telenovelas with him until we fell asleep. His comprehension skills are disturbingly high, you should consider training him bilingually."

"Um, I can barely speak English, so..." Jack shrugged. "Anyway, Elaine actually just made the delivery and decided to make the drive back tonight, so you can go now. That is if you can stand to leave your new friend behind."

"Don't flatter yourself. Or your dog." Kieran lifted the sleeping dog off of his lap and onto the couch.

"Okay, but clearly you enjoyed his company, so."

"Fine. I'll admit that I was wrong about dogs. Or at least this one," he relinquished. "His company was quite pleasant. But you were wrong about one thing too."

"And what's that?"

Kieran glanced down at the dog, whose fur was still stained with the grease and juice of the steak dinner from hours before. Jack would have to give him a bath later, Kieran imagined with a smirk. Kieran started toward the door and leaned in toward Jack as he passed him. "The only bitch in this house is you."

#mus.kieran #mus.jack #rel.jack&kieran #frm.selfpara

[lastbluetardis]

Chemical Reaction (19/22)

Summary: Though their chemistry class is now over, the chemistry between James and Rose is just getting started. Together, they navigate the highs of new love and the lows of coping with past trauma to forge deep and unbreakable bonds of love and commitment. Part 2 in the Catalysis series. Tagging @doctorroseprompts

This chapter: ~7400 words, teen

If you like my stories, consider leaving me a tip? I know these are trying times, but if you are able, I would really appreciate it xoxo. And as always, comments and reblogs are very much appreciated as well.

AO3 | FF | TSP

Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4 | Ch5 | Ch6 | Ch7 | Ch8 | Ch9 | Ch10 | Ch11 | Ch12 | Ch13 | Ch14 | Ch15 | Ch16 | Ch17 | Ch18 | Ch19 | Ch20 | Ch21 | epilogue

James couldn’t believe his eyes. He blinked hard, thinking his exhaustion had caught up with him. No, the blonde woman on his porch had to be the night-shift nurse who lived across the street—she often liked to indulge in late-night baking on her nights off, and there were times she would come to James for an ingredient she was missing, or to give him a small sampling of her confectionery creations.

(He had the sudden, jarring, embarrassing realization that she may have been flirting with him the whole time… Is that why she hasn’t come around in months?)

“Rose,” he said again when blinking stupidly for at least ten seconds didn’t transform Rose into anyone else.

“Hi,” she said quietly. She looked exhausted; there were prominent shadows beneath her eyes and her shoulders drooped like a heavy weight sat upon them.

Her gaze flicked over his shoulder, and her face fell. “Oh. Sorry. Didn’t realize you had company. I’ll just…” She thumbed behind herself to the dark road. How did she get here? “Sorry.”

Before he could protest, Jack clapped James on the shoulder and announced, “No, no. I was getting ready to head out. Come on, get in out of the cold.”

Jack pressed a smacking kiss to James’s cheek, then muttered, “Talk to her,” into his ear. He then stepped forward and gave Rose a loose hug and kiss on the cheek before he walked to his vehicle that was parked on the side of the street.

They turned to watch Jack start his car and drive off into the night. James looked at Rose, then at the squarish plastic Tupperware container she held. She was absently flicking her thumb nail across the tab on the lid.

“What’ve you got there?” he asked, nodding to the container.

Rose chewed on her bottom lip and pushed her hair behind her ear. “Well. We’ve been playing a game all month, haven’t we? Time to celebrate.”

She popped the lid off the container and handed it to him. In it were half a dozen large, muffin-sized chocolate cupcakes, frosted in vanilla icing and decorated with pink and yellow star sprinkles. The words “Happy Birthday” were written in small, neat, glossy red letters across each cupcake. His stomach sank.

“It… it’s your birthday?” he croaked. Of course—of fucking course—today had been her birthday.

Rose nodded. “I… I didn’t want to let my entire birthday pass without spending some time with my favorite person.”

James nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. “Hope you had fun.”

Rose raised an incredulous eyebrow, and the penny dropped.

“Me?” he squeaked, the knot in his chest loosening.

“Yes you, you numpty. Just because I’m angry with you doesn’t mean I stopped loving you. Do you not love me anymore because we fought?”

James’s knees weakened at the ‘l’ word. He took a step towards her, the arm not holding the cupcakes extended. Her face softened and she stepped into his proffered embrace. Her body was warm and solid against him. Heat prickled behind his eyes as he wrapped his arms as tightly around her as he could without upending the Tupperware container.

“I’m sorry, Rose. I’m so sorry. I…”

“Can we not do this on the front porch?” she asked, voice muffled. “S’cold.”

James was loath to let go of her, but he had to agree the night was getting frigid, especially for him, with his bare feet and thin pajama bottoms and t-shirt. With a sigh, he gave her a final squeeze and dropped his arms from around her waist, then stepped back to usher her into his home.

She toed off her shoes by the front door, and he could already predict her questions when she angled her head towards the hallway. “Did you paint something?”

James scratched the back of his neck. “Er. Yeah. Started repainting my bedroom.”

A small, sad smile tugged at the side of Rose’s mouth. “Needed something to keep your mind busy?”

“Something like that,” he admitted.

A more genuine smile crossed her face as she gestured to the Tupperware container he was holding. “Y’know, stress baking would've been cheaper.”

James blinked, then gaped down at the cupcakes he was holding. The font of the words was perfect cursive, the spread of the icing uniform and even. He blurted, “You made these?”

“Thanks for that vote of confidence,” she drawled. “Yes, I made them. Well. Elsa helped. She came over to my flat this afternoon. Bit of a girl’s night. Had pizza and wine, then made cupcakes. She’s actually really good at decorating; she’s got this whole set of frosting tips to make fancy designs. She did the lettering.”

“They look lovely. Very professional,” he said. He jutted his head to his kitchen, motioning for her to follow. She did, her quiet, shuffling footsteps falling into rhythm with his.

Rather than go into the kitchen, Rose peeled off to the living room, where Merry and Pippin were lounging on the sofa together, half-asleep. James watched her squat down in front of the cats and give them a bit of love before she returned to him.

“Should Jack have driven himself home?”

James glanced at Rose and saw her pointing to the kitchen table, where the mostly-empty bottle of wine sat. It had a few mouthfuls left.

“It was only half-full when we started,” James answered, picking up the bottle and hurriedly drinking the last of the wine. “This was from last weekend, when you and I… Anyway, he had one glass. I drank most of it. He should be fine.”

“Tell him to let us know when he gets home safely,” Rose said.

James snapped off a lazy salute then sent Jack a text, passing along Rose’s request. He set the Tupperware container of cupcakes on the counter before grabbing two clean bowls from the dishwasher he hadn’t bothered to empty.

“Oh, I really shouldn’t,” Rose said with a grimace. “I already had one after they came out of the oven. Plus pizza. M’gonna puff up like a balloon.”

She pinched her waist, and James frowned. “What are you talking about? You’re beautiful.”

Her cheeks flamed pink and she dropped her hand limply to her side. 

“I had a huge, greasy burger and chips for dinner. D’you think I’m gonna puff up like a balloon?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Well, no. But you’re…” She let her sentence dangle as she waved her hand vaguely up and down his body. 

“And you’re…” He mirrored her gesture. “Rose, I find you absolutely beautiful, and you losing or gaining weight won’t change my opinion. Not that my opinion should matter. If you don’t want a cupcake, or if you’re not hungry, that’s fine. And again, not that you need my approval.”

Rose sighed and twisted her hands in front of herself before she turned away from him and rooted in his freezer for ice cream he always made sure to have on hand.

“I had a minor eating disorder as a teen,” Rose said quietly, pulling out the ice cream and shutting the freezer. “Nothing too serious. I was obsessed with my weight, and was really careful with what I ate. I counted and logged calories. I grew out of it when I realized watching what I ate made me feel even worse about myself. Of course I still tried to eat healthy and to eat reasonably-sized portions, but I stopped being so strict with it. I obviously started putting on some weight, nothing too drastic, but Jimmy would often tease me and tell me to lay off the chips or whatever, because rock stars don’t date chubby girls.”

James’s ears were ringing with rage and heartbreak, and he was furious with himself for everything he had accused Rose of last night regarding Jimmy.

“Rose, I…”

“As I said, I’m fine now and I don’t really care about my weight or body image as much,” Rose interrupted, setting the ice cream on the counter in front of him. “But sometimes those thoughts pop up without me realizing it. Like they did just now.”

Unsure of how to respond, James instead took a cupcake out of the Tupperware container, unwrapped the paper from the bottom, and set it into the bowl. “Did I… did I say something wrong?”

“No. Quite the opposite, actually. You told me your opinion, but didn’t shove it in my face or try to force me to believe you. And like I said, I don’t often realize when I’m having these thoughts.”

He nodded and forced his lips into some semblance of a smile that he hoped looked supportive. He then returned his gaze to the bowl and the ice cream she’d retrieved.

“D’you want to share this with me?” he asked, gesturing to the bowl with a spoon.

Rose nodded. He scooped several large dollops of vanilla ice cream into the bowl then he went to his junk drawer. It overflowed with a random assortment of objects: scissors, several different types of batteries, notepads, pens, pencils, a ruler, a screwdriver, tape, glue, Band-Aids, rubber bands, paper clips, binder clips, thumbtacks, toothpicks, a ball of twine, a condom, a tampon, and so many other things James didn't remember throwing into the drawer.

He dug through the mishmash of objects until he found a small, half-empty box of birthday candles and a matchbook. He took out four candles and brought them and the matches over to where Rose stood at the counter.

“I would try to shove twenty-two of them into the cupcake, but firstly I don’t have twenty-two candles, and secondly, I’m pretty sure I would end up pulverizing the poor cupcake into a pile of crumbs. So use your imagination; two and two equates to twenty-two.”

He shoved two of the candles side by side into the left side of the cupcake, right before the H and B in “Happy Birthday”. The other two, he stuck into the right side of the cupcake, behind both Ys. Striking the match, he ignored the shaking in his hands as he lit the candles. He then promptly blew out the match and dropped it into the water-filled wine glass in the sink to let it stop smoking. However, Rose must have seen the tremor in his hands, because she reached over and threaded their fingers together.

“I don’t like fire,” he admitted. “For obvious reasons.”

“You didn’t have to light the candles then,” Rose said gently.

“Pfff. It’s your birthday. Can’t have a birthday without blowing out some candles. How else will you get a free wish?”

Rose cracked a small smile and squeezed his fingers. She leaned forward as though she were about to blow out her candles. James cried, “Wait!”

She pulled back with a start.

“It’s your twenty-second birthday. I would think you would remember how this goes by now,” he drawled. He then sucked in a deep breath and began to sing. “Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Ro-ooose. Happy Birthday to youuuuu.”

She was grinning by the end of it, especially when he intentionally sang off-key for the sole purpose of making her smile. He’d made her cry too much in the last twenty-four hours; a smile from her was a welcome sight.

“Right. Those candles are all charged up with birthday magic. Now you can make a wish and blow,” he said, bowing and gesturing to her cupcake.

Rolling her eyes at him, Rose closed her eyes and paused for about five seconds, before she blew out a short breath, extinguishing the candles with ease. He applauded her effort, then yanked the candles out of the cupcake and extended two of them to her. They licked off the cake crumbs and icing—cream cheese, he noted with delight—then dropped them into the trash.

“Let’s eat this before all the ice cream melts,” James said, gesturing to the table. “Want anything to drink? More wine?”

“Just water.”

He grabbed two glasses from the dishwasher and filled them with water from the pitcher in the fridge before plopping down at the table beside Rose. He noticed his phone had a new text notification; Jack had replied, letting him know he was home. James relayed the news to Rose, then gestured for her to take the first bite of her birthday cupcake.

For several long minutes, they sat silently together, trading off bites of cupcake and ice cream until the bowl was empty. 

“That was very good,” he praised, swiping his finger through the melted mess of ice cream and chocolate crumbs on the bottom of the bowl and licking the digit clean.

“Thanks. Elsa loves to bake but doesn't get the chance to do it as often as she likes because she lives in the dorms on campus.” Rose ran her fingertip along the rim of her glass. “When I invited her over to my flat, she said stress baking was a requirement. She didn’t know it was my birthday until we started decorating the cupcakes.”

“Do you have an aversion to people knowing it’s your birthday?”

She snorted. “No. But it just… it didn’t feel right to celebrate. Not when we’d…” She trailed off with a shrug. “All month I’d been looking forward to finally telling you it was my birthday. It didn’t feel right to tell anyone about my birthday if I couldn’t tell you.”

“I really buggered your birthday,” he sighed, chest tightening.

“Nah.” She pursed her lips. “Okay, well, yeah. But it wasn’t just you. I didn’t help. I wasn’t in the mood to celebrate my birthday today, so I kept it to myself. Anyways. Elsa knocked a bit of sense into me this afternoon. Helped put some things into better perspective.”

“I’m glad you have a friend like that to share things with,” he said.

Rose hummed in agreement. “She also called me out for being an idiot.”

James snorted. “Jack did much the same for me.” He paused, fidgeting uncomfortably for a few seconds before he blurted, “I am so sorry, Rose. I’m so sorry for snooping through your mail and reading that letter, and I’m so sorry for jumping to a conclusion that was absolutely ridiculous, and I’m sorry for accusing you of not trusting me. I’m sorry I twisted the situation and your words and actions to put the blame all on you. I’m sorry I let my own insecurities warp my perceptions of you and our relationship, and I’m so, so sorry for ever insinuating that you would want to go back to Jimmy.”

