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eds6ngel · 6 months

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✮⋆｡°✩⋆˙ a christmas miracle

a 'when i kissed the teacher' spinoff.

summary: you and steve were in a weird situation. you weren't actively trying to get pregnant, but you weren't exactly being safe either. so, how will steve react when he opens his final christmas present?

warnings: dad!steve. mom!reader. fem!reader. afab!reader. 90s!au. mentions and allusions to sex. mentions of pregnancy. pet names. kissing. tons of crying. alena being too young to understand pregnancy (kinda cute tho). alena being a cutie pie as always. some worries over steve's reaction. but mostly fluff and comfort!! [1.9k].

author's note: hi everyone!! i am back!! my first semester of uni is finally over, so i can get back to fic writing a little more! i couldn't neglect my happy family like this, so i've tackled a pregnancy fic! i've never been pregnant, but i do wish to be in my life, so all of my research has been for my own benefit and utilised in this fic. if i'm inaccurate in any parts, please let me know for the benefit of the readers and myself!! ♡

It was hard not announcing the news to Steve. Having to attend your first scan without him was heartbreaking, but the look upon the nurse’s face after you told her you were going to wrap up the ultrasound photo, along with a card saying “Merry Christmas Daddy” and a pair of small, cream, woolen socks, just confirmed your decision was the right one.

You and Steve were in a sort of weird situation. You had stopped using protection, but weren’t in a position were you were actively trying to get pregnant. You agreed that any time from now was an okay time for the two of you to have a child, but also weren’t bothered if the pregnancy tests came back negative.

But, a little Christmas miracle decided to form inside of you, the test showing two lines on December 11th, 1999.

Steve and Alena had gone grocery shopping for an hour, the perfect opportunity for you to wrap Steve’s gift.

Rolling out the wrapping paper, you placed a grey, fluffy blanket in the centre, before laying on top the Christmas card which read:

Hi Daddy.

I’m six weeks old today!

I can’t wait to meet you soon! I’m planning to enter the world on August 20th, 2000.

My mom is keeping me very safe right now as I grow, but I’ll still be listening out for you from inside my home.

See you in nine months.

Love, your future child <3

And as you were about to place the ultrasound photo next to the cream baby socks you previous put underneath the card, your eyes started welling with tears once more.

Was it the hormones? Maybe. But, something in you felt this was all natural. You were growing a human life inside of you, one that has half of your DNA and the other half the love of your life’s. That was something to bask in the intense emotion of.

With everything laid out neatly, you reached over for the sellotape, folding over the edges and carefully sticking them in place.

Wrapping the gift in a pretty cream bow, matching the socks inside, and adding a label reading “To my darling Stevie,” you added it to the pile of increasing gifts in the corner of yours and Steve’s bedroom.

Now, just a week to go until he gets his surprise.

You cradle your stomach, despite the size not increasing at all yet, and whisper to your unborn child “A week and he’ll know, my love. Your beautiful existence will be known.”

“Mom! Dad! Wake up! Wake up!”

You are awoken by the sound of your bouncing ten-year-old, aggressively rocking your fiancé as he groans loudly, his eyes adjusting to the light peaking through the window.

“Mornin’ pumpkin,” he murmurs, you opening up one eye as Alena’s full set of brand-new adult teeth smile right at you.

“And what are you doing up so early, missy?” you ask, the clock on the bedside table next to Steve shining a bright 6:00 in the morning, illuminating the room in a red glow.

“Mom” she drags out, rolling her eyes playfully, “You know what day it is!”

You tap your chin lightly, playing along with the joke, “Hmm… I feel as if I may need a reminder.”

“It’s Christmas Mom! And I may or may not have seen all the presents you left underneath the tree…” her vocal pitch increases, looking away in a guilty look as Steve reaches up and pulls her down into his body, the girl screaming as he ruffles her hair.

“Did someone be naughty and peak underneath the tree?” he grits through his teeth, Alena shouting in a reply, “I didn’t mean to, I promise! I saw it on the way to your room!”

You begin to tickle her sides as Steve holds her in place against his chest, making the girl scream in delight loudly, “Is someone now on Santa’s naughty list?”

“Mom…” she pouts her lips, a grumpy expression adorning her face as you sigh sadly, “I know sweet cheeks, you don’t believe in him anymore.”

“I’m sorry…”

You hold out your arms as you wrap her in a warm hug, “Don’t be sorry, baby. I knew you would realise eventually. You’re getting too old!”

She gasps and looks into your eyes, crossing her arms over her chest, “I am not old! You and Dad are old.”

You start giggling in shock as Steve just opens his mouth wide, “You better watch yourself, pumpkin.”

“Yeah,” you hold up a finger in warning, before pointing it over to Steve, “Dad doesn’t like being reminded he’s in his mid-thirties.”

And now it is Steve’s turn to attack you, but instead with aggressive kisses, littering them up your neck and across your face lightly, Alena now old enough to understand the playful love between the two of you. “You’re almost thirty as well, you know.”

“Two more years to go, babe. I’m still in my prime development decade,” you smirk at him.

And it wasn’t just you who was developing.

A loud gasp can be heard along with the shredding of paper as Alena holds up her latest gift, “You actually got me it?”

For such a small gadget, the Barbie Digital Camera cost you $70, the most expensive gift yet, but maybe not the one which will cause the biggest reaction.

“Of course I did! It’s the one thing you kept pointing at in the magazine!”

She giggles with a bright smile, “Thank you! Thank you!”

She launches herself at you, the motherly instinct in you clutching onto your stomach to protect your unborn child, hoping Steve didn’t notice the movement. The surprise would be known in the next half an hour.

“And after you’ve taken your photos, we can connect it to Dad’s computer and see it come to life! How cool is that?”

“Can I take it to school?” she asks, clutching the box in her hands.

“I assume you can! But, just ask Mrs. Critchley before you take it in, okay?”

“Okay!” she smiles, plopping herself back down on the carpet to open the rest of her gifts.

Your hands began to sweat. Alena was all done opening her presents, patiently waiting for you and Steve to unwrap yours.

Steve let you attend to your gifts first. Everything from a brand-new necklace designed with a rose quartz, matching your engagement ring, to the latest Nokia phone, you were thankful for everything he had bought you, praising him with many gentle kisses and warm hugs.

Now, it was Steve’s turn. You specifically told him to leave one present until last, leading him to give you an eyebrow raise and a shrug before simply agreeing, used to your weirdness by now. You got him everything from a new cologne to a new pair of Nike shoes, the soles of his old pair wearing thin from how much he was working over the Christmas holidays.

But, after one final kiss, it was finally time.

“Can I open this now?” Steve jokes, the nerves deeply settling in your stomach. You don’t even know why you were worried, you had stopped using protection in mutual agreement, knowing kids could be a possibility from that result. There was just a voice in your head trying to convince you an awful reaction would occur.

“Uh, yeah… Yeah, you can.”

“Hey,” he puts an arm on your shoulder, “Why are you so nervous?”

You lightly chuckle, “You’ll find out once you open the gift.”

Even after all of these years, Steve still wasn’t the smartest. Verbal cues were not his strong suit, but my God could he read body language like a champ.

He gives you a confused look before unwrapping the cream-coloured bow, delicately tearing apart the paper as his eyes immediately notice the ultrasound scan.

He may be oblivious, but he isn’t that oblivious. He has one very similar in his bedside table drawer of his sweet ten-year-old daughter sat next to him.

The tears form at his eyes before he can even recognise them. Small sniffles enter the atmosphere as his hazel eyes make contact with you, “Are you serious?”

And the tears follow suit for you, nodding frantically as he leans across the floor to collect you in his arms, crying into your shoulder.

“How far along?” he mumbles into your shoulder, tears dripping onto the red fabric of your dress.

“Read the card and you’ll find out.”

Steve was too drawn into the ultrasound scan to even notice the card you had gotten him. Releasing from the hug, he keeps a gentle hand on the small of your back, picking up the card and carefully opening it, reading the words you had written, the tears increasing as he noticed it was from the perspective of his baby.

“Wha— How? When did you get this done?” he stutters out, still in complete shock of the entire moment.

“Pregnancy test has been in the bathroom trash can for two weeks. I was scared you were going to notice it for a while, but then I remembered it’s you, and you don’t notice anything,” you giggle, Steve not even bothered by the joking insult, too caught up in his own emotions, “And two Thursday’s ago, I didn’t go to work. Went to the hospital and got the scan, and just hung around Starcourt until the time I would normally come home.”

“Well, you fooled me,” he chuckles, leaning in for a kiss which you gladly accept, cupping his cheeks as you smile into it.

“I love you so much, beautiful girl. And I love the baby who is growing inside of you. You’re so strong. Your body is so strong. I just— I can’t wait. I can’t wait to meet them.”

His hand had migrated down to your stomach, gently cradling the unborn child inside of you.

Alena had finally looked up from her Etch-a-Sketch, noticing the tears falling down both yours and Steve’s cheeks, your hands holding tightly onto each side of his head as your foreheads were leant against each other, kneeling on the soft carpet of the living room.

“Mom? Dad? Why are you crying?”

Steve turns around to face his daughter, you looking softly into her eyes, “Because Mom is having a baby, sweetie.”

Steve passes her the ultrasound scan, her face scrunching up in confusion as she points at it, “Why is it just a black blob?”

Steve begins laughing as his head falls onto your shoulder, sweetly rubbing up and down the sides of your waist.

“Because when a baby is first made, it starts out as a black blob and then grows into the full size baby we all know and love,” you explain gently to her.

“Hmm…” she takes in, before asking her next question, “But how did it get there?”

Your eyes widen as Steve’s hands stop on your waist, refusing to lift his head and look at his daughter.

You smile through the awkwardness, remembering that her sex education lessons would start in a matter of months, “You’ll find out soon, baby.”

thank you ever so much for reading!! do you guys want any more pregnancy related fics? i really want to do some research into post-partum for myself, so do you want me to skip straight to that, or tackle other things like morning sickness, gender reveal, baby shower, stuff like that? feel free to let me know!! ♡

taglist: @livsters @bakugouswh0r3 @nix-rose @ihatepeanutss @suitelif3 @clincallyonline17 @crowssixof @starkeylover @eris-rose-86 @frostandflamesfanfic @tlclick73 @steveshairspray @superlegend216

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sommerregenjuniluft · 6 months

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@jegulus-microfic december 4 - glimpse - 1044 words - cw: mentions of sex and weed

another feat. of jegulus granddads because they set up camp in my brain<3 emjoy

James talks in his sleep.

Regulus feels very, very bad.

They’re currently crowded in front of the living room door with their grandkids because—

Because they’re a bunch of useless, horrible adults that have gotten way too tipsy on mulled wine last evening over charades. Regulus was riding high on his win over Harry in Monopoly and so he might have had one or two or three sips too many. Or cups.

And so when they’d all bid their Goodnights and gotten ready for bed, pleasantly tipsy and airy-minded—distracted what with James nosing at the dark curls behind Regulus’ ear as he was brushing his teeth and then the press of him, a hard line against the seam between Regulus thigh and bum, when he’d bent Regulus over to spit out the toothpaste into the sink—well, there’s no pleasant way to say that they forgot to put the bloody presents under the tree.

And Regulus often doesn’t wake up anymore after all the years of sharing a bed with his husband but he remembers having woken up to James babbling about ‘The gifts, honey- wait, the gifts’ and Regulus in his barely state of consciousness had simply told him to shut it, pulled James head into the crook of his neck and forced him to fall asleep again, goddamnit.

The looks on their three, round, big eyed, little faces had just about nearly broken Regulus’ heart and that was before he’d seen Harry blanch and turn white as a sheet.

Luckily Regulus has married someone who’s good at improvising and so James had casually draped against the doorframe and told them that, “Ah, don’t worry, loves– It’s a leap year! Santa always starts a little later to deliver the presents during those years!”

Which leaves them hiding out in the hallway right now while Harry quietly brings in the presents through the kitchen.

“Just a glimpse, Pops!” Louis whispers loudly, leaning his little body with all of his 5 year old body strength against where James has a single broad palm over his small chest.

“Nah-uh, Louibear,” James whispers back from where he’s squatting behind him.

Regulus knows his knees will pop something horrible when he stands up but the sight of his husband’s thick thighs filling out the pleated pyjama bottoms is making Regulus selfishly keep his smart mouth shut.

“But Grandpo-ops!” Louis whines.

Chelsea shushes him immediately and rather aggressively. She’s between Regulus’ knees, bouncing up on the balls of her feet every now and then, her pigtails tickling Regulus’ nose.

Teagan is draped over James’ wide back and continuously throwing Regulus conspiratorial looks and mischievous little smiles. She’s 8 now, the Santa bubble has already been burst for her.

Regulus winks back at her every time.

“We have to wait until Santa is done putting all his presents under the tree, bug.” James drives placating fingers through their grandson’s wild hair before he goes on in a gentle murmur, “If we go and disturb him now he’ll bolt out through the chimney, up on his reindeer sled and whisk away with half of the presents that were meant for our family, you see.”

Louis gasps horrified.

James bites down on the smile trying to break to the surface. It’s unfair how handsome he looks in the dim light with his hair sleep mussed and his trimmed beard sprinkled white like the snowflakes making their way onto the ground outside.

Regulus forces his eyes away when Chelsea makes a little pained, squirming noise. Like she’s barely suppressing ripping herself from Regulus’ loose embrace and dashing through the door back into the living room.

There’s a clatter of wood and then a badly imitated Hohoho from what Regulus recognises to be Harry.

Louis and Chelsea look at each other with wide eyes and then back at James and Regulus respectively, vibrating with anticipation yet waiting politely for permission.

His husband throws Regulus a warm grin, a hint of teeth and a glint in his chocolate brown eyes that makes his heart stumble a little in his chest.

Regulus rolls his eyes and gives him a single nod. He kisses the side of Chelsea’s head and tells her to go on.

She barrels through the door with a squeal followed closely by a skittering Louis where he’s hasting over the smooth linoleum after his sister in his too big, woollen socks. Teagan throws Regulus another excited grin and then rushes after her younger siblings as well.

When Regulus pulls out of his seat there’s only a faint sting in his lower back while as James follows the motion his husband instantly buckles under his renewed weight, joints predictably cracking several loud pops.

Regulus snaps out his arm for James to steady himself as this one grunts and pants under the pain and slowly lifts himself into an upright position.

Regulus snorts. “Getting old, Potter? Shouldn’t have been so enthusiastic with bending me over that bloody sofa ledge last night, huh…”

James growls playfully as he yanks Regulus closer by his arm though he catches his husband wince at the sudden motion of that half step.

He squeezes Regulus hip bone, right over the teeth mark he put there a few hours ago and then it’s Regulus’ turn to suck the air in through his teeth.

“Worth it,” James rasps low into his ear before kissing a fluttering path up Regulus’ jaw until he finally reaches his mouth, tilting his chin back with two fingers.

Regulus sighs happily into James’ mouth, shivers at the familiar sensation of beard rasping against his own stubbly skin.

They’re ripped out of the moment by Chelsea’s voice droning around the corner, “Gramps, look! Santa brought you dried cat grass for Mochi!”

“Cat grass?” comes Harry’s confused voice from the living room.

Regulus scrunches his nose at James, sharing the cluelessness. James shrugs.

Crinkling sounds, then Teagan’s voice, “It smells weird.”

“Fu– That is not cat grass, Chelsea!” Harry responds panicky, “Honey, please put that down right now. I’m not joking, sweetheart. No, gimme– unhg.”

Regulus raises his eyebrows at James but his husband simply tugs his lips in and hurries into the living room, presumably to help his son purloin the weed from his six year old little grandchild.

#sirius gifted the weed #they're visiting too probably (but still in bed)#still don't know who harry's significant other is lol #jegulus #jegulus microfic #lune’s tiny fic #jegulus granddads #older jegulus #starchaser #sunseeker #regulus black #james potter #james potter x regulus black #regulus black x james potter #jegulus dads #jegulus raising harry

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bluelocksource · 10 months

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Otoya Eita’s trivia (source: twt & Egoist Bible).

☆ Character's colour: Bright green.

☆ Weapons: Off-the-ball movement and agility.

☆ Nickname: ‘Ninja’.

☆ Birthday: 3rd December.

☆ Current age: 17 (3rd year of high school)

☆ Zodiac: Sagittarius.

☆ Birthplace: Aichi Prefecture.

☆ Family: Father. Mother. Older sister. Himself. Younger sister.

☆ Current height: 177 cm.

☆ Dominant foot: Right foot.

☆ Blood type: O.

☆ Starts playing football: At age 6.

☆ Team before joining BLUE LOCK: Kirigakure Academy Soccer Club.

☆ Motto: "Step up or step aside." **

☆ Favorite food: Churros. “It tastes great.”

