#could i have done a modern au?? YUP did i? NOPE
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7. and oh jeez it's gonna be hard to pick a ship oh boy um can you do a wlw version of Darcy/Elizabeth (my weakness tbh)?? Ily also I'll literally send like five more if you want
@hvctorberlioz literally if you’re ever like “should i send a prompt” my answer 99% of the time is “SEND IT.” emphatic yes. and thank you for sending this to me!!!!! and also if you think of different prompts that aren’t on the list nbd send’em in. OK ANYWAY HERE WE GO, WLW DARCY AND ELIZABETH (also u know what if u can think of anything for my unsung obscure ship for p an p, aka mary and caroline, feel free but obvs u don’t have to):
7. fake relationship au:
it is a truth universally acknowledged that when a woman wishes to take a turn about the room with a companion, she most certainly is not doing that companion any favors.
caroline bingley stared at elizabeth with a smile was neither kind nor friendly. “i would so wish to converse with you further. what is your reply, miss eliza bennet?”
elizabeth was surprised at how eager miss bingley seemed, but she accepted her outstretched hand just the same. there was only so much laughter elizabeth could hold within herself before she became impatient, before she longed to be somewhere else. oh, it was certainly good of mr. bingley to care for jane in her illness, and with any luck their marriage would be secured before mrs. bennet could throw another fit about it. yet elizabeth gladly accepted miss bingley’s request all the same, and soon the two of them were walking slowly about the room, freed from participating in dull conversations.
miss bingley nearly glided around the room. she was quite poised, and seemed very conscious of her figure, even swaying slightly as she walked: a curious predicament, as there were no eligible gentlemen in the room with them. elizabeth’s bemusement grew: why was miss bingley so careful to expose her neck just so, to tuck a curl of stray hair behind her ear?
then miss bingley’s searching gaze found its target, and with piercing clarity elizabeth understood. she nearly laughed in shock: this night was to be much more entertaining than she had expected.
miss bingley glanced briefly at the dozing mr. hurst, then at her sister who was too preoccupied with her book to notice much else. at last, her gaze returned to miss darcy, who was poring over another dusty, expensive volume. “miss darcy,” miss bingley called, “would you like to join us?”
after a brief pause, miss darcy replied rather formally, “i must decline. i would certainly not wish to interfere with your machinations.”
“machinations!” miss bingley gasped, stopping short and almost causing elizabeth to collide with her. miss bingley unceremoniously leaned in to whisper loudly to elizabeth, “what could she possibly mean by that?”
elizabeth laughed at last, long and too loudly for her mother’s tastes, surely. “i know not,” she replied to miss bingley’s slightly frowning face. “i am sure that whatever miss darcy thinks of us, it will be a harsh judgment. we will disappoint her if we continue with these questions.”
it was a warning, of sorts: mr. hurst had twitched in his sleep. miss bingley, however, continued to ask after miss darcy’s thinking, until the woman herself finally replied, “an explanation, then: i suspect that you are discussing secret affairs, in which case i would not wish to interfere. or,” and here miss darcy curiously faltered. elizabeth raised an eyebrow, and miss darcy seemed to notice, because she immediately continued, “or if you both rehearse this walk so you could later please eligible gentlemen with your figures, then i am in your way once again.” the barest trace of a smirk twitched across her face. “should you need someone to observe your figures before a worthy gentlemen arrives, i am in a fine position to do so here.”
accordingly, miss darcy remained seated. elizabeth stared: did she understand miss bingley’s true inclinations, or did she really mean to offer her gaze as a show of sisterly friendship?
either way, mr. hurst continued to snore, and mrs. hurst was still engaged in her reading.
miss bingley, it seemed, did not expect such a confusing response, and once again turned to elizabeth. “i have never heard such a strange response! how shall we punish her for such a speech?”
elizabeth frowned at miss bingley’s theatrics. it seemed that the woman was determined to win miss darcy’s attention by any means necessary. still, she was quite fond of games, and did her best to perform well.
yet an idea formed in her mind, an utterly ridiculous, scandalous idea. no one would be pleased except, perhaps, elizabeth herself. that, she decided, was reason enough.
after the conversation had continued, after this plan had struck elizabeth’s mind like particularly wild lightning, miss bingley said, “your examination of miss darcy and her capacity for friendship is over, i presume: pray, what is the result?”
elizabeth did not smirk, as she might have done. instead, she let loose a breathy sigh, and let her eyes linger on miss darcy’s face. “i am perfectly convinced that she has no defect. she owns it herself without disguise.”
at this, even mrs. hurston glanced up from her book. miss bingley stiffened beside elizabeth.
elizabeth watched miss darcy’s face redden–with indignation, surely–and did her utmost to convey a challenge with her gaze alone.
after a short pause, miss darcy detailed her faults, countering elizabeth. that was not surprising in the least. what was a shock, however, was that miss darcy spoke in a softened version of her usual proper manner. elizabeth could hardly trust her own senses: was miss darcy eyeing her in an overly-fond manner? was miss darcy just as tired of caroline as she was?
it seemed that even she knew a game when she saw one.
it was all elizabeth could do to flutter her eyes and conclude her own response with a honeyed, “you are safe from me.”
miss darcy nodded, as though deeply considering elizabeth’s words, as though she treated her opinion with the greatest care. “there is, i believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular evil–a natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome.”
“and your defect,” elizabeth said, making sure to emphasize that she did not believe miss darcy capable of any defect, “is to hate everybody.” she hoped her gentle delivery implied, except me. (another, unacknowledged part of her hoped that miss darcy heard her teasing underneath the sickening sweetness.)
miss bingley, wholly convinced by elizabeth, lost whatever interjection she had prepared, and went rigid.
miss darcy looked steadily at elizabeth. a lopsided smile formed across her face. “and yours is to willfully misunderstand them.”
miss darcy did not seem to exaggerate her amusement: her dark eyes crinkled surprisingly naturally, and she softened in a way that appeared to elizabeth to be entirely unintentional.
elizabeth swallowed. how, exactly, were either of them to win this game?
in the heated silence, miss bingley seized her chance, and cried, “let us have music!”
it seemed that she was the victor after all.
as mrs. hurston suggested songs for her sister to perform on the pianoforte, elizabeth shook her head: whatever moment had come to pass was surely the result of a dreary night and restlessness. the game was over. she had best turn her attention to important matters, such as jane’s health and her imminent prospect of marriage to mr. bingley.
for her part, miss darcy, still seated in her chair, hastily returned to her book. she was glad that she was no longer being pulled into conversing with miss bingley, but a lingering unease set her face aflame. it would be best, she decided, if she did not give miss bennet anymore undue attention from now on.
#WHEEZES#pride and prejudice#asks#prompts#writing#fic#ive literally never written anything for pride and prejudice in my lifeeeeee#i re-read the chapter and shit i got way too into this#could i have done a modern au?? YUP did i? NOPE#apparently i love to torture myself#does this make any sense?????? who knows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#if this had been a modern au with fake dating they def would've made out to be as convincing as possible jsyk#wlw darcy and elizabeth is where it's at tbh#thank u again!!!!!
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pretty boy
rowan x lorcan, modern au, 1789
“Rowan,” Emrys says, exasperated, “you volunteer for the tutoring program. You don’t get to choose who you tutor.”
Rowan makes a frustrated sound, glancing over his professor’s shoulder out the window. Lorcan Salvaterre, in all his 6-foot-9, black jean jacket clad, and toothpick chewing glory, leans casually against the podium.
He must feel Rowan’s glare on him, because he looks up and sends Rowan a wolfish grin, winking once. It makes the silver-haired boy’s cheeks pink and snap his eyes back to Emrys. “Emrys. We hate each other.”
The kind man shrugs, picking up a student’s paper and idly glancing through it, “I don’t care. He asked for help and you’re help. Go along. I hear he’s rather impatient. Apparently he’s got a temper, too.”
“I hate you,” mutters Rowan, comfortable enough with his favourite teacher that he has no qualms with lobbing halfhearted insults at him.
“You seem to hate a lot of people. Bye-bye, now.”
Rowan rolls his eyes and grabs his tote bag, heavy with his books. With a muttered prayer, he walks out into the lecture hall, arching an unimpressed brow at the unmoving boy, “Well? Let’s go, we don’t have long.” Rowan turns neatly, not bothering to wait and see if Lorcan follows as he goes.
He’s a little disappointed to hear a soft snort and long legs eating up the distance between them. “You’re kinda mean, you know that, Whitethorn?”
“I’m not the one who broke someone’s knee because he looked at me wrong,” Rowan snaps, sending Lorcan a harsh look.
It seems like that was the wrong thing to say because the lazy, warm grin slides off Lorcan’s face and his dark eyes harden. The muscles around his jaw feather, the toothpick snapping in half. Lorcan spits it out into the trash and looks forward, not saying another word.
They walk in silence to the library and Rowan wishes for some unknown reason he could take the words back.
Lorcan, as always, is sullen as he drops into a seat. His posture is terrible and Rowan half-wonders how he could be comfortable wedged in the corner between the wall and his chair. He stretches his legs out, crossing them at the ankle. Lorcan pulls out a pack of gum, unwrapping a stick and popping it in his mouth.
As if it’s an afterthought, Lorcan asks, “Do you want some gum?”
Rowan pauses in pulling his textbooks out, nodding slightly, “Yes. Please.” When Lorcan passes the stick to him, and their fingertips brush, lightning seems to zap up Rowan’s arm. He hides it as best he can, bending his head until his cheeks cool.
Fuck. He hates Lorcan Salvaterre.
+*+*+*+*+*+*
The next time, they meet in the library.
Lorcan is less sullen today, his long hair shoved into a messy bun. He’s still got a stupid toothpick caught between his teeth, but he pays attention.
As Lorcan pores over an essay of his that had been handed back, Rowan studies him.
There’s a crease between his furrowed brow that Rowan wants to smooth away and his bottom lip is tucked between his teeth. After a few minutes, he mutters a curse and digs something out of his bag. Lorcan glares at Rowan while he opens the glasses case and pulls out a pair of round, wire-framed glasses.
He practically dares Rowan to comment on them. Rowan rolls his eyes, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not gonna tell anyone you wear glasses.”
“You better not,” Lorcan says in response, a cheeky light sparking in his eyes.
“I hate you.”
“Mm-hmm, I’m sure you do.”
“I do,” Rowan insists, sitting up straight. “I loathe you, I despise you.”
Lorcan barely nods, focusing back on his text and using a chewed-up pen to make revisions until the entire page is practically hidden by blue ink. “Very convincing, Whitethorn.”
The way his last name rolls off Lorcan’s tongue… Rowan hates it. So much, he hisses, “Stop calling me that.”
“What, your name?” Lorcan still doesn’t deign to look up at Rowan. It only infuriated him more. He’s even too angry to care that his pale cheeks are no doubt flaming red. Lorcan finally looks up, catching Rowan’s flushed skin, “Oh, such a pretty boy when you’re mad.”
“Shut up, whore.”
Lorcan laughs, leaning forward with a wide smile, “Whore? Really? I’m a whore?”
“Yup,” Rowan says, popping the ‘p’. “Whore.”
“That’s not even true! I haven’t slept with anyone.” When Rowan arches a brow, Lorcan amends, “At this school. Nasty. I have standards.”
Something about his standards makes Rowan’s heart ache a bit. He scowls, hating that he’s hurt that Lorcan all but implied he was beneath Lorcan’s standards. “You dated Elide for a year. You two never slept together?”
Lorcan wears a shit-eating grin, but it doesn’t exactly reach his eyes, “Nope. Never, not once.”
“Why?”
He leans against the desk, looking up at Rowan through his thick lashes. Rowan swallows once, unnerved by the look in Lorcan’s eyes. “You know,” Lorcan begins casually, “if you buy me a drink, I might just tell you all my secrets.”
“You’re such a pig,” Rowan hisses, checking his phone for the time. Lorcan notices the action and draws back in mock offence.
“Rowan Whitethorn! Are you waiting for this to be over?”
Rowan gives him a flat look and Lorcan shakes his head slowly, “Wow. You’re breaking my heart, pretty boy.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“But you’re so pretty.”
“Do your work.” Lorcan grins as he passes his pages over. He stands up, grabbing his bag. “Where are you going, we’re not done yet.”
“Oh, I think you’ll be very happy with my progress, Whitethorn,” he teases, bending down to kiss Rowan’s cheek, “See you next time, pretty boy.”
He’s gone before Rowan can yell at him and Rowan sits there, dumbly lifting his hand to press his fingers against the tingling spot where the kiss still lingers.
It’s a few minutes later when he looks down at the paper, reading through it. It’s good. Really good.
Rowan wants so badly to hate Lorcan Salvaterre and yet…
And yet.
+*+*+*+*+*+*
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No, I’m not going with you.”
Lorcan pouts, making his eyes big and wide, “C’mon, please? Just for a bit! It'll be fun, I promise.”
Rowan crosses his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes, “No, I’m not going to the party. And not with you.”
With a loud and tortured sigh, Lorcan slinks down in his chair, petulantly knocking his foot into Rowan’s, “Come with me to the party.”
“No. Pay attention.”
Lorcan kicks him again, whining, “C’mon, please?”
Rowan sighs, moving his foot away and idly flipping through a book, “No.” Lorcan kicks his foot repeatedly, over and over and over until finally Rowan lets out a curse in the Old Language, “If I say yes, will you stop kicking me and pay attention?”
“Yes,” Lorcan says, sitting up straight. His eyes are bright, excited, even, “Do you really mean it? You’ll go with me?”
Rolling his eyes, Rowan nods, “Yeah, now do you work.”
“Wow, so bossy.”
“Oh gods, I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
No, he doesn’t.
+*+*+*+*+*+*
Rowan laughs drunkenly as Lorcan cheers his beer pong victory with Fenrys, the two friends launching into a complicated handshake.
It ends with an aggressive chest bump that sends Fenrys sprawling on his ass. Lorcan stands over him, laughing loudly and helping his friend up. Fenrys searches for another partner as Lorcan stumbles over to Rowan and flops down on the couch beside him.
“You wanna know something, pretty boy,” Lorcan slurs, his eyes hazy. “It’s a secret,” he whispers in an exaggerated tone. “Very secret.”
Rowan arches a brow, “I like secrets.”
Lorcan nods, breathing in deeply, “You wanna know why I really beat that guy up? He deserved it.”
“Really?”
“Yup, he really did,” Lorcan nods again, his eyes growing sad. “I didn’t mean to break his knee. He just… he was saying he was gonna out me. Someone told him I wasn’t really dating Elide and we were each other’s beards and… I didn’t know how coach was gonna react, you know? So I just… kept him silent.”
Rowan doesn’t know what to say, instantly sobered by the depressing secret. “Lorcan, I… I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry.”
Lorcan waves his hand, picking at the hem of his oversized t-shirt. “‘t’s fine. It was a long time ago.” He sighs, nudging Rowan’s leg with his foot, “You wanna know something else?”
“Is it sad?”
“Mmm, maybe a lil pathetic, but I don’t think it’s sad,” Lorcan says, rolling his head against the couch to look at Rowan.
Rowan nods, feeling fuzzy, “Tell me!”
“I don’t need a tutor. I’m actually really good in that class.”
He sits up straight, too far gone to connect the dots, “Well, why would you get one then? That’s not very smart.”
Lorcan sighs, “Really, Ro? You can’t figure it out? Thought you were supposed to be the genius.” When Rowan stares at him blankly, Lorcan sighs again, the sound tortured, “Hellas below, pretty boy, I like you. I, like, like like you. I wanted to see you more. So I asked Emrys for a tutor.”
“You like like me? Really?”
“Mm-hmm. You’re, like, my favourite person in the world.”
Rowan gawks, blinking stupidly. “Shut up.”
“What, why?”
“‘Cause you’re making fun of me again,” he grumbles, angry that his heart did a little jump when Lorcan said it. “It’s not very nice.”
Lorcan sits up straight, reaching out to gently cup Rowan’s neck. His eyes are hazy, but true and open. “Ro… it’s not a joke. I wouldn’t make fun of you.” Rowan rolls his eyes and Lorcan laughs softly, fixing it, “Like this. I really, really like you. I mean it.”
“Really?”
Lorcan only nods, his thumb idly stroking over Rowan’s jaw. He folds a leg underneath him so he can properly face Rowan.
With a shaking breath, Rowan puts his cup down and fists his hands in Lorcan’s shirt, pulling him close. Lorcan takes the invitation to fit his mouth against Rowan’s, kissing him deeply. Rowan whimpers slightly, looping his arms around Lorcan’s head. He tastes like shitty beer and something sweet and Rowan whispers softly, “I like like you too, L. A lot. And you look cute in glasses and I’ve never hated you.”
“I know,” Lorcan says smugly, pulling Rowan onto his lap. “Who could hate a face like mine?”
“Gods above,” he mutters, nipping at Lorcan’s lower lip, “maybe I do hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“No.” Rowan pulls back, softly brushing Lorcan’s hair back and looking down into his eyes, “I don’t.”
+*+*+*+*+*+*
just a lil something soft :) i’ve been working. on something.
@mythicaitt @ladyverena @keshavomit @empress-ofbloodshed @ladywitchling @darklesmylove @shyvioletcat @the-regal-warrior @theoverlyenthusiasticwriter @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln @thewayshedreamed @sassyhobbits
#they are just......mmmm comfort!ship#rowcan#rowan x lorcan#rowan whitethorn#lorcan salvaterre#isa writes gay shit#nalgenewhore#rowan could never hate lorcan he's too in love wif him
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For Bakudeku event on Twitter
Modern AU setting. Santa/Elf prompt
It started with a stupid dare to take a picture with the Santa in the mall, and Katsuki Bakugou never backed down from a dare no matter how stupid or silly it was. And really, how could taking a picture hurt?
With his buddies watching on, the blonde trundled up to the Santa and sat on the man’s lap for the photo, glaring at his friends who were giving him the thumbs up. ‘Fuckers, if they even so much as think... to...’ his eyes land on Santa’s helper dressed like an elf. ‘Oh, wow...’
“Smile!” The young man prompting from behind the camera smiled brightly.
He looked to be their age from what Katsuki could see. Messy green hair stuck out from under an elf cap, costume matching the color of his hair and eyes for that matter, but the freckles... just adorable! Such a bright smile practically radiated happiness, oh, and how the man’s eyes crinkled at the corners, twinkling like the soft Christmas lights set up around the area. Katsuki’s heart skipped and he suddenly forgot where he was.
“Sir, you may wait on the side for your photo.”
Huh? Oh, right, the stupid photo dare. He didn’t even want it, yet walked over to the waiting area where his friends were standing.
“Bakubro,” Eijiro Kirishima, his best friend questioned, “you seem dazed, did the flash blind you or something?”
“What? Pfft, no, why?”
“You like, totally zoned out at the elf, that’s why.”
The amused tone in Eijiro’s voice wasn’t lost on the blonde. “So? I thought he looked weird.”
“Oh...”
“Oh?” Katsuki’s brow raises. “What the fuck did you think I was thinking?!”
Eijiro grinned wide. “That he’s cute.”
“I didn’t say that!” He gritted out. “Don’t be putting words in my mouth!”
Katsuki continued to deny his friends assertions, and was so caught up in the bickering, doesn’t hear the elf coming up behind him until Eijiro stopped mid-sentence to look past him.
“Sir, your photo.”
The chipper voice was like a melody to soothe a savage beast. Clearly the opposite of personality from the gruff and grumpy Katsuki. He turned quickly and took the white envelope with a curt thanks before immediately getting the hell out of there! His friends followed, laughing, at his expense, but screw them! It’s not like he had a chance anyway! The guy probably had a girl or boyfriend being such a cutie cinnamon roll. The longer he thought about it, the worst his mood became. Katsuki worked hard to hide his anxieties, which is why he rarely dated.
“Dude, come on,” Eijiro tried to stop him from leaving the mall so soon. “We were just kidding!”
“I’m fucking tired, so I’m going home!” To forget all about the cute little Santa’s helper.
Except he couldn’t..