Rose was dead silent. When James chanced a peek over at her, he was horrified to see tears welling in her eyes. She blinked and they fell down her cheeks.

Sniffling, she wiped at them and whispered, “That really hurt. I thought I had told you enough about Jimmy to show you he wasn’t a nice person to be in a relationship with. And I thought…” 

“You did,” James interrupted fervently. “You did Rose. You were absolutely correct in saying I had selective memory. You told me more about him than I realized. I was too caught up in my own head last night to remember everything you’d said. I’m so sorry about that.”

Rose waved him off. “Forget Jimmy for a minute. Even if he wasn’t a wanker… It hurt that you would think I would be tempted into a new relationship with someone else when we’ve been so happy together. At least, I’ve been happy.”

“I’ve been happy, too,” James said. He covered her hand with his. “I swear, Rose. I’ve been so happy with you.”

He wished he had better answers for her. He wished he could explain what had triggered him last night, explain how his brain had disregarded nearly seven months of a friendship and four months of a relationship stronger than he’d ever had before. Why had he thought Rose would be tempted by an ex-boyfriend who had treated her so horribly? Why did he have the anxiety that Rose would see through his facade and realize he wasn’t as exciting as she’d thought? Why was he so fearful she would leave?

Because everyone leaves.

The realization crashed over him with the force of a tidal wave, pushing his head beneath the water until he could barely breathe. He was drowning, fighting a losing battle against the current, about to be swept away into the sea when he was thrown a lifeline.

Rose squeezed his fingers hard, grounding him, pulling him back to the moment. His chest was tight and tears blurred his vision.

Everyone leaves.

His mother, who had thought it more prudent to attend to their dogs rather than get herself to safety with her husband and son.

His father, who had rescued him from their burning house only to leave him on the street to go back inside. James hadn’t been enough to keep his dad by his side, and so he had lost two parents that night.

His aunt, who had never wanted kids, had never expected to have kids. She pulled long hours and travelled incessantly, chasing big news stories while James pretended he was fine with being alone, while silently wishing his dad had never saved him from their house. He knew without a doubt that, if his aunt could do it all over again, if she knew then what she knew now, she never would have agreed to be his godmother when he was born. He loved his aunt, and knew his aunt loved him, but he wasn’t so naïve as to be ignorant of the fact that he had upheaved his aunt’s life, and not entirely for the better.

The friends he had left behind in the UK and never heard from again after he and his aunt moved to America. People he had known since childhood who hadn’t bothered putting in the effort to stay in touch, despite claiming they would.

His previous partners, many of whom finding ways to end their brief relationship after realizing he didn’t want to have sex with them. Time after time, he had to listen to them say it was fine that they weren’t being physically intimate—with an unspoken yet dangling between them—only to listen to them make up excuses for why they were ending the relationship. Granted, he had broken off a relationship himself a few times, but over half the time, his partner had been the one to end it.

Over and over, people came and people went, and at the heart of it, James was hardly more than a spectre, unable to be seen or heard as his heart was left broken. And yet when Rose had joined him, had taken his hand and made promises and vows that nobody ever had before, he had jumped at the first opportunity to assume she would leave him, too.

Chair legs scraped across the floor a moment before a warm, familiar arm wrapped around his waist. He turned into Rose and rested his cheek on her shoulder, breathing in her scent, the subtle tones of amber and citrus, of warmth and love and home.

Something deep in his chest cracked open, releasing the floodgates. For the past nine and a half years, he had been drifting, trying to make sense of how he could feel so alone when he was surrounded by people, able to make new friends and acquaintances at the drop of a hat. Yet there was always that disconnect, making him feel more like an outsider looking in. Like everyone else was aware of the punchline of a joke while he was left clueless.

Until Rose. With Rose it had been natural. Effortless. It was though his world had shifted into perfect focus, and at the heart of it was her. She had reminded him of what it felt like to belong, to feel perfectly at home with another person. And though he was desperate not to lose her and what they had together, part of him was holding his breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Yet in doing so, he had let his anxiety take control and had hurt Rose badly enough that he had nearly caused her to do exactly what he had been terrified of.

James’s shoulders shook as he wept quietly into Rose’s neck, dampening the collar of her shirt. She didn’t seem to mind. Instead, she held him closer, rubbing her hand up and down the length of his spine as he sobbed and gasped for breath.

“I’m sorry,” he rasped. “I’m so sorry for everything, Rose.”

Haltingly, through the juddering tears that cracked his voice, he explained his revelation to her. He hoped he didn’t sound like he was making excuses for himself, but he genuinely wanted her to understand the conclusion his big, stupid brain had come to.

“I let my fears take over,” he said, voice raw from crying and talking. “I didn’t realize what they were. And I didn’t realize how loud they’d gotten.”

“I understand,” Rose said quietly. “Believe me. I understand. Is there anything I can do to help you quiet them?”

James rubbed his hand beneath his clogged, stuffy nose and grimaced when it came away wet. He pulled away from Rose and stood, moving to the sink to wash his hands, then to grab a handful of tissues. He blotted his eyes then blew his nose before he sank into his seat beside her again.

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “I know this is a me problem, not a you problem. You’ve been wonderful, Rose. You and me… our relationship… it has all been wonderful. I don’t know why I was so quick to let ten minutes of screaming insecurities make me forget about half a year of loving you.”

Rose chewed on the inside of her cheek, contemplating. “If ever there’s a time those voices are getting too loud, I’d like you to tell me. Though I know sometimes they can go unnoticed. But if you realize you’re getting stuck in your head, let me know and I’ll try to help you out of it.”

James flashed her a grateful smile. “Same for you. If there’s ever a time I can help you with whatever’s on your mind…”

Rose sighed. “I need to get better about that. I’ve realized I have a bad habit of telling myself I will deal with something later, but later never actually comes.” She sucked in a big breath and blew it out again. “I’m sorry you saw that letter from Jimmy. Yeah, you were a bit of a twat for reading it and reacting like you did. But I’m sorry you were blindsided like that, and that I ignored how it made you feel. And I’m sorry for making you feel like I don’t trust you. I’m sorry I made you self-conscious for everything you’ve shared with me and that you feel like I don’t share enough with you.” She let out a sad little laugh that twisted his heart. “This is going to sound lame, but I honestly didn’t realize I wasn’t being as open with you as I thought I was. It feels like you know me better than anyone ever has, so I didn’t think to change anything. But now that I know how you feel, I want to work to be better at that.”

James shook his head and covered her hand. “No, Rose. I got caught up in my own head and in my frustration. You’ve shared more with me than I wanted to admit last night.” Jack’s words clanged around in his head. “I shouldn’t have expected the exact same level of sharing from you as I am comfortable with giving.”

“That’s not fair. I am comfortable with you…”

James cringed. “No, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m not accusing you of anything, Rose. Merely stating a fact. I’m not trying to make you feel guilty or upset, I swear. I want you to be comfortable talking with me, and forcing you to talk about things you aren’t comfortable with is counterproductive.”

“Thing is, I was always going to tell you everything about Jimmy,” Rose sighed. “When he first texted me, it sent me into a blind panic and I sorta… shut down. I wanted to take the time I needed to get into a better place before sharing it with you. But I guess I didn’t realize how long it was since he first texted me.”

James stayed silent, letting her get her thoughts together. He twined their fingers together, happy to be able to sit and touch her like this, when for many long, heartbreaking hours in the wee hours of that morning, he had been sure that he would never be able to do so again. Her hand fit perfectly in his, and he knew that he would do whatever it took to make their relationship whole again, to make sure he could hold her hand for the rest of their lives.

When Rose began speaking, he gave her his full attention and tried to keep his emotions in check. He listened to her explain how Jimmy had texted her out of the blue, having gotten her number from a “mutual friend”.

“M’still not sure who gave it to him,” Rose said with a sigh. “He never told me and none of my friends claim to have done it.”

James listened to her describe the early conversations she’d had with Jimmy, from telling him that she needed time, to working through her anxiety with the help of Elsa and a counselor, to coming to the decision to let Jimmy say his piece.

“He was very important to me at one time. He was the love of my life. He was my everything. He will always be important and special because I genuinely loved him, and like it or not, my experiences with him shaped me into the person I am today. I don’t love him anymore, and frankly don’t miss him or want what we used to have, but if this would help him and me move on, I really wanted to let him say what he needed to say.

“He apologized to me, and it wasn’t even a terrible apology. Though he did make it sound like we both were at fault, but you know what, it was better than I was expecting, so I sorta took it as a win. I figured we were done, but then he wanted to know if he could repay me for all the debts he’d left me with. I can’t remember if I told you before, but he stopped paying his part of the rent at the end of our relationship. I got so behind on those payments because I had other bills to focus on that by the time I moved out, I was six months behind.

“I refused Jimmy’s offer. Told him everything was paid off and he didn’t owe me anything.” Rose sniffled and smiled ruefully, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “You know my money insecurities. I couldn’t stand the thought that he might use this as a way to control me again. So I shut him down.”

“Good for you,” James murmured, his first words in a while. “You don’t have to go on. It’s okay.”

But Rose shook her head. “I want you to know all of this. I want to come to you when—as Elsa puts it—shit ties up my brain. And my brain has been in knots for over a month. I want to be better with being okay about my thoughts sometimes getting tangled; I realized if I waited until my brain was calm to tell you everything, I would never tell you anything. I don’t want secrets between us, and I’m frustrated with myself that I unwittingly kept secrets from you. I can’t promise I will tell you immediately when something is on my mind, but I will make more of an effort to be more open with you. I wish I’d told you all of this sooner, but I can’t go back and change how I handled this, so let me tell you all of this now.”

James nodded and brought their clasped hands to his lips for a soft kiss.

“After I told Jimmy I didn’t want his money, I thought we were done. I didn’t hear from him for a few days, but then I got a text from him, a selfie with some of our old friends. A harmless group photo. Then he started sharing news from home. Or he would send me playlists. Stupid, innocent stuff we used to. He has really good taste in music and I’m always happy to have new songs or artists to listen to.

“We started chatting a little more regularly. Not daily, but a few times a week. A few messages at a time. He shared updates about his life, told me about going to drug and alcohol meetings, financial counseling, and so on. I told him about America and school. I didn’t tell him about you, though. It’s stupid, and I should have because I don’t think Jimmy realizes I’m not single, but you’re mine.” The word sent a thrill up James’s spine, and he couldn’t help but kiss her knuckles again. “You’re mine and I didn’t want to share you with him. I didn’t want anything of Jimmy to touch you. And I wasn’t trying to lead him on or anything. Or keep him a secret from you. But all of a sudden it’s been five weeks since he first texted.

“Then he sent me that letter. It came two days ago. I cried when I got it. I never gave him my address, so I panicked that he had somehow stalked me and found me, that he would be waiting at the university for me. And I was just… so defeated. I thought maybe he’d changed. Grown up or something. Stupidly, I thought maybe we could eventually be friends. But the only thing he wanted was for me to get back together with him.”

Rose’s tears dripped down her cheeks and her breathing hitched. James wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. She willingly leaned into him and sniffled quietly for a long moment.

“Did you really think that was a love letter?” Rose croaked.

“Pardon?”

“What Jimmy wrote to me. Did you think it read like a love letter?”

James sucked on the inside of his lower lip. He tried to remember the content of the letter, but his memories were all tainted with the pain of their argument.

“I don’t remember enough of it,” he confessed. “I’m sorry.”

Rose lifted her bum off of her chair, reaching into her back pocket to pull out a piece of paper that had been folded into eighths.

“Here,” she said, giving it to him.

Tentatively, he took it. Rose pulled herself out of his embrace and grabbed a tissue from the crumpled pile he had brought over. 

As he reread the letter, his stomach twisted into knots when he picked out several words and phrases.

I’ve found a piece of myself…

I’m not complete…

I hate the person I am without you… 

…happiest of my life… 

…nothing more I’ve wanted…

…(our life?)… 

You make me feel like I can do anything… 

I love how I feel when I’m with you… 

I was scared about how much I needed you… 

…something I always knew would be there for me… 

I know I can make it work this time… 

…enjoy your time there, while you can… 

…we can work harder together to make us work… 

I will do whatever it takes to make this work… 

Over and over, James read the letter, his mind picking up more of the tone and the sheer selfishness in it. Everything Jimmy said was about him, about how he needed Rose, without giving a thought about whether Rose wanted or needed him. He plainly admitted to taking her for granted, and still, after all this time, he acted as though he and Rose were equally at fault for how their relationship had ended.

How must it have sounded to Rose, for him to go off on her about the letter?

“Oh, Rose,” James breathed, “I’m so sorry. God, I was a twat, wasn’t I?”

She let out a watery giggle. “Yeah, a bit.”

“Can I ask…? How did Jimmy find your address? I mean. Do you even know how he found it?”

Rose’s eyes welled with tears again, even as she scoffed. “My mum.”

“Your… mum?” That had not been what James had expected. “But… why?”

Rose shook her head. “Apparently Jimmy went ‘round the estate. Found my mum and told her we’d been chatting. Said he wanted to send me money to help cover the bills I’d paid. He said exactly the right thing—when I moved back home, my mum kept telling me over and over that Jimmy should cough up the money to cover his half of the flat and the expenses that had built up. 

“A couple weeks ago, my mum asked me if I’d been chatting with Jimmy. When I said yes, I guess she assumed I knew Jimmy wanted to repay me but I was being unreasonable.” Rose’s face crumpled. “I know my mum didn’t know how badly Jimmy had treated me, and that's my fault for not telling her. But what if he’d been a murderous stalker? What if he’d physically or sexually abused me? What if he used that information and showed up alone at my flat one night and broke in and…?”