☆ Disliked food: Pickles. “It doesn’t taste great."

☆ Favorite animal: Phoenix. “It is a flaming bird.”

☆ Favorite season: Summer. "Do I need a reason?"

☆ Favorite football player: Minamino Takumi.

☆ Favorite music: He likes listening to neo city pop genre.

☆ Favorite manga: Moteki. “It’s top-tier, no objection.”

☆ Favorite movie: Home Alone. “The unbeatable Christmas movie.”

☆ Favorite TV show: FNS Kayousai & Music Station Special Superlive. “I can get senselessly hyped up.”

☆ Favorite celebrity: Aso Kumiko. “I’m seriously dying!”

☆ Ideal type: Bright and honest woman. (don’t count on it, he’ll change it soon).

☆ Hobby: Tour around TDR (Tokyo Disney Resort). “Riding Tower of Terror at DisneySea is a must!”

☆ Mushroom shoots vs Bamboo shoots: “I only eat the chocolate part of the mushroom. I’ll give the rest to you.”

☆ What goes best with rice : A cute girl. “I like watching girls who eats rice deliciously.”

☆ What makes him happy: Something exciting.

☆ What makes him upset: Something boring/depressing.

☆ What he thinks his strength is: “I forget unpleasant stuff after sleeping.”

☆ What he thinks his weakness is: “I forget important stuff after sleeping.”

☆ Favorite/Best subject: English. “I only take the class seriously because the teacher is beautiful.”

☆ Dislike/weak subject: Other than English “Studying is boring.”

☆ What made him cry recently: He got hit in the eye from being slapped. “Cheating’s not good.”

☆ Usual sleeping time: 8 hours.

☆ What he usually ends up buying from convenience store: Breath care. “Who knows if I’ll be kissing my girlfriend later.”

☆ Place he washes first when taking a bath: Between the toes. “Don’t want to get athlete’s foot.”

☆ Fixation: Scent. “I can tell our compatibility when you hug me.”

☆ Number of chocolates received from previous Valentine: 1. “It’s from a senior I was dating at the time. I was really into her.”

☆ At what age he experiences first love: At age 3. “With Dokin-chan.”

☆ The first time he got confessed to: Happened when he was 5 years old. “I kissed about 95% of the girls in nursery school, and 50% of them confessed.”

☆ What will he do if received 100 million yen: "Charter a night pool party for as long as I can."

☆ At what age he stops receiving presents from Santa: At age 12.

☆ What was his last wish from Santa: New spikes. “With some exciting design.”

☆ How he spent his holiday: "Either hanging out with friends or going on a date. I love the fluttering feelings prior to dating. The feeling wears off once I date the girl, though."

☆ What will he do during his last day on Earth: Enjoy the moment.

** I translated his motto before (link to the post). It was difficult for me to translate it but a user who replied on that post worded it better than mine so I use them here :) thanks @thats-miss-spider-to-you !

note: i want to apologize in advance for any mistake made in the translation!

#blue lock #otoya eita #trivia: otoya eita #trivia: profile #bluelocksource #trivia #our translation

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kaleen-art · 1 day

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The Big Golden Showdown is Peak Part 1

I have been a long time Part 1 fan but I always had a few episodes I never finished. Back in November or December of last year, I embarked on a rewatch of the Part 1 episodes I had already seen as well as watching the ones remaining, primarily the last 3. It took a while due to personal issues, but I completed the last 3, and I especially enjoyed the final episode (#23), The Big Golden Showdown. So I wrote an essay on it! Read it below!

Hayao Miyazaki has always had a thing for raising the stakes to the utmost degree in his finales. Though I have not yet completed Part 2, I have watched the finale of which he was the director of and you can see that there especially, in which the usually low-stakes silly Part 2 builds a level of tension and terror in the air through its sheer scope. Part 1 however differs, because at face value there is nothing particularly different about the Part 1 finale. It’s a pretty standard Lupin caper, and it ends as most Lupin capers do. They get the treasure, end up losing it somehow anyway but just barely make it out while Zenigata chases after in an attempt to apprehend them. But it’s on a character level I think this episode captures my heart.

Most evidently, Zenigata is at his literal wits’ end. It’s important to note this episode solidifies one of my favorite aspects of Part 1, its continuity. Zenigata acknowledges by now he has captured Lupin twice in the series, and has twice lost him, and after continually failing to get and keep him behind bars, even with the help of a supercomputer, he seems to have given up when he admits to the Police Commissioner that even if he was at the bank when they were transferring the gold coins over, Lupin would’ve been able to steal it anyway. This appears to be a far cry from the Zenigata we’ve previously seen who stuck it through thick and thin. Goemon even remarks that Zenigata is acting differently, though Lupin stubbornly denies it (this underestimation becomes his crucial flaw at the end of the episode). But now he says that if he’s unsuccessful, he’ll resign. This already adds serious weight to this episode. You can observe this in the general tone.

Additionally, while Part 1’s soundtrack is often ridiculed I find it incredibly fitting for how it’s used. The somber tones of the songs set an overture of finality to this episode, and it really makes things seem like this is the end. And historically speaking, this show failed to meet rating expectations, so to the staff at the time, for all they knew, it WAS. This would be the last time Lupin would ever be animated and the manga was already over, so I believe knowing this, they made this episode as a somber farewell to the characters. It is a bittersweet goodbye.

I think another facet of this is how the characters act. Even though for a majority of it, we see Lupin and the gang act on usual business, they sense something is different, as Goemon says. When Lupin goes to his old hideout, he carelessly wrecks tons of his family heirlooms saying they’re junk and he doesn’t need them. As if he’s ready to move on. Everything seems like it’s going to culminate in this heist, and though I don’t think this was ever going to be their last heist, it’s the climax of their careers (at least up to that point) in a way.

And on that note, it’s in the episode’s climax that these themes come together. Lupin the entire series is always very brash and though it always works out for him, it is here where his crucial flaw comes in. He makes a grave error in this episode and ends up leading the police and Zenigata to him and the gang. Now LUPIN is at his wits’ end. Even though at first it seems like Lupin was just bluffing to Zenigata about not wanting to live anymore after making such a screw-up, I think in a way he was being genuine. As we saw in Episode 4, Lupin takes it hard when he loses to Zenigata. That's why he was willing to fake his death rather than just be taken into custody. There's no doubt he would have escaped, but the idea he could be arrested over such an oversight, he'd rather fake his own death in a dramatic explosion. A true finale.

But that's when the beautiful ending comes in. Lupin thinks he's finally won once and for all, that he successfully faked his death, and the viewers then likely thought that this would be the end of the adventures of Lupin III, once and for all. But then, Zenigata comes back unexpectedly, and in that moment where Lupin and Zenigata look into each other’s eyes, under the water, I think both them and the viewer realize something. It will never be over. And though "the chase will never end" is an easy thing for people to say in a world where this show has been running for 50+ years, back then, that meant something truly special.

Once again, it is the perfect bittersweet ending, and I think the episode’s character writing and exploration in how these characters deal with such heavy stakes make it a personal favorite of mine. Part 1 was so good, only an ending like this could top it off.

#lupin iii #lupin the third #lupin sansei #lupin the 3rd #lupin part 1 #kaleen's essays #yes i finally learnt how to use tumblr breaks #i have like 2 part 1 essays left in me so follow for more!

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geminisecrets · 1 year

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Soul Meets Body

Warnings: 18+ ONLY! NSFW! Explicit sexual content, coarse language, oral sex, smut, unprotected sex, alcohol, I think that's it???

Word Count: 6.8K

Summary: Just a smutty, wintery, friends to lovers, college Sam AU!

Authors Note: Surprise!!!!! It's Sam instead! We absolutely cannot write the Jake one anymore without hating it all and cringing, but we managed to crank this bad boy out in like 3 days instead so... we hope you like it!

Y’all are super duper fuckin' rad for telling us what you think about our stuff. ☯️

Requests are open :)

Join our tag list ✨

“You’re such a drag,” Sam slurred, finally letting go of my hand, before shuffling back into the mass of dancing bodies. ‘I don’t dance’ is the understatement of the century. The idea of moving my body like that in front of a mirror, alone, in my room, is enough to make me cringe, let alone on a dance floor at a crowded bar.

There was no bite in his tone, but I rolled my eyes at him nonetheless. He’s known me long enough to know that it doesn’t matter how many G&Ts I’ve had, I will not be joining him on the dance floor. I stay perched at the high top table we’d been drinking at for hours, now. As I shift my hips, I feel the indent I’ve molded into the velvet cushion.

What I lack in confidence and a carefree social presence, Sam more than makes up for. It’s been that way since we first became friends. I met him a little over a year ago through our mutual friend, Danny. Dan and I were in the same chem lab during our freshman year and Sam was his roommate. The three of us became fast, easy friends and our individual friends melded effortlessly into our dynamic.

We find ourselves, now, without those friends for the first time on a Saturday night, maybe ever. Sam and I had hung out alone before, sure. We’d studied together, ran to grab coffee between classes, helped the other stumble back to residence after a night out, but we’d never planned something like this. I don’t know if we ever would, had this opportunity not fallen into our laps.

“A bar promotion, Sam? Seriously?” I’d asked.

“Come on, I know it’s not really your scene, but it’s December twenty-seventh. Everyone else will be home for Christmas.” He whined, puppy dog eyes in full effect, as he kneeled in front of my chair.

“Sam–” I started, ready to beg him to stand back up and not make a scene in the middle of the library.”

“Just go with him so he’ll shut up, please,” Danny whispered, nose shoved deep in his textbook.

“The tickets are free,” Sam continued, folding his hands and placing them neatly on my knees. “That old guy at the radio station gave them to me.” I stayed quiet, eyes searching his as I considered the plea.

Sam and I would be the only two out of all of our friends to be on campus for Christmas. I hadn’t been on speaking terms with my parents for years and his internship at the local radio station prevented him from taking any time off this season. ‘The newbies get the holiday shifts, sorry, kid,’ they said.

I knew he was going to win me over eventually. I had absolutely no reason not to say yes. No plans, no family to see, no other friends around.

“I’ll buy you as many gin and tonics as you can handle,” he finally said, wagging his eyebrows, “maybe more than you can handle, if you’re lucky.” A grin slowly spread across my lips as my eyes squinted at him, really testing the waters to see if he was serious.

“Fine, deal.” I caved.

“Yes!” He exclaimed a little too loudly for our current setting. Danny shoved his shoulder, nearly toppling him over, as I slapped a hand over his mouth, giggling quietly in the crowded library.

The more I watch him, now, the more I really do, for once, wish I was the dancing type. He looks so genuinely happy singing along and swaying his hips. Uncoordinated and awkward as he may be, he’s having fun. It isn't until one of the girls next to him turns around to back herself into him that I felt a different feeling entirely. As she swivels her ass back against him, his eyes shoot to mine immediately.

I wasn’t expecting that. I barely have time to change the look on my face, let alone wrestle with the feeling in my gut before his eyes meet mine. My knee-jerk reaction is to raise my eyebrows at him and smile, giving him a weak thumbs up to show I’m impressed. He laughs, tossing his head back and mocking me with a returned thumbs up.

I look back down at my phone on the table and contemplate faking an emergency to get some fresh air. When I chance a glance back up at the couple, I regret it immediately. The knot of regret in my belly comes from two distinct places. First, I was seeing something I really didn’t want to see: Sam’s hands wandering low on her hips, his middle finger tugging on her belt loop, pulling her closer to him with the rhythm of the music. Second, I was face to face with exactly the feeling I’d been pushing down since the moment I saw Sam walking toward me with Danny a year and a half ago.

I’d been trying incredibly hard for months to compartmentalize my feelings for Sam. I knew he was off limits the second Danny had introduced him to me, but as cheesy as it sounds, the heart wants what it wants. I’d forced myself to look the other way when he’d smile at me. I’d told myself the way he touched my side was nothing more than a gesture. I’d pushed down all the butterflies I’d feel when he told me a secret or brushed his hair behind his ear.

But tonight? There’s no stopping it. It hits me like a brick wall. I’m face to face with the reality that I’ve been falling for him all this time. It’s as I feel my heart rate begin to speed up and my breath come a little less evenly that I know I have to do something. Leaving isn’t an option. Way too obvious and I don't want to ditch him. I go with option two and order myself two more shots and a double gin and tonic.

With a deep breath and a quick prayer that it wouldn't all come back up, I down the shots and the drink in the span of sixty seconds. After a few deep breaths, I decided to stop ‘being a drag’ as Sam had so eloquently put it. I brush my hair behind my ears and make my way to the dance floor. I keep my phone and glass of, now just ice, in my hand like some sort of security blanket as I weave through the crowd. At first, I was sure I didn’t want Sam to see me; I didn't want him to notice that I had ventured out into the sea of bodies. Of course I don't really know how this kind of thing works. I’m relying completely on the liquid courage to move me. When I assume I’ve made it to the middle of the crowd, I close my eyes and think back to all the cliched instructions I’d heard before. Things like: don’t move to the music, let the music move you. And, pretend no one’s watching.

The more I feel the alcohol in my bloodstream, the more those cliches start to make sense. I sway there for a few moments, hips feeling the beat, before I feel a body press up against my back.

“Sorry–” I start, turning around to see who I’d bumped into.

“You’re good,” a pair of bright blue eyes replies, smiling. “This okay?” he asks, hands moving to my hips as he swayed us along to the song. I nod, a blush rising to my cheeks as he brings my hands up to place them around his neck. He hugs me closer as the song changes to something a little slower, the bass thumping so loudly, I feel it in my tummy. The song is something I’d heard before. A classic, but some modern, bastardized version of it. I smile thinking about how much Sam must be hating it.

I continue thinking about Sam. As Blue Eyes’ hands creep a little lower on my back, I imagine they’re his. As the bassline in the song begins to build, I run my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and wish it was longer, softer, lighter. When I touch the tip of my nose to his neck, I imagine this is how Sam smells, warm, soft, and a little sweaty, but I press my lips against it anyway. I feel the groan vibrate out of his throat as his hands dare to dip into the back pockets of my jeans.

My heart begins to race. Muted, thumping, and heavy, I feel it deep in my chest. Longing. Desire. Carnal and raw. I’m starting to understand the appeal of not being a wallflower on nights like tonight.

“Sam,” I murmur.

“It’s Ben,” he laughs. I pull back to look at him, humiliation painting my features. “It’s okay,” he says, lips at my ear.

And that’s when I see Sam walking toward me with a surprised smile on his face. He winks at me and backs away, but as soon as he does, I want him closer again. I want him to feel how I felt watching someone else’s hands all over him. The logical side of my brain tells me he won’t care. He doesn’t have feelings for you like that, why would he give a fuck? But, the very drunk, much louder, side of my brain is yelling at me to try anyway.

With a smile, I look up at Ben and shake my head, “I’m fine!” I assure him. With my hands on his cheeks, I press my lips to his. In the back of my mind, I’m willing Sam to still be standing there. Ben gives into me, holding me tighter as his lips slot into mine. Getting brave, I lick into his mouth.

“Mmph,” he grimaces, pulling back, “gin.”

“Do I taste like a pine tree?” I ask, trying to taste my own breath. He chuckles and nods.

“I hot pine tree, but a very drunk one,” he states. “Where are your friends?” he asks. I look over his shoulder to see Sam standing by the bar, fiddling with his straw, trying to make it look like he’s not watching me. I’m sure he’s imagining this is what it would be like to see a unicorn or, more likely a train wreck. Ben’s line of vision follows mine and when he and Sam make eye contact, Ben nods, signaling Sam to come over.

What was supposed to be a sexy attempt to make him jealous now makes my cheeks burn with embarrassment. I feel like a kid getting in trouble. Sam sucks the rest of his drink down and abandons it on the bar to stalk toward us, a smug look on his face.

“Hey,” he says loudly, over the music, “you good?” he asks. I nod.

“I hope I see you again,” Ben says, kissing me on the cheek before meandering away from us.

“What was that?” Sam asks. I bury my face in my hands and lean my forehead against Sam’s chest, groaning.

“I’m so embarrassed,” I mumble.

“What?” He calls, clearly unable to hear me.

“Can you just dance with me?” I look up at him, asking pathetically.

He feigns shock and delight, gesturing to himself dramatically. “Moi?”

I roll my eyes and make an attempt to escape to the bathroom, but he grabs my wrist and stops me.

“Hey, hey hey,” he chuckles. “I’m teasing. Of course I’ll dance with you.”

I let him pull me closer. The song changes again to something with a little more soul. Another classic, but this time with much less autotune and unnecessary techno- drum tracks.

“Finally, someone in this hellhole has taste,” he yells.

“Enough,” I laugh, hugging my arms around his neck. He reciprocates, holding me closer to him and moving to the beat of the music. I still feel a little stiff, despite the fact that I can barely feel my feet due to the amount of alcohol in my system.