And kept thinking about the man, even dreamt about him that night. When Katsuki woke up the next morning, tired from a restless sleep, he pulled up the mall information on his phone to see how long they’d be running the Santa’s workshop. Two more weeks, and the last day would be Christmas Eve. Great. Two weeks to figure out what to do.
‘This is madness...’ Katsuki thought as he stood around the corner just out of view. He’d been watching the elf work for a week now, desperate to learn more. Was he gay, straight, taken?! Please be gay and single. So far, he hasn’t seen anyone approach the elf, but then again, he is at work and they might not come to bother him at work. ‘Argh! What am I doing here?!’
It was lunch break for the elf, and Katsuki watched as he removed the costumes hat and grabbed his belongings to go to the food court. But just as he leaves the front, a girl walked up. The elf smiled wide, happy with a light blush on his cheeks as they hug. Katsuki deflates the longer he watches them chat, and the deeper the man’s cheeks turn red. Oh... this must be a girlfriend. He turned away unable to watch any longer. So be it. He knew the odds had been low, that this cinnamon roll would be taken. Smart people jump at such opportunities, yet look at him, stalking someone because he’d been too afraid to say anything.
Katsuki sucked back the tears. No! He’s not gonna cry! Wtf is wrong with him! His hands clench at his sides and head hangs low. Time to leave and move on, there’ll be others or maybe not. But like a glutton for punishment, Katsuki turned to look one more time, take one last look at the cute little green-haired elf whose smile had stolen his heart... and who was staring back at him?!
The girl is pointing and grinning in his direction. Why the fuck is she pointing?! Katsuki’s takes a tentative step backwards, maybe they thought he was stalking?! Okay, so he was, but that’s not good. Crap! Why is the elf walking towards him now?! He looked around in a panic, should he run? Yes! Katsuki takes off in the opposite direction. He hears the man calling after him.
Stop! Wait! Please stop!
Why is the elf pursuing him?! Is he gonna report him to security? The girl probably called and they’re on their way...
Mister cute blonde guy please stop running!!
Mister WHAT?!
Katsuki stopped dead in his tracks, completely shook by the man’s words, but apparently the elf hadn’t planned on the sudden reaction and barreled head long into Katsuki’s back, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
“Are you crazy?!”
“You’re the one who ran!”
Both men’s mouths clamp shut, face to face, eye to eye... Katsuki sucked in a breath, heaven help him the elf’s emerald pools with hints of gold flecks bore straight into his soul.
“Why’d you call me cute?” Katsuki sputtered out.
“Because,” the man averted his eyes. “You are.”
Katsuki growled at the loss of eye contact and pulled the man’s face back towards him. He knew then and there he wanted to stare into those hues for the rest of his life.
“I’m not really good at shit like this, but,” Katsuki’s voice lowered. “I think you’re really cute too.”
“Is that why you were watching me?”
The hope twinkling in the elf’s eyes from such a statement sent Katsuki’s heart into an explosion of warmth as if he’d had dynamite stored inside him all along. Is this what love at first sight meant?
“What’s your name elf boy?”
“Izuku.”
The man’s giggles sent more arrows through his heart. Yup he was done. “I’m Katsuki.”
“Mister Katsuki, could I have your number? Cause I gotta get back to work but I’d love to call you later.”
“Pfft cut the mister part and why are you working at such a silly place?”
“Oh,” Izuku grew sheepish, “I needed the extra money to buy Christmas gifts. I don’t have much since I’m still in college.”
“Like how much?”
“Um, I saw a pair of earrings I think my mom would like, so this last paycheck should give me enough for it.”
“A store in the mall?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Get up,” he pulled Izuku to his feet. “Let’s go get it.”
“Wait!” He pulled back. “I can’t afford it yet.”
“It’s for your mom, and I can.”
“N-no, I can’t except such a gift.”
“Look, Izuku my parents own the jewelry store here and—“
“You’re a Bakugou?!”
“Shh, don’t shout that shit! Just call me Santa.”
Izuku shook his head. “I can’t accept that, w-we just met and—“
“I won’t take no for an answer.” He tipped Izuku’s chin up. “The fact you care so much about your mom makes me like you even more. Just say you’ll be my boyfriend, that’s all I wanna hear.”
“You want me to be your boyfriend?” Izuku’s words wisp out. “Is this all a dream?”
Katsuki chuckled. “One that came true maybe. Look, if it makes you feel better, my mom will be so happy I have a boyfriend she’ll probably give you anything you want in the store.”
That brings a giggle back out of Izuku. “Mine will too. Okay.” He smiled and let pot a long exhale. “I’d love to be your boyfriend. But I really should go back to work, they need me—“
“Nope,” Katsuki takes his hand and starts walking towards the jewelry store. “No boyfriend of mine works as an elf.”
“But Kacchan,” he pouts, “I don’t wanna crush the kids dreams. Let me finish the shift at least.”
“Ugh, fine.” Katsuki grumbled though the smile never left his face. “Find me at the store when your done.”
“Okay!” Izuku beamed, kissing Katsuki’s cheek before rushing off to work.
Katsuki touched the warm spot left behind on his skin and smiled. This little green-haired elf was his perfect opposite in every way and everything about him made him smile. Maybe he should thank Eijiro for daring him that day...
Nah!
#bakudeku#bkdk#bakudeku ficlet#bakudeku fan fic#bakudeku fan fiction#katsudeku#ktdk#bakugou katsuki#midoriya izuku#bakudeku au#modern setting
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a bad day doesn’t have to be so bad — edmund pevensie
Request: Can I get one where Edmund has this whole day planned for him and reader, but when he goes to pick her up, she’s super sad and having a bad day? And so he abandons everything and they just cuddle and stuff. ^-^ thanks, dear. Love your writing <3
Setting: Modern AU (I hope you don’t mind ;u;)
Contains: CUDDLESSSS
Word Count:
Enjoy!
[reposting from my old 2016 blog]
(Y/n) buried her face in her pillow while being wrapped in a burrito of blankets. She stared out of her window while it was raining. (Y/n) knew Edmund had planned out a day of adventures for a rainy day and today was going to be that day. But she couldn’t help that everything’s been going to shit lately. And she was in one of those sad spells. Well, she’s been in it for a bit. To add on she had just gotten her period a day ago and the second day is always when the cramps are killing her. It doesn’t help that her little brother was a little brat and decided to tackle her to wake her up about the fact that it was raining. Yup, it was a great day for (Y/n).
The bell rang from doownstairs and she immediately knew it was Edmund after her phone had been buzzing for quite some time.
“I got it!” Henry’s, her little brother, muffled yelling could be heard, he was quite a noisy kid. “Oh Hey Ed! Are you here for my sister?” The door slammed.
“Edmund’s probably inside now…” (Y/n) thought. “Though, I couldn’t care less if he saw me like this. I’ll just wait till he comes up.”
“Yeah, I am. where is she? She hadn’t texted me back,” Edmund asked him. Henry started to tug him up the stairs towards (Y/n) room.
“I’m afraid she’s a bit grumpy today. She wouldn’t come out in the rain with me!” Henry whined. Edmund raised an eyebrow. That struck him as quite odd. (Y/n) had always gone out in the rain with Henry whenever it did rain. It was a little thing the two had done together all the time.
“That’s alright, maybe I can cheer her up!” Edmund patted the 6 year old kid on the head before heading into (Y/n)’s room. Henry pouted then ran off to go find some snacks.
“ (Y/n) ? Love?” Edmund closed the door behind him and he walked over towards her bed. (Y/n) felt her bed sink from behind and grunted. She really wasn’t in the mood for anything. Edmund sighed then grabbed the burrito-fied (Y/n) and turned her over to face him.
“What do you want?” (Y/n) grumbled. She wrapped herself farther into her blankets. Edmund moved a few of her hair strands and looked at her lovingly. He smiled a bit which resulted in (Y/n) ’s mood being boosted just a bit.
“Well, we had plans for today but if you’d like, I can just stay here with you.” Edmund explained. (Y/n) grunted once more. She shifted a bit then let her blanket open up. Edmund went into the blanekts with her and wrapped his arms around her. (Y/n) melted in his arms and nuzzled his chest.
“… Thanks…” (Y/n) murmured.
“It’s not a problem but, if I can ask, what’s wrong love?” No response “Is it another one of those sad spells again?” He felt her head nod against his chest. Edmund closed his eyes. He already knew that this often opened to her a lot and it would take her a while to go back to normal. He also knew that this was when her school work would degrade which meant he definitely had to come over more often to make sure she’s on task. Or even cuddle.
Edmund kissed the top of (Y/n) head and she sighed contently. For the first time in a bit, she didn’t feel so empty and sad inside. She looked up at Edmund who had his eyes closed. She then moved a bit and gave him a quick peck before going back into her old position.
“If you’re going to kiss me, you might as well kiss me fully,” Edmund smirked. (Y/n) flicked him on his chest playfully as if saying ‘Oh shut it, you!’ Then she moved back up to kiss him. He moved his head away right when she was next to his face.
“Nope! Too late!” He laughed at her when she pouted at him angrily. “What? Don’t give me that look, you lost your chance.” She rolled her eyes at him. “Oh fine fine! Whatever you want, dear.” They finally kissed. Once more, (Y/n) went back to her old position and kept nuzzling into his chest.
“Hey, that feels weird! Stop doing that!” (Y/n) giggled a bit and finally stopped.
“I love you,” (Y/n) murmured. Edmund kissed the top of her head again and chuckled.
“I know, I love you too.”
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Warren Worthington- Laundry
word count: 1.8K
warnings: really soft smut like just sweet smut, no condom whoops, cussing, also! not proofread lmao
A/N: so i have two requests rn but i’m having a hard time writing them bc i don’t feel inspired but ! i’m inspired for this so let’s get it folks
also this is like a modern college!warren au
Finals week. Commonly referred to as hell week, which is a perfect description for it. College was hard enough without taking long, difficult exams. (Y/n) had been going through a quizlet for her macroeconomics class for the last 2 hours. She could feel her brain start to go numb. If she had to go over monetary policy one more time, she was going to literally punch herself in the face. She shifted in her desk chair, trying not to wake her dorm mate. (Y/n) grabbed her phone, going to check her notifications, but stopped herself when she saw the time.
“2 am, holy shit.”
(Y/n) didn’t want to pull an all nighter, knowing it would just make her feel like shit the next day. She figured she deserved sleep (if she was able to get any). After closing her laptop, she slowly creeped over to her bed.
“Damn it.”
Her dirty laundry was in a pile in front of her bed. She was supposed to do it earlier and study at the student laundry mat, but all the machines were taken. (Y/n) thought about her options, deciding that since she had just drank a red bull an hour ago and wouldn’t be able to sleep, she might as well throw her laundry in the wash instead of just laying in bed overthinking. She figured she could go over her biology notes as her clothes washed, giving her a break from economics.
She quietly threw her laundry in her basket, placing her bio notebook on top. (Y/n) tiptoed out of the room, heading left to the student laundry mat. The dorms were extremely quiet. Everyone was probably either cramming for exams or passed out already.
(Y/n) reached the laundry room that was at the end of the hall, but hesitated in walking in. She noticed a person sitting on top of one of the machines, but with her eyes still adjusting to the bright florescent lights she couldn’t tell who.
“Oh, hey (Y/n).”
She squinted to see the figure as she stepped into the room.
“Warren?”
Him and (Y/n) were somewhat close, having shared a class their sophomore year of college. She had always found him cute, especially early sophomore year, but now he had grown into himself more- he was a straight up hottie. She saw him more frequently now because he had taking the position of RA for their dorm hall. They never spoke too much, just exchanged smiles and the occasional small talk.
Warren hummed, looking back down at his textbook.
(Y/n) lugged her laundry basket on top of one of the machines, filling it with quarters before turning back to face Warren.
“Why are you in here at 2 am?”
“Why are you?”
“I asked you first.”
He let out a sigh, “Just couldn’t sleep. Figured I’d get some chores done and some studying in. Was going pretty well too before someone distracted me.”
(Y/n) laughed, “Distracting? I’m not that loud, but fine I’ll be quiet.”
“It’s not you talking, it’s your clothes.”
“Huh?”
(Y/n) looked down. All she was wearing was a big t-shirt over a pair of underwear, her feet clad in fuzzy socks.
“That’s against dress code, you know.”
(Y/n) could hear the smirk in his voice. She turned back around, loading her laundry into the washing machine. “Oh shut up, Mr. RA. And if you’re distracted, close your eyes.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
(Y/n) rolled her eyes and even though Warren couldn’t see her, it’s like he could feel her annoyance.
“Oh, fuck me,” (Y/n) mumbled to herself.
“Gladly.”
She slammed her hand down on the washer, “Shut it! Why are you so horny right now? I’ve never seen you act like this.”
“Must be all the sleep deprivation. Really gets the hormones pumping. But no, really, what’s wrong?”
He hopped off his machine, checking the time and seeing it only had another 5 minutes before it needed to dry. He walked towards (Y/n), trying to keep his eyes from scanning her bare legs and looking creepy.
“I didn’t bring my detergent. Fuck me.”
“You can use mine!”
Warren happily ran to his basket, grabbing two big bottles, excited to be able to help her.
“Here.”
“Fabric softener?” (Y/n) tried to hold in a laugh.
“What? It makes my clothes feel nice!”
“You’re such a softie!”
“Shut it!”
“Nope! If you get to make sex jokes, I get to bully you for being a softie.”
Warren groaned, hopping up on the machine next to (Y/n), leaving his textbook abandoned on the other side of the room.
“It’s cute, seriously. Wanting soft clothes and all.”
He rolled his eyes, but wasn’t able to keep a smile from forming on his face after she indirectly called him cute.
“But, no, thank you. For the detergent and softener.”
Warren hummed in response, watching (Y/n) add detergent and softener. Somehow she seemed to beautiful even under the bright laundry room lights at two in the morning.
(Y/n) started the machine and shut the top of the washer, hopping up on it. She scooted closer to Warren, her legs dangling off the washer.
“So...”
“So?”
He turned towards her, waiting for her to continue.
“So-”
(Y/n) was interrupted by the buzzing of Warren’s machine. He hopped off, going to toss them into a dryer. (Y/n) followed him across the room. Warren opened the washer top and started loading the clothes into a dryer. (Y/n) grabbed some clothes, wanting to help.
“Nice boxers.”
Warren spun away from the dryer, turning to face her.
“What? Put those down!”
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles huh?”
Warren snatched them from her hand, “Don’t touch my underwear! That’s- that’s weird.”
“Says the boy who has made at least three sex jokes since I got in here.”
Warren rolled his eyes, focused on digging quarters out of his laundry basket for the dryer.
“I liked them though. Pretty cute.”
He let out a scoff, “Sure, cartoon underwear is so cute.”
“Yeah, would look even cuter on my bedroom floor though.”
Warren whipped his head to look back at her. She was sitting up on the washer he had just used, absentmindedly flipping through his textbook.
“Did- did you just make a sex joke?”
“Did you like it?”
Warren turned back to the dryer, finishing with his quarters, “Not at all.”
“Fuck you.”
“Please do.”
“Damn it! You’re good at that.”
“That’s what she said.”
(Y/n) lightly kicked Warren in response to his never ending sexual humor. He patted her leg, making her scooch over so he could squeeze in next to her.
“So statistics huh?”
Warren patted his textbook cover with his other hand, “Yup.”
“Gross.”
“Yup.”
A moment of silence passed, Warren’s hand still resting on her thigh.
“S-so, what did you want to say earlier?”
(Y/n) looked away from his hand, “What? When?”
“Over there,” he pointed lazily towards her machine.
“Oh! I, um, I just wanted to say you got taller. Since last year, you know?”
Warren laughed, eyes on her face. “Thanks.”
“You look good, Warren! Serious glow up.”
“So I was ugly last year?”
“What?,” (Y/n)’s eyes widened, “no! Not at all! You were different though.”
“Bad different I’m guessing.”
She shoved his shoulder, “Shut up! Good different. You were cuter, now you’re-”
“I’m what?”
(Y/n)’s tongue darted out to wet her dry lips, “Hot. I mean- you know, uh, hotter? You always looked good. But now you’re like- whew! You know?”
Warren’s eyebrows were raised in amusement, not used to seeing (Y/n) so flustered. It felt refreshing, like they were finally escaping the stress of school and just having fun again.
“You’re hotter too. Still hot last year, but like- whew!”
“Fuck you, okay. Don’t mock me.”
He poked her ribs, “I’m serious! You look great.”
(Y/n) rolled her eyes, trying to hold back her smile.
“(Y/n),” Warren whispered, scooting closer to her, “C-can I kiss you?”
Instead of responding, (Y/n) smashed her lips into his, desperate for him. Warren’s hand moved from her thigh to cup her jaw, making her slow down. He wanted to savor this moment with her.
The kiss became softer and lighter. Butterflies were going off in Warren’s stomach as she pulled herself onto his lap, accidentally shoving his basket off in the process. The loud bang made them pull apart.
“Fuck! Sorry! I was trying to be sexy and get on top, but-”
“It’s okay.”
Warren shut her up by kissing her once more, slightly more feverish this time. His hands slipped under her shirt, slowly climbing higher. (Y/n) stopped to pull the shirt over her head.
Warren’s jaw dropped when he noticed she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.
“I- um, wow-”
(Y/n)’s lips moved to his neck while her fingers began to slip behind the waist band of his sweatpants. She slowly tugged them off, leaving them hanging around his ankles.
(Y/n) began to palm his obvious erection, her mouth sucking a mark onto his neck.
“Hey, (Y/n)?”
She pulled away, retracting her hands from his boxers, “Y-yeah, are you okay? Oh boy-”
Warren grabbed her hands, holding them between his, “I’m fine! Great actually, really really great. I just- I really want to say I actually like you. Like feelings- not just this. And yeah I want to do this too, but I would also want something to happen with feelings..”
(Y/n) moved her hands from his to cup his face, “I definitely want to date you, Warren. You’re so sweet.”
She could feel his face heat up in her hands, “Good! Yay- yes, okay. Cool-”
“Just stop talking.”
(Y/n)’s lips found their way back to Warren’s neck as her hips began to grind against Warren, making him whimper.
Warren slid down his boxers before moving his hands to her underwear, rubbing her folds through it. (Y/n)’s sleep deprived body responded quicker than it usually would, she was already soaked.
She pulled away to move her underwear to the side, too tired to take it off in their difficult position. She lined herself up with Warren and slid down, taking him all in at once.
Warren let out a breathy moan as her heat wrapped around him.
“Fuck, (Y/n).”
(Y/n)’s nails went to scratch against his head as she slowly moved her hips on him.
It was soft and slow, but exactly what they needed to relax and unwind.
(Y/n) felt herself grow closer to her edge and she began to move slightly faster, lips smashed against Warren’s.
She tightened around him as she came, making Warren follow.
“Fuck- I’m so tired.”
(Y/n) laughed, climbing off of him and pulling her shirt back over her head.
“Me too.”
Warren hopped off the machine, almost tripping over his pants around his ankles.
“You could come sleep at my place. I-um, I have a room to myself you know? Since I’m an RA. Y-you don’t have to, but-”
“No, that’d be nice. Except I’ve still got a load in. But you can just go ahead, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Warren shook his head, “I’ll stay.”
“Really? It’s like 3 am.”
Warren walked over to her machine, “I need to stay, you still have my laundry detergent.”
“Oh fuck you!”
“You just did!”
taglist: @chocolatealmondmilkshake @thoughtlesspace @billyhargovesgurl @babebenhardy @rexorangecouny @cyndagoaway @killcomet @mcrmarvelloki @queen-turtle-boiii @hardlylo @ziggymay @jacqueline1916 @onceuponadetectivedemigod @ixchel-9275 @queen-baelin
hmu to be added!
#Warren Worthington III#warren worthington iii smut#warren worthington imagine#warren worthington x reader#warren worthington iii x reader#warren fluff#ben hardy#ben hardy imagine#x men#x men apocalypse
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Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 13
Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC
Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.
Word Count: 4,108
FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER
Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!
"Why are you stuffing the freezers full of Sven plushies?"
My arm stopped mid-motion and I blinked owlishly up at Frozone from where I was kneeled down on the Ice Palace floor in front of said freezers.
...I wasn't, was I?