She coughed out a wracking sob and buried her face in her hands. James nearly began crying at the sight of her distress. “How dare my mum give out my address like that? I never thought she’d do something like that. My mum called to wish me a happy birthday and I told her a little bit about why you and I were fighting, and she told me she was the one who gave Jimmy my address. I got so angry with her, and she was gettin’ angry with me. I’ve spent the day crying ‘cos I was fighting with my two favorite people.”

James tossed the letter onto the table and wrapped his arms around Rose, holding her tightly to his chest. He had never been angrier with another person than he was right now with Jackie Tyler. Well. Jackie Tyler and Jimmy bloody Stone. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Rose. I’m sorry.”

“Joke’s on Mum, though; Jimmy didn’t send a single quid with that letter.” Rose sniffled and scrubbed her hands across her eyes. “I hate this. I wish I’d blocked Jimmy from the start, I wish I’d told you when he texted, I wish I’d told my mum not to talk to Jimmy. I wish I’d handled everything differently, and I wish I hadn’t gotten so upset with you last night. I’m sorry, James. I’m sorry for it all.”

James tightened his hold around her, burying his face into her neck while she wept into his. “You have every right to handle situations however you think is best. I should have had more faith and trust in you and in our relationship. I was unreasonable. But I forgive you, love. Of course I forgive you. I love you. I love you more than you can imagine, and I’m so sorry I doubted it last night.”

Rose began crying harder into his shoulder. Her breaths came out in harsh gasps as she managed to reply, “I love you too. I’m sorry for putting the doubt in your head… when you asked if I was breaking up with you and I said I didn’t know. God, I didn’t mean that. I didn’t mean it at all. I got scared too, same as you, and my brain sort of shut down because it couldn’t stop thinking of everything Jimmy had said or done in the past, and twisting it to look like what you were saying and doing. That’s something I need to work on because that’s insulting for me to imply that you’re anything like him, but I didn’t know what to do, so I pushed you out, and I’m so sorry.”

James merely held her tighter, his heart breaking at her agony, yet filling with more love for her than he’d ever felt before.

“You’re the strongest woman I know, Rose,” he murmured into her hair. “The strongest. You’ve overcome so much, and you’re working to make yourself the best version of yourself that you can be, and that’s so admirable. I am here to listen to anything you want to tell me, but I am okay with not knowing everything. I trust your judgement, and I know you’ll tell me what you want me to know.”

He continued speaking quietly, a combination of reassurances, affirmations, and words of love. She shed more tears than he’d ever seen her shed, and he shed just as many. He was exhausted and overwhelmed, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep for a very long time tangled with Rose.

When her tears finally dried, he pressed a lingering kiss to the side of her head before sitting back in his chair. He grabbed a tissue for himself and passed one to her; they noisily blew their noses and wiped their eyes.

“Well. Wasn’t that cathartic?” he said cheerfully, holding his hand out for her tissue to throw in the rubbish bin.

She chuckled. Though her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were splotchy, he didn’t think there was a more beautiful person in the world than her.

He washed his hands after throwing away their used tissues, then he grabbed a few more, just in case. His nose was still a bit runny, and he was sure Rose’s had to be too. He plopped into his chair with a groan.

“First fight,” he mused. “Can tick that one off the list, I suppose.”

“Was it everything you expected it to be?” she drawled, rolling her eyes.

“Admittedly it was a lot more painful than I thought,” he said. “But now we can go back to how we were, right?”

Rose paused. In the silence, his heart sank into his stomach.

“I don’t know if we should,” she said carefully, and his lungs were suddenly out of air. Her eyes widened. “No, not like you’re thinking. It’s just… everything we fought about, everything we talked about, it changed us. It changed our relationship. Not in a bad way, but it’s different now. We’re more aware of some things that we weren’t before. I don’t want to go backwards with you. I want us to go forward. Together.”

James nodded, shoulders slumping in relief. He slid his hand across the table, slipping it beneath Rose’s so her palm rested against the back of his hand. He splayed his fingers, letting hers fall between the gaps. She curled her fingers around his hand.

“You’re right,” he said, caressing his thumb along the side of her pinkie. “Absolutely, you’re right. Guess this means the honeymoon period is over?”

“Probably.” She flashed him a cheeky grin. “Hopefully we’re not over the horny hump though.”

“You’re never gonna let me forget that I said that, are you?” he whined, grimacing.

“Nope,” she said, popping the ‘p’ as he often did. “It was such a dorky thing to call it.”

He pouted. “You never complained about my dorkiness before.”

“I love your dorkiness. Doesn’t mean I won’t tease you about it though.” Her smile slipped until her face turned solemn. “I’m really glad we talked this out, James.”

He squeezed her fingers. “Me too.”

“Any time Jimmy and I had an argument, we never did this. We’d shout at each other, curse at each other, and then ignore each other and not speak for a day or so. Then we’d have angry make up sex and pretend everything was fine in the morning. I don’t want to ever do that again. I want to communicate with you and to compromise with you, then grow with you.

“Staying in love is a choice, and it takes work. It shouldn’t be hard, but it’s not easy either. We need to choose to stay in love, decide that our relationship is worth making an effort for. I want to wake up every day and choose you, to choose us, and I want to put in the work because I wanna enjoy the payoff. Because being in love with you, James… it’s the best I’ve ever felt. You make me feel like I can do anything, like pass a stupid chemistry class or tell my stupid ex-boyfriend to fuck off. I love the way you make me feel. I love feeling like I’m home whenever I’m with you. And though this home we’re building with each other might have a leaky roof every now and then, I wanna fix it with you.”

James’s eyes were burning again. How was anything even left in his tear ducts? “Oh, Rose. You make me feel the same way. And I feel so inadequate because you just waxed romantic poetry at me, but my brain has stopped working. But please know I love you with every cell in my body, and I want to keep loving you with every cell, all the way down to each little organelle contained within, every day for the rest of our long and beautiful life together.”

Rose grinned at him and leaned over to press a light kiss to his lips. They tingled at the contact, and he wanted to pull her close to kiss her again.

“You’re such a science geek,” she said.

“Well. I’ve already shown you I’m rather fabulous with many types of chemistry and anatomy,” he drawled, flashing her an over-the-top wink as he clicked his tongue lewdly.

She burst into a fit of laughter that he echoed, feeling at peace for the first time in twenty-four hours. The exhaustion of all those hours suddenly overwhelmed him. His laughter morphed into a yawn, which spread to Rose.

“I’m knackered,” he announced unnecessarily. “Will you come to bed with me? My bedroom’s a disaster, but the guest bed is made.”

Rose nodded and stood up from the kitchen table. She took their bowl to the sink and rinsed it out before leaving it there for them to clean properly in the morning. She then flicked off the light on top of the stove before she followed him through the rest of the house, locking up and turning lights off as they went.

“Can I see what you’ve done to your room?” Rose asked.

“Sure,” he said, continuing down the hall rather than peeling off into the guest room. When he got to his closed door, he warned, “It’s a mess.”

They were hit with the stench of paint fumes as soon as he opened the bedroom door. He flicked on the light, and the room was bathed in the yellow glow of his lamps.

“Love the color,” Rose said.

“Yeah?” he asked, pleased with himself that, even in his miserable, depressive state of trying to not think about Rose, he had managed to pick a color she would like.

“Mhm.”

“I have to put on the second coat. I’ll probably do that tomorrow—I’m not really feeling like going to my classes, so I’ll probably ditch ‘em again.”

“You rebel,” she teased. “If you want some help, I don’t have anything important going on tomorrow. And I don’t work this weekend. We can take a few days to finish up the painting and reorganize your furniture.”

James smiled. “I’d like that.”

“It’s a date.” She wrapped her arm around his waist and tucked her face against his shoulder. “Besides, it’ll go faster with two.”

Leaning down, James brushed a kiss to her crown then rested his cheek in her hair. “Faster with two. Better with two.” He gave her waist a tight squeeze as he kissed her again. “Better with you.”

#ficandchips #doctorroseprompts #dwfic #doctor who #ten x rose #ten x rose au #james x rose #university au #romance #hurt/comfort #angst #my fic #chemical reaction #catalysis series #chemical potential sequel

[mysticalmusicwhispers]

HELLO I'M BACK!! GUESS WHO HAS A TERM BREAK COMING IN A FEW DAYS I'M VERY HAPPY :D this ask is Very Long so i'm going to split it up into a few parts

part 1/2

But honestly, it would probably be something like “I’m going to bring a (dead) chicken to class for show and tell and you two need to act horrified and cause a ruckus because it would be fun and it would scare the other kids :)”. (this is probably bullying, so in an effort to make them slightly better kids, an alternative plot is that a stray cat has been coming to their school and in order to make friends with it, they feed it a whole-ass dead chicken Nyo China got from the butchers and was planning to cook for dinner. The teachers are horrified and confiscate Yao’s backpack for fear of germs and salmonella.)

hhhhhh the first idea is SO FUN my gremlin repressed anger eight year old self would've loved it. the idea of bringing a stinking plastic bag to school, opening it, revealing a dead, fly-infested chicken and then maybe playing a small game of lobbing the chicken around for funsies is both simultaneously horrifying and amazing. however the second idea is also amazing, one of my previous schools had stray cats and staff and students would feed and pet them (and i miss it :( ) and it was the Best feeling... or maybe they could do BOTH? but this time they're planning to bring a dead chicken to feed the cat (aw, even if yao probably gets detention. also a lecture from nyo china on what exactly you should feed a cat, including why you shouldn't steal the chicken she bought to feed it.) and the next time they can bring like. a bunch of dead flies to show their classmates but in a not bully way. i went once to this family friend's house in a part of the countryside that had an abundance of flies. (i literally haven't thought of this in years i'm remembering so many childhood things because of this omg) they had this paper covered with glue that the flies would land on and then be stuck on the paper. it was both disgusting and amazing to watch a black mass of bulbous bodies straining with their legs (which were probably thinner than my hair) to escape the paper. i also think that indchuran, being both little sadists in the making and having an abudnace of fascination like many children, would take great delight in watching an unsuspecting fly landing on the glue, watch it still, glancing around eerily similarly to when humans realise they have gotten themselves in a bad situation, and then start struggling with all their might to get out. but fuck the flies tho they landed on our food all the time there and it sucked. they can die :)

THE PROBELM is... how will they get that many flies in what i assume would be a gentrified ass area with frequent fumigation efforts given that nyo china would not accept anything than the best elementary education for her ward?? (i have a solution) maybe indus has friends in the countryside and she goes with aditya to visit them. and while they are talking aditya wanders about and discovers a few pieces of paper filled with flies. because he is a gremlin, he is Fascinated with these pieces of paper, and he takes one out to Further Examine. all the adults yell at him, but he is Fascinated and will not be stopped. and then a Thought occurs to him: who would probably enjoy this as much as he would? duh, his friends of course! good things must be Shared even if they're kind of disgusting! so what he does is he gets a disposable plastic tupperware like container, very gently places the fly paper into it, pokes a few holes for air, sprinkles some sugar because he thinks that'll keep them alive, and wraps most of it up in duct tape he found so indus can't see it. unfortunately most of the flies died on the way home because the container was stuffed into aditya's bag and the paper slid to the side + there wasn't enough air, BUT the dead flies are still a Sight to behold when he visits iran's house (which yao is /coincidentally/ visiting) to show them. then he brings it to school after the weekend, and everyone is Fascinated and thinks it is Very Cool, at least until the teachers see it and start screaming. they throw it away but indchuran get an Idea to put dead flies into the bags of people they hate (this is now just bullying) so that opens up a very few interesting weeks of attempts to collect flies in a fumigated city and Horror for the school. fun times for all!

😔 finding and reading that encyclopedia is probably one of my formative memories now and i wish it wasn't 😔 i bet yao during his teenage years would look back on it and be like "... oh my GOD." but i think he would appreciate her directness even if he didn't absorb all the information correctly or remember most of it lmao because it seems like only a very small percentage of the world has actually good sex ed and i don't think indchuran's school would be an exception. at least nyo china like you said instilled a good sense of consent with them 😔 also the idea of saying fuck in mandarin makes me break out in hives the AUDACITY of saying fuck in your first language but of course he would. he WOULD. nyo china probably wouldn't even have purposely taught him that which is why he doesn't know what it means, just that it's an insult, but once they come up to her to complain all she does is give them a Terrifying Contemptuous Glare and steer yao away from them. yao is her kid and therefore entitled to say fuck whenever he wants.

Prev

First things first I hope you had a good term break! this is... very overdue sorry about that :(

Second, ALSK:FJ:SLFDKSFDLKJSLDF the fly infested chicken is disgusting and I want so badly to intervene,,, they need hELP. Please learn about proper sanitation, children, I’m begging you T-T. Also, headcanon accepted: they’re ostensibly bringing it to feed the cats (which is hopefully allowed) but also they want to terrorize (or awe) their fellow classmates with this discovery. Watch the school call up nyo china about this, but she gets annoyed only because yao wasted human food in order to feed cats, not because he brought an inappropriately dead chicken to school that scared the younger kids and fellow classmates lol; what a great value system. Also this scenario def happened:  School: your child got in a fight. Nyo China: Oh no! Did he win?