“You’ve gotta loosen up,” he says into my ear. His hands travel to my hips and he sways them for me. He’s joking at first, dramatically rocking them right to left, but when I pull back to look at him, his eyes are burning holes through mine. “Like this,” he says. He nods his head to the beat, lip caught between his teeth and hands at my hips again, this time taking another step impossibly closer, chest pressing against mine.

I feel it again. The butterflies, fluttering so rapidly I fear I might vomit them all up. Instead, I close my eyes and focus on the way his hands feel on me. They’re warm and big and they’re slowly digging harder and harder into the skin at my waist.

He’s signing along now and he takes a big step back, grabbing my hands in his and spins me around so that his chest is pressed to my back. Immediately I feel a shift in the energy between us. Maybe it’s the alcohol or maybe it’s the way I practically feel his heart hammering against my back, but whatever it is gives me the courage to test the waters and press my ass back against him.

He seems to approve and shows me just that by bringing one hand around to rest over my belly button and the other to brush the hair over my shoulder so he can press his lips to the shell of my ear.

“There you go,” he coaxes.

That really is all the encouragement I need to let my hips move on their own accord, grinding against him slowly and as coordinated as I can. It takes all my focus to get the rhythm down, but the way he moves behind me helps me keep time.

My right hand moves to cover his on my stomach and the left grips his thigh as I brace myself, letting him keep both of us upright. The hand on my stomach bravely slips under the hem of my top, resting just above my belly button. My heart is beating so forcefully that I’m sure he can hear it. I let my head loll back against his shoulder and as I look up at the bright flashy lights in the bar, I begin to feel dizzy.

“Fuck, Sam,” I say, holding on to his arm a little tighter to keep my balance. I try to communicate that I need to sit down or go home or really be anywhere but here in this hot, crowded, flashy bar.

“I know,” he says, squeezing at my waist again, misreading my signals entirely, “I’ve wanted this for so long.” My eyes dart open and at this point I’m sure it’s the gin messing with my perception.

“Yeah?” I ask, standing up a little straighter, turning back around slowly in his arms to face him.

“Shit, is it okay that I said that?” He asks, eyes searching mine, but his are just as glossy and gazed over.

“Sam, I think we should go,” I say, convinced that he’s completely delusional and possibly even more fucked up than I am. He cringes visibly and runs his hand through his hair. “Come on.” I take his hand in mine and lead him through the crowd, past the bar and to the coat check. I rummage through my pockets, but realize Sam has our tickets. He reaches past me silently and hands them to the girl behind the counter. In turn, she hands us our coats. We shuffle past the group of people at the door and step out onto the street.

The second we’re outside, the better I can breathe. The urge to vomit subsides and I can think a little more clearly.

“Fuck, it’s freezing,” he winces, walking briskly down the sidewalk. It’s clear that denial and avoidance is the route he’s choosing and, truly, I can't blame him, considering that was the game I played with my feelings for him for as long as I’d known him.

“Let’s Uber, please, my fingers are going to fall off,” I whine. “There’s no chance I’m making it all ten blocks back to my place.”

“Just stay at mine, it’s only three blocks if you cut through the park,” he slows down slightly, allowing me to catch up. “Plus, nothing sobers you up like the brisk walk back home,” he explains.

“Fine,” I relent, not in the mood to argue, “but if my fingers freeze off from frostbite, you’re going to have to type all my papers next semester.”

The walk back to his residence is, in fact, brisk. It’s also relatively quiet. Other than a few remarks from both of us about how cold it is and how much we wish we were already inside, it’s silent between us.

I shiver underneath the awning of his building as he fumbles with this keycard. Finally, he swipes it and we’re inside. I follow him up the familiar path to room three hundred and fifteen. When he unlocks the door, I find Danny’s side of the room completely spotless. Bed made, desk chair pushed in, even his nightstand is tidy and clean.

Sam’s side, on the other hand, as usual, looks like a bomb went off. There’s laundry littering the desk and unmade bed and open books and vinyl records covering every other surface.

“Do you want the bathroom first?” He asks, gesturing to the tiny ensuite to the left.

“No, you can go,” I offer. He doesn't seem to put up much of a fuss and grabs change of clothes before shutting the bathroom door behind him.

I suddenly feel incredibly vulnerable. The room is dark except for the light from the street lamps shining in between the slats of the large blinds and the small salt lamp on Sam’s nightstand. I hug my coat tighter against me and sit on the edge of Danny’s bed. I do my best not to get lost in my thoughts as I hear the toilet flush and the water run from the sink.

I hear it over and over as I stare at the mess of sheets and pillows on Sam’s bed.

“I’ve wanted this for so long.”

Surely he was just wasted and horny. He would have said that to anything with a pulse at that point. The more I thought about it, the more I could practically feel him, warm and hard against me as he moved his hips against my ass. The click of the bathroom door opening shocks me out of my own head.

“All yours,” he offers, stepping into the bedroom in nothing but a pair of old boxers. Slut.

Two could play this game. I hadn’t planned on sleeping over, of course, so I brought nothing with me. I rummaged through Danny’s drawers until I found a baggy t-shirt and take it with me into the tiny bathroom. I haphazardly rub at my face with what I beg, is a clean washcloth and some warm water in a very lame attempt to take my makeup off. Part of me knows I’ll regret even trying in the morning, but two AM me could not care less. I swish a capful of mouthwash around in my mouth and pray that does the trick for the time being. I look around for a brush after I change into the t-shirt, but can’t find one.

When I open the door to the bedroom, it’s a little brighter. Sam had turned on the small lamp on Danny’s nightstand.

“Brush?” I ask, assuming that between the two of them there had to be one kicking around.

“Top drawer,” he offers, gesturing to his dresser as he scrolls on his phone from under the covers. I try to ignore the way his eyes peek over the top of the screen and land on my bare thighs.

I follow his direction and fish out a paddle brush from the drawer. Mindlessly, I brush through my hair and mosey back into the bathroom to drink as much water from the sink as I can before turning off the light and crawling into Danny’s bed. I reach over and click the light off, realizing that, thanks to the walk home and the bastardized nighttime routine, I’m feeling incredibly sober at this point. I thank God that I’m going to bed drunk, but wish I was fucked up enough to be able to pass out easily. I know that’s not going to be the case tonight.

“Thanks for coming tonight,” Sam finally says.

“Thanks for asking me,” I reply, stretching my legs in an attempt to get comfortable in the foreign bed.

It’s quiet. Really quiet. I can’t hear cars or people outside the window. I can’t even hear Sam shuffling in the twin bed next to mine. All I can hear is the faint ringing in my ears and the sound of my own breathing.

I don’t know what time I eventually fall asleep, but when I wake up, it's the first thing on my mind. Before I even open my eyes, I hear him say, “I’ve wanted this for so long.” It’s still dark out. I lie still for a few moments in the eerie quietness of the early morning before I can’t take it anymore.

As quietly as I can, I slip out from underneath the covers, grab my bra and top off the floor and zip my coat up over Danny’s t-shirt. It’s as I’m slipping my shoes on, that I look up to see Sam rolling over. I freeze like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar and hear the low, evenness of his breathing again, insinuating he’s fallen back asleep.

I allow myself a good ten seconds to take in the sight before me. The only light in the room is emanating from the dim salt lamp on his nightstand. God damn him for looking so soft and perfect in the low, warm, pink light. His hair delicately falls onto his cheek as though it was placed there for a photograph. His bare back rises and falls slowly as he hugs the pillow underneath him. His lips are plump as his cheek, pressed against the pillow, squishes them into a pursed kiss.

He looks so beautiful, I’m afraid that if I stand there looking at him any longer, I’ll cry. So, instead I click the door open. I think I’m in the clear until I hear him sleepily call my name. Fuck.

“Yeah?” I whisper, turning back to look at him as he squints up at me, the harsh fluorescents from the hallway tarnishing the picture painted by the warm light of the lamp.

“Where are you going?” He whispers.

“Um–” I start.

“You don't have to go,” he grumbles, sitting up.

“No, Sam it’s okay, go back to–”

“I can’t go back to sleep thinking you’re leaving because of what I said,” he confesses. He looks so gentle and genuine and docile sitting in the mess and tangle of blankets. I sigh and close the door behind me, accepting that I won’t be escaping easily tonight.

As I drop my bag back on Danny’s desk chair, Sam turns the other lamp on, illuminating the room further. I can see him more clearly now. I can see the sleep in his eyes, but there’s an urgency behind them, like his mind is far more attentive than his body is at this hour of the night.

He leans back against the wall, facing Danny’s bed, sheets covering him from the waist down. I can feel his eyes track me as I shrug my coat off, left once again in only Danny’s oversized t-shirt. I crawl into Danny’s bed and mirror his position. Facing him with the covers pulled up around my hips. It’s quiet for a moment, but the silence is saying so much.

“I thought you were just wasted,” I grin, unable to make eye contact. He breathes a laugh out of his nostrils.

“I was,” he confesses, “but…I stand by it. I’ve thought about pretty much that exact scenario quite a few times.” I can feel the blush rise to my cheeks as I pull my knees up to my chest and cross my arms over them. I rest my chin on my forearms and look directly at him, hoping that by making myself smaller, I can hide away from the very real panic bustling up my chest. “Please say something, you’re killing me, here,” he laughs uncomfortably.

“I have too,” I finally admit. His face lights up at that and I feel my heart start to pound. I imagine it keeping time with his, the beats in sync with one another.

“Yeah?” He smiles. I nod. “Cool.”

“Cool.” I echo. It’s quiet again and I can't help but notice the way he’s shifted in his bed, the blankets falling lower on his torso.

“I really want to kiss you,” he admits, boldly. “Can I kiss you?”

I nod again. “Yeah, you can kiss me.” When he doesn't move, I begin to feel dread rise in my throat before he says:

“I wanted to make a move but… you’re gonna have to come to me,” he says. “Don’t think I could, in good conscience, make out with you in Danny’s bed.” I laugh and throw the cover off of my legs, sliding off of the bed and taking the three steps over to Sam’s. He welcomes me by lifting his duvet, making room for me to join him under the covers.

“Better,” he says, once we’re side by side. His hand reaches out to cup my cheek and he shakes his head and chuckles in disbelief as he leans in to press his lips against mine.

Everyone always describes magical first kisses with someone as fireworks, but this doesn't feel explosive at all. It’s hot, yes, I’m warm all over, but I’d describe the heat more like lava. It’s slow, languid, all consuming. His hand moves from my cheek, around to the back of my neck, pulling me in closer, guiding me.

Our kiss breaks with a smacking sound. “Sam?” I murmur. He hums in reply. “What about Danny?”

“You’re thinking about Danny right now?” He pulls away to look at me, hand still in my hair. I can’t help but laugh, lips hovering over his.

“I just– I don't want to fuck things up with our friends.” I admit. “Like will things be weird when everyone’s back?”

A sly smile grows on his lips. “They already know.”

“They– how?” I ask, pulling back to see his face clearly.

“No, not about– this–” he gestures between us, “but Danny definitely knows how I feel about you.”

“Oh,” I smile. “Okay, and he wasn’t weird about it?”

“Who do you think gave me the idea to beg you to go with me tonight?” He asks. That’s all the validation I need before climbing into his lap and kissing him again. The sound that comes from the back of his throat as I straddle his hips is enough to bring me to my knees. His hands grab at my waist as mine tangle in his hair. I can’t help but smile to myself as he sucks my lower lip into his mouth. It was starting to get pathetic, the amount of times I’d dreamt of this moment with Sam.

The kiss gets heavy fast as I test the waters by ever so slightly swiveling my hips in his lap. His lips move to my neck as his hands on my waist replicate the motion by moving them himself. I can’t contain the huffs of air coming from my open mouth as he controls my hips just like he had when we were dancing at the bar.

“Oh my God, Sam,” I whisper. He responds by biting into the flesh at the juncture of my neck and shoulder.

“Lay down for me?” He asks quietly. I obey, climbing off his lap and resting my head on his pillow.

“This okay?” I ask, lifting the baggy t-shirt up above my belly button, implying that I’m ready to take it off. Sam kneels above me, straddling my hips, looking down at the exposed skin and reaching out to touch.

“What if I wanna do that part?” he asks.

“You wanna take my shirt off, Sam?” I tease, returning the smile. He nods, reaching for the hem.

“Um–” I take his hand in mine, stopping his actions. “Where are your manners?” His lips part like he’s about to speak, but then shut into a sly grin.

“Well, excuse me.” He puts his hand on his chest, sinking down to sit on my thighs that are spread slightly below him. “Not very polite of me, was it?” He takes my hands in his and lifts them above my head until they’re pinned against the pillow. His lips hover centimeters from mine when he says, “May I, pretty please–”

“–with a cherry on top–”

“–with a cherry on top, see your beautiful body?”

“‘Course you can.” I smile, pursing my lips out to reach his. He kisses me back with fervor, hands trailing down my arms and down to my sides, sliding under my shirt. His hands are warm and calloused, but not rough like I’d expect a musician’s to be. He keeps kissing me as his hands explore my torso, finally cupping my breasts. I break the kiss with a gasp as he kneads them roughly, lips moving back to my neck. I hum out my satisfaction as he contrasts the firm grasp he has on me with gentle, wet, sucking kisses to my neck.

His hands begin their path south as do his lips. I arch my back to accommodate him pulling the t-shirt over my head to toss onto the floor.

“Perfect,” he mumbles, looking me over and leaning back down to press kisses to my sternum and down to my belly button. The fingers of his left hand move to hook into the waistband of my underwear and I feel panic rise up in me.

“Wait, wait,” I gasp, grabbing his hand. Sam pulls away to look at me, eyebrows furrowed with concern. “I just… I’ve never…”

“Oh, shit I’m sorry,” he tries to understand. “Oh, that’s okay, we don’t have to–” He sits up immediately, wiping the spit from his chin and running a hand through his hair.

“No, no, I’m not, like– I’m not a virgin, I just,” I squeeze my eyes shut, bracing myself for the words that are about to come out of my mouth. “No one’s ever–”

“No one’s ever gone down on you before?” He asks. I shake my head. “Ever?” He clarifies.

“I mean I guess I don’t blame my boyfriend in highschool and the guy I was seeing last year just said he wasn’t into it,” I shrug.

“But he probably expected you to blow him, right?” Sam asks, leaning back in toward me, his elbow resting on the bed between my hip and the wall.

“Yeah, I guess. We didn’t date for that long, though, and–”

Sam interrupts me with a call of my name and then proceeds, “I don’t want to do anything you don’t want to do, but,” his eyes wander up and down my body and his hand sneaks below the fabric of my shirt, toying with the elastic of my underwear. “I really want to go down on you.” I feel the heat in my cheeks and I know I must be bright red.

“You want to?” I question, finding it hard to believe. “I thought guys just put up with doing it. Like it was a chore or something.” The smirk that slowly rises to Sam’s lips will be permanently etched into the fabric of my mind.

Sam clicks his tongue disappointedly, sitting up to hover over me once again. “You were wasted on such selfish lovers,” he says, lowering his body down on top of mine and kissing the skin just above my breast, his lips trail higher and higher, sucking a line of kisses up to my ear before whispering, “can I show you?” he asks, “can I show you how good it can be? For both of us?”

“Okay.” I breathe, tilting my hips up to grind against his, showing him how much I want just that. He groans into my neck as he grinds his hips down to meet mine. I can feel how hard he is and it makes me dizzy with desire. “Okay I want you to.”

“Promise me,” he confirms.

“I promise,” I nearly laugh. “Believe me, I want you to.”

“Okay,” he whispers, kissing my cheek. “Thank you,” another kiss to my jaw, “thank you,” kiss, “thank you,” kiss, until he’s pressing the most gentle pecks to the skin above my belly button. He looks up at me beneath his eyelashes and I can’t quite see him over the swell of my breasts, so I shift up onto my elbows, gaining confidence.

“You look good between my legs, Kiszka,” I smirk as he, once again, hooks his fingers into the waistband of my underwear and pulls them down my thighs. Gently, he spreads my knees apart and gets down on his stomach between them. The confidence I had built from Sam practically begging to eat me out shrivels and dies the second he’s face to face with the most intimate part of me, but once again dissipates as he presses kisses to the insides of my thighs and pubic bone.

“You look pretty good from this angle, too.” He says before finally licking one slow stripe up my center. He closes his eyes and I thank God because I’m sure the way I’m practically drooling and sweating watching him do this is the farthest from sexy I could get. Slowly and methodically, he licks up and down my center, getting me used to the feeling of his tongue on the sensitive skin.

Just when I’ve started to collect my breath, he flattens his tongue and adds more pressure to his licks, flicking his tongue up at the end as he reaches my clit.

