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secondhand-trash · 3 years

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Lost in Blues

A/N: this is a rewrite of the Oikawa drabble I posted last year. To me, it was one of the things I written that I had a lot of ideas for but ruined because I was rushing it so I really want to give the idea another chance. This does not have nearly the same vibe as the old one and I think I am glad that I decided to rewrite it. I’m still debating whether I would private the old one or not but I’m definitely way happier with how this turns out than the last time round.

Pairing: Oikawa Tooru x reader

Description: You gave him the most reckless, carefree days of your life and you did not expect to meet him again at a wedding of all occasions after those days were long over.

Word count: 2140

(more lines I like from things I like as prompts for people I like)

“Is it ‘running through the airport’ kind of love?”

“The only person I’d run through an airport for is you.”

Season 2, ep6, Fleabag

There was nothing you could think of that was possibly worse than sitting next to your ex at a wedding.

The nicely-tailored jacket on your shoulders felt more restrictive than it had been before you looked up when you heard someone asking if it was alright to sit next to you and it was him. Your eyes widened (just slightly, very slightly and you hoped he didn’t catch it) when you saw him, giving a curt nod before shifting farther away from the empty seat so that there would be a bit of distance between the two of you after he sat down.

You were dressed to the nines, putting in way more effort than you normally would into your appearance which turned out to be a brilliant decision on your part. He looked great, as he used to be and probably always would be, with his dress shirt and polished leather shoes. You would hate to admit that you stole a quick glance at the person you knew so well when the string quartet started playing, losing to your curiosity to know how much he had changed and how much was the same. His hair got shorted, the bangs he had cared for so meticulously before now gone and pushed to the side in a way that finally stopped screaming ‘teen idol’. His jaw grew stronger, the boyish roundness of his cheeks gone without a trace. But he was still loud, even as he sat there in silence and listened to the band. The first two buttons of his shirt were undone, which was already too flamboyant as a wedding guest for your taste. The golden buckle of his belt shined far too bright with each shift of his body and you could not ignore the ring of a matching tone on his thumb as you turned your focus away when you realised you probably shouldn’t be staring at your ex’s belt of all places.

You knew you probably wouldn’t look better or even as good as he was, but you sure was glad that you were at least looking like you had a good life after exiting out of his.

You hoped he would pretend that he does not know you for the rest of the ceremony, but you had a feeling that he wouldn’t.

“It’s been a while,” you had to bite back the sigh that nearly slipped from your lips when you heard him, “how have you been?”

See, spot on.

You tried to not make your exasperation too obvious as you turned to his side slightly, putting on a smile that was friendly enough to be polite but also enough distant for him to know that you were not particularly thrilled for this conversation.

It wasn’t that you two ended on bad terms, but the way you slowly drifted apart was nowhere near satisfactory either.

“Good,” you said, “you?”

His throat tightened at your clear disinterested. The more logical thing he should have done when he walked through the door and saw you at the end of the row all by yourself was to sit at the other end of the room, one that made sure you two would not be in each other’s view until the whole ceremony was over. But it had been so long, and his legs were moving before his mind could stop him until he was standing right next to you.

“Doing good too,” he replied, trying his best to keep the conversation going, “are you here with anyone?”

“No,” you swallowed the lump at the back of your throat and kept your smile on, “I’m on my own.”

“Oh?” his voice slightly sharpened, tilting his head in both interest and in shock,

You shrugged, “My boyfriend doesn’t work here so he couldn’t make it.”

There was a brief pause.

“Oh,” he said, feeling a slight bitterness well up at the back of his throat at how ironically similar it sounded like.

He gulped, debating in his head whether it was worth risking it to say what he wanted to say.

The side that wanted to know how it was different this time won.

“Did you run through an airport for him too?” he said, trying to put on the most charming, non-offensive smile he could manage.

He was relieved that the gambling paid off when you actually let out a snort.

“No,” your shoulder pulled back slightly as you shook your head, your eyes dropping when you felt a hint of fondness welling up at the recall of the piece of memory that had been tugged at the back of your head, “I don’t run through airports anymore.”

You ran through an airport for the man who was now sitting next to you and even though it was an utterly stupid decision on your part, the reminiscence of your naïve romance brought a bitter-sweet sore to your chest. It was 8 years ago but almost felt longer, when he was about to leave the country to go to the other end of the globe. He did not tell you, that asshole who always decided everything for himself and just ran straight ahead for it. You wouldn’t even know he was leaving if you did not get your phone bombed by frantic calls from his best friend who yelled at you when you finally picked up.

“That shithead is leaving for Argentine in a few hours,” Iwaizumi sucked in a breath, sounding out of breath as he spitted words out of his mouth before you could ask him why he was telling you that, “and I know both of you are too fucking proud to say anything but if you come now, you can still make it in time before he needs to board his flight.”

“So just come, just-” you barely heard the last of his call and the sound of boys hollering from behind him when you threw your phone down onto your bag and grab the nearest shirt you could reach, “come.”

You barely made it in time to the airport and almost got lost because, hell, why was Sendai Airport so god damn big for no good reason at all. You had to run just to get there when he was about to walk past the glass walls of the departure hall, his friends holding him back by the arms when his mouth hung open in shock when he heard you call out his name from the far end of the hall.

You almost knocked him down when you crashed into him, his arms waving around aimlessly before he realised he should be holding you back instead.

"Why are you-”

“You’re an asshole and I hate that I’m doing this,” you muttered, fighting back the tears that were welling up at the corner of your eyes.

“What is that supposed to mean?” he let out a soft gasped, but allowing the burst of warmth in his chest to take over when you let out a laugh through the sob that broke through.

It was reckless, it was embarrassing and people were probably staring but you honestly didn’t care less. You were so in love with him and for reasons you could not believe, he was so in love with you.

And at that moment when he ignored how ugly you probably looked with tear and snot running down your chin and kissed you like he had been waiting for this, it seemed like every piece of the puzzle had clicked into the right place at last.

But the fairytale ended right after the climax, when the story had to continue past the point when the prince finally kissed the princess and everyone rejoiced.

At first, the distance didn’t bother you at all. You were okay with calling him every evening to say “good morning” to him, and he gladly did the same when he was walking home to his empty one-room apartment after another rough day at practice. He told you he was tired but he felt energised again when he got to hear your voice and you made fun of him for being cheesy on the tongue while smiling ear to ear. You believed that your love could win against time and distance, he believed that you two could definitely find a way.

The question of what would happen if this lasted and who should make sacrifices for who hung over the air, but you didn’t care. You were still so young, you had time.

Until waiting for the call to come only to get nothing but a text many hours later saying that practice held him up started to make you feel frustrated and you were tired of being expected to be the considerate one because he was the one with big dreams you should support. The insecurities he thought he could push down turned ugly when you started to have more and more friends that he wouldn’t be notified of until they appear in your pictures, some standing far too close to you that his bitterness seeped through when he couldn’t stop himself from talking about how happy you seemed to be when he finally had time to sit down and take your call.

“And what is wrong with that?” you gritted, and felt even more aggravated when you remembered seeing his teammate tagged him in a picture where they were out clubbing only moments after he finally texted you saying he was too tired and needed to rest instead of having your weekly video call, “Why am I not allowed to be happy with people who are around me?”

And you also had your insecurities, and he was young and in a place where everything was new to him, and you knew he could be having a much more reckless time if he didn’t have to think about whether it would upset you when you found out, and he knew he could not give you a good enough reason to not feel unsafe, and he already made a choice on where way he wanted to head towards when he boarded that plane.

A way that you felt would be better for the both of you if you turn back while you could still think back on the times you did love him with a fond smile.

Running through the airport was so much easier than the rest that came after.

You were still smiling but quiet until you slowly parted your lips and looked up.

“The only person I’d run through an airport for is you.”

He shared the most reckless, the most carefree days of your life but you grew up now, and now you wanted someone who you did not need to run after.

He seemed like he wanted to say something, but the stop of the strings also put a stop to the moment.

“Dearly beloved…”

“It’s starting.”

You did not talk again for the rest of the ceremony.

“Are you free?”

You paused your hand that was shoving your phone back into your bag after pulling it out to check what time it was when Oikawa turned to your side. The ceremony ended and it was almost 6, not too early and not too late. The sun was sinking outside and the golden rays shined through the stained glass windows of the ceremony hall.

You blinked, “After this, you mean?”

“Yeah,” he toyed with the thick gold band on his thumb, “do you have time?”

He regretted it the moment he asked. It had been seven years since you last talked and if he had never once wanted to contact you again then he sure shouldn’t have done it now. You also had someone else, to add to it, someone who you could do long-distance with and not looked distressed when you bring it up, what type of person would he looked like now after he asked his ex if they were free after a wedding?

To his relief, you did not seem too taken aback. You only looked down, pulled your phone out again to unlock your screen and look at the time before locking your eyebrows together, putting it away when you finished calculating.

“Nah,” you shook your head with a tiny smile, “I have a call with someone later.”

You said ‘someone’ but he caught the hint from the way the corner of your lips lifted up just a little higher.

Oikawa Tooru laughed, something he did not expect himself to do.

You were doing well, like him, even though in separate places and with separate people.

That was good.

So he said it, smiling without knowing that he was, “That’s good.”

He meant it.

“Yeah,” you nodded and smiled back, this time at him and with ease, “it is.”

And so did you.

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu imagine #oikawa imagine #oikawa imagines #oikawa x reader

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gojology · 3 years

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Ringpops.

back to homepage pairing : gojo x gender neutral reader warnings : cursing, fluff. wordcount : 1688 a/n : i am so sorry for posting this late LOL, i’ve had a splitting headache all day and on top of that i had to make a buncha visually appealing aesthetic stuff for this so my poor brain is fried. welcome all new followers :) also this was rushed as usual... haha ████████████████ 100% Complete. Enjoy your game.

Valentines Day with Gojo was usually chaotic, but you didn’t blame him, it was apart of his personality after all. He didn’t take you to any particular establishment, really. You were curled up in your bed, exhausted from a long day of baking goods, watching sappy love movies, and overall shenanigans. You didn’t particularly mind this though, a soft lazy breeze preventing you from overheating, you sigh in relief. It’s like the weather knew exactly what you needed for a relaxing evening. Although, today seemed rather unusual. For the many years that you’ve dated Satoru, he never, ever dressed up. Usually he rolled out of bed, naked. A pair of grey sweatpants replaced what was usually his uniform pants. Just enough for you to see the start of his happy trail, in other words, a fruitful attempt of teasing you. He knew that he was attractive, and you didn’t mind fueling his ego. A toned body, almost like he had been specially picked by some divine being and gifted with society’s standards. But he had actually picked out an outfit for this particular Valentines Day, which you admitted was nice, but you also didn’t mind licking your lips at such a delicious physique. On the rare occasions that he picked out outfits, it wouldn’t be visually appealing, the guy only wore his work uniform or a casual t-shirt and a pair of shorts, or sweatpants. Yet, today? Weirdly different. Clad in a dark blue cashmere crewneck sweater paired with black jeans, he nervously picked at the clothing, fidgeting. You guessed he had gotten some fashion advice from one of his friends, as you also realized it was... Somewhat trendy. Chains dangling from his neck, a few from his pants as well, a designer belt... You had wondered who it was that was so gracious enough to make him hotter then he already was. The air of his usual carefree personality was gone, which was one of your favorite parts about him, and he had insisted this morning to take you to an actual diner, which you rejected. As soon as you turned your back to grab some more sugar, he pulled you back, hand on your shoulder. A determined look on his face that you could see even through his circular shades, clearing his throat. “Hey- just to be sure, pumpkin... You’re not denying because you think I’m poor or some shit like that, right? I’m financially stable as all hell, and I’ll buy you anything you set your eyes on, seriously. I need to spoil you sometimes, okay?” He spoke with a tone of nervousness, and you cocked your head to look at him, eyebrow slightly raised. “What’s with you today, babe? You never do this sorta shit.” Seemingly taken aback, he looked at you for a few seconds, unblinking. Wondering if it went one ear out the other, you’re about to repeat yourself before he shoves a hand on your mouth. “I just wanna try something new, that’s all. Carry on, sweets. Need more M&M’s? I can drive to the store and get them..” kissing your exposed neck a few times, suckling at the flesh, he snickered as you gasped, and that was the end of that. ‧₊˚✩彡. The thought never completely disappeared from your mind, instead it ran rampant. You were curious, after all. Why would perhaps the chillest and funniest guy you knew, be so scared and nerve-wrecked? “Hey, hey~!” you hear a familiar voice ring out, and you pick up your head from his pillow that you were laying on, adjusting your eyes so you could drink in his beauty fully. He wasn’t completely in the room, his head was poking out of the door just barely. “Finally, what were you doing? Took you a few years to come home.” casually getting up from your previous position, you hug your pillow, patiently waiting for his next sentence. “Ah... Uh, nothing. Don’t worry about it.” he shuffled closer into the room, but he never quite came into view, the atmosphere of awkwardness was growing. Rolling your eyes, you giggle, desperate to have the mood be carefree yet again. “You suck at hiding shit, come on, lemme see, what’d you get me?” “It was supposed to be a surprise!” he said, exasperated, but he does it anyways. A beautiful scent of roses wafted throughout the room, a trail of spare rose petals danced down as he strode over to the bed, a playful grin on his lips. You cover your mouth with your hands, squealing. “Satoru! These are so pretty!” you ecstatically grab at the bouquet, the crinkling of the plastic music to your ears. You sniffed at the roses, pleasantly surprised at just how sweet they smelled. Vibrant hues of pinks and reds, small and large, a loose ribbon holding the bouquet together. Your smile is so wide, you struggle to hide it. “Glad you like them, honey.” he grinned, taking his shades off and placing them on his nightstand. “Hold on tight, more to come, love.” He takes a quick jog to the hallway leading to you two’s room, quickly getting out of view. Coming back just 20 seconds later, a teddybear half the size of him now limp in his hands, another ribbon around the teddybear’s neck. “For you, my sweet.” he sings, setting the plush down onto the covers. You look at the teddybear, staring at you with beady eyes, and back up at Gojo. “But babe, you’re my teddybear.” you cooed, hoping to get some sort of reaction out of him. You see his facial features soften, before he immediately plants a sloppy kiss on your forehead, “Wouldn’t hurt to have another one, would it?” You nod your head in agreement. The chill aura seemed to vanish into thin air as soon as you nod, the silence was almost deafening. He stared at you, and you stared back, you hear your heart steadily pound in your chest. Usually he would make some sort of joke right now and then, but he seemed unusually serious, to the point where you’d be concerned. “You’ve been acting weird all day, are you okay?-” you ask, but you’re immediately cut off. Gojo gets on one knee, and your heart races and you swear you see the light, playing with the hem of his jean pockets before pulling some sort of wrapper out. A wrapper? It’s a Ringpop, two flavors. Blue raspberry and watermelon, he hastily places the blue raspberry one into his pocket again, cursing as he struggled to do so, before finally repositioning. “Will you marry me, (Y/N)?” It takes a moment to register into your brain, for one, he was proposing with a Ringpop, but you guess that’s like him, his love of candy was absurd- but a Ringpop of all things? You feel your face fall, and you hope he doesn’t realize. The thought was good, but it felt strangely.. Tacky, in some ways. Nonetheless, your heart is still pounding rapidly inside of you, and you’re sweating bullets now. Skin burning to the touch, you look at him, heavily breathing. “Yes, oh my God, yes.” is all you can breathe out. His solemn face was now beaming, eyes bright and twinkling. He seems to scoff, like he doesn’t quite believe that you said yes to such a request, but he doesn’t want to give it another thought. Immediately diving headfirst into your face, your lips touch, and even though you had kissed him about a thousand times today, you still returned just as much passion. You felt like your whole body was about to give out, wobbling as he placed the Ringpop onto the covers. Forgotten, it sat idly, but you didn’t care, and nor did Gojo. Hand now at the back of your neck, the other on your hip, the sound of sloppy kisses filled the otherwise calm room. They were strangely chaste, nothing sexual about them, yet they felt so fulfilling you wonder how he does it. He was unusually good at kissing, but you don’t want to tell him that- the egotistical bastard. He pulls away from the kiss, and you whine, pulling at the collar of his sweater to come back- to please you- but he pays no mind to you. Instead, he rips open the wrapper, throwing it to the ground, pulling up your limp arm. With a confident toothy smile on his face, he slipped the translucent pink plastic ring onto your left middle finger. “That’s my middle.” you say, struggling to stifle your giggle. Who cared about getting a Ringpop? It was the thought that counted, right? You still felt horrible, for whatever reason. “I know that.” he doesn’t say it directly to your face, instead shuffling in his pockets once more, before he whips out what looks like a black cube. This time, you recognize an expensive label on it, a miniature velvety black box. “I just.. Wanted to make sure you were committed, and that you didn’t want me for my money or some bullshit like that.” he grinned, opening the box, he doesn’t give you a moment to eye it, instead plucking it out and slipping it onto your ring finger. Only then could you look at it, and you cover your mouth once more, tears beginning to form at the corner of your eyes. It was beautiful, truly, and you couldn’t explain it’s beauty with words. Glimmering diamonds, alongside a beautiful silvery frame- it was perfect. “...Do you like it?” he asks, once again an air of nervousness. Unable to speak, you hug him instead, now full on bawling. He laughs, rubbing your back, giving you another neck kiss. “Holy shit, you’re so cute, pumpkin. Or should I say, soon to be spouse?” he cooed. “Shut up.” you say, still sniffling, snot running down your nose. He chuckles dryly once again, wiping your tears away with his thumb. “If you’re not gonna eat that Ringpop, can I?” “Zip it, can’t you see I’m crying, dummy?” you respond, still ugly crying. It was the best Valentines day you had ever experienced, and nothing could quite conquer it.

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arpmemething2 · 3 years

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The Master/Missy Sentence starters

Quotes from the Master/Missy from the Doctor who used as sentence starters. Send one for my muse’s reaction. A few have been edited slightly to take out names and/or make them more generic.

"He keeps trying to kill me. Sort of our texting. Been at it for ages."

"Listen, listen, listen, listen. Every minute, every second... every beat of my hearts. There it is. Calling to me. Please listen."

"I've just been executed. Show a little respect."

“ You're about to have much bigger things to think about. I told you before that everything you knew was a lie. Well, now you get to face the truth, with me at your side. “

"Give us a kiss."

"What the hell are you up to, man?"

"Now then, I've got a planet to run."

“ Wake up. I know you're broken, but it's all over now. “

"This is not an exodus, is it? More of a beginning, really, isn't it?"

"You did this to me! All of my life! You made me! One! Two! Three! Four!"

“ When I said "someone" did that, obviously I meant... I did. “

"Without hope. Without witness. Without reward... I am your friend."

"I've got some requests. I want some new boots. Some toys, like a particle accelerator. A 3d printer and a pony."

"I'll scratch his eye out."

“ I do believe you're appealing to my better nature. And we both know I don't have one. “

"You do not understand hatred as I understand it. Only hate keeps me alive. Why else should I endure this pain?"

"I need my friend back."

"Never, never, never, never. Never dying. Never dying! Never dying, never dying, never dying!"

“Give a good man firepower, and he'll never run out of people to kill.“

"This country has been sick, this country needs healing, this country needs medicine – in fact I’d go so far as to say that, what this country really needs, right now, is a Doctor.”

"When I arrange for your death, I expect you to stay dead. "

"You could take the usual precautions...sticky tape on the windows, that sort of thing."

"Envy is the beginning of all true greatness!"

"You can't do this! You can't do...IT'S NOT FAIR!"

"Sorry sorry, I have this effect, people just get obsessed. Is it the smile? Is it the aftershave? Is it the capacity to laugh at myself? I dunno, it's crazy!"

“The human race… Greatest monsters of them all.”

"How sanctimonious is that?"

“Have you seen these things? This planet is amazing! Televisions in their stomachs, now that’s evolution.”

“Oh my giddy aunt. The quiet ones are the worst. “

“Oh, don’t be disgusting. We are not animals. Try, Nano-brain, to rise above the reproductive frenzy of your noisy little food chain and contemplate friendship. Friendship older than your civilization, and infinitely more complex.”

"Want more. I want cheese and chips, and meat and gravy, and cream and beer, and pork and beef, and fat, great big chunks of hot, wet red!"

"Believe it or not, we were at the academy together."

"Armies are for people who think they're right"

"Though, didn't you used to be a woman? I'm gonna be a woman, fairly soon. Any tips? Or maybe... I don't know, old bras?"

"Nobody could be more devoted to the cause of peace than I!"

"You know, I should shoot you in a jealous rage. Now wouldn't that be sexy?"

“ Please, try to keep up. Short for "Mistress" “

"How many times have you died?"

"Would it help you focus if I extracted some of your vital organs and made a lovely soup?"

“You don’t smell half as bad as you think you do. “

"Oh my giddy aunt. The quiet ones are the worse."

"You can't miss him. He's wearing yellow trousers and a vulgarly coloured coat."

"Did you never think, all those years standing beside me, to ask about that watch? Never?! Did you never once think, not ever, that you could set me free?!"

"I only need two things. Your submission and your obedience to MY WILL!"

"You make it sound like an invasion."

"Oh, the way you burned like a sun, like a whole screaming world on fire. I remember that feeling, and I always will... and I will always miss it."

"It's where we've always been going, and it's happening, now, today"

"Life is wasted on the living! "

“ Ooo, you look rough. Or is that a choice? Don't mean to conversion-shame you. “

“You know the best part about knowing? Not telling you! “

"Before we start all that, I just wanted to say: thank you. Thank you, one and all, you ugly, fat-faced bunch of wet, snivelling traitors."

"What's that in your pocket."

“ And spend... the rest of my life, imprisoned, with you? “

“Let the work of government begin “

"You remember all the people I've killed? Every day, I think of them all. Being bad... being bad. I didn't know I even knew their names. You didn't tell me about this bit."

“I’m in no hurry, I’ve got all day. And I’m not going to kill you until you say..something…nice.”

"Everything we were told was a lie."

"I'm going to kill you in a minute."

In 24 hours, the human race as you know it will cease to exist.

"You know the key strategic weakness of the human race? The dead outnumber the living."

"I always dress for the occasion."

“Take my hand or I turn them into tiny human dolls right here. “

"You see, you're my intellectual equal. Almost. I have too few worthy opponents. When they've gone I always miss them."

"Won't you show mercy to your own ... ?"

"You made it. I hope my boyfriend wasn't too mean to you."

“It’s a gas mask.”

"Ooh, nice little game of hide and seek, I love that! But I'll find you"

"That's because I locked it, idiot!"

"I have suffered long enough from your stupid, stubborn interference in my designs! Now we are coming to the end of our conflict"

"All or nothing, literally! What a glorious alternative!"

"This body was born out of death; all it can do is die."

"Okay, cutting to the chase. Not dead. Back. Big surprise. Never mind."

“This should be SPECTACULAR!”

“Have you seen these things? This planet is amazing! Televisions in their stomachs, now that's evolution. “

"No! No! You can't destroy me! I am too strong for you! I am too strong for you!"

"To do my will shall be the whole of the law!"

"No! You must be mad! Why with this, we could control every galaxy in the cosmos! We could be Gods!"

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classic80sand90smovieloves2 · 3 years

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Meeting and Dating Caroline Mulford

(My ugly gif)(Requested by @foulobjectdelusion )

- Caroline is the most popular girl in school who’s dating the most popular boy in school, everyone knows who she is, you included. But you’re practically invisible to people like her. You aren’t popular, you aren’t in their circle, the most you’ll get is a friendly wave/nod or an obligatory partnering for a project.

- That doesn’t stop you from having a crush on her ...like practically everyone else in the school. Yeah, you’ve been pining for the pretty blonde since your freshman year, but it isn’t really your fault is it? You could hardly even have a conversation with her, let alone admit you have a Sapphic crush on her. All you can do is pine.

- That all changes after one very special summer. You’d gone on a trip, gotten a bit more fashionable clothing, learned how to properly do your makeup and changed your hair; you’d even had a short fling and felt what it was like to be in a relationship. You were a new woman and it didn’t take long for people to notice.

- One of the popular boys invited you to join him and his friend group at their usual hangout spot, and you, feeling like you were in some sort of teen movie, obviously agreed. That was where she approached you.