I am both fully revolted and half fascinated by the flypaper thing because on one hand I CANNOT stand flies, and killing them is 178% gross. But also the way you described it is... very compelling and I would like to experience that, gross as it is lol. So yea I can definitely see those three nastily observing the flies getting stuck to the flypaper one by one... they all intently watch the flypaper with round and curious eyes and it really looks very cute from far away, three heads of fluffy hair close together and bent over something, carrying on an animated whispered discussion, until you get closer and see that they’re watching flies on flypaper •—•;; An even more gross scenario would be if one of them accidentally squashes one and they crowd around to see what fly guts look like 😭 bonus points if it happens during school. Also YES to Indus’s countryside friend; I feel like India would have a lot of fun exploring over there and would be able to bring back v cool stories for city slicker Yao, and also Iran (although I don’t know where they’d live precisely. I feel like they’d probably have a medium sized house with very nice art and Classy furniture (they got good taste from somewhere), but they’d also knows a lot about how rural areas work and stuff, so uh.. suburbs? Or something like that?)

“then he brings it to school after the weekend, and everyone is Fascinated and thinks it is Very Cool. . .” O—O sigh... three balls of absolute chaos. At least the other kids are fascinated this time instead of apprehensive ^-^ but the dead flies in lockers AL:KDSLFDSJF PLEASE NO me as an elementary student would have been absolutely horrified and I. really hope they get detention for that lol; Please Tone Down kids 😔 (also do y’all get flies in the lights at school? Because every single classroom I’ve been in has either had flies, wasps, moths, or some other black spots in the lights and they’d multiply as the year went on 😭 I never thought about it too much but... what if they linger around to watch the lights get cleaned? o-o)

“i bet yao during his teenage years would look back on it and be like "... oh my GOD."” YEAH there’s always a select few memories that make you realize “what even WAS that” and I think this is one lol. Yao just buries it in the back of his spacious mental closet and makes India and Iran swear not to bring it up again but inevitably they do :))))) they find it rather hilarious, actually. Also yes at least Nyo China did a good job in that department!

“also the idea of saying fuck in mandarin makes me break out in hives the AUDACITY of saying fuck in your first language but of course he would” lol I wrote that thinking he'd call someone a 王八* (because it could technically pass as a regular noun o-o. Who knows, maybe he was insulting someone for being slow like a turtle but it got out of hand due to word choice lol) but... the second scenario is quite something... I don't know whether I should laugh or cry. RIP the other parents who just have to fervently hope that disgraceful kid from next door grows out of his foul mouth soon (he never does, just gets better at pretending his language is elegant and not at all dirty XD)

*for non mandarin speakers 王八 is literally a soft shelled turtle, but is actually a pretty big insult in mandarin :)

#the ancients elementary #aph china #hws china #au back in business babey! also bones this answer is Very Late; sorry about that!! :< i was inordinately busy with school #hws india #aph india #aph iran #hws iran #aph ancients #hws ancients #aph #hetalia #hetalia headcanons #aph persia #hws persia #musings #headcanon musings #hetalia au #aph china headcanons #hws china headcanons #luyous #ask musings #answered

[parvulous-writings]

An Idyllic Life is Nothing short of Splendid

Request:    Hey! May I ask for some Ethan x Vanessa (from Penny Dreadful,of course) fluff? Something involving their children,maybe?  For the Ethan x Vanessa request: I’d like the fic to be set in a modern au, but I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to keep the original victorian setting anyway! Besides this - and the children (or just one of them) being babies - nothing else. Thank you!

Submitted by: @ecasen

Genre: Modern!Penny Dreadful AU- Fluff

Warnings:  Brief mention of nursing (not too explicit), crying child.

Summary: Ethan Chandler and Vanessa Chandler (nee Ives) go on a small outing with their growing family. 

Words: 2.1k (2,152) Notes: I am so so sorry for how long this took, I have had a lot of work recently. I also apologise that this doesn’t really go anywhere. Don’t ask why the title is a little odd, I don’t know.    

Saturdays were the day that the entire Chandler household always looked forward to, no matter how slow, rough and teeth-grinding the rest of their week had been. It was Saturdays when Vanessa didn’t have to work, when she could spend a proper amount of bonding time with her steadily growing family, without the next week looming over all their heads like a menacing and treacherous beast, ready to devour their souls and morale.This particular Saturday was going to be a very pleasant one, Vanessa could just tell- she always could. Call it a mother’s intuition, or just plain intuition- but she could always tell whether a day was going to go well, or end in total and utter disaster. 

Ethan had woken up around half past seven in the morning on that particular Saturday. He had a plan, one he had been formulating for the last three days or so, a surprise for his darling Vanessa, his four year old girl Florence, and two month old Arabella. He valued his wife, and his children above all else- part of the reason he was the parent who stayed at home. He didn’t overly mind it,he enjoyed it actually, it was a nice life. Though, perhaps nice didn’t encapsulate all that he felt for his loved ones, idyllic, pure and perfect seemed to fit the bill much better.   Despite it being half past seven, a perfectly suitable time for his family to start their day, he still tip-toed around their home, carefully stepping over the few stray floorboards that creaked under any shadow of pressure.  

A single, full night of peaceful and undisturbed sleep was increasingly hard to come by in the Chandler family dwelling most Saturdays. Well, almost every day if anyone residing within was completely frank about the subject.So it didn’t weigh on Ethan’s conscience one bit that he was the only one up and about. He didn’t need as much sleep as the rest of his family unit, despite what Vanessa often tried to convince him. He knew that out of the pair of them, Vanessa was the one who needed much more rest- though she would never admit that to anyone, not even her darling husband. In the clear and bright beams of the morning light, Ethan set about completing his task- making a special tailored lunch for each member of his family. Well, as much of a lunch as he could, it was more for Florence and Vanessa if he was completely honest. The young and infantile Arabella was not yet of the age where she could properly savour great foods and homemade meals like the other three could. She would in time, he could just tell. Not in the same way Vanessa could, but he just knew.  He hoped that this- not grand, but certainly sweet, unique and special- gesture would just remind the three of them of Ethan’s profound and undying passion, love and admiration for them all. It was something he often said and told them about, yet he hardly ever managed to find the time to show them, to prove that the words he spoke were true, as true as their very existence.

Ethan started off with preparing Florence’s lunch. Cute little square sandwiches, varying between cheese and cucumber fillings, they were her favourite in the summer time, she could hardly get enough of them. He placed them gently into a little plastic tupperware container, being careful so that they didn’t fall to pieces. He put a bunch of grapes in there too, little Florence had developed a slight craving for them in past weeks.  He then moved on to make his wife’s sandwiches. He filled them with salad and cucumber again, something he knew he could keep cool, even in the summer’s heat on their outing. They were at least twice the size of Florence’s, naturally, and Ethan put them in their own little box before making himself his own sandwiches with sliced meat. Whatever the weather when it came to food, if meat was an option, Ethan would take it without any hesitaion, barely batting an eye at the other delectable options available to him.

It took him perhaps a quarter of an hour to fix up everything they needed and place them into two different canvas bags. One for himself, Vanessa and Florence, the other for baby Arabella, her feeding necessities and a couple of her toys which she had taken much fancy to.  It was then, when had finally had everything squared away and prepared for their little family adventure at noon, that he heard the little pitter patter of bare feet against the carpet in the hall. He turned to look over his shoulder, and was met with the brilliant emerald green hues of Florence’s curious orbs. The same bright green that her mother had. Ethan often spoke of how the young child had been blessed with her mother’s eyes, and though Vanessa often tried to play it off as a joke or some playful comment, Ethan meant it. He thought carefully when he spoke of his family, meaning each and every word that flowed from his tongue and unto the ears of whomever chose to listen to his love-induced ramblings.  When Ethan brought himself back to the present from his thoughts of admiration and closeness of his family, Florence was giving him a wide and beaming smile- one of the widest smiles he had ever seen on a child. He gave a gentle chuckle, turning round to face her fully. 

“And what are you doing up so early?” He questioned with a quirk of his brow, his tone playful and teasing, as it often was with both of his children. Florence just started to giggle at him, not yet answering his question. “It’s not early, dadad!” She announced to him, pointing up at the clock mounted on the kitchen wall. “See? The big hand’s on the nine, and the little hand is on the seven! It’s not early!” She repeated, seeming a lot firmer in her tone, as if she were protesting and defending her point. Ethan couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled past his lips, and he pretended to try and figure out what the clock’s face read. “Well, well, well... I think you may be right!” He exclaimed, turning to look at her once more. “What a clever and observant young lady you are!” He praised, replying to Florence’s toothy grin with one of his own. 

Florence responded to his compliment with a gentle little giggle, before squeezing past his form to get to one of the cupboards. Ethan just managed to stop her before she could get her tiny little hands on the breakable bowls that he and Vanessa used for a variety of things. “How about I help you with that?” He offered, knowing that she was trying to prepare her own breakfast. A cute little action, to be sure, but one that would most likely end in a mess that engulfed the entire kitchen. With a look of great reluctance, Florence took a small step back, allowing her paternal guardian to make her morning meal.  It didn’t take him all that long, and he moved with her through to the living room, sitting her down and placing a plate with jam on toast beside her. He pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head, before going to make himself some of his own breakfast. 

“Florence, darling, have you managed to get your shoes on the right feet?” Vanessa’s voice was sweet as she called through to the living room, conversing with her eldest child. Florence gave a loud hum in reply- indeed she had done, with some help from her father of course. Vanessa came through, baby Arabella strapped into the baby carrier around her shoulders. Ethan had already put the bags by the door, and was just making some last checks before they were to leave their home for the day.  “Well done, sweetheart,” Vanessa praised, kissing the top of her head gently as Ethan gathered the bags and pushed out the front door. Florence was hot on his trail, with Vanessa bringing  up the rear, closing  and locking the door behind them all. 

The walk didn’t take them all that far from their family home- Ethan didn’t exactly want to drive when he had planned the day, and he knew both Florence and Vanessa wouldn’t be able to walk for miles and miles, Vanessa being mostly too tired and Florence being too young- her legs too short to wander as far as her father could in the same amount of time. 

It took them about forty-five minutes to get to the secluded clearing in the small and idyllic woods behind their home- mostly because Florence kept getting distracted by brightly coloured flower blooms and lagging behind just a little bit. Neither Ethan or Vanessa minded though, so long as she didn’t get hurt, her curiosity was something they allowed her to satisfy, especially in this sort of scenario.  They soon found a nice little spot to have their lunch, nestled between a few tall and curving trees, on a patch of soft and inviting grass. The midday sun trickled through the canopy and down to the floor where they began to set up their picnic blanket in soft little rays- speckling their surroundings and their faces as they moved. Ethan started to unpack their food and snacks whilst Vanessa went to nurse a now fussing Arabella, with Florence attempting feebly to climb one of the many slender trees that surrounded them. Vanessa looked up from the babe latched to her chest to check on her eldest daughter, and worry briefly flashed across her visage, as Florence managed to get herself onto a precarious looking branch. For an older child, the height of the branch would be high enough for exhilaration, yet low enough that they wouldn’t get too hurt should they fall, but for Florence there was the exhilaration and the added danger of getting more seriously hurt. How she had even gotten up there was beyond Vanessa- the last time she had checked on her she could barely reach the branch with her slightly chubby hands, now she was sitting and barely balancing on the spindly limb. 

“Florence, be careful!” Vanessa chastised, an edge of panic to her voice. She would have gotten up, but with Arabella still suckling, she could not. Ethan, ever the attentive patriarch, immediately recognised the tone of his wife’s voice, and his head snapped up. He saw Florence with almost heart stopping clarity as she began to lose her balance, and he dropped the tupperware in his hands, taking off at a sprint towards his daughter, starting to slide as she finally lost her balance completely, falling backwards off of her makeshift seat and starting towards the ground. Time seemed to slow for both Ethan and Vanessa, as the former dived to try and catch his daughter before she hit the rocky dirt which had been beneath her. He just managed to, cradling her head in his palm as she landed with a jolt. She was unharmed, but she was still shocked. After a second or so to take in what had just occurred, she began to sniffle. A panting Ethan held her close, bringing her to his chest in a warm bear hug.  “You okay, sweetheart?” He asked her in a hushed voice. Florence began to nod, her hands grabbing at his flannel shirt as tears welled in her eyes. Though she had said she was fine- and she was thanks to her father- the floodgates had been opened, and she burst into tears, her wails muffled slightly by the fabric of her father’s attire. 

Ethan pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, slowly getting up from his knees and padding back over to the other half of the familial unit. He carefully sat down again, giving Vanessa a reassuring look to say that Florence was in actual fact perfectly fine, even if her tears of shock tried to convince her mother otherwise.  Ethan carefully reached over to Florence’s lunch, opening the box and taking out a handful of grapes as a sort of peace offering for the young girl in his lap. He held one up to her, and she shakily took it from him, eating it in one swift bite.  “There now...” Ethan cooed softly, rocking her back and forth ever so slightly in his gentle embrace. “Is that a little better?” He asked, to which he got a gentle nod as a reply. He hummed softly, showing that he saw she had replied, before looking to Vanessa with a soft smile. She returned the gesture, before starting to chuckle lightly. “Now that was an eventful start to this afternoon...” She mused, and Ethan joined in quite merrily with her laughter. 

#penny dreadful #canon x canon #modern au #fluff #requests open #please request #vanessa ives #ethan chandler #fluffy scenario #requested #gothic imagine #gothic #gothic tv show #tv series #tv series imagine

[chasseurdeloup-retired]

A Moment of Rest || Morgan and Kaden

TIMING: Before the cabin in the woods  LOCTAION: Woods PARTIES: @mor-beck-more-problems and @chasseurdeloup SUMMARY: A very normal picnic in the woods with a surprise guest.