“Oh, fuck,” my hips jump away from the mattress at the feeling of the tip of his tongue teasing me. His right hand moves from where it was at my side to flatten over the skin below my belly button, attempting to hold me still against the bed.

He surprises me by alternating licks with gentle sucking my clit between his lips. I squirm underneath him, releasing my elbows from underneath me, no longer strong enough to hold myself up when I feel his finger slip between my folds.

His lips and tongue focus on drawing firm, wet circles around my clit as his finger slowly slides into me.

“I need you, Sam,” I moan with my face turned to the side, voice muffled into the pillow. “Fuck me. Please.”

“Gonna make you cum first, gorgeous,” he says, “can you do that for me?’ I nod. “Tell me,” he pleads, “tell me you’ll cum for me.”

“I will,” I promise as he adds another finger.

“You will what?” he taunts.

“I’ll cum, I’ll cum,” I huff as his fingers pick up speed.

“Cum for who?” He continues his interrogation.

As I’m about to answer, he curls his fingers upward inside me, causing me to gasp and yell, “you! Fuck, I’m gonna cum for you.”

“Alright, alright, no need to shout,” he grins, using his lips to return to the work he’d started on my clit.

“Fuck you,” I groan with absolutely no malice, gripping the sheets in my hands as he licks and sucks at me.

I know he can tell I’m close by the way he keeps his pace with his fingers and tongue and I cum around his fingers moments later.

“Thank you,” I breathe as he kisses my thighs while I come down. “Come here,” I reach out for him. He crawls up beside me and kisses my cheek. I turn my face to the side and catch his lips in a kiss. I move to sit up and he makes room for me to press him back against the foot of the bed, straddling his hips.

“I don’t think we’re very fairly matched here,” I say looking down at the layer of fabric between us.

“Allow me,” he says, reaching down to pull his boxer briefs off.

“Ah, ah, ah–” I stop him. “What if I wanna do that part?” I parrot his sentiment from earlier. He crosses his arms behind his head, fully relaxing into the mess of sheets and pillows underneath him.

“By all means,” he smiles up at me. I lean down to kiss his lips as my hands palm the hard bulge between his legs. He moans into my mouth as I squeeze and pump his cock over his underwear before sliding them down his legs.

My lips press against his cheek, down his neck and back up to his ear. “Are you gonna fuck me, Sam?” I ask, hand reaching back down to palm at his now bare cock.

“Jesus,” he sighs as I lick the shell of his ear, gaining momentum with my strokes.

“Hmm?” I press.

“Yeah,” he says, “yeah I’m gonna fuck you.” I hum approval in his ear as I line myself up over him.

“Gonna let me ride you?” I ask, teasing the tip against my center.

“Yeah,” he breathes, “you think you’re ready to go again? Not too sensitive?” he asks, reaching down to brush his finger over my clit.

“Fuck you,” I flinch at his touch, breath huffing out of me in a laugh. He leans up to kiss me again, sliding his tongue into my mouth and his hand into my hair as I lower down onto him. I stay still for a moment, adjusting to the size of him before lifting up and back down experimentally.

“Yeah, that’s so good,” he praises. I find a rhythm, bouncing up and down, feeling him slide almost all the way out before going back in again. I brace myself with my hands flat on his chest as he holds my ass in his hands and pumps up into me harder and faster.

“Oh my God, Sam,” I huff, trying to catch my breath as he hits my g-spot over and over. I reach down between us to circle my clit, chasing the orgasm I can feel building again. When Sam notices, he sits up, causing me to fall onto my back on the bed as he repositions himself and before I have time to think, he’s moving behind me so that we’re both on our sides.

“C’mere,” he says, taking my knee and lifting it under his forearm, spreading me open once again. “Can you hold your leg open for me?” he asks, pressing kisses to my neck as he repositions himself at my entrance. I agree, taking my leg, as he did, hooking in the crook of my arm. “Perfect, you’re doing so good. You’re perfect.”

I rest my head down on the pillow as he slips back inside of me, finding that same rhythm, but this time, snaking his hand down under my arm to touch me. I feel his lips at my ear as he rocks his hips against me, dragging his cock in and out and this new angle feels even better. I know I’m not far from another orgasm, and that’s confirmed when Sam’s fingers trace down my stomach and start to circle my clit.

Our breaths become more and more ragged and desperate as we climb toward release together.

“I’m gonna cum again, Sam.” I whine, clenching around him and before I know it, that warm, tingly euphoric feeling is washing over me. Sam moans and curses, face buried into my hair as he pulls out and finishes in his hand.

“Fuck,” he breathes, and it’s quiet for a few moments before he brushes my hair to out of my face and presses soft kisses to the back of my neck.

“I don’t think I have the energy to change these sheets,” I admit.

“Oh absolutely not,” he agrees.

“Don’t tell Danny?” I suggest, motioning to Danny’s bed, implying that it’s a more suitable option for us tonight.

“Don’t tell Danny.” Sam laughs in agreement.

Masterlist

Taglist:

@doodle417 @gvfrry @spicedandicedtea @yeehawbesties @samkiszkalover @gretavansteph @saoirsemaeve @mannick @theweightofjake @basiccortez @lallisonl @sammiejane22 @loofypoofy @sammyslappers @gretavanfleas @jakeyboiiiiiii @angelqueen99 @keighoe @myownparadise96 @gretavanbitches @kittykiszka @s0livagant @hallecat17 @aconfusedhippie @katie-gvf @UnfortunatelyKristin @ageoferin @gretavanbestie @jordierama @writingcold @erin-rose-hackl @fuzzybatpersonafan @buttrry @mamalikesgvf

#sammy kiszka #sam kiszka x reader #sam kiszka gvf #sam kiszka smut #sammy gvf #greta van fleet fic #greta van fleet smut #greta van fleet fan fiction #greta van fleet #greta van fleet fanfiction #gretavanfleet #greta van fleet au #sam kiszka au

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demonichikikomori · 2 years

Text

No Nut November: Round 2

All students are written as +18

+Round 1 +Round 3 +Round 4 +Bonus Round

Vil Schoenheit

Completes the 30 Days

Hah! This wasn’t a challenge in the first place. It’s about self control.

When you become frustrated by how calm he is, you sneak a few pictures into his inbox. You patiently await his reaction… But instead it backfired.

[You have your clothes thrown on the bed in the background. Please pick up your bedroom before sending a picture like this.]

As the days wind down you see signs of stress when you poke and pry a little too much. He snaps on you a few times but quickly apologizes with a delicate kiss to your knuckles.

You thought you would get him to crack, but he’s stone faced and brushing you off like lint on his uniform. It’s enough to make you want to tear your hair out. He’s so smug about it too, showing you how he’s much better than you at keeping his hands out of his pants. The sexual tension between you is driving you, and only you insane…

And once it’s midnight on December 1st, he’s demanding your audience in Pomfiore.

“If you had time to send those photos, you surely have time to get dressed and come to me now. Since you craved my attention so dearly.”

Che’nya

Doesn’t Participate

“Why should I play along?”

He’s going to play the ‘why’ game with you to convince him this whole thing is stupid. Deriving yourself of something like that? That’s not fun at all. Especially if you can’t give him a good reason.

He’s already tugging at your clothes, explaining to you how being young should be spent doing things you liked. Having fun, not holding back in any shape or form.

And besides,

Why should he chime in on a game like that anyways? You shouldn’t if he’s not. Instead…

Why don’t you tell him more about Destroy Dick December?

Leona Kingscholar

Doesn’t Participate

He’s making an annoyed expression when you bring up the idea that he should play along, and he flat out refuses

It’s not because he doesn’t see the challenge as something he can’t do, he thinks it’s just stupid. Something Ace would come up with and drag everyone into. And he’s not having any parts.

He tells you to go away when you keep pushing him to try, even going as far to follow him back to Savanaclaw after class.

You’re really poking the lion in its cage now.

He grabs you by the collar, nearly lifting you off the ground so you would see eye to eye.

“Why don’t I just show you why I don’t want to participate?”

And he was very thorough with his demonstration.

Lilia Vanrouge

Completes the 30 Days

What an exciting challenge! He’ll play along if it makes you happy!

Lilia is an old man, and he’s been around the block. No Nut November applies to the both of you.

He does well within the first week as you choose to tease him, sending naughty photos to his inbox and seeing him fawn over how good you look. Not the reaction you were looking for exactly… You’ll have to get creative!!

You’re squirming in your sleep during week two, and wake up to find his hand slipped between your thighs. That took a while longer than he thought. He’s licking his fingers clean from the juices left behind, refusing to finish your orgasm. You started it, there’s no rule saying he can’t touch you.

You do your best to sleep with one eye open, but it always seems to end with waking up with Lilia touching you.

He’s playing with your nipples, he’s sucking on your neck, his face is between your legs, at one point he started cockwarming you.

“This is No Nut November after all. If we cum, we lose right?”

Lilia turns your brain into mush before the month ends and he’s very proud to have beaten the challenge. Now. Give him a reward.

Cater Diamond

Lasts 19/30 Days

“Chronically Online, But Make It Cute! Cay-Cay is up for the challenge!”

He laughs it off, saying it was something made up by a bunch of dumb middle schoolers and it just stuck from then on. He would be recording his days to show how well he does and he plans to beat this year

But you don’t make it easy. You don’t plan to either.

You cheer him on for the first few days, watching him post his day by day post to say how he’s holding up. And then you decide to mess with him. You started coming over to Heartslabyul after class, purposely entering his space, nudging against him, before leaving him alone in his room to go back to Ramshackle.

Week two was the same, but even more handsy. Around day 15… Your hands were oh, so, cold… So you slipped them in his pants during a study date in his room. You could feel how tense he was as you seated yourself behind him, pressing your mouth against the nape of his neck. You almost had him…

Then Riddle walked in.

You scattered like roaches as he asked Cater to join him for a talk. Most likely about an upcoming UnBirthday party. You decided to hightail it out of there before you had any consequences coming your way.

On the dawn of November 19, Cater was standing outside of your door. It was a Saturday, so there were no classes. The look in his eyes was enough to tell you that he had officially waved the white flag.

There would be no MagiCam update.

Rollo Flamm

Lasts 3/30 Days

He agreed to do it, passing it off as some childish challenge from NRC. How hard could it be?

Well… You certainly weren’t making anything easier. The slightest hint of skin or subtle touch and he’s finding his stomach twisting in knots.

Staying in an all boys school with no real outside contact was hard enough. But with someone as eye-catching as you? Please. He’d like to go back on said agreement.

You find yourself cornered by him only on the third day as he expresses his frustrations.

“Enough of this stupid game… I refuse to wait.”

#no nut november #nnn twisted wonderland #vil shoenheit #chenya #leona kingscholar #lilia vanrouge #cater diamond #rollo flamm #smut headcanons

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obsessivelyloved · 1 year

Note

Something, anything, with Tord. We’re starving 😩

I'm sorry for being gone 😭😭. I started a new job and have been playing re4 in my free time. Leon made me realize that my type is gun-wielding twinks. As always, reader is gender-neutral <3

____________________________________________________________

Tord reached out blindly for his phone, finding it after moving his arm around.

6:17, his phone screen read. Hmm, normally he’d be up by now, working on something. But with you by his side, he’d stay in bed. He preferred your warmth to the chill of the house. And he’d hate to wake you.

Winter was his favorite time of year. Especially once December was over and Tom chilled out. As amusing as watching the guy lose his shit over christmas, it got tiring after a few years. Watching him set fire to the christmas tree got old three years ago. Though it didn’t stop Tord from egging him on every year. It was just too easy.

Besides that, Tord loved the snow and the cold. It meant he could keep all his loved ones in place. No one really wanted to go anywhere while it was freezing.

This year, that included you. This was the first year you two had been together. And for once, he didn’t mind december. He was excited to give you his gifts, once the time came. Although he wasn’t sure if you celebrate christmas, he’d give you gifts anyway. Christmas just never came up in conversations, despite it being December, and he didn't want you to think he was expecting you to get him gifts.

You deserved the world. You deserved so much more than what Tord could get his hands on. It had taken a lot of saving up to get you everything you mentioned wanting. Getting to see the look on your face was going to be worth it.

And maybe he’d gift you something else if you felt up to it… Not that he was hoping for that. No, he wasn’t so shallow as to give you things in hopes of favors. In truth, Tord didn’t care if you got him anything. He was happy with you.

You’re the best thing to have ever happened to him. Your love was more than enough for him. Especially now that you seemed fine with staying over with him at the house. It warmed him to see you chill with his friends. All his favorite people in the same place…

However, his friends, if they got him nothing this year, he’d put rocks in their shoes and coal in every nook and cranny of their rooms. He didn’t get them things too just to get nothing in return, Only you get a pass.

“Tord, what time’s it?”

Tord blinked, rubbing his eyes. He checked his phone again.

“It’s only 7 o'clock, love. You can go back to sleep. We don’t have to be up until 9.”

Damn, he spent forever thinking. How time passes by your side.

You mumble something, but he didn’t quite catch it. You push yourself closer to him, smushing your face against his neck.

“Stay with me,” you say.

His heart flutters.

“Of course. I didn’t plan on leaving bed without you.”

He wraps his arm around you. Perhaps he’ll be able to go back to sleep. If not, he didn’t mind. He’d spend all day in bed with you if that was what you wanted. The plans you made for today could wait if it came to it.

With that thought, he sighed and closed his eyes. The lull of sleep takes him and you two sleep for a couple of hours until his alarm goes off.

#yandere tord x reader #yandere tord #tw yandere #yandere tw #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere fic #yandere eddsworld x reader #yandere cw #cw yandere #yandere male x reader #yandere drabble #yandere male #male yandere #soft yandere

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cordidy · 3 months

Text

3 kids

Solomon and the kids first Christmas Eve at Feldcroft

December 18th 1887

“What the…?” The two brown ones at his door, he knew them but he was pretty sure the blond one in the middle was not a Sallow… Children had never been Solomon’s Sallow strong suit. His brother Adam was the one who loved little imps, to the point he decided to make it his job but for Solomon they were kind of a nuisance. He would spend weeks coming back and forth from Azkaban to deliver prisoners, chase dark wizard in dangerous forests or spend hours in useless Ministry meeting without batting an eye but he almost got traumatized the day his brother asked him to babysit the twins so his wife and him could go on a romantic date. Then Adam and Rose died. And he became his nephew and niece’s guardian, for better or worse…

“What kind of stray did you bring me this time ?” the man asked, defeated. “This is just Ominis uncle Solomon, he’ll spend the holidays with us” Anne said with a smile. She did not ask no no, she just informed him. While Sebastian was his late father’s portrait, Anne definitively took on Adam’s attitude. He looked at the kid, curious. Small, skin and bones, shaking in fear, his head low like he was about to cry he yet was dressed in fine clothes and his truck was impeccable and probably more than a month worth of his old salary as an Auror. He sighed, knowing the battle with his niece was already lost. “And do you have a name ‘Just Ominis’ so I can inform you parents ?” “Gaunt Sir” the young boy answered in a shaky voice. “But don….don’t tell my family…please…” Solomon tensed immediately. A Gaunt ? on his doorstep ?! Was this some kind of a joke ?! The man was about to say something not very polite when his nephew interrupted him. “He’s a friend” Sebastian said, grabbing the blond’s shoulder while looking at his uncle with all the conviction of an 11 years old kid and, for a moment, Solomon saw Adam in him and it broke his heart. He sighed again. When those two had something in mind… “Alright, get inside before one of you gets cold…” he grumbled “i’ll make tea and hot cocoa”.

As the days passed by, Solomon could not help but be nervous having Ominis around. First the child was a Gaunt and he had quite the history with them, especially Malakai Gaunt who was, you guessed it, his little guest’s father. Second, he was clearly blind as Solomon realized when he teased him about that when the blond boy had issues decorating the Christmas tree, breaking a few ornaments and his nephew looked at him like he had said something horribly inappropriate. Third, the kid was clearly traumatized. As an ex Auror, he had spent some time in Azkaban for work, facing some…complications himself when he would stay stationed there for a few weeks and he had seen first hand what years of mistreatment could do to someone. The kid was checking all the boxes and this was not surprising considering who fathered him… Sometimes in the middle of the night he would hear his nephew comforting Ominis after a nightmare, telling him he was safe and that nothing would happen to him. Yes his uncle was scary and rough on the edges but he would keep them safe…

Christmas Eve - 1887 “Here Anne, bring this to the table would you” Solomon asked while giving his niece a plate of potatoes as he was cutting the turkey “Boys for the third time, come help Anne set the table !” he added to Sebastian and Ominis who were playing chess in front of the fireplace. Outside the storm was raging but in the little house they were all cozy and warm, ready to enjoy their first Christmas Eve’s dinner together. Under the tree, presents were waiting for the kids as Solomon had to rush to Hogsmeade to get something for the little blond boy who was now trying his best not to spill the watercarafe while making his way to the table. After talking with him, he had found out Ominis was actually born blind and it did not take a lot of time for Solomon to realize why the kid had been so ostracized. Being a Gaunt was surely not easy but adding blindness to that…kids were cruel and it made sense to him now why he was so clingy over the Sallow twins. After a few awkward days they seemed to have found their rhythm, the 4 of them and as everyone sat at the table he felt…good, for the first time in months. It’s been only 8 months since his brother and sister in law died and if one thing was for sure, it was that Solomon was not coping well but tonight…tonight was going to be a good night and he was actually excited to see the kids open their gift.

