#gotta give thanks to the elements. and right now it’s water. drink a good sip!

[happyheidi]

#yes #YES to this summer beauty! #cottagecore #nature #naturecore #summer aesthetic #btw. drink a glass of water #gotta give thanks to the elements. and right now it’s water. drink a good sip! #come on! u can do it <3 #ocean #beach #watercore #water #summer vibes #good vibes

[fagundescamila]

Power Couple #7 (Severus Snape x Reader)

Heeeeeello again! I'm sorry it took so long again! I promiss I'll try harder to update the story faster 😅

Some reminders: english is not my native language, so expect errors and if you asked to be tagged but weren't, send me a message and I'll try to fix it on the upcoming chapters

Tagzzz: @lizlil @misselsbells06 @mitchiesdungeon @sleepiesapphicxoxo @severuslovebot

As soon as they left the room, Severus' mind started to race and he thought about what he would say and the awkward silence that would inevitably fall upon them while they walked towards the dungeons.

But again, as it always seemed to happen to his impressions about their interactions, he was wrong. 

"It's so weird to talk to all of them without feeling judged or under evaluation…" Y/N commented. 

"Your former teachers, you mean?" He asked, almost relieved by the fact that they had just so easily started a conversation. 

"Yes! They seemed weirdly interested!" 

"It happens whenever they see old students. It was like that with me, when I started teaching here, then with Lupin…"

"What do you mean by 'old', may I ask you?" She asked, pretending to be offended. 

"I didn't mean… After all, I'm..." He turned to her as they reached the corridor that led to the potions' room. 

"I know, Severus! I'm just teasing." Y/N laughed. Snape chuckled and shook his head. 

As they were about to enter the classroom, they heard some hurried steps behind them and, right after that, someone calling for Y/N. Severus recognized Hermione's inquisitive tone without having to turn around. He rolled his eyes in annoyance before facing the girl. 

"Sorry to bother, Y/N! And you too, Professor Snape…" Hermione hesitantly said. Y/N smiled at her and signalized for her to go on and Snape had to fight the urge to roll his eyes again. "But I wanted to ask you something! I was wondering if you had any recommendations on books about Defense Against the Dark Arts." 

"Oh, I see!" Y/N said, impressed by the girl's attitude. "Since you're asking, I assume you covered all the titles recommended for the school year, am I right?" Hermione confirmed with a shy nod. "Okay, so I'm going to make some not-so-obvious recommendations, since it seems you already dominate the basics, is that ok?" Another nod. "I'd say you look for Confronting the Faceless…" At that Severus couldn't help but be impressed. "Quentin's bibliography is also really good, I think you probably have already read some of his books, but it's always a good choice and…I probably shouldn't…"

"Please do! I'd love any recommendation, really!" The girl asked. 

"Alright. This will sound a bit unorthodox, but you're a clever witch!" Y/N stated and Hermione smiled proudly. "I'll recommend that you look for the Dark Arts basic theories and practices. Search for books like Secrets of the Darkest Art, Confringo Spellbok and Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed… That's a fair starting point, I believe." Y/N then looked intensely at the girl that seemed in shock. "Don't get me wrong! I'm only recommending this 'cause I believe in your good intentions and I know that you'll only get to read them if one of your Professors allow it. I know it sounds weird, but I have this theory that in order to fight something, you have to understand it first. Trust me, if you know how a spell works, it's easier to learn a counterspell, if you know the poison, you can make an antidote and so on!"

"I see! You're absolutely right! Thank you so much!" Hermione said, already looking forward to her next study sessions. 

"Anytime!" Y/N smiled. "Just be a little critical with those readings and keep foccused on your actual goal, these books can be very persuasive sometimes…"

"Don't worry, I'll keep that in mind! Thanks again!" She was about to leave, but refrained herself. "Professor Snape, would you… write that permission for me?"

"I'll think about it, Miss Granger." He said with an eyebrow raised, but there was something in his tone that gave her some hope and she left with a smile.

"Did I just put you in an awkward situation?" Y/N asked, her tone and smile already asking for an apology.

"You mean making an insufferable teenager start bothering me about books? As if they didn't annoy me enough?" He asked sarcastically, which made her chuckle. Severus smiled at himself, almost proud of the fact that somehow - he didn't know exactly - he seemed to always make her laugh.

"My bad… But you can always refuse to let her read those books…" She said as they entered the room. "I mean… They are a bit disturbing, but…"

"I know… But I agree with everything you said to her… It's an unusual study approach, but it works. And if there's any student I would ever allow to read those kind of books at a young age, it would be Granger…" He said sitting at his desk to write the permission. "But you never heard me say it." 

"My lips are sealed." She smiled at him, amused by the way he tried to appear cold and distant to his students when he actually cared about them. "So, those essays…" She started, leaning against the table, looking at his writing. 

"Yes, I read them and got quite intrigued by that one with the brazilian herb…" He took a moment to process the fact that she was so nonchalantly standing really close to him. It wasn't exactly intimidating, but he felt his cheeks burning, so he decided not to look at her. "I actually did some experiments of my own…"

"Really?" She sounded impressed, which made him smile a bit and raise his head to see her amused face. "Can I see?"

Severus struggled with himself, debating if he would share his experiments with someone or keep them private, as he always did. He didn't know if he actually trusted the woman in front of him or if he just wanted to impress her, but he was inclined to show her his studies. 

"You don't have to, though." Y/N was quick to say, seeing he wasn't sure about showing his work. "I mean…" But Severus didn't let her finish.

"Come." He said getting up, a smirk on his face as he led her to his private chambers behind the classroom. He held the door open for her and she entered his living room. 

"So this is where a Hogwarts' Professor stays during the school year." She said taking a look around. 

"A potion master, yes." He confirmed. "It was Slughorn's chambers before me." 

"I see! It's nice! I mean… to have a house inside Hogwarts." She trailed off.

"It is, I guess…" He went to the kitchen and signalized for her to follow. With a wave of his hand he made the water in the tea kettle start to boil. "Fancy some tea?"

"Sure!" Y/N said, with a smile. Another wave of his hand and two cups of perfectly brewed tea were ready. "Okay, you gotta be kidding me, right? You're a potion master, so you make better tea than the rest of us, mere mortals, is that so? Are you an amazing cook as well? That's so cliché, Severus…" 

Severus laughed lightly and opened the door to his personal lab, allowing her to enter before him. "I don't know about the cooking…" 

"I don't believe you." She teased. "But that's a topic for some other time, let's see what you've been working on! I just have to remind you that I probably won't understand a single thing about your experiments."

"Now I don't believe you." He teased back and allowed himself a smirk, one that she couldn't see because his lips were hiding behind the cup of tea. Severus approached one of the cauldrons that was covered by a heavy cover. "I began by reproducing the author's recipe, which turned out quite well… The effects of the herb she mentioned really perform as she predicted. The calming draught that resulted is basically as effective as the original one." Snape explained as Y/N stepped closer to take a look at the potion. He observed her features as she seemed to really pay attention and for a moment or two, he forgot to continue. "But then I figured that, since this herb can replace a large number of ingredients, it meant that, there should be a way of making this potion stronger by the use of other supplementing elements." He then took the cover from three smaller cauldrons. "I've been able to manage some minor advances, but there are some ingredients missing in Hogwarts' storage."

"Really? Rare ones?" Y/N asked, still looking intensely at the potions, amazed by his progress. 

"Some of them, yes. But mostly foreing insumes." Severus explained.

"Do you have a list? I could check the Ministry lab and storage and fetch you some of them, if they happen to be available there." She said looking up to face him, Snape raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Severus, the Ministry has more ingredients than we care to use. I'm sure no one will even notice some of them are missing. And even if they do, as head of the department, I'm in charge of the storage." She shrugged. "It's better that you use it than to let everything rot inside the aurors' cabinets."

"In that case, I can make a list and send it over to your office." Severus said. "Thank you."

"Oh, don't thank me!" Y/N tried to suppress a smile. "It's not like it's gonna be free of charges, you know…"

"No?" Somehow, he couldn't take her seriously. 

"Definitely not." She took a sip from her tea. "You didn't think I would simply give you the ingredients, did you?" Y/N had this almost devious smirk playing at her lips as she watched Severus become more and more confused. "I mean, I have to see your list to know the actual price, but I'm guessing that at the very least, you're gonna have to buy me some drinks."

Snape almost choked on his tea. Was she really implying what he thought she was? Sooner that afternoon he was thinking about possible ways to ask her out and gave up on that idea because it seemed completely ridiculous and here she was, making it look like a joke.

"Is that so? That's how the Ministry charges for potions' supplies?" He managed to ask, trying with all his might to sound nonchalant.

"Hey, I don't make the rules…" She feigned innocence. "If you still want those ingredients, send me the list tomorrow and we can discuss the payment later." She shrugged again. "You know better, of course, but I'd say a dinner is a fair price considering you'll get to develop your researches."

"I'm sorry, did you say dinner?" He asked, already playing along. "I thought you said earlier it was just some drinks…" His sarcasm was finally being put to good use against her.

"I believe I said 'at least' some drinks. Who knows? Those ingredients can be really expensive sometimes…"

"Right…" Snape said, trying to keep the serious façade. 

"Anyway… If you still want them, send me an owl with your list and I'll see what I can do." She said finishing her tea.

"I'll think about it…" Now he was just trying not to agree with going out with her right away. 

"Of course you will." She chuckled. "I guess I'll leave you to your thoughts for the night then! It's getting late... Can I use your floo network?" Severus nodded and led the way to his living room. 

"I'll send you the list tomorrow." Severus said as he watched her step into the fireplace. 

"Good!" Y/N smiled at him. "Bye, Severus!" With that, she left his chambers in the green flames brought by the floo powder. 

Severus stared at the empty fireplace for sometime, thinking about the nonsense of everything that happened.

For some reason, he didn't seem capable to stop smiling for the rest of the night.