- That's right: She approached you. Granted, she didn’t know who you were and actually started your conversation with a “You must be new! I’m Caroline.” as if you’d transferred schools but you didn’t correct her and more or less kept up the façade. You supposed you’d be a new woman in more ways than one.

- Though you did keep just about every other aspect of your life the same, you just let them think you hadn’t attended the school until now. Hey, if they didn’t recognize you that was their fault, right?

- Caroline liked you almost immediately though it was purely platonic. You were surprised to see just how sweet she was, even though you’d heard rumors and seen it for yourself on occasion. The two of you became friends that afternoon and you found yourself thrust into a life of popularity. One you only could have dreamed of until now.

- Now you’re being invited to parties and sitting at the popular table and going to the mall with Caroline; who you’re still practically obsessed with, and your life is practically perfect. You feel like you’re at the top of the world ...but then, you see her kiss Jake and you can feel yourself falling.

- You’d never realized how draining it would be to be up close. It was almost better to be far away from her, at least then you couldn’t be able to see the love shining in her eyes when she looked at him.

- Hell, you now babysat her brother while she went on dates with the boy.

- It was almost humorous, the duality of your popularity; everything could be so good and yet so bad at the same time.

- Finally, everything changed after one of Jakes; or rather her, parties. She’d gotten absolutely plastered; as per usual, and you were the only one sober enough to make sure she didn’t die during the night.

- So there you were, trying to pull drinks out of her hand and guiding her to a couch as she pawed all over you and her surroundings, giggling and stumbling the entire way there.

- Pretty much everyone had left the boys house, leaving a mess in their wake. All except you, who’d been waiting to see if Jake was going to deal with the girl before you drove yourself home.

- As the two of you sat, she sighed and laid her head in your lap, gushing about how much she cared about and loved you. You sighed and told her you cared about her too, brushing the hair from your face exasperatedly.

“No, not like that. I love, love, loveeee you.” She insisted.

- You thought nothing of it, giving her a “yep, yeah I know.” before you felt her hands on your face. Before you knew it, she’d pulled your face down and pressed her lips to yours, causing you to freeze in place.

- You quickly pulled away and shifted her out of your lap, telling her that you needed to get her home and that she was drunk. Fuck Jake. You’d deal with her this time whether he liked it or not.

- So you heaved her up and got her in your car, getting ready to drive her home before she nearly made you crash said car and insisted that you pull over. She was lucid for all of five minutes before she wound up passed out in your backseat with you. You soon followed suit and fell asleep clutching your keys and jacket.

- When you woke up in the morning, the two of you had a nice, awkward talk about what happened and she admitted that she had feelings for you and you for her. You told her that if anything was gonna happen, she’d have to break up with Jake which she agreed to.

- The two of you had your first date later that day. You went to a nice Waffle House to help with her wicked hangover and when you got back inside your car, she leaned over and gave you a real kiss to make up for the one she’d drunkenly stolen the night prior.

- And just like that, things were messily made perfect.

- Most people just think that you’re close friends so the two of you can get away with some pda; though you obviously aren’t really able to kiss in public. Regardless, even if she can’t show people that you’re a couple, she’s going to make it obvious; in one way or another, that you’re off limits.

- Long hugs.

- Handholding or your arm around her shoulders and her arm around your waist; or vice versa depending on your height.

- Corner of the mouth kisses.

- Deep, soft kisses.

- Slow makeouts.

- Hair petting. It’s a habit of hers.

- There’s quite a bit of snuggling in your relationship. She likes laying her head on your shoulder or chest whenever you do, tracing patterns on your shirt while you wrap your arms around her.

- As we all know, Caroline's little brother is deaf so one can assume that she’s a bit attention starved at home. So, on that note, she always wants to be the center of your attention. God forbid you have homework to do; she’ll bother you until you take a break and give her what she wants.

- She usually just calls you some cutesy form of your given name or honey, maybe hun or babe when you’re out in public since girls can call their friends those.

- Her parents don’t seem to be uptight in the slightest so you’re usually allowed to stay out for a long time and pretty much do whatever you want.

- Going to parties.

- Taking care of her at parties.

- Staying up until the early morning and watching the sunrise, usually while you’re both a little tipsy.

- Picnics.

- Beach dates.

- Almost always walking to class together. You’ll usually end up carrying her books because she’s a bit of a princess.

- Copying each others school and homework. If you can’t cheat off your partner, are you even dating?

- Taking photos together and of each other. She’ll take offense if you don’t have a picture of her framed on your nightstand.

- Please give her gifts; she loves them so much. You’ll never see her smile wider.

- Her asking you to get her things. She’s the girlfriend who calls you over just to ask you to go and grab her something from somewhere; usually with a cutesy little smile and a please.

- She wouldn’t be caught dead riding the bus and she sort of hates to drive so you usually end up driving her wherever she wants; or at least to and from school.

- Honestly talking about which movie stars you think are hot and would be obligated to marry if they asked.

- Going to the mall. It’s her favorite place.

- Helping her zip herself into dresses or pick things out when the two of you go shopping. She always asks you a million questions before she actually buys something.

- Popularity is pretty important to her so she’ll want the two of you to look your best when you’re out together. If you’re less stylish than her, she’s gonna wanna make you over.

- Doing each other’s nails.

- Laughing and cursing at each other as you do beauty rituals. You always have a lot of fun when you’re putting on face masks or cutting each other’s hair, etc.

- She pretty much lives at your house at this point. She comes over nearly everyday and spends more time in your room than her own.

- She becomes a part of your family whether or not your parents know that the two of you are dating. They either accept her as your girlfriend or just assume that you’re really close friends. The same goes for her family.

- I feel like she has the type of family that packs everyone up and takes them camping at least once a year so ...wanna go camping with her?

- Festive holidays. Her family probably goes skiing every winter and are really into the holidays and you; being her best friend tm, are always invited to join them.

- Staying over while she babysits her little brother. The little dude likes you a lot.

- It’s pretty funny to watch her go from her popular, cutesy teenage girl self to a mature, protective woman when she’s with her little brother. She’ll be batting her eyelashes at you one minute and doing sign language and/or watching her little brother like a hawk the next.

- She’s sort of oblivious when you’re upset and not the most considerate of your feelings but she’s trying to be better.

- That being said, she’s able to be reassuring and comforting when she realizes that she needs to be. She’s even sweeter and smarter than everyone in your school anticipated.

- She’s a bit paranoid when it comes to you and other girls so she’s definitely a pretty jealous person. She’ll usually sit in your lap; when she can, to make it clear that you’re a couple, plastering on a fake smile and greeting the other person like she hadn’t seen them there.

- She’ll later; bluntly, confront you about it, and will take your word for it but she’ll occasionally threaten the fact that she can easily find someone else.

- You’re the one who has to be protective, considering the fact that she tries to kill herself every other weekend.

- The two of you have quite a few short arguments but they’re rarely ever serious. You tend to settle them fairly quickly so you rarely ever have a “we’re in a fight” moment with your mutual friends.

- She usually tries to use cuteness to win you over; if you’re really fighting, or just concedes mid argument and accepts what you’ve said after a bit of convincing. She’ll give a real apology if her cute face doesn’t work but she’d prefer not having to do so.

- She tells you that she loves you fairly often; particularly when she’s drunk.

- She’s pretty fond of talking about the future. She makes it very obvious that’s she’s planning on staying with you for the rest of her life and it always warms your heart to hear it.

#caroline mulford imagine #caroline mulford headcanons #caroline mulford imagines #caroline mulford headcanon #sixteen candles imagine #sixteen candles headcanons #sixteen candles imagines #sixteen candles headcanon #80s movie imagine #80s movie imagines #80s movie headcanons #80s movie headcanon

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ladyofmaidensandwine · 3 years

Text

Just One Dance

Requested by @rileynicole1967

Request: “so maybe you could do a one shot for deanxreader based off the song “can I have this dance” from High School Musical. so basically dean doesn’t do the whole dancing thing and the reader finally gets him to dance with her and she helps him and it’s so fluffy”

Absolutely, luv! Side bar, I’ve never seen these movies, but I gave the song a listen. Hopefully this is just as fluffy as you were wanting!

Characters: Dean Winchester, Fem! Reader, Sam Winchester

Pairing: Dean x Fem! Reader

Warnings: Excessive fluff, implied smut without detail.

Wordcount: 2,852

There are some things a hunter doesn’t get, and a normal, carefree night on the town is one of them. At least, it usually is. This particular Saturday you have no monsters to kill, no wounds to mend, and no research demanding to be done, and you practically beg Sam and Dean to come with you to a local pub promising good music, food, and beer.

Maybe it’s slightly overdone, but you rarely have any occasion to dress so nicely, and as you look at your reflection, you have to smile. You admit to yourself you look beautiful, outfit the perfect color to compliment your complexion and your eyes, and comfortable so you have no qualms about dancing the night away, which you have every intention to do.

You open the door to your room in the bunker, right across from Dean’s, and hear a low whistle that causes your cheeks to heat slightly. “I feel underdressed, sweetheart. You look gorgeous.” Dean says with that easy, charming smile. The bastard has you positively whipped, and he doesn’t even know it. “Well, one of us has to look good.” You tease, brushing off the compliment in favour of poking fun at your best friend. He chuckles, rolling his eyes fondly. “Yeah, whatever. C’mon, let’s get Sammy’s ugly mug and hit the road before all the good parking is gone.” Dean beckons. The casual way he rests his hand on your back has your heart doing acrobatics, and you thank whatever God is listening for the years spent mastering your perfect poker face when you show no outward reaction.

You’re not a bird that hangs off the arm of the first handsome man she sees. In fact, you have a sense of pride in the way you don’t fall for charm or suave lines and you’ve never been the type to go for a one-night-stand just because someone buys you a drink and throws you a smirk. Dean Winchester is the only exception to your impervious shield- a simple smile from him has you feeling faint, and it’s not just his looks that have made you fall for him. Dean has been your friend and confidante. He knows things about you not another soul is privy to, and the same applies to you. He protects you, but doesn’t underestimate your skill and ability as a hunter. He’s your hero, and if you had a bit more gall, maybe you’d finally tell him that.

It’s a perfect night at the pub- not too crowded, but with enough background chatter to make an ambience like home. The first round is on you, as you’ve promised, and Dean watches you carefully as you head to the counter to order your drinks. Sam sits across from him, a smug and knowing smile on his face. “What?” Dean finally grumbles, raising a brow. Sam shrugs, but that grin only gets wider, Dean’s green eyes narrowing in annoyance. “It’s just funny,” Sam begins, fighting to maintain a nonchalant front while wanting to laugh at Dean, “you sitting here, watching her, Y/N standing there, looking back at you. Cute.” “Sam.” Dean says, tone sharp with a warning Sam promptly ignores. “Hey, if you have any plausible reasoning for me to believe you’re not smitten with her, now’s your chance to convince me.” Sam invites. Dean glowers at him from across the table, wishing you’d hurry up with those beers already, and Sam smirks, knowing he’s won. “That’s what I thought. Want my advice?” “Not really.” Dean mutters, rolling his eyes. God, where are you with the drinks, somebody save him. “Well, I’m gonna give it to you anyways. Stop being such a dumbass and go get your girl. At this point I won’t even complain if you snog her in front of me. Point is, Dean, you’ve got no rationale to not go after her.” Sam says pointedly. “I think you oughta just-”

“Hey, sorry I took so bloody long!” You call, hurrying over with four longnecks in your hands, and Dean shoots Sam a smirk. Perfect timing as usual, thank God. “S’alright. Didn’t miss much.” Dean shrugs, sliding over so you can sit next to him in the booth. “Oh, good. I put in some song requests- DJ says this place is great for dancing.” You inform, smiling brightly. Dean instantly shoots upright, cutting you a narrow-eyed look full of suspicion. “Dancing?” He repeats, already smelling a scheme as you give him an innocent smile. “Wouldn’t you know it, this pub happens to be known ‘round here for the music? Coincidence, of course.” You say slyly. Dean shakes his head, unable to maintain his glare so he hides the smile pulling at his lips by taking a swig of his cold beer. “Coincidence. Yeah, ok. Y/N, for someone who lies for a living, you’re pretty shit at it.” Dean smirks, and you laugh, knowing he’s teasing. “Alright, so maybe I had a slight ulterior motive when I said we should come here tonight, but I promise it’ll be fun!” You say pleadingly, turning to Sam for back up.

“Don’t look at me! You’re on your own.” Sam proclaims, holding up his hands in surrender as you huff. “Fine! But you’re both dancing with me. I’m not settling for a ‘no’.” You assert. Dean chuckles, giving you an amused smile. “You can think that if you want, sweetheart. I don’t dance.” He says firmly. “What do you mean? You dance with me to your bloody cassettes in the garage all the time!” You demand, raising your brows. Sam laughs, nearly snorting beer out of his nose, and Dean flushes up to his ears. “Dean dances with you?” “Sam!” Dean growls, thoroughly embarrassed. “Oh, come off it, it’s not a big deal, you baby.” You scowl playfully. “No, Y/N, Dean doesn’t dance, ever. Makes you awfully special, huh, Dean?” “Shut your mouth, Sam.” Dean snaps, glaring at his brother indignantly. You’re at a loss, looking between the two in confusion. “Look, Y/N, you’ll have to settle for the less good-looking Winchester tonight. I don’t dance, ‘specially not here.” Dean says with a shrug of his broad shoulders. You smile, a mischievous look in your eyes, and he knows you’re nowhere near dropping the subject.

Three beers later, you’re out on the dancefloor, laughing at Sam’s awkward moves. Dean’s smiling, eyes glued to you. It’s rare he see’s you this happy and carefree, and you look so beautiful in the low light of the bar. The power could go out and your smile would light up the whole place. He hates admitting it, but Sam makes a valid point. There’s nothing stopping Dean from telling you how he feels about you besides his own paranoia, and even that is n shaky grounds. He’s not entirely oblivious. Dean knows there’s some unspoken thing between the two of you, and knows you feel it, too. But letting it lie as is and pursuing something more are two totally opposing ideas, and he’s getting tired of his head and his heart pulling him in different directions over you.

You catch Dean’s eye, and leave Sam, grinning at Dean. “Come dance.” You say. He shakes his head, a small smile playing across his lips. “Told you, sweetheart. I don’t dance.” Dean claims, crossing his arms over his chest as he leans against the booth. He’s content where he is, just watching you, but you’re the most stubborn woman he’s ever met, and honestly, he should’ve known better because when do you ever take no for an answer? “Just one dance. Come on, even Sam is having fun.” You try to persuade him, Dean’s eyes flicking to his brother and back to you. “Y/N.” “Dean.” You mimic. You stare him down, eyes narrowed slightly. Dean almost laughs- he’s seen this face before, your shoulders back and spine tall. It’s the posture of a hunter, the determined face you make when you’re dealing with police giving you a hard time or a monster making threats. Now you’re using against your best friend to try and convince him to dance with you. “Please.” You pout, and he sighs. God, why are you so hard to say no to?

It’s a silly question because he knows exactly why you could ask for the moon wrapped in a bow and by God, he’d figure out how to give it to you because you have Dean Winchester completely at your mercy. “Dean, please, just one dance! That’s all I’m asking.” You practically beg, and he can feel himself breaking. “Sweetheart, I really don’t dance, not for anybody.” Dean tries. “Not even for me?” You ask him. Damn it. Damn you to hell, you’re good. That’s his weakness, you’re his weakness, and you’re using it to play him like a fiddle. Dean closes his eyes and his shoulders slump, and when he looks at you again, you’re beaming like you won the grand prize because you know you’ve got him. “One dance. Got it? Just one. And- and don’t expect no fancy shit, or nothin’.” He huffs, trying to maintain his grumpy facade. He doesn’t last a second because your mile-wide smile is even bigger as you take him by the hands and half-lead half-drag Dean onto the dancefloor.

Dean’s nervous as all-get-out. When was the last time he’s ever really danced, much less in front of people? “Just take my hand, Dean. C’mon, you killed three vampires just the other day and you’re telling me you’re nervous now?” You say, teasing him gently. “Yeah, well, vamps I can behead.” Dean mutters, earning a snort of laughter from you that makes his lips twitch up into a smile. “Just look at me, yeah? Just like in the garage.” You tell him. He nods, swallowing, and keeps his eyes locked on you, which really isn’t hard to do. Just as he eases into it, the faster-paced song transitions to a slow-dance, and he freezes, instantly panicking.

You squeeze Dean’s hand comfortingly. “Dean, we can sit down, I’m only kidding, I didn’t mean to make you so uncomfortable.” You explain with a guilty frown. Here you are, trying to get the boys to relax, and instead poor Dean is looking at you like someone told him his impala is being towed. Dean stops you, shaking his head. “No. No, just, uh, don’t laugh at me. I haven’t done this in... well, ever.” He says gruffly. You smile fondly. Your knight in shining plaid is nervous you’ll tease him for being a clumsy dancer. “Promise I won’t laugh. Well, maybe a little.” You say, and Dean shoots you a glare that vanishes when you give him a cheesy grin. “You’re a dork.” He smirks. “Takes one to know one, Winchester.” You wink.

“Dean, you’re stepping on me.” You tell him, biting your lip to stifle a laugh at the instant mortification on Dean’s face. “Shit, sorry!” “S’okay. You’re doing great. You are one in a million, Dean. Big, bad hunter, scared to dance with me.” You laugh softly. Dean huffs, and you smile. He’s slowly getting the hang of it, with your help, of course.

“Hey, what was Sam talking about earlier?” You ask. Dean falters, and you nearly trip, stumbling into his chest. You don’t know if you’re really standing still or if it only feels like time has halted, Dean’s green eyes staring into you.

His eyes drop to your lips. You’re not sure you’re breathing.

“Sam doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Dean says after a long moment. His eyes dart away, and you frown slightly. “That’s not what I asked you.” “Y/N.” He says intently, hoping you’ll drop the subject, because the direction the conversation is going, Dean is going to be forced to make the decision he’s been putting off for so many years. “Dean.” You echo, just as firmly, not letting him escape your gaze. Dean steps back slightly, and you realize the song is over. You let go of Dean’s hands, disappointment and embarrassment washing over you. “Thanks for the dance.” You say, trying to hide your sadness.

You make it all of three steps before Dean reaches out for you. “Hey, Y/N, wait.” He says quickly, hand grabbing yours. “What?” “Can I have this dance?” “You don’t dance.” You say, confused. He looks at you for a long moment, a smile slowly forming on his face. “No,” Dean agrees, holding your gaze with his, “but you do. So?” “So what?” “So, can I have this dance?” Dean repeats. You nod, and he leads you back out. It’s another slow song, and Dean pulls you a little closer than before, staring at you intensely.

“What?” You ask, quirking a brow. “Can I ask you something?” “Ok?” You agree hesitantly. “Why do you always sit next to me in the booths?” Dean asks. You swear you can your heart plummet like a lead weight. “What?” “Yeah. How come you always share with me when we have to bunk up because there’s only two beds in motels? And how come you wanted to dance with me so bad?” He presses. “I- well, I-” You stammer, absolutely thrown for a loop, and he smiles briefly. “See, ‘cause, I’ve got this theory that the answer to that is sorta like the answer to the question you asked me earlier.” He continues, confusion and dread creeping up on you. “Dean, listen, we don’t have to talk about it-” “I think we do. I want to. Here’s the thing, Y/N. I don’t dance.” “Then why are you-?” You trail off. “Because you asked me to. And I can’t say no to you. What Sam said, earlier- you are.” He says, ducking his head. “I am what?” You frown. “Awfully special. To- to me.” Dean says quietly, blushing, and suddenly it makes sense. “Oh.” “Oh? That’s all you’re gonna say? I tell you I have feelings for you, and all I get is ‘oh’?” Dean asks, blinking in disbelief. He looks like he’s about to bolt, so you lean up and before he can make another smartass comment, you press your lips softly to his.

“Oh.” Dean breathes, staring at you. You smile, and he grins, and both of you laugh, not caring if anyone is looking. “Man, we’re a couple’a real idiots, huh?” Dean chuckles. “If I knew this is how it would end up, I would’ve asked you to dance with me a long time ago.” You tease, earning yourself another brief kiss. “I’ll dance with you all you want, sweetheart.” Dean says with a warmth in his eyes you’ve seen a thousand times before but never knew the reasoning for. You laugh as Dean twirls you, ducking under his arm with a bright smile he can’t help but return.

At some point you vaguely recall Dean promising to show you the rest of his dance moves in private, and you stealing the keys to Baby from his back pocket. You’re not sure how you managed to make it safely back to the bunker, and you definitely forgot to bring Sam, but you and Dean had spent years pining after one another and weren’t about to waste another night.

You smile, looking over your shoulder to find a familiar freckled and scruffy face pressed against your pillow. Dean’s still asleep, his arm a solid and warm weight over your bare waist, his chest firm against your back. His dark blond hair is a mess from you running your fingers through it, and you don’t want to know how your own hair looks, but you really don’t even care. You scramble for the sheets as the door knob turns. Sam gives you the biggest shit-eating grin you’ve ever seen, and the urge to fling a shoe at him is strong. “Y’know, when I told you to do something about your puppy love for Dean, I didn’t exactly mean ditch me at the pub to go sleep with him.” Sam says with a wiggle of his brows. Your face feels hot. “Sam.” You whisper warningly. “I told you he liked you.” Sam says. “Go. Away.” You whisper, glaring. Sam snickers. “You owe me, Y/N, we shook on it.” “As I recall, you said he wouldn’t dance with me, so you pay up, Sam.” You retort. Sam scoffs, and you glare even harder. “Sammy, shut up and leave us alone.” Dean’s sleepy voice grumbles, his eyes not even open as he blindly flips his brother off. Dean waits for the door to close and Sam’s footsteps to retreat down the hall before he finally looks at you.

“Jesus, thought he’d never leave.” Dean mutters. You grin, and Dean gives you a devious smirk, planting a kiss on your neck. “Dean!” You laugh. “Who says I was done with you? Sam can handle a few hours without us, and I’ve got you all to myself.” Dean says, and you don’t bother pretending to be mad when his lips meet yours, feeling him smile.

Who knew all it would take to finally get you and Dean together was one dance?

TAGS-

Forever Tags-

@justagirlinafandomworld

Dean Babes-

@herstarburststories

SPN Pond-

@spnfanficpond

#dean winchester #dean winchester x reader #dean x reader #supernatural #supernatural x reader #x reader #fanfic #fanfiction #spnfanficpond #writer #request #one shot

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darknessisafriend · 3 years

Note

Hi! Can I ask for hcs' about almost every Joaquin character (y'know, Joe, Theo, Arthur, Ray, and many more) when they're on Christmas with you? Going to a party, with your family, staying at home, in a shopping, gettting presents, taking you to a café or a restaurant, putting on christmas decorations at home, what you eat with them or how you enjoy the night and fireworks, stuff like that. Thank you! Love your imagines!

Hiii I wrote and before Christmas so I’m really happy! (I literally spend my days writing it from morning to late in the night) so I hope you will like it!!

Following HCs with: Arthur/Joker, Commodus, Joe, Abbe, Charlie, Bobby, Bruno, Willie, Max, Theodore, Merrill, Freddie, Ray

Arthur/Joker

- Christmas is Arthur’s and Joker favorite day of the year after Mardi Gras. It is a day where he can be fully himself, wear one of those ‘ugly’ knitted sweaters, listen to oldies Christmas songs. He feels people more relaxed in the streets, it must be Christmas spirit softening them a little, even in Gotham. And usually you would manage to convince Joker not to make too much trouble and stay by your side all day instead.

- You would be staying home together on Christmas Eve. It would be a very simple day because you didn’t have a lot of money but what is important is to be together, and it’s what you would remind to Arthur, no need for something big or fancy, just to be together in Christmas spirit.

- You would buy a few decorations, but you would mostly create them yourself, spending the weekends of December making them with Arthur as you drank hot chocolate. Your flat would be colorful, filled with red and white tinsels and candy canes; you both went to a park and discreetly cut a few pine trees branches to decorate the appartement.

- Of course, Arthur would make the surprise to buy a Christmas tree, not too big, but it was more than enough to make you smile with happiness. And you would decorate it with anything that was shiny and candy canes too of course.