A knock at the door, faint at first, then growing louder and louder. You don’t get to work as an Auror for 30 years without becoming a little paranoid and something in the air made him realize things were about to get…complicated… As he opened the door, his blood froze in his veins. There he was, in the flesh, Malakai fucking Gaunt, clearly dressed to impress, looking at Solomon with disgust before he saw his son at the table, oblivious at what was happening. “ So this is where you’re hiding, little worm ? among…blood traitors…” Hearing his father’s voice, Ominis froze in place, his face turning as white as the snow outside. His father was here. He had come to take him back to the Estate. “And you truly believed I would not find out ? Pathetic...Grab your things, we are leaving” the Gaunt said in a cold sharp tone that left no ambiguity at what was awaiting Ominis once he would get back home. Ominis had just pretended he would stay at Hogwarts for the winter break, pretending to have a lot of homework and it was not like his parents cared but the Gaunt had eyes and ears everywhere. “Malakai….” “Oh hello Solomon” Malakai Gaunt said in a false joyful tone, as if he just realized the ex Auror was here. “How's retirement ?” he added with a smile, enjoying every bit of this. Solomon tensed. He had been on Malakai Gaunt’s back for years to the point he ended up losing his job, the woman he was seeing at the time, most of his friends…basically everything. He became so obsessed with the dark wizard that he ended up almost raiding the Gaunt Estate on his own to expose him, leading to his dismissal from the Ministry.

He was lost in his thoughts when he heard Ominis come back in the living room, dragging his trunck while Anne was trying to convince him not to leave. If anything, he had to admit the kid was brave. It was easy to tell he was terrified by his father and yet he remained calm and dignified. “Hurry up worm, I’m to be by Lady Blackwood’ Estate by 9” Malakai spat at his son and all the hate and resentment he was feeling for him was obvious in his voice. As Ominis passed by him, Solomon put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him on his track. He could hear his nephew and niece crying next to the fireplace. “Do you want to go with him kiddo ?” Solomon simply asked Ominis, his grip tightening on his shoulder. No answer An answer enough for Solomon. “Ominis is our guest for the Holidays and he’s gonna stay with us” Solomon said in a threatening tone to Malakai Gaunt who was already not paying attention to them anymore. That face….what he would give to smash it. “You said something Sallow ?” “I said, the kid is staying and you are leaving my property, now” his voice was low, full of threats. The air was tense as the two men were assessing one another. They had played that little game for years now and were well trained. Malakai took a look at the two Sallow kids behind Solomon, pressed against one another in fear. They knew about him, Ominis had told them and they were petrified. “You know Sallow, it would be a shame if those two were to join their parents too soo…”

Malakai did not even finish his sentence that his face hit the dining table, hard, breaking one of the plates, blood pouring from the cut the porcelain had inflicted. On top of him, Solomon was immobilizing him, twisting his arm on his back, preventing him from grabbing his wand. His eyes were wild, his mind filled with all the shit the Gaunt had put him through, using his connection at the Ministry to get him fired cause the Auror was digging where he should not have. “Let go of me you filthy…” A knife got to his throat. While the Gaunt was now shaking in fear, Solomon was calm and methodic, years and years of training making him pretty immune to this kind of thing. It would be so easy, just one swift cut and that son of a bitch would get what he deserves. One…swift…cut…

That’s when he saw him. Adam. No, not Adam….Sebastian…and Anne holding him, a mask of sheer terror on her face as they were crying in fear. Next to the door, Ominis was panicking too, his blind eyes wide open, curled up in a corner, his hands on his ears. Then he saw himself in the mirror facing him and froze. What…what had he become ? After years of chasing monsters…he had finally turned into one himself. And the kids…they way they were looking at him, piercing his soul…They were not afraid of Malakai anymore…they were afraid of….him… At that moment he remembered Adam, the day the twins were born.

“Twins man…I don’t envy you at all” Solomon said with a laugh while pouring his little brother, now a man, a glass of firewhiskey. “Yeah well…what can I say, I’m an overachiever” Adam had answered with a laugh before becoming serious again “Can’t you stay a little longer before leaving for Romania ?” “I wish I could, if only to see you struggle with the two imps but someone has to make sure the world is a safe place, especially now that those two are in it…” He had been working on a huge coordinated operation for the past months that could lead to the dismantling of a network specialized in cursed items importation that had already made some victims over the years. He was supposed to leave that morning but had postponed his departure when Adam informed him Rose got into labor….only to pass out in the living room when he heard his sister in law scream in pain. “That’s what I like about you, your humility !” “Gryffindor’s finest quality if you ask me !” The two brothers had spent the evening laughing until Rose ended up dragging her husband inside, cursing Solomon for being such a bad influence yet still laughing with him.

Slowly, he leaned his face towards Malakai’s ear close enough so the kids would not hear him. “Next time you threaten my family, I’ll show you why they really fired me, and I will make it slow and painful” Solomon whispered calmly. He could feel the Gaunt shiver beneath him, all pride vanished now that he was at the mercy of a man who did not need a little wooden stick to do some damages a vague scent of sweat and piss emanating from him, the scent of fear. He then grabbed the man by the hair and threw him outside in the snow, slamming the door on the Gaunt who was crawling pathetically like an insect, looking for his wand everywhere. Solomon leaned his head on the wooden door, trying to calm himself from the rush of adrenaline before turning to the kids. As Sebastian was staring at him, his brown eyes piercing his soul, Anne rushed towards Ominis who was crying in fear.

What a wonderful first Christmas together Solomon thought as he was rubbing his temples and what an example he was settling for the kids, lashing at Malaki like that...he really was a pathetic guardian...maybe he should send the kids off to another family member, someone more fitted to raise them and not turn them into psychopaths ? It would be for the best right ? Right ? That's when he felt little arms hold him from his side. Sebastian, crying in fear and...relief ? "Dad was right, you will protect us" said the young boy in a sob. It took Solomon by suprise and before he realized it, he was hugging the young boy, patting his back gently. "For fuck sake Adam, why did you tell them this ?!" he thought to himself in frustration, whispering sweet nonsese to his nephew who was starting to calm down. He sighed, defeated. “Ok kids, time to open your presents.” he finally said, trying to act casual before turning towards Anne and Ominis as Sebastian bolted towards the tree to bring back the packages in an attempt to ease the tension. Slowly he went to the blond shaking boy and kneeled in front of him, taking his little hands in his. “Look, you’re not going anywhere alright ?” he said softly while Anne was gently patting her friend’s back to comfort him “and stop crying, your father is an asshole, he doesn’t deserve your tears” he added, ruffling the blond boy’s hair while going to the kitchen to make them some tea, felling Sebastian’s eyes on him all the time.

Children had never been Solomon’s Sallow strong suit. His brother Adam was the one who loved little imps and yet, tonight, without realizing it as the four of them were sitting by the fireplace, opening their Christmas gifts, he had gotten himself 3 kids…

#hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy fanart #sebastian sallow #solomon sallow #ominis gaunt #anne sallow

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roostergooster · 1 year

Text

Merry Christmas Darling

Rooster x Y/N - Story below the Gif

Summary: Rooster is missing you at Christmas. Some Angst/Fluffy Ending

Warning: While this is Y/N it is implied y/n comes from somewhere where it snows on Christmas and is from a larger family. (sorry)

Music Inspired

Title comes from Merry Christmas Darling - The Carpenters

Other songs mentioned: I’ll be Home for Christmas, All I Want for Christmas is You and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

“Merry Christmas, darling We're apart, that's true But I can dream and in my dreams I'm Christmasing with you”

‘We always get together at the ranch, Christmas Day is bigger for us presents in the morning then church and a big turkey dinner.” Hangman stated,a wistful expression on his face, “What about you, yote?”

Coyote grinned “ Christmas Eve for us. Christmas Eve all the levees are lit up and then there’s bonfires and gumbo. And sometimes we have 13 desserts after midnight and before sunrise. You walk around the next day so full you might burst.” He chuckled. “Bob?”

Rooster found himself not listening to his teammates. He was in a sour mood. They’d been given a last minute deployment that was due to last well into January. He knew every one was in the same boat. Literally. They’d all be away from their loved ones at Christmas. They were trying to lighten the mood by listening to Christmas music, I'll Be Home For Christmas was currently playing and talking about their holiday traditions.

He’d been lucky enough to decorate the tree with you and your oldest son Nick before having to leave. You’d agreed to a fake tree this year as a real one wouldn’t make it through till Christmas. He’d pulled his one he had when you two met, he hadn’t really cared to celebrate Christmas after his mom's death and the fall out with Mav. You’d sworn it was nearly a deal breaker, a fake tree, you were horrified. You loved everything about Christmas and would have him a Christmas convert by the end of your first Christmas together. That was 7 years ago, you two were married, 14 Dec - he’d missed your anniversary too, had a house and three kids. He day dreamed back to the first week in December trimming the tree.

The twins, Pete and Tom, drooled as they stared mesmerized by the lights, baubles and tinsel. His current Home Screen on his phone was Mav and Penny holding the 14 month year olds on the decorating day. You had the house all decorated, though you gave him a heart attack when he came home and you were on the ladder putting up the outdoor lights. He hated being away from his family so much it made his stomach hurt. You’d made last minute plans to take the kids to your family’s house this Christmas so he took solace in the fact that you wouldn’t be alone.

“ Earth to Rooster, what about you?” Phoenix asked, kicking his boot hard. Hangman was looking at him funny, candy cane dangling from his lips in place of his normal toothpick.

“Y/n is taking the kids to the in-laws this Christmas.” he began. He had been to your family's house for several Christmases. If he closed his eyes, he could almost picture the house, when he concentrated a little harder, he could hear the chaos and smell everything cooking. Y/n was one of 5, and they all descended on their parents home at Christmas. There’d be cousins galore ranging from 3 to 18, aunts and uncles as well , to be honest when he first came on Christmas, the house reminded him of the opening scene in Home Alone, when Harry is dressed as a police officer and the McAllister house is in total chaos.

“They were super excited about taking Nick to experience the first white Christmas he’ll remember.” Rooster was disappointed he’d miss the excitement on the 5 year olds face when he saw the white stuff falling from the sky. Nick had been to Y/ns parents house when he was younger, but this time he’d actually understand what was happening.

“ On Christmas Eve they go to the children’s mass, and then they have a big dinner, which could be anything from Chinese food or pizzas or roast beef. It's really weird. I’m going to call them and read to the boys but if something goes wrong, y/n has me reading The Night Before Christmas as a video for them. Then in the morning they light the fire and open up the presents. Then to y/n's aunt's house for a honey baked ham dinner with fresh pineapple.” He answered, the strain in his voice made his longing clear. He could see you getting ready for church , and smell your perfume. He was picturing you playing with the boys holding them on your hip as you pointed out special decorations around your family home. “What about you Fanboy?” He asked to distract himself

Before Mikey could start, there was a knock on the common area door.

“ I’m afraid we’re unable to provide Christmas dinner at least for another couple of hours.” One of the canteen staff called from the opening and the pilots grumbled. They didn’t have time to wait around for dinner, they had only a few hours before they were expected to be back in the air.

“Come on, let’s see if we can find anywhere in this city that does anything that might pass.” Hangman called, getting to his feet, the others nearly leapt up at the suggestion, had Rooster not been wrapped up in his own head, he might have noticed.

“No man, I think I’m gonna try and call, I can always just get a sandwich.” He tried to deny his wingman.

“Come on Ebenezer.” Phoenix teased. It was clear he wouldn’t be left behind on Christmas.

Reluctantly, Rooster followed aviators off the ship and into the town. They struck out at the first three restaurants they went to. Rooster waited outside the fourth. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear the piano version of all I want for Christmas is you, he nearly cried. It was the song he had played in July on the piano at the hard deck, when you were furious at him and threatening to break things off. It was the song you had surprised him with when you walked down the aisle to it. It was enough to break him.

He was ready to get out his phone and call you when the aviators returned again, unsuccessful. His stomach growled loudly and he, just like all of his coworkers, was starving.

“ Should we just go back to the ship? Maybe something, anything can be made now?” He asked.

Phoenix and Payback shared a glance. “Let’s try one more place. I think I’ve heard of this place. It’s like a pop up. It’s supposed to be amazing, really exclusive.” Payback pleaded.

“I’ll get you back in time to call your girl and your boys don’t worry.” Hangman promised clapping him on the shoulder.

Pay back lead the way off the beaten path to a … house. This couldn’t be the Place. The shades were pulled but he could see the Christmas lights in the windows and wrapping up the banisters on the stairs leading to the front door. A rather sad looking wreath hung on the front door.

“ This place looks creepy as shit,” Bradley declared, worried about what they might find if they approached, let alone ate in it.

“None of us have had any luck, so far Roose, why don't you knock on the door and see if they can take us that stash of yours might persuade them.” Phoenix responded.

“You just want me to get killed first.” He asserted jokingly, though he didn’t move.

“Go on you big chicken.” Hangman demanded giving him a shove.

Cautiously, Rooster moved up the stairs to the door. He could hear voices inside, so he couldn’t make out what they were saying. The rest of the aviators followed him up the steps. Rooster reached out and knocked the heavy brass door knocker on the door.

The door swung open and bathed them in warm light. When Rooster’s eyes adjusted, he could barely believe them standing before him was Mav, holding Pete, Penny holding Tom and Amelia holding Nick.

You peeled your head around from the door you’d just opened “ MerryChristmas Darling.” You whispered in that voice of yours.

“What the fu..”: he began till you cut him off with a kiss.

When we found out you’re being deployed here I put the plan into motion, Mav pulled some strings and we will be here till just after New Year’s.

“What about the white Christmas?” He asked still dumb founded

“I think he’d rather see his dad at Christmas” you replied with a laugh.

Later on as things settled, and everyone had eaten their honeybaked ham and turkey,and gumbo, Bob switched the radio in the living room on to a local station as the Daggers and his Family laughed and played together. On the radio Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas began to play and Rooster sat back and looked at the scene. His wife who had moved to heaven and earth to be with him, his godfather and his wife, who sacrificed their Christmas to make his special, his friends who tricked him, but for good reason. He didn’t even notice Mav sinking into the couch next to him.

“You OK kid? ” Mav asked

“You remember that Christmas after dad died?” Rooster asked quietly

Mav nodded softly, not knowing where this was going

“You told me everything will be OK. You were right. I’m the luckiest man alive.”

#christmas #rooster top gun #bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw x reader #Bradley Bradshaw x oc #rooster fanfic #rooster imagine #rooster bradshaw #rooster bradshaw imagine

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adultswim2021 · 7 months

Text

Moral Orel #43: “Honor” | December 19, 2008 - 12:15AM | S03E13

Moral Orel concludes! The final episode, “Honor” finally aired December 19, 2008, 3 years and a few days after the first episode aired at midnight, December 14, 2005. It aired as the conclusion of The 44 Nights of Orel, which included not just a Scott & Dino intro, but also a black and white bumper written by Dino, which was scored by a song he wrote and recorded after finishing the episode.

The episode opens with a brief flashback to the ending of Best Christmas Ever, which is cited as being exactly one Christmas previous. It is also scored by “Valentine” by I.O. Perry. Orel has aged one year over the course of three seasons. It’s like St. Elsewhere on a very mild steroid. (sighs), St. Elsewhere intentionally had two seasons of it’s show represent one year of real time, because medical residencies are typically thr–

Excuse me. This is a write-up about Moral Orel. Honor is about Orel grappling with the fact that he doesn’t honor his father. The episode also focuses on a Clay and Stopframe’s relationship, which has become strained after Stopframe witnesses Clay kissing Censordoll, which happens in this episode at alternate angle. Orel gets advice from Reverend Putty to seek out Stopframe and ask him why he loves his dad so much, in order to perhaps find something in him worth Honoring. Stopframe and Orel have a surprisingly nice time together, in a non-molesty way, even. Meanwhile Clay seethes with jealousy, and tries to get Stopframe’s attention with the stuffed bear that he lied about shooting in Nature (part two).