#severus snape #severus snape imagine #snape #snape imagine #snape x reader #severus snape x reader #severus #severus x reader #professor snape #snape fanfiction

[kumkaniudaku]

Pop Off

Summary: Tasha ends up in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. 

Monday evenings in the Boseman household were typically quiet affairs. Now that CoCo had assumed the role of full-time stay at home mom, she was in charge of orchestrating the daily schedule. After all of the children had been assisted with homework, fed, bathed, and put to bed, the adults were afforded the opportunity to enjoy peace as the final hours of the day ticked away.

Tucked into soft Egyptian sheets on top of a spacious Wyoming king bed, Tasha and Chadwick lay cuddled in the middle preparing for sleep until the buzz of an unseen cell phone disturbed the atmosphere.

“Oh, what the fuck,” Tasha grumbled in the dark bedroom as she extended her arm to search the nightstand for her device.

Chadwick chuckled at his wife’s outburst and shifted in bed to flick on the bedside lamp, “Who is it?”

“It’s Tiana. She better have a reason for interrupting my sleep or I’m gon’ cuss her ass out.” Chadwick continued to laugh at his wife’s tantrum knowing that his sister-in-law was in for less than enthusiastic greeting. He’d been a victim of CoCo’s wrath after waking her prematurely on several occasions.

Reluctantly sliding her finger across the screen, she quickly tapped the speaker icon to answer.

“What, Tiana?”

“I’m gonna tell daddy that you yelled at me.”

“Sis, I have two kids and a husband. I can yell at who I wanna.” Realizing her statement’s implications, Tasha changed her tune. “But, like, we don’t need to get him involved. Stop being a tattletale!”

“If you take me with you to the spa, I’ll keep quiet.”

CoCo looked over to Chadwick who smiled and nodded. “Fine. But make sure you thank Aaron. Because your ass would’ve been grass. Now, what do you want this late at night?”

“Tasha, it is 9: 30 pm. The sun has been down for thirty minutes TOPS! Why are you already asleep?”

“My baby needs her beauty rest, TiTi,” Chadwick laughed. “Sixteen hours is the minimum for the lady of the house.

“I’ll never understand how you spoil her so much but I think it’s cute. Anyway, T, have you seen the season premiere of Basketball Wives Atlanta.”

“Girl, what,” Tasha exclaimed, turning her nose up at the mention of the franchise. “You know I don’t watch that trash.”

“Well, friend, you might wanna take a look at this one. It’s on right now. Call me back when it’s over.”

Before Tasha could press her sister for more answers, Tiana hung up with no further explanation. Chadwick was the next person to move, pulling the remote out of the nightstand drawer to turn on their seldom-used television. When the show’s main theme rolled through the soundbar speakers to signal its return from commercial break, Tasha winced at the sound.

Living in Los Angeles, especially after marrying into a lifestyle characterized by exposure to all types of celebrities, had resulted in a plethora of run-ins for CoCo. She’d met and partied with Hollywood’s elite at event after parties, sipped a beer at more intimate events with Black entertainment’s finest and, unfortunately, brushed elbows with those that desired fame and would do anything to attain exposure. Some of those brush ups were resolved with quick but concise warnings. Others took a bit more...convincing.

“Living in Atlanta and starting this new single period in my life is fun, so I called up a couple of my girls and we had a little roof-top party to bring the boys out.”

Tasha’s eyes snapped up toward the TV in horror, “Oh no.”

“Right. I think I see the lace in her wig. Is that what y’all call it? The shit that looks like a screen door? You gotta tell your girl Malaysia that she missed the mark with this one.”

Chadwick’s sudden interest in the reality tv show caused him to miss his wife’s obvious discomfort as memories pushed to the darkest recesses of her mind came forth.

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

“Tasha, you want another drink?” Wrapped up in scrolling through her cell phone to view pictures of her family, CoCo completely missed her friend’s question until her space was invaded with a tap to her shoulder. “Hey, d’you hear me? Want another drink?”

“Wha-uh, yeah. Please, be heavy on the D'usse this time. And a glass of water please.”

Malaysia nodded and smiled, “Ya know, for somebody who is hell-bent on sitting over here by their damn self, you sure are turning these back.”

“It’s just the cameras and shit. I’m not used to it like you.”

“Girl, don’t worry about them. They’re just here for some b-roll and then they’ll be out. Gotta catch me meeting some of these menzzzz!”

“You sure that’s it? None of that arguing shit the girls like to do for the blogs?”

Tasha was well aware of the typical reality show antics and wanted no part in them. She came out to celebrate her friend’s housewarming and decision to get back on the dating scene, not entertain a bunch of young girls looking for their fifteen minutes in the spotlight.

“That’s it, housewife!”

“Excuse me? That’s Mrs. Housewife to you,” Tasha laughed. “Alright, I’ll get up and mingle a little for my girl. My outfit is too cute to not be seen anyway.”

The pair shared a laugh as CoCo’s glass was quickly replaced with a new, stronger concoction. It wasn’t long before Tasha began to welcome conversation, moving between groups to discuss whatever was on the docket. She even served as the host of an impromptu speed dating game to help Malaysia narrow down the potential partners in the room. With a buzz from the dark liquor in her fourth glass, Tasha was the center of attention and unaware of the cameras that she spent so much time worrying about.

At some point, when the flow of alcohol and conversation were at their peak, Malaysia turned to CoCo to give the group advice.

“Okay, Tasha, tell us how you ended up with like, the best man available. I need the secret.”

“Girl, there is no secret. We’re a regular couple with regular problems.”

“Yeah, right,” Malaysia responded with an accusatory look on her face. “Let me tell y’all, those two will argue and make up in the same sentence. Then 3 business days later she’s in new Balenciagas. So, sis, I’ll ask you again, what is the secret?”

Just as Tasha prepared to offer up a little piece of advice her mother shared with her before tying the knot, a low murmur from an unfamiliar face across the circle caught her attention.

“I’m sorry, you wanna say that again? I missed the conversation.”

“No, I’m good. Continue.”

In her mind, Tasha wrestled with her next steps. Whoever the young woman was appeared to be well below the age where common sense was actually common but old enough to know the meaning of respect. Feeling loose and open for

“I insist, sweetheart. Please, share with the class. We could all use some advice.” Prolonged silence from the offending party drew curious stares from the rest of the group and a satisfied smirk from Tasha. “Nothing? Great. As I was saying, the secret is to su-”

“The secret is to steal another woman’s man right before he’s about to propose to his girlfriend. Right, CoCo?”

At the sound of her nickname, Tasha placed her glass on the table and straightened her back, “See, baby, you called me CoCo. That means you either know me or know somebody that wishes they were in my position. So, which one is it?”

“I know that your husband was in a relationship until you came around. I know that he was about to propose to my friend but you fucked him during your charity party to stop him.”

“What I’m hearing is not only are you dumb but you’re a liar too. You know what I do to children that lie in my face? I whoop their asses.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Malaysia exclaimed in an effort to deescalate the situation. “Tasha, let’s go get you some more water.”

Feeling like she’d made her point, CoCo allowed her friend to gently pull her off of the wicker couch and attempt to lead her away from the budding confrontation.

“Get her old ass out of here. All bark and no bite.”

“Bitch, please! Do you really think I’d scuff these shoes to fight a little girl in Fashion Nova leggings,” Tasha asked as she yanked away from the grip on her arm.

“I’m not gone be too many more bitches.”

“You gon’ be as many bitches as I decide to call you, bitch. Now what?” When her words were met with little more than a childing stomp and pout, Tasha took it upon herself to be dismissed from the festivities. “Malaysia, girl, I will talk to you later. How’s dinner tomorrow?”

“That works girl! Drive sa-”

The loud shatter of glass and subsequent debris from its collision made both women stop in their tracks and slowly turn to face the rest of the party.

“This little bitch gon’ make me whoop her ass. Hold my bag.”

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

Chadwick’s laughter and the television competed for Tasha’s attention while she hid her head underneath the duvet.

“Honestly, I’m not even mad at Tasha. I would have beat her ass too. But that’s my girl and she has a reputation to uphold so...unfortunately security had to step in the mix.”

“Okay, that’s enough. Turn it off. Please.”

“You ‘re faster than I thought, baby. And that lunge was very graceful.”

“Turn it off, Chad!”

“Alright, alright.” His hands went up in playful surrender before shutting the TV off and turning to his wife. She’s finally emerged from her blanket coffin but with a glossy sheen covering her eyes and a pout identical to Micah’s. “Aww, come here, baby girl. Come here.”

“I’m a reality tv show bitch,” Tasha wailed as Chadwick pulled her into his chest for a hug. “I should just move out and be on B-bad Girls Cluuuub.”

“You are not moving out, Mike Tyson. I need you here to keep us safe.”

“Oh my Gooood. My kids are gonna think I some...some...guttersnipe!”

“A what?” There was no use in trying to calm Tasha while she was in full panic mode. Any words of encouragement would be disregarded and only serve to exacerbate the already tense situation. So, Chadwick absorbed all of her tears in the cotton of his t-shirt until she had cried all of her embarrassment away and unveiled a thin layer of anger.

“I can’t believe I let her get me out of my element like that. I mean...I’m me! I’m Tasha fucking Greene Boseman.”

“Greene Boseman! That’s right, baby. You are that bitch.”

“Right! I like when you say that. I’m that bitch! The motherfuckin’ prototype!”

“Gahdamn prototype!”

“These lil’ girls hope and pray to be this fine in their 40s.”

“God please let me be as fine as Tasha Boseman,” Chadwick chimed in a comically high-pitched voice.

“Tuh! I’m a bad bitch.”

“Mhmmm. Now come here and show me how bad you can get.” His little kisses up her arm on the way to her collarbone made Tasha giggle, nearly completing Chadwick’s mission. That was until the soft ring of her phone alerted her to an incoming FaceTime call. “Nuh uh. Let it go to voicemail.”