- For dinner you would not buy anything expensive, but luckily you and Artie were pretty good in cooking and you could manage to make delicious dishes with basic ingredients, roasted potatoes with bacon wrapped turkey and red wine gravy, and you would drink the other half of the bottle while eating. And of course, your favorite part, an apple cake topped with cinnamon and sugar.

- You want the night to be as relaxing as possible, you would cook with Arthur while listening to music, exchanging kisses and giggling. Then, after dinner, you two would settle in the sofa, and watch Disney Christmas cartoons while drinking hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows.

- The next morning, Arthur or Joker would be the first awake, excited like a kid and eager to open his gift. Yes, usually with Arthur it would be one or two gifts for each of you. Arthur would have worked extra hours and saved as much money as he could to be able to buy you something nice, he bought those cute earrings you had seen once in a store front. Joker would get you more gifts and would get a bit extravagant, but it was really fun. You would get a nice suit or piece of accessories for Joker. For Arthur you would get a warm sweater or scarf so that he wouldn’t get cold when he is outside.

- As soon as the gifts were open and breakfast with nice pastries taken; you and Arthur would head to your grandparents’ home where you would be reunited with your parents and cousins as well. Arthur was always a bit nervous about it but once they all greeted him with a hug, he would be smiling all along, hugging back your family and playing with your cousins and nephews. He never had a family but now he had one. Joker had promised you he would never come out on Christmas, it was always sweet Arthur, otherwise your parents would have freaked out.

Commodus

- Saturnalia was always an amazing holiday. For whole a week the whole Empire would celebrate in honor of the god Saturn. It was a very special day where the People would be pampered by their Emperor and where even slaves would be provided by table service and dining with their masters, all would party and share. Many offerings were made to the god but also to the people.

- Commodus was always particularly joyful on that holiday. The first day, he always had a hard time not working but then, the next day, the real Commodus was back, joyful and relaxed. He would dedicate his days entirely to you, his nephew and the rest of the family.

- Commodus would be dressed colorfully, wear red and gold togas and you would usually wear matching clothes, except on Saturnalia eve where you would wear purple and gold, an outfit especially made for that night. You both loved beautiful clothes and it was the occasion to shine even more.

- He would make sure that Lucius gets chosen as the Saturnalicius princeps, the Lord of Misrule for the whole week. And Lucius loved it, he was able to prank everyone and especially his dear uncle who at first regretted it, and then you would find him pranking back Lucius or even you, those two were children.

- The whole week, Commodus would offer chariot racing in the grand arena, the greatest charioteer gathered for the most exciting races and with great rewards, as well as gifts for the public. You both enjoyed it, no blood, no deaths, pure entertainment for all.

- It would be a huge party in the streets of Rome, people singing in the streets naked, drinking and gambling. With the Senate, Commodus would make sure to have a delicious public buffet offered to the people at the Temple of Saturn. He wants everyone to enjoy this holiday. And at night on the eve of Saturnalia, Commodus would organize a big party in the palace, where he would completely let himself go and enjoy the moment.

- For dinner, he would get you the finest foods from the whole Empire and even from far beyond, exotic dancers, magicians and entertainers would be invited as well to make this night unforgettable. He would make sure you smile and laugh, that you simply feel home, and it really were.

- “Io Saturnalia my love!” he would cheer, all tipsy, a big goofy grin on his face, coming to wrap his arms around you, almost spilling his cup of wine on you as he starts trying to dance, he wouldn’t care if he looked ridiculous, he wanted to hold you in his arms and kiss you. To be honest, drunk Commodus was probably the most adorable thing you ever saw.

- Commodus would be very nervous about the presents, he wants the best for you and he wants to impress you even if he knows he doesn’t have to but Commodus feels this need to constantly prove himself and his love for you.

- Early in the morning the day before, he would go out in the city in disguise to get your gifts, he doesn’t trust anyone else to get the best for you and choosing your gifts himself is very important to him, he wants something true, something that truly reflects how he feels for you. He would have a ring especially forged for you, with a blue gemstone incrusted in the center of it, reminding you of his gorgeous blue outfit that you loved so much. And for his nephew, his first real sword to train with him. As for you, you would get him a very fine wine from Greece and then a rather…sensual that you would were in your bedroom that night, you would be his gift in a way; and it would made him even crazier for you.

- After this long night of celebration, you and Commodus would take your time and just sleep as long as you could, it was the last day before getting back to work and you wanted him fully rested and ready to take care of the Empire as ardently as before. You had opened your gifts at midnight so there was nothing waiting to be done, except perhaps Lucius who was eager to take his first lesson from his uncle, but the boy was clever and let you enjoy your husband a few hours more….Io Saturnalia.

Joe

- Christmas with Joe would be quiet, something peaceful at home, it would mean a moment of full relaxion for Joe and perhaps the only moment where he feels like he doesn’t have to be on his guard all the time.

- You would spend Christmas Eve’s afternoon in an animal shelter with Joe, you two would pamper the pets and take them on a walk outside. You had discovered Joe rather enjoyed spending time with animals, especially dogs, it seemed to sooth him and you were thinking of adopting one of the dogs as his Christmas gift. So, this moment would be a good occasion as well to see which one he preferred.

- You would usually spend Christmas eve and Christmas day with your family, just your parents. It did good to Joe to be with other people. And your parents loved him, your father was a veteran and they understood each other. And then your mother just loved him and always offered him more cookies.

- You would do part of the shopping with Joe, especially to buy ingredients to cook for him and your family and then buy a few decorations. Joe would shop separately for your gift of course. And he would be in charge to get the Christmas tree and somehow he always ended up picking one that was too tall to fully fit in the living room, so he would have to climb on the stepladder and shorten the top of the trunk and you couldn’t help but laugh. Poor Joe, he always picked up the biggest and most beautiful trees.

- This year Joe got you a few books, fantasy and sci-fi stories. It wasn’t his genre at all, but he knew you enjoyed it, and he hoped he had chosen well, he had made a research on internet to see which were better. As for you, well, you had gotten him the dog he was fond of at the shelter.

- You and Joe would cook with your parents, you would take care of the dessert with your dad while Joe and your mother did the rest. It wouldn’t be anything too complicated but there were many dishes to fill in everyone and especially Joe’s great appetite. As your mother said, a big man like him needed strength to carry on. And he truly managed to eat everything she was serving him, which you never thought was possible.

- As for the Christmas decoration of your house, it would be discreet but enough to remind of the Christmas spirit. The Christmas tree, a few tinsels on the walls or the banister and that was it. For everything, Joe liked to remain discreet. Still, you managed to get him to wear a Christmas sweater at home and with your family and he was the most adorable like that.

- The night would be spent taking your time dinning with your family, and then they would light a fire in the chimney, and drink mulled wine while talking about the many things that happened during the year. Then, your dad would put on some vinyl, oldies Christmas song; and you couldn’t resist but to get Joe to dance with, a slow dance, pressed against each other as you listened to the music.

- The next morning, you were the first one awake, excited to open your gifts. Well, you thought you were the first one awake, but you would soon realize Joe wasn’t sleeping by your side, maybe he was eager too. However, when you reached downstairs, you found him cooking a marvelous breakfast and not just for you but your parents as well, already wearing the Christmas sweater you had gotten him.

Abbe de Coulmier

- Christmas was obviously a very important day for the Abbe, the birth of the Christ and a day of love. Which meant a lot of work for him, he was a priest after all, and he wanted to give love to people around him and the people in need. And he also wanted to make this day special for his patients, many had been abandoned by their families, and he wanted to make them feel at home, celebrating this important day together.

- He would encourage his patients to create decorations, some patients even crafting wood, others picking up pine tree branches to ornate the doors of their cells. Then, you and Madeleine would spend the day cooking for the dinner, the Abbe as always had managed the finances excellently and you had extra money to buy more food and ingredients and cook something more sophisticated for this day and even Yule logs for everyone. You would even convince him to cook biscuits with the patients, it made them very happy and also seeing him covered in flour was adorable, you couldn’t stop giggling and teasing him.

- Then, towards the end of the afternoon you would help him greet homeless and poor for the evening and night, distributing blankets to them, and sharing a warm dinner with them and a shelter for the night. So, this was a very big day for him and slightly exhausting, but the Abbe was a workaholic, he lived for other people and he loved helping.

- Charenton had become his family so there was no reason for him to come out of the Asylum. And also, you were there, by his side. And he loved you, even if he knew he shouldn’t but he couldn’t resist the temptation you were, and he wanted to make this day special for you too.

- He had very little money, but he had still managed to go in town, and buy you a beautiful blue scarf to keep you warm in the corridors of Charenton. As for you, you had saved as much money as you could to buy him this beautiful chain with a little golden cross, he could wear it around his neck all day along, underneath his cassock.

- It would be a very heartwarming night where everyone would be reunited in the canteen, a beautiful fire lit in the chimney. Everyone would sit close to it and listen to the Marquis, standing in front of it, telling funny stories and also Christmas stories which he had agreed to tell after the irresistible request from his favorite priest. As the Marquis was getting everyone’s attention, you felt the Abbe discreetly brush his fingers against yours, to finally entwine your hands, making you blush, you would exchange a look full of love, tonight he would spend the night in your bed.

- To end the night, he would celebrate the midnight mass, patients and employees gathered and singing songs celebrating the day of the birth of Jesus Christ. It would be a great moment to remind everyone the values of Christmas, compassion, sharing, kindness and love.

- The next morning you would both be awakened by the excited cheering of the patients, eager to open their gifts. He couldn’t help but chuckle, it seems you two won’t be able to make love again this morning, but he would find another way, probably request you to his office for some reason. It wouldn’t stop him from filling your face with kisses before getting up and putting his cassock on. As you both opened your gifts with everyone else, you would know which one was his gift and he would know which one is yours; the look he would give you would be more powerful than words and you would smile in return, you felt blessed.

Charlie

- Charlie wasn’t a Christmas guy, not all. Mostly because he kept bad memories from it, his father made it hell for him and his brother, and his mother too. Even if she had always tried to make them smile, making them eggnog, discreetly slipping a gift in their bed in the morning.

- Naturally as an adult, he wasn’t really down for it, except getting drunk in a Saloon. But you were there to teach him another way to celebrate Christmas, and it would be a way he would surely enjoy; and he would end up with Christmas spirit.

- So, obviously you would spend the day with his family, his brother and his mother. And Charlie wouldn’t be so opposed to it; at first, he might complain and say he doesn’t feel like going. But as soon as he sees his family, he smiles and greet them with a hug, he would never admit it out loud but he missed them and Christmas would be the perfect occasion to spend time together.

- You would have to accompany Charlie to the different stores for Christmas shopping, he always played tough guys and now he didn’t want to go shopping alone, it made you retain a laugh, your man was dumb sometimes. Of course, once he finds something that could be a great gift for you, he would do his best to hide it behind his back, and most of the time pretend he didn’t find anything, you would roll your eyes, you knew his lying face but it was adorable. For his mother, he would some embroidered hankies, another scarf for his brother, just to tease him and for you, an expensive perfume from San Francisco. As for him, you would spend a lot of time and money with specialist to have a prosthetic arm designed for him, he still had a hard time with it and perhaps it would help him feel better and for when he rides again.

- You and his mother would cook, both men were terrible at cooking anything else than beans. So, out of question that they came into the kitchen, especially since last time where Charlie managed to eat half of the cookies you had made. You would also cook apples pies, and a roasted turkey that the two men had hunted earlier.

- As for decorations, the two men had managed to cut a pine tree that resembles a Christmas tree. You would all together decorate the tree, thanks to their mother pushing them to participate. It would be filled with red ribbons, berries, paper strings, yarn, and other homemade decoration Eli had brought. You would even hang a few cookies in the tree.

- When the night came, a fire was lit to keep everyone warm, after all the winter was extremely cold in this part of the country. You would eat joyfully, the boys telling their most epic and finniest anecdotes. Obviously, alcohol would be part of the night, though you tried to keep Charlie just tipsy, except if you were drunk too and joined him in messing around. You would end the night singing joyful Christmas songs together.

- The next morning, Charlie would be the one waking up everyone, he would even try to guess what his gifts were while everyone was still asleep. “But Charlie it’s 7 am…on Christmas.” you yawned, you couldn’t believe he was excited like a child for it, but in a way your understood him, Charlie had never celebrated Christmas and soon his brother was up as well, eager to unwrap his gifts. Charlie would be left speechless as he unwraps his gift and discovers the prosthetic arm, the only thing he would do is to hug you tightly, burying his head in your neck, and placing a kiss on your skin, before letting you put the prosthetic on him.

Bobby Green

- Christmas for Bobby had become another mean to party, not as much as for New Year though. He just loved to enjoy life to the fullest unlike his family meetings where everyone was more uptight than the others.

- So obviously, Bobby would much prefer to spend Christmas just with you, not even with his friends from El Caribe. Though, later in the evening, after dinner, you two might head to the club a little but not to work, simply dance and have fun.

- You would do Christmas decorations shopping together trying to find which color would fit the best for this year; obviously you had a thing for red because it was a color that went well with Bobby too and you picked up gold as a second color; yes, this would be perfect. The very same day, arms full of bags, you would get a Christmas tree, a big fluffy one which would proudly wear the decorations you had bought.

- Then, another day, Bobby would spend quite some time shopping, thanks to his job, money wasn’t a problem, but the problem was finding something perfect for you. Bobby would get you gold earrings with a little diamond on each, and the design would perfectly match with your face and he would also buy some sexy lingerie for you both to enjoy. You would get him an earring as well, the coincidence was rather funny, but it was a detail you particularly loved about him.

- As the evening comes, Bobby would bring you to a nice restaurant in the city center, it was a rather fancy one but not too much to avoid uptight people who couldn’t bear a laugh. It was fancy enough to fix the event in your memories. And you would enjoy a classic feast, and even Foie gras and dishes with truffles. Obviously, you would drink champagne, it would be a night of ‘excess and pleasure’ as Bobby said, and you loved this intensity.

- The decorations would mostly be on the Christmas tree, then you would spread little decorations everywhere, on cupboards and counters and then add many glitters which would be hell to clean up afterwards but you recognized Bobby’s great taste in decorations, he knew how to make it joyful and give a party atmosphere to a place.

- After the restaurant, you would head to El Caribe, at least you knew it was the best place to party in all safety. You and Bobby would just go wild, dancing pressed against each other, exchanging kisses and getting horny in no time; to the point that you would soon go back home to make love right away. Then, late in the night you couldn’t resist but open your gifts, giggling like children. So, there wouldn’t be really a Christmas morning for you, just sleeping late in each other’s arms, and it would be the best morning ever.

Bruno Weiss

- For Bruno, Christmas was like any other day. He was Jewish but not practicing so he wasn’t really celebrating in any way. And he was often alone on Christmas, his girls always finding a gentleman or another way to celebrate without him. And he had expected you spend Christmas away, with your family in San Francisco; but you surprised when you asked him what he would like to do with you for Christmas, it had made him so happy that you thought about him, even surrounded by his girls, he had always been a lonely man.

- Bruno would spoil you during this day, actually he would dedicate his time entirely to you and that starting from the morning. He wasn’t great at cooking breakfast but at least he tried, and that only made you happy. And you were even more when he announced you that he would spend the whole day with you to prepare Christmas.

- He would rather enjoy shopping with you, his woman, walking hands in hands from shop to shop, his arms getting fuller of bags each time. Once again, he would spoil you, trying to fulfil you every desires, though Bruno wasn’t a rich man either; so, when you showed him an item that was too expensive, you would see it instantly, the way, he avoided your gaze, an embarrassed look on his face, he wished he could buy you anything you desired. “Hey darling, you know what? I don’t need it, it’s all good, don’t worry.” You would reassure him, tenderly kissing him on the lips. He swore to himself he would make you feel like the luckiest women in the world when you would open your gifts.

- You would buy many items to put in the Christmas tree and a few garlands but the most important purchase had been this new thing, electric light garlands, you had not doubts it would look perfect on the tree, and what better than to have the latest modern house items? And about that, Bruno completely agreed.

- Bruno would get you a new dress and makeup as well; it was one of his favorite things, to watch you put on your makeup, making yourself even more beautiful than you already were and that view was only for him. And you would buy him a new pocket watch, not one he bought on the black market for nothing, one with a beautiful design and your initials engraved inside the watch cover, so there would always be a bit of you with him.

- On Christmas Eve, you would stay home together, you would cook dinner and he would try to help. However, Bruno doesn’t have much patience so his help would be rather limited, and you would soon tell him to sit down and just keep you company. You would cook a roasted chicken, cookies and a fruit cake. However, on Christmas day, for lunch he would bring you to a restaurant, fancier than the usual restaurant he goes to; you would get smoked salmon and cocktails with champagne. And he had to admit, it was nice to have celebrations from time to time, and Christmas spirit was perhaps starting to grow on him.

- For the night, Bruno was more inclined to just stay home, but you wanted to show him something more, and you managed to convince him to go to a jazz club, at least to listen to the Christmas songs recreated with jazz stylings. After a while, you saw your boyfriend relaxed, so you put your hand on his, gently stroking it and by the look in your eyes, he would understand and accept to dance with you, a slow dance, embracing each other.

- The next morning; the air was rather chill, the both of you waking up slowly, caressed by the warm rays of the sun, snuggling a bit more in his embrace as you felt the air cooler than usual, it had snowed. You would happily open your gifts as you shared a coffee, wrapped in your warm bathrobe, a soft smile was on Bruno’s face, this peace, warmth; Christmas wasn’t so bad after all.

Willie Gutirrez

- Willie absolutely loved Christmas and didn’t hide it. It was a great occasion to spend time with you and your family and everyone knew Wille was a family man. He wasn’t the most churchgoing man, but this day would have a religious meaning for him as well. And actually, he would make sure the apartment you shared would be decorated for the 1st of December and he would get an advent calendar with chocolates, he loves it and you would have never thought that about Willie but it was really cute.

- That meant that you would spend Christmas holidays at your parents’ home. It was nice to travel a bit and change of air. And your parents just loved Willie, this hard-working young man who satisfied your every desires and who was kind and funny, to them he was perfect; and to you too of course, after all you were madly in love.

- Obviously, you would shop together, for everything: decorations, gifts for you and your family, food and chocolates. You would tease each other, trying to guess the gift hidden in the bag of the other, and you would have to wait Christmas morning to know which was even more exciting.

- The apartment would be perfectly decorated, as if a home stylist had done it, silver and gold, the Christmas tree big and fluffy and perfectly decorated, the nativity scene underneath it. You were very proud of your decorations.

- Before joining your parents’ house, you and Willie would make cookies. But it would be hard to focus for you, Willie was really sexy, wearing an apron, a comfy sweater and a Christmas hat just to tease you because he knew the effect it had on you. Obviously, you would end up having sex on the counter between Christmas cookies. Once you would have joined your parents Willie would insist on helping out your mother, which would make her fall for him even more, and he would drink a glass of whisky with your father the same time while talking politics; yes, he had completely seduced them, to your greatest pleasure.

- Willie would also surprise you all by taking out an expensive bottle of champagne one of his acquaintances would have gifted him. Other than that, you would eat a rather classic Christmas feast, braised pork, vegetables and a few canapés.

- After dinner, you would all settle in the sofas in the living room, you snuggled against Willie, drinking hot spiced apple cider as your parents told your boyfriend memories of your childhood, some rather embarrassing actually but it made him laugh and he loved knowing those things about you. Your parents would be the first to head to bed; you and Willie would stay a bit more, exchanging slow and tender kisses until it was time to sleep and let the magic of Christmas happen.

- The next morning, you would be awakened by more kisses from Willie, feather-like kisses on your face, his fingers gently pushing away the strands of hair on your face. “Don’t you want to find out what Santa got you?” he’d tease you. And you would truly hesitate between considering him your Santa gift and getting up, and he knew it. And after a little you would both finally get up, happily opening your gifts. Willie would be smiling all the time, he had family who loved him now.

Max California

- Max celebrates Christmas but not in the typical way to do it. For him it is an overrated celebration, with a lot of fuss with all these decorations and Christmas movies on TV all day along and the whole picking up Christmas tree imperative. Also, Max doesn’t blend in very well with Christmas atmosphere with his look that he keeps all year along. People tend to look at him in a strange way when Christmas comes, seeing a guy all dressed in black with piercings and tattoos.

- It would be really fun when you boyfriend would realize that you are used to celebrate Christmas and that you rather enjoy the atmosphere. You would spare him Christmas songs and put on your headphones though you wouldn’t sometimes, just to embarrass him.

- You would celebrate Christmas just the two of you, you preferred to take baby steps with him, family gatherings on those type of celebrations made him uneasy because people were no fun, he couldn’t make his usual sex jokes or talk about the funniest things that happened back at the sex shop.

- You would manage to convince him to get a Christmas tree, and he got one in a pot so that you could plant it somewhere later. And you would accept that he chooses the decorations for it and thankfully you had no guests because this was hilarious and outrageous. Bulbs that looks like boobs, leather collars and other kinky stuff he had gotten at the shop; at least it was unique and very much Max California.

- As gifts, you would buy him more clothes that would perfectly match his style and you would get him a new sound system for his guitar, you didn’t want him to renounce to his passion and his dream of being a successful musician one day. As for Max well…. he would get you a few sexy things and also makeup that would perfectly match your face and look, you always loved when he did that, he was better than you at picking up those products, he really had great taste.

- For Christmas eve dinner you would order delivery but something out of the ordinary, something a bit fancy, your kitchen wasn’t the best to cook anyway, small and poorly equipped. And actually, you and Max would go for one of the most expensive Japanese restaurants of LA, and damn that was worth it, exotic and unique for this special night.

- You would move the little table to the window and open it, giving you a little view on the city. Since you two had moved from his rather questionable flat, you lived in a much better and beautiful neighborhood. After dinner you would head outside for a walk hand in hand by the beach, sharing a cigarette under the cool air and watching a few decorated store fronts; Max always finding ways to make a dirty joke.

- The next morning, you would wake up in your favorite way, Max tracing kisses along your thighs, that rascal never forgot his priorities, you thought, giggling sleepily and well, Christmas could wait a little more. Obviously, after this little morning fun, you would go open your gifts under the tree while Facetiming with your parents “Oh my God Max!” you burst out laughing, you couldn’t show this gift to your parents “But baby it was a limited Christmas edition!” he’d reply, making everyone laugh even more.

Theodore Twombly

- Knowing how romantic and old-fashioned Theodore is, he absolutely loved Christmas. It had been a rough period for when he was single and without anyone to celebrate Christmas with but Amy. Celebrating with a friend is much different than with your lover and family. So, he was more than excited to celebrate it with you.

- With Theodore you would get up before sunrise and take the car to drive to his chalet in the mountains. That already put you in the full Christmas atmosphere, it was sunny and full of snow, so much that for a while you thought you wouldn’t be able to access the chalet.

- You would spend Christmas eve and the next day together, just the two of you, in his chalet, lost in the mountains, it would become your little heaven frozen in time where only what you felt for each other mattered.

- Theodore would have shopped for your gifts the whole year, but he would have wrapped them a few days before Christmas, to keep the magic of the celebration. He would have gotten you all sorts of gifts, from an artisanal wooden carved object, to the latest video game you wanted. And you would have gotten a game too but what people call now old-fashioned one, a board game. Those were rather expensive today because people much preferred immersive virtual games now, but you were sure he would love it.

- Theodore would have already all the decorations you could possibly need, ready in boxes in the basement, you were honestly surprised by the choice in colors he had. You would both decorate the whole chalet, inside and outside with classic garlands and electrical garlands to, it was so much more beautiful than the holographic ones. This year, you would go for blue and white and also add candy canes in the tree because it was just too good not to put them. Speaking of the Christmas tree you would go get it in a pine tree nursery nearby. And the great thing was that you could chose it and cut it yourself, though you left that task to Theodore, despite several tries you couldn’t manage to hit the same spot each time; it was physical but you both really had fun.

- You would cook Christmas eve dinner together, already dressed in your warm and comfy pajamas; the fire lit in the chimney. You would make tons of different cookies with hot chocolate and marshmallows. Theodore was vegetarian and you too so you would cook a wonderful vegetarian dinner, something simple and delicious that wasn’t too complicated to make so that you could spend the day enjoying other things as well.