“You could look happier to be out in the sunshine, you know. There’s not even any mushrooms in sight.” Morgan said. She spread out the picnic blanket in the shade, and settled down, a little smug today at being beyond heat exhaustion and squirming when she started to sweat through her cami. Corpse chill was so severe, she wasn’t even sure if she would sweat anymore. Morgan squished down the thought, determined to maintain it as a positive. She could look cute in any kind of weather. She didn’t even need ice baths like Deirdre did. Shaking back her hair, she gestured for Kaden to come sit. “In honor of us needing a serious break, and your favorite band of all time, I’ve got a mamma mia mimosa for you, a super trooper brain smoothie for me, and gimmie, gimmie, gimmie, gimmie waffles. Obviously, I can’t tell how much better they are from my last ones, but I’m feeling really confident about how I tweaked the batter. If nothing else, these are at least twice as fluffy. Come on, you know you want some, right?”

“I don’t even want to think about the mushrooms, thanks,” Kaden said as he found a spot on the picnic blanket across from Morgan. “I don’t even know how to begin explaining that one to Regan. She’s finally not five fucking inches so it’d be nice if we could get a two second reprieve from the fae bullshit.” Not to mention, he still wasn’t completely sure about the details on these mushrooms, he just knew he wasn’t ready to face whatever they were going to do to Regan. Part of him considered asking Morgan for advice but no, this was supposed to be a break. Maybe later. He sighed and was about to reach for the mimosa when he heard her little intro. Kaden sat there, blinking at her, fully ready to get up and walk the fuck away. “Erin fucking told you, didn’t she?” Putain. That was his guilty pleasure, not something he wanted out in public. It was embarrassing enough admitting it, he didn’t need ABBA rubbed in his face like that. Still, clear enough she meant well. Teasing. That’s all it was. Like they were friends or something. Fine. “Only if you quit making fun of me, dead girl.” He grumbled a little as he took the waffles from her. “And don’t tell Deirdre.”

“Don’t you know, Kaden? Up in White Crest you don’t think about fairy mushrooms; fairy mushrooms think about you.” Morgan didn’t know how to tell him her flippancy was the only thing keeping her from giving into the dread of being surrounded by those fucking fungi for months. But if he didn’t want an early ticket to the horror show, she didn’t blame him. She laid out all the tupperware and popped off the lids one by one. There was nothing in the make or decoration that signified anything ABBA related. She’d considered arranging berries on whipped cream to spell out the band’s name, but couldn't find any containers that would fit it just right, Lucky for Kaden.

“Of course Erin told me. We’re friends. But I think you still come out ahead of Ms. EDM Queen. I am ribbing you, but I also think there’s nothing wrong with liking ABBA...until you start making faces like that.” She wagged her finger at him, grinning. “And that’s a terrible request to make because she already knows. Sorry, but we tell each other...pretty much everything.” Morgan shrugged and took a deep, satisfying slurp of her shake. “It’s not that deep of a secret, is it? Will you feel better if I say I sing to Rogers and Hammerstein in my car? Or if I had my own brief ABBA phase when the stage Mamma Mia first came out?”

“You joke but if any town had sentient mushrooms, this is the one,” Kaden said. It was fine, Regan was sensible, unlike Deirdre. They didn’t have to worry about fairy mushroom crap. A pit dropped in his stomach out of nowhere, like some part of him knew he was lying to himself. Guess that was a problem for the future.

Kaden sighed. He hated that Deirdre had one up to embarrass him with. She would, too. At least with Erin they were fair and square. “There’s nothing wrong with ABBA, I just don’t want people laughing at me, alright,” he mumbled. It was stupid to admit, considering for the most part how little he cared about what other people thought of him, or at least that was what he told himself. The more he stayed in White Crest, the more he wondered if that was true. Reputations hardly matter if you don’t stay put in one spot for too long. But here he was all settled and cared and shit like that. There were so many days he wondered if that had been a mistake. And here he was, having waffles with a zombie. Probably a fucking mistake. He sighed and bit into the waffles. For a mistake, it was damn tasty. “Of course you sing musical ballads and shit, that’s completely expected from let’s talk about our feelings girl. Hell I bet you’d live in a musical if you could. Everyone belting out their private fucking emotions. I’d put money down that’s your idea of a good time.” He shook his head before taking another sip of Homs mimosa. Sounded like hell to him. Talking about feelings was bad enough. Kaden’s brow furrowed as he heard a soft small rumbling sound. Almost like a… bleating? Odd. “Do you hear that?” he asked.

“Oh, you’re damn right I would,” Morgan said. “You may not know this, but Deirdre and I kill at karaoke. Give me a moving, hummable love ballad, a solo in the rousing group number, maybe a breakaway hit ‘I want’ song. Maybe if I had one I could actually get more direction in my life going.” She took a deep slurp of her smoothie. “Are you saying that’s not your idea of a good time?” She pouted. She was going to relent a little, ask him about the waffles or, heck, whatever else he was interested in outside of work, when her senses perked at a strange sound from the bushes. “Yeah,” she murmured. Setting her smoothie down, Morgan got to her feet and started creeping towards the sound. The leaves rustled. Something was there alright. She positioned herself in front of Kaden, gesturing, sshhh. “We should probably stay quiet,” she whispered.

“Fuck no,” Kaden said with no hesitation. “I can’t imagine wanting to burst out into song or anyone appreciating that, either. All of that sounds tedious. I’ll stick to darts and trivia nights, thanks. Hard pass on the karaoke.” Plus, Regan couldn't sing (by her own admission) and he was fairly fucking ceratin a tone deaf banshee would make everyone else wish they were deaf. He watched, though, as she crept towards the sound. Guess they were going to investigate, huh. He stood and followed behind, nodding and remaining silent at her request. There it was again, the sound. There was no doubt what it was this time. The gentle bleating of a lamb. Which was impossible, there weren’t any farms out here. No livestock was going to survive on its own in White Crest, not out in the woods. He edged up next to her and peeled open the branches to reveal what was beyond them. Sitting there was a small, white lamb. Shit, they had to bring it in, probably take it to the shelter. He didn’t have any of his equipment with him. “Do you have a rope or something? A long string? Anything? We could try to get a loop lead around it,” he whispered.

Morgan gestured for Kaden to keep back as she came up to the bushes. “What are you doing? My limbs grow back, yours don’t!” She hissed. But Kaden peeled back the branches and-- “Aaaw!” Morgan squeezed his shoulder in excitement. “It’s so cute! What do you mean get a rope? Look how small and cute it is!” Morgan reached out a hand to let the fluffy little critter sniff her. It let out a soft bleat and licked her fingertip, testing to see if she was food. Morgan scooped the sweet creature up while it was occupied like this and inspected the little guy on their hands. “Oh, Kaden,” she cooed. “This cutie pie isn’t running off anywhere, are you honey?” The lamb bleated and wriggled in her grasp, ready to be put down. Morgan settled its forelegs on her lap and gave the lamb chin scratches for its trouble. She gave Kaden a look, trying to see if he’d put it together yet. “...It’s a little attached right now?” She prodded. “Because it’s a plant?”

It was always strange to remember that Morgan was damn near indestructible. Sure, Kaden had seen her tossed by a mime moose like a rag doll but so much of him still remembered when a vampire pulled her into the trees and nearly tore her apart. Thankfully, no such danger was there today. It was just a lamb. Well, mostly. It was… tethered to the ground? “Putain. Animal control is ruining me,” he said with a grumble. A year ago, the first thing he would have noticed was the supernatural element of it all. He also probably would have killed the lamb. With how cozy she seemed to be with it, he thought it best not to announce that. Kaden exhaled and plopped back down on the picnic blanket. “I thought it was a lost lamb. Like a real one. I was going to make sure it didn’t get away and bring it into the shelter because I thought it was normal.” That was certainly not the case. “I know what a vegetable lamb is, alright. I grew up knowing this shit, come on,” he grumbled before taking another bite of his waffles. The small supernatural animal across the way bleated and started sniffing the blanket and all the contents there. “Hey. Don’t eat my food; not for you!” he said as he tried to direct the lamb away from the berries on his plate.

Morgan couldn’t help but laugh. “Hey, at least we don’t have to spoil brunch by fighting giant spiders or running from creepy tics. It’s just one sweet little veggie lamb! And still has about another year left in its cute little life, judging from the size.” Morgan booped the lamb’s nose and pet its fur. “Oh, yeah, you’re a real big bad expert. What’s the protocol for this one anyway? It’s just so fearsome and terrible.” This, just as the lamb tried to take some of Kaden’s blackberries, made her laugh even more. Morgan lifted the critter out of the way and wiggled its forelegs in Kaden’s direction, ventriloquising sweetly, “Put ‘em up, Kaden! That’s my berries! I’ll fight you for them!”

She made a show of gasping with horror. “What a very rude vegetable! Should we pacify your gloriousness?” She picked up one of the berries from the tupperware and hovered it over the critter’s mouth. It bleated, thrashing and pleading until Morgan relented and brought it close enough to be eaten. “My mom had one once, apparently. They’re hard to grow in the first place. A lot can go wrong and it’s sort of gross when it doesn’t work out. But I’m not sure what this little guy is doing out here…” Bringing the lamb back to her lap, she pushed herself out of her thoughts and smiled over at Kaden. “How’s the food? And the whipped cream? I’ve never made it before and I can’t taste, but I measured everything really carefully.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ve got a point there,” Kaden replied. He was sick of being told that normal was a relative word, but at this point, he’d take normal adjacent. And avoiding monsters that ate people, or well, at least actively planned to eat them, was an improvement to most days in White Crest. “Uh, you really want to know?” he asked, mouth pulled into a thin line, looking down at the lamb and then back to her. “Langley code is everything supernatural should go.” He knew those words would fall like a lead weight between them, but it’s not like he could change his past or his family or what he was raised with anymore than she could change what she was. And he was admittedly still a little uncomfortable how much he’d changed himself. He much preferred it when he didn't have to face that reality, it was much easier when he could ignore it, not have to examine what all his contradicting bullshit meant. Good thing he didn't have to think about it long. He couldn’t help but crack a smile at the lamb as she held it up and made it act out a scene. It was so easy to forget that she wasn’t human and that it wasn’t an animal.

Okay, alright, stupid thing was cute. Putain. “Yeah so I’ve heard.” He couldn’t imagine going through all that work for a vegetable version of a sheep when there were standard sheep. Not that he needed one of those either. He rolled his eyes before he held out some of the berries in his hand for the stupid vegetable. It bleated before timedly wobbling towards him, nose sniffing and snuffling to find the fruit in his hands. Funny how similar it was to a normal animal; the corner of his mouth pulled up into a smile all over again as he watched. “Hmm? Oh. Yeah, it’s great. Almost too sweet but that could just be me, I don’t have a huge sweet tooth surprisingly.”

Morgan went stiff as Kaden explained the Langley code. Her eyes did nothing to hide the gravity of what he’d said, the danger she and the vegetable lamb were ostensibly in. She couldn’t help but hold the lamb a little tighter, any number of arguments rising in her throat. We have as much right to be here as anyone else. We didn’t choose how we were made any more than you did. What even gives Langleys the right to determine what counts as ‘natural.’ Cholera is natural too. So was Ted Bundy. ‘Natural’ isn’t a basis for… Morgan stopped herself. It was almost disturbing how easily she forgot what he was. But he was her exception just as she was his. The space they shared as friends wasn’t any more “natural” than the magic keeping the vegetable lamb alive. It had to be crafted with intention and suspended with care. And then, when the moment passed, it would weaken. One day, Morgan feared, it might even break.

Morgan watched in silence as Kaden fed his berries to the small creature, beaming thoughtfully as it nuzzled his hand. Animals were innocent and trusting even when they shouldn’t be; Deirdre had explained that to her enough times when talking about her childhood farm. But the way Kaden handled the lamb, even nervous as he was, was so gentle. She struggled to imagine him stabbing the life out of a creature just because with those hands. “I guess it’s a good thing for both of us you’re only kind of a Langley,” she said quietly. Clearing her throat she pressed on, “I’m glad, though. About the whipped cream. A little surprised since French cuisine is so rich, but, hey, so is Southern food, I guess, and half of my family didn’t have much of a sweet tooth either.” She shrugged, reaching for some thread that would steer the mood back towards levity. Wherever it was, she couldn’t find it yet.

Kaden couldn’t help but bristle hearing her call him “kind of a Langley.” He didn’t know if he wished she was more wrong or more right. Either way he hated feeling like he was either failing or had wasted a good portion of his life. He wasn’t sure which it was yet. Every inch of him screamed at him to fight, snap back at her comment the way he had for so many years at anyone and everyone, especially those who disparaged him. Spit back something about still being a hunter, legacy, any of that. But something stopped him. Maybe it was the waffles, maybe it was lamb, maybe it was the expression on Morgan’s face mere moments ago. Maybe it was because he remembered everything that had happened with his mother’s ghost.

The lamb started to bristle its little lips around Kaden’s fingers to see if there was anything worth nibbling there and he let the thoughts fade away. “Rich and savory is one thing. And I don’t hate sweet things, they just need a balance,” he said as he plucked a berry of his plate and held it out in his hand for the lamb to eat. “Like a good piece of fruit, just ripe. That’s perfect. If it’s too saccharine, it hurts my teeth, all that.” As much as he wished that had pulled his mind from the previous topic of conversation, it didn’t. “Most of my family didn’t have much of a sweet tooth. Not that I remember too much by now.” He hadn’t meant to make it heavy again with talk of loss and death, as inevitable as it was around them. Still, he could try to shift. “I told you my uncle was in town, right? He’s German. Lived with him after--” After he lost his parents. Putain. “Anyway, picked up a decent fondness for good German cuisine, too. Feel like I almost always forget until I see him again, you know? Brings things back.”