“It’ll be quick, babe. I promise.” Pulling his face from the crook of her neck, he gave her a look of disbelief. “It’s just the girls. I’ll get them off the phone in five minutes!”

Chadwick grumbled an incoherent sentence about never getting what he wanted before dramatically setting a timer on his cell phone and placing it in his wife’s lap. “Five minutes, Cookie.”

“I’ll make it four, baby,” she answered in the sweetest voice she could muster.

Pressing the answer button on the call, the line sat silent for a few seconds before all of the women let out a long “biiiiiitch” in unison. Chadwick knew what was coming and silently pleaded with his wife not to go any further. His attempts were futile as she began a lengthy rant that propelled her out of the bed and into her vanity area in the closet to finish the conversation.

When she was out of earshot, Chadwick grabbed the remote to rewind the episode and begin at the height of the conflict. He smiled at his wife’s aggression, feeling his heart soar and excitement stir in his belly.

“My girl, the fighter. Use your left, baby. There you go!”

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#Chadwick Boseman #chadwick boseman imagine #chadwick boseman fan fiction #chad x coco #chadwick boseman x reader

[glitterandmoondustofficial]

Side To Side

Chapter 168: Details

Characters: Law, Erina, Shachi, Ikkaku, Ruby Rating: Teen Warnings: Language Notes: Recently realized that my Law and Ruby spotify playlist has 69 songs in it and now I can never add another song. Full Story

~~~~~

Law was feeling okay for the first time in three weeks. He was actually starting to not mind that might not get his memories back (as much). He stood on his balcony with a cup of coffee, staring at the clear sky.  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It’s been awhile since he had felt alright like this.

He watched members of his crew file on deck to explore the island again. Everyone going their own way. Ruby came up with Ikkaku, talking amongst themselves. Law felt himself relax as Ruby laughed. Good. She looked better. Her eyes met his and she smiled up at him, giving him a small wave before turning back to Ikkaku. He chastised his heart for leaping the way it did when she smiled at him.

“Why are you waving?” Law felt his spine spasm in surprise and whipped around to glare at Erina. She stood there with a large toothy grin. “Sorry.” She chuckled.

“I wasn’t waving.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Why are you here?”

“Mental health check.”

“I’m fine.” She stared at him flatly. Law sighed and gave in. “I’m feeling fine today.”

She relaxed with an understanding smile. “That’s improvement. Have you remembered anything?” She walked up next to him and stood on the balcony.

“No.”

“Ah, then perhaps it’s someone causing your good mood.” Law frowned at her and she ignored him, staring down at the deck below. “Sela-san has also improved her mood lately.”

Law looked down to Ruby, who was putting her hair in a ponytail. “Who said it was Ruby who had improved my mood?”

“My mistake. It is, of course, not only your interactions with her that have caused your improvement. You have your crew as well. You’re safe and surrounded by loved ones, therefore you can relax.”

“Yes…” he sighed. “I would still prefer to have my memories back, even if I’m starting to get around to being okay with starting over.”

“Of course, that’s natural isn’t it? You wish to have everything you experienced back. Missing a whole year is a burden.”

“Yeah.” Law sipped his coffee. “I’ll get there...wherever there is.”

“Good! Optimistic thinking is definitely a good start. It’s good to see you still have that ability.” Law huffed annoyed and Erina chuckled. “I will leave you to your coffee and balcony. I am glad that my captain is starting to feel better.”

Law relaxed. “Thanks.”

~~~~~

“Heeeeey,” Ruby slid up to Law as he sat in a chair on deck. He raised a brow at her through his reading glasses and placed a bookmark in his book.

He cleared his throat, “what do you want?”

Ruby pouted. “Who says I want something? Maybe I just want to say, “hey.””

“What do you want?”

“Ugh, fine. I’m going shopping, I need someone to carry stuff for me.”

“You have arms.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to.”

“And you think I want to?”

“Perhaps.”

“No, get someone else to do it.” Ruby whined and Law groaned. “That makes me want to even less.” Did he just let her get away with this stuff when they were dating? There’s no way he did. He stared at her annoyed and she stared expectantly right back at him. “Did you get away with whining like that before?”

“No.”

“Did you think I suddenly changed by not having my memories?”

“No.” She grinned. “Just come with.”

“Why?”

“What are you doing?”

“Relaxing.”

“Come relax with me then.” Law’s annoyance went away...slightly. Ruby’s grin faded a little and her eyebrows creased. “I just wanna...hang out...with you.”

“You’re terrible at this.”

Ruby’s nostrils flared and Law started to smirk. “Fine.” She turned on her heel. Her hips and ponytail started to sway as she walked off.

Law stood up and walked after her. “What, no longer wanting to spend time with me?”

“You’re an ass, captain.” Law’s smirk grew as he followed her off the sub. She huffed and he chuckled.

“Where did you want to go?”

She stopped and looked at him annoyed. Her eyebrows raised slowly and she sighed. “There were a couple things I wanted to try.”

“A bakery then.” Ruby blushed and turned to walk away. Law followed after her, noticing the faint smile that grew on her lips.

~~~~~

“Where’d you disappear to today?”

Law looked up from his dinner and raised a brow at Shachi. “Were you wanting to do something?”

“No, I just noticed you went out instead of staying in.”

“Ah. I was...with Ruby.”

Shachi’s eyebrows rose. “ Oh? ”

“She said she wanted to hang out.”

“She’s being forward.”

“Was she not always forward?”

“She was but she wasn’t.”

“Meaning?”

“She would get flustered easily. It was cute.”

“I never noticed.”

“Of course not. You’d already be dating if you noticed everything everyone else does.” Law frowned at him.

“He has a point.” Ikkaku sat down next to Shachi. “She was always a flustered mess. I can’t believe how many times I had to set you guys up to be alone and nothing happened because you’re both stupid.”

“Like when?”

“Remember that time she bought the white dress? And I left to buy sunglasses?”

Law stared at her blankly and she grinned.

“One time I left you two in a bar and she bought you a drink and you didn’t get it.” Shachi added with a cheeky grin.

“We would always buy each other drinks.”

“Not while flirting like you were.”

“To be fair,” Ikkaku interrupted. “They’ve always flirted.”

“We have not.”

“Yes you have.” They both said at the same time.

Law groaned and rubbed his eyes. “So how did we figure it out, then?”

“It was Ruby,” Ikkaku said and took a bite of her food. “You were in the control room one night and she was wearing a tight dress. She asked you to unzip her and you did.”

“You apparently almost kissed but Penguin interrupted.” Shachi said flatly. “Why don’t you ask her all this stuff?”

Law hesitated and switched his gaze to Ruby sitting next to Penguin and Jun.

“Did we ever go on dates?”

Ruby blinked before snorting. “Sometimes, but not often. It was mostly...stuff like this, I guess.”

“So we didn’t look like a couple. That makes sense.”

“Yeah.” Ruby shifted and looked down at her food.

“Did I make you uncomfortable?”

“No,” she sighed. “Not at all.” She picked up a fry and ate it. “You can ask me any questions you like.”

Law hesitated, something about her far off expression was telling him he had asked enough for the day.

“I don’t want it to be awkward.”

“It’s hard to make Ruby feel awkward. She’s been in a lot of uncomfortable situations before.”

“I’d rather not push it.”

“He’s right,” Shachi said to Ikkaku. “No reason to ruin his chances at asking her out.”

“I’m not-”

“Oh, good point. You should do it soon, Captain.”

“You gotta do it, you know.” Shachi pointed his fork at him. “She’s not going to.”

“Can we talk about something else?”

Ikkaku and Shachi snickered at him before going back to their food.

~~~~~

Law watched Ruby hum as she watered a plant in the control room. “You’re in a good mood.”

“Am I?” She turned and looked at him with a soft smile.

“You’re humming at least.”

Ruby’s smile grew and she turned back to the plant. “You’ve been in a good mood lately, as well.”

“I’ve been better.”

“That’s good. Have you remembered anything?”

“Not memories,” he said. “But...I have felt stuff.”

“Huh?” She turned back to him with a cute confused expression on her face.

“Things are starting to feel familiar.”

“Oh, like what?”

“Jun, Helmut, and Erina for example. They feel like they’ve been with us for awhile.”

“Well, that’s good. I’m sure it wasn’t great learning you had three crew members that you didn’t remember recruiting.”

“From what I understand, Shachi recruited Helmut and you recruited Jun.” Ruby shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ve also caught myself doing things without realizing I’m doing them.”

“Oh?”

“Watering those plants for example. I find myself doing it with no problem or reminder.” Not to mention, constantly having to stop himself from holding Ruby’s hand, wanting to kiss her forehead, definitely keeping himself from walking up behind her and picking her up as a surprise.

“Well, it’s good that you’re not killing them.” She set her watering can on the ground and pulled a chair up next to him. “It’s also good that you’re starting to be comfortable again. It sucked seeing you so out of your element.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “It is good to be able to relax for a bit. I’m actually starting to be okay with not getting my memories back.”

Law watched Ruby’s lips twitch in the slightest. She immediately smiled. “That’s good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. We don’t need you confused and constantly second guessing everything.”

Law nodded and looked at the screens in front of him. She was definitely faking that smile. He knew that she was hoping he’d get his memories back and they can get back to where they left off. The reality of the situation, however, was that it probably would never happen. And truth be told, he didn’t want to see the disappointment in her eyes when she finally accepted that.

Ruby rubbed her arms as she stared at the monitors.

“Are you cold?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t you keep blankets in here?” Law leaned over and opened the drawer that had her blankets stored in it. He spread it out and laid it over her, huffing when she curled under it.

“Thanks.” She said quietly, covering her nose with the blanket.

“Do you want anything to drink?”

“No, I’m fine.” She settled against the chair, pulling the blanket further over herself.

“Do you have nothing else you want to do?”