- You would have dinner with candle lights while listening to oldies Christmas songs, it would be super romantic and you couldn’t stop smiling all the time and Theodore felt the same, it was a perfect Christmas. Then, you would go on the balcony, wrapped in a warm blanket, Theodore hugging you from behind as you looked at the stars, the sky was clear and it was a stunning view. Actually, you don’t know how much time you stayed there, despite the cold, you both couldn’t stop looking. Though after a while it would be really cold and you would run inside to snuggle in front of the TV and watch Christmas movies, you barely payed attention to it, too busy exchanging tender kisses until you felt it was time to go to sleep.

- The following morning, after opening your gifts, the both of you were overjoyed with what you had gotten. And soon, your parents would join you and Theodore for a few days and they would also take you cross-country skiing, to the great joy of Theodore….he wasn’t a sport guy at all but he would follow you anywhere in the world.

Merrill Hess

- Christmas for Merill meant family time, he already spent a significant amount of time with his nephews and brother but less since you had moved together in a house farther down the neighborhood. And also, he was often away since he had integrated one of the best baseball team of the country. So, Christmas was a great way to be reunited all together.

- You would spend the whole day in family, playing the snow with your nephews, obviously Merill would start a snowball fight, and he was the best at it, great aim and great strength especially when you received it right in the face. And you, on your side struggled to reach your target, and you couldn’t even run after him to get closer, he ran damn fast! At least your nephews laughed a lot at this. Afterwards, you would make a snowman competition, you and Abigail against Merill and Morgan, and Graham, would decide of the winners and it was your team who won, and the price was extra cookies.

- Merill and Graham would go shopping while you watched after the children, who didn’t know at all that Santa was shopping. And in the meantime, with your nephews you would get the many boxes of decoration out of the basement and decorate the whole house so that that they would have the surprise when they come back. Though you would leave the nativity scene to Graham and his children, it was very important for them.

- In the meantime, the two brothers would not only buy the gifts but also food for the dinner, a menu that everyone had composed together. You had already your gift for Merill, a sled and a few DVDs of his favorite movies, as for him he would get you a tartan rug and the finest chocolates he could find, he knew how much you loved chocolate so he didn’t look at the price.

- For the Christmas tree you would all go together to pick it up, the children wanted the biggest one and Merill was always part of the children when it came to the Christmas tree. You and Graham would be more rational and manage to calm them down a bit and get them to chose one that would fit in the living room and 6’7 wasn’t bad at all.

- After playing a while outside and being frozen now, you would get to cooking, a great way to warm up again. Of course, the children were learning to cook so they participated in the elaboration of the dinner, it was a joyful moment where everyone had their importance and helped. Stuffed turkey, carrots, potatoes and an apple pie for dessert and everything in big portions because of the two growing up and the sportsman that was Merill.

- The night would be full of laughter and joy, after dinner you would settle by the fire and you tell Christmas tales with Graham while the three others were sitting crossed legged and listening to you, the little ones snuggled against their uncle. And then, all together you would watch Disney Christmas cartoons, there was nothing better to relax and dream of the wonderful gifts you would get tomorrow. After putting your nephews to bed, you and Merill would sleep back in his old room, reminding you of good memories, when you had started dating and your first time making love with him, it was very nice to spend Christmas here and you wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

- The next morning, you would be awakened by your nephews, running in the corridor and shouting that Santa had come and that many gifts were waiting to be unwrapped. You chuckled, thinking of Graham who had waited for them to be asleep to put the gifts underneath the tree. You wouldn’t take breakfast first, they were too impatient, and they didn’t seem very hungry, preferring to test their gifts together, including Merill with his sled, he could finally compete with his nephews as the big child he could be. But before you would convince them to eat their giant breakfast so they could play for hours in the snow.

Freddie Quell

- It’s not that Freddie didn’t like Christmas, but he never celebrated it in a normal way, from his terrible childhood to Christmas in the army which was mostly a lot of drinking and sex. So, in a way, this would be his first real Christmas, with you and his family-in-law.

- He would let you completely guide him through Christmas eve and day. He was a bit grumpy at first because he was frustrated; he wanted to fit in and understand how to do things right. He wanted you to be happy with your man.

- So, it would be best if you spent Christmas eve, just the two of you; Take baby steps with Freddie and tomorrow spend Christmas with your family where he would have to bear the shitty jokes of your uncle. You would take him outside to walk hands in hands a look at the store fronts especially decorated for Christmas, just to show him the colors and decorations, the joy of the adults and children looking at it, in short introduce him to the Christmas atmosphere. You wouldn’t stay for too long because you knew he couldn’t stand still and had a limited patience but still, you were pleasantly surprised by how calm he was, a boyish smile forming on his lips sometimes, it was great step forward and you were eager to spend this day with him.

- He would be the first to suggest going inside the shops and buy a few decorations for your house. Though, once inside he would be a bit overwhelmed by the crowd but also the crazy choice there was. He wouldn’t let go of your hand as you took him through the various alleys, he would be rather undecided about the color to pick, so you went for blue and gold, and he help you to pick up the shape and designs of the garlands and bulbs. And he was happy to carry out all the bags.

- “Do you need to go to another shop for a gift?” you asked him once outside of that shop “No, I actually have it already.” He replied looking away, he had his gifts for you for a while because he had taken great care to choose something that would fit, he had gotten you a dress and expensive perfume. You would look at him excitedly, the way he took care of you was always very attractive to you “Well, Mister Quell if you could wait for me in the car, I have one more thing to buy…” your murmured giving him a sensual kiss on the lips, he would chuckle already knowing how it would end once at home but also happy that you were about to buy his gift, a nice kit to make cocktails and expensive alcohol that he would savor with you, reasonably.

- You would stay home, you thought he would want to go to the restaurant but actually he preferred to be alone with you and have no distractions. You would decorate the house together, while he actually sang the Christmas songs everyone sang on the vessel, it was joyful songs and it was nice hear Freddie sing, it was an aspect of him you encouraged to come out. And while he finished decorating you cooked the fabulous dinner you would share, and which remained classic. Though soon you would feel his arms wrap around your waist and his lips tracing kisses along you neck; he couldn’t help it, whatever you did, you were sexy.

- Freddie was an unpredictable man and full of surprises. When you thought you would spend the evening in his arms at home, he would actually take you to the rooftop of a building and you didn’t understand why until a firework started and he had brought you where you would have the best view on it. Your eyes were shining all along and you snuggled in Freddie’s arms as you watch the show with him. And you would conclude the night by making love there, at the risk of getting a cold, but you didn’t care. In the end, it was Freddie who guided you through an amazing Christmas.

Ray Elwood

- Ray wouldn’t get a long permission for Christmas holidays, but at least he got a few days because you two were engaged. He was excited to spend Christmas outside of the base and with you, he had missed you so much, so much time away from you, only able to write to you or call you without being able to see you or hold you in his arms; he had missed you terribly and that was more important to him than celebrating Christmas.

- When you reached Germany, you had no idea of how your holidays with Ray would go, it was your first time in Europe and he had given you absolutely no indications of the program, if there was one. And that’s because he had a big surprise for you. You don’t know how much time it lasted when you embraced each other at the airport but to feel his warmth, his scent wrapped around you, his lips on yours, it was the best Christmas gift you could ever receive. After that, he would bring you to the base to introduce you to his friends and also to his boss, who had become a friend in a way, but a friend he also used to do his little business. After, he hadn’t been sent here for nothing but what could you do? You couldn’t stop loving him, and as far as you knew, he didn’t kill anyone, so that was good.

- And he would be really proud to show his beautiful fiancée to everyone, showing that you were real and a real knockout who was engaged to him. And his buddies were really nice and fun, they made you feel comfortable in this place full of men. However, once you two were alone again, he took out of his jacket two plane tickets for Paris “Spoiler alert, that’s your Christmas gift, a couple of days together in Paris.” He revealed to you, he had more than enough money for it and he wanted to spoil you, and he knew Paris was one of your dreams. You would be speechless, what a wonderful surprise “I prefer to tell you that my gift won’t be so crazy.” You chuckled, your eyes wet with emotion “Don’t worry baby, you are my gift.” He would reassure you, filling your face with kisses.

- And once in Paris, you realized Ray had really gone crazy, a superb hotel room, already decorated and even with Christmas tree in it, and gifts from the hotel like chocolates and perfumes. Though, you didn’t visit the city first, as soon as the door of the bedroom was closed and that the effect of surprise had passed, you literally jumped on Ray, the both ending making love passionately, again and again until you were satisfied, actually it didn’t change much from previous Christmas, there was always a lot of sex involved, for your greatest pleasure.

- And to make up for lost time, Ray would have the great idea to book a table on a barge on the Seine, it would enable the both of you to see the most beautiful monuments of the city, beautifully lit during the night and while you ate a typical French Christmas dinner and of course with great wine and champagne.

- After dinner, you would get off the boat and go watch the beautiful and famous store fronts of the Gallerie Lafayette incredibly decorated for Christmas, Paris was just amazingly decorated and the Christmas atmosphere was very present, it was perfect. Then, you would manage to convince Ray to go Ice skating with you, and after a few kisses and puppy eyes, he wouldn’t be able to resist and would just agree. The truth is that he was really bad at it and fell all the time on his behind, you were pretty much the same, but that’s where the fun was, trying to skate decently without falling. And the both of you would end up laughing a lot, clinging onto each other and ending up falling on each other.

- The day had been exhausting but worth it, it was the best Christmas holidays you ever had, and it was only starting, you still had a few days more with your fiancée. And despite exhaustion you would make love again, the Christmas atmosphere in the bedroom making it even more magical. And Ray had to admit that it really gave him the Christmas spirit and with you he was really enjoying this celebration. And even more so when he woke up the next morning and found underneath the Christmas tree a gift for him, he picked it up and went back in the bed to open it next to you. It wasn’t something big and flashy but it had more value to his eyes, you had made a photo album of you and him, all the pictures you took together since you were together and at the end of it you had included sexy pictures of you that you had made just for him; he would have a big smile, he was loving Christmas.

Also you my dear readers, tell me with which of these characters you would prefer to celebrate Christmas with!!

Tag list: @hopelessdisasterr @skaravile @lyoongx @weirdflecksbutok @beautifulyoungprospect @stellargirlie @rosebloodstuffandthangss @clowndaddyfleck @jaylovesbats @niniitah-ah @dreamingmaria @sagyunaro @just-a-fucking-comedy @spaceinvader @radio-hoo-ha @lady-carnivals-stuff @sierraclegane @legojorny @lemondedeniname @hvproductions @syvellsworld @charlie-sisters @papercut-paranoia @jokerflecker @cigznvalentines @help-i-am-obssessed @arthurfleckjoker2019 @theartistdetective @soulsdontbreaktheybeeend @fleckcmscott @obssessedandthirsty @ridiculousnerd @stardancerluv @sgtsavoytruffle @welcometomyhiddlesfandom @sanguinandoscrivo @valentina15 @phoenixbaby88 @captain-el-writes @thedamchii @ninathefandomcollector @kiddastle @lovesickforjoaqvin @joaquins-angel @alexsportello @ohcarlesmycarles @rajacero @bring-your-holy-water @rajacero @morrisonmercuryphoenix @fly-like-a-phoenix @the-joaq-is-extra

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opbackgrounds · 4 years

Note

Hi there Sarc' ;) I am sorry if the question has already been asked but I thought it could be interesting to have your opinion about this. While I love most of the female characters in OP and think that most of them are well developed and can be truly good role models for girls I still feel that Oda sometimes has a sexist view on female characters (the jokes about the naked bath scenes for example or Kororo being considered ugly make me really uncomfortable). What do you think about it?

Ah, I wondered when I would get this question.

When people talk about sexism in One Piece they typically are referring to two different things: How women are drawn, and how they’re treated within the narrative. While there’s some overlap here, there’s enough distinction that I want to address them as two separate points in two separate posts, because I guess I had Opinions, and by god there should be a limit to how much text one tumblr post can be expected to hold. Consider this an introduction.

Buckle up, kiddos. This is gonna be a long one.

Nami Face Syndrome Isn’t the Problem...

An important thing to remember with Oda’s art and storytelling style is that almost everything is hyper exaggerated for effect. You don’t go into One Piece looking for realism. You don’t go into One Piece expecting the characters to act like normal people. Everything--from the art to the humor to the battles--is stretched and pulled to its absolute limit in hopes of garnering a particular reaction. When a character is sad they cry big bubbly tears with dribbles of snot coming from their nose. When they laugh their mouths take up half their face.

And when a girl is hot, her tiddies are two great big watermelons stuck to the center of her chest.

What is often dubbed “Nami Face Syndrome” within the fandom is somewhat misleading. After all, why was Wanda, who is a literal dog that walks on two legs, decried as yet another Nami clone at her introduction? I would postulate it’s less to do with her face and more to do with the fact that from the neck down they are virtually identical, something that’s made more obvious because Wanda is literally wearing Nami’s clothes

What makes this frustrating for a lot of people, myself included, is that it’s not that Oda is incapable of drawing more diverse body types, but that he often chooses not to. Take for example the Kuja tribe

or the Charlotte family daughters (thanks to Arthur at Library of Ohara for the resource). It’s pretty clear Oda has the chops to make his women as weird as the men, and he often does! For important characters, even. And yes, as the Kokoro example given above sometimes the gonkness is brought attention to, but for others like Lola and Chiffon it’s...not.

(more on mermaids later)

But Sarcasticles, one might protest, even Oda’s “ugly” characters have ginormous boobs! Where is my itty bitty titty committee representation >:(

To which I can only shrug. For Oda, boobs on a woman are like abs on men. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense, they’re gonna have ‘em

Seriously, Oda. What the fuck.

...So What Is?

I have a theory that’s impossible to prove, and that the problem isn’t so much Oda’s character design so much as the ratio of his male to female characters in general. It’s not that every female character is a Nami clone, but Oda has a template he uses for attractive female characters ages 16-25, the same way he uses Robin as a template for attractive women ages 26-35, which is how you get cases of mistaken identity like Viola for Robin or scenes during Reverie where one could be forgiven for thinking Nami’s supposed to be an identical triplet

Oda does this for his men, too. It’s not as obvious because 1) Even men with similar facial features can have a wider variety body types due to Oda having a sliding scale of buffness he’s willing to attach to a pretty face and 2) There are more men.

There are a lot more men.

In groups where the male to female ratio is more or less equal (Baroque Works, Big Mom’s kids) you get a wide variety of designs. But there’s only one female Supernova. There’s one female Warlord. CP9 only has one female agent. Only one of the Revolutionary Commanders is a woman. There are very few female background characters in crowd shots, especially among marines. Big Mom might be the only female Emperor, but she’s not young, In fact, when drawing her at age 28, Oda defaults to a much more generic “pretty girl” face before giving her much more striking, memorable features in her 40s

If you look at Oda’s male characters, the ones that are supposed to be hot are often given the same square jawline and the thin-bladed nose that at one point in time was reserved for Robin. Both Coby and Sabo had very distinctive noses before their glowups, while Ace must have had a laser treatment done on his eyebrows sometime between Alabasta and Marineford.

But the biggest difference on the men has got to be muscle mass. The overgrown noodles of early One Piece are lost to the annals of time. Shanks alone must have gained 30 pounds of pure muscle from the time Luffy got his first bounty to his appearance at Marineford.

Now, I will acknowledge that there is a difference between the increasing sexualization of female characters and the male power fantasy of giving Zoro bara tiddies post-timeskip. While I do think there are certain male characters specifically designed to be the Hot Dude, what I’m trying to emphasize here is that Oda works with templates for both men and women, and both of those templates have been exaggerated over time. Bigger boobs for women, more muscles for men. And when you’re only slotting for one girl in any given group, and that one girl has to be The Hot One then you’re going to have a lot of ladies that end up looking the same.

My love for Otohime on this blog is well known, and I want to use her as an example of what Oda can do when he works beyond this template, because it’s really freaking good

Otohime is neither conventionally attractive nor gonk. She’s dressed in very conservative, traditional clothing and has a narrow waist and small chest.

There are no sharp edges on Otohime. Not her eyebrows, not her jaw, and most of the time not even her hands, emphasizing her gentle nature. You don’t see it as well in this panel, but Otohime’s head is often drawn wider than her shoulders, emphasizing her frailty. Oda gives her a longer neck to compensate, and the overall effect is a very soft, willowy figure.

Her headpiece looks like a sunburst. The audience never sees her fins, so Oda gives her a scale patterned kimono-dress-thingy (my knowledge of Japanese clothing is, uh, not good) as a visual reminder that she’s not human. The sash that circles around her head harkens back to Japanese mythology as a symbol of divinity, similar to a halo in Western culture. And fun fact: Otohime is named after a god, just like Neptune, while her goals and ideals are pure enough to be heaven-sent.

I’m not an artist, but this is a really damn good character design. A lot of Oda’s older female characters are. Dandan, Tsuru, O-Tsuru, Shakky, Kureha, Big Mom, and Nyon are all instantly recognizable and have strong designs, even if a few of them fall into the hourglass figure that Oda often defaults to. It’s just...there aren’t that many of them.

So the question becomes why aren’t there more women, and I think the answer is because, ultimately, One Piece is a series geared at boys. While I wish there were a few more important ladies, I can understand why there aren’t.

Note, that doesn’t mean I think it’s right or that Oda is obligated to include more women. It’s just one of the facts of the shonen manga industry at this point in time.

A more important question, I think, is why does every younger woman have to be attractive? And why do the attractive ladies have to wear outfits that are blatant fanservice? This is something I don’t have an answer for. Oda has said on more than one occasion that he writes One Piece with his twelve year old self in mind. It could be that it’s a calculated move to appeal to his audience, in which case it’s certainly worked because said Hot Ladies are constantly used in marketing and merchandising. It’s the Hot Ladies that top the popularity charts (although, to be fair, who’s there for competition?). In the most recent chapter a new Hot Lady was introduced, and the fandom went batshit crazy for her.

Even the fans who are very vocal about how Oda sucks at drawing women. It’s interesting how that works out sometimes.

Or maybe I’m giving Oda too much credit, and he’s just horny. Not having direct access to Oda’s mind, I don’t have an answer. If I had to guess I’d say it’s a little of Column A, a little of Column B, because that’s usually how life is.

But in a vacuum big tiddies are just a design choice. An exaggerated aesthetic, in a series full of exaggerated aesthetics. It’s when that design choice is paired with in-story comments, actions, and decisions where things really start to get heated. But that’s a whole other ball of wax, and there should be a limit to how much one tumblr post can be expected to hold. I promise I’ll get to the meat of your question next time.

Thank you so much for your patience. I really do think it’s important to start here before diving into everything else, if only because it helps keep my thoughts organized. I hope you’ve found this helpful, and if not, I hope to do better next time.

#long post #dear lord what a long post #Character Design #one piece #I don't know why tumblr fucked up with the formatting of my answer #but I apologize in advance #sexism #sarc talks

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t-lostinworlds · 4 years

Text

Extra (Tom Holland)

A/N: What is this? I have finished something? Me?? posting?? A FIC? WHAT? Is the world actually ending!?!? I think I’m funny but I’m not, clearly. Glad to be out of my writing rot tho aha. Hope you guys like this one!

Pairing: Tom Holland x Singer!Reader

Summary: You get a sweet but very extra surprise on your birthday nearing the end of your show.

Warnings: Fluff and my usual typos

Word Count: 5.5k+

Masterlist in Bio

-:-:-:-:-

The sound of your phone just going off uncontrollably was what woke you up, and you were completely sure that it wasn't your alarm.

You squint your eyes at the bright glare of the screen, a huge contrast to your still dim hotel room. You literally had just woken up hence why the curtains aren't open yet, it's still a bit too early after all.

Flicking the ringer on silent, birthday greetings and messages from friends and families were still flooding through, your phone now vibrating instead of your loud ringtone, giving your ears a break.

As you read through and responded to all of them, you couldn't help but feel a little down after you realized you haven't seen his name yet.

Of course you feel grateful for all the sweet messages everyone has sent you, your heart is melting from all the love. But there's that slight disheartened feeling that you can't seem to shake, slight worry that your boyfriend might have forgotten about your birthday.

You haven't heard from Tom since yesterday morning, which now makes it almost a full day. After he texted you that he was going to be doing a lot of stunts and is probably going to be super busy, he then just disappeared, not even slipping in a text good night. You did let it pass though, because he might have been quite knackered after the shoot.

Message to Tom: Good morning bub <3 Just checking up on you since you haven't read or replied to any of my messages at all. Hope you're okay and haven't injured yourself Thomas. I really miss you a lot and I love you loads x

Your frown could only deepen as you hit send, still no response nor any sign that he's got your messages whatsoever.

Normally, it wouldn't really be a big deal but the last you've seen him in person was three months ago. He was busy shooting the third installment of Spider-Man all while doing a few projects on the side. And you, well, you're touring around the world.

You could be patient and blame it on the time difference why he hasn't greeted yet, but he's just behind a couple hours. Tom has made it a habit of always greeting you at midnight no matter what and where, he's just cliché like that, and it was definitely passed midnight in New York.

God, you sound so much like a whiny and ungrateful brat, but you can't help it, you just miss him so much.

Maybe you've gotten so used to always spending your birthdays with him so the first time that you're celebrating it from different parts of the globe, it does makes you sad.

You did try to make ends meet, but a week before today, he's brought you the news that he can't fly out due to conflicting schedules with some of the actors he's working with, and that it's critical that he's there on the day. To be the leading role of a gigantic movie, asking a few days off is never that simple.

On the other hand, you have a show today and tomorrow, so flying to him isn't exactly ideal either. You understand of course, you are sort of in the same line of work, but still, it doesn't make you feel any less gloomy.

With one big stretch, you placed your phone back on your side table as you slowly got out of bed, opting to go and take a shower to then head down and meet the crew for breakfast.

Maybe you'll hear from him later in the day.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon and still not a single word from Tom.

You were growing worried because it was so unlike him to be very cut off and silent.

Did he lose his phone?

You tried to contact Harry—who's with Tom currently—but he too wasn't responding. Everything was just off and odd altogether, the tiny pit in your stomach only growing bigger the more you worry and think about where your man is.

"Have you heard from Tom?" You asked with furrowed brows the moment Molly, your manager approached you on stage. Your hand found its way to fish your phone out of your pocket to check it for the umpteenth time, but still, no sign of him.

You were finishing up your final soundcheck before you were off to a mini get-together—snacks and drinks included—with some of your fans. It was your alternative to a meet and greet because you'd rather hang out and have real conversations with them than the whole quick snap and go.

She shook her head at you all confused, a slight glimmer in her eyes that you didn't quite catch. "Uh no, why?"

You sighed. Tom doesn't really contact your manager unless its important matters, so you don't even know why you're asking, maybe you've just grown desperate to hear even the smallest thing from him, just anything. "Never mind. Is it time?"

"Yeah, they're all waiting for you."

You simply nodded as you followed her off stage, handing the guitar over to your guy on the way.

Walking through the hallway, you kept your head down, eyes glued to your phone as you respond to more messages from people, but also checking if Tom has come back from ghost town.

You were aimlessly following Molly to wherever room or space they set up the get-together in, just watching her shoes and never looking up from your device. That, until you heard a few shuffling of rushed feet and a door being slammed shut.

"What was that? And what's in here?" You asked, eyes now trained on a door of what looks like another dressing room. Molly continued walking, so you kept following but with your gaze still glued to the door, curios as to what's going on inside because you definitely can hear a bit of ruckus.

"Oh just the staff, that's one of their rooms." She answered casually, not even bothering to give you or the room a glance.

"Is it weird if I just go inside and say thank you? Would that be too... intrusive?" You pondered, halting in your tracks as you contemplated on knocking. You just wanted to extend your gratitude for all their hard work, but you aren't sure if they were comfortable with you suddenly just strolling in.

"It's not weird at all hun, but you've got a schedule." She smiled at you sweetly, nodding her head towards the direction of the get-together.

"Oh right, yeah, let's go."