Looking down at my hand and, more specifically, what was in it, I winced.
Yes. Yes, I was.
Fudge.
Hastily scooping them all off the stacks of ice cream bars and back out onto the tiled ground beneath me, I shot up to my feet, hiding one behind my back with a tiny, awkward laugh . "Oh! That! Yes, uh… I was just… trying to give them a… nice… frosty sheen! To, erm, make them more… authentic? Yeah, you know, since reindeer are from the frozen north, or, ah… somewhere… like that, heh!"
His eyelids drooped. "I… see."
"Oh yeah, chilled plushies are the new 'It' thing." Really? This was the hill I was choosing to die on? Apparently it was. I shoved the little caribou I was still holding into his face now, showing off the icy glaze to its fur coat as I pressed on, "They're all the rage in, er… Norway."
"Norway. Right," Frozone deadpanned as he gingerly took the proffered doll by one of its antlers. Don't think he was quite convinced. Just a wild guess here. "Call me old fashioned but for now, let's just keep all the plushes at room temperature, shall we? And please, run any other... innovations you might have by me first," he flashed me a thousand watt smile, "sound good?"
I returned it with a shaky one of my own, "A-absolutely!" He nodded and as soon as he turned his back on me, my grin faded into a grimace and I buried my face in my hands.
This hadn't been the first of my little "innovations" since starting my shift today.
Other winners included almost dumping used popsicle sticks instead of ice cream into the soft serve/milkshake machine, trying to pile scoops onto straws instead of cones, and giving taste spoons out as change for payment.
Yeah, that particular customer hadn't been exactly thrilled by the last one. Apparently the world just wasn't ready for my groundbreaking and avant-gard new form of currency.
But really, I just wasn't paying attention. I couldn't help it! I was too distracted and completely unable to focus. Hadn't been able to since the study session had ended yesterday. I'd hadn't even gotten a wink of sleep last night, merely tossed and turned while my thoughts had kept running round and round in endless circles.
I just… still couldn't get over it.
Me.
Having a crush.
My brain wouldn't wrap around it. I quite simply did not grok.
For starters, was I forgetting the six year relationship I had just been in? The fiancé I'd left at the altar a few short weeks ago? What was he, chopped liver? How could I just start having… feelings or whatever for someone else so quickly? I mean, okay sure, I hadn't been in love with the guy, but still… wasn't this breaking the rules or something? Committing some sort of romantic faux pas? Spurning basic etiquette in matters of the heart?
Perhaps I should take a step back and look at this all more objectively. Maybe I was just confused and didn't really know what it was I was actually feeling. Just what were these emotions exactly, anyway? I'd definitely never felt them before, and certainly not for my ex. But just because these sentiments were new and I was experiencing them only in the presence of a certain boy, didn't necessarily mean they were, um… affectionate in nature, right?
Yeah, this didn't have to be a crush. I was only jumping to conclusions! Lea was a great guy, absolutely, and I liked him, you know, as a person, but that didn't mean that I, like… like-liked him! I barely even knew him, for crying out loud! Granted, I did know he was kind, sweet, caring, funny, clever, made me feel comfortable around him (that in itself was kind of a miracle), and was a cutie-patootie to boot, but that didn't-
Wait.
Back up.
What was that word I'd just used?
...cutie...patootie?
Bleh, where had that even come from?
That's the thing about crushes, boo. You don't have to really know the person, just think they're a total cutie-patootie!
I shuddered as my roomie's earlier words came back to haunt me.
Thanks, Ghost of Rayne Past, this was exactly what I didn't need right now.
Okay, fine, so maybe it was a crush. I don't know! This was new territory for me! And even it was, so what? It's not like it mattered. Lea wasn't dating at the moment. Girls were a distraction, he was focusing on his school work, yada yada, that whole thing. And say, for the sake of argument, that weren't the case. It's not like I'd ever have the guts to…
...what?
Ask him out?
Pffft, me? Elsa, Queen of the Chickens?
Please!
And even if I went all the way to the magical land of Oz to ask the great wizard himself for some courage so I could so much as even begin to consider acting on these alleged feelings I may or may not have, Lea didn't see me like that. He'd made that abundantly clear. When he'd finally ended his self-imposed exile to the bathroom yesterday, the sheer amount of awkward that had filled the room after that had been enough to suffocate. And even when we did eventually manage to fall into a comfortable study rhythm once more, it didn't slip my notice that he'd always seemed to try and keep the table between the two of us for the rest of the evening.
So really, it was all moot. Lea wasn't interested. Which was okay, because I wasn't interested in him either! ...or maybe I was, but that was beside the point! The point was that this crush, if that's even really what it was, was a non-entity. Nothing that was ever going to be acted on. Nothing worth losing my head over like this, getting all-
"Elsa?" A throat cleared nearby and I glanced over my shoulder to see Frozone, back once more, now complete with a deadpan look. He held up a metal scoop. "...try this maybe?"
I stared blankly from it to him.
...crud, had I done it again?
I looked down at my hands and immediately got my answer.
Indeed I had. I'd zoned out for the umpteenth time and gone on auto-pilot. And my auto-pilot? Sucked. Big time.
Last I'd checked before I'd gone all space cadet, I'd been cleaning up the pile of Svens off the floor and hanging them back up on their hooks. Now that I was tuning back in, it seemed I'd wrapped up that task and had since moved on to assisting a customer. That customer had requested scooped ice cream on a cone - or so the hope would be, given I had a cone in hand (good start) and had opened the glass display to the refrigerated tubs. However, I'd apparently been about to start scooping… with nothing but my bare friggin' fingers.
I looked back at Frozone, plastering on a smile. "Oh, this? This is just, ah… well you know, studies have linked the use of traditional ice cream scoops back to, er… male… pattern baldness!" Ugh, just stop already, mouth, you're not helping! Do you not remember how bad at lying we are?! "Something about the way the, um, the metal... alloy interacts with the sugar is just… just yeah, bad juju or something." What I wouldn't give for a muzzle right now. What even were the words coming out of my mouth anymore? "Nine out of ten experts agree that, ah, scooping with just your hands is the safest, healthiest option, so… there you go! A great lil tip there for you, so yeah… you're welcome!"
"...I think I'll take my chances," he said, tone flat. Then he was pulling me to one side, out of earshot of the patron, "Okay, girl, you clearly got a lot going on up in there at the moment," he tapped me on the forehead a couple times, "so tell you what. I'll finish helping this customer while you gather the rest of the scoops, take them to the back for a rinse and use that minute to clear your head. Alright?"
Straightening up slightly, I gave a quick nod. "Yes sir."
"Atta girl." A quick pat on my shoulder from him, then he was moving off to greet the customer.
Giving myself a small shake, I then quickly set to work collecting the steel utensils. Focus. Focus! This wasn't the time to be twisting myself up in knots over something so inane. There'd be plenty of time for such self-indulgent stupidity once I got back home later tonight. For now, think ice cream. That's it, pure and simple. Ice cream. Live it, breathe it, bleed it. Ice cream. Nothing else existed. Nope, not a thing. Most definitely not-
My gaze chose that second to flick up, glancing towards the other side of the food court. Yup, you guessed it. A certain redhead was currently on shift at a certain pizzeria across the way. Lea was back at it with the pizza dough sorcery, spinning and tossing one on each hand. By chance, our eyes met and to my surprise, gone was any trace of lingering weirdness from yesterday. In fact, his face brightened as he flung one disc up into the air, freeing up that hand to give me an energetic wave.
There was a tiny spasm in my chest and I spun on my heel, turning my back to him.
We've been hit by friendly fire, captain! Status report.
Eyes? Wide and unblinking.
Hands? Strangling metal scoops while simultaneously pressing them against my hammering chest.
Face? Roasting like a honey-glazed ham on Christmas Eve.
...hold up… gah, what the heck was I doing?! Why was I freaking out? Weren't we past all this already, Elsa? Hadn't we left that awkward stage of your friendship with Lea in the dust behind us long ago? So what if you maybe, kind of, sort of had a teensy-weensy crush on him now? This wasn't grade school, you were a damn grown-up! So start acting like one, turn your butt around and wave back at him already!
So I did. I squared my shoulders, put on my best smile, did another about-face and waved back.
...and in my enthusiasm in said wave, I managed to smack myself in the face with the handful of metal scoops I was still holding.
Nailed it.
"I saw that," I heard Frozone's dry voice behind me and I whipped around to discover him all done with the customer and now standing there, arms crossed. "Don't tell me, let me guess. Whatever hang-up is going on with you has to do with that pizza boy." Pause to quirk an eyebrow. "Again."
I gulped, eyes darting to the left. "Heh… pizza what? Boy who?" Crickets. "I'm-going-to-go-wash-these-now-okay-bye!" I blurted out like it was all one word and bolted through the door to the back.
Whew! Dodged that bullet like Neo!
A few minutes later I was walking back out to the storefront, freshly cleaned utensils in hand and hoping Frozone wasn't going to feel like picking up exactly where we'd left off in that conversation. Seemed I was in luck, for all he said was, "I'm gonna go on my lunch break now. Should be slow since the rush just died down." He gave me a pointed look, "I trust you're all good now and can handle things on your own for a bit?"
Relieved, I gave a nod as I started putting the scoops back in their spots. "You can count on me."
"That's what I like to hear," he grinned, holding his fist out for a bump and I only hesitated for a second before lightly tapping my knuckles to his. "Alright, be back soon!"
I watched him go, then finished returning all the utensils before taking up position behind the cash register. Okay, you can do this. Don't let your mind wander. Stay in the here and now. Look around and pick something to concentrate on, keep you grounded. Like that plastic spork underneath that one table out there, dropped and forgotten, yet to be swept up by a roaming janitor. Or… that grey tabby at the Lucky Cat Café, what was his name again... Chirithy? Yeah, that sounded right. Or at Anna over there, bursting through the double doors, running straight for me as if her life depended on it and-
...wait, what?
Anna?
What was she doing here?
And why did she look so frantic and horrified?
When she got close enough, I began, "Anna, why are you-"
"Sis!" she shouted, stumbling to a stop in front of me and slamming both her hands down next to the register. "Shush! Listen!" She looked like she'd just ran a marathon and was out of breath, her every word punctuated with a pant or a wheeze. "Back… Back at- Overheard... Talking... Yelling… Mall ice cream! Mad, so… so friggin' mad! Drove… drove here! Quick as I- Right behind me! Just barely got here before… before-" She suddenly hissed in pain and pulled one knee up to her chest, grabbing her foot in both hands and bouncing up and down on the other. "Frick! Owie, charley horse! Charley horse!"
Figures her super human power to babble would fail her in the hour of her greatest need.
At a loss, I reached out across the counter to rest a hand on her arm, "Anna, slow down. Breathe. I can't understand you, you're missing some nouns there. What are you trying to tell me? Why-"
Using the countertop for support now, she grabbed me by the shirt and yanked me closer, bringing us nose to nose. "He's here! He knows!"
My blood ran cold.
I swallowed hard. "H-he? He w-who?"
Please, please, please don't say-
"The Duke!"
...oh.
Then it wasn't-
Well that's a relief!
Wait… Oh… Oh dear god, no… no, it most definitely was not!
Those food court's doors banged open a second time now and in he marched, proud and regal in all his big-nosed, bad combover, bushy mustachioed glory.
Weselton "The Duke" Fryse.
Aka my great uncle.
He and I weren't exactly on the best of terms, and that was even before I went all AWOL on my wedding day. Me being the eldest and heir to his nephew's fortune, he'd never quite forgiven me for not being born male. But I mean, come on pal, that was over twenty-two years ago - let it go already! The man was the very definition of dotty old coot and insufferable windbag. And for someone who talks so much, he surprisingly says very little. Mostly antiquated opinions and unsolicited advice, every last bit of it wrong and holier-than-thou. For all his ramblings over the decades, we had yet to even hear the story of where his nickname had even come from. Did it have to do with the esteemed university? Had the Queen of England herself actually honored him with the title? Did he have a reputation back in his day of settling matters by "duking" it out? Who knew? And honestly, who really cared?
But none of that mattered at the moment. What mattered was that he was here. That he knew. And if he knew, that meant mother and father knew. And if they knew… he probably knew as well. You know. Him. My ex.
It was official.
This was it.
The Worst Day Ever.
My chest seized. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. All I could do was watch in abject terror as the Duke drew ever nearer, head held high and stern, bespectacled glare burning holes into me. In fact, I think those glasses were even magnifying the sheer, seething rage contained within that scowl of his and turning it into a straight up death ray.
So this was how I was going to die, huh? Funny. I'd always thought clowns would be the ones to do me in. Well… this was the Duke after all, so… close enough.
How had he even found out? Anna never would have told him. How on earth…?
He at last came to a halt before me, hands folding behind his back. He spared a brief, unamused glance out of the corner of his eyes towards Anna, gracing her with a sniff of disdain. She merely glowered back at him. Then his full attention was on me. "Well, well, young lady," he intoned coldly, staring down his nose at me, "just what do you have to say for yourself?"
Okay, Elsa, easy there. You're going to get through this. Put away the shaky knees and sweaty palms. You're calm. You're collected. Just rationally and eloquently explain yourself to him so he sees your side of it and he'll understand and be on his way.
Clenching and unclenching my hands, took a deep breath and opened my mouth.
Calm. Rational. Eloquent.
Here we go.
"I, um… hm… guh… nhg?"
Well done.
"...quite." His mustache twitched dangerously from side to side. "Please then, allow me. You ran out on your wedding. Wasted your father's valuable time and munny. Broke your poor mother's heart. Embarrassed your whole family. Disrespected your betrothed's family. Disappeared with nary a trace, not so much as one word from you for a month, worrying us all sick... All for what? This?" His narrowed gaze gave the Ice Palace in its entirety a once over and, clearly, found it wanting. "...a ramshackle ice cream booth in a mall. A mall of all places!" he roared and I flinched, but said nothing.
I couldn't. Words had abandoned me. Panic had paralyzed me. All I could do was shrink more and more in on myself, wishing for the ground to swallow me up as his lecture turned into a full on tirade now.
"Working like some lowly, middle-class plebeian! Living heaven only knows where! Fraternizing with commoners! Have you no shame, child?! You little ingrate, you… you little monster! I always knew you'd be the downfall of this family! Of all the selfish, witless, deplorable, irresponsible, contemptible, impudent-"
"Cram it, Weaseltown!" Anna spat out, putting herself between me and him.
Oh great. Now here my baby sister came to fight my battles for me while I cowered behind her. My humiliation was complete.
He took a step back, nostrils flaring and mustache flapping violently as he huffed and puffed. "It's Weselton! The Duke to you, you spoiled brat! I always said your father should've used a firmer hand with you! You've grown wild! You're a disgrace! The both of you are! Why, if your father were here right this second, he'd-"
"Yeah, well he's not!" Anna got in his face now, staring him down as she stabbed a finger into his chest, "You are! Why is that, I wonder? Where is Daddy Dearest anyway?"
Talk! Say something, damn it! Please, just stop standing here doing nothing like a total idiot!
"Such impudence!" he slapped her hand away. "He's back at home, tending to your grief-stricken mother who is inconsolable, simply inconsolable upon learning the truth! Neither of them could bring themselves to come down here and bear the wretched sight of their eldest! So I took it upon myself after breaking the dreadful news to-"
She stamped her foot and snarled, "So it was you! Oh I bet you just couldn't wait to go and tattle to our parents as soon as you knew! Bet you were just positively giddy. How'd you do it? How'd you find out, you big weasel?!"
Their shouting match was causing a scene. People were beginning to stare. Including… I reluctantly dragged my gaze over towards the Pizza Planet… yup. There Lea was with a frown and one eyebrow cocked as he set the dough aside to watch this bit of drama unfold.
For the love of all that is good and mortifying, just end me. End me now. Please.
The Duke stiffened, face blotchy with barely restrained fury. "Hold your vile tongue, you snot-nosed whelp! I'll have you know the information was as good as mine the minute you told us she'd texted you. I knew if I hired a man to follow you, you'd lead us straight to her."
Anna gaped, "You had someone friggin' spying on me?!"
"And rightly so!" he harrumphed, puffing out his chest. "The scandals he reported back to me, why, I nearly died from disgrace! Carousing in a seedy, two-bit pub! Mingling with the filthy yokels! Prancing about on some stage, making an utter mockery out of yourself! Not to mention naught but days later, rendezvousing in secret at some mongrel's hovel and holing up in there with him for hours, you, you, you trollop!"
My stomach fell further and further, my face paler and paler with every word. Dear lord, he knew about all of that?! And what was he even talking about, holing up with- wait, was he talking when I'd helped Lea study? There'd been someone there, some sort of, what… private investigator or something, watching me the whole time? Might still be watching me, even now?
Oh crud, now Lea was over his counter and heading this way. Turn back, you kind, brave, naive fool! You know not the powers you seek to tangle with! Back! Back, I say! Back to the craft of pizza and outer space from whence thou came!
"So the frick what?!" my sister gave a scoff. "Elsa can do whatever with whoever she wants! As far as I'm concerned, what she does with her life is none of your business, you old fart!"
"I make it my business when her actions ruin this family's good name! Now enough of this charade, this, this absolute farce!" The Duke looked past Anna to point at me, "You have a duty to perform, young lady! A responsibility to uphold! You will come home this instant and marry-"
Shoving his arm away, Anna snapped, "She will not! Don't you understand? She doesn't love him, she wasn't happy!"
This was getting out of hand. Somehow, someway, whatever spell that kept me frozen abruptly broke. My feet were suddenly on the move and I was running out from behind the counter. I had to do something. Get between them, break this up, I don't know… just something.
The Duke sneered, "As if love and happiness matter in a marriage, bah!"
"They do when it's… it's…" she frowned in thought for a split second, then her face broke out into a triumphant grin. "When it's true love!"
A huff of a derisive laugh. "True love? Now you're just spouting off nonsense, pure hogwash!"
"Nu uh! In fact," there was now a sly gleam to her eye, "Elsa's already met her true love."
"She's what?!"
I've what?
At her words, I staggered and tripped, nearly colliding into my sister. Anna grabbed my shoulders, keeping me upright. Then she gave me a wink, grin twitching wider before looking back at our great uncle, "What'd you think? That that 'secret rendezvous' as you put it was... what? Just a fling? A one night stand? A booty call? Ha! Well jokes on you, Weaseltown, cuz that was her boyfriend!"
"Her what?!"
My what?
"That's right!" she cackled now as the Duke spluttered and wheeze, his hand going to his chest. "They're in love! Have been for a while now! She… oh! She ran away from her wedding to just be with him! Yeah!"
Anna, what are you doing? Anna, please stop!
"Hey, what seems to be the problem here?" Lea stepped up to join us just then.
Turn back! Back, I say!
"Well if it isn't the man of the hour!" Anna beamed at him, to which he just merely blinked and tipped his head to one side. "Weaseltown, allow me to introduce you to," she shoved me at Lea who caught me as I crashed into his chest, both eyebrows shooting up his forehead in confusion, "Elsa's one and only… her beau, her lover, her boyfriend and one true love! They make just the cutest couple, don'tcha think?"
"Wha- huh?!" Lea's grip on me tightened, his eyes widened and his face flushed bright red.
As for the Duke? Well, I suppose he handled it about as well as could be expected.
He fainted.
Author's Note: Anna, hon, no… Anna why? The way that girl's mind works sometimes, I swear… Lol! You might be able to guess where this is going, dear readers xD But if not, don't worry, it's gonna be spelled out for you reeeeeal soon xP Also, yay, a cameo from The Duke in all his huffy, stuffy, blustering glory! Just what we needed to mix things up, and boy, did things EVER get mixed up!
Next chapter, how will Elsa react to her sister's lil "announcement"? Not to mention, how will LEA react? Will Elsa ever be able to sort through her tangled feelings about this thing that may or may not be a crush? Is Elsa ACTUALLY onto something there with the frozen plushies idea? Is the Duke just straight up DEAD?! …probably not, but it was a fun question to ask xD Stay tuned!
Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!
FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER
#kingdom hearts#frozen#elsa#axel#fanfiction#lea#fanfic#kingdom hearts fanfiction#frozen fanfiction#kh fanfiction#kh fanfic#frozen fanfic#kingdom hearts fanfic#axelsa#fluff#romcom#slow burn#kh3#my writing#ice cream and fire oven pizza#rare pair#crossover pairing#humor#snark
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Because Why Not?
@idontgettechnology tagged me because she knows that I fall more in love with her and our friendship every day 🥰
👽 Do you believe in aliens? Yes’m
👽👽 If so, what do you think they look like? Depends on the environment of whatever planet or system they’re in. It also depends on whether or not they’re carbon-based or something else. There are theories that ghosts in our world are actually interdimensional beings/aliens that we physically can’t perceive because we can only understand the world around us in a certain amount of dimensions. tldr; I don’t know that we could know what aliens look like, depending on where they’re from
🤡 Do you have any phobias? Skunks, failure, being forgotten
💀 What is your favorite thing to do? Read, sleep, spend time with loved ones
☕ Name the tastiest hot beverage. There’s a sexy sweet citrus mocha at my new favorite coffee shop that I love
🥛 Name the tastiest cold beverage. Something fruity but not too sweet
😇 What do you believe is your most angelic quality? Compassion
👹 What do you believe is your most devilish quality? Dark humor
🧜♀️ If you could be any mythical creature, what would you be and why? Look, bud, probably the root reason of why I love redheads is 1000% due to The Little Mermaid (1989)
😻 Describe the sweetest moment you have had with a pet. Anytime a cat comes to sit on me and does that slow blink thing, and anytime a dog rests their big goofy head in my lap
🌎 What is your most far-fetched ‘bucket list’ item? As I get older, fighting someone
🤔 Describe the most influential person in your life. My dad
🤯 Do you have a mental illness? Hahahahahaha YES
🦄 If you could shape-shift into an animal at any time, what would it be and why? Anything that hibernates through the winter, so I could live out my dream of eating anything and everything and then immediately going to sleep for a few months
🍣 Are you a sushi connoisseur? Nope.
🤓 Do you consider yourself a nerd? Yup.
📆 Have you set goals for your life? To not die unfulfilled.
📆📆 If you have made goals, name a few. Become a full-time professor. Publish a book.
📆📆📆 If you’re living life in the moment, explain away. We live in the worst possible timeline, my profession is notorious for not making a ton of money, and the area I live in is one of the most expensive places to live in the world.
🤩 Name a famous celebrity you dream of meeting. Abbi Jacobson
🌙 Are you a moon or sun person? Moon
🚀 If you could travel back in time to any era, where would it be? If I could pass as a very tan Eastern European, maybe the 20s or 40s. Just to visit and enjoy the music
🚀🚀 What kind of life would you want in this era? A brief one.
🦕 Do you wish dinosaurs existed in our modern world? Not now, thanks. That just adds an extra layer of stress.
🦕🦕 If so, would you want a dino pet? Name the kind. Stegosaurus
🎃 Name your favorite holiday. Chrimmas and 4th of July (say what you will about the second one, it reminds me of barbecues and fireworks with my dad).
😊 What do you believe is your most redeeming quality? Fucking compassion, I hope.
😴 Do you get enough sleep? Noooope
🏈 Are you a sport enthusiast? SF Giants, baybee
🦂 Describe your best friend. Goofy, funny, intelligent, loving, sweet, and the absolute love of my life.
🥑 Fruits or veggies? Porque no los dos?
🤞 If you could snap your fingers like Thanos from The Avengers, what would you make happen? I’m gonna have to side with Emily and make Bernie have won the 2016 election
😎 Do you consider yourself a cool kid or a total square? In no lifetime have I EVER been a cool kid
🍭 Do you have a sweet tooth? Of course not, she says, as she finishes the last pieces of chocolate orange in the house
🏥 Do hospitals freak you out? Not really. I know they should, because body fluids freak me out, but not really.
🍕 What’s the best pizza topping? Sausage and olive
🧘♀️ When was the last time you did something just for you? Couple weeks ago, I stayed at a hotel by myself, got naked and ate my weight in pesto pasta in bed while I watched Captain America flex his muscles trying to keep his best friend (boyfriend) from fleeing the country
🎣 Have you ever been fishing? Yes
👶 Do you want to have children someday? Someday
🥔 Name your favorite form of the potato. Au gratin
🌵 Do you have a green thumb? Not at all
🐩 If you have one, name your dream dog(s). A pibble
🍂 Winter, spring, summer or fall? Summer
🐳 Does the ocean freak you out or entice you? Mama ocean calls to me every time I see her
🐚 Ever been scuba-diving or deep-sea fishing? Nope
📸 Do you take a lot of photos? Not really
🎵 Name your three favorite artists/bands. ABBA, The Beatles, and Louis Armstrong
🎵🎵 What about your three favorite genres? Alternative, big band swing, and R&B
🎸 Can you play an instrument(s)? Just the throat and the lungs
🔬 What was the best class in high school? English
🔬🔬 What about the worst class? Math
🕹 Name the video game you have wasted the most time playing. The Inside Out game on my phone
🕹🕹 Name your favorite video game. *swoons* RDR2
🔪 Do you have an interest in serial killers or do they just freak you out? Depends on the serial killer. I have more interest in Martinis and Murder than any serial killer in particular.
🦗 Do bugs give you the heebie-jeebies? They’re fine as long as they’re not on my face or body without consent
🎱 Confess the last wish you made on a magic 8 ball. I do not remember.
😑 Describe the most annoying thing ever. Willful ignorance.
☺ Describe the greatest thing ever. Falling asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow.
🏠 Growing up, how was your home life? Taken for granted
😜 Are you silly or serious? Silly, for the most part
🥩 Steaks: Well-done, medium-rare, or still mooing? Medium-medium
🍄 In your opinion, are mushrooms tasty little morsels or just a dirty fungus? Gross, unless they’re the fun kind mixed with sour candy
🥑 Best way to eat an avocado? Made into guac with lots of citrus and black pepper
⛪ Are you spiritual? In a way, I guess.
⛪🕌 If so, describe your beliefs. Make the world a better place, do what you can for the people who can’t do for themselves, and occasionally reach into chance and/or tarot cards for insight.
🍔 Burgers or dogs? Either, as long as I can have cheese on it.
😤 Describe something that gets under your skin. Looking stupid.
🧟♀️ Do you think the world will end in zombies? At this point, I wouldn’t be that surprised.
🐉 Is there a dragon you chase? Acceptance and legacy.
🥞 In your personal opinion, should food be free to everyone? Yes, because unlike Mitch McConnell I’m not a fucking monster.
🐍 What animal are you scared of, if any? Skunks, as stated above
Tagging @ibelieveinturtles @iamartemisday @dresupi @snailsarecute @wheresarizona @hollandeiram and anyone who wants to play <3
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I mean, tbh I don't even know when I started shipping them(Elrohir and Legolas), they're just cute I guess and there is definitely not a lot of content for them which makes it a truly struggle. I was thinking that maybe you could write something with a modern au where they are in highschool/college (the one that you prefer), with an established relationship and one of them is jealous because someone is being too friendly with the other and maybe you could include something fluffy?)
Big mood, anon! I remember being in the early years of fanfic, still scouring fanfiction.net for content and I had it worse, trust me, because 14 years-old-me did not know English. The number of good fanfics in Portuguese was way too low.
BUt, I hope you like this one!
*
Aragorn loves the twins, truly, he does.
But sometimes, sometimes, he wants nothing more than throttle them.
“Elrohir,” he says slowly, refusing to look up from his textbook, “if you groan one more time, I'm going to disembowel you with this pen.”
“And how would that work for that criminal law degree?” Elrohir is raising his eyebrows, Aragorn can tell. He's probably smirking, too, the bastard.
“I'd get away with it,” Aragorn continues, skimming uselessly through the same paragraph for the third time, “and Elladan would help me, I know he would.”
There's another deeply theatrical groan from the bed. “Nobody loves me anymore in this house.”
“When's Legolas back again? God knows you're insufferable when he's away.”
The hesitant pause is brief, almost imperceptible, but Aragorn has been around him since they were kids and the big house on top of the hill had looked like a castle to his eyes. He'd asked Glorfindel if he was a knight of the Round Table the first time they met. He'd never lived that down either.
Anyway, trip down memory lane aside, Aragorn has been friends with the twins since they were all dumb children and he knows his friend enough to know all this huff and puff has a kernel of worry buried in it.
He swivels around in his chair to face him. “Okay, what's up with you?”
“Can't a man miss his boyfriend in peace?" Elrohir shuffles on the bed, looking away from Aragorn to pluck at the sheets. “You know me, 'm just being dramatic.”
“Yeah,” Aragorn says, “I do know you, so quit trying to bullshit me and tell me what's really bothering you.”
Elrohir sighs, groans, dropping an arm over his face. “It’s stupid,” he warns him, “and dumb. And I know what you’re gonna say, but I can’t help it, okay?”
“This has to do with Legolas, then?” Aragorn guesses. It’s not everyone that leaves Elrohir quite this distressed. “I thought he had just gone into another of his hikes?”
“He did,” he scowls, “with Gimli. His best friend ever. Because Gimli actually likes hiking and camping and visiting all sorts of caves and waterfalls and commune with the forest or whatever.”
Aragorn pauses. “Are you jealous?”
It’s not too far fetched a thing to be, he admits, considering how college life has been doing a damn good job of keeping everyone too busy to hang out or too tired to do anything other than invading each other’s dorms and taking up space the day before a quiz. But then again, he knows both Legolas and Elrohir since they were all kids, he’s seen they go from pulling each other’s pigtails to being best friends to being disgustingly in love.
He can’t imagine how Elrohir could possibly start being jealous now.
“Not in the way you’re thinking,” Elrohir says after a minute, dropping his arm to peer at Aragorn. His eyes are more worried and serious than expected. “It’s not– I’m not jealous of Gimli or anything, I trust Legolas and all. It’s just– come on, I’m in med school. The last time I went to a hike I got stung by a bee and found out I was allergic. How long until he realizes there are better people out there for him? People like Gimli, who likes all the same shit he likes. Who won’t have to cancel dates because he has to go to some stupid hospital party to schmooze or something.”
It takes him a while to process all of– that. “Okay, so you’re not jealous of Gimli?”
“I’m jealous of how easy it is for him.”
“Nope, you lost me again. Easy to what?”
“To fit with him, you know?” Elrohir runs a hand through his hair, “nobody would be surprised if they were together– they’re just– they get each other, they like the same stuff, they’re majoring in almost the same thing, for god’s sake! Sometimes it just feels like I’m waiting for the day he realizes it’d be easier with someone like that.”
Oh. Aragorn moves to sit on the bed, nudging Elrohir out of the way for a spot at the foot of the mattress. “I see,” he considers his words carefully, “yeah, maybe they do get each other, that’s why they’re best friends. But look, ‘Ro, how long have you been together now? Three years? Four? Anyone with eyes can see how much you guys love each other. Elladan and I had to listen to both of you pining separately for like, months. Don’t you think you can trust Legolas to know who’s best for him?”
Because that’s what’s really bothering him, isn’t it? Elrohir thinks he’s not good enough for him, which is insane because Aragorn has never seen two people more in love– Arwen and himself notwithstanding, of course.
All at once, Elrohir seems to deflate. “I guess. I just love him so much, I worry he won’t be as happy with me as he could be.”
“Legolas loves you,” Aragorn reminds him, “and you love him. That’s the important stuff– the rest, you can figure out as you go.”
Elrohir smiles. “I suppose you’re right. Since when did you become oh-so wise?”
There are about a dozen ways he could answer that, not all of them very nice, but Aragorn doesn’t have to decide if he’s done coddling him because the door to his room swings open.
“Elladan told me you were here,” says Legolas, walking in without waiting for any sort of invitation because apparently, Aragorn’s room is everyone’s hang out spot now. By all means, nevermind his quiz tomorrow. “Oh, hey, Aragorn,” he adds, almost as an afterthought.
“I thought you wouldn’t be back until Friday,” Elrohir blinks, sitting up to smile at his boyfriend despite his previous sour mood.
“Yeah, well, turns out there was some instability in the caves, so the Rangers closed them off until further notice,” he shrugs, dropping his bag on the floor. That’s gonna be a bitch to clean, Aragorn can tell already, what with the mud puddle it’s oozing.
Legolas grins, stepping closer to kiss Elrohir, and Aragorn politely looks away because someone in this goddamn dorm should have some sense of decorum. Not that the happy couple over there should even be here. God knows neither of them lives there. Oh no, Aragorn got a single this year. Peace and quiet, they told him. No roommate to interrupt his studying.
Clearly, the counselors had not taken into account his obnoxious family.
Turning around back to his desk, to his textbook, to the same paragraph he had been trying to read since Elrohir barged into his room three hours ago, Aragorn sighs and pretends he can’t still hear the conversation going on behind him.
“You look tired,” Elrohir is saying, “did you come straight here?”
Legolas hums in agreement. “Yup. I wanted to see you,” he admits, and it sounds like he climbed up in the bed too. Great. He’s probably spreading mud into the sheets. “ ‘sides, there’s no place like home, right?”
There’s a pause and Aragorn is very tempted to sneak a look to see what’s going on, he’s invested on this now, okay, but he stays where he is, nose buried again on his book, and waits for Elrohir to pretend he’s not, like, having a crisis or anything. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too,” Legolas says, “I always miss you in these hikes, but I like this, I like knowing I’ll be coming home to you.”
Well, sounds like Aragorn isn’t the only one subjected to Elrohir’s rants; Elladan must have tipped Legolas off about the impending doom and gloom in here.
Their conversation tapers off into something quieter and Aragorn finally manages to focus long enough to finish a whole chapter of his textbook before allowing himself a glance back.
He smiles.
On the bed, the couple is asleep, wrapped around each other, and the look on Elrohir’s face is so peaceful, such a contrast to the stormy expression from before, that Aragorn almost forgives them for the dirt and leaves scattered around the mattress.
Almost. They’re still so paying for the laundromat.
#lotr#lord of the rings#aragorn#elrohir#legolas#elrohir x legolas#look an ask#elrohir x legolas tag#lotr tag
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Begin Again (Mortician!Steve and Baker!Bucky Modern “Moving On” AU)
Nineteen:
Once people started leaving the bowling alley, Steve couldn't help but watch as Tony seductively pushed Bucky up against the side of an ostentatious, red Audi R8. Surprised with how carefree and casual Tony was with his public displays of affection. Of course, Steve imagined that if he was in a relationship with Bucky, he also wouldn't mind indulging in such actions. Not that that was going to be happening any time soon -- or at all, now -- though. Nope, obviously, not.
When Tony started shamelessly making out with Bucky, however, Steve quickly averted his eyes and tried to keep the contents of his stomach where they were. Even though, his body wanted nothing more than to expel the bile all over the shiny sports car. As much as Steve's eyes wanted him to keep watching like a train wreck one couldn't look away from, his heart's begging eventually won out. Unable to handle just how much it hurt as he looked down at the asphalt instead.
"You okay?" Sam cautiously questioned, eyes full of concern as they walked side-by-side.
"Yup," Steve didn't even try to hide his lie.
Instead of calling him out for it, Sam clarified, "I swear I didn't know, Steve. Honest. If I did, I wouldn't have encouraged --"
"Hey, Steve," Carol called, running up to him and wrapping her arm around his slim waist. "Wanna have some fun?"
Draping his arm around her strong shoulders, Steve asked, "What do you have in mind?"
"SHIELD," Carol wiggled her eyebrows, earning a snort from Steve. Which was really the only laughter he was capable at the moment when it felt like his heart had been charred to a crisp inside his chest. "How about it?"
Already knowing he'd agree, Steve feigned thought. Sam, figuring out Steve's choice as well, rolled his eyes while Maria pleaded with her wife, "Baby, you know that's not what Steve needs."
"Shh," Carol lovingly shushed as she conceded, "It might not be what he needs, but it's certainly what he wants."
"How do you know what I want?" Steve scoffed, smirking down at the blonde.
"I'll tell you what you want," Carol giggled, "What you really, really want."
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were still drunk," Maria affectionately teased while Sam complained, "Great. Now I'm going to have that song stuck in my head for the rest of the night."
In reply, Carol childishly stuck her tongue out at her wife, and then Sam, before turning her attention back to Steve as she asked, "So, how about it?"
"I don't know," Steve mocked, still pretending to be thinking about it. Even going so far as to rub his beard and narrow his eyes.
Smirking, Carol elbowed Steve in his ribs, but played along, "Oh, c'mon, Stevie. We can go dancing. We can get those colorful, fruity drinks you like so much. You might even hit it off with someone and get laid."
Blushing, Steve blew a puff of air as he pretended to cave, "Oh, okay."
"Yay!" Carol happily cheered as she skipped forward to wrap her arms around Maria's curvy frame. "Stevie's coming out!"
"Coming out? He's been out," Maria joked, earning loud giggles from her wife.
"You know this is a bad idea, right?" Sam questioned, pausing by his Wagon, jingling his keys.
Steve paused too, glancing over at Bucky. Bucky was currently chuckling and playfully pushing Tony away. Not that that deterred Tony in the slightest as he smirked and nuzzled his face in Bucky's neck.
Steve wondered what it'd be like to feel Bucky pressed against him. What it'd feel like to trail kisses down the brunet's elegant neck. Wondering what kind of cologne Bucky wore on special occasions. Wondering what body wash's scent remained on his skin. The shampoo he used and how soft his hair felt. Wondering if he liked have fingers tangled in the long strands and --
"Tony!" Bucky stated, scandalized by whatever the shorter brunet was doing. Stomach dropping further, Steve closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.
Opening his eyes, Steve directed them to Sam and conceded, "It won't be the first time I've done something stupid. I doubt it'll be the last."
Then, before he could change his mind, Steve turned to join Maria and Carol. Climbing into the backseat of their black Jeep Cherokee, and running his hand through his shaggy hair so he wouldn't accidentally glance over at Bucky and his fiancé. No matter how badly his mind urged him to do so anyway.
Trying not to think about the night that Bucky was going to be having with Tony, Steve attempted to get his mindset right. Focusing on the alternative 90s music that Carol turned up while Maria bobbed her head and drove towards the gay night club. Carol occasionally turning in the passenger seat to smile widely at Steve, encouraging him to, "Let loose, babe."
So, that's what Steve tried to do.
On the car ride, by wiggling in his seat to the beloved, Angry Chick Rock, and singing along to the lyrics that he knew. At the club, when strangers approached him and bought him those colorful fruity drinks that he really did enjoy most.
Even trying to stay loose when the music was too loud and too fast paced for Steve to properly keep up with. Sure, he wasn't the best dancer, but he still moved to the beat. Which seemed to be a good thing. Especially when a lithe, handsome brunet with his hair tied back in an attractive messy bun started grinding on Steve. Finding himself getting lost in the way the man moved and the way his stubble scratched along Steve's beard, reminding Steve of velcro.
It was everything that Steve wanted. Just with the wrong man.
Not that that was going to stop Steve. It probably should've, but Steve couldn't stop. Enjoying the way the liquor eventually stopped burning when it slid down his throat. Pleased with how his companion couldn't keep his eyes -- or his hands -- off of him. Surprised when his new friend asked him home. Even more surprised when he agreed.
"Sweetie, are you sure you wanna do this?" Maria yelled over the music while Carol gave him two enthusiastic thumbs up and exclaimed, "Get it, Stevie!"
In answer, Steve took Maria's face in his hands and gave her a friendly -- albeit sloppy -- kiss on her mouth. Not wanting to leave Carol out, he pulled her in for a kiss too. As he turned to join his new companion, Carol swatted Steve's ass in her way of supporting him further. Which Steve appreciated.