Ruby looked at him from the corner of her eye before looking back at the monitors. “Were you wanting to be alone?”

“I don’t care either way,” he said with a shrug. “I enjoy spending time with you, so you’re welcome to stay in here.” Ruby snorted and smiled. “What?”

“You’ve always been terrible at hiding how you feel.” Law blushed and glared at her. “Take it as a good thing. I’m someone you don’t have to act all...you around.”

“Act all me around? How else am I supposed to act?”

“Obviously, the sweetheart who waits on me hand and foot.”

“Bullshit.”

Ruby stuck her tongue out at him. “You don’t know.”

“Oh, I’m confident that’s bullshit.”

Ruby giggled. “I’ll take that drink, by the way.”

Law immediately stood up and walked over to the fridge. He heard Ruby snort and turned around to glare at her. “Are you enjoying this?”

“Oh my god, yeah.”

Law still got her a drink.

He didn’t let her see his smile as she giggled happily either. He liked hearing her laugh. He wouldn’t tell her that, but she probably already knew anyway.

Who knows, maybe he’ll feel confident enough at some point to ask her to try again with him.

Maybe she’ll even say yes.

#one piece #one piece fanfiction #lawxoc #law x oc #trafalgar law #side to side #sela ruby #ruby sela

[emospritelet]

For Dark Heart, prompting #99: “This was fun— Lets do it again sometime!” and also #150: “What on earth are you wearing?” (Sending two in case someone's already sent one of them. You can choose whichever strikes your fancy.)

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8] [Part 9] [Part 10] [Part 11] [Part 12] [Part 13] [Part 14] [Part 15] [Part 16] [Part 17] [Part 18] [Part 19] [Part 20] [Part 21] [Part 22] [Part 23]

AO3 link

Belle had felt bad for snapping at Gold over things that weren’t really his fault, especially when there were other, far more appropriate reasons to snap at him, and she resolved to try to be civil with him when she returned to the house that evening.  For his part, he greeted her calmly, if a little cautiously, and she swept Gideon up into her arms for a hug while he made a start on the dinner.

“I’m doing herb-crusted salmon,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at her as he took a roasting tin from the cupboard.  “Fine beans, potatoes and a white wine and cream sauce.  Is that okay?”

“Sounds delicious,” she said, and after he turned away she added.  “I - I haven’t eaten this well in maybe two years.”

Gold turned back with a tiny smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.

“Well, you’re welcome to stay as long as you like,” he said.

She didn’t know what to say to that, having already said she would move out when her father came out of hospital, but the tension between them had eased, and so she sent him a brief smile.  He poured her a glass of wine, and she carried it out to sit on the back porch with Gideon in her arms, bouncing him on her knee as he played with a colourful plastic rattle.  She took a sip of her wine, and her phone buzzed in her pocket.  Belle put down her glass, fishing it out and smiling as she saw who was calling.

“Hey.”  Emma’s voice crackled a little.  “Thought I’d give you a chance to find your feet.  How’s your dad?”

“He’s a little better,” said Belle.  “In hospital for longer than I thought, though.  He comes out Friday.”

“And Gideon?” she asked.  “How’s he dealing with the change of scene?”

“Water off a duck’s back,” said Belle dryly.  “You know how he is.  Everyone’s been fussing over him, so he’s in his element.”

Emma chuckled a little, but then fell silent.

“What about you?” asked Belle, wanting to avoid the inevitable question she could sense floating around in Emma’s mind.  “Did Henry get that part in the play?”

“Oh, it wasn’t an acting part he wanted,” said Emma.  “He’s on the writing team.  Chief dramatist, he likes to call himself.  Little guy’s gonna be a screenwriter or something, Neal says.”

“Well, he has the imagination for it,” said Belle.

“Uh-huh.  Speaking of drama, are you gonna tell me what else happened in the past week?”

Belle sighed, hugging Gideon a little closer.

“Well, he knows,” she said dryly.

“How’d that go?”

Belle shook her head.

“Badly.  I mean - things are better now, but he was furious.”

“Well, you knew that would be a possibility,” said Emma frankly.  “We talked about it.  Extensively.”

“I know, I know.”  Belle rubbed at her eye with the heel of her hand.  “I shouldn’t have put things off for as long as I did.  Neal was right, I - I should have told him sooner.”

“Hey, you were scared!” protested Emma.  “And from what you told us, you had good reason!  Guy was an asswipe!”

“Yeah,” said Belle, her tone wry.  “He absolutely was.”

“But you said it’s getting better?”

“Yeah.”  Belle kissed Gideon’s head, breathing in his scent.  “He’s been - he’s really trying.  He’s taking care of Gideon while I work the shop - seriously, he’s so good with him!  He’s a natural!”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line.

“You had sex with him, didn’t you?” said Emma accusingly, and Belle blushed.

“What?” she protested.  “I - I never said that!”

“Well, now I know you had sex with him,” snickered Emma, and Belle groaned.

“Look, it was an accident, okay?” she sighed.  “We yelled a lot, and emotions got the better of us.  Can you just keep it to yourself?”

“Your secret’s safe with me, babe,” she said.  “Neal says hi, by the way.  And not to do anything he wouldn’t.  Guess we’re a little late for that.”

“Oh, you’re hilarious,” said Belle dryly, as Emma cackled.

The sound of a rhythmic tapping and Gold’s uneven tread approached, and she looked around as he appeared on the porch with his own glass of wine in his hand.

“Look, I gotta go,” she said.  “I’ll call you, okay?”

“Sure thing.  Try not to bang your babydaddy too hard.”

Belle rolled her eyes, amused, and swiped at the phone to hang up.  Gold lowered himself into the chair beside her, taking a sip of wine.

“How was your day?” he asked carefully, and she shrugged.

“Quieter than I would have liked, but I broke even,” she said.  “You?”

“A couple of small loans and someone buying a piece of jewellery, that’s all,” he said dismissively.  “I - uh - I spoke to Dove, by the way.  He says the house will be ready to move into on Thursday.  Cleaning the basement took longer than he thought.”

“Oh, that actually works out well,” she said.  “Dad comes out Friday.  I spoke to Dr Whale.”

Gideon wriggled in her arms, grumbling, and she let him slip to the floor, holding onto one of his hands as he found his balance.  He glanced around, lower lip protruding, then wandered over and slapped his hands on Gold’s knees, burbling at him.

“You want a tour of the garden?” asked Gold, and set down his wine glass.

Belle watched as he got the cane underneath himself and pushed to his feet, picking up Gideon in the crook of an arm and carrying him down the wooden steps to the garden.  Gold set him down, taking his hand and walking slowly along the neat strip of grass between the flower beds.  He was talking to Gideon as they went, telling him the names of the flowers in a low, gentle voice, and Gideon stopped to sniff one, beaming up at Gold and getting a soft-eyed smile in return.  Belle leaned back in her chair, an unfamiliar feeling of contentment flowing over her.  He clearly wanted to make things work with their son.  Perhaps it would be okay.  Perhaps they could be friends.

Tuesday morning dawned with a blue and hazy sky, the air already warm and filled with the chirps of birds and the lazy drone of insects.  Gold found himself drinking his morning coffee with only Gideon for company, and had just about finished feeding his son breakfast when Belle hurried downstairs looking stressed, a bundle of clothes in her arms and her hair a wonderfully tangled mess.

“I can’t believe I overslept!” she fretted.  “You should have woken me!”

“You have plenty of time,” he said calmly.  “What would you like to eat?”

“Oh, I don’t know…”  She cast her eyes about, chewing her lip.  “You mind if I do some laundry?”

“Of course not,” he said.  “You didn’t need to ask.  Out of clean things?”

“I - I lost track of the days,” she said vaguely.  “Didn’t realise I’d gone through everything I packed until this morning.  Gideon still has some clean stuff, though.”

“Everything you need is under the sink.”

She stuffed the armful of clothing into the washing machine, adding liquid and softener before turning it on.

“I know it won’t be done before I go to work…” she began, looking harassed.

“I can take it out and hang it up to dry,” he said calmly.  “Sit down, let me make you some breakfast.”

“In a minute…”  She swept her hair out of her eyes.  “I can’t believe I didn’t think about bloody laundry!”

“Why don’t you just go and get Gideon ready?” he suggested.  “I’ll make you eggs on toast, and I can deal with the laundry while you’re at work.  I won’t spontaneously combust if I have to handle your underwear.”

She shot him a flat look at that, a hint of amusement in her eyes, and bent to sweep Gideon up in her arms.

“Let’s get you ready, young man,” she said firmly, and he belched, throwing up partly-digested porridge over her shirt.  Belle groaned, raising her eyes to the ceiling as Gideon started to cry.

“I don’t believe this…”

“His timing is impeccable,” observed Gold, and she sighed, stomping out of the room and up the stairs, the sound of Gideon’s wailing floating back down.

Gold grinned to himself, getting up to wipe down Gideon’s chair and wash the breakfast dishes.  His eyes flicked to the clock on the wall.  Gone eight o’clock.  It wouldn’t matter if he was a little late opening the shop.  He could stick around until Belle’s laundry was done, catch up on a little paperwork, check his emails.  The paternity test results were due to arrive that day, and nerves were digging at him, whispering snide words in his mind.  He had slept poorly, knowing the test results wouldn’t be out until office hours, but unable to rest despite that, and he hoped he wouldn’t have to wait all day.

He had not mentioned his visit to Dr Hopper to Belle, largely because he was still trying to process what the doctor had said for himself.  While he had finally admitted that he needed outside help if they were to build a good relationship, he was by no means certain that he was capable of doing what Dr Hopper suggested.  He intended to try, though.  Just as soon as it was confirmed that Gideon was his.

The sound of feet on the stairs made him look around, and Belle swept into the kitchen with Gideon in her arms, both of them changed into clean things.  Gold blinked, his mouth falling open.  She was wearing a blue silk shirt, tied in a knot at her waist with the sleeves rolled up.  The colour brought out her eyes, the deep pink of her lips and the pale perfection of her skin, and he couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away.