The episode begins with Orel having his cast taken off. He’s also told he’ll be limping for the rest of his life. Dino mentions in his video commentary that a few moments of animation had to be cut around because Orel was erroneously animated without his limp. He also mentioned his desire to possibly produce more episodes of Moral Orel, some of which could be set before Nature and some after, with the limp being a tell.

The penultimate scene, where Clay confronts Stopframe at his apartment is pretty moving, and has some incredible acting from Scott Adsit. There’s also some great dark humor, and one of my favorite dialogue exchanges: Orel figures out Stopframe is gay for Clay and asks him “you like my dad the way my mom likes my dad, don’t you?” Stopframe: “your mom likes your dad?” Perfect shit, man.

Because the show was cut short, it sounds like Dino didn’t quite get to do the ending he had planned. He credits Duke Johnson with coming up with the idea of getting to see Orel all grown up, which is one of the final images of the show. Orel is grown with a kid, and he’s in fact married to Christina. We see Shapey and Block in photos on the wall, all grown up with mustache jobs. Orel is the head of a happy, loving family. What’s most notable about this future for Orel is that he’s still religious. He also still honors his parents by including a photo of them on his wall, looking old and miserable. Before this flashback, we also see other happy, healthy families in the episode, like Joe and Nurse Bendy ice skating together, and Reverend Putty with Stephanie.

The final, FINAL scene, is under the closing credits. Orel dismantles his stop-motion camera and boxes it up and wraps it as a Christmas present for Shapey and Block. They had to go and do a Home Movies, sheesh!

The episode was co-written by David Tuber, who uploaded the animatic for the episode to YouTube 8 months ago! Isn’t that cool? There are some very good jokes in this, like Stopframe stopping himself from puking by putting his finger under his nose, Looney Tunes style. The run where he keeps hallucinating Clay’s face has a funny payoff where he redundantly hallucinates it over a different Clay face, found on one of his old campaign posters.

That’s Moral Orel. Here are my top ten episodes, not ranked, but in viewing-order order. Also, I'm counting Nature as one episode because one time they actually did air it that way. Keep your peepers peeled for that in an upcoming EPHEMERA CORNER.

S01E10: The Best Christmas Ever

S02E06: God's Blunders

S02E08: The Lord's Prayer

S02E10: Be Fruitful and Multiply

S02E16: School Pageant

S02E20: Nature (Parts 1 & 2)

S03E01: Numb

S03E06: Dumb

S03E09: Closeface

S03E13: Honor

Goodbye Goodbye!

44 NIGHTS OF OREL:

youtube

44 Nights of Orel was more-or-less burned off any episode that hadn’t been played yet, though Satan and Best Christmas Ever are placed pretty well before Honor (God’s Image was thrown in after the Christmas ep because it resolved the cliff-hanger).

God’s Chef

Charity

Waste

Love

God’s Blunders

Pleasure

Praying

Turn the Other Cheek

Presents For God

Omnipresence

The Lord’s Greatest Gift

Loyalty

Orel’s Movie Premiere

Satan

The Best Christmas Ever

God’s Image

Honor (this one)

MAIL BAG

Whoops, didn't mean to post that pic under the MAIL BAG heading, but oh well. We got a nice one from London Arbuckle. I will try not to reply with something nasty and dismissive like "thanks, you bitch, that's frothy"

For some reason I wanted to mark the end of Moral Orel with a sincere post but I'm too lazy to do it justice. But I will say this: The airing of this season just so happened to coincide with the three months my dad was dying of cancer in our house. It was, needless to say, a dreadful, miserable, painful period of my life that I can't fully decouple this season from. But man did I vibe with it extra hard at the time. Still do. I guess I can't say I recommend experiencing the show this way, but...

I definitely worked through a few things myself on this watch, but I remember that time and this is a lovely message and I love you and I'm glad you're with me, bud. You are not a bitch and this was not at all frothy.

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #moral orel #Youtube

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bcacstuff · 1 year

Text

Timeline 5 Oct 2022 - Dec 2022

Timeline 5

For completeness and to consult when there’s discussion about his whereabouts. In addition to the previous timelines.

Timeline 5 covers 2 October 2022 - 31 December 2022

Previous dates see timeline 4 here

On Sunday October 2nd 2022 he posted a promo video for his book from Loch Lomond, where he turned out to be with Valbo and a camera crew

It looks like he was filming for the rest of the week and flew to NYC on Friday October 7 from Edinburgh, when also a new book event was announced for October 17th in NYC. Taking place before the already announced ones in Edinburgh and London.

October 8 & 9 NYCC, many pics, with DL and DB, Q&A on Saturday evening, Sunday OL panel. On the Saturday Q&A he also tells the fans he'll be flying home on Sunday and return for the book event on Monday October 17 for one day as he needs to be on set again the next day.

Meanwhile filming went on, they were filming in Culross at the beginning of October, other locations for the rest of the month include Midhope (Lallybroch), Cambusmore (Fraser's Ridge), Stirling and Dalmeny. On October 11 Starz announced the cast that'll join the new season, new and some old ones. In some articles it is also announced that C and S became executive producers for the show.

He was spotted on October 16 again in NYC, the day before the book event in NYC at 92Y.

On Friday October 21, the interview and video on Conic Hill at Loch Lomond (see Oct. 2nd above) was broadcasted by the BBC One show

October 23 & 24 Book events in Edinburgh and London. On October 24 he appeared on GMA (pre-recorded while in NYC on October 17) Where he also pre-recorded an interview for parade.com

On October 25 the official launch and he was signing books at Goldsboro Bookshop in London

October 26 an interview on the Zoe Ball show was broadcasted and a fan chased him down in London

As already known, the last days of October and November 1st Dalmeny was set as location for a number of extras. Meanwhile new dates were added on their schedules showing that the first 2 weeks in November Liverpool would be used as a location. A newspaper article confirmed and announced that the location would be used for the Philadelphia storyline. A tweet on November 1st showed how the scenery was prepared. A post of Diarmaid Murtagh who plays Buck MacKenzie in S7 on November 3rd learns that he is done filming, his location was Culross. Cait posts on November 5 that they've been doing digital press the past week.

On November 4 Graham MT posts a picture showing him, DL and S on a night out the day before (Nov. 3rd) in Edinburgh at the Aizle.

As of Monday November 7th lots of things going on in Chester and Liverpool, videos and lots and lots of pics and other footage is being posted from the filming location for the whole week, also showing SH in a scene with DB. On Friday we see they are cleaning up the place and get a TikTok showing S in London at Waterstones Piccadilly.

The visit to London was just short apparently as on Sunday 13 November Duncan posts a picture showing GMcT and S at the Sheep Heid Inn in Edinburgh, and GMcT posts the same and some more. On Monday 14 November S posts a video, and a story about the weekend, visiting Tom Kitchin at his restaurant in Edinburgh. One of the other actors, Doug Rao, who was at the same diner party posted about an epic stag weekend, which gave us the idea GMcT is going to have a Scottish wedding soon. A week later MacKenzie Leather Edinburgh posts a picture of SH with the same sporran Doug Rao posted before, noting that S was there the weekend before to get his 'special' sporran, hinting more to follow about this early next year, which gives the indication Graham's celebration will be early next year!

On November 17th the American Reality Television Awards are presented in a virtual show, Men in Kilts wins 3 awards, the appearance was clearly recorded shortly after he arrived back from New Zealand recording MiK2, roughly between February 15-20. He mentions it himself and his hair shows the length he had at that time and even before the OL Premiere in London on February 24th.

November 20 Sam attends the BaftaScotland Awards and wins the audience award. Lots of pics and videos of him and other cast members in attendance, SS, John B, David B with gf, CB, Lauren L.

November 21st Sam announces the partnership with SGwine and Sassenach, he announces celebrating it with a M&G on December 3 in NYC and December 4 in Miami.

On November 26th Sam is spotted at the iasg restaurant, a restaurant of the Blythwood Square Hotel in Glasgow. A fan posts a fanpic she took with him that day, and in a picture on IG of a random person he appears to be in the background.

Outlander filming went on according to extras schedules, in studio and outside on location as well, and it looks like they’re filming at least until December 22nd.

On December 2nd Sam was spotted in NYC at Jacks Wife Freda, Soho NYC with Alex, the pics looked very staged.

On December 3rd the NYC whisky event at Total Wine took place, several pics and videos from the event

A day later the same at Total Wine in Miami, where he apparently stayed at the Ritz Carlton Coconut Grove and had diner with the SVP Communications of SG.

No hurry to get to LA or back to Glasgow as it seems, he had time to visit the Zoological Wildlife Foundation in Miami, posted on December 7th.

Announced on December 7th is a book signing in Glasgow on December 18th. So he wont stay the holidays in the US.

While AN posted a story from an airport, which turned out to be the Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. (or Virginia), news broke that S is announced to be on a Spanish tv show in Madrid on December 14. The next day another event in Madrid organized by MoviestarPlus was posted on Twitter for December 13. Shortly before midnight EST AN posted a pic showing him and S in the Soho Cigar Bar in NYC. Unclear if this was posted as a latergram or not, though this information seems to confirm it was RT.

On Monday 12 December he was a guest on the morning show called 3rd hour today in NYC. It was only announced the night before. Pictures and a video leaving the show and meeting fans outside. Later that day he got papped while leaving the hotel on Crosby street and waiting for a taxi, unaware how Peter Dinklage walks right pass him.

Tuesday 13 December he’s in Madrid, Spain, in the evening an event organized by MovistarPlus takes place. Many videos and pictures of the event posted everywhere and the event could be followed live via IG.

Wednesday 14 December is a busy day with several interviews in the morning and pre-recording the tv show that will air the same night. In the evening he attends the Esquire Award event in the Casino de Madrid where he will get an Award as international actor HombresEsquireES. The next day he’s spotted by a fan, still in Madrid.

Meanwhile OL filming goes on including nightshoots and early morning calls in the freezing cold.

He seems to be home in Glasgow according to a story he posted on Friday 16 December showing a card in his kitchen. Sunday 18 December the announced signing at Waterstones in Glasgow takes place and he did some book shopping, though at the other Waterstones store on Byres road. In the evening he visits a concert of Paolo Nutini in Glasgow.

His driver couldn’t resist telling us that filming wrapped for the holidays on Wednesday 21 December and they had a little party which apparently ended at Sam’s place.

Friday 23 December a picture showed him in Edinburgh donating a motorcycle he won earlier that year, a video confirmed it as real time.

Christmas and the Holidays was spent in Scotland, he posted from Edinburgh (his mother’s place) on Christmas day, visited a game at Murrayfield on December 30 and posted a picture (car ad) from Edinburgh on December 31 saying he ends the year in Edinburgh.

Other timelines:

Pre Hawaii timeline

Timeline 1 August 2020 Timeline 2 September 2021 Timeline 3 February 2022 Timeline 4 August 2022

#timeline #october 2022 #december 2022

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ali-annals · 7 months

Text

Chaotic Coffee Zombies- One

Masterlist Chapter Two Chapter Three

Pairing: Timari

Rating: T

CW: Mentioned off-screen character death, Tim is slightly OOC

Taglist (open): @aquilavela @ghostdoodlen @jennifer-rose123 @questioning-blob-of-fog

A/N: Happy birthday to my first bae @aquilavela!! I hope you have a wonderful year<3

~~~~~

“Kaalki, voyage! Divide! Spots off!” Marinette stumbled through the portal into her room and froze.

Oops.

“Young lady, what do you think you’re doing?”

She squared her shoulders and faced her parents. “Surprise?”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” “I couldn’t because…magic. But since I’ve just taken Hawkmoth and Mayura’s Miraculous, I guess now I can? Maman, Papa, I’m Ladybug, hero of Paris.” And Grand Guardian, she added silently, crossing her fingers behind her back.

“That’s why you were- oh, sweetie, if we’d known…” Sabine’s arms wrapped around Marinette, Tom engulfing both of them from the side. “I’m so sorry, honey. But you said you have Hawkmoth’s Miraculous?”

“I’ve settled with him,” Mari said grimly. “I don’t need to be Ladybug anymore.”

“He’s…you didn’t…”

“No, no, he’s still alive. I did punch him several times before I fixed everything, though.”

“As you should’ve,” Sabine nodded proudly. “You know we would have understood if…” she trailed off again, the whole situation making her usually chatty mother at a loss for words. “I’m sorry.”

Tikki flew out from behind Marinette’s back. “It’s not your fault for not knowing, Mme. Cheng! The Miraculous magic does a good job of keeping its wielder’s identity hidden. You should be proud of the- your daughter! She is the best Ladybug I’ve ever worked with!”

Tom and Sabine stared at the kwami in shock.

“Maman, Papa, this is Tikki, my kwami. She’s the ladybug kwami of Order, Creation, and Good Luck.”

~~~

After supper, once some of the shock wore off, Tom and Sabine had a good long talk with Marinette about the past five years. Tears and laughter were freely expressed as they were finally able to be openly emotional.

Luckily, school had just ended three days ago, so Marinette didn’t have to get up early for school. Once Nadja Chamack and Ladybug reported that Hawkmoth and Mayura were finally defeated, most of Paris shut down for the week to vent. The weeks after would be soon enough for celebration.

Mari explained the whole situation with Lila, and how Chloe and Kagami were the only friends she had left.

Now that Hawkmoth was gone, she could freely leave Paris. She still loved the city, but it had taken too much from her, and she needed a change. Tom and Sabine agreed.

“We’ll move to America,” they decided. “Your uncle Jagged is from Gotham; he’ll know good universities for you to attend.”

~~~

Jagged was ecstatic to have Mari closer to his home, and eagerly loaded her up with links and places to check out. He offered to write her letters of recommendation for whatever she wanted, confident in her abilities to pursue her dreams in any field.

A realtor friend of his found a shop with living quarters above it, like their current house, in a good part of town and for a decent price. After some renovations, it would be a dream bakery.

She could attend Gotham Academy for her Grade 12 credits and graduate in December, thanks to the way her French requirements translated to American credits.

It didn’t take the Dupain-Chengs long to pack up, sell the bakery, and fly to Gotham, New Jersey. Not a word was said to her former classmates. Only Chloe knew where Mari was, and she’d never tell. After her apology and joining of Mari’s squad, she was mostly ignored by the others. Chloe and Kagami were saddened to see their best friend leave, but knew a new environment would be more conducive to her healing and growth.

At least they had video calls and texts to keep in contact.

~~~

While the renovations were being completed, the Dupain-Cheng family shacked up at Jagged and Penny’s Gotham mansion. It was nowhere near as large as some of Gotham’s Old Elite family’s mansions, such as Wayne Manor or Drake Manor, but it was definitely sufficient for the five of them (six, counting Fang).

Mari had a lot of fun working with Jagged and Penny on his new album, both on songs and styling. She was recording background vocals for Jagged on a bonus track when her parents stopped by the built-in studio.

“Mari, you sound amazing, sweetie! I can’t wait to hear the rest of your songs! We’re going to the bakery to check on the renovations, and then have a lunch date; we should be back around two. We can bake your birthday cake with you then, if you want?”

“Sure, that sounds great. Have fun!” Mari hugged her parents quickly. “Oh, did you get the lemons for the peel garnish?”

“Oh, no, we didn’t. We’ll pick them up on our way home. Love you!”

“I love you too!”

Months later, she was glad those were the last words they shared.

“Marinette, honey?”

She glanced up at Penny’s approach, flipping through a catalogue for inspiration for Jagged’s new suit. Why was Penny crying?

“There was a bank robbery. Your parents were helping some kids hide when…I’m so sorry, sweetie.”

Marinette didn’t want to believe it, but some intuition in her gut told her that Penny was telling the truth. She collapsed into her arms, weeping.

~~~

The next morning, Mari emerged early from her room. Though she knew she didn’t have to, she explained anyway. “I’m wearing red, not black, because it was their favourite colour on me, especially after they found out I was Ladybug. Penny, do you think it’s possible for me to have died yesterday as well? And then can I become legally emancipated? I was researching last night…this morning, I guess, and I think I’ve got things figured out. I just want you to check them to make sure they’re sound and y-you approve.”

She would not break down, dammit. She had a life figured out and she needed to follow it now.

Jagged started to speak but Penny cut him off with a warning glare. She’s coping…she’s used to bottling up her feelings…she just needs some time.

Penny took the papers and flipped through them. “This looks legally sound; you’ve put time and effort into planning this. You’re a strong, smart, talented young woman; I don’t know why you shouldn’t be emancipated.

“You do know we’d love to adopt you though, right?” Penny asked carefully. “If you’re worried about being a burden, please don’t be.”

“Yes, I know. I appreciate it, but…not now. I can’t.”

“We understand.” Penny patted her shoulder comfortingly.

Jagged snapped out of his shock. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want, Mari! Pen’s right, we’d love to have you as our daughter officially, but in our hearts it doesn’t matter. We’ll sign anything you want.”

“Thanks, Aunt Penny, Uncle Jagged. I do have a few more papers for you to sign.” A thick file, carefully organized and colour-coded, slid along the breakfast table. Penny figured that Mari hadn’t slept all night; not that she could blame her. “Name change, legal emancipation, property transfer…” she flipped through the tabs. “Most of these we can get filed pretty quickly. Jagged’s friends with a judge here so we can probably get some things moving a bit quicker, too.”

“Great. Thank you.” Mari poured a mug of coffee, gulped it down in four sips, and poured another before leaving the room. Penny shivered, but figured if there was ever a time for overlooking something, it was now.