#begin again#stucky#steve rogers#bucky barnes#steve rogers x bucky barnes#marvel#fanfic#wattpad#ao3#modern au#moving on#oof#mortician steve#dying to be with steve#baker bucky#bakers gonna bake#bucky is a sweetie pie#what's the batter with you#barnes' bakery#rogers' funeral home#life is a mess#pining#bucky barnes x tony stark#poor stevie#carol danvers x maria rambeau#shield is a gay night club
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New Orleans, a city steeped in rich history and its vibrant celebration of life! This year for Christmas, instead of buying each other gifts, we decided that since travel is our passion, this was the city we wanted to visit. Two days after Christmas with bags packed, off we went. No journey is ever exactly how you think it will be but for us, plenty of pre-planning helped to insure that we would enjoy a wonderful time in New Orleans without breaking the bank! We have another big trip that we are planning for later this year that requires a lot more of our resources than usual and we didn’t want this trip to interfere with that in any way.
Travel lodging: As a military member there are quite a few travel options that are available to those in uniform if you know when and where to look. Every military base that has billeting in the Department of Defense offers lodging on a Space Available basis. Since this was not peak season for tourism (or so we thought, more on that later) we decided to take book at the Reserve Naval Air Station, New Orleans for accommodations. At $65 a night and only a 20 minute drive to anywhere in the city, this was by far an easy decision for us. The rooms where very large with Queen size beds, walk-in showers, refrigerator and WiFi. if you have animals with you, they are pet friendly as well. They have a full commissary, Base Exchange, fitness center etc. all of which makes for a very safe, secure and super nice place to stay. They also have an RV park right on base with full hook-ups! We had already winterized the RV so that really wasn’t an option for us on this trip. In comparison to nearly $400 a night downtown this was by far a bargain! If you are a military member, Active Duty, National Guard, Reserve or Retired, I highly recommend looking into this option for you and your family.
Inside the Crescent City:
Belle Chase:
Our journey began the night we arrived into town. Staying outside the downtown area is an advantage for travelers because you get out of the immediate tourist areas and into the local community. We ate our first meal at Salvo’s Seafood and it is definitely the place to go! Our waiter (his name escapes us) was super friendly and the food as you can see was off the chain! All you can eat (Yup, I said it!) Blue Crab, Shrimp, Sausage, potatoes and corn in a seafood boil. A local eatery that was actually the culinary highlight of the whole trip.
Also located in Belle Chase is Town View Cafe. a local eatery/bakery that has been in business at the same location for over 50 years. Open 24 hours a day and serving breakfast at anytime day or night. Almost everyone who walked in knew each other (except us of course) and chatted up with warm welcomes and small talk with each other. The ladies behind the counter welcomed us with open arms and we felt immediately welcome! Awesome experience for sure!
The French Quarter:
The oldest part of New Orleans and the place where the party literally never ends! We thought we were booking during a slow time in New Orleans but I don’t think there is ever a slow time in this city. The Sugar Bowl was being played in the Superdome and Clemson and Alabama football fans descended upon the city by the thousands!
Every street is loaded with bars and restaurants every few feet combined with alcohol at any time, in any flavor 24/7. We tried Absinthe for the first time and realized that you have to be very careful. At 110 proof it needs to be handled with kid gloves otherwise it’s gonna bite you hard!! There are no open container laws (except no glass) and this guarantees a good time by all. Drink while you walk and see all the sites! Street performers keep the entertainment alive and live music from nearly every open door add to the festive air and celebration. From street musicians, escape artists, fortune telling, and artists the city’s vibrant charm is sure to please everyone.
DCIM100GOPRO
DCIM100GOPRO
The next morning, we got up and decided that we wanted to go to the world famous Cafe Du Monde. Now for travelers, here is a big tip, DO NOT stand in line. We ended up first in a line waiting to be seated in the main area, Two nice young ladies came by and informed us that we just needed to step around the corner and go inside to a smaller area. We walked around the corner and ended up in another line for carry-out (our mistake). Finally after a few minutes, Tiffanie walked into the Cafe Du Monde and immediately called me to meet her in a smaller room away from the main room, she had a seat! Did we cut line? Nope, just walked past unnecessary lines that people themselves created. It is strictly a first come, first serve area! The Cafe Du Monde serves one food and one food only. Beignets which are small, deep fried square donuts covered in confectionery sugar. Enjoyed with a dark roast coffee and chicory blend mixed with hot milk that make up the their Cafe Au Lait you quickly realize why the place is as famous and as busy as it is.
Jackson Square is a local landmark surrounded by some of the most historic buildings in the country. Buildings such as the Pontalba Apartments. The oldest apartments in the United States and St Louis Cathedral, where Pope John Paul II worshiped during his visit. On a whim, we stepped inside an old building that sold tickets for the haunted tours. The first floor was modern and very nice and inside a very nice lady let us explore the other three floors of this old home. She advised that the owners were fixing the upper floors up to Air BnB the rooms but we were more than welcome to look around. During our self-guided tour we discovered that it was rundown, in disrepair and absolutely beautiful.
Birthplace of Jazz and so much more:
New Orleans is known for its artistry and culture. We took a haunted tour at night narrated by a enthusiastic young actress known to us only as “Lucy”. who expertly wove history with myth, the paranormal and superstitions and made it a good learning experience into the cities past. Local artists paint, draw and display their work on the square’s iron fence. Here is where we found a talented young man playing his trade performing a Houdini straight-Jacket escape for the people.
We have a sweet spot in our hearts for street performers and artists. As a young man on occasion I too played guitar along with friends on the streets of Bardstown and Lexington looking for tourists and passer-byes to throw a bit of spare money our way. These folks are living their art form and many are very, very good at it.
Outside the Quarter:
On Frenchman Street is where to true party is. Open air markets, Jazz, blues and funk music pours from every bar and restaurant. Take note though, very few are free. Most require a substantial cover or tickets to get in and all have at least minimum one drink requirements. We had dinner at the Snug Harbor and where treated to the live sounds of legendary Jazz pianist Ellis Marsalus Jr. playing in the next room. If your like us and travel on a budget though, if you really want to hear and see great art in all it’s forms, Just walk! You can find the best shows as you just walk along and see amazing contortionists, skilled poets and talented musicians that rival the greats as well as visual art that could be displayed in any fine art gallery in the world and its all free!
The absolute highlight of the evening was the performance on the street corner of the Young Fellaz Brass Band! A talented group of young men performing their unique style of music that covers many genres, including traditional jazz, hip-hop, R&B, rock and pop tunes . All in an old style Dixieland jazz brass band!! they tore the music up and had everyone dancing in the streets!
National WWII Museum:
Next up, the National World War II Museum. Here they have done an awesome job of telling the story of a nation that came together during one of the darkest times in history. There we met 92 year old WWII veteran, Reid Sonnleitner who served on a tug during the war. The fact that the few men and women still with us of the Greatest Generation are there and willing to volunteer to tell their story is so awesome. Small children can meet people of a generation that literally saved mankind. In just a few short years those first hand accounts of the the most devastating war in human history will be lost to time and the world will will never be the same. Because of them we enjoy the freedoms and liberties granted to us as Americans and as a nation, we are forever in their debt.
During one of our short lulls in the action while sitting in our room, we turned on the TV and began watching the news. After a few minutes we realized that all with all the negativity that you hear in this world about how divided we are and yet no matter where we have traveled across this nation from the subways in New York City to Venice beach, to the Gulf of Mexico and the deserts of the American West and everywhere we go everyone is always friendly and accommodating and New Orleans was no different. We shook hands, asked for pics and delved into complete strangers personal pasts to learn more about the great people that make up this amazing world. We can’t wait until the next adventure to see who we will meet next.
Check out Facebook or Instagram.
You can find much of what we saw and discovered at the websites below.
http://www.salvosseafood.com/
http://www.dodlodging.net/
https://www.hauntedhistorytours.com/
http://www.snugjazz.com
Happy Travels!!
Craig and Tiffanie
The Bluegrass Traveler
The Big Easy New Orleans, a city steeped in rich history and its vibrant celebration of life! This year for Christmas, instead of buying each other gifts, we decided that since travel is our passion, this was the city we wanted to visit.
#adventuretravel#cafedumonde#frenchquarter#jazz#louisiana#neworleans#salvosseafood#snugharbor#townviewcafe#wwIImuseum#youngfellazbrassband#Food#Travel
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Kickin’ & Screamin’ // Chapter 17
Title: Kickin’ & Screamin’
Fandom: The 100
Pairing: Kabby
Tag/Warnings: Modern AU Setting, Kicking and Screaming AU, Kid!Delinquents
Chapter(s): 17/22
Read earlier chapters on: AO3
Chapter Summary: Maybe Marcus does know the definition of fun!!
Chapter 17: Don’t be afraid of change; sometimes change is good
Marcus wasn’t sure why he was so scared.
He didn’t have to look both ways in the parking lot five times before crossing to make sure Abby wasn’t waiting to run him over as she wasn’t allowed at practice due to league rules.
So, why the fuck did it feel like he was back in law school, participating in his first mock trial? Unlike then, he could sneak in shots of whiskey when they weren’t looking.
Hey, everyone’s not perfect and whiskey did help soothe his nerves. Not to mention he did win the case.
There were too many eyes on him for him to try and sneak any. Especially, when one set of eyes were always on the lookout for you fucking up. If you guessed Jaha, then you guessed right.
Marcus wasn’t sure how Abby did it, between the sneaking in shots and dealing with Jaha. The former probably helped with the latter.
And if Marcus was honest, Abby didn’t hide her shots. She took them in plain sight.
She never got drunk or tipsy at practice, she just needed the buzz of the single shot to shake of the annoyance she probably felt 24/7. With how Marcus could see Raven waiting “patiently” for practice to start as she “innocently” held her hands behind her back, he understood why Abby needed those shots.
He regarded Raven with a curious gaze and asked her, “What are you doing, Raven?”
She offered him a too innocent smile and told him, “Waiting for practice to start at the right time.”
How perfect. She could wait for the perfect moment to pull a prank but not for when to go into a tackle. This practice looked promising already.
“Well,” he replied, “we’re about to start.”
“Perfect!”
That didn’t ease his nerves. Now, adding onto his nerves for practice already, he was nervous about the inevitable prank that was coming.
He didn’t reply to Raven as he began to turn towards his equipment bag, where Octavia was lacing her cleats up.
She hadn’t talked to Marcus following practice on Tuesday. Today was Thursday, their last practice before they versed Ice Nation on Saturday. He had spent the past few nights going over his plans for practice, throwing out many drills and staying up late to recreate new ones.
Who knew how hard it was to build fun into practice?
As if that was her cue, he caught the familiar squeal of tires from the parking lot. He and the parents all looked over to see Abby’s car, a red SUV, halting to a stop by the sidewalk. Seconds later, Clarke hopped out of the car and began walking to the field.
As if sensing him, Abby’s eyes shifted from her daughter to him. Neither reacted right away. Then after a moment, she flipped him off and her tires squealed once again as her car took off from the parking lot.
It reminded him a lot of their first meeting, the beginning of their relationship.
The sun was out, no clouds, and the temperature was only rising as the day went on. What a great day for soccer, especially for the Assassin’s first game of the season.
The only thing ruining the perfect day was the packed parking lot.
The first weekend of season was always crowded. When the season dragged on, games were spread out a bit more. For the first set though, Pike liked to line them up together for a big opening weekend.
It worked in a sense if they had a big enough parking lot.
Marcus had been searching for a parking spot for the last ten minutes. Every time he thought he found one, someone else found it first. Octavia was getting restless in the back and Marcus had to remind her many times to keep her seatbelt on.
And when a red SUV sped by, definitely going way over the speed limit for a parking lot, Marcus told her that’s why.
As they continued their journey in the parking lot, he found a free space in the row he was driving down. He also saw the same red SUV from before in the next row over. He heard its squealing tires, as if the driver saw the open spot too.
“I hope your seatbelt is still on,” Marcus told Octavia as he floored the gas pedal.
Their car launched forward as he raced to the open spot. He was a few spots away from it as he watched the red SUV swerve around the corner, aiming for it as well.
He swung his car out far enough and sharply yanked the wheel, cutting the red SUV off. He got a loud horn in result as he pulled into the parking spot.
Bellamy and Octavia were watching out the window as Marcus put the car in park. Octavia exclaimed, “Awesome!!!!”
Marcus shut the car off and exited the car, his car door closing behind him. He figured cutting the driver off would end their competition but he was wrong. The driver of the red SUV pulled up behind his car, their window rolling down.
He was surprised to find a woman behind the wheel, cursing him out in front of her daughter in the backseat. He couldn’t make out exactly why she was throwing at him, but he knew children shouldn’t hear it.
He got closer to her car as she finished yelling by saying, “You drive like an asshole!”
To say she was being a hypocrite was nothing far from the truth. He told her, “Says the one who sped by me first.”
It didn’t seem she was expecting a retort and it caught her off guard for a second. She quickly regained her composure, glaring at him. She changed topics and pointed where his car was parked. “You stole my spot.”
“Really?” Marcus bent over and he examined the cement where his car was parked. He stood up and looked back to her, an eyebrow raised, and said, “I don’t see your name on it.”
Her hand that was resting on the steering wheel tightened as he saw fire erupt in her eyes. She didn’t have a response as she examined the man before her.
His two kids walked up to be beside him and Marcus nudged his head towards the other end of the parking lot. He told her, “I think another spot opened up down there. Don’t worry, I’m sure with the way you drive, you’ll get there in no time.”
The fire burned brighter as the woman put her car into drive. She spat back at him, “Don’t worry about my driving when you should be worrying about the unhealthy amount of hair gel you’re using.”
And with that, her tires squealed as her car peeled off towards an open space.
Marcus watched her car speed down the parking lot as he crossed over to the fields. First game of the season, first time coaching, and he’s already fighting parents in the parking lot. What more surprises could the day bring?
Much to Marcus’ liking and to the woman’s demise, their first game of the season was against each other.
Similarly, to Marcus’ liking and Abby’s (he later learned) demise, he had won that game.
The way she shook his hand a little too hard after the game, the too innocent smile, and the too kind congratulatory message all added up to what Marcus could believe would become a great rivalry.
Oh boy, was he right.
He watched the parking lot, and more specifically, the spot where his car was parked. It was in the same spot as that day. Ever since that day, they both fought over the spot, even if there were other spots available. They went the extra mile to piss the other off.
It was one of many things that they did to each to spite the other.
The feeling of guilt washed over him again as he thought of last Saturday. He definitely did it to spite her but it was different that time. It wasn’t teasing and it wasn’t meant as a joke. He had done it to hurt her.
Shaking it off, he would deal with that situation later, he opened his equipment bag. First, he had to tackle the situation of practice.
He was nervous on how the practice would turn out. Like before, he had spent the last three days trying to figure out new drills to incorporate fun. If you guessed the result, he failed.
Wasn’t fun supposed to come naturally? So why the hell couldn’t he make a simple drill fun?
He really sucked at having fun.
So, he just decided to stick to his old practice plan. Like every practice, they would start off with possession. They would then perfect their counter attack to one of Ice Nation’s strongest attacks. To end practice they would run through their game plans roughly.
“Wait a minute,” Marcus spoke aloud but mainly to himself. Octavia looked over to him as she finished double knotting her cleats. He kept pulling out pennies from his bag, searching it until it was empty. “These pennies aren’t mine.”
Raven waddled over and leaned to the side, coming into Marcus’ eyesight the slightest. Her tone was a bit too innocent when she asked, “What’s wrong, Coach?”
He turned to look at her, eyes narrowing a pinch. He tilted his head as he regarded her. “These pennies aren’t mine,” he told her.
Raven stepped closer and peered to the pennies laying around his feet. She looked up to meet his gaze and commented, “Nope, they’re actual pennies, so they’re not yours.”
Marcus ignored that. He asked her, “And would you have any idea whose these are?” More importantly, how they were here and why his weren’t.
Raven looked back to the pennies and examined them as she bent over for a closer look. Marcus took note of how she didn’t reach to pick one up, but kept her hands behind her back. Looking back to him, she told him, “Abby’s.”
“Abby’s?”
“Yup,” she popped the ending and smiled big. Her hands came from behind her back and she threw them at him. He braced for an impact of God knows what was in her hands. What hit him was confetti. He was absolutely confused as she shouted, “Congrats!”
“Congrats?” He was busy picking confetti out of his hair.
Raven kept picking the confetti off the ground and throwing it back on him. He soon gave up taking it off and let her have at it. She said, “Coach Abby brought them to my house to bring here. She said she may not be able to attend practice but, and I quote, ‘I’ll be damned if you kids have to wear those rags’.”
If there was a camera for Marcus to stare into in annoyance like on The Office, this would have been that moment. He wasn’t surprised; it was such an Abby thing to do, finding her way around the rules.
He shook his head one last time to get rid of as much of confetti as he can. “How nice of her,” he commented as he picked up several pennies.
He gathered the team together as he began to hand out pennies. They all knew the drill. Possession for warm up.
He offered a penny to Octavia and she stared at it for a good moment, eyes then flickering up to her dad. Marcus watched her as well, raising an eyebrow. She sighed and took it, walking away without a word.
He frowned, feeling his heart break the slightest. He didn’t have to say anything for the drill to start, Bellamy had grabbed a ball and began the drill.
Marcus exited the grid as he made his way back to bench. He put away the extra pennies as the woman who they belonged to flashed in his mind.
“This is a penny? Where did you get it? The dollar store?” That was what she had said about his pennies. She then proceeded to mock his use of hair gel, saying if he spent less on that, then he could afford real pennies.
Unconsciously, he ran a hand through his hair. Confetti fell from the strands and slowly made their way to the ground. He hadn’t touched his hair gel since the practice she had run her hand through it. As if the memory was a lighter, it sparked a tiny flame in him.
He shook it from his mind, looking back to the grid. Bellamy’s team was watching as Clarke’s did pushups. The first team who completed ten passes in a row won that round. The losers had five pushups as punishment.
“So, what will the punishment be if they lose? Five ‘I’m a star!’ jumps?” Marcus thought it was a ridiculous punishment. As he watched Octavia struggle to do her pushups, he thought otherwise. None of the kids seemed to be able to do them correctly.
“What part of this is supposed to be fun?” As Marcus watched as a new round start, he couldn’t find the answer to her question. Last time he had answered the pennies sarcastically. He couldn’t use that as an excuse this time since they were using her pennies.
Almost immediately, his eyes fell on his daughter again. She wasn’t moving much around the grid, standing still in one corner. Usually, Marcus would’ve yelled at her to move or give her running as punishment. This time, however, he couldn’t find it in himself to bark such orders.
Just like the car ride home, he felt Bellamy’s burning gaze that shot guilt through him. He found Bellamy in the grid and Bellamy watched his father, shaking his head slightly.
That night returned to Marcus’ mind.
“You know what makes her happy, you’ve seen it. Again, you don’t want to admit it. Sound familiar?” That’s what Bellamy had told him and he wasn’t wrong. Marcus did know what made Octavia happy. He realized he had to change his coaching style.
He wanted to do better, tried to do better, but he failed.
But had he tried to the fullest extent? The way Bellamy shook his head at his father indicated that he hadn’t. And Marcus knew exactly what he didn’t try.
“Go get water,” Marcus suddenly announced in the middle of their second round. The kids froze and looked over to him, all surprised. He nodded towards the bench, adding on, “Take off your pennies as well.”
The kids looked at each other. None of them moved for a short moment before Murphy began walking to the bench, saying, “I’m not complaining.” The other kids soon followed after.
Marcus left the bench as he went over and picked up the cones from the possession grid. He began setting up another drill, talking with no one as he did.
Clarke was sitting beside Octavia on the bench as she took a sip from her water bottle. She looked down to Octavia to see the girl watching her feet swing back and forth. Clarke frowned as she looked back up to continue watching Marcus.
Soon enough, Clarke recognized the grid Marcus was setting up. She lit up and shook Octavia’s shoulder. The girl looked from her feet to Clarke and asked, “What?”
Clarke said nothing as she smiled and pointed to where the girl’s father was. Confused, Octavia followed the direction of Clarke’s hand and found her father setting up a new grid. She didn’t recognize it at first, saying, “Wha-” but froze when she finally did recognize it. “Is that…?”
“Yup!” Clarke grinned big as Marcus set the last cone down.
He made his way over to kids who were looking at the grid he set up. They all came together but Marcus kept his focus on his daughter. This time, she was actually looking at him. He asked her, “Octavia? What would you like to do?”
The question caught her off guard, including her old Assassin teammates. Marcus had never asked any of them what they wanted to do. He had always had a preplanned schedule for practice and never strayed from it.