You gave the door one last look before turning on your heel to follow Molly once again, up until you reached another space covered in curtains. And the moment your bodyguard pulled it open, wide smiles on faces greeted you as they all sang in tune.

"Happy birthday to you!"

You laughed as you shyly shook your head at them. Warmth coated your whole body in an instant as love and pure adoration radiated off of the space, off of your fans.

You did as much as wave your fingers in the air as they sang, serving as a conductor because for the number of years you've been on this earth, you still have no idea what to do when people sing the birthday song to you.

* * *

"I can't thank you guys enough for being here with me tonight. You guys have been so incredible, you always are." You breathed out as your voice echoed throughout the whole arena. You looked at the thousands of people who came tonight to see you perform with a proud grin, their energy never wavering as they sing your songs back to you from each melody to lyric.

Adrenaline was pumping through your veins as you tried to catch your breath, taking the water bottle off of the floor and lifting it up to your lips to have a quick drink.

"Now, give me everything you've got for this last song alright?" You spoke into the mic once you've rehydrated.

"Wait, wait. Don't you guys agree that Y/N is killing it tonight?" Your pianist, Sara, interrupts, the crowd cheering in agreement at her input. "And judging by today's occasion, I think we all owe her a little song." She added, earning a hearty laugh from you as you brought the mic back to your lips.

"You guys don't have to—"

"Happy birthday to you!"

The song was played no matter your protest, Sara leading the crowd as she plays the tune on her keys, the rest of the band following suit.

Your laugh bounced off the walls as you stood there in complete awe. It was a beautiful sight to see, the crowd all singing in unison, lights up in the air as they pour all their heart to the simple yet special song. The song still filling you up with joy and warmth despite having heard it countless of times for the whole day, and the fact that all these people were there for you? It was definitely the icing on the cake.

"Thank you so much you lovely people, y'all are making me emotional. And they say the best way to spend your birthdays is with the people you love and the ones who love you, and they were absolutely right. I'm so blessed to have you guys tonight, because I do love you all very much." You stated fondly the moment they finished with a loud cheer, a hand placed right atop your heart as you feel it grow ten times its size.

"Y/N, we've got another something for you." Sara spoke before you could even get another word out, hand gesturing towards the large screen right behind you.

"Oh god, is this mission make Y/N ugly cry today?" You laughed, turning around just in time too see the tour artwork turning pitch black to then be replaced by a huge countdown.

5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

The crowd roared in delight as Mr. Niall Horan joined with Lewis Capaldi appeared on screen, large pints of Guinness on hand with their arms around each other as they give you their birthday greeting.

"Happy birthday Y/N! But since we're halfway across the world, we'll be there with you in spirit. Also, Lewis and I decided to celebrate anyway so cheers to you and have an amazing day." Niall chuckled as he lifted his beer up. "I'll make sure to have a good drink for you Y/N! We miss ya and we love ya!" Lewis added with a cheeky grin, and you couldn't help but shake your head at the two with a big smile of your own.

You've worked with them both on a few songs, and both were the funniest yet sweetest gentlemen you've met in the industry, especially when you put the two together.

Both of them emptied their glasses as they bid their goodbyes, Niall's loud laugh echoing throughout the arena when Lewis spilled before they disappeared on screen.

The crowd went even louder once Shawn Mendes' pretty face appeared on it next, sporting his usual bright smile as he gave you his short but sweet greeting. "Happy birthday Y/N! Wishing you all the best in life since you deserve all of it! Can't wait to work with you again soon! Have fun on your birthday honey!"

You shook your head in disbelief. An amused smile was plastered on your face, still unable to fathom that a few years ago you were a huge fan of him. And now you can say you've worked with him, even call him a friend. Funny, how the universe works.

Alessia Cara came up next with a smile, wide and bright, you're heart melting to see one of your greatest and closest friends. She's just a pure and kindhearted soul, a rare beauty. "Hey there you lovely and amazing woman! Happy birthday! I miss hanging out with you a lot but I shall see you soon! Keep conquering the world Y/N! I am so proud of how far you've come and you deserve every bit of success that comes your way. Again happy birthday! Have an amazing one and I love you!" She blew you a sweet kiss and waved you goodbye, tears already brimming in your eyes at all the love and appreciation thrown your way.

Next were Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, who you've grown close with through no other person than Tom. Both were clearly on set sitting on directors' chair in their characters' outfits. Both looked a little tired but they still greeted you with wide smiles nonetheless.

"Happy birthday Y/N!" They screamed in unison. "We wished we could be there with you to celebrate your birthday but you already know how these things go." Z pouted, Jacob copying her as well and you couldn't help but giggle. "But soon when we get a break we will catch up and celebrate your birthday." Jacob added with a knowing grin. "Anyway! Duty calls so enjoy your birthday and have great one! We love you!"

Then friends and family came up on screen, ones who you've missed most having been away from them for so long and that's when you felt your heart ache a little. Happy tears were brimming in your eyes as each of them shared their lovely messages, saying how proud they are for how far you've come. And when those words come from the people who you truly care about, it means the absolute world.

The next person to share their video message didn't help with the tears either, a hushed sob escaping your lips the moment you saw his familiar face.

The crowd behind you screamed at the top of their lungs the moment Thomas Stanley Holland appeared on screen, handsome face sporting that sweet and charming smile as he sat in his trailer wearing his Spider-Man suit.

"Hello darling. My love, I'm so gutted that I'm not there so celebrate your birthday with you. If I could teleport myself by your side right now, I would in a heartbeat, but anyway, happy birthday sweetheart!" Tom exclaimed joyfully, grin all beaming and you couldn't help but miss him even more.

"Oh, where do I start? Well, I can start by saying how proud I am of you, so so proud of the gorgeous, powerful, strong and successful woman that you've grown to become. You've worked so hard to get where you are today and it fills me with so much happiness knowing that you're out there traveling the world and doing what you love the most." The crowd cooed at Tom's sweet words, your heart was already melting at the seams as more tears threaten to spill, and he wasn't even done yet.

"You deserve the whole world if not more with how kindhearted and compassionate you are. And gosh you make me feel so happy and loved. I feel so lucky to have someone like you in my life, I can't even begin to describe to you exactly how much, and if I tried? Then we'd be here for hours on end. And lastly—because I'm being called to set right now, if I wasn't I'd be talking about how amazing you are some more—I am truly, madly and deeply in love with you Y/N. You are my world and I hope I make you feel loved every single day, because you truly deserved to be."

"Tom they're waiting for you."

"Yeah, just one more minute." Tom calls out to someone off shot before his eyes landed back on the camera, staring straight at you through the screen with a guilty smile. Guilty because it pains him that he's not there with you. "I love you dearly, and I miss you so much. I'll make it up to you I promise. Once again, happy birthday to my beautiful girl and I shall see you soo—"

All of a sudden the screen went static, Tom's words being cut off as you heard nothing but white noise. Then everything just went black, the whole arena dark as the night as gasps of surprise and screams of panic echoed throughout its walls.

Tell everyone to stay calm Y/N, we're fixing things up.

Your sound guy spoke in your in-ear. You nodded despite the fact that they probably can't see you due to the darkness. Turning back around to the audience, you spoke into the mic. "I'm sorry guys, just technical difficulties. Just stay in your seats in be calm, the lights should be back on in a minute."

And as if on cue, the crowd screamed as the power turned back on. However, after a few seconds, they turned unusually rowdy, too rowdy for it to be only that reason. Slowly you got the feeling it wasn't only because of that, judging by the volume and power of their cheer, and by a few fans pointing at the stage as if they're seeing something you aren't.

For a split second, you met eyes with Molly who was right by the side of the stage. She had that all-knowing grin on her face as she pointed towards something behind you.

Confused, you turned around, jumping in sheer shock when you were met by a hanging, upside-down person dressed in a red and black Lycra suit, face all covered with a mask making the identity of the person pretty much unknown.

Your heart beat quickened as you stumbled back on your feet at the sight of the person, your brain registering it back to a specific boy—one who you saw on screen minutes ago wearing the exact same outfit—even if there was no confirmation as their face wasn't even shown. Your whole body was trembling from surprise, excitement but also worry that it might not be who you think it is under that mask.

Emotions were all over the place as you stared right at upside-down, masked-face of Spider-Man who held a birthday cupcake in hand.

"No, no, stop, please, is this a prank?" You croaked out, shaking your head as tears started to escape your eyes, question a must because you're having a really hard time believing what you're seeing.

It's been a long day, you just really wanted to make sure that what's happening is real and not just a figment of your imagination. You had to make sure that it wasn't the desperation of you missing your boyfriend painting pictures in your head. Not only that, but to really be sure that it's actually him under that mask.

"Guys! Don't even play! Please don't get my hopes up. That's a stunt double right?" You asked into the mic as you looked at your band and the rest of the crew for answers, who gave you nothing but wide smiles. You just feel like it would be too good to be true, and you really don't want to face disappointment if it wasn't him.

On the other hand, out of all the things they could have done to prank you, why would they choose this? It's a bit cruel to prank someone on their birthday now doesn't it? Especially when it involves playing with their emotions?

Unless, it's not a prank at all and you're getting way too ahead of yourself.

Mr. Spider-Man beckons you over, finger pointing at your hand to which you held the mic. With tears already clouding your vision, you moved closer slowly.

Reaching a close enough proximity, you had one hand over your mouth to silence your whimpers as the other lifted the microphone up to where Spider-Man's mouth is supposed to be. And the moment he spoke, you've lost any sense of control over your emotions or your sanity, his voice just too familiar for it to be someone else's.

"Why don't you take off the mask and find out yourself darling?"

You shook your head at the upside down boy as joyful tears streamed down your face, shaking hands lifting up to hook your fingers on the edge of the mask, pulling it down and removing it fully to reveal the face of the man you love.

"You sneaky bastard." You laughed tearfully, Tom only grinning at you all proud, his face now turning redder as the seconds pass by, being upside-down and all.

"Happy birthday sweetheart." He chuckled, offering you the cupcake, which you took gladly, balancing it with the mic on your hand. You were unable to form any more words as you stared at Tom, still unable to believe that it's actually him, and that he's here, in the flesh.

The crowd started to chant the word "kiss" over and over, making you throw your head back in pure laughter.

"We should do the kiss." Tom wriggled his eyes brows at you, mischievous smirk in play and you couldn't stop your eyes from rolling at your boy. But still, you gave in anyway as you cupped his face softly, your heart skipping a beat at the feeling of his warm skin against your palm.

You brushed the tip of your nose with his with a hum, moving closer until there was no space between you two as you captured his lips in yours, all while trying to manage the whole upside-down situation.

Tom sighed in pure satisfaction to finally feel your lips on his after months of being deprived from it, your touch making him feel like he's floating, which says a lot given the fact that he was already hanging mid-air all while being upside-down.

The kiss didn't last long though, too many prying for you two to cherish the moment. The crowd, on the other hand, cheered in amusement at the extremely cliché but sweet gesture, you and Tom giggling between the kiss at the loud support.

"Okay, I'm actually getting dizzy now." Tom laughed once you pulled away, hand gesturing for you to move just a little bit farther, and when you did, he flipped himself right-side-up with ease. A few guys then rushed on stage to help him with the wires, and once they were off, Tom turned to you with a sweet smile, face coated with wholesome contentment to finally see you in person again.

"You're actually here." You whimpered, fresh tears wetting your cheeks some more once he stood right in front of you.

"Aww darling, come here." Tom cooed with a soft chuckle, arms wrapping around your frame as he held you close to his chest, pressing a sweet kiss on top of your head. You couldn't contain your sobs as you buried your face on the crook of his neck, the smell of his perfume filling you up quickly and it only made your grip around him tighten.

You just miss him so damn much, and to actually have him here on your birthday, to be holding him so close after months, it was making every fiber of your being emotional.

"I haven't missed your birthday, not a single one, ever. Why would I start now?" He whispered against your hair, swaying you from side to side in a comforting manner, a soft sigh coming out of you as you felt your heart grow with even more love for this man.

"I still haven't decided if I hate you or love you for doing this." You giggled with tiny sniffles, pulling away to get a proper look at his handsome face, the face that you'll always be glad to see. Hate because he almost gave you a heart attack and for making you worry about him for being gone for a day, and love because, well, he's here now isn't he?

Tom only shot you a wink. "I'll tell you all about it later." He says, hand reaching down to take the microphone from you.

"Hey everyone, I'm Spider-Man." The crowd roared at that, Tom laughing in pure glee, all proud of his choice of words as he slings his arm over your shoulder and pulled you to his side. "I just want to thank you guys for supporting this amazing woman right here. I've been watching the show from the very start and you guys have been incredible."

Tom turned to look at you lovingly, smile coated with delight and adoration, voice layered with nothing but certainty. "I love this woman a lot, so thank you for making her dreams come true and for making her happy."

With just that, you were able to conjure even more tears as you looked at Tom all adoringly with a small pout. The boy stared at you with just as much love, cooing at your reaction as he gave you a soft kiss on the forehead.

How have you managed to get so lucky?

"Right, I'm done crashing your show so take it away my love." Tom finished as he handed the microphone back to you. Giving you one last warm squeeze and a peck on the lips to match, Tom was then waving goodbye to the audience and disappearing side-stage to watch the rest of the show.

Taking in deep long breaths, you turned to the audience with a laugh. "Okay, wow. Mission Ugly Cry is a success then. I haven't see him in months okay I couldn't help the tears."

"I wasn't expecting that at all as you can probably tell by my reaction. How am I supposed to top that now?" You rubbed your temple in feign worry, the audience cheering you in mere support.

You were still sniffling from all the crying along with your throat being little dry. And you were thankful for waterproof mascara otherwise you would've looked even more horrifying.

"God I'm such a mess, can I have some tissues please?" You asked, looking around the crew for help as you attempted to wipe off the tears with your fingers.

Instead of the staff, Tom ran back out with a box of tissues and a bottle of water in hand, making you shake your head in utter hilarity at how corny he is. You couldn't hold back your laughter when he handed you the box of tissues, pulled a couple pieces and held his fingers under your chin as he wiped your tears for you, all gingerly as if he was retouching your make up. After that, he opened up the water bottle to help you drink, then fixed your hair up jokingly and squeezed your nose playfully right after.

Once he was done with, he gave you a chaste kiss on the cheek, waving one last time at the crowd before returning back to side-stage.

"My new assistant everyone." You joked, keeping your eyes on your boyfriend with a grin you can't seem to wipe off. Tom mirrored your expression as he gave you two thumbs up in support for the last song, and with that you turned back to the crowd with a deep, satisfied sigh.

"Right, let's go out on a high note."

* * *

"Absolutely killed it." Tom praised, engulfing you in a warm embrace the moment you got off stage, a soft thank you coming out of you as you squeezed him back.

On your way back to your dressing room, You kept each other close, his arm slung over your shoulder with yours around his waist as you walked through the hallway.

"I'm not leaving your side by the way. I missed you too damn much and I'm not going to waste any second by being a little far from you." Tom shot you his best puppy dog eyes combined with a cute pout, a sweet giggle escaping your lips that made Tom's heart melt ten times over. "Well, I'm not complaining."

It wasn't that long of a walk from the stage to your dressing room but you had time to kill, so you turned to look at your man with a curios glint in your eyes.

"Tell me how you've managed to pull off this extremely over-the-top surprise? I mean, you could've just showed up in my dressing room and I would've cried just as much." You pointed out. Not that you didn't like what he did, you loved what just happened, every second of it, but you cannot deny that what he did was as extra and cliché as one can be.

Tom shrugged with a chuckle, "I know. But I wanted it to be special, you deserve nothing but. And you've got to admit, dangling upside-down in the middle of the stage during your show, all while dressed as Spider-Man is pretty impressive. Plus, we did the kiss. I'd say it's an amazing birthday surprise."

"It is amazing. I just happen to forget how extra you are sometimes." You teased. "I am, but you love me for it." Tom retorted back with a smirk, causing you to roll your eyes with soft laugh.

"Yeah, I do. Thank you so much bub, you always make my birthdays memorable." You sighed, wrapping both your arms around him with a smile full of gratitude. Tom planted another kiss on your forehead, a bright smile on his lips to match yours as he hummed. "Anything for my angel."

"Now, details Holland."

"Right, managed to pull some strings a a week ago and was able to ask few days off, so the whole conflicting schedule wasn't entirely a lie but it wasn't as serious as I made it out to be. Flew out last night right after the shoot. I couldn't handle just lying to you which is why I didn't respond to any of your messages in case I slip up. I'm sorry about that love."

"And then out of nowhere I thought how awesome it would be to pop up as Spider-Man in the middle of your show and do the famous kiss, so I asked Marvel a favor and thank goodness they let me borrow the suit. Called Molly to tell her about my plan, she helped quite a lot. Arrived here earlier this morning, did a test run with the wires and all that while you were still back at the hotel. Changed into the suit to then wait for the time. Oh! And if you actually looked up from your phone earlier down the hall on your way to your get-together, the whole surprise would've been ruined."

You gasped as you smacked his chest lightly. "That was you! I knew something was up." You felt really played, knowing you could've seen him if you did as much as peek up from your phone. But then again, it would've ruined the whole thing, and you really don't want to change anything that has happened today, so you're glad you didn't.

Tom could only laugh at your reaction, giving your pout a sweet peck before continuing. "The video messages were planned a long, long time ago but we made a few edits at the end of my bit to make it dramatic and here we are now."

And just as he said those last words, both of you now stood in front of the door of your dressing room. If there's one thing you always tend to be surprised about Tom, it's his impeccable timing.

"You are something else Thomas." You gushed, referring to today's escapade and just in general. You really are so lucky to have someone like him in your life, so thoughtful, caring, kind and just all around amazing.

You don't really know what came over you but the moment he opened the door to your dressing room and are your way inside, just knowing that you two were finally alone, you grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him down, crashing your lips on his as you pushed him back against the door, closing it shut in the process.

Tom chuckled lowly at the sudden change in mood, hands taking home on your waist as he relished the taste of your lips, one he's missed so bad.

The thick fabric of his suit was starting to irritate him for he just wants to feel your skin on his fingertips, especially after so long of not having to touch you. It got on Tom's nerves even more when he felt it grow even tighter than it already is.

And when you started to nibble on his bottom lip as your hands inched down his body slowly, Tom groaned, pushing you away gently, just for a little room to breathe. "Darling, it's very uncomfortable, borderline painful when I get hard in this suit, you know that." He grumbled, brown eyes a shade darker as his grip on your waist tightened.

You giggled, recalling all the times you've teased him whenever you came to visit him on set. "Hmm, let's get you out of it and go back to the hotel then."

Tom's bottom lip got caught between his teeth at your suggestion, your insides churning as he looked at you lustfully, a deep rumble erupting from his chest when he said,

"We definitely should. After all, this isn't the only surprise I have in store for you sweetheart."

-:-:-:-:-

Like & Reblog if you enjoyed and let me know what you think! <3

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cottoncandyreaper · 3 years

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((Undertale story I started working on featuring my classic girl Winny!))

I wasn't really trying to be popular at school, I did that on purpose to keep a low profile yet even after 6 years of human public school it did eventually fail me only because if I hadn't used my magic someone would have got seriously hurt at school. The teacher for some reason trusted them on a ladder to hang decorations from the ceiling to go with the nice autumn weather but the shoes worn had no traction and of course I wasn't going to let them hit the floor even as the ladder crashed down. Everyone had gone dead silent with many not knowing about the magic part of me with the purple wisps enveloping the individual...but now as my kindness was my weakness I agreed to be a tour guide of sorts into the underground for the group of friends the girl belonged too so they wouldn't air out what had happened to the entire school. They wouldn't leave me alone for the rest of the week after seeing what I could do, it seemed like my only option even though I could hear Daddy in the back of my head warning me about how unstable the underground had become after monsters left. But we walked here so frequently to see Mom, I was pretty positive I could do it alone with a group of other twelve year olds.

"Its pretty creepy down here Winny, you said it was beautiful."

"I said it use to be beautiful, monsters have been on the surface for six years now and no one is really keeping up with maintenance down here anymore. There isn't really a need."

"Wow okay, sorry I asked then."

I just rolled my eyes and bit my tongue; that girl was Macie and she believed herself to be queen bee of the whole middle school. Yet her soul held no kindness unless you kissed her butt and worshipped her. She was the youngest amongest us having just turned twelve a few days ago and on her birthday in school...I would have rathered had a picnic in Hotland then be around her in that ugly fluffy dress she wore. Yet people loved it and were jealous. I was glad that I didn't have to deal with her much.

"Its kinda cool Macie, the capital I mean. It's huge! And the buildings are still so spectacular!"

Kloey, Macie's best friend since elementary and the exact opposite in her sweet nature and trying to always get along with everyone. I liked her, we had good conversations and she was the one that I saved from the ladder so she was extra sweet to me and even invited me to her parents house for dinner. Daddy really liked her too, she stopped and talked with him when he picked me up from school even before the accident. If I could be her best friend instead of Macie that would probably be the best outcome for all of us in the end.

"Kloey you're so freaking weird. They're buildings, what's so amazing about them? The brick?"

"Of course! The fact that they're so well designed and sturdy still standing on their own. My dad is in construction, you know that. So this is really awesome to see."

"You're a building nerd."

Hearing Kloey giggle let me know she didn't take Macie seriously at all but holy crap I wanted to throw a snowball so bad at her when we arrived in snowdin!

"You think it's haunted down here?"

The last one to our group was Nicole, she was also nice but was a bit on the edgy side liking hauntings and ghost and all things spooky. We talked about Halloween alot recently, she wanted to be a vampire and I hadn't decided yet so she offered to help me figure it out whenever we had class together. All in all, two nice people and one sour apple...I was managing.

"We have to go through the lab to get to hotland, it's been cleared out mostly but nothing in there works if it's been left behind."

"There's a lab?"

Slowing down so I could walk between Kloey and Macie as Nicole asked on the other side of Macie.

"Yep! My Dad use to work there. It was used to try and figure out how to break the barrier before Frisk came and helped us."

"Thats pretty cool."

"It is, Alphys built all kinds of things. She's the little yellow dinosaur who built Mettaton."

"That crazy robot thingy that's been showing up on tv?"

I couldn't stop the glare towards Macie but managed to have nicer words.

"Mettaton is amazing and super sweet, they come over for dinner so they can hang out with my Uncle Papy. They aren't a thingy Macie."

"Oh my god you're getting your feelings hurt alot today aren't you? Maybe being back in the underground is to traumatic for you."

I stopped constructing whatever bit of kindness I had close together to not go completely off as I turned and stared her in the eyes. The glow of my magic reflected off her skin as it flared to life in my normal hazel eyes.

"I spent the best six years of my life down here with my Daddy, Uncle and extended family. So hearing you speak so unkindly about one of them will set me off...and I suggest you don't do that anymore. If you want to leave go ahead, have fun walking the capital alone back to the surface."

With that out and some weight off my chest I went right back to walking having found the elevator impressed that it still came when I called for it as I stepped past the threshold looking at the others.

"So? Who's coming with me?"

Nicole stepped foreward immediately joining my side but I could see the fight going on over Kloey's features. I knew she was just as excited but she was also to nice to even think about abandoning Macie regardless of her yucky attitude. Her decision was almost made when I saw the tiniest step towards the elevator just for Macie to cut her off and get in.

"I'm not going back up...you said you would show us the underground and we've barely been here so...sorry...Kloey come on!"

The smile that came on was so cute, she ran in as I pressed the button closing the doors and sending us down. Being without Daddy for the first time gave me so many possibilities to explore alot more of the lab at last! He wasn't the biggest fan of it and there were several occasions where he would teleport past it to the front doors so we could at least walk around hotland. Of course I was curious of the place thanks to how he reacted around it always wanting to know what else was being held here that may have been left behind all along.

#undertale #sans #underground #explore #no rules #girls #daddysgirl #mettaton #gaster #undertale story #purple magic

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cinnonym · 3 years

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christmas is the time to say i love you (share the joys)

Written for Day 9 - Ugly Sweater / Dressing Up of 12 Days of Supercorp @supercorpbb

Read on AO3

***

In retrospect, maybe Alex should have known better.