~~~

Thomas Dupain, Sabine Cheng, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng died on July 8th. On July 9th, Mara Stone was born.

She bought the partially-renovated bakery and had it finished as a studio/sewing shop, with the top level furnished as MDC’s headquarters.

Mara decided that since she had a new name, future, and school, she’d change everything. Chloe, Kagami, and Penny (and sometimes even Jagged) went on shopping trips, helping her furnish her new living and working quarters and replenish her much-picked-over closet.

For a girl’s date, Kagami and Chloe dragged Mara to a spa, where she was transformed.

Her waist-length blue-black hair was chopped down to a stylish bob, the white-tipped ends just brushing her chin. Her bangs had grown out over the past couple months and now simply added layers to frame her face.

Her closet was now more befitting of a fashion designer, departing from her white, pink, and grey, and containing reds, blacks, blues, and a multitude of colours.

Courtesy of Chloe, she could now walk in heels without tripping, which, when heels became a staple in her wardrobe, added several inches to Mara’s stature.

Jagged and Penny often spent weekends driving to the beach for Marinette to practice swimming and attempt to face her fears from Syren. She was soon swimming like a duck and gained a nice tan for the first time in a while, a light spray of freckles blossoming over her cheeks and shoulders.

For the entire summer, Mara stayed away from anything Ladybug-related, beyond feeding the kwami.

But once the school year was just around the corner, she pulled out the Miracle Box from the depths of her closet.

She wanted to rotate the kwami, so they could each have turns being out of the box. If the Bats let her, she wanted to join them on their patrols sometimes. Maybe they would introduce her to Wonder Woman, who could introduce her to Hippolyta.

How to get their attention was the question…

Ideas filled her head as she walked home, her arms full of fabric to work on Jagged’s upcoming tour outfits, as well as hers and Penny’s– plus the spiffing up she wanted to achieve for her Gotham Academy uniform.

“Gimme yer money, lady.” A gun was shoved in her face from the dark alley.

“Sorry, I spent it all on fabric,” she replied cheerily, nodding at the bolts in her arms, preparing to kick the robber’s gun hand.

Robin swooped down, punching the man into incapacitation.

Plan D it is!

“Oh monsieur, merci beaucoup! Vous m'avez sauvé la vie!” Mara gushed, playing the part of helpless, frightened tourist to perfection. Hugging a shocked Robin and air-kissing his cheeks, she slipped a tracker on his utility belt, underneath a compartment, where she hoped it wouldn’t be immediately found.

“Ma’am, you shouldn’t be out alone so late.”

“Oui, oui,” she nodded shakily. “I was shopping and ah– how to say– lost the time,” she laughed self-deprecatingly, shrugging her shoulders. “Merci beaucoup.”

With a wave, she headed back in the direction she came from, just in case he decided to follow her. Luckily, he seemed to be called somewhere and left after watching her turn the corner to the more populated Diamond District.

Once she was sure there was no tail on her, she ducked through the streets and back lanes until she reached Miracle Designs, her shop. She didn’t want to be known as MDC here yet. After she graduated and had time to handle large orders, then she planned to announce her identity.

Mara stored her fabrics on their appropriate shelves, locked up, and portalled back to her room in Stone Manor. Why all the Gotham Elite’s houses were [surname] Manor, she wasn’t sure, but she thought they deserved more creativity if they were going to go to the trouble of naming their houses.

After supper, she helped wash the dishes, then told Jagged and Penny she was transforming and going out for a bit.

Pulling out the receiver for her tracker, she saw that its last signal originated from a house just down the road…Wayne Manor.

Ha! She was right!

She’d suspected the Waynes were the Bats for a while now. They had excuses, alibis, even Bruce Wayne and Batman in the same place at the same time. The public were convinced there was no way the Bats were the Waynes, except for a handful of hard-core conspiracy theorists.

But as someone who had a secret identity and access to magic, she knew how easy it was to create excuses and body doubles. If the Bats were really as smart as they seemed to be, it would be a piece of cake for them to keep their two personas separate. Especially if they had access to alien tech via the Justice League and were filthy rich, with access to elite tech and disguises.

Martian Manhunter was a shapeshifter, was he not? It would be easy enough for him to impersonate either Bruce or Batman, especially since he worked with the Bats. Trixx had done an excellent job of illusioning Marinette and Ladybug talking to each other before- it wasn’t that hard.

“Kaalki, voyage!”

Mare portalled into the Batcave, internally fangirling just a tiny bit. It is real!!!

She stepped around the corner, hands up. “I wish to speak to Batman.”

“How did you get in here?” Gotham’s Dark Knight asked, hand on a Batarang.

“I made a portal. Have you heard about Paris?” “What about it?”

Mare explained the situation from the past five years, ending with her retirement as Ladybug. By then the entire Batclan had gathered and were listening in shock at what had transpired, things they had no idea about.

“We never heard a word about that.”

“So, which…Miraculous are you using, and what’s your vigilante name?”

“The horse. It creates portals. My name is Mare.” Mara had specifically chosen Mare as her name, since it sounded similar to her civilian name and she could brush off an accidental reply to the wrong name.

“Let’s spar and see how you do,” grunted the Bat. “I’m not putting someone in danger under my mantle.”

Violent coughing sounded from the cluster of Bats behind him, which he ignored.

“You pass,” nodded Batman approvingly.

Yes! All her training paid off!

“You can join us when you wish, as long as you give us a heads up. Oracle will give you a comm so you can connect to our channels so no mishaps occur.”

“Was that you or your Miraculous?” asked Robin.

“My Miraculous suits protect my body and give me power-ups and magical abilities, but I have to call upon them to use them. My fighting skills are all me, Bird Boy.”

Robin’s jaw dropped. “Bird Boy?!”

Mara wondered if maybe she shouldn’t possibly insult her new coworkers and boss’s son(?) before she’d even officially joined the team, but her worry was allayed a moment later.

“You even screech like one!” cackled Red Hood, pointing at Robin derisively. The Bats quickly descended into anarchy.

It made a little ache appear in Mara’s heart and she absently rubbed at her chest. She missed her old friends and team at times like these, even if they’d outgrown each other long ago. “Voyage.” In the chaos, she escaped to her room, where she cried into a pillow.

~~~

Miracle Designs was decorated in creams and neutrals, with pops of colour dotted around, creating a rainbow for Mara to live and work in. The kwami had had a hand in decorating and deciding what things would look like, and now everyone was happy with their new living situation.

Gotham Academy was a twelve-minute walk from MD; a nice stroll most days. Penny had completed the enrollment signings and picked up her uniforms the week previous; now the only thing that remained was actually attending the academy.

Occupied with creating the Stones’ tour outfits, revamping her own wardrobe and uniforms, and adapting to life on her own, Mara was far too busy to accommodate commissions at that time. MDC’s website asked for her clients’ patience while she settled in North America, much to one Tim Drake-Wayne’s sadness.

~~~

Mara woke bright and early, having had a good sleep for a change. Still, she needed her coffee. On her first week in Gotham, she discovered a lovely coffee shop that sold an amazing blend of energy– Goth Bean, it was called.

She threw on her uniform and headed down the street to Goth Bean. Luckily, it was on her way to the Academy. She requested her usual order, the barista growing ever more concerned that there were two coffee zombies in this city (or as she called them, combies).

Mara Stone strolled into school unnoticed and slid into an empty seat in her first class. Picking a boy to attempt to befriend–he looked like he needed her coffee more than her– she turned to the tired boy she sat beside. “Macaron? I have some gluten-free ones, if you prefer. I’m Mara Stone, by the way.”

She’d cried all the night before as she made the macarons, the first and last year she made them alone before her first day of school.

“Thanks. Tim Drake.” He took one, sniffing it cautiously. “These smell as good as Alfred’s!”

“Is that a compliment?” she asked teasingly, handing him her coffee.

He looked at it, then her, perplexed.

She shrugged. “I drank half, but you look like you need the remainder more. Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned or whatever. Neither are the cookies, by the way.”

“Thanks.” He still looked at her suspiciously, but chugged the coffee anyway. “And yes, that’s a compliment. Alfred makes the best cookies…I think you should have a bake off. I can judge.”

Marinette snickered, ducking her head when the teacher entered the classroom.

Maybe she could make some new friends after all.

She found herself in classes with Tim all day, except for one period. Compared to Europe’s curriculum, the classes were a breeze (though they would’ve been harder if she hadn’t studied English until she was fluent in it.)

She noticed Tim also whipped through the work, completing most of the homework in class; it turned into a friendly competition. Although, noting the glint in Tim’s eye, she second-guessed the friendly part of the competition.

Their teachers noticed, groaned inwardly, and wondered what they’d done to deserve having Tim Drake in their class, together with the new student, and apparently in academic rivalry.

However, the new girl did keep the Wayne kid from taking over the classes somewhat, so maybe this wasn’t all bad…

The first half of their classes were spent doing the work and quietly heckling each other, the second half mocking the curriculum and planning ways to better teach the school (their hypothetical students would hate them unless they were also certified geniuses).

The other students found Mara nice, especially when she distributed cookies; she was also found terrifying, especially since she got along too well with Tim Drake!

The third day of school found the two coffee addicts pairing up to work on a project.

“I’d offer to go to my house, but my brothers are…extreme. Can we go to yours, or somewhere like a coffee shop, instead?”

“Sure, my place is fine. Leave now?”

“Sounds good.”

They walked to MD, Mari taking him in the back way so that her designs wouldn’t be seen or disturbed. “This is me!” she said brightly, changing from her kitten heels to her house slippers.

“Nice place,” agreed Tim, looking around. “Is that- do you have two Keurigs?”

“Yep, I need them a lot. Do you want some of my magical energy brew? You look a bit sleepy.”

“Sure; what’s in it?”

“Trade secret,” she winked. “Want to spead the work on the table over there while I make it?”

“Sure. What were you thinking for the format?”

“Wow, this is a magic energy boost! I love coffee,” sighed Tim.

“Thanks, I added a little extra just for you.” It’ll help keep you safer.

~~~

“Whatcha lookin’ at, Timmers?” Jason flopped over his chair, twisting unnaturally to see the screen.

“Move, Jason. You’re heavy. I’m looking up a classmate; she’s new and I need to confirm she isn’t a threat.”

“Boring.” Jason left to find Dick to bug.

[ Mara Stone

07/09/2006 (17)

AFAB

College Francois Dupont Paris, France

GPA: 4.0

Class President (Raised $30,000 USD via various fundraisers and events)

Note: Parents recently deceased; legally emancipated ]

Hmm…interesting.

~~~

“Hey, Mara. You finished the project?” Tim slid into “his” seat beside her, sliding a to-go cup from Goth Bean across the desk.

“Yep, you?” She gulped the cup in twenty seconds, impressing and worrying Tim.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course! Why not? I was just up late working on some art.”

“Uh huh. Late being another definition of all night?”

“Like you’re one to talk,” she sniffed. “I do it all the time; I’m fine.”

“What type of art?” TIm ignored the truth Mara pointed out.

“An outfit for my uncle. I design clothes for him and my aunt sometimes.”

“Oh cool. So you’re into fashion?”

“Yep. I like to design and make clothes. My ex-friend was a model for his dad actually; it’s kind of funny. I guess birds of a feather flock together.”

Tim looked at her, then back at the board. “Who’s your favourite designer? Mine’s MDC– I dunno if you’ve heard of them– they’re still pretty niche, but they put so much attention to detail into their works. I’ve been trying to commission them forever but they haven’t been open in ages,” he moaned into the desk, missing Mara’s double take and choke on her coffee.

“I don’t have a favourite designer currently, but I do agree with you MDC has some nice work.”

“Nice work? I’m offended on behalf of MDC. They put so much work into all their designs!”

Mara sunk into her seat more and more as Tim defended her alter ego to her face.

Tim’s mental file on Mara gained several more notes.

[ Name: Mara Stone

Age: 17

Birthday: 07/09/2006

Birthplace: Paris, France

Notes:

Caffeine addict (Insomniac)