“Is that my shirt?” he asked, and she glanced over, bouncing Gideon in her arms.

“I hope you don’t mind,” she said apologetically.  “I had literally nothing else to wear.”

“I…  Of course not, no,” he managed.  “Raid my wardrobe as much as you please.”

“Thank you.”

She smiled, kissing Gideon’s head, and flicked her eyes across to meet his.

“You sure you’re okay to have him this morning?” she asked.  “I’ll go visit Dad this afternoon, take Gideon to see him.”

“Fine with me,” he said.  “Why don’t we have lunch at the diner?”

Belle’s smile widened.

“I’d like that.”

Lunch at Granny's had been pleasant, Belle opting for the chicken Caesar salad instead of her usual burger.  The day was hot, and she walked into the coolness of the hospital’s air-conditioned corridors with a sigh of relief.  Her father was sitting up, drinking a cup of tea, and his eyes narrowed as he looked her over.

“What on earth are you wearing?” he grumbled, and Belle looked down.

“Oh - it’s laundry day,” she said, feeling a little self-conscious.  “Gideon threw up on me, so I borrowed one of Alex’s shirts.”

“Getting kind of domestic, aren’t you?” he said sourly.  “Why are you still at his house, anyway?”

“Because yours was a shithole, that’s why,” she said tartly.  “It’ll be clean by the time you get out of here, and I’ll be moving in, too.

“I don’t want him slithering back into your life.”

“It’s just a shirt, Dad.”

He grunted at that, and Belle sighed to herself, picking Gideon up out of the stroller and sitting down with him on her lap.  He was sleepy after his lunch, head lolling against her, and she kissed his forehead gently as he slipped into a doze.

“Are we still on for Friday?” she asked, and Moe nodded.

“Dr Whale had me up and about today,” he said.  “Weak as a bloody kitten, I am.”

“Well, he said to expect that,” said Belle.  “You’ll get better.”

He grunted again, as though he doubted it.

“How are things at the shop?”

“A little slow the past couple of days,” she admitted.  “Not sure everyone knows we’re open again.  I thought I might make an announcement at Granny’s, or something.”

“There are a couple of weddings this month, if I remember rightly,” he said.

“Yeah, I saw the orders,” she said.  “I’ve asked the supplier for extra peonies, and I just hope I can make the arrangements to your standard.”

“Phone me with that video app thing you’ve got and I can talk you through it,” he said, and she nodded, relieved.

“I’m gonna have to shorten the opening hours when I’m looking after you,” she added.  “Any more word on how long that’s likely to be?”

“Couple of weeks, Whale said.”  Moe finished his tea.  “I guess you’re wanting to get back to Boston, huh?”

Belle hesitated.

“Of course.”

“Nothing to keep you in this town once I’m back to rights, is there?”

“Sounds like you want to get rid of me,” she teased, and his mouth flattened.

“I think you did the right thing when you left,” he said.  “There’s no future for you here.  You or the kid.”

“You’ll come and see us though, right?” she asked.  “And - and Alex says he wants to bring Gideon here, on alternate weekends.  He’ll want to see his grandpa as he gets older.”

“What, you think that man’ll let me have a relationship with my grandson?”  Moe sounded bitter.  “Probably spend all his time trying to poison his mind against me.”

Belle frowned.

“He wouldn’t do that,” she said sharply.  “And of course you’ll have a relationship with Gideon!  I haven’t worked out any of the details of how we’re gonna do this, but we’ve been waiting for the test results to come back before we decided anything.”

Moe’s eyes widened.

“He made you get a bloody paternity test?  Of all the bloody nerve!”

“It’s necessary if we want to formalise anything,” she said.  “Stop getting insulted on my behalf!”

Moe looked away with a scowl, and Belle rolled her eyes.  Getting the two men in her life to even be civil to one another was going to be an uphill struggle.

Gold had felt his anxiety grow as the day wore on, increasing with every minute that there was no email letting him know the result of the test.  His laptop was open on the workbench, and he checked it every time it made the noise that signalled a new message, hands shaking in anticipation before the inevitable disappointment at finding another spam email.  By the time three o’clock came, he was on the verge of calling the company he had sent the sample to, and started the restoration of an antique lantern to try to take his mind off things.

The computer beeped again, and Gold looked up, swiping with his finger at the touchpad and telling himself not to get his hopes up.  His heart thumped when he saw the sender of the email, and he licked his lips, opening up the message.  He read it over three times before sitting back, letting out the breath he had been holding with a sigh of relief.  Not that he had doubted it, not really, but this proved it.  Gideon was his son.  A smile played across his face, and he felt a surge of emotion go through him.  He would get to be a father, get to do everything he had missed out on with Bae.  He would get to see his son grow up, be a meaningful part of his life.  And he would have a good relationship with his mother.  He was determined to make that work.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he fished it out, his smile widening as he saw Ella’s name pop up.  His thumb swiped at the screen to answer.

“You always did have good timing,” he said.

“Alexander.”  Ella’s drawling voice oozed out of the phone.  “How are you, darling?”

“I was about to call you,” he said.  “The test result.  It’s positive.”

“Well then, I imagine congratulations are in order,” she said, and he smiled.

“I’ll need you to make a start on what we discussed,” he added.

“I’ve already drafted the deed of trust,” she said.  “I’ll email it over and you can have a look.  I suggest coming in to finalise the rest, if you’re able to get down to Boston.”

“I need to speak to Belle, first,” he said.  “I think it’s best I let her know what I’m proposing for our son.”

“You think she’ll object?  She’d be a fool to.”

“No, I don’t think that,” he said.  “I just - I don’t want her to feel that I’ve gone behind her back and not consulted her, that’s all.”

“Hmm.  Very well.”

There was a moment of silence.

“I looked into your Belle French, by the way,” she said.  “Very interesting indeed.”

Gold sat down on the stool, his heart thumping.

“Tell me.”

#jackabelle73 #fic: dark heart #rumbelle fic #my fic #tinuviel-undomiel #rumbelle

[flying-hybrid]

The People Story - Episode 1: The presence of the present

Hello! Here’s the first part of my story! :D Please enjoy! Put under “read more” due to it being a long one.

  The year was 2119, and things were much different than the past. The past stays as history to the people in 2119, and the future is now. Flying cars, machines no man before could make.

As the time ticked on one more for the next day, a man slowly wakes up from his bed, the effects of the sleeping pill slowly wearing off. He sits up and glances around the room. His same old room, his same old life.

  “Hey, Holo. Give me the time.” He mumbles while sitting up to rub his eyes.

  “Oh, Master Henry, you must have forgotten your sleeping pill is set to wake you at the right time, but I can still certainly tell you the time.” The hologram showed up, there in blocky text it said 7:00 AM. Henry adjusts his eyes to look at the time presented to him.

  “Alright, about a hour to get ready for today’s meeting… You can go now.” Henry stood up as the hologram disappeared. He pulls up his pants to keep them from falling, the pair of pants he has not taken off in two days.

  Henry grabs his mug as he walks into the kitchen and puts it under a tap. A scanner scans the barcode in the mug and automatically fills it with coffee. He puts it on a cup holder hover and walks off as the cup follows him. He takes a sip as he plops down on the couch tiredly.

  Just as he sits, a door slides open very quickly. Stomps get louder and louder as his daughter Anna walks down to the living room, readying herself, then diving right onto Henry. Henry grunts as he lightly pushes Anna aside.

  “Hi dad!” Anna greets him with a cheesy wave. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”

  “Hey, I’m dressed and I got my coffee. I’m prepared for anything!” He justifies as he drinks more coffee. “You should be getting ready for school, miss.”

  Anna shrugs, obviously giving up. “Alright, you win. Make sure you really are prepared though! Cya!” She shouts as she walks to her room but stops at the door frame. “By the way, check the time.” She enters her room.

  Henry looks up at the clock, 7:30 AM. “Oh fuck, I gotta go! Anna!” He falls his daughter’s name. “Please don’t skip school again, and take the bus!” Henry yells to her as he leaves the house and goes to his flying car. He turns on auto drive as he leans back and drinks more coffee. “God… That girl can be crazy sometimes.” He wonders as he reads the newspaper on his cell phone, iGlass 7.

Headline: Elementals going missing in downtown Flintwood. No evidence for their disappearance, law enforcement still searching for clues to their whereabouts. More information will be coming out as the investigation continues.

  Henry shrugs, looking back out his front window and seeing the location getting close. He puts his phone away and goes back to manual drive. Finding a good place to park his car, he gets out and walks into the big building with glass windows everywhere.

  He stands at the door to the elevator, waiting for it to open. A woman and a man walk out, wearing business suits and carrying briefcases. Henry rolls his eyes, and goes inside the elevator. “Alright, floor 7, wasn’t it?” He mumbles to himself as he presses the floor 7 button, hoping it was right.

  The elevator rises higher and higher until it makes it to Henry’s floor. He takes a step out, and looks around at the professional business people. He looks down at himself, wearing his usual clothes like he always does. Feeling unprofessional, he blushes slightly.

  Henry makes it through the hallways and finds exactly what he’s looking for, the office meeting room. He takes a deep breath and opens the door to go in.

  No one is there, just Henry. A code menu appears in front of Henry. Henry shrugs and types the code he remembers. The meeting table begins to glow, and rise up to create a portal for Henry to enter in. He gladly enters the portal and enters into the E.M.R, short for Elemental Meeting Room.

  “Well, you’re surely late.” The light king says, standing up and walking towards him. He gives Henry a icy, cold glare down at him. “Please, don’t be late again. We nearly started without you.” He walks back to his seat and sits down.

  “S-Sorry, Aalok.” Henry gulps and sits in his respected seat, his fire throne. Covered with streams of wood painted like Magma, ash and obsidian decorated around it. “So, what’s the meeting about?”