After all, there had been signs aplenty in the past couple of weeks. Supergirl taking longer for her tasks at work. Kara smiling at her phone during movie night, although she used to be the one who always insisted on the no-phones rule. Lena coming over to the loft unannounced one day, looking somewhat bummed when she found Alex there.

Just to name a few things that Alex had noticed. And who knew what else had been going on behind her back? Since her little sister had finally learned to keep a secret (and used that power for evil, evidently), there was no telling, really. Because, like, people didn't fall in love over night.

But Alex was getting ahead of herself. There was a certain order to events, and Alex should at least try to do this the right way. So she would have her story at the ready, if she were ever asked to recount it.

At her sister's wedding, for example. In case it came as unexpectedly as... But she was getting ahead of herself.

***

Of course, it had all went down during game night.

Because heaven forbid they could have one relaxed pre-Christmas evening without something big happening. (Alex supposed she should be glad there hadn't been a city-wide fire, again, or a hostile alien attack or something of the sort. Then again, at least she would have known how to deal with that.)

So, game night. They'd been a small round that evening, just Kara, Lena, and Sam, plus Ruby as a honorary guest, all huddling together at Alex's place for once. Because it felt empty ever since Maggie had moved out, and also because Alex was planning on drinking plenty and Kara'd been hesitant to let her stay over lately (Alex should have known).

It was a quiet night, peaceful somehow. There hadn't been any snow yet, but the clouds were thick and promising, and there lay a certain expectancy in the air, as if the whole world was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.

Well, something did happen. It wasn't snow though. It was the doorbell.

"You're late," Alex said into the entry phone, fully expecting a contrite giggle in reply. Kara was rarely on time, but she always, always apologised profoundly when she arrived at last. As for Lena... Well, Alex hadn't even expected her to show up at all, in fact. Leading a company like L-Corp probably didn't allow for much free time, and Alex barely considered Lena to be one to drop it all just for something as trivial as game night.

She was wrong. On all accounts.

"Why, hello there!" Kara sang (yes, sang) in reply, and there was a chuckle in the background that Alex would in the course of the evening learn to recognise as Lena's. "And a good evening to you too. Hope you didn't get started without us?"

"Us?" Alex asked. Oh, blissful last moments of oblivion.

Kara's laugh was entirely unfamiliar, loud and carefree in a way Alex hadn't heard in years. "Oh, Lena and me of course," she said, "sorry for coming so late, we got... held up along the way."

There was that chuckle again, before Lena's voice was heard in the background: "Is she gonna let us in or not, it's freezing!"

Alex pressed the buzzer wordlessly, turning around with a slight frown.

"Us?" Ruby asked, catching her eyes from where she was stretched out on the couch. "Was that Kara?"

"Yep," Alex made, "Kara... and Lena."

Sam raised her eyebrows. "Did they come together?"

"Apparently?" Alex sighed. Something was off, something was not adding up, like a calculation gone awry, but she couldn't yet put her finger on the point where she went wrong. She shrugged the thought off.

"Why don't you ask them yourself?"

Because then there they were, Kara in one of her light jackets that did a great job at masking her alien heritage (not), Lena in a lush coat, wrapped up from head to toe.

"Hi!" Kara beamed. And while her sister was a smiling person in general, Alex had seldomly seen her that radiant. Even Lena's typical "Alex" was way less reserved than usual. Oh yes, something was going on.

Sam noticed it too. She gave Alex a puzzled little side glance before she stood up to hug the newcomers, warm and long like only Sam could hug people. (And maybe something was going on there too, but Alex refused to think about it.)

"Kara," Sam smiled, "it's good to see you again. And Lena, I'm happy you could make it."

Lena ducked her head, because even she wasn't immune to the charm that was Samantha Arias. "Anything to spend time with my friends."

At which Kara snorted. Alex's frown deepened.

"Now that we're all here," she said, rather pointedly, "maybe we can get started on some games?"

"Please, before y'all start acting even weirder!" But even Ruby, her reproving (and very valid) exclamation be blessed, couldn't help glancing curiously at the blush that had appeared across Lena's cheeks.

***

"Neat sweater, by the way," remarked Sam halfway into Activity. It was a comment totally aimed at distracting Alex from the fact that Lena and Kara had just fleeced them in pantomime, and to Alex's shame it worked like a charm.

Because the thing was, she'd noticed the sweater too. It was a hideous thing, (clashing colours, frantic patterns, an honest-to-God bell sewn to the front) and there was just no way that an item like that could be found in Lena Luthor's walk-in closet. She must have either bought it especially for this occasion, or...

Or there was a reason why it was slightly too big for her. Why Lena snuggled into it from time to time, inhaling its scent with a smile that was uncommonly soft. Why Alex had the feeling she'd seen this exact sweater before, the ugly pattern burned into her memory.

And why Kara was wearing a sweater with a suspiciously equally ugly print.

Alex started choking just when Lena's smile turned from surprised to smug. She knew what Lena would say, realised it in the very second Lena spoke the words, like she were reading her mind.

"Thank you, but it's actually Kara's."

"Is it now?" Sam smiled in a way that made it very obvious she'd figured out as much already. Ruby was smirking too. Only Alex had apparently been too focused on fucking Activity to notice it earlier.

"Oh?" She made somewhat strenuously, the feeling that something was going on suddenly stronger than ever before. "How come?"

Lena gave her a patient smile, while Kara giggled. "Well, she came to pick me up in the nicest dress you can possibly imagine, although I'd specifically told her to wear something casual. And like, I said to her 'you can't wear that, we'll all get depressed' because you know, it was just that ho- pretty." Kara blushed. Alex was beginning to feel a little faint.

"O-kay?"

"Anyway, one thing led to another and long story short, I let her borrow a sweater," Kara finished hastily, then looked at Lena with what Alex called the un-frown (just like a normal frown, except it became exceedingly clear that Kara very much didn't mean it). "Borrow."

Lena blinked innocently. "Whatever you say, darling."

Darling?

"I'm never getting this sweater back, am I?" Kara huffed exaggeratedly, to which Lena only replied with a "nope", popping the p almost as hard as Kara usually did. Then she squeezed Kara's hand in reconciliation.

At which point Alex noticed they were holding hands.

***

It had all got sorted out quite quickly after that. Ruby wasn't surprised. Sam had always known, or at least strongly suspected it (which was mildly terrifying insofar that Alex was pretty sure she herself did a way worse job at hiding her feelings than Kara and Lena. On the other hand, maybe it also meant that the dinner invitation Sam had extended to her later that night was a dinner invitation indeed.)

Ultimately, it turned out that the only one who'd been completely in the dark about matters was Alex. She, who'd always prided herself in having a good nose for all things Kara-related. She, who'd always assumed she had a decent gaydar.

She, who couldn't even complain about it, because the light in Kara's eyes whenever Lena smiled at her was so bright, it banished the dark thoughts right from Alex's mind.

So, yeah, in retrospect there had been signs aplenty. Supergirl working out between her assignments sometimes now. Kara buying a necklace that was so not her style, even the jeweller asked her multiple times if she was certain she wanted that one. Lena sitting on Kara's couch one day when Alex came by unannounced, painting her nails with Kara's favourite polish.

Just to name a few things Alex recalled now afterwards. And she really should have known.

#supercorp #supercorp fanfiction #sc fanfic #sc #supergirl #christmas #christmas fic #mini fic #my writing #ugly sweater

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my-arlington-academia · 3 years

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Cliffany part 2

O-kay, and that’s it! I don’t know if I’ll write a continuation tbh since it was just a silly little idea that came out of nowhere. (Although I did have some ideas for more!) I haven’t really been active on my fanblog lately so it’s not like it’ll make much of a difference though haha. By the way, I’m thinking about making my blog more "Dulcet-oriented" rather than just SE. I hope you guys don’t mind? Recently, I’ve been getting more and more into Black Tarot! So expect my blog to change a lil 🔮🕯🌌

--------------------

It had been a couple of days now since Tiffany’s last interaction with Claire, and while she was still ignoring her like before, Tiffany’s efforts in doing so had increased. The moment she spotted her in the corner of her eye, she would move at a faster pace, as if running away. Was it guilt after all? No, she just didn’t have the energy to deal with Claire’s annoying and unnecessary empathy. The empathy that she knew she didn’t deserve which made her feel even more frustrated towards Claire.

All she should be worried about right now is getting more followers on Instaglam, not avoiding a nobody like the plague. On that note, spring was coming soon, the flowers started to blossom and the days were getting longer which meant... that the "cottagecore" tag on insta would go trending soon, no doubt! And of course, living on the Arlington campus as one of its students, this gave Tiffany the access to its beautiful garden. Although honestly, she only ever went there to take pictures and this time wasn’t any different. She had prepared some tea sets and dresses for the occasion, all of which she would throw away once spring went away along with its "trends."

Carried by her confident footsteps, she walked to the garden. That confidence was only a facade though. She knew exactly what kind of people and who in particular went to take strolls quite often in this goddamn garden. But hey, it was 7pm and the sun would soon start to set. Knowing that Claire always arrives 15 minutes in advance to any meeting and most likely always wakes up at 6am, there was nothing to be worried about. Chances are, she was either doing her homework before going to bed like a goody-two-shoes or watering her weird-ass plants. Tiffany always had the horror of seeing these at Raquel’s parties. It just didn’t fit at all with the rest of what was going on in the room and ruined the whole "party" vibe.

In any case, there she was, searching for a good spot to take pictures and set up a fake picnic. That basket filled with different colored blankets, tea sets, biscuits, tea and a pie was way heavier than Tiffany had initially thought. Maybe she really should’ve asked for collab pictures with Trisha from the fine arts department. She didn’t really like her but when it came to follower count they were surprisingly close, although Tiffany was still number one of course. Still, if she had asked for a collab they could’ve carried those heavy props together.

After finding a good spot next to the pond, Tiffany set everything up in an aesthetically pleasing manner and got down to taking the pictures. She was taking different shots to post them one by one throughout the week and give out the illusion that she was taking those the same day she posted them. She was ready to upload the first one, call it a day and go back to the dorms without touching any of the tea or cakes. It’s all just useless calories anyways. As she was putting the tags on the picture, she started wondering what were the names of those flowers in the background.

"Ugh, fuck. What are those orange shits called again?"

"Marigolds."

"Ah right, thank y-"

Tiffany immediately snapped her head back. This annoyingly gentle voice could only belong to one person.

"...What the fuck, Claire. Where did you pop out from?!"

There’s no was she was there the whole time, right? It’s true that Tiffany could get lost in what she was doing once she was focused but it wasn’t to the point where she became completely unaware of her surroundings.

"I came by a few minutes ago... Y-you looked so invested in what you were doing that I didn’t want to bother you! I didn’t mean to pry."

Well, Tiffany could always upload those damn pictures from her room. Claire’s arrival just meant that it was time for her to leave. However, seeing that Tiffany started packing up her things, Claire panicked thinking that it’s her fault. Which was in fact, her fault... in a way.

"O-oh! You’re not going to finish your picnic? I’m so sorry, I’ll just leave! Throwing all of this good food away would be such a waste-"

"Are you fucking dumb?"

Did she not get that this was all only a set-up for taking pictures? It was obvious that Tiffany didn’t have any intention of eating or drinking any of that. Not to mention that after everything that happened the other day, she was still not scared of approaching her?

"I don’t give a damn about the food, it was just for my social media accounts you dumb bit- ... dimwit. I was already done anyway so you don’t have anything to do with the fact that I’m leaving."

"I see! T-then maybe I can help?!"

Help? What did Claire even know about- Actually, on second thought. This whole "cottagecore" shtick was a great fit for Claire. She probably already had all of the things Tiffany bought last week for those pictures, even better and more authentic-looking ones probably. This was maybe the one and only time Tiffany would let Claire "help" her. But from her point of view, she was mostly just using her.

"Hm. Is that so? How can you help me then... Claire."

"Wait just a second! I’ll be back right away!!!"

She ran immediately towards the dorms. Well, she'll probably bring a bunch of random stuff. In the end, Tiffany was really torn between the idea of staying and waiting for who knows how long and the idea of leaving right now. Surely, Claire would make a hilarious expression when she’d realize that she was played with and abandoned. While trying to laugh it off, Tiffany accidentally remembered what happened a few days ago, along with Claire’s crying face. Damn... Okay, fine. She’ll wait for her but only because it would be annoying if she bawled again like a damn toddler.

And so she waited until, from the corner of her eyes, she saw a girl with a pink dress running towards her. That girl, of course, being Claire. She carried a picnic basket with her too, but much bigger and more practical. For half a second, Tiffany thought that Claire actually looked maybe, just maybe, a little bit pretty. She erased the thought in a hurry, covering it with harsh words as usual.

"Wh-why did you change your clothes? You think I’m gonna take pictures of you?"

"Ah, no, well..."

Claire looked at the beautiful picnic set-up and the cyan dress Tiffany was wearing.

"I just wanted to fit in with the rest of what you put up, I guess. Also, don’t you think that we kinda match? I brought some of the cookies I baked and my favorite teas and tea set. I think mine will look better with your picnic blanket! Uh- N-not to say that yours looks bad!!!"

She was trying so hard to make herself likable that it was painful to see... and kinda cute. God, Tiffany was really hating her thoughts today. She was just going soft because of Claire’s aura or something. Again, this was definitely the first and last time she was letting Claire help her with anything. I’d be bad if she turns completely brain-dead and clueless like her.

"...Whatever. Show me what you got. I’ll decide if it’s good enough."

Claire was pulling everything out of the basket one by one. Everytime, better and better items were pulled out after the other. Her cakes and cookies gave off a "homey" feeling which was more fitting with the aesthetic rather than Tiffany’s store bought patisseries. Claire was staring at her, wide-eyed and excited.

"W-what do you think, Tiffany? It looks good, doesn’t it?!"

"Uh. Yeah, it’s fine, I guess. I’ll take a few pics."

That was a lie. This looked so much better than the try-hard bullshit Tiffany had done. She was good at riding on the "trend wave" but Claire was a natural when it came to this one specific thing. Tiffany was trying to look as poker-faced as she could so as to not show her satisfaction, but clearly, her apparent enthusiasm for each shot was betraying her. Sometimes, she would accidentally take one with Claire in the shot and ask her to move.

"Hey. You’re ruining the picture with your ugly fac- dress. Move to the right."

Before Tiffany could even do anything about it, Claire was already pouring some tea into 2 cups.

"Woah woah woah, put the teapot down. I didn’t agree to this."

"But...This is a kettle, Tiffany. Not a teapot."

"Oh, shut it!"

Claire gave off such a dejected face that Tiffany, once again, felt like she was kicking a poor puppy to the ground. She held back on going off on a rant.

"But we’re already here and the weather is so nice! It would be such a shame not to use any of this at all..."

Claire looked around, observing this beautiful setting, not to mention, the sun was finally starting to set. Going home right now would be like an insult to the utter beauty of this scene, it almost looked like it came right out of a fairy tale picture book. Without mulling it over any further, Tiffany took a sip out of her cup.

"I’m only doing this because I feel compelled to, got it?"

Claire’s eyes lit up nonetheless.

"Alright! Please try out my cookies too!"

Tiffany contemplated them for a second... is it true that home-made stuff is more healthy? Surely, that’s just a myth, right? A cake from the store and a home-made cake will have about the same amount of sugar in them regardless of who made them and how. Well, she did see Claire share her food from time to time with her friends and while she would never admit it, it is true that she was a bit curious about trying them herself. What was the last time she had eaten anything "home-made"? Or did it ever even happen?

"...Okay, whatever. I bet they taste shitty."

Tiffany reluctantly took a bite... It was surprisingly really delicious!

"It’s bad."

"R-really?"

As much as she wanted to lie about it, she couldn’t after seeing Claire make that dejected face again.

"Uhhh. No, um. Hmm... On second thought, it’s pretty average. It’s okay-ish."

Tiffany really hated herself right now. Being mean has never been this hard before. She couldn’t wait for the moment where they would be done with this ridiculous play-pretend and go back to her room. She tried drinking and eating as fast as she could without making it look like she was in a hurry to run away from this awkward situation. And God, it was so fucking hard...

Unsurprisingly, they were both pretty silent the whole time. Well, it wasn’t like they had anything to converse about or things in common. Right as Tiffany was about to get up and pack up her belongings, for real this time, Claire spoke up. Nervously fiddling with the hem of her dress.

"Um. So you know, I have something to confess to you, Tiffany."

Oh God, not now. As much as Tiffany found this timing annoying, she couldn’t help but poke fun at that poor choice of words.

"Confess? Oh my, so you like me in that way, huh? That explains everything."

"Wha- N-no! That’s not it! I mean, realistically speaking, t-that would never even happen!"

Was she implying that she could never like someone like Tiffany? Well, Tiffany herself was the one who brought this up but she was a bit offended at that statement. Regardless though, the way she was trying to deny it so hard was kinda cute. No. Not cute at all! If this went on, Tiffany would really become crazy before the end of this day.

"Last time, you said that I was only being kind towards others to profit off of them and I didn’t say anything but... that wasn’t true at all! I always wanted to help you because I thought that you needed it, I swear. Not to satisfy myself! ... Well. Except maybe..."

"Except...?"

"T-today. I admit that I kind of had ulterior motives."

Now that piqued Tiffany’s curiousness right away. Suddenly, she didn’t want to leave as much anymore if it meant that Claire would finally admit that she did some things for her own benefit. Why was it? Did she want to post a picture of herself on Tiffany’s Instaglam to fish for compliments, knowing that she had a lot of followers? Claire hid her face behind her hands and muttered a few words.

"I... wanted you to warm up to me."

"...Huh?"

That’s it? That was it? Claire’s ulterior motive was for Tiffany to "warm up to her."?

"So like, you want us to be friends or some shit?"

"Oh no! Not necessarily that far, just... good acquaintances!"

Is she stupid? There’s no way that she genuinely thinks those "motives" are bad. Tiffany sighed in exasperation.

"Listen. I’m just really tired right now, I don’t have the energy to assimilate all the shit you’re saying. I’m packing all of this up and going back to the dorms."

In complete silence, they gathered all of their belongings and walked to the dorms while keeping a fair distance between the 2 of them. As if to say, "we’ve got nothing to do with each other." Surprisingly, Claire didn’t try anything anymore. Didn’t even wish for a "good night" or a "good evening" which was weird to say the least. Tiffany tried to ignore it and when she got back and unpacked all of the props, she noticed something that didn’t belong to her. One of Claire’s lunch boxes with cookies in them and... a note?

Here’s my number just in case ;3 Please give me my lunchbox back once you’re done eating the cookies!♡

"...Your note makes me wanna barf."

So that’s why she didn’t try anything. That sneaky little... she must've slid that into the basket when they were packing. She already knew that Tiffany would eventually be forced to talk to her again... as if! Who says she’ll return it? She can just throw all the cookies away along with the box... Or so she thought. Tempted, she took a bite, then another one. And another one. Her diet was ruined for sure now. Damn you Claire and your stupidly great cooking skills, as if you needed another skill to be better and more perfect than you already are. Tiffany put the box away, trying to forget the delicious taste and smell. Back to Instaglam she goes. Uploading the picture while adding the "marigold" tag on it. Going through the pictures again, she noticed that some of them had Claire in the corner. She was thinking of deleting them but... well whatever. She can just crop her out later if needed. Her dress looks pretty so it’s fine even if she does appear in the pictures. All we see is a bit of her hair, as long as her face isn’t visible, it’s okay. Yup. It was totally not because Tiffany was slowly starting to feel something towards the girl she was trying so hard not to get involved with.

#sweet elite #claire durand #tiffany #cliffany #crackship #fanfics

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incorrect-ikevamp-quotes · 4 years

Note

Hello yes, could you elaborate on the Comte wedding event pleease. Crying and fangirling and dying are all acceptable. I missed it and I adore your rambles about Comte? Thank you either way.

!!! I’d be delighted to!! And awww, I’m so glad :D I love to write about him in any capacity, it makes me so happy to know people enjoy it when I do! Tysm for the full license to cry/fangirl/die because lbr it ain’t a Comte event if all three of those things don’t happen .Please don’t worry, I don’t mind talking abt it anyway! 💕💕💕

Okay my fellow Comte stans, you know the drill! I’ll be placing the details of the Wedding Story Event (jpn version) below the cut! Please don’t read if you want to wait for the official translation, and I hope you enjoy if you do take a peak! c:

AIGHT Y’ALL in fair Verona where we lay our scene-- This event begins on a lovely summer day with Comte and MC at a boutique picking out a wedding dress for their upcoming ceremony. As usual, she provides a bit of background as to how we got here. Comte doesn’t have a proposal event (as far as I know) like the other suitors because he actually proposes marriage in his MS. I won’t go too far into details just in case, but they essentially swear their love to each other in a church at night--just the two of them. (I’m not 100% sure, but I think this event takes place on the anniversary of the vow that they shared, what Comte called becoming “a vampire’s bride.” Yes it’s as hot as it sounds AND I LOVED IT). Now, despite their private promise to each other, Comte does specify that he fully intends to have a public wedding whenever she feels comfortable doing that. As such, this event is picking up from there.

With all the nitty gritty settled, it’s time to get to the fun bits. So Comte is weaving in and out of the dresses, trying to find the perfect one for his beloved. MC is equal parts exasperated but amused, and she notes that it reminds her so much of when she first debuted in high society (reference to the beginning of Comte’s MS). Back then, when she agreed to debut, he told her that he would immediately send word to his tailor to make the necessary preparations. It’s a kind of nostalgic moment; she remembers how thorough and excited he was (”I’ll be sure to show off your every charm”), and he’s effusing that energy in the boutique too. Eventually he settles on two of them and requests that they both be prepared, and MC sputters. She’s like Comte???? W H Y we only need one dress???? And he insists that, since it’s a special occasion, there’s no harm in it is there? He also goes on to say that it is in line with her culture’s tradition of “dyeing the bride in the husband’s colors.” MC shoots back that the tradition doesn’t entail several wedding dresses for the bride, but he pays the correction no mind. Y’all. I loved this part because it just emphasizes how much of a LIL SHIT he can be. Like he’s 100% harmless but I was like BOI IF U DON’T--I WILL KISS UR CUTE FACE. YOU STOP THAT.

I find it interesting especially because it remains in line with a trend about Comte that is so arresting for me, something that I find so endearing about him. I’ll note other places in the event I find it, but in this moment he is revealing something critical: for all of his capacity to play with the language and expectations that other people have/use, he only ever uses it for good. Here he’s purely being playful (with a stark note of respect and awareness); he has no intention of overwhelming her or undermining her cultural expectations of what a wedding means. Especially because MC, even in her monologue, isn’t truly upset--she honestly seems to find it adorable and funny more than anything. It’s also clear that Comte is working within her comfort zones. While he would buy the entire damn boutique if she let him, he settles on two because he knows it would stress her out otherwise (MC tends to be p pragmatic, not really about extravagance she is a mood).

And so they make their selection and exit the boutique, and they’re walking arm in arm back to the carriage. Comte laments narrowing it down to only two, but he’s happy they found something nice. MC thanks him for bringing her along, but he says it’s only natural--he wanted to pick out the dress the world would see together, he would never be happy with it otherwise. MC melts (WHO WOULDN’T) and says she’s really looking forward to wearing them, and he’s shook AF.

(OKAY BUT I NEED TO SCREAM ABOUT THIS. DOES HE UNDERSTAND HOW TOUCHED I AM. DOES HE KNOW. His route hammers home this idea that for Comte, being with someone absolutely means being on the same page. It means being there for each other yes--but it also means making sure the other person feels wanted and included. He could have so easily just picked his favorite and been like “yeah this is what we’re going with.” But not only does he not do that, he refuses the very idea of a ceremony without it. He wants this to mean something for both of them, and he’s more than willing to put in the time and effort to ascertain that. I’M FUCKING TENDER OKAY. HE CARES SO MUCH AND I SOB)

He asks her if there’s anything else that she really, really wants for their wedding, and she thinks it through. It’ll be a reasonably sized wedding, with the men of the mansion in attendance and most of their closer high society friends. They’ve picked out a dress, the venue is set, the people closest to her will be there...she really can’t think of anything else? So she asks him if he has anything he really wants to do for the wedding, and he replies in the negative too, saying that “My only ideal wedding can be one in which I can see you at your most happy." ARE YOU KIDDING ME--Before MC can recover from that, he goes on: "Even now, I'm enjoying the preparations, and I want to do whatever I can for you." MC feels like she can never win against his sweet affection, so she nearly kills him with her answering line: "It’s more than enough. More than anything, being able to swear our love together again--to renew our vow--is the best part of it all." Comte is visibly shocked and is quiet for moment (MAN DOWN!!!!!!!!! VAMPIRE DOWN GET THE DEFIBRILATORS!!!!! LEONARDO PUT THAT LIGHTNING ROD AWAY I SWEAR TO GOD--) before he just replies with a “Is that so :>>>” And translating this nearly killed me [At the sight of his gentle smile, I smile back.] IM GOING TO SCREAM THEY ARE JUST SO TENDER IM SOFTE????????????