“Balance, huh?” Morgan said with a fond smile. “I can get behind that.” But this strange tangent didn’t last long. Kaden hadn’t just lost his family, he’d lost them so young even his memories were faded. For all she knew, his awful ghost problem was the strongest memory of his mother was of her attacking him as that awful creature. She couldn’t help but think about her own mother yelling at her on the beach more than the painfully strained visits in her care facility and later, the home of one of Ruth’s old friends. Neither end was especially wonderful, but the burn was newer in one place than the other.

“I am sorry about your family, Kaden,” she said soberly. “I know how hard it is not to have anyone, to miss people like that, even when your relationship was complicated.” She leveled her eyes at him so he would know she meant it. She wasn’t sure if he realized she’d lost all her family either, that this wasn’t pity, but something about him she might actually understand. “I’m glad Oscar was there for you, at least. It sounds like you two are really close. That has to feel...I don’t even know. How does it feel…? Having him back in your life and accessible in a way he hasn’t been in awhile? Um, cooking and all?”

“Yeah. It’s-- It is what it is,” Kaden said as he tried to keep his eyes on the lamb’s little mouth greedily looking for more berries. It was his constant defense when someone talked about his parents like this. Still, something about the way she said that she was sorry rang true. Kaden could never say where the line was that made it clear to him when people understood loss or not, but it was there, invisible but stark. He didn’t know if it was anything more than just the loss of her own life, though he did recall she also was visited by the ghost of her mother during the whole coin debacle. He wasn’t sure it mattered what or when, if you knew the pain of it, you knew all the same.

“Yeah he was around a lot of my life. Always sort of looked up to him. But ever since I was, I don’t know, twenty or so, we’d split up, reconvene, catch up, repeat.” Kaden shrugged. “It’s always nice to see him. He’s really all I have left of--” Kaden swallowed back his words. Oscar was what he had left of family. His life before anything changed. “But this is, I mean, this is way more complicated than it used to be.” Nothing illustrated it more than this moment right now. He was chatting with a zombie over waffles while petting a goddamn vegetable lamb. There used to be a safety he felt when Oscar was around. Now he felt like the most dangerous person in town. And he hated feeling that way about Oscar of all people, the only person he could always count on to look after him. “Every time I’ve gotten myself into deep shit, I always knew I had someone to turn to. It’s weird not going to him now that I feel like I’m in trouble.” Because the trouble was him.

Morgan didn’t examine the impulse to reach out to Kaden. It came so quickly, and there was something so painful about the way he brushed aside his own loss with such ease, she wondered if he ever let himself feel it now that the wound was starting to numb, or let other people understand what he was feeling. Her hand settled on his shoulder and she squeezed carefully so as not to hurt him. “Yeah, it is what it is, but that doesn’t mean it’s not the worst, or that it doesn’t trip you up almost out of nowhere sometimes.” Life with Oscar wasn’t like anything Morgan could imagine. She craved to have her hands around anything precious she managed to have. But to have a touchstone you could pass by at all must have been special. Morgan was endeared, even relieved by the way Kaden talked about him, even as his mention of ‘complicated’ put a stone in her stomach. Right. Oscar and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, good for nothing supernaturals that couldn’t possibly be people. Of course.

“I’m sorry that things are different between you now,” she said solemnly. At least for now, she thought, though she couldn’t bear to entertain the idea for long. “Do you have a plan, for how you’re going to deal with his visit here? I mean, is it going to be dangerous for you if he finds things out, or just...well, just more normative levels of terrifying encounters and really hard conversations?”

Kaden never knew what to make of physical contact. Well, when it was from people he wasn’t dating or trying to date. Even between family it had been strained. Or, well, perhaps not strained but it certainly wasn’t frequent. It was unfamiliar, but not unwelcome. Funny, her skin was cold, sure, but cold hands barely registered any more. “You don’t have to be, though. Sorry. I mean-- I don’t know.” Talking about what happened was something he was about as good at dealing with as physical affection. “Sounds like you’re speaking from experience, though. You don’t have to explain, just-- You can always tell.” He gave the lamb another berry and gave it a small scratch behind its ear. It was easier to just think of it as a real lamb, not supernatural. Focus on the parts that were normal.  

“Dangerous? For me, no. But that’s not what I’m worried about.” Kaden tried to swallow back the lump forming in his throat. It felt impossible for him to imagine what Oscar would do if he found out what Regan was, who he was friends with, the fact that he was keeping a pixie as a roommate, any of it. None of it was behavior that he’d ever imagined for himself, so how could he anticipate any reactions? He suspected, at the very least, that Oscar would try to kill them, encourage Kaden to. But maybe he could make exceptions. Or better yet, maybe he’d just leave town before finding out about any of it. He never had to know Kaden had changed any of his views. He could keep thinking his nephew was still a worthwhile hunter, holding up the legacy.

Right. Doubtful. Kaden let out a sigh. “But yeah, no plans. No clue what to do.”

Morgan gave Kaden another squeeze for good measure. “I do, yeah. Family curses of true suffering don’t exactly fuck around,” she gave a small laugh, breathless and humorless to mark all the anguish that had gone numb from her picking at them over the years. Kaden had probably coped by keeping silent, or leaning in extra hard into the ‘it’s fine school of thought.

“Well, lucky for you, I guess.” Morgan said the word gently, meaning it in earnest. “I just mean, you can use that. You can focus on protecting people you care about, and when the time comes, you don’t have to worry about having to save yourself. That can be really important. And, you know, taking care of people can look like a lot of different things. I think you should consider doing a little more than waiting for the sky to fall down, but I’m just paranoid that way. But, you know, if you’re clear with yourself and your intentions, if you tell yourself enough that you’ll protect Regan no matter what, maybe the right plan will come to you later. But then that’s just one hippie zombie’s opinion. What do you think, veggie lamb?” She lifted the fuzzy critter and steered it up toward Kaden so its bright, guileless eyes were level with his.

Kaden looked up and finally met Morgan’s eyes and gave her a nod in return. It was what he could manage. Too much and it would send the grief and pain flooding back, he was sure of it. No need for that. It wasn’t produc-- He froze, the thought rattled in his mind. It was something straight from his mother’s mouth. He wasn’t sure what to do with that. Or what it meant. He tried to let it roll off him. “Yeah, good point. Guess you don’t get to be free of it even when… you know.”

The way she was approaching the situation wasn’t in a way that had occurred to him at all. The thought of having to save himself from Oscar just didn’t--- His brows knit together at the thought. It didn’t make sense in so many ways; it was a scenario he could never imagine himself in. Needing to protect himself from Oscar. Standing against him. Not being just like him. Not wanting to be just like him. And what did it even mean to go against the small scrap of family he had left? What if he-- That possibility was too difficult for him to even begin to consider just yet. Seeing the veggie lamb sitting there brought him out of his thoughts and put a small smile on his face. “Hmm I think he doesn’t know how to plan for that sort of thing. But he’s also a lamb. Well, technically a plant.”

“You mean even when I’m technically un-cursed but still dead and a zombie?” Morgan said, her smile sad for all its warmth. “Yeah. That stuff sticks forever. Get it?”

Kaden seemed confused by something she said, and it took Morgan awhile to figure that he’d never been given a reason to fear the people who were supposed to take care of him. Or at least not enough that he was willing to admit to himself. She wasn’t sure if he was really lucky for that or not. She quirked her brow up at Kaden as he dodged the question. I see you doing that. She held his gaze a moment, debating whether she should give him this out or not. “Lamby over here is both, thank you very much. Lamby is one of two worlds and lives that way in peace. But, as much wisdom as Lamby almost certainly possesses, I think you’re right. He just wants more of your berries.”

#wickedswriting #chatzy #morbeckmoreproblems #morgan #a moment's rest #writing

[kumkaniudaku]

Pretty please🥺? Short of Chadwick disciplining his daughter. Let’s say... she had played with some of her toys and didn’t pick them up. He had told her before, but she didn’t listen... and he snaps. She runs to her room crying. But then kisses her cheeks and comforts her.

For you and your patience, anon. 

Summary: Micah’s in trouble.

“Micah, clean up. It’s time for bed.”

Chadwick didn’t bother looking into the living room to make sure his daughter had followed directions. Mostly because he expected her to do as she was told, but also because his attention was focused on the red sauce stain in his wife’s favorite tupperware dish. Tasha had warned him before that her bowl was not for storing spaghetti. He didn’t listen, leaving him to frantically scrub at the stain longer than he wanted.

Time became lost in the sounds of water sloshing around the kitchen sink until a small giggle caught Chadwick’s attention.

“Noelle, did you hear what I said? Toys away, now.”

“But, Daddy,” she protested, lips beginning to poke out into a pout. “I’m not sleepy!”

“I didn’t ask you that. Clean up.”

If Tasha were in the house and not across the country visiting family, all conversation would cease with an intimidating glare. Chadwick, though stern in his own way, couldn’t muster the energy to change his facial expression. He’d much rather place that same face into one of the pillows in his bed.

Micah noticed her father’s weary eyes and decided now was the time to test the waters. She made a show of being too tired to clean, sighing and grunting with every toy she lifted. Chadwick shook his head and watched her drag her lanky body across the room. Every minute that she acted as if the mere thought of following directions was too much to bear made him hot with frustration.

“Micah, stop it!” His voice made the alarm chime at the sudden noise. Micah stopped in her spot, her eyes growing wide in the dimly lit room. “You’re being silly and I’m tired of the game! Go to your room, right now!”

It was almost unheard of for Chadwick to raise his voice above a reasonable conversational tone, especially at his beloved baby girl. But, even the calmest man has his breaking point. Four days as the sole parent of two children had pushed Chadwick way past his.

He watched as Micah’s wide eyes blinked twice, once as a non-verbal response to her father’s words and then again to release a single tear from her water line. One tear turned into several more before she took off up the stairs toward her room.

Instant regret settled over him the moment she was out of sight. He had allowed outside pressure to take over instead of parenting the way he knew how. Light buzzing on the kitchen counter broke the silence. Tasha’s name blinked across the screen, making Chadwick sigh before answering.

“Yes,” he huffed out as he leaned against the granite surface with his head in his hand.

“I just got a text that the alarm went off. Is everything okay?”

“We’re fine.”

“Try that again with the truth this time.”

Chadwick felt the first smile he’d been able to crack in almost a week slide across his lips. “I, uh...I got a little riled up a minute ago. I feel like shit about it.”

“Miss Micah can push you to the edge,” she laughed. “How does it feel to have another actor in the home?”

“Feels like I need to be the one on the next solo vacation.”

Although miles apart, Tasha could sense the heaviness her husband carried. Chadwick listened to the voices in the background become distant rumbles once a door closed on the other side of the phone.

“You made a mistake. Please, don’t beat yourself up.”

“Too late.”

“It doesn’t have to be. Go apologize like you would any other person.”

Chadwick sat with Tasha’s sentence in the silence of the kitchen, silently agreeing. He always argued that children were not just tiny people to rule over. Now, it was time for him to practice what he preached.

“How’d you get to be so smart,” he questioned with a smile.

“I learned from this cute boy. I think I’m gon’ have his babies one day!”

Tasha infused levity into a tough conversation, but the feeling was fleeting. His stomach twisted and churned at the thought of his only daughter angrily rejecting him after he bared his soul. His brain had begun to paint a six-year-old as a big bad monster as it screamed for him to turn away from her door. Instead of retreating to his bedroom, Chadwick pressed his palm against the door, exposing the dark room to the light from the hallway. In the center of the bed lay a small lump curled into a ball. Micah’s body rose and fell steadily, making her dad smile. He knew she was tired and putting up a fight. Taking a seat in the empty space he could find, he leaned and planted a few kisses on her forehead.

“I’ll probably repeat this in the morning, but your mama told me not to chicken out, so, here I am,” he sighed, staring off into space. “I’m sorry for yelling, twin. I should have...I don’t know. I don’t know what I should’ve done. But shouldn’t have yelled. Boys aren’t supposed to yell at you, remember that. Me included. What the hell am I even talking about?”

“You said a swear word.”

Chadwick’s head whipped around to find a set of eyes like his peering over a Princess Tiana comforter. “You’re supposed to be asleep, kid.”

“I’m too sad.”

“Yeah, me too.” Without giving his actions a second thought, Chadwick slid out of his house shoes and laid back on the bed as Micah shifted to make room. “Are you sad because of me?”

“Mhmm.”

“I’m sorry, baby girl. I promise not to do that again.” Sighing, Chadwick looked over at Micah. “You know, Daddy’s pretty sad, too.”

“I know,” she answered, sounding older than her six years. “Are you sad because Mommy is gone?”

Chadwick laughed and closed his eyes. “Mhmm.”

“Wanna stay with me? I can give you my panther so you won’t be sad no more.”

“Can I?”

When Chadwick looked over, Micah quietly placed the plush toy on his chest and moved his arm to cross over its front. Her special instructions to keep the furry safe made her father smile before she turned her back to him to prepare for sleep.

The room remained silent aside from the constant whoosh whoosh of the ceiling fan serving as a backing track to Chadwick’s thoughts. He was still fairly new to parenting and fumbling through the “right” way to handle situations every day. Though he’d apologized repeatedly, part of him still felt like he’d failed some unspoken test. Would this be the instance that etched itself into her mind and became the basis for reckless decisions for the rest of her life? He shook his head to free himself of the thoughts running rampant in his head before allowing a yawn to rip from his throat. Whatever dread he was due to feel would have to join the other aches and pains waiting for him the morning after he’d crammed his body into a child sized bed just to be with his pride and joy.