  “Well, glad you could ask.” The light king adjusts his collar proudly as he coughs. “Ahem. I gathered you all here to discuss about the earth kingdom. How it crumbled down and how the king was taken down.”

  “Don’t forget the queen, pale ass.” The darkness queen mumbles, crossing her arms and showing a aura of not wanting to be here.

  Henry shrugs at her poor behaviour and looks back at Aalok. “Sure, whatever Miss.” Aalok continues where he left off. “Anyways, Their legacy was strong. I’m proud to say they were a very, very incredible kingdom. Keeping the balance of earth strong!” Quite surprisingly, somebody raises their hand. Aalok shrugs. “What?” He asks to the raised hand.

  The water queen answers. “From what I learnt in my history books, the king and queen were the creators of this very meeting room. They had a lot to do with some of our traditions and kingdoms that still stand to this day!” She adds onto what he said.

  “Yeah, exactly Wai. We need to make a plan in honour of them. To honour their work and what they’ve done to help us be who we are today.” Aalok goes on. “I have a special idea that will be very helpful to complete that.”

  Betty shrugs and rolls her eyes. Henry listens, interested in the plan. His attention snaps and looks over to Brise. “I know too!” Brise starts rambling. “We should totally build a giant statue of the queen! She was so nice and wonderful from what I heard of so we can totally do tha-”

  “No, Brise, that simply wouldn’t do.” Aalok cuts off Brise.

  “Oh! Maybe we can have a celebration for her! I can help supply snacks! Maybe some chocolate, her favourite.” Wai wonders out loud about her idea.

  “How do you know that’s her favourite?” Henry asks. “You’ve never met her.”

  “Oh! I’ve read it in a book. A book about her legacy.” Wai responds. “I can give you the book if you want!”

  “Oh, no thanks. I’m not a reading type.”

  “Alright then, you’re missing out on a good read.” She grins and looks off from him. Henry sighs.

  Aalok, frustrated already, shrugs loudly to get everybody’s attention. “You guys never listen, do you? Oh well, it’s a Friday. Meet at the tree by Monday, when you guys are actually willing to listen.” He stands, and walks off while pulling the light queen behind him.

  Everybody sits there, watching him leave. Thinking about how frustrated he was, but being too nervous to fix it. Betty sighs and stands, pulling a lollipop out of her mouth.

  “You guys really are some brain washed fools, aren’t you?” She leaves, throwing her lollipop out in the trash as she walks over to her portal.

  “Yeeeesh, what’s wrong with her these days? She’s been so grumpy during these meetings!” Brise mutters. “I miss when she was able to laugh at my jokes.” He leans to his husband for support. His husband simply pats his shoulder.

  “Look, I’m sure it’s just a phase. Maybe her period?” Henry questions.

  Wai snaps her view to Henry, looking offended at his comment.

  “Sorry, that was wrong of me. Look, maybe this is just temporary. I don’t get why she has to be so rude to Aalok though, he literally wants to do something very caring for the dead earth rulers!” Henry insisted. He sits back down and thinks for a minute. “I still wanna know what the idea he wants to do is. I’d like to know.” He rests his cheek on his hand, the other one tapping on the table.

  Hours later, Henry returned home. Henry walks up to his automatic food maker and summons in fast food burger. He sits at the dinner table and begins to eat it. “Mmmmm. Man, I really needed that.” Henry exclaims, then takes another bite. The sound of the flying bus pulls up in front of the house, Henry looks over to see Anna coming out from the bus and heading home. She bursts the door open.

  “Hey dad! Uhh, how did your meeting go?” Anna questions.

  “Oh, it went alright, I guess.” He takes another bite. “Oh what am I saying? It was shitty. We got literally nothing done. Aalok just got angry and left!” Henry rants on with his mouth full. Anna gently pats his shoulder.

  “Dad, quit eating with your mouth full, you’re gonna choke. Also, that sucks. Maybe going to visit Billy would help?” Anna said.

  “What’s up with Billy right now?” Henry asks.

  “Oh, you know. He’s been exploring some new hobbies, shit like that. Painting, you get the jest.”

  “Oh.” Henry shrugs, looking at the clock. “We do have some time to go over and see him.”

  “OH FUCK YEAAAA!” Anna rushes to her room and runs back out, holding a book. “LET’S GO SEE BIG BRO BILLY!” She kicks Henry’s thigh, then runs to the car. Henry shrugs and gets up slowly, following after her.

  He sits down in the driver’s seat, Anna sitting next to him. “Hey, Anna, remember how to start the car?” Henry asks.

  Anna rolls her eyes, in a over exaggerated type of way. “Yeah dad, of course.” She takes his key and starts the car. The car begins to float. A hologram shows up, giving options on where to go. Henry presses Billy’s house to drive to. The car begins to drive off to his house.

  Anna taps her lap as she waits to see Billy. Henry sighs, and leans back. “I looked at the news this morning, elementals going missing. What’s up with that?” Henry asks.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Kids at my school were talking about it. They’re saying a horrrribbble beast is kidnapping them! Ooooooo!” She giggles, her scary persona crumbling. “Seriously though, we’ve been worried. One of my classmates in science didn’t show up, she was the smartest in the class!”

  “Don’t think negatively, she might of been sick.” Henry responds. “I’m sure she’ll be alright.” He takes out his iGlass and looks at more articles. “Even if she is missing, she might be safe.”

  “I guess.” Anna leans back, watching the cars in front of her driving. “Man, I wish we lived closer to Billy.”

  “Yeah, me too. He loves the big city though, especially since he found a boyfriend there a year ago, he’s been very independent.” Henry smiles, thinking about Billy. His smile fades off after a minute. He sighs, kind of sadly. Then Henry shakes his head and continues on driving.

  They pull up to Billy’s house, a well kept house with a beautiful, small tree in front of their house. By the time Henry gets out of his seat, Anna has already made it to the front door. She knocks repeatedly, until Billy opens the door. Anna punches Billy.

  “Owch! Anna!” Billy gasped as he grabbed his chest.

  “Oops, Sorry Billy!” She apologizes as she hugs him. Billy hugs her back, accepting the apology.

  Billy looks up to see Henry. “Oh, hey dad!” He goes up to him, smiling as brightly as ever. “I heard you had a meeting today. How’d that go?”

  “Ughhhh, it was definitely shitty at best.” Henry groans as he rests his head on Billy’s shoulder.

  “Hey. you wanna come inside? We got lunch all ready.” Billy offers. Henry accepts, and follows Billy inside. Henry smells the freshly summoned food sitting at the table, ready to be eaten.

  “You’re very lucky we got a lot of food, my boyfriend and I were gonna save the rest for leftovers.”

  Henry walks over to the dining table, seeing Billy’s boyfriend sitting at the table. “Oh! Hello Mr. Helvete.” He greets.

  “Shane, I really hope you don’t mind my dad and sister joining in.” Billy says as he sits next to Shane.

  “Oh, it’s okay. Maybe we can have our ‘romantic date’ for dinner.” Shane chuckles and holds Billy’s hand. Billy blushes and giggles too. “Alright, now let’s eat before this gets cold.”

  The family begins to eat, enjoying the delicious meal that was prepared for them. Billy ate slowly, wondering about the taste. Anna looks up to Billy and grins.

  “Hey, Bill! I bought that book that we found at the library. You know, the study of food? Whatever it was called.” She tells him.

  “Oh sweet, thanks Anna!” He grins. “I don’t know, lately I’ve been wondering what’s been up with our meals. It seems quite odd to me.”

  “Like how?” Shane asks, shoving a piece of meat into his mouth and slowly chewing.

  “Like, uhhhhh.” Billy glances at Anna. She hands him the book and he begins flipping the pages. “Aha! Here it is."

“Over developing years, scientists have conducted experiments to automatically summon food in homes so cooking isn’t a requirement. After many, many failed experiments, a new hope was raised to get the system going after teleportation had been invented. After using teleportation, the mission had finally been completed. Machine builds the food, and it stays ready until the requestor teleports it over.”

  “Ahhhh, I see. That’s very interesting. I like our food though, it’s nice.” Shane responds as he continues to eat. Billy sighs and goes back to his food too.

  “I know there’s like, illegal restaurants and shit.” Henry adds. “Ever been to one?”

  “Hmmmm, I don’t think I have. I mean, they’re illegal after all. If anybody’s found out, they’ll be thrown into jail for years!” Billy sighs. “People say cooking is gross, that the automatic food maker is a better alternative.”

  “That’s a good point.” Henry finishes his meal and wipes his face with a napkin. “Thank you for letting us stay to eat, guys.”

  “Oh you’re welcomed, dad.” Billy responds. He glances out the window. “Sorry I couldn’t come to the meeting this time, by the way. I’ll try to make it to the next one. Where is it?”

  “It’s at the tree, ya know. The Maple Tree.” Henry mumbles. “I think we’re trying to do something to honour the earth king and queen. Don’t know though, he got pissed and ran off before he could say.”

  “Ah, I get you. I’ll definitely join in.” Billy says. “Shoot me a message when it’s time to go, I don’t usually do much since I don’t have a job yet.”

  “Alright, cool.” Henry stands up. “Alright Anna, we should head home now.”

  “Awwwwww man! Alright fine.” Anna stands up, and stretches her back. “I’m ready.”

  Henry and Anna make it to the door. “Bye son, bye Shane.” Henry waves goodbye to them.

They leave to go back to the car. The car starts and they choose to go home. Henry sighs again and looks at the articles one last time.

Update: At least 10 people suspected to be taken by one man

    Henry reads, interested about what the results were.

Evidence found that 10 people have been kidnapped from their homes late last night, the kidnapping pattern being the same, or very similar from one after the other. Law enforcement say to be cautious, lock your doors and be prepared, but they also say this doesn’t seem like a immediate public threat.