She glanced around the circle and her eyes landed on her twin brother. Bellamy offered her a smile and nodded, eyes flickering back to their dad. Octavia looked back to her father and told him, “Sharks and minnows.”
He grinned and said, “It’s a good thing that’s set up then, isn’t it?”
He saw the twitch of a smile forming on her lips, but he also the saw defiant daughter he had. She tried to keep the smile off her face (failing completely) and told him, “I would’ve made you set it up anyways.”
The kids laughed and so did Marcus. He clapped, looking around the circle of kids around him. “You know the drill,” he said. They all got up and started gathering their ball and going to the grid.
Murphy reached for a penny but Marcus put his hand on his shoulder, holding the boy back. He said, “I’m switching it up a bit. Clarke,” the two looked to find the girl collecting her ball. She looked to them and Marcus told her, “You’re the shark to begin.”
Clarke came over and Murphy walked off, going for his own ball. Marcus handed her a penny and Clarke teased him, “Are you doing this because my mom can’t tell you no?”
Her words may have been playful but they struck a guilty nerve deep down. He played it off as best as he could by telling her, “I’d do it anyways if she was here.”
Clarke laughed and slid it on over her head. “I know,” she commented and ran off to the grid.
He smiled a bit as he watched the drill begin. Clarke immediately went after Raven and knocked her ball out. She also got to Harper, making her join the shark gang. Raven complained as she put the penny on, “Man, there’s a different shark than Murphy for once, and I still can’t get past the first round.”
“Might be a sign, sweetheart,” the gang heard Gaia yell out.
Raven glared at her and crossed her arms. “Oh, she is so mine,” she said as fixed her penny.
The two other girls giggled in response and got ready for the next round. When it started, the three went after their targets.
Raven immediately stepped in front of Gaia, smirking. She told her, “Try your hardest.”
Gaia tilted her head to the side and responded, “I don’t think I’ll have to try very hard if I’m honest.”
That set Raven off and she charged towards Gaia. Gaia didn’t falter under the pressure and charged forward as well. When they got close, Gaia put her left foot on the ball to stop it slightly and twisted her body.
As she twisted, Raven was lunging forward with her right leg for a tackle. Mid-twist, Gaia’s left foot came off the ball to be replaced by her right foot. It followed her body’s momentum and she pulled the ball with her, past Raven.
She landed perfectly and exploded into the empty space towards to the safe zone. Once she crossed over, she trapped the ball and looked back to Raven. They made eye contact and Gaia asked, “Too eager to lose, are we?”
Marcus knew she was referring to Raven’s tendency to dive in and Raven ignored her, stomping off towards Monty, hoping to help Harper get him out.
Octavia was dribbling when Clarke stopped in front of her. Immediately, Octavia stopped her advance. Her eyes wondered to find Lincoln in the safe zone already. He gave her smile and nodded as he kicked his ball forward a bit.
She looked back to Clarke who was smiling at her too. Octavia nodded and ran forward with her ball. Clarke got into her defensive position as she watched the ball at Octavia’s feet.
Octavia lunged one way, Clarke leaning towards the same direction. Octavia then kicked the ball forward, aiming for between her legs. Clarke reacted in time and slid her back foot to close the space between her legs.
The ball ricocheted off her foot and rolled out of bounds. Octavia watched it and she frowned. Clarke was smiling and told her, “You almost got me that time!”
Octavia looked back to Clarke and told her, “I’ve been practicing in my room.”
Clarke grabbed her a penny and handed her it. She told her as she put it on, “Well, it’s paying off. Soon enough, you’ll be able to nutmeg your brother.”
“He’d have to stand still long enough first,” Octavia replied and the two laughed. They went back to the middle of the grid, waiting for the next round to begin.
Marcus watched with a small smile. Octavia had went forward and tried an actual move. She had gained some confidence to try, and Marcus would be lying if he said he wasn’t proud. She might’ve not won the tackle but she was making progress.
And he couldn’t take credit either, he knew that. His drills and he himself hadn’t built that confidence up in Octavia. It had been Abby's drill and the support from Clarke and Lincoln. In building her confidence, they had made her happy.
The only thing he wished for had come true. He was grateful for that.
+
“Alright! Great practice today! Make sure to be ready a half hour before the game on Saturday!” Marcus called out to the rowdy kids.
They just finished a game of knock out. Everyone but one person had a ball and the mission was to be the last person with a ball. If your ball was knocked out of the grid, then you joined the group knocking out balls. The last one standing was the winner. Raven had suggested the game. It was her favorite game from the Lifesavers.
The last round had come down between Gaia and Clarke.
Octavia and Lincoln were trying to gang up on Clarke but she was doing a good job of fending them both off. She kept the ball close and tight to her body as she used it to shield them away for her ball.
Lexa and Murphy were trying to knock Gaia’s ball out but she was dribbling circles around them, not standing still for any moment. The rest of the team was sitting in the grid, waiting for the chance to tackle either if a ball got loose.
Raven was among those of the few who were waiting for the right moment. This had Marcus intrigued as he thought Raven would be one of the four tackling either of the two nonstop, hoping for a lucky lunge. Instead, she stood in a ready position to strike at the right moment.
Her eyes were following Gaia’s feet and memorizing moves. She moved her feet the slightest bit as if to test moving with her. Slowly but surely, she was inching her way closer to the three.
She got in tackle range and got into position. Again, she waited as she surveyed Gaia’s movements.
And when Gaia pushed the ball wide past Lexa, Raven went for it.
It caught Gaia off guard and she wasn’t able to recover and pull the ball back. Raven made contact with the ball and sent it flying from the grid.
Gaia was struck silent as the ball flew from the grid. Everyone watched in awe too as the other two let Clarke go. Raven broke the silence by throwing her arms in the air and yelling, “FINALLY!”
Gaia immediately rolled her eyes and told her, “Took you long enough.”
Raven grinned big and flicked Gaia on the nose. Gaia pushed her hand away as Raven taunted, “Better late than never.”
If Marcus had a say, he would say that practice had started fun and ended fun.
They didn’t practice the game plans they had covered Tuesday, but instead focused on a fun shooting drill. It gave the forwards and midfielders time to practice offense, it gave the defenders time to defend, and it gave Wells practice in goal.
Much to Bellamy’s demise, the losers of the drill had donkey kicks.
As Marcus cleaned up the pennies and cones from the kids, he relished in the laughter he heard from his daughter as she talked to Lincoln. He relished in the suffering of Miller who was getting grass shoved down his shirt by Raven. He relished in the laughter Murphy gave off as he gave Wells a noogie.
It was a lot different than what he left Tuesday’s practice with. Sure, he left Tuesday’s practice more confident for Saturday’s game, but he didn’t leave with a good feeling in his gut. It didn’t matter if he made them more successful because if they weren’t having fun, why would they bother putting effort into anything?
Now, he felt good and he felt happy. Hell, he even still felt confident about Saturday. He saw little improvements throughout the practice.
He saw Octavia getting confident and trying a 1v1 move. He saw Clarke excel on defense and help communicate with the backline. He saw Bellamy take shots that made sense and not just for the hell of it. He saw Miller actually help out even if he didn’t agree with Clarke sometimes. He saw Raven wait for the right time to tackle instead of diving in.
Is this how Abby felt after her practices?
He wasn’t sure if the progress was the same, as he mixed his coaching in with hers today. When she coached the Lifesavers alone, she only had her tactics. On Tuesday, he only had his tactics. Their practices together before hadn’t truly mixed their coaching together as they tried to out-compete the other with their tactics.
Comparing tonight’s practice showcased glaring results that they needed each other if they wanted to be successful and left no room for argument.
Only if Abby were here to see it.
As if on cue, his eyes drifted to see a red SUV parked by his own car. Abby was waiting to pick up Clarke after practice.
His eyes found Clarke. She sat on the bench, taking her cleats off. She had been smiling and laughing all practice, but now for some reason, she seemed upset.
Confused, he walked over to her. He kneeled in front of her, catching her attention. Furrowing his eyebrows together, he asked, “You okay?”
She looked to him and she nodded as she continued to take off her cleat off. She put it in her bag and didn’t say a single word.
He tried to catch her attention again, asking, “Did you not have fun today?”
Clarke stopped her movements, letting her foot fall back down. She locked gazes with Marcus and told him honestly, “I had a lot of fun today.”
He knew that, he saw her laughing and smiling. He saw her excel in her position. That didn’t answer the question why she looked upset as she did now. He asked, “Then why the long face?”
She frowned a bit more as she looked back to where her mom’s car was parked. She sighed, the little sound of disappointment crushing his heart. She looked back to him and admitted, “I just wish my mom was here for it.”
Again, Marcus felt the guilt tear his heart apart. He wasn’t sure how many times he could sew it back together for it only to be ripped apart again. If it happened twenty more times, he would have only himself to blame.
He smiled sadly, patting Clarke on the knee. He told her truthfully, “So do I.”
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Ask the Admins: 11.0
Anon asked: any of you get pranked on 4/1?
Chamomile: I didn’t get pranked, but I work in retail and we all pranked my manager by writing up a whole bunch of fake ‘angry customer’ reports and leaving them in the break room where she could read them. She didn’t know they were fake until she got to the complaint from a nun who was disgruntled because we didn’t carry her favorite vegan chapstick anymore.
M: Nope, and I’m very happy about that - Loot Crate almost fooled me via email, but I was in good shape other than that
Syren: I am disappointed to say that I was not, but to be fair, I spent most of the day at my little half-sister’s 2nd birthday party (yes, my sis was born on April fools, and no, no one believed me when I told them my sister was born. They all thought I was pranking them. Safe to say, her future birthdays will be full of pranks from yours truly).
Jynn: No, but I did prank someone. I work at a school affiliated wellness center as a lifeguard for their pool. Normally on Saturday mornings there's a water aerobics class taught by a peppy lady who stands on the pool deck and does all the exercises while the old ladies do them in the pool. Well she's been gone the past couple weeks, so the gym's floor manager Tim has been teaching it. Now Tim is just the most precious thing. He's the most adorable personal trainer ever. He'll get up there in front of all the elderly people and they'll hoot and whistle and tell him to take his shirt off till he's a blushing mess. So anyways he going through the exercises and get into it and have his workout music playing. It starts to get pretty intense, he's working up a sweat, he's pumped, the old people are pumped, they're feeling the burn… and I go back to the guard room and switch their workout music to Mozart.
Anon asked: What do the admins and assistant admins think about soulmates?
Chamomile: I’m a bit iffy on them? I like the concept, but I like the idea of multiple soulmates and outcomes because the idea of a preset destiny freaks me out.
M: I'd like to think they exist - there's someone for everyone - but I think that probably less than an eighth of a percent of the population actually meet them, if that. They're fun to write about, though.
Syren: In the world of fic, it is my jam. I'm writing a soulmate AU rn, actually. Irl? Nooo thank you. I don't believe in it, and I wouldn't want one anyway. Cause that's creepy.
Jynn: Eh it's a cool thought but? It seems a little bland to juat have like one preset partner you're meant to be with former and ever. I think there can been lots of kinds of soulmates.
@askrileyw asked: How do you feel about fantasy AUs? (bonus: what is your favourite fantasy sub-genre and why?)
Chamomile: I love them! I’m really big into combining bizarre fiction and traditional fantasy settings.
M: They can be loads of fun when done properly! I actually like it when fantasy elements are combined with the modern world - it's totally my aesthetic. Give me CyberKnights fighting mechanical dragons, goddamnit!
Syren: Oooooh boy, fantasy au’s are my jelly. I love dystopian fantasy stuff, with outlawed magic and mages on the run. I love fantastical creatures like elves (especially elves- thank you LotR). I love adventure in fantasy (Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is my favorite game in the world. I'm planning on writing a Zelda AU soon as well). I freaking love fantasy.
Jynn: I can appreciate fantasy, but I don't seek it out a ton. As for fave genres of fantasy, I'm always a sucker for coming-of-age adventures!
Anon asked: If you could only use one which would you choose? Magic, guns, or blades.
Chamomile: Magic! I can enchant my blades!
M: Magic. C’mon.
Syren: Magic, cause I'm a pacifist and could use it for more non-violent purposes. And it's awesome.
Jynn: Magic.
@genosha-meiuqer asked: If life was like a videogame where you level up by gaining experience points, what level do you think you'd currently be at? Everyone would start off as a noob-born.
Chamomile: 20, going on 21 (why are yall ranking so low omg)
M: Maybe 5. And that's being incredibly generous.
Syren: Like 4 maybe? Assuming it's out of at least 30 possible levels lol
Jynn: 3
Anon asked: Hello, lovelies! I'm making a bet with my partner (gimmemygurryback); prize is home-cooked breakfast in bed. Anyway, this ask involves genosha-meiuqer, but she's not betting! I'm assuming you read the added parts on your posts' reblogs. You know last month's AtA where Gurry and Geno were talking about Geno's stories? Out of all those 57 titles, are there any you found interesting or want to know about? Geno said that you probably couldn't care less, but she doesn't know your personal opinions???
Chamomile: I read all of the post reblogs! Especially ones from genosha and gurry. For the titles, I was immediately partial to all of the ones with auideas’ titles, but the other ones that I really liked were “Pieces of Time”, “Clear and Forever Young When I Close My Eyes”, and “Miss Murder & Mister Brightside”.
M: There were so many to choose from, but I finally settled on “ Docosahexaenoic Acid”, “ Mark His Way to Canaan”, and “Dreams May Not Come True”.
Syren: “Miss Murder and Mister Brightside” “Farmer in Dank Armor” and “Travel In a Pack, Street Rats” sound like stories I would treasure forever tbh
Jynn: Shall We Do The “One, Two”?, Shall We Sing The “Un, Deux”?, and I Will Make Your House Fly Away If You Rick Roll Me Again all sound really interesting!
(side note: here’s the link to all 57 titles, and chamomile told all the admins to pick their top 3 titles because they were all so good)
Anon asked: Do any of the new admins watch anime or read manga?
Chamomile: I used to be really into anime/manga when I was younger, but when I got into junior year (the year I came out and when I joined auideas) I just didn’t have time to keep up with any of it. Now that I’m in my second year of college, I’m super desperate for any cutesy lighthearted form of stress relief, so I’m slowly getting back into anime.
M: I tend to just rewatch the same three animes over and over. It's a bad habit….
Syren: Veeery little. I've watched InuYasha, Fullmetal Alchemist (both series), Ouran High School Host Club, and random eps of random others. And I have maybe a quarter of the FMA manga, but that's about it.
Jynn: Yep! I like my classic shonen anime, but I keep up with a couple of the newer ones. I also own every volume of Yu Yu Hakusho...
@gimmemygurryback asked: Do admins (and now assistants) actually read any of the "followers' works" other than the one about M driving like a war boy?
Chamomile: Y’all have no idea. I read every single fic that came in during our 2016 Auideas Advent Calendar event, and whenever somebody tags us in something they’ve written then I immediately bookmark it to read later. I live off of seeing people get inspired by our aus.
M: YUP!! We have read every single fix submitted during AAC (where do you think the rating system came from??). We love reading everyone’s work and would love to have more.
Syren: I've read a few, but not as many as I wish :( Time and motivation are fickle lil buggers
Jynn: Yes!!!
Anon asked: Hi! So I recently got into this thing on resistantradio.com, and basically it reminded me of your AU "Rebel Yell"! It's sort of a podcast/radio broadcast that's part of this series, um, The Man In The High Tower, I think, where the year is 1962 and nazi germany/imperial japan have won wwii and split America into two parts, but there's this neutral territory where an American resistance has sprung up, and so these three members are broadcasting in order to get others to rebel!
Chamomile: I’m familiar with Man in the High Tower, and after giving this podcast a listen, I have to say that it’s pretty good! I’m digging it! Currently I’m binging The Adventure Zone and The Hidden Almanac so I’ll bookmark Resistant Radio for later.
M: COOL!!!
Syren: That sounds rad as all get out; maybe I should start listening to podcasts! I never have before.
Jynn: I'm not huge into podcasts atm but that sounds cool!
#ask the admins#this has been a public broadcast#the admin chamomile#admin m#admin syren#admin jynn#gimmemygurryback#genosha-meiuqer#askrileyw
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In The City of Angels - Chapter 1
KRISTANNA MODERN AU
Rated: M (swearing)
Chapter Index
[Premise: Set in their early thirties, Kristoff is a famous actor and Anna is his next door neighbour]
Kristoff noticed his next door neighbour was out running every day, rain or shine. She chose to run in the early morning, when he was just rolling himself out of bed for the day. Stretching at his window he began to find himself trying to time it so that he could watch her run by, strawberry ponytail bobbing up and down rhythmically.
It had been a week of watching her run by and he still had not met her, so he planned on being outside that day when she ran past his house so that he could introduce himself, or rather let his presence be known. He was sure she must have assumed already who lived in the big house at the end of the street with the high gate that was always closed, but he wanted to be a gentleman nonetheless.
He dressed quickly, ignoring the woman snoring in the bed who he had been seeing casually for about a month. He chided himself for not just ripping off that Band-Aid and telling her that it wasn’t working since, they had barely anything in common and she had nothing of note to talk about.
Tonight, he thought, I’ll do it tonight.
He went outside and grabbed his garbage and recycling bins to drag to the street; a task which he usually did in the evening for the pick ups the next day, but he hoped she wouldn’t notice. He opened the big gates dragging the large bins with ease, and he was thrilled that his timing was perfect. She was just coming around the trail the lead into the hills on the left side of his property.
She spotted him and he made eye contact with her, and a bright smile spread across her face that he realized he was absolutely thrilled by.
“Hey,” she called to him with a little wave as if she was worried that he would spook and retreat beyond his gates before she could run up to him.
She finally reached him, panting quickly with exertion from her run. “I wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood,” she breathed.
“Thank you,” Kristoff said offering his hand. “Kris Bjorgman.”
She laughed as she shook his hand. “I know who you are. Everyone does, unless they live under a rock,” she paused to catch her breath. “I’m Anna.”
“Nice to meet you Anna,” her name rolled easily off his tongue, and he was delighted by it.
“I’m glad I caught you. I host an open house block party sort of thing at my place on the first Thursday of every month, and I wanted to invite you to stop by anytime after 6.”
“Tonight?”
For some reason he felt rather dumb in the way he was handling himself. It was a far cry from how easily he seemed to attract women. He wondered in the back of his mind, how it was so easy to talk to all the fake women who threw themselves at him, and yet talking to someone who was truly genuine was... just completely foreign to him.
She nodded, unassuming. “Yup first Thursday is today. It’s pretty casual so just pop in for a quick hello if you like. Or not, totally up to you. Everyone is pretty cool, you won’t get bombarded or anything. We’re used to having celebrities in the neighborhood.”
He smiled. “Sure, I’ll stop by sometime tonight then.”
“Sounds great,” she said, as she worked her way around him to head home.
He panicked, realizing he didn’t really want the conversation to end so he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. “I see you out here every morning. You must really love running.” He was glad she wasn’t looking to see embarrassment flash across his face as the words fell clumsily from his mouth.
She turned back with mischievous eyes and a grin spreading across her lips. “Actually, I fucking hate running. But I love beer and pizza way more than I hate running so...” she shrugged. “C’est la vie,” she winked at him then and ran to her house that bordered the right of his property and disappeared up the steep driveway into her treed front yard.
He was left walking back to his house knowing that the Band-Aid was about to get ripped off immediately.
*****
He left the set a little early to go home to get ready to go to this ‘block party’ that Anna had invited him to. He realized he was more excited to see her again than he had been excited for anything in a long time, and she had been on his mind all day.
Telling Sunny he didn’t want to see her anymore had been awful, as he knew it would be. He hated the tact in which he had done it; waking her up to tell her that it wasn’t working and he would like her to leave. But the sudden rush he felt after actually meeting Anna, had left him with little other choice.
Sunny’s tears were terrible, and she bawled loudly. Kristoff felt increasingly uncomfortable at the situation upon realizing that she was a horrendously ugly crier. He also realized that she wasn’t crying over him; she was crying about the loss of notoriety she enjoyed when she was seen with him, and the fact that he had paid for everything for her in their short time together. He suddenly understood that all those things mattered more to her than his companionship, and he was glad to be rid of her. He vowed to himself to be done with such women.