In his final drift into dreamland, he felt Micah’s warmth press into his side and stretch across him.

“L-love...love you Da…”

Micah’s sentence didn’t make it past the fierce clutches of sleep, but Chadwick understood and appreciated the sentiment. He hadn’t realized that he was craving her approval until tension in his body melted into relaxation.

Curling into her embrace, Chadwick quickly found the peace he needed to rest. Dread would have to take a backseat this time.

#anon asked #request

[invaderdoom78]

A Frightful Dawn Part 2

Part 1  

The next morning, Peter woke up with a mouth full of cotton and a headache that felt like he’d been hit by a truck. At first, he couldn’t remember what had happened before he went to sleep, thinking for a moment that he’d simply drank too much and was suffering through his hangover. When he realized he was half lying on top of the body that was in bed with him, his face pressed against their neck, and everything came flooding back to him. 

“You’re up” Aro said softly, gently running his fingers through Peters hair “did you sleep well?” 

“I...” Peter tried to say something, but his brain felt like mush the moment he tried to articulate how he was feeling “did last night really happen. It wasn’t some kind of fucked up dream?” 

“I’m afraid not” Aro sighed, pulling his human closer 

“Shit” Peter whispered, feeling a lump forming in his throat 

“It’s alright, my dear. You’re safe and she’s at peace now” 

Taking a shaky breath Peter swallowed the lump in his throat, breathing deeply until he’d calmed down enough to the point he no longer felt like he was going to break down crying, when his stomach let out a faint growl, Aro chuckling a bit at the embarrassed look that was spreading across his humans face, as he kicked the blankets off of himself, sitting up. 

“You stay here and rest” Aro said, gently pushing Peter back onto the mattress “yesterday must have taken quite a toll on you, I’ll take care of it” 

Spreading himself out on the bed Peter tried to clear his thoughts and process everything that had happened the previous night. It wasn’t until he smelled the scent of bacon, sausage, and eggs wafting back to him; did he sit up, about to get out of bed when Aro opened the door. 

“What’s this?” Peter asked, watching Aro as he walked in carrying a plate of food and a mug of coffee, just as he was about to join the vampires in the other room 

“The twins want to make a surprise for you” Aro said, setting the plate and mug on the nightstand 

“Really?” Peter asked, grabbing a sausage link “so they’re trapping me in my own room until they’re done?” 

“It appears that way” Aro said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed 

“So what now?” Peter asked, taking a sip of his coffee 

“We’ll have to make due with what’s in this room” Aro said, walking over to the window, opening up the blinds 

“What’re you doing?” Peter asked, eyeing the vampire 

“It’s so stuffy in your home” Aro said, pulling back the blinds “and I doubt you’ve stepped outside much since I’ve been gone” 

“And?” 

“Some fresh air will do you good” 

“I don’t know” Peter groaned, squinting his eyes at the light as the window was opened and the gentle blow of the wind entered into his room “that breeze does feel nice, though” 

“I told you it would do you good” Aro said, smiling, taking a seat on the edge of the bed “you still look tense” 

“I’m fine” Peter said, making the continuous effort to untense his muscles 

“Darling, I held you all night and there was not a single moment where it didn’t feel like you were going to snap in half” he got off of the bed 

“Where’re you going?” Peter asked as the vampire walked over to the bathroom that was attached to his bedroom 

“I have an idea on how to help you relax” Aro said, closing the door to the bathroom to keep what he was up to a secret 

Peter didn’t think much of the conversation up until he heard the bath water running and smelled candles, that he didn’t own, burning. Rolling out of bed, he eyed the bathroom door suspiciously as he walked over to it, nudging it open with his foot, spotting two lit scented candles, one lavender the other vanilla, sitting on the sink counter as Aro sat on the edge of the tub his arm in the water, mixing in the Epson salt he’d poured into the steaming liquid. 

“Where the fuck did you get these candles from?” Peter asked, picking up the lavender one 

“I stored them under the sink” 

“So you’ve just got a bunch of your shit hidden around my house?” 

“I wouldn’t say it’s hidden” Aro said pulling his arm out of the water, drying it off with a towel “they’re just in places you don’t look through or use often” 

“What would I find if I investigated?” Peter asked, slipping out of his sleep pants 

“Now that would ruin that surprise” Aro said 

“Oh really” Peter said stepping into the water “are you getting in?” 

“I wasn’t planning to” 

“You might as well since we’re trapped in here. Not much else to do” 

Letting out a tiny hum Aro began stripping out of his clothing and joined his human, getting settled into the back of the tub.

“So” Peter said, settling back into Aro’s chest “how’d your thing back in Volterra go?” 

“Well enough” Aro sighed, resting his head against the back of the tub “the vampire in question turned out to have been falsely accused so we let her go free and thankfully the one that had pointed the fingers a her was still in the city so it wasn’t that tedious to track her down” 

Once the water started to cool down the two got out of the tub, neither one bothering to get re-dressed, Aro just made sure that the bedroom door was locked so neither of the twins walked in and saw them. Grabbing the remote for the small T.V. in his room Peter flopped back into his bed, relaxing back against the headboard, as he flipped through the channels until he found something that would make some suitable background noise. As he was looking for something Aro joined Peter in bed, having grabbed a book from the small pile he kept on the dresser, and got settled in. Leaning over the human rested his head on Aro’s shoulder, reading along with him, completely ignoring the T.V.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something” Peter said 

“What is it, Vincent?” Aro asked 

“Are vampires the only creatures of myth that exist?” 

“No” Aro said, turning a page in his book “there are also werewolves, lycans, half human hybrids, different varieties of vampiric beings, witches, a large majority of sea monsters…” 

Peter interrupted him “Can you elaborate on the vampire one” 

“Well, there are some of us that have the ability to shapeshift, some feed off of fragments of souls, and others possess a virus that will keep them from dying of natural causes so long as they consume human blood” 

“Are ghosts real?” 

“Hm, I’m not sure about humans, but a witch’s spirit would be able to survive outside of their mortal coil, especially a particularly powerful or stubborn one” 

“What about Native American myths?” 

“I’m not sure, before I met you I rarely visited America. Sulpicia, on the other hand has, and she knows someone who can answer your questions if you’re really curious” 

“Why would she be over here more than you?” 

“She... befriended a witch and her magic makes it easy for her to visit” 

“Why’d you pause?” Peter asked 

“Because their relationship is a bit more complex than a simple friendship” 

Satisfied with the answers he was given Peter went back to quietly reading along with Aro until there was a knock on the door. Getting out of the bed the two got dressed, Peter slipping into a pair of his sleep pants and Aro into the T-shirt he wore under his dress shirt and his dress pants. Opening the bedroom door Peter saw Alec standing on the other side. 

“We’re done” Alec said with an excited smile on his face, grabbing hold of Peters arm “come on” he started pulling Peter out of the bedroom

 Stepping out to the living room Peter saw that Jane had commandeered the bar and Alec the coffee table as they worked on their projects and on the ledge of his fireplace sat the Tupperware container that the twins had put Mrs. Vincent's ashes into. It had been wrapped in rubber bands to make sure it was extra secure to keep it shut. On the coffee table sat multiple paper mache bowls of varying sizes with matching tops next to them and on the bar Jane had apparently found a packet of air dry clay and used it to create a mold around one of Peters empty Midori bottles, keeping the glass inside of it as it dried so it kept its shape, using another melon liqueur bottle to make the top with. Upon seeing what the twins had been up to Peter couldn’t help but laugh. 

“What the hell is this?” Peter asked, picking up one of Alecs bowls 

“We didn’t want to leave your mom's ashes in a plastic container so we made urns” Alec said 

“These are lovely, Alec” Aro said, looking over the bowls”but I don’t believe that paper mache is the best choice for an urn” 

“I told you” Jane said 

“What about your thing?” Alec asked “how you gonna get the bottle out without damaging the clay, smart one?”

“By breaking the glass, dumb one” Jane mocked back 

“And making a mess!” 

“What about you! You got paper and glue on your face and all over your arms”

“So?” 

“I’m sure we can use them in the future” Aro said, placing a hand on Alecs shoulder

“Can I paint yours when it dries?” Alec asked 

“Yes” 

“You guys didn’t have to do this” Peter said, walking over to the bar to get a closer look at Janes urn

“Well, it didn’t seem right just leave her ashes the way they were” Jane said

“You could’ve. I honestly wasn’t expecting you to even bother keeping them in the first place”

“Nah” The Twins said simultaneously  

“How long until it dries?” 

“Tomorrow probably” Jane shrugged

“Do you guys need paint?” 

“I think so” Alec said 

“You wanna go out and get them now?” Peter asked 

Glancing at the other the twins agreed, getting up and heading out the front door followed by Peter after he’d grabbed his car keys.

#peter vincent #aro volturi #jane volturi #alec volturi #fright night 2011 #twilight #david tennant #michael sheen #vampire x vampire hunter au #vincturi #ineffable husbands au

[bottlecaprabbitgames]

Blake's Birthday Special

Hi, peeps! So, birthday specials are currently being set up as a time-exclusive item on my Patreon, meaning Patrons see them first and the public sees them later! So, here's the Blake Birthday special!

++++++++++

You curse softly under your breath as the timer on the oven goes off, nearly causing you to drop the glass display dish in your hands. You hurriedly set it down on your counter by the microwave and shuffle to the oven to check on the two cake layers. You quickly open the oven and slip on some cooking mits before grabbing the dull metal pans off the rack and setting them down on the stove top. "Oh, thank God." You let out a relieved huff as you find the spice cakes well-settled in their pans and not burnt. You close the oven and change the temperature, then pull your mits off and toss them onto the counter. You take your apron edge and wipe your brow. "Well… that's done." 

Grabbing an ink pen, you pull your mini notepad out of your back pocket and look at the list written on it. 

"To-Dos: 

-Bake cakes (spice) 

-Let cakes sit (DON'T TAKE OUT OF PAN UNTIL COOL) 

-Ice cakes

-Make potato salad (call Blake's mom for recipe if you forget) 

-Ask Freja for help on fried catfish 

-Make baked macaroni 

-Get those cheap sugar cookies 

-Put up birthday banners with Iris (DONT LET HER BURN THE HOUSE DOWN) 

-Pick up balloons and booze (Adontis took care of that)"

You check off parts on the list, and just to be entirely sure, you glance to the streamers and banners decorating your kitchen and living room, then to the tinsel wrapped around your stairs' railing, then to the bundles of balloons in every corner. Well, no one can say it's not festively decorated. Maybe too much so. 

You tuck the notepad and pen back into your pocket as you walk over to where you have a pan laid out in front of the microwave. You heave the large black pot off the stove top and begin pouring mac and cheese into the pan to prep the baked macaroni, still going over in your head everything you still have to do before the party. 

-----

"So, how long till he gets here?" You watch Iris check the old black metal pocket watch currently attached somewhere deep into her coat. 

"T-minus five minutes," she drawls, tucking the watch back down. "He got a little backed up in traffic." Her eyes dart to you, her lashes fluttering in a way that has you and Freja both stiffening. "So, what sort of extra special gifts you got planned for your lover boy tonight, hmm?" 

"None of your business-" 

"Iris-" 

"What what? It's an honest question!" She feigns offense, but it's ruined by the little shitty smirk on her full lips. You roll your eyes- 

Knock knock knock. 

-and nearly have a heart attack as Blake's familiar heavy knocks sound at the door. With your heart fluttering almost sickeningly in your chest, you shoot everyone an excited glance before darting forward to the door. "Baby, it's me, open up-" 

As you open the door, everyone and yourself included yell, "Surprise!" You dance out of his way as he comes in with a confused smile, but after a moment of him taking in your heavily decorated house and the practically overflowing kitchen filled with food, you see a deep redness beginning to flush up his neck. "Oh man, guys ya didn't have to-" 

"Hush," Freja interrupts with an arch stare and a cocking of her hip. "Of course we did this for you." A little smile plays on her pale lips, and her effort to hide it is less than usual. "Besides, you are the baby of the team. When you get over, say, one hundred years, we'll stop making you celebrate so lavishly." 

As you move to where you are pressed against his side under his jacket with your hands on his back and chest, you look up to see the slightly annoyed look on his face and try to hold in your laughter. "Awh, thanks, shall I also bend over for you to give my birthday whuppin?" You let out a very unflattering noise as your laughter, and everyone else's, blurts out at both his words and the new look on Freja's face. 

After a moment of glaring at him, she bustles off to the kitchen to grab the candles while you steer Blake into the living room where a pile of presents sits below a particularly loud birthday banner and behind a table with his cake on it. "Are you ready for us to sing to you and make your big birthday wish?"

He looks down and returns your smile as his hand splays warmly over your lower back. "I might be. Are you gonna tell me what all you got me?" You feel a wicked grin curl your lips. 

"Well, some of it's here… and some of it's waiting for you later." 

"Oh?" 

"Mhmm." You see heat flare in his eyes and you have to look away to keep from being set on fire by it. Well, on the outside, anyway. Adontis scoots down the couch to make room for you both beside him. Blake pulls his jacket off before joining you and throws it to Iris, who grabs one arm of it and spins it around her head while whooping and shaking her hips. The room fills with laughter again, even Freja's light laughter as she appears with the candles in hand, slightly shaking her head. Loche moves to help her place them, one of those long-stem lighters tucked into one of his hands. "Well, old man, you best start figuring out that big birthday wish." 