  Henry sighs. “They think ten people have been taken by the exact same person. Isn’t that crazy? I don’t think anything of the sort had happened in such a long time.” Henry begins to ramble on about a kidnapping event when he was younger, trying to avoid saying the name of the lost victim.

  “That’s cool.” Anna says, distracted by a game she plays on her iGlass. Henry chuckles slightly, seeing how she wasn’t listening but trying to. He leans back in his seat, watching the sky road.

  He begins to think about the earth king and queen. Their legacy, their honour. They, however, were dead. Life can’t be brought back, the dead is dead. Why are we talking about them now when it’s been over 100 years by now. He sighs, happy that at least they were gonna pay some respects.

#TPS #The People Story #Original Story #Story #Episode 1 #Henry Helvete #Anna Helvete #Billy Helvete #Shane Brown #Betty Kungur #Wai Shinju #Brise Laminar #Aalok Photonos #Dawn Photonos #Long post

[aghostpost]

7 Minutes in Hell (Jughead Jones x Reader)

A/N: Not Valentine’s Day related at all but hey, whaddaya know, I’m on the Riverdale train and I love Jughead so here you go! 

Word Count: 2328

This was not how I planned on spending my Saturday night.

It was customary to go to the Blossom mansion for the usual weekend fun, even more now that I was a Vixen than before. Her parents were a bit more lenient on the underage drinking, assuming we were coping with the discovery of Jason’s body, and we were all crowded around the living room coffee table doing everything but mourning his death. All was well until of course it was time for Seven Minutes in Heaven. I turned to hug the wall when Cheryl set her sights right on me.

She didn’t believe that I was Vixen material and was hellbent on making me prove myself ever since I made the squad. She hated me enough to keep me on the squad just so I’d be out of my element and as uncomfortable as possible, and I hated her enough to prove to her I could be just as much as a Vixen if not more than her. Our rivalry ran deep from the time we were kids to now, and I didn’t see it changing anytime soon.

“Y/N? Be a jewel and start the night’s festivities, will you?”

I gave her the same fake smile I’d grown used to giving her by this point. “Of course.” I went to the coffee table and spun the empty beer bottle to see who’d I get to spend one-on-one time with in Cheryl’s coat closet. We were having a stare down when the bottle stopped, landing between Moose and someone I never expected to be anywhere near a Cheryl Blossom party. I opened my mouth to invite Moose to the closet when Cheryl rushed to cut me off.

“Jones! Looks like it’s your lucky day,” she said with a sinister smirk. I grit my teeth and grinned, looking down at Jughead.

He sighed, his face unamused as he took the final sip of his beer before hopping up. “Lucky. That’s one word for it…” He turned and made way for the coat closet without another word, which I took as my cue to follow him.

“See you in seven minutes,” Cheryl sang behind us.

We got to the closet and he opened the door, flipping the light switch on and stepping aside. “After you,” he said dryly. I scoffed and went inside and he followed, closing the door. “Geez. Even the coat closet looks better than my room.”

Again, this was not how I planned on spending my Saturday night! Cramped in a closet with Jughead Jones who, apart from being a huge social no-no, was also my schoolgirl crush since I first moved to Riverdale. I was eight and new to town, and we became close growing up. That was until middle school when I saw him kissing Cheryl behind the school one day. She rejected him but that didn’t nurse any wounds I felt from that moment on. What I saw meant that Jughead didn’t like me, which as a pubescent pre-teen was the worst thing in the world that could happen, so I shut down. I gave him the cold shoulder, suddenly became too busy to hang out with him and Archie, switched to paninis at the cafe downtown instead of burgers at Pop’s. Emotionally I built this thick steel wall around myself and now, after years of telling myself I’d moved on, I felt like I was suffocating here in this closet with Jughead. I stood in the furthest corner next to a very expensive fur coat, pulling out my phone to see the time was moving slower than ever.

“You know the more you look at the clock, the longer this is gonna take.”

“Thank you, Jones, for the helpful tip,” I spat at him.

“‘Jones’? Wow, you’re even starting to sound like her now.”

“Surprised you even remember what I sounded like after four years,” I mumbled with an eyeroll.

“You ditch me as a friend outta thin air and somehow I’m the one getting attitude-”

“-Just- Whatever, I don’t really care, okay? Just because we’re in here doesn’t mean we have to talk. We’ve gone this long, what’s another seven minutes, right?”

“Right. Well you can continue ignoring me for no reason whatsoever, but since we’re trapped here, finally you’re gonna hear what I have to say.”

“Trapped? It’s a game and that door’s unlocked; I can walk out of here any time I want.”

“Yes, but we both know you won’t or you’ll never hear the end of it from Satan’s pet vampire Cheryl who we both know you have a real deep-seated grudge with. That is, unless…” he said, stepping aside and extending his arm to the door. I stared at him momentarily before rolling my eyes. Unfortunately he was right. If I couldn’t play a little game for seven minutes Cheryl would never let me live it down, or really anyone else for that matter. He nodded to himself. “Yeah. That’s what I thought.”

“Say whatever you want. It’s not gonna change anything after we get out of here.”

“I thought being in here meant we didn’t have to talk? You seem to be doing a lot of it.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, folding my arms and sliding to the floor comfortably. “Say whatever it is you gotta say, Jones.”

He scoffed with an eyeroll of his own and chuckled to himself. “I mean, do you really not see it? How you’re little Cheryl Junior? Wow, I should start calling you Cherry Blossom. Or Sprout… Yeah, Cherry Sprout is more accurate.”

I gritted my teeth and focused on my nail polish. “This is what I have to sit and listen to?”

“Yeah, Y/N, it is. I don’t know what happened to you but I recall a time we used to be friends. It wasn’t half bad. Then, I don’t know, maybe Cheryl sank her fangs into you and drained the soul of the person I used to know. Maybe she put some kinda spell on you- I have no idea! But I don’t recognize this person now, and I definitely don’t like them either.”

“Really? I recall you liking them pretty well before? It’s funny, actually, how you didn’t start trash talking Cheryl until after she rejected you in middle school.”

“What are you even talking about??”

“Oh you don’t remember?” I asked, standing now and getting in his face. “You kissed her and she returned the favor by never even looking at you twice ever since 6th grade. You whined about it for weeks after and I got so tired of hearing it that I stopped hanging out with you and Archie. There. You wanna know what happened? There’s the truth for you.”

“Are you kidding me? What does her not liking me back have to do with you going She-Devil on everyone?” I checked my phone. Three and a half more minutes. “What? Counting down the minutes ‘til you can pretend you dropped me and Archie over nothing again?”

“Yep. Over absolutely nothing. You know how irrational I am.”

“I don’t remember you that way.”

“I’ve done a lotta growing since 6th grade.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. You grew up and became a clone of someone else. Good job-”

“-Go to hell, Jughead.”

He gasped with mock shock. “She remembers my name after all? Oh what, did that upset you? Knowing you became the literal opposite of who you are-”  

“-Because you know who I am?” I asked incredulously, poking him in the chest. “All of a sudden you’re no longer blind as a bat and you just know me inside and out, right?”

“I know you don’t fit in with them! Why do you think you and Cheryl can’t get along, apart from her not wanting a Mini Me threatening to take her spot? You’re water, she’s oil.”

“You don’t know anything about me…”

He shrugged. “Maybe you’re right. The Y/N I knew was more into writing than cheerleading. You ever read the Vixens one of your poems?” He stared at me, waiting for an answer from me but knowing one didn’t need to be spoken. “The Y/N I knew would rather spend an evening at Pop’s dipping her french fries in a vanilla shake over planning pep rallies and choreographing homecoming dance routines.”

“And look at you… You haven’t changed a single bit. Still judging the popular kids and hating them because you sit on the outskirts.”

“Yeah? At least I like myself on the outskirts. I’m not busy pretending to be someone I’m not just to fit in with a buncha assholes that don’t even know me, let alone like me-”

“-Get out of my way,” I said, cutting him off and shoving him aside to get out of the closet. Time was definitely over and I thought it strange no one came to get us, but I didn’t care. I’d rather be teased for leaving the closet than sit here and listen to him judge me any longer. He moved a step in front of the door to block me, however. “Move.”

“Answer my question. What does Cheryl have to do with us? Why’d you even bring up that kiss?”

“You know, you aren’t as smart as you think you are, Jones.”

“Fine, let’s pretend I’m not. Break it down for me simply then.”

I shook my head, biting the inside of my cheek realizing four years of avoiding this guy was about to explode in a matter of seconds. I never thought I’d be having this conversation but here I was about to lay it all out on the table in the Blossom coat closet. Knowing Cheryl this was all part of some plan, since I knew she discovered I once had feelings for Jughead a long time ago after catching me staring at him one time too many. I played it off but I knew she’d never let it go.

“You kissed her and that’s when everything changed.”

“I kissed her because we were kids in middle school and I had a stupid crush. I wasn’t asking her to marry me.”

“You may as well have! I liked you, and I saw you kiss her; what was I supposed to do? Stick around and wait for you to start liking me back?

“-W-Wait, what-”

“-I was nothing like Cheryl which meant that was never gonna happen-”

“-Y/N, slow down-”

“-Seven minutes is up,” Cheryl chimed as the door cracked open.

“Go away!” We both shouted, shocking her and immediately getting our privacy back. I stared at him, my blood boiling now and I was all charged up. He wanted to talk about this? Prepare for an earful.

“How was I supposed to know you liked me?”

“I didn’t know I had to spell it out for you.”

“Well yeah you did, especially since I thought you always had a thing for Archie!”

“What? Archie was like a best friend to me-”

“-Yeah and so was I, or so I thought!”

I shook my head. “I practically followed you around like a puppy! Why do you think I always shared my writing with you? I never told Archie about any of that stuff, never read him a single thing; it was always you.”