He dressed in dark jeans and a black t-shirt which he left untucked, not wanting to flash any designer names at anyone in a casual setting. His assistant Sven did all his shopping for him, and he was glad that he had picked out something simple from Target like he was asked to. Sven was upset of course, that he wouldn’t get to peruse though a boutique, but he at least agreed with Kristoff’s want to have some simple items to balance out all the big names in his closet.
He wanted to be tactfully late so as not to seem to eager, so he showed up at the party that night at 7. He had a half a mind to go later, but he simply couldn’t wait to talk to her.
When she answered the door she welcomed him in warmly. “Just come on in next time, no need to knock,” she smiled that easy smile.
When Kristoff followed her further into her house he became nervous and embarrassed that he seemed to be the only one there.
“Get you something to drink?” she said walking into her kitchen. “Beer, wine, rum... anything.”
Kristoff looked around some more, hoping to see someone else there. Hoping that he wasn’t just ridiculously early. He knew that sometimes people say a time and expect that everyone will be hours late. Was Anna one of those people?
“Uh, I’ll have a beer?” His words felt bulky.
“Sure thing.”
He could see her tiptoe to grab something from the top shelf of the fridge.
“Was this supposed to be... um, cancelled?” he asked, feeling silly as he looked around her house.
“Nope,” she said with an airiness in her voice that immidately relaxed him as she passed him a cold can of beer. “I just throw the party every month and people show up if they can and when they want. Sometimes everyone’s here and sometimes its only a few people.” She shrugged. “Like I said, pretty laid back.”
“So is this the first time no one has showed up?” he asked her.
“No,” she said slowly, a slow smile taking to her lips. “You’re here aren't you?”
He saw her realize the embarrassment he was feeling and her eyes lit up in that mischievous way.
“Or are you just a Kris Bjorgman stunt double?”
She was teasing him.
And he loved it.
Before he could respond there was a sharp knock at the door followed immediately by a handful of people streaming into her house. She greeted them all as they found familiar seats in her place, like they had been there hundreds of times, and Kristoff thought, they probably had been.
She introduced him to the neighbors who were all nice and unassuming like she had told him they would be. He was glad to meet people that didn’t treat him like he was on a pedestal, which he absolutely hated about his life. So much so, that he had half a mind to quit making movies and move somewhere up high secluded in the mountains where he could live out a normal life doing things for himself, without the constant scrutiny of being famous.
More people came then, and the house became loud with voices. He tried his best to talk to Anna, but she always had someone bending her ear, or she was busy getting drinks and pulling food from the oven or filling up chip bowls.
He was content to simply watch her, talking idly to people as he did so, but he also knew that it might be kind of creepy if he lingered too long. He didn’t know her that well after all.
He was thinking he should leave, when she made direct eye contact with him from the other side of the kitchen. “Hey Kris, can you grab a bag of ice from the freezer in the garage for me please?” She called over the din of voices.
He smiled. “Sure can.” She pointed to a door behind him and he went to fetch the ice without hesitation. He opened the door and fumbled an unfamiliar hand on the wall to the left of the door, searching for a switch. His hand found it quickly and light flooded the big garage.
His breath caught as he came face to face with a Harley Davidson 883 Superlow, all black and chrome and beautiful. “Woah...” He breathed as he approached the bike. He couldn't help himself; he ran a finger admiringly down the tank and across the seat, taking in the lines of the small machine. He realized how good this bike would look sitting beside his Harley Fatboy which had sat unused in his own garage in the month that he had dated Sunny (who informed him upon every chance she got that motorcycles were stupid and dangerous, despite his objections).
A perfect bike for a perfect woman he thought. He imagined then how good him and Anna would look riding together in the hills of California on a perfectly sunny day, stopping at some small roadside town to get a bite to eat, watching the sunset from the hills before making their way home.
Don’t get ahead of yourself dummy. It might not even be hers.
He turned to seek out the freezer when he saw them. He had been so excited to see the bike that he didn’t notice the two cars that were parked at the far double door of the garage. Two gems, gleaming at him, luring him, whispering to him to come and behold their beauty.
A grey ‘71 Hemi Cuda convertible, with a shaker hood, and ‘49 Mercury; chopped, flat black with purple pin striping. A lead sled, right there in front of him.
He thought for a second he might hyperventilate. Who was Anna, really? Was this even her house? Where these really her cars? The more he thought about it as he looked inside each wonderfully crafted hunk of metal he knew that they were. A pink sweater and a book laying on the passenger seat of the Cuda, a pair of small hiking boots sitting in the back seat of the sled. Yes, he could indeed picture her behind the wheel of these cars. He actually felt giddy.
He had butterflies in his stomach as he grabbed the ice and walked back into the house, taking one more admiring look over his shoulder as he turned off the lights. He could not wait to ask her about them.
When he saw Anna next his heart dropped, sinking like a stone in the deepest chasm of the ocean. Her lips were pressed against another man.
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Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 3
Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC
Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.
Word Count: 5,841
FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER
Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!
I’d done it.
I’d gotten a job.
My very first job.
And I was already regretting it big time.
But really, could you blame me? I’d had to interact with three, count them, three people so far. Would the torture never end? No, because it had only just begun! And those were just my boss and coworkers, I hadn’t even gotten to a customer yet. I was dreading that inevitable moment as it drew ever nearer with each passing second.
Oh, and did I mention the uniform? Because, dear lord, if I’d known this is what I’d be signing up for, I probably never would have applied in the first place. For starters, I had to wear a light blue fitted, long sleeved, off shoulder blouse which, granted, wasn’t that bad. But that was only the tip of the iceberg. It was paired with a black mini skirt that stopped a couple inches short of the knees. Can you believe it? A mini skirt. I didn’t see any of my male coworkers sporting booty shorts, no, they got to be fully covered up in white button ups, blue vests, and black slacks. Talk about sexist!
But a job was a job, and I had to start somewhere.
And that somewhere just so happened to be the Ice Palace - a small ice cream shop located in the food court of a local mall known as Dusk Town Center. The walls of the little parlor were decorated in a jagged, cerulean, semi-transparent plastic, simulating the whole frozen castle vibe. The mascot was Sven the Reindeer, which was actually sort of weird to me. I mean, I get it, reindeers are up where it’s cold and snowy all the time, but weren’t they really more of a Santa thing? I just couldn’t really picture them chilling in a frosty throne room, you know what I mean? But hey, I guess it just gave the marketing team an excuse to sell cute caribou plushies, which were everywhere - dangling from the ceiling, sitting atop the cash registers, filling boxes upon boxes in the back… basically anywhere there wasn’t ice cream, there was a stuffed, huggable, googly eyed little deer.
All in all, not exactly a dream job, but pickers can’t be choosers. Especially when the picker, aka me, had flunked out of twenty-some-odd interviews before finally landing this one. Don’t get me wrong, Rayne and Riku had been great teachers. The problem had been with the pupil. No matter how hard they tried to iron out all my nervous habits and anxiety-induced rambling, a few quirks had still managed to slip through. This had led to no small number of awkward moments and don’t-call-us-we’ll-call-yous. But at last I’d managed to keep it together long enough in one interview to trick someone into hiring the trainwreck that was me.
Just my luck it had to be the frigging food court ice cream place with the stupidly short skirts.
It was my first day on the job. The guy who was training me had left me alone after setting me up with a handful of orientation videos to watch and telling me to come get him when I was done. I was seated in one dark corner of this small room that was part storage space, part break area. Before me was a tiny TV atop a VCR that could only be from the Stone Age. Seriously, I didn’t even know such relics were still in circulation anymore. The videos were just about as dated and mind-numbing as you’d expect. They included one such gem as, now that I was a valued employee of Ice Palace, I wasn’t just a part of team but a family. It also felt the need to cover the obvious, things like don’t be rude, don’t handle the product without washing your hands first, don’t kiss, grope, or otherwise manhandle coworkers or customers, don’t go getting yourself locked in a freezer… you know, things I would never, ever do in the first place, not in a million years.
Suffice it to say, I was bored out of my skull.
That said, this was way better than having to talk to an actual human being. So it probably wasn’t hard to imagine my disappointment when the credits at last rolled on the final tape. Sighing, I rose from my chair and clicked off the ancient television set before turning to face the door across the room. My fellow employee that I needed to check in with now was somewhere on the other side of it.
Where the customers were.
Waiting.
Lurking.
I shuddered.
I then took the opportunity to fidget with my skirt, tugging at the hem a bit.
Note to self: use first paycheck to invest in some tights. This whole bare legs thing just was not working for me.
Ugh, why a mini skirt of all things?! I mean, come on, it was the Ice Palace, shouldn’t we be dressing more the part? I’m thinking Inuit attire, I’m talking fur-lined boots and layers upon layers of thick, fuzzy coats covering me from head to toe. But a skirt? It just wasn’t realistic! If I were in a real castle made entirely of frost, I’d be freezing my rear off right about now!
I then adjusted the black cap with a blue bill atop my head that sported our cursive logo, complete with a teeny doodle of a palace, before tightening my ponytail that stuck out the hole in the back. I’d opted for that over my usual braid. Figured it would make it harder for me to fiddle with my hair when I got anxious.
Unfortunately, I had now run out of trivial (but one hundred percent necessary) ways to procrastinate. Guess there was no putting it off any longer. I slowly approached the door, watching it grow more ominous with every step that brought me closer to it. Halting in front of it, I reached for the knob. But then I stopped, hesitating before retracting my hand and looking back over my shoulder towards a second door on the opposite wall, a green Exit sign glowing over it.
The door to freedom.
Perhaps it wasn’t too late for me to follow my dreams and become a hermit. I could always buy a fake beard. No one would ever know the difference.
My eyes darted back and forth between the two doors, my breath becoming shallow and my heartrate quickening. Then, biting down on my lower lip, I took a step towards that Exit sign and-
“There you are!”
I froze with a wince before turning my back on that tantalizing exit, instead facing my coworker who was now leaning in through the other door. He was tall with brown eyes and his head shaved bald beneath his own cap. A thin, black goatee wrapped around the friendly grin he was shooting my way as he now fully stepped into the room to join me, looking quite dapper in his vest and neatly ironed pants.
I chuckled nervously, clasping my hands behind my back. “Er, yeah… here I am.”
Drat. So close!
“Was wondering if you’d gotten lost, figuring as how you should’ve been long done with those videos by now.��
“Nope, was just… on my way, Lucius.”
“Ah ah!” he chided, waggling a finger in my face before gesturing to his work attire. “When I’m in the uniform, it’s Frozone.”
I blinked. “...Fro...zone?”
He nodded solemnly. “Yup. Because when I’m on the clock, I’m in the zone.” That last word was emphasized with a wide sweep of his outstretched hand before he tacked on dramatically, “The Frozen Zone.”
“...I see.”
He seemed to take great pride in his work.
I wondered if I would ever be that dedicated.
...or if I ever even really wanted to be that dedicated.
“So, um… Mr Frozone… what’s next?”
He jerked a thumb over his shoulder back towards the door he’d come in through. “Figured we could get you up front now, start familiarizing you with the space and equipment.”
“R-really? So soon?” My fingers twitched, reaching for my braid before remembering it wasn’t there. Instead I settled for crossing my arms. “You think I’m ready for that?”
Answer: A big fat no.
“Well, let’s see here.” He started ticking off fingers, “You’ve watched the videos, you’ve had the grand tour, you’ve-”
“No I haven’t!” I said quickly, shaking my head. “Had the grand tour, that is.”
“No? Well alright then.” He stepped past me and further into the room, then stopped and pivoted around to face me, spreading his arms out to either side of him. “Here it is, in all its glory. Just breathe in that majesty.”
This cramped break-slash-storage room was it, apparently. Besides the TV and VCR in one corner, most of it was filled with giant, industrial-grade fridges for housing all the ice cream. Plus a couple of large metal sinks, plus the aforementioned boxes upon boxes of reindeer plushies. Squeezed into one corner was a humble couch that’d seen better days, along with a small table with a couple rickety-looking chairs. A giant bulletin board hanging from one wall completed the look, covered in workplace guidelines, announcements, and different colored flyers.
“Oh.” I pursed my lips to one side. “Very, ah… very majestic.”
“Isn’t it just?” he nodded, hands on his hips as he smiled broadly. “Welp, that’s that. Now let’s get you up to the registers to continue your training.”
I hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe I should watch the videos one more time. Just to make sure, that… uh...”
Reason… reason… dear god, please, come up with a reason, any reason!
“...that I... didn’t... miss anything?”
He laughed. “You’re thorough and detail oriented. I like that.” He planted his hands on my shoulders and steered me towards the door of doom. “Feel free to rewatch those tapes on your own time, but for now, let’s move on.”
“But-”
He gave me a gentle but firm push and I stumbled through the door and straight into my own personal hell.
Alright, fine, maybe I was being a bit over dramatic. There weren’t even any customers in line at the moment. Seemed like it was just after the lunch rush and most of the people had already eaten and cleared out. There were just a couple families left dotting the tables out there in the otherwise empty food court beyond our countertop.
Swallowing my nerves and inhaling deeply to calm myself, I glanced around my more immediate area. I was a bit curious after all, seeing as how this was my first real time on this side of the cash register. But really? There wasn’t much to it. There was a giant frozen display proudly presenting a rainbow of different flavored ice cream. Beneath it behind the counter were some small metal doors that seemed to be some more refrigerated storage space. In one corner was this fancy looking ice cream machine, with stacks on stacks of empty cups and cones beside it. There were some large menus overhead on the back wall and beneath them, a snowman crudely painted onto the door that I had just been so unceremoniously shoved through. Then of course, those plastic “ice” walls and reindeer dolls overflowing from every crook and cranny that they could conceivably be crammed into.
That about summed it up. That, plus the burly blonde guy manning one of the registers that would be my second coworker.
He turned his head, giving me a look that admittedly wasn’t quite a scowl, but wasn’t exactly warm and inviting either.
I gulped and unconsciously took a step back, immediately bumping into something. Looking over my shoulder, that something turned out to be a someone: Lu… erm, I mean, Frozone.
Hand on my shoulder once more, he guided me forward and I took a few reluctant steps closer to the other man. “Elsa, you remember Kristoff from earlier, right?”
I gave a weak nod and raised my hand in a tiny wave. “H-hi again.”
He only continued to fix me with a dull stare.
“Oh yeah, you two are going to be fast friends, I can already tell,” Frozone beamed. “Now Kristoff here is going to be taking over your training and showing you the ropes up here. There’s a new shipment in back that I should get to sorting out, but just give a holler if you need me.”
“Wait!” I snatched at his sleeve as he turned to leave through the back door. My eyes darted from him to Kristoff and back before I whispered, “Do you really have to go?”
I had actually been growing comfortable around him. He seemed nice.
This Kristoff guy on the other hand seemed, erm… how should I put this… shall we say, grumpy?
Frozone chuckled, tugging himself free of my grasp and patting me on the head. “I’m flattered, girl, but I’m a taken man. Honey is the light of my life and trust me, you do not want to get on that woman’s bad side.”
“Wha-?” I blinked a couple times. “No, that’s not what I-”
Annnnnnd there he went, calling a cheerful, “Have fun, you two!” over his shoulder as he disappeared into the back.
Sighing, I turned to face Kristoff and was greeted once more by that same deadpan expression.
Oh yeah. So much fun.
Taking a cautious step towards him, I cleared my throat and rubbed my left elbow. “So… that Frozone… really seems to take his job seriously, huh?”
“...don’t even get me started,” he said flatly.
So he speaks.
Barely.
I tried again. “What do I call you? Kristoff okay? Or just Kris? ...Kristo?” I was met with total silence. “...Oh, maybe that’s already short for something, like… Kristopher? Kristofel? Kris...toforos?” Mayday! Mayday! I was beginning to enter nervous babbling territory. Send help. “Or perhaps, oh! Do we all get theme names? Like Frozone? What would yours be? Are you the, uh… hmm, the, um… the Iceman?”
Face unchanged and dead serious, he said at last, “Oh yeah. That’s me. The Iceman. I love ice. Ice is my life. I eat, drink, and breathe nothing but ice. At night, I go to my ice house, eat my ice dinner, tuck myself into my ice bed, and cuddle with a bag of ice like it’s a teddy bear.”
“...really?”
If possible, his eyelids drooped even further. “No.”
“Oh.”
I knew that.
He heaved a soft, grumbling huff. “Kristoff is fine. Let’s go, new girl.”
He left his station behind the cash register to walk over to the display housing the frozen tubs, slapping a hand down on top of the chilly glass. “Ice cream,” he explained dryly. He then bent down to open one of the metal doors below, pulling out what appeared to be a plastic wrapped, solid bar of sugary sweetness on a stick. “More ice cream.” He tossed it back in with the rest just like it, kicking the door shut. He then picked up a rounded, steel utensil. “Ice cream scoop. You know how to use one, right?”
“Ah,” I brightened. “Yes, of course!”
“Congratz, you’re at least as competent as a four-year-old.”
Hey now, rude.
Returning the scoop to where he’d found it, Kristoff then walked over to the giant machine in the corner. As I approached it as well, I began to appreciate just how much of a monster this thing truly was with all its buttons, switches, levers, and tubes on it. It was actually kind of intimidating. What on earth could they all even possibly do?
“Combo soft serve/milkshake machine,” Kristoff continued on in his bored monotone as he planted an elbow atop the thing, leaning against it. He pointed at a big lever on the left over one tube. “Ice cream.” Next at another big lever, this one on the right over a second tube with some sort of gizmo sticking out of it. “Milkshakes.” His index finger shifted down to three large buttons running down the bottom right corner in front, first indicating the top one. “Turns it on and off.” Then the bottom button. “Flavor swapper.”
“And this one?” My fingers drifted towards the middle button.
“No touchy,” he lightly swatted my hand away. “That one makes it angry. And trust me, you won’t like it when it’s angry.”
I tipped my head to one side. “...why would there even be a button like that?”
He shrugged, intoning airily, “No one knows.”
I quirked an eyebrow at him, then shook my head, my gaze returning to that monstrosity of a machine. “What about all those other levers and switches on the side?”
“Woah, slow down, newbie. You gotta learn to crawl before you can walk. For now, just stick to the basics. Ice cream. Shakes. Off and on. Flavor,” he pointed to each one in turn again as he listed them off before giving me yet another dull look. “Am I going too fast for you? Maybe you should be writing this down.”
It was my turn for some eyelid droopage. “I think I got it.”
“Good. You’re ready for your first customer then. And as luck would have it,” he pointed past me, “here he comes.”
“What?!” I spun around on my heel. Some guy had just entered the food court on the opposite end from the Ice Palace, but was making a beeline straight for us.
Panic mode initiated. Hands? Clammy. Face? Blanched. Heart? Pounding. All systems a go.
“Relax, new girl.” Kristoff slapped me on the back, forcing a tiny oof out of me. “I know this dude, we all do around this place. He and his girlfriend are mallrats that’ll spend hours here, visiting all the stores and making friends with everyone. You should have no problem. Total training wheels.”
His words did nothing to ease my growing nerves and I must have been doing a terrible job of hiding it because he snorted, “You’ll be fine. Just step up to the register.” He waved a hand towards it.
I swallowed hard, then numbly walked over to it.
“Smile,” he pointed to his own grin that he now had plastered on for show, looking remarkably strange on a man I had seen zero emotion from all day. I forced my own smile and he flinched. “Ehh, maybe not so much.” I toned it down a bit. “Better. Now just say, ‘Welcome to Ice Palace, how may I take your order?’ and the rest should be a no brainer.”
Easy for you to say, buddy.
Taking a small shaky breath, I looked away from him and towards the customer once more just as he closed in on the counter. He had bright blue eyes, brown spiky hair, and a huge grin that just about literally split his face in two.
Okay, Elsa, you can do this.
“Welcome to Ice Palace, how…”
Oh fudge, I’d already forgotten the line! My mind was drawing a complete blank. The blankest of blanks.
“...uh…”
Panic, panic, panic!