"'Old man'? I'm not that old-" 

"You are older than me, so yes, I do think that makes you rather old," Markus teases from one of the kitchen chairs that were brought into the living room. Blake gives him a droll look that earns him an answering coy smirk. "The youngest of the team outside of your partner, and still older than your ancient wrangler. Alas, the woes of old men." 

"I'm not old." You yelp when he gives you a sharp tap on your bottom, and you give him an answering one on his inner thigh. "Ouch!" 

"Can't even take as good as you give," Adontis tsks. "The signs of old age." 

"You can't even talk about old, there's bedrock younger than you." Another chorus of laughter erupts as you duck down while Blake and Adontis have a play-fight by slapping at each other. 

"Settle down, settle down! If you upturn this table, not even the Ancients will be able to save you lot from what I'll do to you," Freja hisses threateningly as she places the last two candles. It's rather comedic to see two men nearly twice her size move so quickly away from each other that the couch nearly tips backwards to avoid her wrath. 

"Is it ready?" Fawn's voice drifts from behind you. Freja nods, to which Loche quickly begins to light the candles. You lightly rub Blake's knee as he does, up till he finishes, then you stand. 

"Alright guys, all together now…" 

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Blake, happy birthday to you!" After that last part, the song breaks into different lines from everyone, including "And to many more!", "You look like a monkey, and smell even worse!", And "Yippie!" 

While you and Freja portion out slices of the buttercream-covered spice cake, you can feel Blake's on you the entire time. 

-----

Later, after everyone has wandered either out onto your porches or to the living room, you find yourself alone in the kitchen with Blake as you start to wrap up the leftovers and he helps himself to more food. After a small comfortable silence, he chuckles. "I still can't get it out of my head how Loche reacted to the surprise rolls." You join him in laughing, recalling the leopard man's immediate facial contortion after biting into one of your special 'surprise rolls'. A sourdough roll filled with pickled meat, some fresh vegetables, and french dressing, he wasn't quite ready for the sour and tangy flavor he found. 

"I was worried he'd spit it out, but after that first bite he ended up eating five of them." As you tuck another Tupperware bowl into your fridge, you feel Blake's large, warm hands lightly wrap around your hips. You shut the fridge door and lean back into his chest, letting your hands reach up to run down his cheek and through his hair. 

"Thank you. For the party, for the cake, for… everything." Something in his voice tugs at your chest when he says 'everything'. You lean your head back and smile at him even though he's got an almost somber expression at the moment. 

"Of course, you're absolutely welcome. You deserve it. All of it." You turn in his arms and wrap yours around his waist, and he moves his arms to wrap around you, pulling you tightly to him. 

"I love you. You know that, right?" 

"Of course I do. And I love you too." 

"Yeah. Don't know how I managed that one, but it seems I'm starting to do something right." He buries his face in your hair, and you feel utterly… at home. At peace.  

#blake gautier #agent blake #blake birthday bash

[onewfantaesy]

“Did you wash your hair yesterday?”

“No.”

“Then I want you to wash it tonight.”

Taemin whines and groans and flops over on the couch. It’s another Friday night of sleeping at Luna and Onew’s - both his parents were working late and had called Luna at five o’ clock to say Taemin needed to stay with her that night.

“Do I have to take a shower?” Taemin whines.

“Yes,” Luna laughs. “Why are boys so gross? Go take a shower!”

“We haven’t even had dinner yet!”

“Taemin,” Luna sighs, leaning over the back of the couch to look at him. “If I so nicely let you play your little game until dinnertime, will you promise to take a shower and wash your hair as soon as you’re done eating? With no arguing?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a deal then,” she says. “And you better eat all your vegetables.”

“That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“I’m making it part of the deal.”

Taemin whines and huffs and pouts, but he doesn’t argue. He just keeps playing the Pokémon game he got back a week ago.

An hour later, Taemin is huffing and stomping down the hall in his pajamas, his hair wet and dripping on the collar of his shirt.

“I don’t like your bathroom,” he whines, flopping back on the couch to sit with Luna. “It’s too small!”

“You are so spoiled it’s unbelievable.”

“What’s that s’posed to mean?” He whines, pouting at her.

“You’re too young to be complaining that my very normal sized second bathroom is too small. Little kids shouldn’t be so spoiled like you are with big giant en suite bathrooms.”

“It’s not like you didn’t have the same kinda bathroom when you were little,” Taemin scoffs. Luna only laughs.

“And just what gave you that idea?”

Taemin only looks confused.

“It’s - It’s Daddy’s house,” he stammers.

“Yeah, it is now,” Luna says gently. She smiles at him, laughs a little again, and tries not to make him feel bad. She can tell he’s confused, she doesn’t want to make it worse. “But when I was little, Daddy and my mommy lived in a different house.”

“Oh,” Taemin mumbles. “Was it not the same kinda house?”

“No, it was more like this house.”

“Oh. How come?”

“Well.” It’s Luna’s turn to stutter, not quite sure how to explain. “Daddy didn’t used to make as much money as he does now, so he couldn’t afford it.”

Now Taemin just looks more confused.

“Wasn’t Daddy always a lawyer?”

“Yeah, no matter what job you have, you never make as much at the beginning as you do once you’ve been doing it for a while.”

“What did your mommy do?”

Luna smiles and hugs him close to her, “She was a nurse, like me. She still is. You know that, you’ve met her.”

Taemin hums, and he leans against her side. She thinks he’s done with the questions fornthe night, so she tries to focus what’s on TV. And they’re both quiet for a while, just sitting on the couch together. But then Taemin’s questions start again.

“What was your mommy like when you were little?” he asks, his voice quiet.

Luna takes in a deep breath, trying to think.

“She was so fun when I was little,” she tells him. “We used to make blankets a lot, like the ones I make for you at Christmas still. And you know, Daddy used to work really late all the time even back then.”

She hugs him a little tighter and rubs her fingers through his still-wet hair, trying to comfort him.

“And sometimes, my mom and I would make Daddy his favorite desserts and bring them to the office so he knew we missed him.”

“Brownies?” Taemin asks, looking up at her.

“Brownies,” Luna confirms, smiling. “And sometimes lemon bars - during the summer - and sometimes cupcakes and sometimes cookies. Things he could eat in the office easily.”

Taemin laughs a little bit, and he’s got a big smile on this face. And it gives Luna an idea, and she grins back at him.

“Do you want to help me make some brownies, and we can go take them to Daddy and your mommy?”

“Can we?” Taemin asks, turning towards her. “Is it too late?”

“It’s only 6:30,” Luna hums. “I think it’d be okay. So do you want to?”

“Yes!”

After an hour spent giggling and licking whisks and taking taste tests, Luna is ushering taemin out to the car with the Tupperware full of still-warm brownies. He has a jacket on over his pajamas and his feet were shoved into his shoes, his heels crushing the backs. He’s so excited, Luna is watching him through the rear-view mirror, and he’s just got a big silly smile on his face. His mother is their father’s main secretary, it’s how they met. While it slightly bothers Luna, she knows Taemin doesn’t really realize what that means.

She regrets coming up with this idea almost immediately, however. As soon as they step through the door to their father’s firm, Luna can hear giggling and other explicit noises coming from his office. But it’s clear there’s more than just Taemin’s mother inside.

“Ew, are Mommy and Daddy kissing?” Taemin asks loudly, making a disgusted noise. “You said they were working!”

“I think they’re busy,” Luna says quickly, steering Taemin back out of the room.

“But the brownies,” Taemin says softly, gripping the Tupperware.

“Um, here,” Luna says. “We can leave them on your Monmy’s desk, and you can leave a note. Okay? I think they’re working on something important, so let’s go quickly.”

“It’s not the same,” Taemin mumbles, but he puts the brownies in his mom’s desk, leaves a note on a spare piece of paper that says From Taemin and Luna ♥️ in Taemin’s messy handwriting.

Luna doesn’t think they even heard them come in. It disgusts her, but she doesn’t let Taemin see. After getting home and telling Taemin to head to bed, she has a very heated discussion with Onew in their bedroom, trying to keep her voice low.

“A threesome!” She gasps, pulling back the bed covers and moving pillows around. “They asked us to watch him because they’re too busy having a threesome! With his other secretary! She’s younger than I am, Onew!”

“I know,” he sighs. “But there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s just a good thing you didn’t let Taemin see anything.”

“God, can you imagine? He’s nine-years-old! He’s nine, Onew! And his parents are out having a threesome with some twenty-five-year-old!”

They hadn’t even heard the door creak open, hadn’t seen Taemin inch inside and hug the door until he mumbles, “What’s a threesome?”

“Taemin!” Luna gasps, her eyes wide as she turns to him. Meanwhile, Onew looks like a deer in headlights.

“What is it?” Taemin asks, still gripping the doorknob and fidgeting from foot to foot. “Is it bad?”

“No,” Luna says carefully, clearing her throat. “Um, Onew, why don’t you explain?”

Onew glares at her a bit, annoyed that she’s passing it off to him.

“Well,” Onew starts and it’s his turn to clear his throat. He also waves Taemin over, trying to get him away from hugging the door. “You know how when a Mommy and Daddy love each other very much-”

“Are you gonna start talking about sex?” Taemin whines. “Why?”

“How do you know what sex is?” Onew snaps.

“‘Cause we had family life class last month,” Taemin scoffs. “I know how babies are made, I paid attention!”

“Oh really now?” Onew asks, laughing a bit. “Explain it to me, then.”

“Yeah, the guy puts his penis inside her, they kiss or something, and then nine months later the lady poops a baby out her vagina,” Taemin explains. “Which is just a girl butthole, I don’t get why it has a special name.”

Luna and Onew, meanwhile, are cracking up. It’s a terrible, horrible, and inappropriate situation, but listening to Taemin’s explanation of sex is just too much.

“I think your teacher needs to be better evaluated,” Onew laughs.

Taemin still looks confused, but Luna just waves Taemin closer and hugs him, pulling him down on the bed.

“Why’re you laughing?” Taemin whines, falling on the bed next to her.

“Because you’re too funny,” she says softly.

“They’re not making a baby, are they?” he whines, suddenly looking very upset. “I don’t want another brother or sister! You’re enough!”

Luna would laugh if she wasn’t so horrified about the whole situation.

“I don’t think they’re making another baby,” Luna says, trying to calm him down.

“But what’s a threesome?” Taemin mumbles. “Why won’t you tell me? Why were they doing it?”

“It’s a grown-up thing, sweetie.”

“If you don’t tell me I’ll just Google it later.”

“Do not Google it,” Luna says in a firm voice. “Do you understand? It’s inappropriate.”

“What is it?” he whispers. “Tell me.”

“It’s,” She stutters, trying to look to Onew. He just shrugs. “It’s when three people have sex instead of just two.”

“How?”

He looks beyond confused, and Luna thinks it would be almost funny if it wasn’t simultaneously destroying her baby brother’s innocence.

“I don’t know,” she tells him. “It’s not something I’ve ever done.”

“Is it not normal?”

“I think these are questions you’re still too young for,” she says gently. “I think it’s time you went to bed.”

“You said they were working,” he mumbles, fiddling with a blanket. “That that was why I’m spending the night at your house.”

“They are working, sweetie,” Luna says, smoothing back his hair. “Daddy has a very important case right now, and your mommy is helping him.”

“Is a threesome a case?” he snaps, pouting at her. He looks almost mad, and Luna doesn’t blame him.

“No, it’s not,” she admits. “But we don’t know that they aren’t still working.”

“I wanna go home,” he whispers, moving to hide his face in her neck.

“I know,” she whispers back. Then she smiles and tries to tease him, “But you’re stuck with us for now.”

“I think it’s time for bed,” Onew says softly.

“Come on,” Luna says, helping Taemin sit up with her. “I’ll come tuck you in, okay?”

“I’m not little anymore,” Taemin mumbles. “You don’t have’ta tuck me in.”

“Well I want to,” she teases. “Humor me.”

She brings him into the extra bedroom he stays in when he’s with them, pulls back the covers, and kneels down next to the bed.

“Hey Taeminnie,” she says gently, smoothing back his hair. “When you go home tomorrow, do you think you can do something for me?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I think it would be best if you didn’t mention any of this threesome stuff to your parents.”

“Why not?”

“Because most grown-ups don’t like talking about that sort of stuff with kids. It’s inappropriate.”

“If it’s inappropriate, then why were they doing it?”

“Sweetie,” Luna sighs, tucking his hair behind his ears. “It’s just inappropriate to talk about it with kids, is all.”

“When I’m older, will you tell me why it’s not okay to talk to them about it?” He whispers, playing with the blanket on his bed.

“I’ll tell you all about it when you’re older,” she says. “I promise. When you’re a teenager, I’ll tell you. Okay?”

“What kinda teenager?” he asks. “When I’m thirteen?”

“Try eighteen.”

“Fourteen?”

“Eighteen,” she insists. “Now go to sleep, okay? I’ll make you anything you want for breakfast in the morning.”

“Will you stay a little longer?” he whispers, one his hands gripping hers. “Til I fall asleep?”

“Yeah,” she agrees. “I’ll stay as long as you want.”

Taemin is still pouting, still looks sad, but he flips on his side so he’s facing her and tries to go to sleep. Luna rubs his arm softly, tries to lull him to sleep as best she can. He falls asleep after about twenty minutes, but she stays about ten minutes more. Until Onew comes in to check on them, and he brings her back to bed.

Luna is beyond upset. What was supposed to be a sweet, adorable evening spent with her little brother so quickly turned into something horrifying out of a bad daytime TV movie. And now her baby brother is asking about threesomes and talking about sex and it breaks her heart. She doesn’t know what to do about it.

#taemin #shinee #onew #luna #prankster au