Legally emancipated

Ex-friend is a model

Ex-friend’s family is into fashion

Has bad blood with exes

Is into fashion

Is indifferent to MDC! ]

~~~

#timari #ali writes #fic #DCxMLB #chaotic coffee zombies #CCZ #Maribat

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roachesart · 2 years

Text

Random Ghost Headcanons I had to get out of my brain.

I didn’t make up half of these, I collected them from all the fanfiction I’ve read.

All SFW!!!

Primo

Primo is about 5 years older than his brothers.

Went to a private school.

First child syndrome- felt he was responsible for everything.

Was a hard ass for most of his life, he only chilled out when Secondo became Papa.

He used to help Secondo do his paint when he was first training to become Papa

Rituals stressed him out.

Has a sacred ritual tattoo/scar on his back.

Has a long hair, I don't care what y'all say I can't have two bald papa's.

He keeps it up in a bun or high ponytail.

Sometimes he’ll ask a ghoul to braid it.

Of course he has a greenhouse garden, but I think he would have tons of carnivorous plants and plants that bloom at night.

If he has any other plants or flowers, they were gifts

When his accumulated flowers become to much he and his ghouls leave them around the ministry

He gives his brothers two big bouquets every time

When Copia moved to their ministry Primo added him to his list of bouquets.

Bug person, he never had any but he loved finding bugs in his garden.

Secondo

It’s Canon that he’s only 3 months older than Terzo but I think he was a winter baby (December) and Terzos a spring baby (March-ish) so they were born in different years.

Terzo teases him relentlessly about being old.

Went to a private school.

Would skip school to smoke weed under the bleachers

He’s a great cook.

When the whole family manages to make it to family dinner, Secondo does all the cooking.

Secretly wishes it happened more often.

We all know Secondo has tattoos because of that one pic of him on the toilet.

Chooses to be bald.

Dog person, he had two whippets.

Has a picture of his deceased dogs on his desk.

Likes going out and doing things like going to the aquarium or zoo it clears his head.

He's the best example of “respect your elders but bitch about them in the next room”.

Probably has like 3 hidden children he dosen't know about.

When Copia is overworked he tends to steal some of it when he doesn't notice and do it for him.

Started rebelling subconsciously, he was extremely stressed and thought of it as a way to be someone else other than Papa.

Terzo

He did fencing growing up.

Only one of them who went to public school after he begged Nihil and Sister.

Forked tongue, but not in the way that you think. He bit his tongue really hard when he ate shit running away from Secondo.

Terzo’s first crush was a boy in high school.

He asked him to the homecoming dance but was rejected.

Secondo helped with his paint for the first time, but he wouldn’t let him help after, he liked simplicity (my reasoning for Terzo looking different in his first appearance)

Terzo was not ready to be Papa.

Doesn't like people seeing himself without the paint

Has a little safe place only his brothers know about

Wants his brothers to be proud of him.

Has a collection of black cat figures/stuff animals.

A cat person, but never got the opportunity to have one.

Likes to hang out with Secondo when he cooks

UnIronically likes the twilight franchise

Let's Copia do his nails

Usually does his nails in black or gold

Copia

Same age as Terzo. Seven-ish months apart.

Sister used to call him her little sunshine.

Took ballet classes as a kid.

Homeschooled, or church schooled. He grew up in the ministry.

Grew up in a different chapel location, didn't come to the current one until he was 22, at the request of Sister.

Copia was trained at a young age to become Papa.

Lost a lot of his childhood to Sister pushing different activities on him

His first rat was one he found in the rain soaked to the brim.

Copia resents the Papas brotherly relationship.

No one was there to help Copia with his paint, but he took inspiration from each papa.

Hates his paint, yes he knows people thinks it looks good but he prefers his old cardinal look.

First thing he does when he gets to his room is wipe all the paint away and take a bubble bath.

Had a panic attack for a solid 45 minutes after the hammer photo shoot with Terzo’s head

He also hates having to bring the caskets to every ritual, he wants them to be at rest.

Does art! Likes to paint

Did Terzo’s ascension portrait

#the band ghost #ghost bc #cardinal copia #papa emeritus 1 #papa emeritus iv #papa emeritus ii #papa terzo #papa emeritus iii

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boldlyvoid · 1 year

Text

No Longer Alone Together: Part 3

Part Three | Masterlist

December 5th:

They slip back into normalcy quite easily. She goes back to her normal shifts for just 1 week before her Christmas break starts, and a similar thing was true for the kids, their last day was on the 23rd, however.

Spencer is up at 6am, he answers the door for Emily and gives her a big welcome home hug. PJ sits with them in their bed for an hour, babbling and driving his little toy cars over the sheets while Y/N gets another hour in. Luna comes in around 7, and Spencer has to wake the other 2 up at 7:30 so they can have breakfast and get ready for the bus. They’re gone at 8:15, the first bell rings at 8:50 and they’d be home around 4.

On Monday, she goes to her doctor before work to give a blood sample, she’s welcomed back by the secretary who has sat in the same wheelie chair since they had Atlas, she’s very happy to see Y/N again.

In the doctor's main office, on the wall, all the healthy babies that Doctor Morison has delivered, have their photos hung on the wall. All three of her children are on there, Atlas covered in cake at his first birthday, Noelle all dressed up for her first professional photo with the chubbiest cheeks… and a newborn Luna sitting in Atlas’s arms with Noelle resting her head on her, hugging her brand new little sister with a huge smile.

There’s going to be 4 up there soon… she shakes her head, thinking about it while she waits for the nurse.

This time not even a decade ago, she was completely alone and crushing on some guy who kept coming into her wing of the museum. The one with the curly brown hair and the sweet blond boy he carried around on his shoulders to see the dinosaurs better. She spent over a year dreaming about being with a man like him… or just him in general. She wanted to mother his children and take them to the museum and live a happy life with someone who loved her…

She has Paris to thank for the family she has now, if her dad didn’t take his girlfriend to France, she would’ve never had the courage to talk to Spencer… leave it to the city of love to be strong enough to bring people together even when they’re in the privacy of their own home. And then like magic, Taylor Swift wrote it into a song which plays in her headphones while she waits for her doctor.

She has her blood taken, the nurse is lovely about it, and then she gets to talk to her regular doctor. They share a hug, it’s been a while since she’s seen her in person. They’ve been through a lot together…

“So, you know this is considered a geriatric pregnancy now that you’re 40 and it comes with higher risks, right?” Dr. Morison asks.

She nods, “yep… pretty nervous about it, actually.”

“It’s not going to be too different, you’re just going to get poked a bit more often, but it’s just to make sure you’re both as healthy as possible,” she assures her. “How are you feeling, 9 weeks and 3 days is right when everything starts to get worse for you, usually…”

She chuckles, “yeah… well, I’m not throwing up as much as I was with the others but I think it’s cause I was too busy, I wouldn’t let myself.”

“Ah, I take it Spencer is back home now?”

“How’d you know he was gone?”

“I saw him on the tonight show on the ER TV of all places?” she shares with a surprised smile. “I bought the books too… I can’t believe it’s all based on real stories?”

“Oh yeah, it was wild when he was still in the FBI…” she can’t believe it either. “He’ll be here for the ultrasound on Friday, though.”

“Good… now, we have some extra tests that we can screen for this time around, I can go ahead and run them all with this blood test?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” she agrees easily. “I want to know everything.”

December 9th:

And there he was beside her the day of the big ultrasound, with PJ strapped to his chest, taking his morning nap, heavy as ever for being 22 months old.

They offered to take him every morning until the baby came, and then most days after that while they adjusted to having a newborn. PJ was an easy kid to watch, he was almost 2 after all, so he was in that peaceful stage between baby and toddler that they loved so much. It was a win-win getting to look after him.

They don’t meet in the ultrasound room first. Instead, a nurse takes them back to that same office with the baby photos on the walls, nervous that something is wrong.

Dr. Morison comes in with a smile, with nothing alarming in her presentation. And then she sits with a sigh and Spencer turns to Y/N with a look, reading her a lot better than Y/N ever could.

“And who’s this?” She notices the baby on Spencer's chest.

“Our nephew,” Spencer explains. “You know Laura and Emily Prentiss?”

“Ah, Peter Joseph,” she knew exactly which baby that was. “Laura’s due any day now, isn’t she? I’m on call to deliver.”

“We know…” Y/N can tell she’s stalling.

There’s something she’s scared to say.

“So, right to business, I guess… We ran your blood and found something,” she leads. “It’s not bad, it’s not life-threatening, but this baby does have 3 copies of chromosome number 21, meaning—

“They have down syndrome?” Spencer knows right away.

Dr. Morison nods. “They do.”

“That’s okay,” Y/N looks between Spencer and their doctor, watching their faces to make sure they thought so too. “They’re okay, otherwise, right?”

“We have to do the ultrasound to make sure, but yes, they’re healthy according to all your other levels,” she assures them. “It’s highly common for women over 35 to pass on two copies of the 21st chromosome, actually 1 in 800 babies in the united states is born with trisomy 21 and as of 2022, the life expectancy of a person born with trisomy 21 is 60 plus years old… there is a high likely hood they will have some developmental delays and some physical disabilities too like sleep apnea or gastrointestinal problems… but we won’t know until they’re born.”

“Okay,” Y/N takes a deep breath, accepting it easily, she always said she’d love every child no matter what. “um… do you know what their sex is on there?”

“Oh, yeah, I have it,” she stalls, making sure Spencer has the time to catch up.

He’s quiet because he’s thinking about it all, he knows a lot about trisomy 21 in his brain. It was going to be an adjustment, but they could do it easily with him being home all the time and the child probably needing more support, it was going to work fine. Thinking about maybe homeschooling them to avoid bullying and ensure she learns to the best of her ability and any of the other kids could switch to homeschooling too. And he wouldn’t mind taking a huge hiatus from writings books, even if the publishers get mad. His family comes first.

“Spence?” Y/N nudges him.

“Sorry. Please, go on,” Spencer realizes they’re waiting for him. “I’d love to know.”

“You’re having another little girl,” she smiles, watching as they turn to each other with big eyes and matching gasps.

“No way?” Y/N can’t believe it, she had an inkling they’d be a boy because this pregnancy was similar to Atlas’s so far but, clearly, she was wrong.

“The tests don’t lie,” she jokes, letting them live in the moment for a minute. “Would you like to go see her?”

“Absolutely.”

They follow her into the ultrasound room she gets all undressed and on the table, nervous as ever to see her. Dr. Morison is quiet while she does the exam, watching the screen alone at first and then turning the screen on the wall on for them to see. She walks them through everything she sees, what’s normal and what she expected to see with the trisomy 21 diagnosis. It’s not as scary as she thought, the anxiety in her body fades as reality settles.

They get pictures and pamphlets and book a million more appointments for different things over the next few months. It’s a lot to process, but thankfully they have a few months to get ready for everything.

PJ’s back in his car seat, and the two of them sit in the front of the van, Spencer offers to drive home but neither one of them is really ready to go yet. They just sit there. Quietly.

“How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know,” she can’t describe it. “I’m just worried about her…” she rubs her hand over her belly. “It’ll be difficult on us, sure whatever, but what about her? She’s going to have health issues her whole life and kids are fucking mean?”

“Believe me, I know,” Spencer reaches over to hold her hand. “But she has two older sisters and a big brother to watch out for her alongside us. And like 10 cousins… she’s going to be very loved, very protected, she’s going to have a good life with us.”

He’s right. He always is. He has a 6th sense for when things are good for them, like he can tell what was set out by fate and what was temptation just waiting for them to reach out and make their perfectly crafted stack of cards come crumbling down.

They take PJ back to Laura, finding that Will’s truck is in the driveway, so he must be over too. Sure enough, they walk right in and find Will in the kitchen making Laura some lunch while she sits at the counter rubbing her big belly.

“Hey!!” They cheer as soon as they see Spencer, although Laura doesn’t get up from her seat, she really can’t with how pregnant she is. “Welcome home!”

“Hi,” he gives her a quick hug, “how are you feeling?”

“Good, ready to be done, you know…” she shrugs. He’s heard it all, having witnessed the end of pregnancy many times already, he knew it was hardest on them. “How’s my little man?”

“He’s good,” Y/N gives her a half-hearted smile while holding little PJ, still asleep and slowly waking up on her shoulder. “He slept a lot longer than usual cause we were in the car after his nap time and you know he loves cars.”

“Where’d you go?” Will asks before Laura can get to it.

“We had a doctor's appointment,” Spencer shoots her a look, wondering if they’re going to tell their support system now or later… he didn’t really have a choice, they read him like a book.

“You’re pregnant again?” Will points at her, “I knew it. I had a feeling last week when we had lunch at the museum…”

“Yeah,” she takes a deep breath, “and— and we got news, it’s not bad news… we love her already no matter what, but we found out today she has down syndrome.”

“Oh,” Will and Laura look at each other with the same expression.

“That’s normal for people our age, though, right?” Will asks, “there are two boys with it in Henry’s class and a guy in my jujitsu club’s daughter has it, they’re all wonderful little kids…”

“Yeah, no, we’re excited, it’s going to be fine,” Spencer reiterates.

“And you know Amelia from Grey's anatomy? Her daughter in real life has it too, she’s the sweetest thing,” Laura adds. “Did you guys plan this… is that why you’re so hesitant to be excited?”

She takes a deep breath and bounces PJ slightly, soothing herself more than him with the simple rhythmic movement. “We don’t use condoms, never have, so technically we’re always trying… I’m hesitant cause— cause this is now a high-risk pregnancy on top of being a geriatric one. I have to do more tests, she’s going to go through medical problems her whole life, she’s going to be dependent on us for a lot of things well into her adulthood… and the world's not looking too good right now, so like, I’m feeling terrible like it’s my fault and— and,” she finally breaks down, covering her face as she cries.

Will and Spencer crowd her, Will takes PJ from her and Spencer wraps her up in a hug, “hey, it’s okay. It’s not your fault, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know, I’m just pregnant,” she cries harder, embarrassed more than anything to be doing this in front of their friends, but they were her best friends in the whole world. They would hear this at some point anyway.

She takes a seat beside Laura at the kitchen counter, finally, Laura offers over half of her sandwich but Y/N doesn’t want it. Spencer stands behind her, rubbing her back gently, he knows they have to leave soon to make it back to the house in time for Luna to get off the bus, but she needs her people.

“I’m just going to run home,” he whispers to the top of her head before pressing a kiss there, “you stay and chat.”

“Okay,” she knows exactly why he’s going, the others do too.

“Do you need anything while I’m out, Laur?” Spencer asks, offering to go out of his way for her in her time of need.

“I’m good, just hurry back here with my niece, I miss her,” she teases, having a wonderful bond with all 3 of them actually.

Once Spencer’s gone, the other two look at her carefully, “why didn’t you tell us?”

She shrugs, “I didn’t want to believe it was happening until he was home, honestly.”

“I get that,” Will understands. “JJ found out with Michael at work and told Spencer before me and I was genuinely pissed…”

“I remember,” Y/N can recall the phone call they had after it. “I knew right away basically, but I didn’t take a test till last week.”

“When are you due?” Laura asks more so she knows when they’ll all have to step up to take care of Y/N this time.

“July 10th… Nichola Teslas birthday, apparently,” she remembers how excited Spencer got when he realized that, repeating it with a smile. “And she’s a girl and she looked really good, you want to see?”

That was a no-brainer. She takes the ultrasound photos out of her purse and hands it to them. “How do they know she has down syndrome?”

“The blood tests and that there,” she points at the back of the baby's neck, “the fluid build-up is a telltale sign.”

“Ah,” they both follow along.

“And you’re okay?” Laura asks, “do you need anything?”

She shrugs, “I feel fine… I’m just nervous and you know my anxiety is always 10 times worse when I’m pregnant.”

“Look at me,” Laura takes her hand in hers and stares into her eyes. “You’re a wonderful mom, you and Spencer are so good to your kids, a special needs child isn’t going to be difficult for you. You’re going to give them so much love and accept them for who they are and help them grow into who they’re meant to be just like you’re doing with the other 3… she’s going to grow up very loved. That’s all you could ask for, right?”

“Yeah,” she cries lightly again, leaning over and resting her head on Lauras shoulder, “thank you.”

Its moments like this she’s so unbelievably thankful for Spencer and that trip her parents took to Paris. She would’ve never known Laura or Will without him, without that trip setting the dominos for the rest of her in motion. She’d never know true friendship and love like this without it.

—

Back at home later that afternoon, they have to get the older two from the bus and head right back out to the doctor's office to get Noelle's cast off. Her doctor is so proud of her for keeping it on right and helping her bones heal to the best of their ability. She gets a special sticker for doing such a good job around the saw as they cut it off and then she asks to keep the cast… her eyes well with tears and she cries when mom says no at first.

It stinks, it’s gross, and Y/N doesn’t want it in her house, so they compromise and cut out her favourite signatures to put in a memory box in her room. She loved her cast. She told everyone about how she broke her arm doing a cool skateboarding jump in her cousin's backyard and how she didn’t even cry in the hospital. It was her proudest achievement so far and Spencer wasn’t even there for any of it.

He goes into a bit of a spiral that night after the kids go to bed.

He sits with Y/N in the living room, she holds her phone in her hands as she scrolls through tiktok’s with a Christmas movie on in the background and Spencer's head in her lap. Occasionally she’ll scratch the top of his head like he’s a cat and rake her fingers through his hair, it’s usually relaxing but he can’t stop stressing.

“Do you think they’re going to grow up and resent me for missing the last month?” He whispers.

“What?” She doesn’t mean to laugh but it does sound a bit ridiculous.

“I didn’t even know she broke her arm until she was home from the hospital?” He cries, “and it was apparently the best day of her life?”

“Thats just because I let her have a whole tub of ice cream from the corner store,” Y/N downplays it. “Seriously, Will would have called you too if you weren’t in Chicago… I wasn’t there right away either, you know?”

“I just feel guilty,” he sighs, looking up at her from his spot in her lap. “I wish I was here for that, for you… I still can’t get over how much Atlas cried when he saw me again. That broke my heart.”

“He’s a sensitive soul,” she coos, stroking his hair back out of his eyes. “Just like you… seriously, it’s one month out of the full 18 years you get to spend with them here.”

“We only have 10 more with him—

“Ah! No!” She points at him. “I am not thinking about that night now. Believe me, I know the math and I hate it too.”

He turns his head to the side and stares at her tummy, “at least we get a fresh start again soon…”

“We should call dad and Diana,” she suggests. “they’re going to be excited.”

“Where did they go this year, again?” Spencer genuinely forgets, his last few months were so busy that he’s barely talked to his mom and when he did it was about himself.

“They’re on a cruise in Alaska,” she says while back on her phone, pulling up the photo her dad sent her of him and Diana on the boat the first day. “They come home on the 21st.”

They started a tradition of trips for Christmas, but since becoming grandparents, they’ve always come home with a few days to spare before the big day. They didn’t want to miss any time with their grandkids, not when they didn’t know how much time they had left.

“That sounds fun,” he’s envious. “We should take a trip before this baby, just me and you…”

“When? We’re already taking the kids to Florida in March?” She reminds him, the whole thing was already planned with JJ, Will, their kids and Penny coming too.

He shrugs, “we’ll find time… even if we just go to DC for 2 nights away. I miss this, just doing nothing together for hours on end.”

“Me too,” she lets out a deeper sigh as she thinks about it. “We’re done after this baby, right?”

“Do you want to be?”

She nods, “yeah, I don’t think I can do this again… not with my bad eggs.”

“You don’t have bad eggs,” he assures her, wrapping his arms around her middle and hugging her with his face pressed to her belly. “I know it's different and scary and it’ll be like being first-time parents again but that’s the fun part… I loved those first few months with just me, you and Atlas. Even with the sleep deprivation and getting shit on, I loved spending time with you and now we get to do it again.”

“It’s taking everything in me not to google it,” she admits. “I want to know everything that can go terribly wrong but I also know thats the worst thing I could do to myself right now.”

“Yeah, maybe don’t,” Spencer agreed. “We have another appointment in the new year and we’re going to learn everything then. It’ll be okay.”

“You keep saying that.”

“‘Cause I mean it,” he didn’t know what else to say. “We’ve gotten through some terrible things and made it this far. This isn’t a terrible thing, if anything, I’m glad that out of the 1 in 800 babies in the US born with down syndrome, it’s our baby who has it. She’s a baby who’s going to need a lot of love and who else loves like us? No one. We have a huge family, the kids will love her, Penny and Laura and Will, they’re going to love her and offer to spend just as much time with her as they do with the others. My mom and your dad are going to spoil her rotten and you know it. It’s going to be so absolutely okay.”

She doesn’t mean to tear up but she does, overwhelmed with love. “I’m glad she’s ours too.”

#spencer reid #spencer reid smut #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you #spencer reid self insert #spencer reid request #criminal minds smut #criminal minds imagine

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