“...how… you… order?”
Hi, yes, one stammering idiot at your service.
I heard the smack of Kristoff’s facepalm before he whispered under his breath, “Eh, close enough.”
Seemingly unfazed by my mental malfunction, the guy just continued to flash those pearly whites. “Hey there, could I get two bars of the Paopu Paradise ice cream please?”
“Ah… y-yes, right away!” I darted over to the frozen display case, picking up one of the scoops and reaching for the sliding glass door in back. However, I froze when I heard a throat clearing and turned to see Kristoff jerking a thumb towards the freezer space below.
...oh right, bars. He’d said he’d wanted bars of ice cream. Fumbling to put the scoop back, I bent down to open the cold door, located the stack labeled “Paopu Paradise” and snatched two off the top before straightening back up and thrusting them proudly over the counter into the customer’s face.
Another throat clear.
I glanced at Kristoff again, who mouthed the word ‘munny’ at me.
...minor detail.
“Er, yes… that’ll be, uh…” I stared down at one of the plastic-sheathed ice creams, spinning it around by the stick, as if looking for the price tag.
Kristoff groaned before tiredly commanding, “Cash register.” I hastily moved to stand in front of it once more. He pointed to one of the keys. “Push that one.” Done. “Now that one and that one.” Done and done. A munny total appeared on the register’s little black screen and he gestured for me to go on. I read off the amount and the customer, still sunny faced as ever, handed me the munny. To my credit, I only flinched slightly when the cash drawer noisily popped open, allowing the munny to be deposited.
After slamming it back shut, I looked to Kristoff again, worrying my bottom lip between my teeth. “Now?”
He closed his eyes and gave me a solemn nod.
Feeling my muscles relax slightly, I turned back to the customer, offering him his two ice creams once again.
“Thanks!” he chirped, taking them both in one hand and ripping the plastic off one before immediately chomping down hard into the frozen treat, making me wince.
Jeez, this guy must have had the teeth of a viking!
After swallowing the bite, he licked his lips and eyed me curiously. “You’re new, right?”
“Gee, how did you ever guess?” Kristoff deadpanned. I merely turned my head to narrow my eyes up at him.
Ignoring the comment from the peanut gallery, the guy offered his free hand to me. “You’ll probably be seeing me around a lot, so figure I should introduce myself. I’m Sora! Nice to meetcha!”
I hesitated before taking his hand gingerly and shaking it. “...Elsa. A pleasure.”
He froze mid-lick of his ice cream bar, blinking at me. “Elsa?” Lowering his snack a little now, he cocked his head. “Hey, you just moved in with Riku and Ray, didn’t you?”
My head rocked back at that. “How did you-?”
“Stalker,” Kristoff stretched the word out in a low singsong.
Sora’s eyes widened. “Wha? No, no, I know Riku! He’s my cousin and my best bud! He’d mentioned renting out their spare room to an old gal pal of Ray’s and that you were going through a bit of a rough patch, that’s all!” That blinding grin was slowly returning. “Hey, if there’s any way I can help out too, just let me know!”
“Oh.” My brow furrowed. “Uh… thanks…”
...you complete and total stranger.
“Don’t mention it! We’re friends now!”
Ah. My mistake. We were friends.
Apparently.
“Anyway, gotta run,” he waggled the second unopened bar slightly, “Kairi’s waiting for me and she’ll murder me if I let this melt! See ya around!” He waved good-bye to us over his shoulder as he walked off, happily slurping away at his own ice cream. I found myself absently returning the wave, one corner of my lips twitching up.
That guy? Bit of an oddball. But he seemed sweet.
“Not bad, newbie,” I heard Kristoff say as he poked the bill of my Ice Palace cap down, making it cover my eyes.
“Really?” I asked, righting my hat and looking up at him. Surprise of surprises, he was actually smiling.
...okay, it wasn’t so much a smile as it was a faint tightening of the mouth. But hey, I’ll take it.
“Not great, either,” he shrugged. “Not even remotely. But it’s a start. You’ll get better at it as you go. Now let’s cover-”
“Yo, Kristoff!”
Recognizing Frozone’s voice, we turned to see him poking a head out the door to the back. “Could you give me a quick hand with moving a particularly heavy box?”
“Sure thing, be there in just a sec,” Kristoff called. Frozone (gah, it will never not be weird calling him that) nodded before disappearing once more.
My insides shriveled somewhat. “You’re leaving me by myself up here?”
He gave my arm a light, reassuring pat. “I’ll be real quick, promise. It’s dead right now, so you probably won’t even have to deal with a single customer before I get back. If you do, don’t worry, you’re a natural. Just take their order, easy-peasy. And if you need help, tell the customer to wait a moment and come get me.”
I once again was reaching for my braid. It once again was not there. “What if they don’t want to wait a moment?”
“Just tell ‘em we’re out of whatever flavor they want and say ‘Let me see if we have any more in the back.’ Got it?”
“I guess so…”
“Good! Be back before you know it.” He jogged off and out the door, but a second later, he was leaning back through it again. “Remember, you say…” he twirled a finger sideways, prompting me.
“...let me see if we have any more in the back?” I ventured in a tiny voice.
He gave me a thumbs up. “Perfect.” Then he was gone again.
I moved to stand at the counter once more, inhaling and exhaling slowly. “Let me see if we have any more in the back,” I repeated, muttering it softly to myself as I eyed the food court warily.
He was right though, it was basically a ghost town out there. Everyone had already eaten for lunch and had all probably packed themselves back into the various stores by now. Plus it was a weekday. Thank goodness my first day hadn’t been on the weekend, I most certainly was not ready for the stampede of shoppers that would have come with that! As it was right now, there were only a few folks out there milling around for an afternoon snack and luckily none of them seemed to be craving ice cream. So I could maybe relax… at least for the moment.
Today… actually wasn’t going too bad so far. The job itself didn’t seem all that terrible. I was getting along with my coworkers, even that Kristoff fellow. He’d acted all tough at first, but seemed actually somewhat friendly underneath that cool exterior. I’d even helped my first customer! And with minimal mistakes, no less!
Maybe… maybe I could actually do this!
Okay sure, was I still a bit of a tangled ball of anxiety inside? Yes. Would I continue to be with each new customer? Oh, without a doubt. But with time, maybe, hopefully, it would lessen? At least somewhat?
A girl could dream anyway.
Regardless, I was doing it. The whole independence thing. Taking control of my life. I still had a long way to go, but this little ice cream job was the first small step. If I could do this, then maybe, just maybe there wasn’t much I couldn’t do. It wouldn’t be easy, and there was still a lot more for me to figure out. Like, a lot more. But I could and would. I just needed to believe in myself.
Feeling just a bit more on the chipper side now - an emotion that I hadn’t truly felt in a long time - I glanced around the food court again, really taking it all in this time, especially the other brightly colored restaurants that formed our neighbors.
There was The Big Olive, which served greek food. Currently a woman with heavy lavender eyeshadow and thick brown hair tied back into a long ponytail with curly fringe stood behind the register, idly flipping through a magazine. Then there was a chinese place called Mushu’s Kingdom with a cute little red dragon at the tail end of the logo. Next, there was Beast Burgers. I’d thought Kristoff cranky, but the big, hairy guy working there at the moment made Kristoff look like a cuddly puppy. Right beside that was a Cajun/Creole-style restaurant called Frog Legs, followed by a place called Sugar Rush, which looked like it served mostly pastries and any other sweet that wasn’t ice cream. Judging by the several large signs they had up, they seemed particularly proud of their cinnamon buns, which looked to be more frosting than bread.
Then there was a Lucky Cat Café, which was basically a coffee empire that had a shop located practically on every last street corner in the universe. I recalled that’s where Riku had purchased my mocha from the day I had officially moved in with Rayne and him. He’d probably bought it from this exact one that I was looking at right now. The mall was only a couple short blocks away from our apartment after all, which made it extra convenient that I’d managed to get the job here.
At that moment, I could see a woman with shoulder-length blue hair working the register while her coworker, a younger guy with short, messy blonde hair, blended a frothy drink nearby. They both were wearing green visors with felt feline ears sticking out the top. The blonde gave the grey cat with stripes perched atop their muffin display counter a quick pat on the head as he passed it by to reach the awaiting customer. It was only when I saw the creature’s tail twitch that I realized that was an actual living, breathing cat. Huh. A pet? Kept in the food court? How odd. It must have been very well trained. Probably just napped in that single spot all day, every day.
Last but not least, directly across the way from the Ice Palace was a Pizza Planet, its green logo sporting a giant, round pizza pie with a Saturn-like ring wrapped around it. It tied neck-and-neck with our ice cream parlour for most over the top decorations. The interior was designed to look like the inside of a UFO and was littered with toy rocket ships and little green alien squeeze-dolls everywhere. Stationed at the cash register was a girl with short raven hair, clapping and cheering her coworker on.
Said coworker was a tall, lanky guy who, like his fellow employee, was decked out in a dark grey polo with red trimmed sleeves and collar, accompanied by a pair of black fingerless gloves and khakis underneath his black, snuggly-tied full-body apron. His long, wild crimson hair trailed down past the nape of his neck and spilled out in spikes over his open-topped red visor. He was grinning cockily as he spun not one, but two massive discs of pizza dough, one on each index finger.
He tossed one up high into the air before catching it and starting it spinning on his fingertip again. Then he was using some sort of wizardry to send the dough half rolling, half flying across his shoulders as he swapped the other disc to his left hand, freeing up his right to catch the first saucer of dough just in time and keep it whirling, much to his coworker’s delight.
It was as he was giving one of the circular slabs of dough another toss up that he seemed to realize he’d gained a second audience member. His eyes shifted to meet mine and then widened as his whole body locked up. The disc still balanced on his finger spun off and toppled to the ground.
As for its airborne twin?
Splat!
Right on top of his head, covering his whole face.
A very unladylike snort escaped me, followed by a burst of long and uncontrollable laughter that I tried to smother behind my fingers. I was still laughing when he lifted the dough enough to peek one eye at me, expression unreadable as he slowly raised his other hand in a small twitch of a wave.
My giggling, along with my heart, abruptly stopped as I gasped, paled, squeaked and ducked down behind the counter.
...I’d laughed at him.
Oh my god, I can’t believe I’d laughed at him!
Heart thudding in my ears now, I stayed in a low crouch in my hiding spot, trembling hands gripping the edge of the countertop above me as my tongue dried to literal sandpaper.
Had he heard me laughing? Had he seen me laughing? What am I saying, of course he saw! That’s why he’d waved!
Oh dear lord, what did the wave mean? Was it an angry wave? An ‘I see you laughing at me, jerkface’ wave? A ‘How dare you mock me thusly’ wave? A ‘You have besmirched my honor, villain, now we must duel to the death’ wave? No, no, no, I didn’t know how to duel! What kind of duel would it even be? Pistols at dawn? I knew nothing about using a frigging pistol! Or any gun for that matter! I was dead! I was toast! I was-
Wait! No! Stop! Get a hold of yourself, woman! Gah, calm down and stop letting your imagination run wild with completely ridiculous notions!
I screwed my eyes shut, breathing in deep through my nose and holding it as I counted to ten before releasing.
It had probably just been a normal wave. A ‘Hello there, yes, I’m a dork who drops pizza dough on my head’ wave. He probably wasn’t mad, nor did he want to seek vengeance in blood. He was probably now just standing there, confused by the crazy weirdo who’d dived for cover behind her counter like she was in a war zone under enemy fire.
Alright. Time to pull myself back up. This was salvageable. Just stand and… I don’t know… wave back? Yeah, that sounded like a plan. Okay, you got this.
My legs tensed as I prepared to stand once more. In three… two…
What’d I’d failed to consider, as I’d be learning in two frightfully short seconds, was that there was another possibility. Another string of events that could have and, in fact, were set in motion the moment I’d dropped into hiding. That instead of just staying behind his own counter, the redhead had gotten curious about my odd reaction and had decided to take it upon himself to investigate. Therefore, he’d announced to his coworker that he was taking his ten, allowing him to leave his little pizzeria and cross the food court on a course heading straight for the ice cream shop directly across the way.
I have to wonder… and I mean really, really wonder… what were the odds?
The odds that he’d stop in front of the counter right across from where I was concealed.
The odds that he’d be leaning over it to look down at me exactly as I was springing back up to stand.
The odds that his lips were positioned just perfectly for my own to come crashing into his as I looked up.
That’s right.
I’d frigging kissed him.
...Hey, universe? It’s me, Elsa. If you’re listening, now would be a really great time for me to spontaneously develop the ability to rewind time by, say, I don’t know… thirty seconds so I can make completely different life choices.
...No? Not happening?
Well fudge.
Author's note: BEHOLD! There, at long last, having traded his spinning chakrams in for spinning pizzas, is our favorite Fire Boy! Or rather… there his lips are anyway… hehehe… xD Trust me, the fun is only beginning, you're in for one rollercoaster of a ride with this story!
So here we finally get the main setting for a majority of this story - what is basically the universe of KH transformed into a mall xP So many stupid little references will abound in the chapters to come, I'm sure you'll get sick of it! And I know Frozone/Incredibles isn't in KH, but that is a travesty which I had to correct by including him in this fic! I mean, c'mon, he's perfect for working at an ice cream shop alongside Elsa! As for Kristoff, I know he's normally a big ol' softie, but don't forget he had his whole tough guy routine when he first met Anna at the beginning of the movie! And as you can see, he's already starting to warm up to Elsa. And all the food court restaurants and faces (yes, even the cat) this chapter were KH/Disney references, some might be more obvious than others tho… but if any were too vague, Elsa will get to meet a lot of them in the chapters ahead so that should clear 'em all up! Oh, and ice cream flavor names! I'm not gonna miss an opportunity to steal all those ice creams from BBS, but come on, this was Sora, so OF COURSE I had to make up something that was Paopu flavored for him! I imagine the description of the Paopu Paradise flavor on the menu is something like: "Made with real Paopu fruit straight from Destiny Islands with little star sprinkles swirled in! Legend has it if two people share this ice cream, their destinies become intertwined."
In any case, on to the more pressing question… how will our lil ball of nerves Ice Queen handle this mortifying "greeting" with her new redheaded friend that she has yet to even learn the name of? Hope you stay tuned to find out in the next chapter! Thank you so much for reading!
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#kingdom hearts#frozen#elsa#axel#fanfiction#lea#fanfic#kingdom hearts fanfiction#frozen fanfiction#kh fanfiction#kh fanfic#frozen fanfic#kingdom hearts fanfic#axelsa#fluff#romcom#snark#kh3#my writing#ice cream and fire oven pizza#rare pair#crossover pair#slow burn
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A Place to Fall (skinny!Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes Modern College AU)
Four:
After the boys went their separate ways, Steve knew that he didn't want to leave. All in all, it had been a good first day. Hell, it had been one of the best days that Steve had experienced in the past seven years or so. And they didn't even do anything spectacular!
Growing up, Steve had been taught to enjoy the little things, and to never take for granted the time that was shared with another person. Especially when the harsh truth of never knowing when one would be gone forever was thrust upon him at a very tender age. So, Steve tried to hold onto that lesson and cherish the day that he had spent with Sam and Sam's friends; hoping that one day, he'd be able to call them his friends as well.
Sam and Steve were lucky as they happened to have their own bathroom. Steve was lucky because Sam was very considerate. Especially when Steve was starting to brush his teeth and -- even though the door was open -- Sam respectfully knocked on the door.
"You mind?" Sam asked, holding up his own toothbrush and toothpaste. Since Steve's mouth was quickly filling with foam from him brushing his teeth, he couldn't talk, so Steve simply shook his head. Sam nodded and entered the bathroom as he said, "Cool."
For a moment, they just quietly stood there while they brushed their teeth. Both comfortable in their silence. Steve was surprised how well they were getting along. Especially since Steve knew that he wasn't the easiest to get along with. Steve reasoned with himself that Sam was just one of those people who could befriend anyone and everyone.
Once they were done brushing their teeth, they took turns taking care of their other nightly routines. Steve was the last to finish off and he headed into the room to find that Sam was aggressively shaking his pillow, to fluff it. Steve quirked a brow, but didn't say anything and just continued over to his own bed.
"You, uh," Sam paused as he climbed under his own covers. He turned his attention to Steve and finally asked, "You don't sleep with any sound devices or anything, right?"
"No," Steve softly, good-humoredly scoffed.
"Good," Sam sighed in relief. He started getting comfortable and wiggled around under the covers for a moment. When he was finally comfortable, he teased, "I was afraid that you'd be one of those weirdos who can't sleep unless whale sounds are being played."
Steve chuckled at that and pulled his navy-blue duvet up, over his shoulder. Steve admitted, "I was afraid you'd be one of those weirdos."
"Guess we both got lucky," Sam smirked to himself in the darkness.
"Guess so," Steve agreed.
After a moment, Steve realized that he was too excited to sleep. It was a good day, and Steve hoped that the rest of the year would be the same. Sure, Steve understood that not every day would be a good day, but Steve hoped that the good days would outnumber the unavoidable bad ones.
"You still awake?" Sam whispered in the darkness.
Steve smirked and softly chuckled as he confirmed, "Yup."
"So," Sam started. After rustling around in his bed to try and get more comfortable, he asked, "Got any siblings?"
"Nope. Just me and mom," Steve answered. Turning his head to look at Sam in the darkness, he asked, "You?"
"Same," a beat passed and Sam said, "But I have a lot of cousins."
Steve could hear the smile in Sam's voice and he asked, "Yeah?"
"Yeah," Sam clarified, "I'm the oldest out of 'em, so I used to babysit 'em a lot." Effortlessly, Sam continued by asking, "Where ya from?"
Rolling onto his side to face Sam's side of the room, Steve curled into himself and replied, "Brooklyn. You?"
"Harlem," Sam reasoned, "So, it's not too far away. Which is good, ya know? Because mom, she'd -- well, she'd probably relocate if I had gone to an out-of-state school."
Steve chuckled as he agreed, "My mom too."
Then, Sam asked the question that Steve always hated being asked. "You got a girlfriend?"
Even though Steve was sure that Sam couldn't see him in the darkness, Steve still feared that he'd be able to sense how tense Steve had gotten. Not that Steve was necessarily "in the closet", Steve just had a difficult time with telling strangers his preferences. Especially when -- even in this day and age -- some people still had a difficult accepting homosexuality. And Steve really didn't want to be asked why he was gay. Or how he could possibly know he was gay, if he had never had a girlfriend. Never had a boyfriend either.
"Did you fall asleep?" Sam cautiously whispered.
For a brief moment, Steve thought about playing along and pretending to be asleep until he actually fell asleep. But this surely wouldn't be the last time that this was bound to come up. And Steve was never one to back down. So, Steve cleared his throat and answered, "No, to falling asleep… no, to having a girlfriend either."
One could argue that Sam was far too perceptive for his own good because he noted Steve's tone. Deciding not to be so heteronormative, Sam asked in the same way that he asked Steve if he had a girlfriend, "Got a boyfriend?"
Still a bit nervous -- but in a completely different way than before -- Steve honestly answered with a wistful sigh, "Nope, don't have one of those either."
"Well," Sam smirked in the darkness, "I've been told that I'm an excellent wingman. So, if you ever need help picking up dudes, I'm here for you."
Biting back his grin, Steve couldn't believe how lucky he had gotten with his roommate. Letting out an unexpected yawn, Steve brought his hand up to stifle the loud sound that shattered the little moment. Sam gave a small chuckle before yawning too.
"Night, Steve," Sam said, rolling onto his side.
"Night," Steve agreed with a smaller yawn. Then, because Steve wanted Sam to know just how appreciative he was, he said, "And thanks, Sam. It means a lot."
"No problem," Sam quietly replied. Teasing, Sam demanded, "Now shut up before I kick your scrawny ass out."
Softly giggling, Steve got comfortable in his bed. Closing his eyes, he drifted off to sleep with the warmness and contentedness that only happens when someone creates a lifelong bond with someone.
#a place to fall#stucky#steve rogers#bucky barnes#steve rogers x bucky barnes#marvel#fanfic#wattpad#ao3#modern au#college au#skinny!steve#pining#sam wilson#roommates
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