He shook his head, backing up to lean against the closet door. “I thought it was because I was quite the wordsmith at such a tender age…” He looked at me, cocking his head to the side slightly with a squint. “So this is why you turned into her? Because I liked Cheryl, turning into her woulda made me like you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, stop saying I turned into Cheryl. I just… grew up. Believe it or not, I actually enjoy cheering and pep rallies and homecoming; there’s nothing wrong with being spirited. And I still write just as much as I did, I’m just tight-lipped about it.” I paused to look him in those ever-so-serious eyes of his. “But make no mistake, Jughead Jones, I am nothing like Cheryl Blossom.”

He nodded slowly. “Noted.”

“Good. Now, are we done here?”

“One more thing,” he asked with the raise of his index finger. “Did Archie know? That you liked me?”

I shrugged. “Guess you’ll have to ask Archie, won’t you?” I moved to finally get out of the closet, hand on the door handle when he spoke again.

“So what, we just… go back to not speaking to each other again? Pretending like we weren’t best friends at some point, like this entire conversation didn’t happen?”

I sighed and paused to mull over my thoughts for the next few seconds before speaking. “My parents are having Sunday dinner with my dad’s boss and his wife tomorrow at their place. Meet me at my house, seven o’clock.” I turned to look at him over my shoulder. “It’s been a long time since my last vanilla shake and fries fix.”

He gave me a nod with the faintest smile playing at his mouth. “I’ll be there with bells on.”

“Nope. Just be there with Pop’s.” I turned from the door and with all the confidence in the world, and somehow simultaneously all the nerves in the world balled up in the pit of my gut, I went over to Jughead and placed one right on his lips. Suddenly little middle school me was screaming inside and doing cartwheels and my nerves melted when I felt a hand rest gently on my waist. But I wasn’t gonna let him get off too easily. I pulled back, poking him in the chest. “Don’t be late, Juggie…”

He cleared his throat and followed as I made my way to finally leave the closet. “Yes, ma’am. Fries will be piping hot and your milkshake will not lose a bit of thickness; scout’s honor.”

“Good. Now shut up and go back to brooding silently.”

#Jughead Jones #jughead x reader #jughead fanfic #jughead imagine #jughead hc

[it-refused]

tabascosugar replied to your post “marypsue: New writer ask meme: based on my body of work, what’s...”

More Grillby POV.

ok, SO, I wasn’t planning on responding to these with fics, but here’s something for this one.

Pairing: Sans/Grillby

Rating: G

Summary: Jealousy, Grillby POV

Grillby was surprised whenever he saw another fire monster in the bar.  It was more common now that there wasn't so much water separating him from the rest of the fire monsters, but it was still a distance from New Hotland and the other places elementals like him had settled en masse.  

It was especially surprising when he recognized them.  

They had only gone on a few dates.  Grillby's old friend had a flame that was a deep, cool red, and he hadn't lost any of his looks.  Not that Grillby noticed, of course.  He was a married monster.  

"Hey!  How many years has it been, Grillbz?"  He settled in right up at the bar. "Still remember my order?"

Grillby poured him his drink.  "It's been enough years I don't want to try and remember how many.  How have you been?"

Grillby’s translator shrugged and let them be.  

It wasn't a slow night, but there were brief lulls where Grillby would lean up against the bar and ask about the people he had lost touch with.  He missed some of them.  

He didn't much miss the monster he had been, back then.  Impatient, work obsessed, and interested in progressing without actually understanding what he was progressing towards.  He was just young.  Well.  He did wish he had kept a little of that drive, and he missed how much fun he could have doing things that just sounded exhausting, now.  It hadn't all been bad, had it?  

Sans showed up around ten.  At midnight, Grillby's old flame glanced at his watch and headed out.  It was strange, watching him leave.  He snapped back into the moment and shook his head.  He'd been so caught up in saying goodbye he'd let orders stack up.  

"either you knew that guy, or you just made a new best friend in a coupla hours," Sans said, when Grillby was caught up and things were slowing down enough to talk.

"...we went on a few dates.  A million years ago," he said.  He couldn't completely shake the lingering nostalgia.  "But we ran in the same circles."

"i gotta say. most of your old boyfriends are way hotter than me."  He snickered.  

Grillby glanced up at the ceiling.  "...yes, he was very handsome." Papyrus had once bafflingly described the gesture as him "rolling his eyes."  

"heh.  so where'd your old friends settle?  new hotland?"

"Mostly."

Grillby concentrated on getting the last few people out.  He let someone else clean and lock up, and Sans took him on a shortcut home.  

"you're in a good mood," Sans said.

Grillby shrugged.

"the way you were flirting with that guy, i thought maybe i should give you some privacy."  

Was Sans...jealous? Grillby stared at him.  He was looking up at Grillby, wide-eye socketed and innocent.  If it was anyone else saying it, Grillby would have assumed he was jealous.  Sans could just be making a joke.

"I wasn't flirting."  

"ok."  

Sans was a little annoyed, Grillby decided.  "Well.  Not seriously."  He had basically ignored Sans while his old friend was there, so he shouldn't be so surprised by his reaction.  He just wasn't used to Sans being jealous, ever.  "...sorry?"

"eh, no big." He relaxed.  Grillby recognized that the tension had been there, between them, now that it was gone.  

Grillby went over to their fridge and started taking out things for his dinner.  "You're better looking, anyway."

Sans snorted.  

"I'm not flattering you."  Sans was better looking to him, anyway. He had a personal attachment to every little part of Sans, from the bright lights in his eye sockets to the tiny pinky toes on his feet. Sans was his.  

"well, i'm flattered anyway," Sans said.  "so there."  

"How dare you," Grillby said, amused.

He made them both pancakes for dinner.  He used to always make pancakes in the morning when friends spent the night over.  

Grillby set Sans' plate in front of him.  "I hope you weren't too jealous." He wanted to hear Sans deny he had been jealous.

"who was what? i don't have a jealous bone in my body," Sans said.  "ok, no.  my fourth rib gets really heated up when someone has a snack i want, but the rest of me is free and clear of any of that."

Maybe it wasn't entirely healthy, but Grillby liked it when his boyfriends expressed some jealousy.  Not when they got aggressive or angry about it, but just expressing it made him feel like they valued his attention.  

Sans never seemed to care when Grillby flirted with other men.  He had gone right from "I don't really care if Grillby breaks up with me because relationships are work" to "I know Grillby isn't going to screw around behind my back."  Grillby preferred this reaction intellectually, but he had to admit to himself that he was feeling a little bit smug about Sans' discomfort.  

"what're you so happy about?"  Sans asked.

"I enjoyed that joke."

"ok i know you're lying, but, heh, i'm gonna take that anyway."  

Grillby put the exact correct amount of syrup on his pancakes and then watched as Sans emptied out the rest of his container on his.  "...you know, Sans."  He leaned forward, just a little.  "It's a good thing you aren't jealous.  If you were, I'd have to spend the rest of the night complimenting you to make you feel better."  

"well, i am jealous of how many pancakes you got.  what's up with that?"

"I made them."

"ok.  fair enough."  He looked up, eyes glittering.  "you're just looking pretty stacked."  

"...I can't compliment that joke, no matter how jealous you are."

"i respect that.  we've all gotta have standards."

"I do, yes."

Sans snickered.  He stirred his pancake soup and spooned some of it up to his mouth. "ok, maybe it was a little weird, you and that guy.  not really like you're thinking, though." He tested it, and then used his magic to open the fridge and float over a spray can of whipped cream. He covered his plate with it and then stirred it in.

"That has to be cold now," Grillby said.  He warmed his plate up a little, for him.

"thanks.   anyway, i didn't think you were running off with some random dude in a cardigan.  you were just kind of talking with him like you don't talk to me."  He shrugged.

"We're talking right now."  He was confused.

"we've been hanging around for a few years," Sans said.  "you don't have to keep talking at me like i'll forget how to understand you."  

"...I don't do that."  

"you just did.   right there."  

Grillby was quiet, not sure how to react.  ".............I..."

"nah, look, it's okay.  you don't even do it on purpose."  Sans shrugged and lifted his plate up to sip some warm pancake.  

"...I'm not..." This was completely different than he expected.  He was suddenly incredibly self conscious about how he spoke.  

"i guess i get jealous when you talk to other fire monsters.  sorry."  He shrugged.  He wiped syrup off his face onto his sleeve.

"...it's habit."  

"yeah.  i get that."

".........sorry?"

"nope.  it's my thing.  i just didn't want you getting the wrong idea.  ok?"

He nodded.  

Sans eyed him. "man.  should've just lied about what i was jealous about, huh."

Grillby nodded again.

"i bet i missed out on some compliments."  

He reached across the table and took Sans' plate away from him before he put more whipped cream on it, even though it was empty.  

"hey."

Grillby sighed. "...thank you for...being honest."

"even though i just walked right flat into a hornet's nest, apparently."  

"I'll live." He didn't even think about how he spoke with Sans, anymore.  

"i bet running off with cardigan sounds pretty good now, though.  heh."

He shook his head, amused again.  Sans was a little bit uncomfortable in the way Grillby had first assumed, too.  Grillby gestured for Sans to come over and sit with him.  Sans shrugged and was there.  He hadn't even bothered to get out of his chair.  

Grillby realized his mistake as soon as Sans picked up Grillby's fork and started in on his pancakes.  Grillby had to grab the plate out of the way and eat them all at once before Sans stole them.  

"man.  that guy missed out.  not everyone can eat ten pancakes in one bite.  you're really cool."

"...thank you," Grillby said.  That gave him the chance to say what he'd planned on saying when he waved Sans over.  "He did miss out."

Sans leaned back against him.  "what a loser."  

"Yes.  He and everyone else will keep missing out.  Because..."  He kissed Sans on the cheek.  "I'm all yours."  

Sans was quiet for a minute.  "god, what a cheap line."  He was blushing.  

"You fell for it."

"yeah.  you sure got me with that one."

Grillby was in a good mood, again.

#tabascosugar #sansby #my fic #fanfic #it refused memes