As they’re walking, Comte asks MC to tell him about weddings in her time. What were they like? He wants a reference point. She goes on to describe how ceremonies really range from formal to more informal affairs, and gets to a little custom that’s apparently held in Japan. When a groom intends to marry a bride, he will go to the bride’s family to ask for their approval. Comte visibly seems concerned about it, and I’m pretty sure he feels bad denying her that experience; not only did he propose to her without knowing any of that, her family isn’t within range to be able to honor it properly now. Even so, he keeps listening and comments now and again with a great deal of interest, paying close attention. He asks, what happens if the groom is rejected by the family? MC goes on to say that it’s a kind of test of perseverance: the groom is expected to ask/prove himself until he gets an answer in the affirmative. Internally, she notes that such a thing rarely ever happens irl--it’s mostly dramatized in movies and TV shows. She used to dream of how thrilling it might be to have someone do that for her, but it was mostly just a silly little fancy, nothing she was obsessed over. Comte, being a literal fucking legend, senses this emotional shift in milliseconds, and starts musing about something. When she tries to ask what’s up, he’s like not to worry leave everything to me.

PLEASE CUE THE CIRCUS MUSIC. BECAUSE THIS IS ABSOLUTELY GOING TO TURN INTO A CLOWN FEST.

So it cuts to them back home and Comte is asking Sebastian to give MC’s hand in marriage. Sebastian is utterly bEWILDERED and is like “I mean I understand I’m probably the closest relative she has right now but also WHAT!? YOU’RE MY BOSS/LORD I’M YOUR BUTLER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD”. Comte 100% is undaunted by this very normal reaction and insists that class/status has no place in matters like this, and Sebastian and MC are desperately trying to stop him from bowing his head/kneeling. MC notes she never expected him to take it to heart, tells him "Comte, you really don't have to go that far, it's a custom not a duty--" (IT’S SO FUCKING FUNNY????? YOU CAN FEEL THEIR MOUNTING CONCERN AND I CAN’T BELIEVE COMTE WAS STRAIGHT UP JUST “i am not above begging” AND THEY’RE LIKE YOU SHOULD BE YOU SHOULD BE ABOVE BEGGING)

The circus only escalates when Leo comes in LAUGHING HIS ASS OFF "damn...bahahahhahahaaaaa now THIS oughtta be good/interesting." MC (and I simultaneously) start yelling at him and he replies "What? Comte's already ready and willing, why stop him?" For whatever reason, this gives Comte an idea (NEVER A GOOD SIGN) and he’s like you know what? That’s actually perfect, get everybody in here I’m gonna ask them for permission too :D

Several things I want to say about this. 1. COMTE LITERALLY DOES NOT EVEN REACT TO LEO’S MOCKING HE JUST “omg ur face was useful for smth for once this gives me an idea” 2. META TIME. First and foremost, I seriously can’t deal. This man knows MC has nothing because of her traveling through time, no friends or family--he’s always so, so aware of what she’s sacrificing to be with him. It is never outside of his thinking. Not only does this decision solidify her presence as a member of their family (I’m just so UGLY SOBBING about the fact that he does not consider them all ANYTHING LESS--THEY ARE HIS CHIRREN AND HE LOVES THEM AND I’M SOFT) this is also such a brilliant, strategic move on his part. Not only is he doing this to fulfill her younger wishes of having someone be so confident in their love for her that they would insist on it in front of her family/loved ones--his doing this also solidifies her presence as his wife within the mansion from here on. There can be no mistake; this is an unquestionable statement as to how her identity has shifted in meaning, a powerful allusion to his possessive streak. (and WE LOVE THAT FOR US HELL YEAH)

Furthermore, I continue to be fascinated by the way he keeps subverting traditional or expected forms of supplication. While many could see this as a yielding of his pride (and in some ways he undeniably is) this choice to acknowledge her culture’s customs yields much more valuable dividends for him. 1. MC--notorious for never betraying the things she wants, having trouble asking for anything--is have her dreams fulfilled even if they were just silly little fantasies from when she was young. He’s actively making her happy, and he gets to openly gush about how much he loves her (FOR HIM THIS IS THE DEFINITION OF A WIN-WIN YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND--) 2. This is a way for him to make amends and do proper respect to the marriage customs of her place/time, and that’s infinitely important to him. He’s trying to set a precedent; that even if he ever does make a mistake or neglect something (even if accidental) he will do his utmost to make it right, pride and money be DAMNED.

While it can be argued that he’s just being silly and over-the-top, when you look closely this is 100% a clever, very mindful approach to their future. While it may partially have been executed on an emotional/excited whim, he is also claiming MC as his own in the most clear and respectful way possible. And tbh that’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen

So, after Leo walks in on them everyone else starts filing in one at a time (OKAY YOU CAN’T CONVINCE ME THAT THEY WEREN’T ALL HUDDLED UP TO THE DOOR SQUIRMING TO HEAR WHAT WAS GOING ON AND AT SOME POINT LEO SAID “omfg i gotta see this dumbass bitch on his knees” AND BLEW THEIR COVER/MADE THEM EVEN MORE CURIOUS):

Jeanne: "It's so noisy in here."

Mozart: "What's going on?"

Comte: "Ah, excellent timing. I want to get permission from everyone."

Vincent: "?????? Did you do something wrong Comte?? What could you possibly need forgiveness for?"

Isaac: "A mistake made/wrongdoing by Comte?...Why am I dreading what it could be..."

Dazai: “Ah yes, yes I see, you are asking for a young lady's hand in marriage” (IM WHEEZING BC EVERYONE ELSE IS SO LOST AND HE'S JUST 100% ON THE BALL KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING ON THE NARRATIVE DISSONANCE IM CRYING)

Theo: Young lady??? The hell are you going on about

So things are getting increasingly chaotic and MC is just [jfc this is getting out of hand, Comte they don’t even know what you’re asking them to do]. She tries to explain but falters, and Comte puts an arm around her--signals that he’ll give them the context. So he tells them "You all know that our wedding day is approaching. As such, I'm asking you all for your approval in taking MC as my bride. No matter what happens, I promise to make her happy forever--for every moment, every second of our time together. Please, forgive my taking her" (WHEN I TELL YOU MY HEAD WAS IN MY HANDS IDK HOW MC DIDN’T DIE ON THE SPOT S I R. SIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) MC: [...Comte...My heart melts at his confession, at his earnest plea. It feels like every single iota of our feelings are infused in every word he speaks, teeming with the love shared between us in overwhelming measure.]

For a little while silence falls until Napoleon speaks up, and honestly? It was so sweet ;-; I tear up every single time: “Forgiven. You know how much I dislike formalities anyway. And besides, who could say no to le Comte?” MC notes that everyone murmurs in agreement and a kind of warmth settles in the room. Arthur notes that MC will be a Comtesse very soon and MC just. I’m going to be a WHAT now (”C-c-comtesse??”). And it’s so FUCKING FUNNY YOU CAN FEEL THE RED EYE EDIT MEME ON COMTE WHEN HE GOES “Oh? Is there anything wrong with that? Everybody said yes, after all :>” MC internally accuses them of ganging up on her, but reveals that more than anything she’s a little overwhelmed by the outpouring of love in the best way:

MC: [Overwhelmed with feeling; touched, a little shy, embarrassed, but also full of joy--my eyes burn at the edges with tears] “I'm glad everyone approves c:”

Comte: Agreed :> your country/homeland has a nice custom. A v important step to inviting my loved one into my life as my wife :>>>>

So it then cuts to them in Comte’s room after the circus and MC thanks him for the sweet confession in front of everyone, tells him how happy it made her. He insists that it was only natural he would, and that it isn’t even enough.

Comte: “I am the one...your life, your time as a human being; I'll be taking all of it from you.”

MC: [...Comte? He took my hand with a very serious expression]

Comte: "As I said before, I will make you a vampire someday."

MC: “Don't call it that--a price. I want to live with you too!”

MC notes that while she hasn’t made the leap yet, she knows she’ll be ready for it soon enough.

Comte: “Thank you. But the last thing I want is to take things from you, I want to do everything I can to make you happy, to make you smile. Whether that means weddings, requests--anything in my power.”

COMTE REALLY SAID "she is entrusting me with her future and that means I have the responsibility of not only ascertaining her happiness, but proving my unwavering devotion to it" AND IM HOLLERING????? LADIES GET YOU A FUCKING MANS. MC finally begins to understand this, and she’s like OMFG is that why you went off so hard this afternoon???? And Comte’s like :>>>> guilty as charged, though I think I'm also just still excited about the wedding too, haha! They hug it out (YESSSSSSS LET ME H O L D) and MC asks him again if there’s anything he wants for the wedding too. Aight y’all I would be irresponsible if I didn’t warn you beforehand, get fucking tissues. I’m still upset abt his answer and I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL. He thinks about it for a bit, before kissing her forehead and saying “I suppose, can you pray for my happiness too? That's enough."

AIGHT IMMA GO BACK TO THE EVENT IN A SECOND BUT I GOTTA SAY. BITCH. BITCH ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME????? COMTE THAT ISN’T OPTIONAL THAT’S A GOD DAMN PREREQUISITE?????????????????? OFC WE WISH FOR YOUR HAPPINESS WHAT THE FUCK??????????????? THE A U D A C I T Y. I’VE NEVER BEEN MORE INSULTED IN ALL MY LIFE. OKAY RANT OVER.

MC is surprised but naturally agrees to it, having wanted that for him even without prompting. She continues to think on it, insisting that she wants to do something for him too. An idea sparks but it only says that she made preparations without telling him anything for now, preparing a tangible sign of her love for the wedding.

The premium end begin here. She’s getting dressed for the wedding, and she’s--as usual--in awe of his perfect selection of accessories/jewelry to go with the gown. She’s about to put on her shoes when she notices something odd, and there’s a knock at the door. Comte enters to ask if she’s ready, and they both freeze and stare at each other. They both sheepishly admit to being completely taken with the sight of the other, and they laugh about it together. Comte tries to ask if she’s ready again, and she assures him that she is--just that she found something unexpected in her shoes.

He explains that the coin is an English six pence. Sebastian told him that they are no longer made in her time, and Comte explains he acquired it about three hundred years ago in England when he was living there (he says that he kept it back then because he liked the design on it). He explains that there is a tradition, that the English would put a six pence in a bride’s left shoe in the hopes of wishing her good fortune and prosperity in her oncoming union. MC has her understandable and customary (JESUS I FORGET HOW OLD THIS MAN IS SOMETIMES) and he places a hand over hers that’s holding the coin when she starts staring at it.

Comte: "Hey, MC....Time goes by, and various things will continue to change. Among them, it is only vampires who survive without dying or changing."

MC: "Comte..."

Comte: "I used to think that made it--made us--empty. But...I don't think that's the case anymore. I'm proud of being able to keep this undying, unchanging love for you."

[He put the coin back in my left shoe, and offered them to me--gentle as though they were made of glass(Cinderella's)]

MC spends this exchange on the verge of tears, but keeps it together for the wedding. It depicts their loved ones all around them as they walk down the aisle, and skips to the end of the ceremony. The priest tells Comte he may now kiss the bride (WHEN I WAS TRANSLATING IT SAID “KISS YOUR BUSINESS” AND WHEN I TELL YOU I WHEEZED), but just as he’s about to lift her veil--she stops him in his tracks. He’s confused, and says her name, but she reassures him that she just wants to offer him a wedding gift before he lifts it. Hidden in her bouquet are two pins that she had made, and she pins them to his jacket. They were made from preserved flowers, encased in metal to render them undying/everlasting.

MC: [Me too...I want to wish for your happiness...]

MC: “For you, things might feel fleeting--like they just pass you by, are lost before you can grasp them. But even so, my feelings won't change; just like this preserved/undying flower and the life of a vampire--dedicated to [Comte's real name] in everlasting love."

COMTE.EXE HAS CURRENTLY SHUTDOWN. REBOOTING.

MC notes that his eyes get misty and he leans his forehead against hers.

MC: [Comte's real name]?

Comte: .................I want to hug you as tight as I possibly can, but I'd hate to ruin the flowers/your gift to me

BITCH WHEN I TELL YOU I SOBBED. WHEN I TELL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1. I CANT GET OVER THE FACT THAT HER GIFT IS NOT ONLY CANON BUT ITS LITERALLY ON HIS WEDDING SPRITE, HER LOVE IS A VISIBLE MANIFESTATION ON HIS PERSON ALWAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2. THE FACT THAT SHE ONLY ADMITS TO BEING THE HAPPIEST SHE CAN BE WHEN SHE SEES HIM SO HAPPY TOO. THIS IS SO MUCH. SO M U C H

And so Comte lifts her veil and kisses her gently uwu cover ur eyes chirren, the hall erupts in raucous applause and the crowd starts congratulating them!! Comte then encourages everyone to have fun, and the reception takes on the vibe of a kind of social gathering. MC notes that he seems to prefer this level of interaction, just relaxed and everyone chill, and she turns to tell him that it seems like it’ll be fun! Before she can finish her sentence, he kisses her fiercely before leaning back with a sigh, "It's still not enough, but I'll save the rest for later tonight." BITCH!!?!?!??!??!? HOW THE FUCK CAN ANYONE FOCUS ON A STUPID PARTY WHEN YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT, HELLO???????MC notes: [Everyone from the mansion that saw the kiss made fun of me endlessly, and I hid my face in my bouquet] SAVE HER. Once again, it skips to the end of the reception and they’re now in Comte’s room. (I will blink twice if I think you need tissues BLINKS TWICE)

Comte: "Yup, perfect." [He places the flower pins I gave him next to THE hourglass in the room, looking pleased HNGNNGNGNNGGNGN MY EYE HOLES ARE SUFFERING

MC: "I'm glad you liked the gift c:"

Comte: "It is proof of your unchanging love, of course I cherish it :>"

She’s just so happy to see him so delighted with it. He asks how she liked the ceremony, and she gushes about how much she loved it. He hugs her (AWWWWWWWWWWWW) and then he notes that while it was fun to celebrate, all he wants now is time with his wife (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA). He starts kissing her like the world is ending, and she says she needs to get changed--but he doesn’t care, says she’s fine as she is and that he wants her right now.

Aight usually I don’t get into epilogue territory, but honestly, this shit was JUST too good. Now this man made of magic asks MC if she’s wearing her bridal garter (you know, the one that usually comes with the whole bride ensemble in Western tradition). And she’s like ???? Uh, yeah, of course? Why... He says that he saw something interesting at a friend’s wedding reception once upon a time, and explains that the garter is usually removed and thrown to the bachelors (analogous to the bride’s throwing her bouquet, and whoever catches it will be the next to get married). PLEASE NOTE HE IS KISSING HER FOR LIKE 90% OF THIS IT’S AMAZING

MC: "So it's like the bouquet toss?"

Comte: "Yes. Now then, how did he remove the garter...?”

HE DUCKS DOWN AND SHE’S LIKE COMTE!?!?

Comte: “...Ah yes, the groom removes it with his teeth >:D”

And so this man HAS THE TIME OF HIS LIFE tugging it down slowly under her dress, caressing her legs and loving every part of her. MC’s face is on fire, and she’s torn between being turned on and embarrassed. Eventually he reappears after teasing her MERCILESSLY and admits that he didn’t do it at the reception because he didn’t want anyone else to see her reaction. Blushing, shy, desirous--all of these feelings are his to keep and enjoy. (I!!!!! LOVE!!!!!!!!!! HOW SUBTLY POSSESSIVE HE IS AAAAAAAAAA) MC notes internally that she feels the same way about him, how he only shows this intensely passionate side to her. Comte is uncharacteristically impatient and frenzied that night, and they both go at it.

It skips to midnight where the two are cuddling in the aftermath, just being cute and happy. Comte, the absolute MADLAD is already thinking about how to celebrate next year--and she just giggles at him (he’s a wackadoo but he’s her wackadoo LMFAO MOOD) and he laughs with her. They essentially swear to promise their love over and over in the future, and it just ends on that wholesome note :>>>

Also can I just. The fact that he lived for so long alone, but was always, always paying attention to all of these little things that are done with a person’s loved one ;-; that he would remember his friend doing that at his wedding and be like BROOOOO I WANNA DO THAT IF I EVER GET MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!! I just. It’s so heartbreaking and touching at the same time, I just want to hold him forever ;-; the fact that he doesn’t seem to worry as much about his own happiness, seems absolutely floored that MC would do anything in return. I JUST LOVE HIM WITH EVERYTHING INSIDE OF ME

THIS IS WHAT PEAK PERFORMANCE LOOKS LIKE

#asks #ikevamp #ikemen vampire #ikevamp spoilers #ikevamp comte #ikevamp saint germain #ikevamp wedding event #NOW I CAN REST IN PIECES O-<--<#today on: reasons why i would die for comte no.347 #will i ever stop? no #do i have a problem? probably #but i have a tumblr account and the ability to write and i am making that everyone else's problem fdkjlhgfdjkh #but i hope you enjoyed my rambles!!!#you're always welcome here friend! :D #tho yall story time #when he asked abt the garter i started SCREECHING bc i knew EXACTLY where it was going #in middle school i saw a guy do it once at a wedding but i didnt know what the sex^TM was so i didnt think anything of it #i was like haha weird wedding tradition go brrrr why is everyone whistling #and when i was reading i just immediately was sent back and i was like OMFG HE'S GONNA DO IT ISN'T HE THE WILD MAN #but honestly i cant get over how romantic comte is #he has no necessity to enact all these little rituals--i dont really know if he even believes in any kind of religion at all #(i dont think he does honestly but he never speaks to it directly)#but the thought of sharing that with her #of doing those things to make her happy and express his feelings #it makes me so very softe #i dont even believe in all of those wonderful things and yet he makes me want to humor that kind of belief #also idk why the cuts arent working properly on the tumbles i apologize in advance im trying to figure out why

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tailsbeth-writes · 3 years

Text

A Visit to Berlin (Druck Advent Calendar - Day 14)

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through Berlin, Squads were assembling, for the fun to begin.

'Cash queens; Christmas edition!' Ava called in English as the girls posed for yet another festive selfie. Fatou had insisted on wearing elf ears for 'accuracy', while the others had gone for Santa hats and reindeer antlers. As the photoshoot finished, the girls went back to their spots; Nora plaiting Mailin’s hair, Ava lay back as she scrolled through her phone and Fatou continued to apply glitter to her cheeks. Christmas music played out of a laptop. ‘It’s not going to be weird, right?’ Mailin asked quietly. Nora squeezed her shoulders. ‘Not at all. Kiki’s friends are cool, it’ll be chill,’ Mailin nodded with a little smile, reassured. Ava sighed, the familiar sound the girls often heard when she was looking at Instagram posts from her friends back in Alaska. Fatou ran over and hugged Ava from behind. Nora and Mailin soon joined, squishing Ava with kisses on her glittery cheeks. ‘Ava, stop looking at your phone and be in the moment with us. Berlin is where it’s at!’ Mailin harked. ‘Berlin! Berlin!’ Nora and Fatou joined in. Ava grinned up at her friends goofing around her. Last Christmas came on and she turned it up. The girls gathered in a circle, bellowing along to every word of Wham.

She was dressed all in red, from her shoulders to her knee, And her clothes were all polished with as many sequins as could be;

Mia tussled her hair as she looked in the mirror once more. She never wore anything quite so over the top but Hans insisted. She left her room to find fairy lights strung up on every possible wall. Hans’s dulcet tones could be heard from the kitchen where he was making cocktails, Linn sipping away on his latest concoction. ‘Oh my god, Mia! I told you it would look amazing,’ Hans stopped in his tracks when he saw his favourite blonde. She thanked him bashfully and sat next to Linn, giving her a friendly nudge with her shoulder. Hans placed down an intriguing glass, filled with some pink and orange drink. Mia quickly mixed the grenadine in, much to the disappointment of Hans who wanted to take a picture of his creation. Before he could dwell, the buzzer went off. Mia jumped up and let the visitor in. ‘We should have brought something, Amira. It feels-’ Mohammed’s bickering quickly stopped when Amira ran the last of the steps and was pulled into a hug from Mia. He smiled at the pair, reuniting in quick squeals of ‘habibi’ and lots of hugs. Amira wore a cream dress, with a gold belt in the middle and a red hijab with a gold glint through it, Mia commented that she knew Amira would suit that scarf. ‘Well thanks for persuading me to get it, it’s like my Christmas hijab!’ Mohammed finally made it to the top and greeted Mia briefly as they all got inside, away from the cold hall.

A bundle of bottles he had flung on his back, And she looked at him dearly, holding an ice pack.

Hanna and Jonas held hands, swinging their arms like children as they walked through the streets. The houses had a glow, many windows filled with trees and signs for Santa. Hanna felt ridiculous in her ugly christmas jumper, its glittery snowman glinting in the street lights. Jonas had gone for a full on costume however, a reindeer onesie. He walked along proudly. ‘I should have worn something else,’ Hanna moaned. Jonas looked at her with wide eyes. ‘Hanna, are you for real right now?’ He dropped her hand and gestured to himself up and down. She chuckled, Jonas placed a hand on her cheek. He leaned in close and planted a lasting kiss on her lips. She was pulled in, almost dropping the bag of ice Hans had asked for. ‘Woah, cold cold cold,’ Jonas stepped back, the ice had been sandwiched between them. Hanna laughed, trying to apologise between giggles. ‘Let’s go before this melts,’ she got out, taking up Jonas’s hand again.

The stump of a joint he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;

‘I’ve missed this so much,’ Abdi announced to the bathroom, Matteo next to him in a cloud of smoke. Carlos joined them in the bath and Matteo passed the joint to him. ‘Me too, I’ve missed you idiots weirdly,’ Carlos replied with a smirk on his face before inhaling from the joint. Abdi pretended to be crushed. He elbowed Matteo and pointed to his jumper which was flashing away like a christmas tree. ‘As usual you don’t dress up for the occasion.’ Matteo sighed and rolled his eyes, and unzipped his hoodie. Underneath was a black t-shirt with the phase ‘bah humbug’ written across it. Carlos chuckled, it might have been the t-shirt or it might have been the joint but he didn’t care. ‘Boys, of course you’re in here!’ Jonas opened the door, the boys burst out laughing as he twirled around in his reindeer onesie proudly. The boys got up and gathered in a rowdy group hug. ‘I forgot how idiotic you lot were together,’ David appeared in the doorway, shaking his head. Abdi opened up a gap in the circle and quickly pulled in David who resisted at first but admitted defeat when Matteo put his arm around him from the other side, smashing a quick kiss onto his cheek.

A wink of his eye and a twist of some lime, Soon they knew that this would be a good time.

‘Cheers!’ The girls called as they clinked glasses filled with Hans’s cocktails. Sam downed half of her fruity beverage, her blue lipstick matching its colour. ‘I’ve missed this, I’m so glad you’re back in Berlin for christmas,’ she gushed, Kiki nuzzled her head into Sam’s shoulder. Kiki gazed over at the other end of the table where Nora and her friends were laughing, she smiled softly. ‘Everything okay?’ Amira said quietly to Kiki, she nodded. ‘It’s just nice to see Nora doing well,’ she replied. ‘Is therapy going well?’ ‘Yeah. It took a while for her to adjust but she’s getting there,’ Amira put an arm around Kiki and gave her a little squeeze. Hanna and Mia were up and twirling around the kitchen, Matteo and David were sitting as one on the sofa, David playing with Matteo’s hair as Matteo smiled peacefully. Hans planted a kiss on Linn’s cheek, dancing around her and trying to get her moving. Nora and Josh were chuckling at some private joke in the doorway which conveniently had mistletoe above it. Hans turned down the music for a moment, tapping his glass fiercely.

But they heard him exclaim, as he called in delight— “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

Merry Christmas & a happy new year to you all, and massive thanks to the lovelies of @druckadventcalendar for organising this! <3

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p-artsypants · 4 years

Text

Longest Night (46) Dancing

Ao3 | FF.net

It rained the night of Mayor Bourgeois’ ball. An ill omen if you were to ask Marinette or Adrien. Their first night being reintroduced into proper society, and it rained.

A limo had been sent to the bakery, so that the guests of honor could arrive in style. Alya and Nino had shown up early, also invited because of their hero status, not that any event planners besides Chloe knew.

Gabriel had really outdone himself. Though the designs were based on sketches from Marinette, he had taken them to a whole new level. “So you,” he had said. “It’s perfect, just for you!”

The champagne dress with exposed back and high slit leg hadn’t felt ‘like her’ at all. Of course it was gorgeous, and it was a beautiful dress. The iridescent silk changed colors as she moved, drawing all eyes to her. Maybe in another life, when Ladybug hadn’t been defeated, she’d feel more deserving of the dress.

As it stood, the low back just showed her scars, and made her feel exposed. ‘Wear them like a badge of honor.’ Gabriel had said, ‘you survived, you’re here. You’re stronger than anyone else in that room.’

And yet, as she stood looking herself over in the mirror, she couldn’t help but feel self-conscious.

Ugly.

The door to the bathroom opened and closed, her husband entering. Gabriel hadn’t spared him from the ‘wear your scars with pride’ treatment either. The white shirt under his suit only buttoned up to his sternum, allowing the scar from his rib surgery to be seen. He was just lucky his skin graft scars were hidden under the deep gray suit.

“You look beautiful,” Adrien said, looking at her with adoration.

“I don’t think so.” She brushed her hair once again. It was still too short to really do anything with, so she had opted to let Alya curl it. With all of her nervous tugging and pulling, the curls were turning into waves, and would soon be flat.

Adrien rested a hand on her bare shoulder, kissing her scarred neck. “I’ve always found you beautiful, Marinette. No amount of dirt or scars could change that.”

“Well, what about everyone else? What will they think?”

“Do you really care what everyone else thinks? Much less a bunch of stuffy, obnoxious politicians?”

“No…I suppose not. I just…if I get criticized at all, I don’t think I’ll be able to handle it.”

“No one will criticize you. I happen to think the dress is very flattering on you.”

“The scars don’t ruin it?”

“No. If anything, they compliment it.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

“Is it working?”

“I love you, Adrien Agreste. Thank you.” She bounced on her toes and pressed a delicate kiss to his lips.

There was a knock on the door, followed by Sabine’s voice. “Are you both ready? The party starts soon.”

“Better bite the bullet.”

They left the bathroom together, meeting up with the rest of the group downstairs in the bakery. Before leaving the apartment, Adrien grabbed an umbrella, and held it above his wife as she climbed into the limo.

The action felt familiar, as did his smile in doing so.

The ride to Le Grand Paris was pleasant. Alya and Nino gushed over the amenities in the car. “I’ve never ridden in a limo before! I feel so fancy!” Said Alya, as she sprawled out over one of the seats. There was plenty of room to do so.

“Would anyone care for some champagne?” Nino asked, in his fanciest poshest voice.

“You open that bottle, and I’ll tell your mother.” Sabine warned. “It’s not polite to get drunk before arriving at a party.”

“I’m glad you both got to come,” Marinette said, smoothly changing the subject. “This would be really boring without you.”

“Oh, we’re boring?” Tom asked, arms crossed.

“You know what I meant, Papa.” Marinette smiled at him.

Arriving at Le Grand Paris, you would have thought they were arriving at a movie premier. The door to the limousine opened and there was a series of flashes from the paparazzi.

Tom and Sabine went out first, followed by Nino and Alya, and then finally, Adrien and Marinette stepped out under the umbrella.

“Did you design the dress yourself?”

“Did Gabriel design your outfits?”

“Are you wearing someone else?”

Clothing. They were all asking about the clothing. That was something she could handle. Adrien was right. The dress was flashy, and eye catching, and that’s all anyone was going to talk about.

The alternative was not polite for such an occasion.

They were led through the lobby, into the elevator, and upstairs into the ballroom.

Before the elevator doors even opened, she could hear the crowd, a garbled mess of voices and laughter. Her heart rate increased.

Then the doors opened, and they stepped into the room.

All eyes seemed to land on her and Adrien, as guests clapped for their arrival. She wasn’t able to do anything but stand there. Stand there frozen and staring, not even smiling. These guests were here to pay her respect and honor, but by god it was the worst experience of her life.

Over and over, her gaze flitted to face after face in the crowd, barely recognizing them for a second. These were strangers, people she never would have known, except for one tiny little detail.

Some of them, she had murdered.

She had seen their faces only once before, in her memories, last breaths, screams of agony.

And they were clapping for her.

Did they not remember? Or were they pretending? Were they hiding and plotting? Were she and Adrien in danger?

Then Chloe was there, in her bee-themed dress, loud and bright and inviting. “Adrikins! Maripoo! You’re here!”

She never would have said this before, but thank God Chloé was here.

She weaseled between them, hooking an arm through both of theirs. “Come on, I’ll show you to your table!”

It was right in front of the dance floor, which was vacant for now. A small symphonic band played beautiful music, filling the hall with the sort of ambience only seen in Disney movies.

Gabriel and Emilie were already at the table.

“Oh Marinette!” Emilie cooed. “You look absolutely gorgeous! Gabriel insisted on keeping this dress a surprise from me and I have been dying to see it!” She played with the long piece of flowing fabric over Marinette’s shoulder. “I love the purple undertones! It perfectly matches your lipstick!”

“Thank you, Madam Agreste.”

“And look at you!” She immediately went to her son. “My handsome man! Oh! You’re so grown up!” She rested a hand on his cheek. “Before I fell asleep, you were a little shorter than me. Now...now I have to look up at you.”

Adrien looked away from her, a pain in his chest.

“Sorry, I just...got swept up in emotion. That suit fits you like a dream.”

Then she was onto the next target. “Oh Sabine!”

Now that they were in public, Adrien’s voice disappeared again. But Marinette could read his expressions like an open book. “The suit makes you look older. Of course it would stand out.”

He nodded in understanding, letting the resentment go. He had no reason to be angry with his mother. He just constantly had to remind himself until it stuck.

They both took a seat at the table. Obviously, people were schmoozing around and rubbing elbows. But the schmoozers could come over here if they were so inclined.

Next to Marinette sat her parents, and next to Adrien sat Nino and Alya, while Gabriel and Emilie sat on the other side. Chloe sat at the table next to them, just an arm’s length away from Adrien.

So they were surrounded by mostly trustworthy people. The jury was still out on Gabriel, but he had at least shown that his harm was unintentional.

They had to be prepared for the worst if someone in the room decided to go for revenge.

Of course, now that their identities were out in the open and the party planners were somehow educated on kwamis (probably thanks to Chloé) there was a small doll sized table in the middle of their table, fitted with two chairs and settings.

“Oh, that’s cute. Tikki, Plagg, you can join us.”

The Kwamis peeked out of Adrien’s jacket, where they had hunkered down for the night.

“Oh don’t mind if I do!” Sang Plagg, as he took his seat. “I demand cheese cubes!”

Tikki was only a beat behind. “Behave yourself Plagg, this is a very fancy event.”

“And we are the guests of honor,” he said snottily. “While Adrien and Marinette are the brains and bodies, we are the brawn. So we get just as many accolades as them!”

“Selfish.” Tikki drawled.

A waiter appeared at the table. “Dinner is still a ways out, but can I get drinks or hors d'oeuvres for anyone?”

“Your finest cheese cubes, my good man! And keep them coming until I fall out of this chair!”

“Yes, of course Mr. Black Cat.”

Gabriel ordered a white wine for the table, while Marinette just asked for water for her and Adrien.

“It’s alright,” said Sabine. “You can have a glass of wine. It’s a special occasion.”

“I appreciate that, but I need to be alert. Just in case.”

Sabine heaved a little sigh, disappointed, but understanding. “Alright. Just try to have a little fun, okay?”

Marinette looked over the crowd again, subtlety trying to see who was watching her.

Considering this was her first public appearance as Ladybug, there were quite a few.

“Did you need something Miss Dupain-Cheng?” A waiter asked.

“Oh…no, no just—just looking.”

“Alright, don’t hesitate to flag us down if you need something.”

“Thank you.”

He cheerfully filled up her water cup before scurrying off.

Before Marinette could get lost in her scouring, she was interrupted by Gabriel. “Adrien, will you come with me a moment? There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

Adrien stood from his seat with hesitation. Even now, at an event like this, Gabriel wanted him to rub shoulders with business folk? Maybe not, and so his curiosity propelled him on into following.

“Should I come too?” Marinette asked.

“No no, just…just relax Marinette.”

Ah, so this was one of his business associates. Well, he’d humor his father this once, and see what this was all about.

They crossed the room, coming upon a group of laughing men, all in expensive suits with expensive wine in hand, with expensive watches on their wrists, and fattened with expensive foods.

Adrien immediately felt out of place.

“Adrien, this is M. Mercier. He’s the lawyer handling your case with Salo.”

“Hello there, kiddo.” The man grasped his hand tightly and shook. “Nice to formally meet! Of course, your father and I have been in contact for a long time. Don’t worry, we have everything under control.”

Well. That was good. It wasn't as if he had to testify or re-hash anything he had been through. It was all recorded.

“And this is M. Chevrolet, he works on the Board at Gabriel. One of the primary stockholders.”

“We met when you were just a boy,” he clarified with a tight handshake. “But you were so busy with modeling, there was really no reason for us to chat. But now that that avenue is closed, I’ve been working on finding you a position in the company. One that wouldn’t require too much investment, so you can come home to your wife at night.” He smiled. “And well, since college isn’t in the future either, it might not be exactly lucrative, but you are a stockholder, as Gabriel’s son. Of course, you could always fall back into superheroing, if you think you could.”

Was this man…mocking him?

“Adrien hasn’t ever specified if he was interested in college or not,” Gabriel said calmly. “But I do thank you for looking out for him. He and Marinette have been…apprehensive about the future.”

“Oh of course they have.”

That tone, no matter how well intended, made Adrien bristle. He didn’t have to take this. He didn’t need to be polite.

He tapped his wrist, an indication he needed meds.

“Alright, you can go back.” His father excused, absently.

As Adrien turned to leave, he could hear M. Chevrolet say, “You know, he’s not going to get anywhere not speaking. He’ll be lucky if I can get him in as a janitor.”

He hurried his paces back to the table, gnawing on his lip and trying not to cry.

Before he got half-way there, a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.

He jumped, yanking his wrist free, and stood prepared to fight.

A woman looked at him with shock and horror. “Oh my goodness! Mr. Agreste, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you, I just wanted to get your attention.”

Adrien relaxed into a stance a normal person would take. He then noticed there was a little girl sitting at the table next to the woman. The girl’s face was badly scarred, and she wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“This is my daughter, Adrianne.” The woman smiled. “She…she was in the same place as you. My ex-boyfriend owed that woman some money…and she took Adrianne as ransom. Because you and Ladybug escaped, the police were able to find her and bring her home. So…I just wanted to say thank you.”

“Thank you Chat Noir.” Said Adrianne. She was so quiet, it was almost lost in the crowd. But he heard it, and that’s all that mattered.

Adrien crouched, getting eye level with the girl, and gently rested a hand on her head, petting her hair in a way that he enjoyed too. The girl smiled up at him, face full of respect and adoration.

He mimicked the action of typing on a phone.

“My phone? Uh, here…” Said the woman.

Adrien put in his contact information, and whispered Adrianne, right in her ear. “If you need anything, just text me. Chat Noir and Ladybug will help.”

Then, Adrianne’s subdued smile doubled, turning bright and warm. It warmed his chest, and gave him hope.

—

Marinette kept on a firm alert. It was hard not to panic, with the discovery she had just made, but the fear twitched her fingers. She needed to find Adrien and get out of here, but she couldn’t give away what knowledge she’d learned.

A man, just a table over, had a gun concealed. She saw it as he reached forward for a glass of water, and she was trying not to stare.

But she did.

A very rational part of her brain told her he was probably a police officer, and it was no big deal. But she had killed police officers during her rage, and their vow to protect and serve didn’t prevent thoughts of revenge.

Once Adrien came back, she’d steer him towards the elevator, and they’d make a break for it. They had appeared. They didn’t owe anyone anything else.

As she cast her glance over the room, she missed her target moving. “Uh, excuse me?” He asked.

Marinette turned, wide eyed and horrified to see the man standing beside her.

He knelt to get on her level. “Sorry, I Uh...I just wanted to check in with you. I saw you looking at my gun. I’m with the police. I’m here because I worked on your case, but I’m also on security.”

Oh, she knew who he was. Now that she had a good look at him, she recognized him from the last time they met.

“I stabbed you. At the Police station...I stabbed you with a lance...I killed you.”

“Yeah, you sure did.” He laughed nervously.

She shut her eyes tightly, swallowing the bile in her throat.

“But,” the man continued. “So did Stoneheart, and Glaciator, and Siren, and Frozer. There were probably a couple others. Being on the force in Paris with Akumas is always a gamble. But, I’m back. Ladybug always brings me back.”

“I’m sorry...”

“I forgive you. I haven’t held it against any other Akuma, so why would it be different for you?”

“I...I just...” there was so much relief, she couldn’t find the words to say. She wanted to apologize for being suspicious of him.

“I’ll be right over there. If anyone tries anything, we’ll handle it. I mean, of course Ladybug and Chat Noir are more than capable of handling anything...the chief just wants you to be able to relax. So, relax. Okay, Miss Ladybug?”

Marinette allowed herself to take a calming breath and smile. “Thank you. I think I will.”

It was only a minute or two before Adrien returned, looking less than happy.

“Is everything alright?”

He didn’t respond to her question, but offered a hand out to her.

She took it, and allowed him to help her out of her seat. He led her to the dance floor, and wrapped his arm around her waist while he held the other in his own.

Then, he began to lead her in time with the music.

“We’re the only ones dancing,” she commented astutely.

“Yes. Everyone knows it’s rude to interrupt a dancing couple.”

“Who’d your father want you to meet?”

“Some rich assholes.”

“Just as I thought.”

Adrien guided her out into a twirl, and the band began to play just a little louder. Just for them.

“There’s a little girl here, Adrianne.” Adrien said. “She was held prisoner like us. You should say hi to her when we get the chance. I gave her my number, in case she needed anything.”

“I’m glad. I would like to meet her.” A quick turn, and her long skirt flailed outwards in a glittering pinwheel. “There’s security guards here with guns, in case anyone tries any funny business. I was told we could relax.”

“I am relaxed,” Adrien assured. “This is the most relaxed I can get nowadays.”

“I feel the same.”

“But I feel better here with you.”

“Because I’m tough and I’ll kick anyone’s ass?”

“Yes.” He chuckled. “Exactly.”

The band lulled into something a little slower, to Tchaikovsky’s Valse Sentimentale, so that Adrien could bring her a little closer, chest to chest. The slow pull of the strings allowed them pause, to hold each other without anyone thinking it was anything other than dancing.

“Do your feet hurt?” He whispered.

“No. Are you okay?”

“I’m wonderful, my lady.”

“Good. We never got to have a first dance at our wedding.”

“I suppose we can count this for now.” He hummed. “But I want a real wedding first. One that I’m happy for, and I get to see you in a pretty white dress.”

“This is just practice then,” she amended. “So we can get used to dancing in front of people.”

“I think our battles were a little like dancing, we worked in tandem all the time.”

“When we weren’t getting tangled in my yo-yo.”

“You got better. I secretly think you wanted to be close to me.”

“Subconsciously, way deep inside.”

“Glad I finally got you to admit it.”

“Only to you, love.”

When they finally decided to sit back down, there was some faint applause from the room.

“You guys are the definition of adorable,” Said Alya, as Adrien helped Marinette take her seat.

“Thank you. It’s fun dancing with a twirly skirt.”

“I got it on video, if you want it later.”

“Thanks Al.”

From there, it was smooth conversation. Gabriel didn’t try to introduce anyone else to them, and Marinette actually found herself beginning to relax.

The lights dimmed, and Mayor Bourgeois took the podium.

“Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, today we are here to pay respect to the heroes of our city, Ladybug and Chat Noir!”

There was a resounding applause from the crowd.

“There is no doubt of your strength and courage. Heroes you were, heroes you will always be. Know that every moment you suffered, we were right there with you, hearts breaking, and voices full of prayers. Hundreds of brave men and women put their lives and families on the line to do what it took to bring you home. Tonight, we want to thank them for their hard work.”

Marinette closed her eyes, a pain in her gut. Now she would come face to face with the numbers. All the people that died trying to save them? Or was she thanking all the people that failed?

By time she came out of her thoughts, there was a woman up at the podium. “…the brave men and women that were assigned to this case, that spent hours analyzing footage and clues to try and get a lead. It was the most exhausting case the bureau has undertaken to date…”

Marinette crossed her arms, but tried not to show her disdain. What was she supposed to say? Thanks for trying?

“Every day, our hearts broke a little more for our heroes…”

She heard Adrien sigh behind her.

Soon, another man took the podium. This time, she did catch a name, Arthur Vanderguard, Minister of Interior. The last time she had seen him, he had been dangling off the edge of a building, Chat’s claws in his neck being the only thing separating him from a nasty fall.

He looked right at them. “Marinette, Adrien, thank you for coming to our little dinner. It hasn’t been that long since you got out, about you’re both looking well. On behalf of the police department, the city of Paris, and France itself, I’m truly sorry for failing you.”

That was not what she was expecting. These bureaucrats had all gotten up and talked about how hard it was for them, but patting themselves on the back for their hard work anyways. For someone, especially the Minister of Interior, to admit they failed?

It was unfathomable.

“We did try hard. But in the end, Hawkmoth had to step up to the plate. That’s humbling. Someone our city has been fighting for years in the one to fix our mess. We were fighting a war on both sides. The war to save the innocent, and the war to protect the ones we love. Your bravery and strength supersedes that of all of Paris. You endured pain we can’t imagine, even with the footage we saw. And when you escaped, you went out and talked some sense into us. Into me. I was afraid of Edward Savauge and Salo. And that fear prevented me from doing my job. But not anymore. Because of your actions, I and everyone once that were being blackmailed by them are free to do our jobs the way we’re supposed to. The way we vowed we would from the beginning. So, Ladybug, Chat Noir, I owe you an apology, and a sincere thank you. Despite everything, all your pain, all the trauma, you still managed to make Paris a better place. You truly are heroes, and I sincerely hope that you’ll continue to watch over us in one way or another. Thank you.”

The apology washed over her like fresh water on a hot day. After what she had done to the officials of the city, she was certain she owed them one instead. She underestimated the effect Lady Lacrima had had.

Mayor Bourgeois was back at the podium. “Of course, there is one more person we’d like to hear from tonight. The foundation of hope in Paris, resilient, brave, and strong. The Lady of the hour, Ladybug!”

Marinette tensed up as the crowd clapped.

“Did you know you were speaking?” Asked Alya.

“No! No, I had no idea! I don’t know what to say! Alya—“

But a strong hand clasped her shoulder as Adrien stood, taking her place.

“Adrien?”

He just kissed her forehead. Then he tugged on Chloe’s pigtail and gestured to her to follow.

“Err, Chat Noir, everyone!” The Mayor corrected, as Adrien made his way to the podium.

He took the mic off the stand and handed it to Chloe.

“What am I supposed to say?” She hissed.

He shook his head, and then went over to the grand piano, silently asking to have a seat.

The pianist scuttled off, giving him the bench. Adrien moved Chloe’s arm so she was holding the mic in front of his mouth.

Then he began to play.

Just a chord at a time. High, low, high, low. Slow, and droning.

Then he began to sing, with a voice soft and full of the grit of silence.

So far from who I was

From who I love

From who I want to be

There were gasps all around the room, shocked to hear him not just speak, but sing.

So far from all our dreams

From all it means

From you here next to me

“Is this the song he was working on?” Whispered Nino.

“I think so…”

So far from seeing home

I stand out here alone

Am I asking for too much?

Watching his face, Adrien had closed his eyes, and furrowed his brows in concentration. He was putting everything into this.

So far from being free

Of the past that's haunting me

The future I just can't touch

His voice broke, not conditioned for singing, and so filled with sincerity.

And if you take my hand

Please pull me from the dark

And show me hope again

He looked up and over to Marinette, holding her gaze, like she was the only person in the room. And to him, she was.

We'll run side-by-side

No secrets left to hide

Sheltered from the pain

The song faded out with the final chord, and he stood. The applause was overwhelming, and he bobbed his head in gratitude. As he made his way back over to the table, Marinette stood to greet him, throwing her arms around his neck.

“Thank you for saving me, Kitty.”

“I thought if someone was giving us the opportunity to speak, I ought to make it worthwhile.”

Marinette kissed him then, right on the lips and unashamed of being seen by anyone.

The rest of the meal went smoothly. Marinette and Adrien were allowed to remain at their table, only occasionally being bothered by other guests, but mostly just basking in the fancy atmosphere and good company. Even Gabriel was on good behavior. Though he did occasionally sneak looks at Adrien throughout the meal.

It wasn’t until they got back to the bakery, Gabriel and Emilie included, that things took a turn.

“Adrien, do you mind if I have a word?” Gabriel asked, as the rest headed upstairs.

Emilie and Marinette both hesitated, and stayed just out of sight, eavesdropping.

Adrien had a hunch he knew what was about to happen, and only clenched his fist to hold himself back.

“Your behavior tonight was inappropriate.” Gabriel began.

Adrien’s nostrils flared, but he remained quiet.

“You snubbed two very important people that only wanted to help you. It was not an appropriate time to dance with Marinette, especially since I had other people I wanted you to talk to, and you deeply insulted Mayor Bourgeois with that performance. He put on this dinner for you and Marinette, the least you could have done was thank him for it. Instead, you treated this like one of your high school parties. All eyes were on you, and consequently, all eyes were on me.”

“I’ve heard enough!” Emilie snapped, coming around the corner.

“Now dear—“

“Don’t you ‘now dear’ me!” She sent a perfectly manicured hand into his cheek. “How dare you, Gabe! Is this how you talked to him after I left? Is this normal for you?!”

Adrien rested a hand on her shoulder. “Mom, I’ll take it from here.”

Both Agreste’s snapped their jaws shut at his tone. At his voice.

Marinette peeked around the corner, just visible enough for comfort and support.

“Father, I don’t need your criticisms anymore. I know perfectly well how to behave at an event. I left the conversation with your ‘important men’ because they were patronizing me. I didn’t appreciate it. I left in the most civil way I could, but I’ve been through too much to be treated like that. I’m not stupid, and I’m not weak. I’m just as capable as anyone else. Maybe more so.” He breathed deep, being spurred on by the attentive look on Gabriel’s face. He wasn’t angry, he was just listening. “I wanted to dance with my wife. I saw an opportunity, and I took it. No one else seemed to mind. And, that song I performed I wrote myself, in isolation. Marinette wasn’t prepared to speak, but I knew my song would convey everything that needed to be said.” He nodded once. “There. I explained myself. Are you happy now?”

Gabriel Agreste didn’t smile. Not really. The closest he got was a slight twitch of his lips. And that’s what he did. “Yes. I am.”

Adrien blinked. “You are?”

“Yes. Thank you for explaining to me. I misunderstood your behavior. I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

Adrien almost cried then. Both from shock and relief.

“It was a very lovely song, by the way. I think it did get the point across.”

“Th…thank you, Father.”

“You’re welcome.” He squeezed his arm. “Now come along, I believe Sabine is making coffee for us.”

Adrien’s song is ‘So Far’ by Olafur Arnalds.

#miraculous ladybug #ml #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #adrinette #ladybug #chat noir #ladynoir #fanfiction #longest night

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